(The Epic History Vibe) Archeologists dug beneath the Buddha's alleged birthplace (Lumbini): This is what they found, Buddhist Emperor Ashoka's pillar (usually topped with a lion capital). Dr. Ranajit Pal convincingly explains that Nepal had next to nothing to do with Buddhism. The Buddha came from Shakya Land (Gandhara, Saka Land, Indo-Scythia, Central Asia, modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, the northwest frontier of India (Maha Bharat, an empire pieced together by King Asoka, centuries after the Buddha lived and taught on the subcontinent that was not a country but territories, maha-janapadas, disputed "footholds of family clans" like the Sakas/Shakyas from Kapilavastu/Kabul, Bamiyan (with the world's oldest and largest Buddhist statues), Tillya Tepe, Mes Aynak, and other sites of Early Buddhism).
Why forger Dr. Fuhrer lied and deceived the world is obvious, for fame and academic advancement. Why India or Buddhists continue to believe and promote his fiction seems to have more to do with politics and foolishness, ignorance about the truth with the Buddha's actual homeland being a little farther to the west in ancient Gandhara, Afghanistan, and places like formerly Buddhist Pakistan that were ransacked and ruined by Muslim invasions during the rise of Islam. Dr. Pal failed to make a sufficiently convincing argument to his colleagues in the fields of history and archeology to settle the question. All he showed was that Dr. Fuhrer was a fraud and many British archeologists were taken in or continue to act as if what Fuhrer asserted were true. See the documentary Bones of Buddha to see what these mistakes have led to with the loss of priceless Buddhist treasures, now sitting in someone's house, under his bed, in England because archeologists say the stupa (Buddhist reliquary mound) they were pulled from during an unscientific excavation (at Piprahwa) probably wasn't one of the eight or nine stupasthe historical Buddha's relics (relics associated with the Buddha) were first deposited, as the ancient texts tell us.
The British Pali Text Society was established in 1881 and gave us some of the very first translations of ancient Theravada Buddhist texts by such renowned and influential scholars as:
who in turn had such a preponderant influence on Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journalthat, were it not for PTS and BPS, there would be no WQ in the English language.
Why Pali and not Sanskrit?
Pali [Magadhior Magadhi Prakrit, a lingua franca similar to but simpler than Vedic Sanskrit, the exclusive liturgy language of elitist Brahmin priests who adhered to the Old Vedic Religion that preceded Hinduism by thousands of years] is the language of the most complete collection of early Buddhist texts, the Pali canon or Ti-pitaka (the collected Buddhist texts in "Three Baskets" of suttas, vinaya, and abhidhamma), which constitutes "the word of the historical Buddha" as handed down by the tradition of Theravada (the "Teachings of the Enlightened Elders of the Buddha") Buddhism for over 2,000 years.
Since 1881 the Pali Text Society has promoted the study of Pali texts by publishing editions, translations, and other works related to the study of Pali literature.
On the new website one can purchase PTS publications, download many PTS publications for FREE, and find other material and links related to the study of Pali Buddhist texts.
One can also support the Society by becoming a member, getting a 20% discount on all purchases: palitextsociety.org
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