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Buddhism In The Modern World Part 2

Dharmapala returned to Ceylon in May 2434/1891 and founded the Maha Bodhi Society in Colombo. In the same year, a mission was sent to Bodh Gaya and, then, an international conference of Buddhists was held there. In the following year a journal was launched and headquarters of the new society were set up in Calcutta. Dharmapala visited the United States two times during the 1890's, the first time to attend the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, when he visited Hawaii, Japan, China, Thailand and Malaya on his way back, and the second time to preach Buddhism when he stayed there for one year and made several American converts. Substantial financial help came from wealthy Americans, especially Mrs. Mary E. Foster whom he met in Honolulu and who became his most active supporter. Further branches of the Society were set up and in 2463/1920 a Buddhist vihara was opened at Culcutta. The revival movement was then well founded and continued steadily. Dharmapala entered the monkhood in 2474/1931 and passed away two years later, leaving his unfinished mission to be carried on by his colleagues and followers.

India achieved independence on August 15, 2490/1947. When questions arose as to what should be adopted as national symbols of free India, the Constituent Assembly ultimately turned towards the Buddhist heritage. Thus, the Dharma-cakra or the Wheel of the Law came to be represented at the centre of the national flag to remind the nation of the noble doctrine of the Buddha and of the Dharma-vijaya or Conquest by Righteousness of Asoka, while the Lion Capital of Asoka, representing the fearless proclamation of the Dharma to the four quarters of the world, has been adopted as the official seal of the Republic. The Chairman of the Committee which drafted the Constitution was Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the leader of the untouchables who became converted to Buddhism and made the Buddhist revival a mass movement.

Two other important events increased the interest in Buddhism among the Indian masses, the home-coming of the sacred relics of the two Chief Disciples of the Buddha in 2492/1949 and the Buddha Jayanti, or 2500th anniversary of the Buddha's Parinirvana, in 1956. The relics were returned to India by the British Government to be enshrined at San-chi, their original resting place, on the request of the Maha Bodhi Society. The enshrinement of the relics was celebrated together with the Maha Bodhi Society's Golden Jubilee and an international Buddhist conference attended by the Prime Ministers of India and Burma and world Buddhist leaders. The Indian Buddha-Jayanti celebrations commenced in May 1956 and lasted for one full year, till May 1957. The programme of the Government of India includes the publication of a Tripitฺaka in Devanagari script and '2500 Years of Buddhism,' a special volume which is an indication of the respect given to Buddhism by the Indian educated class.

On october 14 of the year of celebration, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar led half a million followers in a formal declaration of adherence to Buddhism. This event was followed by a fast increase in the Buddhist population in India, particularly through a number of similar conversions among the untouchables seeking social equality. By 2508/1965 there were about 4,000,000 Buddhists in India in contrast to 50,000 in 2434/1891.

Numbers of Bhikkhus, viharas, and Buddhist societies and organizations have also considerably increased. The study of Pali was introduced into Calcutta University as far back as the year 2451/1908. This example has been followed by many other Indian universities. The establishment of the Nalanda Pali Institute (Nava Nalanda Mahavihara) in 2494/1951 and the founding of the Magadh University in 2505/1962 are also evidences of an important place modern India has given to Pali and Buddhist studies.

In the 1950s, when the Red Chinese overran Tibet, her people, both monks and laymen, fled to north India and found refuge in her hill country. There, a Buddhist community is taking shape and Tibetan Buddhism may make a significant contribution to the future of Indian Buddhism.

A Thai monastery called Wat Thai Buddha-Gaya, which was constructed by the Thai Government on the invitation of the Government of India to celebrate the Buddha-Jayanti, was completed in 2509/1966. It is well known as one of the finest viharas ever constructed in modern India. The Burmese, Japanese, Chinese and Tibetan Buddhists also have monasteries at Buddha Gaya.

Just a century ago Buddhism was unheard of in the land of its birth, as nearly every trace of the religion had been effaced from the Indian soil. Today, the seed of the Bodhi tree, deeply planted under the soil, being fed by fertilizer from abroad, has sprouted and has signs of a glorious growth.

In some border areas of India such as some parts of Assam and in Bangladesh (East Bengal), Buddhism has never entirely disappeared. There the monastic life still survives and a small Buddhist population has persisted. Notable in this way is Chittagong, which has been closely connected with Burma both historically and geographically; there the monkhood consists of hundreds of monks and novices.1 Through some revival movement, Buddhism in these areas has begun to grow again and may do a good service to the development of modern Buddhism on the Indian Subcontinent.

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