India’s precious gift to China

Introduction

Indians don’t have time to think about China, except for some politicians, who wake up from a deep slumber and mutter “Our city will become the next Shanghai”, but only the digits in their bank balance increase like the skyscrapers in Shanghai. China on the other hand discourages democracy sighting India as an example of result of poor democratic governance. Chinese people are trained to accept what the government says, which is just the opposite here in India. Everybody will have something to say, for example about 2G, except for Manmohan singh (PM).

The reason for this intro is that, despite both cultures and governance being chalk and cheese, there lies at the core of China, something for which they owe us big time and THEY KNOW ABOUT THIS BETTER THAN US.

A couple of months back I read a book called “The Smoke and Mirror” dealing with the current life style in China, in which I got to know about Bodhidharma. Recently the Tamil film “7aam Arivu” has created a lot of interest about Bodhidharma. So I thought of sharing this interesting piece of history of two great nations united by a simple monk, a monk who gifted Zen Buddhism and the world famous Shaolin Kung Fu to China.

Indian Culture’s Introduction to China

It was 1^st Century of the Common Era, a momentous time in Human history. Jesus was believed to be crucified 30 years back in Middle East and Buddhism has just reached the shores of China.

Then India was culturally a far larger country, spreading from Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Afghanistan in the west. The Silk Route and Spice Route were flourishing, of which India was the nerve centre. Not only was it about a barter system of material, but also the unidirectional dissemination of Culture and religion from India to other lands. Unlike the modern day Religious conversions for material and social benefits, it was for concepts and intensity of thought buried in the literature and philosophy of India, between two different races of equal economic status. It was a time in history, when Buddhism, which is an offshoot of Hinduism, was growing in India.

The Cradle of Chinese Buddhism

Emperor Ming of Han dynasty dreamt of a Golden God flying in the sky with a halo behind his head. He told his ministers about his dream the next day. Following that a delegation was sent out in search of the deity to the west. After 3 years of search, the emissaries met two Buddhist monks in Afghanistan. On the request of the emissaries, the monks agreed to come go to China with their Sanskrit manuscripts and sculptures of Buddha, on the back of white horses. Thus Buddhism reached China.

As an act of reverence, the emperor built a temple at Luoyang, Henan Province, and named it “White Horse Temple”, as a token of gratitude to the white horses that carried the scriptures. This is the first Buddhist temple built on the Chinese soil in 68 AD and is called “The cradle of Chinese Buddhism” or “Grandfather of Temples”. This journey of two monks went a long way in shaping the culture and tradition of China. To this day Chinese cherish this temple as an integral part of their belief.

Bodhidharma – The Monk who sold his Ferrari

Bodhidharma in India

Bodhidharma was born as a prince in the royal family of Pallavas. Pallavas are known for their great devotion to religion, culture and language. During their reign, they had encouraged and supported creation of scriptures in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. Pallava king Mahendravaraman I himself was a Sanskrit scholar, who wrote Maththavilasa Prakasanam and Bagavatha Ajikkiyam in Sanskrit. Dhandin, a great Sanskrit scholar, was a citizen of Pallava kingdom. Tamil poets like Thiru Nyana Sambandar and Thirunavukuarasar were also from this empire. Mahabalipuram temple is a standing example of Pallavas contribution to the culture and tradition. So Bodhidharma had earlier introduction to scriptures and self-realization.

Bodhidharma was the third son, but was the favourite of the king among the three princes. It is told that the crown prince tried assassinating Bodhidharma, but he survived. He abjured the royal life and became a Buddhist monk. The prince was named by his guru Prajnatara, the 27^th Patriarch of Buddhism, as Bodhidharma. Prajnatara ordered Bodhidharma to go to China after the former’s death. So began one of the most popular schools of Chinese & Japanese Buddhism, Zen, in the shores of Chennai, India.

The 28^th Patriarch and Mind Transmission

By the time Bodhidharma reached China in 527 AD, Buddhism was already established in China. Bodhidharma’s unique contribution was in the form of Zen Buddhism, of which he was the founder. Zen is a school of Buddhism that emphasizes on practical methods of self-realization, compared to theoretical means. Zen is a Japanese word which is the translation of Tamil word Dhyanam, meaning meditation.

The roots of Zen school goes to the Flower sermon by Buddha himself. Buddha one day gathered his disciples. Buddha was silence personified and did not utter a word. Most of his disciples thought that he was ill. Then Buddha swirled a flower and his eyes sparkled. None of the disciples could understand the meaning except Mahakashyapa. And then Buddha told thus: “I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvellous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle Dharma Gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.” And Bodhidharma was the 28^th Patriarch of this revered lineage, which includes the power of Mind Transmission.

Da Mo

Bodhidharma was known by the name Da Mo in China reverentially. When Da Mo arrived in Guangdong, a Chinese coastal Province, people were eager to see and listen to Da Mo. Rather than speaking, Da Mo meditated for many hours and left. Although he didn’t speak it had a profound impact on the audience and the respect for the Indian monk increased among the people.

Knowing his arrival, the emperor of southern province, Wu, invited Da Mo to his palace. First, the emperor asked Da Mo if the emperor’s actions of building Buddhist temple will be accounted as his good deeds, for which Da Mo replied in negative. Second, he asked if there was Buddha in this world, for which also Da Mo replied in negative. Irritated, Wu asked him to leave the palace and never to return again. Da Mo also left without uttering a word.

There was a Military general turned Buddhist speaker Shen Guang, who was speaking to a large gathering. Da Mo happened to pass by the gathering. He decided to stand there and listen to it. He agreed to some of the points of Shen Guang and disagreed to some. Seeing this Shen Guang was agitated. He threw the beads in his hands on Da Mo. It hurt Da Mo and he was bleeding. But he just walked away. This had a huge impact on Shen Guang and he started following Da Mo. On his way to Shaolin monastery in Henan province, the legend has it that, he crossed the Yangze River on a reed.

“Wall Gazing Brahman”

Getting wind of his arrival, monks in the Shaolin were ready to greet and welcome him. Instead of going to the monastery, Da Mo went to a cave behind the monastery and meditated for nine long years.

During this severe penance, Shen Guang was protecting the entrance to the cave, preventing any one from disturbing Da Mo’s meditation. Legend has it that, during the meditation, Da Mo fell asleep. Infuriated with himself, Da Mo cut of his eyelids. The place where the eyelids fell grew the first Chinese Tea plants. For his act of Nine years of facing the wall and meditating, he is called “Wall Gazing Brahman” by the famous Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang. (Being a Warrior prince, he being called a Brahman seems contradictory. But based on the research, Pallavas were from the lineage of Parasurama, who were Brahmin by birth, warriors by profession and are called Brahma Kshatriyas.)

After the meditation, Shen Guang requested Da Mo, to teach Zen techniques and Mind Transmission. Da Mo told him that, only there is red snow he will teach Shen the techniques. Shen immediately cut off one of his hands making the snow red. Thus he became the first disciple of Da Mo. Da Mo taught him the Lankavatara Sutra, mind-to-mind and heart-to-heart techniques laying the foundation stones of Zen Buddhism in Shaolin.

Shaolin Kung Fu

Da Mo found that the physical condition of the monks in the monastery was below his levels of expectation required for his tough sessions of meditation. So he devised new techniques for improving the physical and fighting capabilities of the monks, which developed into Shaolin Kung Fu.

Da Mo had written two books. First one was “Marrow Cleansing Classic”, which disappeared and the second one was “Muscle Tendon Change Classic”, which had the foundation of today’s Kung Fu. Hence most believe that he is the founder of Shaolin Kung Fu. Today, Shaolin Kung Fu is world renowned. A large number of Hollywood films have been made based on this school of Kung Fu. (Kung Fu Panda is one among them.)

Death of Da Mo

Bodhidharma attained Nirvana in the year 536 AD, he was buried and a stupa was built for him. Posthumously Bodhidharma was named Yuen Che (Great Zen Master) by the Tang Dynasty emperor. Legend has it that, after three years of his death, a monk saw Bodhidharma walking away with a single shoe. The monk asked him where he was heading. Bodhidharma replied that he was returning to his homeland. The monk went back and narrated this incident to the monks. When they exhumed the grave, to their shock they saw that there was only one shoe.

Conclusion

Realizing that we taught China the founding techniques of Kung fu and gifted them Zen Buddhism exclusively, which has now become an integral part of their culture and identity, gives me goose bumps. Proud to be an Indian and a Tamilan!!!

But where do we stand today? After tirelessly gifting science and philosophy to the world, we have conveniently forgotten them all. Thanks to divisive politics and caste system, we ridicule our own scriptures and culture now. Let us throw away all the differences and excavate the wisdom buried in our literature. Don’t forget that America was an accidental discovery on the way to India. Let us reawaken the Da Mo in us!!!

The Elephant Trap being laid by the Dragon

If you think that India will be a super power by the time you retire, think again. India might not even exist or at least in the form we know…Then you can only say bedtime stories to your grandchildren. “Once upon a time, there was a country called India. It was so wide from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Arunachal to Gujarat”. If not for a visionary foreign policy and a strict constitution against the divisive political rodents, the country is sure to be torn into pieces. The power hungry dragon has already sensed the pungent odor of separatism in its neighborhood and knows well that a lending hand to the separatist can tear off its competitor into pieces.


We need to know how China is cornering India and fortifying its presence in the South Asian region. Military might and its vicinity is important to intimidate the opposition during dialogues. China has been aggressively perusing its String of pearl policy, which is seen as a strategic long term move to garner diplomatic support and Points of Presence in the Indian Sub-continent. These Points of Presence can also be turned into military bases if and when required. The lollypop being shown to the smaller economies in the region are irresistible for them to neglect it. Let us see why should China gives lollypops to smaller economies in the Indian Sub-continent?

Why and How against India

India is the only country in the region which openly supports and hosts the Buddhist seer, Dalai Lama. China has territorial aspiration on many parts of India – Aksai Chin, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. It’s a power to reckon with in South Asia and SAARC. India, despite being a democracy, is growing only second to China. China sees India as its competition with it in the near future in everything from tapping energy resources in Africa to being an unquestioned regional super power in Asia. “Why” part of the question is clear, now “how”. The answer is to destabilize India and decimate it.

Similar strategy of supporting the USSR’s separatists was adopted by USA, finally destabilizing and breaking the country into pieces. The sterling examples of China’s developing strategic hold in India’s backyard is leading to concerns of security and integrity of India. It goes without saying that the relationship between the two countries has been hitting new lows in the past few years. We will have a look at the recent developments that are a grievous cause of concern for India.

The Chinese Strategy and China’s own background

An article on an officially backed Chinese website proclaimed that the “great Indian federation” was ripe for dismemberment, if Beijing just gives a trigger. The website iiss.cn (International Institute for Strategic Studies), went ahead in delineating strategy for decimating the republic. “To split India, China can bring into its fold countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan, support Ulfa in attaining its goal for Assam’s independence, back aspirations of Indian nationalities like Tamils and Nagas, encourage Bangladesh to give a push to the independence of West Bengal and lastly recover the 90,000 sq km territory in southern Tibet (Arunachal Pradesh)” the article enlisted.

It article also baselessly claimed that India as a nation never really existed in history. It was held together by “decadent” Hinduism which “encouraged caste and exploitation”. But the fact is that India was bigger than what it is today. Even geographically India is a single land mass for the past 90 million years and is called Indian Sub continent. It Included Afghanistan in the West, Gandhar – Kandahar of modern day to Arunachal Pradesh in the east, Lohitya – Lohit district of modern days in Arunachal Pradesh, Tajikistan (Takshashila) in the North, Tibet in the North east, Kailasha – the modern day Lasha (capital of Tibet) and Trikonamala (Srilanka) in the south. Other than Hindu kings, India as a whole has been united by Maurya and Moghul empires which covered even Pakistan and Afghanistan. The southern states of Tamil nadu and Kerala were on other instances being ruled by Chera, Cholla, Pandya and Pallava kings were Hindus.























Caste system is a malady that came in to practice in India, similar to feudal systems across the world. Even China had a feudal system dividing their population into 6 classes. They were Wang (king), Zhuohu (dukes), Daifu (Great men), Shi (Scholars), Shumin (commoners) and nuli (slaves). India was better than China without slaves. After the dark ages (1600), colonialization began, which exploited the existing caste system to hilt for their benefit. Since Independence, Indian leaders have taken severe steps against caste system. Untouchability has been abolishes and laws have been passed to punish people even if they use derogatory classification of casts, when India became a republic. Reservation upto 69% are being provided in many states for the backward classes in education and jobs resulting in significant progress made in social equality in a period of 60 years.
Actually Tibet has never been part of China. Tibet was an ancient country the size of Western Europe when it was invaded by the People’s Liberation Army of China in 1950. A place with a unique culture, history and identity, Tibet has been changed dramatically by the Chinese invasion and occupation. Not only have many Tibetan lives been lost, Tibetans in Tibet do not enjoy basic human rights and the Chinese government have introduced policies by which Tibetan culture, language and natural resources are being systematically and irrevocably eroded.

The Trap that’s laid around

China has offered Pakistan and Bangladesh nuclear power plants of its own to meet
their energy needs. Beijing also showers these nations with low-cost financial capital to help their struggling development sector. The largest beneficiaries of this economic aid are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal – in that order.
Sino-Bangladesh relationship involves potential threat to the security and integrity of the nation. Siliguri corridor which is also called as the chicken’s neck is a narrow 40km wide corridor which connects the entire North east India to its mainland. The porous border between India and Bangladesh is a cause of concern leading to insurgency of ULFA, fake currency circulation, increasing illegally immigrating Muslim population in Assam and easy route into India for Pakistani terrorists. The prominent inclusion of Siligur corridor and Chittagong port development by China are major cause of concern. The fallout of which can be a Chinese military base to monitor Indian naval movements and creating unrest in Northeast India where China has territorial ambitions.



















Sino- Pakistan relation is well known. But the recent developments of Upgrading the Karakoram Highway by China in PoK, which can help Pakistan in quick movement of its troops in PoK and China constructing Neelam-Jeelam Hydro electricity project in PoK are very disturbing. China’s Continued supply of arms and ammunition to Bangladesh and Pakistan are of imminent threat to India. Even the Nuclear nexus between AQ Khan, Pakistan’s nuclear father and China is well established. Gwadar port in Pakistan, developed by China, is seen as a Chinese naval port under the disguise of a commercial port.
Sino-lanka relationship is hitting new highs with the Chinese supplying arms to the SriLankan govt during the war against LTTE and subsequent Tamil genocide. In similar lines of Gwadar port in Pakistan, China has also developed a Hambantota Port in Srilanka, facing the strategic Indian Ocean. The port will be great importance for energy, trade and military dominance to SriLanka.

With 81 Trillion Cubic Feet of natural gas reserves in Myanmar, the country is of greatest significance to both Inida and China for their energy security. China has made huge strides in this prospect. Chinese oil and gas companies are aggressively engaged in the Bay of Bengal in exploration and production activities to push the gas through pipelines linking offshore platforms in Myanmar to Kunming in China and also to feed the new refinery in Chongqing municipality. The 2,806 km long natural gas pipeline with a capacity of 12 billion cubic meters annually to Kunming will be ready by 2012. China having made debilitating developments in all four sides of the country, India is in dire straits to act or subjugate to China in its own backyard.

Decimating India

Some of the excerpts from the Quasi-official Chinese article say “...China in its own interest and the progress of whole Asia, should join forces with different nationalities like Assamese, Tamils, and Kashmir is and support the latter in establishing independent nation-states of their own, out of India,”

“Only after India has been broken up into 20-30 pieces will there be any real reform or social change in the country,”
After decimating India, the smaller states will no more have the power to attract the global corporate, their military might will be greatly reduced, Unemployment will increase as movement of people will be severely restricted, Technical and scientific development will be impossible because of lack of financials, trade deficit will be huge as many of the states are not self sufficient in all the basic requirement of life, energy requirements can be addressed by individual states, water sharing will be a great issue and the states will no more enjoy the respect that India commends now in the global arena. China will become the undisputed power in the region surrounded by failed states at China’s mercy.























Conclusion

Indian govt needs to take immediate action against the separatist in the country. Strong laws in the constitution have to be passed enabling the jurisdiction to take severe action against politicians acting against the integrity of the nation or a state. Caste and linguistic vote bank based politics have to be annihilated for a healthy and a prosperous India. Relationship with immediate neighbors has to be improved. India should play a constructive role in the development of these countries. Good neighborhood is essential for safe and secure future of the citizens of the nation.
There is an urgent need to revamp the Indian foreign policy and law on maintaining national integrity. Countries like China and Pakistan which are eager in decimated India have to be dealt with caution and their hidden agenda have to be exposed to the international society. It has to be taught to the people of India that Unity is Strength. India should try to resolve its territorial issues with its neighbors as early as possible, at the same time it need not be submissive in the negotiation table. In this globalised era, sustained international pressure can do wonders. The only one who can protect from decimation is its Aam Admi (normal citizen). He shouls understand that these separatist politicians seeking cheap publicity and vote bank politics are debilitating the country of its integrity to satiate their greed for power. These are exactly the pythons who can be made use of by the external forces to black mail and disintegrate the country. Let us not allow the separatists grow and give Chinas and Pakistans to dream of shattering India. Wake up India! Wake Up!!

To whom is James Cameron indebted... Avatar review

Why a must watch

A $237mn film, with astounding graphics, depicting every move of the colorful creatures of Pandora, audacity of comparing the US invasion of Iraq, capturing the jingoistic nature of human beings, their greed for money and power and portraying the love of the natives of Pandora for Nature - James Cameron's Avatar excels in whole and parts.

If above mentioned are the reasons you want to see the movie, there is a far more interesting reason about the Avatar story and characters that we must know, that too being Indians. James Cameron has told in one of his interviews that he was inspired by a blue boy his mother saw in her dreams. But is that all or something bigger is being swept under the carpet? Let us explore.


The Indian Connection


The word Avatar itself is of Sanskrit origin, which does not have an equivalent English word. It roughly translates into God coming to this mundane world in the form of man for a specific purpose and thereby makes this world a better place to live for all its inhabitants. For example, Dasavatharam means, ten such instances when god came to earth to help living beings from catastrophes or great miseries that could alter the course of life forever. Let us have look at the story line and then analyze in-depth the inspirations taken from Indian mythology.


The Storyline

4.4 light years away from earth, in a moon called Pandora in the Galaxy - Alpha Centuria, Humanoids are exploring options to carry out mining of a precious mineral. The mineral that they want to mine, Unobtanium, costs $20Mn a Kg back in Earth. The effort is profit driven, without any sympathy for the natives of Pandora. The center of the Unobtanium deposit is located beneath an ancient colossal tree called The Hometree, in which a clan called Omaticaya live. The corporation that has undertaken the mining wants to make it a profitable endeavor by either relocating the clan or destroying the whole area and appropriating the mineral.

Humanoids can't stand the atmosphere at Pandora for more than 20 sec. To aid them in the exploration, to understand the local clan, their capabilities and negotiate with them to relocate, with the advancements in medical science, they create hybrid bodies of Navis and transmigrate the human souls in to it. The Transmigrated Navis (TN) or Avatars are then trained to get accustomed to their bodies and sent into the forest to mingle with the tribes.

One of those Avatars, is our hero Jake. While wandering alone, he is attacked by some canine like creatures. A Navi girl, Neytiri - the heroine, comes to his rescue. She, takes him to the head of their clan, her father. On noticing sacred omens and sensing premonition, Navis not only to forgive him, but also try training him. If successful, he will become a member of the clan. Jake understands that Navis' lead a life in harmony with nature and they will not part with the Home Tree, which is their home life and everything. They have been there for generations. It is a mammoth tree spanning acres of land. The whole ecosystem in Pandora is interconnected like a neural network. To put it in our scientific terms, the connection between the floras is equivalent to Gigabits of bandwidth connecting them, which they use to communicate. The flora also can interconnect using a special hair strand like extension. By connecting a horse's neural strand with a human, one can sense and feel the other.

To complete the training Jake needs to catch a bird and finally hunt a deer, which he does with great difficulty. He also understands that Navis don't require any thing that humans can offer. He records it in this daily vlog. On seeing the log, the head of the corporation decides that there is no use of negotiation and that Navis are powerless. The remaining film speaks about how hero joins arm with Navis and help them defeat the humans.


Where did James cameron borrow ideas from

See the analogies below to have a clear idea.


a) A blue skinned Navi (the Avatar, blue colored) flies on the king of the birds (golden colored) to save Navis from their miseries. Lord Maha-Vishnu flies (blue colored) on The Garuda (kind of birds, golden colored) to save his devotees from their miseries. Either James Cameron would have visited ISKCON temple or one of his chief strategists should be a devout Hindu.













b) Even the Navi makeup and color seems to have a resemblance to Lord Maha-Vishnu's facial decoration. Don't miss the namam (trident like symbol) in Navi's forehead in the picture below, which is a pious symbol of Vaishnavas. The garland of beads that he is wearing also resembles Tulasi mala, a garland worn by devotees typically in ISKCON.












C) The idea of soul transmigration might be new to western movie watchers. But it is a very old concept in India since we understand the difference between body, soul and mind. Transmigration had been introduced in Tamil movies way back in 1970’s, with very minimal technology by directors like Vitalacharya.









d) Similarities with Ramayana – Hanuman (Ape god with tail) helps in saving Seeta from Ravana. Jakes (Avtar with tail) helps in saving Pandora from Human beings. Seetha stays under a tree in Lanka, Navis stay on the tree in Pandora.

Fill up the remaining storyline with contemporary issues like – US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan for oil, preemptive attacks and Corporate' indifference to the climate change and endangered species. Add on to it the need for a fairytale ending. The story is there for you to create the film "AVATAR". Now you only need the tag of James to convince a producer to invest $237 mn.

Conclusion

Every frame of Pandora was scintillating. Hats off to the animation team for bringing up Pandora so vividly. While thanking James for bringing the Indian thoughts to the western world, it dawns to me that Hindu saints (equivalent to today's scientists by definition) or at least kavis (today's equivalent of Hollywood directors) were millenniums ahead of westerners in science, technology and entertainment. I certainly believe that India has lagged behind quite recently in the way we deliver it to the world. Let us not be laid back and allow more James Cameron’s arise from the West. Our scriptures are too precious or advanced to be left back unattended only to be referred to by tourist guides and read by foreigners. Let us get back our Valmikis smuggled away by James Camerons.