It might be difficult to imagine it today, but 180 years ago nobody really knew anything authentic about King Asoka. To explain what I mean it might be best to say that there are two king Asokas; the Asoka of … Read the rest

Between the years 629 and 645 AD the famous Chinese monk Xuanzang travelled through Central Asia and India to visit Buddhist sacred places, learn from Indian teachers and to collect copies of Buddhist scriptures. On his return to China, his … Read the rest

The person who did it and the exact date it was done are not quite certain. Ancient sites around Mathura were a happy hunting ground for amateur British archaeologists and antique collectors during the second half of the 19th century. … Read the rest

All nations have their social problems; inequality between the sexes, economic disparity, class divisions, and racial discrimination, in some developed countries a serious drug addiction problem, and so on. But India amongst the great nations has one social problem that … Read the rest

We usually think of Buddhism as being an Asian religion and for the most part that is true. But not entirely. To explain why this is the case it will be necessary to go back several hundred years in history. … Read the rest

From the point of view of history, Christianity and Islam have certain advantages over Buddhism. Both Jesus and Mahomed lived in cultures where writing was well-known and widely used. Writing was almost certainly unknown in India during the Buddha’s lifetime … Read the rest

We take it as granted that the Buddha was a real person, that he did the things that are said of him, and that he taught the Dhamma that we are familiar with. Further, almost all historians accept that the … Read the rest

You can see it in almost any Sri Lankan temple. Its six pastel-pink petals and its strong, almost cloyingly sweet fragrance, are unmistakable. It is of course what Sinhalese people call the sal flower, the blossom most favoured by devotees … Read the rest

We usually associate the Himalayas with Hindu saints, not with Buddhist monks. But in the Jataka we are often told that the Bodhisattva became a swami or a rishi and went to live in the Himalayas. Unfortunately, now, many centuries … Read the rest

When I was in India in the 1970s I thought of going to Afghanistan specifically to see the great Buddhas of Bamiyan. I had the time, the money and certainly the interest. As it happens, I kept putting this … Read the rest