In an article I wrote for The Island and which was published on 21st April 2017 I highlighted several well-known details about the life of the Buddha, which most Buddhists assume come from the Tipitaka, but which in fact cannot be found there. I went on to suggest that some of these stories may well have been created centuries after the Buddha. Several people have responded to this article including Dr. Chandre Dharmawardana of Canada. In his response the doctor mentions that the Tipitaka was first committed to writing in the 1st century BCE at Alu Vihara in Sri Lanka. In saying this Dr. Dharmawardana is of course repeating something that is in complete accordance with generally accepted and oft repeated ‘fact’. However, it is a ‘fact’ that I would like reassess.
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