Buddhism gives freedom of thought and freedom of self-development to all
By Santosh I Raut
Hyderabad: In October 1956, almost a decade after the Independence of India, Ambedkar publicly embraced Buddhism, thereby opening a window to demonstrate Indian history in a new light for the nation. The process of building a new India began thus, initiated through a fresh dose of inspiration based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, as opposed to the dark and barren clouds of castes that shrouded the Indian culture until then.
The task of rebuilding a national culture based on the proud heritage of an ancient Indian past while promoting political and economic liberation for every section of society was a new experience for modern India. It can be said that Buddhism in the past provided relief from caste prejudices, and thus paved the way for the establishment of democracy.
Re-imagining Future
Dr Ambedkar’s revival of Buddhism invites us to look into the ancient wisdom of the Buddha to contextualise the present and to re-imagine the future, in the light of self-dignity, justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity to create a harmonious culture and happy nation. He published an article in Janata (17th May 1941) – the magazine run by him – asking a question to the people of India: how come such a great light of India was forgotten in its own soil who was the great promoter of equality and liberty?
Equality is the main feature of Buddhism. The religion of the Buddha gives freedom of thought and freedom of self-development to all. It has never taught to achieve salvation by sacrificing animals or any living being to propitiate gods.
Prior to the advent of Buddhism, it was impossible to even think that a Shudra would get the throne. Dr Ambedakr made a point that the history of India reveals that after the emergence of Buddhism, Shudras are seen getting thrones. Verily, Buddhism paved the way for the establishment of democracy and the socialistic pattern of society in India. (Ambedkar, 2003, Vol. 17, p 407)
Buddhism for Ambedkar promotes true liberty, equality and fraternity. It does not observe the caste system in any form whatsoever and encourages one to take self-responsibility for one’s progress. It does not teach liberation based on God or any cosmic agent between God and humans but teaches that freedom can only be achieved by self-efforts. No God or Bhoodev (God on earth) can deliver liberation for others. Everyone, irrespective of caste-birth, colour, race and gender is subject to liberation if s/he makes sincere efforts to cultivate a mind without prejudice and hatred. In this sense, he realised and unmistakably recognised that ‘the Buddha is the MārgDātā (way finder/guide) and not Moksha Dātā (giver of salvation)’
Worth and not Birth
The teachings of the Buddha never promoted a caste-based society and advocated worth and not birth as the measure of man. Ambedkar acknowledged this deeply and considered it the clarion call to create a genuinely equal and free society in ancient India. For him, it served as the ultimate inspiration to create a casteless society in modern India.
An anecdote worth mentioning here is that of an exchange between the first person Buddha encountered after achieving his enlightenment at Bodhgaya, Bihar. Under Ajapāla Nigrodha Tree, he met a Brahmin called — Hu-hunka-Jati. When the Buddha was challenged by the Brahmin with the question: what makes a Brahmin, he replied with a non-reactive mind that no one becomes pure or noble merely by birth. The Buddha countered the latter’s thinking by stating that it is worth and not birth that makes a man a noble person. This was Buddha’s very first statement to any unenlightened human being, after attaining his enlightenment.
Egalitarian Liberation
In the light of Dr Ambedkar’s Buddhist vision, it is clear that he emphasised taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as a prima facie, and sectarian or monastic approach secondary. His form of Navayāna Buddhism was humanistic. However great the Buddha’s teachings were, under the dark clouds of Brahmanical counter-revolution, they were either misinterpreted or co-opted. Dr Ambedkar, in this sense, not only revived the teachings of the Buddha but also re-interpreted them to make them relevant to the modern world.
A definition one may so encapsulate what Navayāna Buddhism means is: A non-sectarian approach to going for refuge to the Triratana (the Three Jewels) — the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. In other words, deep commitment to follow in the footsteps of the Buddha, living the teachings by practising the Dhamma for the reconstruction of self, and creating a new community on the basis of self-dignity, equality, justice, and fraternity, for liberation. It does not discriminate between a layman and woman, and monk and nun, but respects each other based on Buddhist practices and humanity; thus, Navayāna Buddhism is free from formalism.
It is a belief that religion is a subject of critical investigation/enquiry and an antithesis to any form of social discrimination, oppression and slavery. The function of Navayāna Buddhism is to reconstruct the self and the world by reforming and cultivating the mind based on the teachings of the Sakyamuni Buddha himself. One reclaims her own human personality by cleansing the mind of its impurities in the belief that its worth and not birth is a measure of human. This faith pulls down all social barriers to establish a kingdom of righteousness that is responsible for freedom of mind of an individual, harmonious governance of society, and democratic nations, and thus creates the moral and beautiful order of the universe.
In this light, one feels happy to see the Government of Telangana building the tallest statue of Dr Ambedkar highlighting his monumental achievements, naming its Secretariat after Dr BR Ambedkar and setting up the world’s biggest Buddhist theme park Buddhavanam at Nagarjuna Sagar.
(Today is Gautam Buddha Jayanti)