Chapter 23: A Buddhist Country without a Buddha When he heard that he was going to Bihar on a tour bus of a domestic Buddhist pilgrimage group, Wang Qiu initially thought he would be with a group of monks and nuns.
After getting in the car, I discovered that there didn’t seem to be any bald religious people in the Buddhist pilgrimage group that health specialist Bai Quanyi helped contact.
There were only a group of fashionably dressed old men and women curiously taking pictures with their cameras.
Western shooting.
In addition, there were also a few middle-aged successful people with bloated bodies and wearing suits or floral shirts.
As soon as they got in the car, they took out their tablets and clicked them.
Wang Qiu originally secretly praised them for never forgetting their work, but when he took a closer look, But he found out that they were all playing "Angry Birds".
Later, he carefully studied the flyer Baiquan Yisai gave him, and found out that the organizer who took the lead in organizing this tour group was actually a vegetarian association. .
Generally speaking, this tour group should be considered quite high-end in India.
It takes an imported tour bus with air conditioning.
The local tour guide is also an Indian beauty in a saree who can speak fluent English and broken Chinese.
In addition, in the bus There are even two waiters who specialize in serving tourists.
Wearing crisp uniforms, they stand at the door of the bus with a big smile to welcome passengers, help them with their luggage, and diligently hand over towels to wipe sweat.
Then, from the beginning of the bus departure in the evening, the two waiters were like stewardesses on a civil airliner, constantly delivering various things to the passengers on the bus.
First, they brought out several newspapers and travel magazines for tourists to choose from, and then they Come down and give each tourist a bottle of mineral water, and then a small lunch box for each person, which includes a spoon and a bag of cakes. dry, a piece of sugar, two tea bags and a plastic cup; then while delivering boiling water, he asked if he wanted vegetarian or non-vegetarian dinner for the car; after the inquiry, he started to deliver the food.
The non-vegetarian meal was chicken curry and sweet rice, and the vegetarian meal was vegetarian.
Burgers and juices are served on dining plates, similar to airplane meals, and are heated using a microwave in the car.
Finally there's ice cream and gum.
This process takes about two hours.
During these two hours, the waiters have been busy, and all the tourists have to do is sit on the chair, choose the food and nod and smile.
The feeling of waiting for someone suddenly arises spontaneously After each person paid 1,000 yuan, the tour group leader generously said that Wang Qiu and others who were riding in the car could also enjoy the same service.
Since this was a Buddhist pilgrimage tour group, most of the tourists chose vegetarian meals.
However, Wang Qiu insisted on having meat dishes because he always felt that hamburgers were not enough for dinner, and it was difficult to imagine what a vegetarian burger was.
Can a burger without meat be called a hamburger?
Then, he saw the successful man in the seat next to him who had ordered a vegetarian meal, frowning and getting two kinds of vegetarian burgers, one with fried potato pancakes sandwiched between bread, and the other with mung bean curry paste stuffed in the bread.
Served with some shredded vegetables and tomato sauce, and pretending to be wrapped in a piece of tin foil, it looks like an indigenous man saw the space shuttle and built one out of wood, thinking that it should be able to travel through the atmosphere.
The taste of these two vegetarian burgers was equally bad.
The successful man only took one bite and shook his head and threw it away.
Obviously, such a strange vegetarian burger would definitely not be sold outside of India.
But Wang Qiu's non-vegetarian meal was not much better.
The sweet rice seemed to be mixed with suet and sugar.
It was half-cooked and It was so tiresome that he had to shamefully keep a lot of it.
By the time dinner was over, it was getting dark.
Since we were driving at night, there was nothing to see.
If we were driving on a domestic highway, the passengers would have been drowsy.
However, in India, they were so bumpy that they couldn't sleep at all.
Speaking of which, most of the roads in northern India Some areas are vast plains stretching as far as the eye can see.
It is rare to see even one of the majestic Himalayas on the other side of the horizon, and the land is relatively solid.
Logically speaking, it should be easy to build roads, at least better than the Chinese people were forced to build roads in the valleys of Yunnan and Guizhou in the southwest.
It is much easier to dig tunnels for viaducts.
But in fact, the modern Indian road system seems to be the same as the Indian Railways.
It is still left by the British.
Even the so-called "highways" on which tourist buses travel are actually just ordinary roads with hardened pavement.
Some sections are even Simply a dirt road.
You can see wandering sacred cows on every section of the road.
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There are very few completely enclosed highways, and the highways on viaducts are legendary.
There are an alarming number of toll booths, one every ten kilometers.
It's a pity.
The road surface is extremely poorly maintained, with potholes everywhere.
The tour bus of the Buddhist pilgrimage tour group stopped and drove like this, never getting up, and finally stopped at a place similar to the service area of a gas station.
The tour leader announced that everyone should get off the bus and go to the toilet, and then he It seems that the organizers of the tour group have probably known that given the road conditions in India, it is impossible for passengers to fall asleep on a moving bus.
So, a busload of tourists crowded together and got off the bus.
But when they actually arrived outside the toilet door, they couldn't help but pinch their noses together: because the toilet at the gas station was very dirty, and there were stains on the floor inside.
There were wet water stains everywhere, and the white tiles had turned into strange shapes.
The feces are yellow in color, and there are all kinds of strange liquids and bugs floating on the water stains, as well as unwashed fecal residue.
As for the toilet seat on the toilet, it is covered with dirty shoe prints.
It seems that it is for tourists who use it.
To avoid the filth, I had to step directly on the toilet seat.
Faced with such a situation, the men reluctantly tolerated it and got over it, but female tourists, especially those wearing long skirts, were in trouble.
If they just walked in to use the toilet, I'm afraid The skirt would turn into an absorbent rag, even contaminating the filth on the ground.
Wang Qiu didn't know how they solved it in the end, but when they came back, they found that Marikawa Shizuka didn't get out of the car at all.
"Uh, don't you need to go down for a while?
You can't hold it in all night," Wang Qiu asked curiously.
Then, the cute female school doctor with blond hair and an amazing bust gave Wang Qiu an embarrassing answer.
"It's okay.
I've already expected this to happen, so I put on adult diapers under my skirt beforehand."
It should be said that although Teacher Shizuka Marikawa's bust is seriously beyond the average level of Asians, in terms of thinking, she really deserves to be Japanese, right?
Although this tour bus is not a sleeper car, as long as the seats are folded down, it becomes a recliner, which can be used for a night.
After going to the toilet, some tired passengers put on eye masks and earplugs, wrapped themselves in blankets distributed by tour guides and began to fall asleep.
Other passengers who were still unable to sleep put on Bluetooth headsets and watched with gusto the promotional videos on the history and culture of Indian Buddhism on the in-car TV.
In East Asian countries, basically anyone knows that Buddhism originated in India.
But everyone also knows that as early as nearly a thousand years ago, Buddhism in India had entered the Age of Ending Dharma.
The era when Monk Tang went to the West to obtain scriptures was already the last glory of Indian Buddhism.
After that, it was all the way downhill until it collapsed.
At the latest, when Wu Chengen wrote Journey to the West in the Ming Dynasty, there were actually no scriptures left in the land of India.
When talking about the origin of Buddhism in India, we have to talk about the birth of Indian civilization.
The semantic meaning of the term India originally meant "moon".
In the Western Han Dynasty of China, India was called "body poison", and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was also called "body poison".
It was called "Tianzhu", and it was not until the Tang Dynasty that it was definitely called India.
Ancient India is one of the four ancient civilizations in the world along with China, ancient Egypt, and Mesopotamia, with a long history of nearly four to five thousand years.
However, unlike the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, Indian civilization has been interrupted several times.
Even the meaning of the concept of "Indian" has undergone tremendous changes.
No one will compare modern Americans with ancient times.
North American Indians are classified as the same species.
Unlike the yellow race who dominate the world in East Asia, the original inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent were already relatively mixed, including the African type of Negro race, the Australian type of black and brown race, the Mongol race similar to our Chinese, and the Mongol race from the Mediterranean.
The Dravidians of the region and so on.
Before the invasion of the Aryans, the Dravidians were the earliest civilized race in India.
They established a series of glorious and magnificent cities in the Indus River Basin, such as the famous Mohenjodaro ruins, and several other cities surrounded by deserts and seawater.
The mysterious ancient capital that was submerged.
Around 1,500 BC, the nomadic "Aryans" who were originally active in the steppes of Central Asia and Central Europe drove horse-drawn chariots across the Central Asian Plains and invaded from the Hindu Kush Pass.
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Ancient India.
They conquered the Dravidian city-states that originally inhabited the Indus River Basin, occupied the plains of northern India, and drove the Dravidian and other tribes to the south or to the mountains and forests of the north.
At the same time, the Vedic culture of the Aryans was introduced to India, and many Aryan kingdoms with strict class separation began to be established.
The word "Veda" comes from Sanskrit, and its original meaning is knowledge.
It is a great classic created by the Aryans during their long migration process.
Its content is all-encompassing.
Even the religious holy book is also a collection of historical materials, literature and poetry.
It can be said to be a collection of Aryan wisdom.
In the end, it even became synonymous with Indian culture.
Modern Indians often claim that their culture belongs to Vedic culture.
As time went by, three groups formed in Aryan society.
The first was a warrior group, called Kshatriyas, and the second was a priest group, called Brahmins.
These two groups fought for the Aryans.
There was a struggle for human political rights, with the result that the Brahmins became the final victors.
The third group of Aryans were agricultural and handicraft producers, they were the Vaishyas.
Next, many indigenous residents of India were also incorporated into the Aryan social system and became the fourth group of Aryan society.
Generally speaking, Sudras and Vaishyas are farmers, businessmen, handicrafts owners, Landowners, while Shudras were farmers working on farms or hired hands working in handicraft workshops.
After the Aryan conquest, in order to maintain the status of the Aryans, the Aryans gradually established many social and religious systems and rules, making this class distinction permanent.
The caste system was born.
In order to have long-term and effective control over the indigenous peoples of India, the Aryans created the original Brahmanism based on the content of the Vedas, and divided the people into four classes based on the teachings in the scriptures: First of all, create Born from the mouth of Brahma, the god-creator, are the Brahmans of the sacrificial class; those born from the arms are the Kshatriyas of the royal class; those born from the thighs are the Vaishyas of the common class; and finally, the two feet are born The ones who belong to the slave class are Shudras.
Because the light skin of the conquering Aryans contrasted sharply with the dark skin of the natives, skin color was a factor closely linked to the caste system.
The word "caste" that we are familiar with is actually a name coined by Portuguese travelers who came to India in the 16th century.
In India, caste is actually called Varna.
The word Varna simply refers to "skin color" and its original meaning has nothing to do with class or status.
However, after 3,500 years, the skin color of the Aryans is also changing, because under the tropical sun, only dark-skinned races can survive better, while light-skinned people are prone to die prematurely due to skin diseases and are eliminated.
The black component in Aryan genes has been inherited and strengthened, and the light component has been continuously eliminated.
Therefore, in modern times, skin color can no longer be used to judge the caste of Indians.
Certain nobles Brahmins may also have very dark skin, and some untouchables may also have fairer skin.
However, in general, like China, in India, people with whiter skin are generally better off, especially in some upper-class Indians.
In the club, those Indian gentlemen and ladies wearing suits and long dresses are no different from Western white people except for the smell of curry on them.
If you look at the photos, you may even mistakenly think that they are in Europe.
Regardless of whether the Brahmin's skin is black or white, these four classes are so strictly separated that no one can be provoked to cross.
Anyone who tries to break this gap will be severely punished by other classes.
Therefore, each class performs its own duties, and intermarriage and communication are not allowed.
Each caste system is its own ethnic group, and there is never a chance to stand out.
For example, a Sudra who was born into the slave class will remain a Sudra for life.
No matter how hard he works, he cannot change his status.
He could find no other employment than a menial job.
If he really transcends this class and engages in a nobler job that is not in line with his status, his original class group will in turn accuse him and curse him for destroying this sacred order.
In more serious cases, they may even be expelled from the ethnic group, or be demoted to an even lower class, becoming the "Ayugabha" of the filthy class that no one can touch, which is also commonly known as the untouchables.
The earliest untouchables in India were conquered natives who worked in dirty jobs, such as butchers, cleaners, and funeral workers.
They were already looked down upon by others.
What's more terrible is that high-caste Indians, especially Brahmins, are very obsessed with the concept of "cleanliness", so untouchables are considered untouchable people.
Ancient Indians believed that diseases can be transmitted not only through contact, but even through the air, so Not only are they not allowed to come into contact with people of higher castes, they even have to keep a considerable distance from them to avoid being accidentally seen by people of higher castes.
Because of this caste system with strict class separation, it controls everyone's every move in terms of behavioral norms.
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Over time, it turns empty religious regulations into reality, and it still deeply affects the thinking and life of every Indian.
The biggest feature of the caste system is its stubbornness and stagnation.
There will be no transformation between castes.
In East Asia, the Middle East and Europe, people at the bottom of society can become high-ranking officials and nobles through their own efforts and opportunities, and can become cardinals. , Imam, but it is basically impossible in India.
What's even more terrible is that after the establishment of the caste system, it not only permanently fixed the status of each social class, but also fixed their occupations and restricted social interactions and marriages among various castes.
The classification of the four major castes of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras is just a very broad concept, equivalent to the scholars, farmers, industry and merchants in ancient China.
Under these four major categories, Indian society has more subtle divisions.
Like other societies in the ancient world, it is a tradition in India that sons inherit their father's business.
A family engaged in a certain job will do that job for generations.
When the number of family members gradually increases with generations, they become a society.
Groups, such groups are called Jats in India, which translates as sub-castes, or sub-castes.
Each family in each sub-caste engages in the same work and establishes close social ties with each other to form a social community.
Sub-castes are basically created by occupation, so there are many sub-castes.
There are now more than 3,000 sub-castes in India.
For example, Mahatma Gandhi in India, the surname Gandhi shows the meaning of the sub-caste to which he belongs.
Gandhi means vegetable and fruit merchant, or vegetable vendor.
Just like caste, a person born in a Jat belongs to that Jat for life.
In theory, it cannot be changed.
He must practice the occupation of the Jat and eat the food that belongs to the Jat.
That is why Gandhi originally wanted to be a lawyer and a politician.
At that time, he was expelled and became a pariah for a while.
However, after he rose to prominence in the Congress Party and became a Mahatma, he was respectfully invited back by the elders.
Traditionally, even within the four major castes, different Jats cannot intermarry.
A Jat can only marry a Jat, even if they are both Brahmins or Kshatriyas.
However, in modern society, this rule is no longer strictly enforced.
It can be seen that traditional India is an extremely rigid and rigid society.
Every Indian is a screw in this society.
Everyone's destiny is determined from birth, because his surname is a hereditary occupation.
For example, there is An Indian named Halvi means "candy maker."
Then they have to make candy to make a living.
If they don't have their own store, they can only work in a candy store.
Because when those bosses saw him, they thought: Oh, his surname is Halvi, and he was born to make sugar and tea.
I’m afraid he can’t do other jobs.
In this way, to put it nicely, traditional Indian society is like a large zoo, a self-sufficient, hierarchical and orderly zoo.
Everyone performs their duties and is happy in their place.
There are craftsmen, cowherds, and landowners here.
People named candy makers make candies, people named cowherds herd cattle, people named warriors go to war, and untouchables are responsible for picking dung.
Everyone's fate is determined by their surname, like changing their career.
You have to reincarnate again.
To put it harshly, this kind of social structure that is so rigid that there is no mobility at all not only blocks the way for lower-class Indians to make progress, but also severely dampens their enthusiasm.
It is also very unfavorable to the supreme rulers, because in this way, Human resources are unable to flow between various industries.
Not only is it impossible to promote cronies from the people at the bottom, but it is also impossible to deploy manpower even within the same class.
If a prince in ancient India wanted to develop the metallurgical industry, he could not change farmers to become blacksmiths; if he wanted to develop the navigation industry, he could not change craftsmen to sailors.
All Indian occupations are hereditary.
And they have formed societies with strict structures like those of Western European Jews, or hereditary trade union organizations, and they also have religious support as an idea.
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Whether the ruler wants to dissolve the group or insert new people into it, it is very difficult, even almost impossible.
The difficulty is no less than a religious reform.
For example, in the early 19th century, during the era of British colonial rule in India, hand-woven Indian cotton cloth was destroyed in the market by the British cotton industry after the industrial revolution.
As a result, the bones of Indian spinners who died of starvation were spread all over Calcutta.
The countryside is not these Indian cotton spinning Craftsmen are so stupid and stubborn that they refuse to change their profession to make money until they starve to death.
However, India’s extremely rigid and rigid traditional social system makes it basically impossible for them to change their profession.
If a certain industry is eliminated as a whole, the practitioners The only way out is probably mass suicide In short, although the caste system in India has ensured the wealth of Brahmins and Kshatriyas for generations, it has dampened the enthusiasm of the working people at the bottom, making them addicted to religion because they see no hope in this world.
It also makes it difficult for the supreme ruler to centralize power. , leading to long-term fragmentation of the country.
For this reason, around the late Spring and Autumn Period in China, at about the same time as Laozi and Confucius, in modern Nepal, there was a prince of the Sakyamuni tribe whose original name was Gautama, also the Buddha Sakyamuni, because he was dissatisfied with Brahmanism.
This religious theory, after assiduous practice, led to enlightenment under a Bodhi tree on the banks of the Ganges River, and finally founded Buddhism, which advocated the equality of all living beings and tried to change this long-standing status quo.
Unfortunately, under the initiative of the Buddha, Buddhism fought with Brahmanism for thousands of years, and even became the state religion for a time with the support of famous kings such as Ashoka and Harsha.
Just like Qin Shihuang's unification of China, he needed the support of Legalism.
These The Indian kings wiped out the separatists and established an empire.
They also needed a new set of ideas that could break the shackles of caste, adapt to the imperial structure, and replace Brahmanism, so they chose to support Buddhism.
However, with the long-term division of India, and the change of Brahmanism into Hinduism with a wider range of beliefs, it made a comeback again.
Buddhism in India eventually declined.
By the time of British colonial rule in India, Buddhism had basically disappeared in India.
It was not until the founding of modern India in 1947 that monks from China, Japan and Southeast Asia returned to India to preach, reviving the flame of Buddhism in India.
However, the decline of Indian Buddhism does not mean that Buddha Sakyamuni has been forgotten by Indians.
Because even in the eyes of Hindus, Buddha Sakyamuni is still a very great god and is regarded as one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, the highest god in Hinduism.
In primary school textbooks in India, children are told, "We live in a beautiful country.
The light of Buddha protects this land.
The Ganges is our mother river, the holy water on which humans, animals and plants depend for survival.
Thank you God allowed us to be born on this land.”
Therefore, many relics left by Buddha Sakyamuni have been protected by Hindus and have survived to modern times.
Instead of only half of the Wailing Wall remaining for worship like the Jews, for example, Wang Qiu and the others went there this time.
Bodhgaya is where the Buddha attained enlightenment.
It is also possible that Mr.
Chandra Shukla was infected with the T-Virus in another world, where he is currently oshow7: