This Post is taken from the Plum Village website, (http://www.plumvillage.org/index.html) and is a letter written by Irpinder Bhatia, on October 15, 2008 and is entitled:
"Buddha Walks where Buddha was Born"
Thay and the monastics spent five days in Nagpur, the nerve center of the Buddhist revival in India. Nagpur could one day be as important as Sarnath.On 14 October 1956, Baba Sahep Ambedkar, (see biography below), the visionary socio-Political Leader of the Dalits* took a historic step. He converted to Buddhism with 4,00,000 Dalits and rolled the waves of Buddhism’s return to India. This happened at Diksha Bhoomi at Nagpur.
The day of Shakyamuni Buddha’s first ever teaching at Sarnath, is known as the Dhammachakra Pravartan Din, the day of Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion. On arrival in Nagpur on 7th October, the Sangha found hundreds and hundreds of banners welcoming the Buddhists from all over India to celebrate Baba Saheb’s conversion day. The Dalit Buddhists celebrate it as the second Dhammachakra Pravartan Din, the day of Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion.The monastics and the lay Sangha from Plum Village and Ahimsa Trust walked through more than a Million Indian Buddhists visiting Diksha Bhoomi on this special occasion and shared with them Dhamma, Meditation Practices and chanted together with them.And, on the evening of 8th October, Thay gave a Dhamma talk to thousands of Indian Buddhists assembled at Diksha Bhoomi.
The first evening at Nagpur was spent with the Buddhists intellectuals and monks. In the words of one of the senior Bhikkus, the single most important gift of this Dhamma talks was that: both the lay people and the Indian Monastics were “startled” by the emphasis Thay placed on the building of Sangha. Thay’s teaching that “giving care to one self” and “building Sangha” are essential for those who want to work for social change was found striking and led to reflection.
The volunteer team when it first went to Nagpur made a surprise discovery. It found that the Indian Buddhists have formed a very special relationship with the Hindi version of Thay’s book “Old Path New Clouds.” The book is being read, not just the individuals, but by the entire families, and often more than once. “I have read it twice, and my father is now reading it”, is a typical expression. People who have learnt to read for the first time in centuries form the core of the revival of Buddhism in India. For these newly educated people hungry for Dhamma, the “Old path New Clouds” brings Buddha’s Essential Teachings in a simple language through an easy to understand story.A special low cost edition of the book was brought out for this occasion that sold out to the last copy available in Nagpur. It is felt that this book will be needed in several Indian languages over the years. And that it could play a vital role in quick dissemination of Dhamma to the masses.
The two days Retreat at Nagpur was special for the kind of people it attracted. Most of the retreants were men and women above forty, and quite a few young men. One of the most beautiful and striking visuals I carry from my first exploratory trip to Nagpur is of the wormen in the local Buddhist temples. More than once, late at night, I saw groups of 10-20 women reading Buddhist scriptures by the candle light. [Nagpur has long power cuts that could last as long as 4-6 hours at a time], It is these men and women who are the bedrock of Buddhist revival in India that came to the retreat. They gave the same quality of attention to the walking, sitting and eating meditation they gave to Thay’s Dhamma discourses. On the second day of the retreat, Thay led the walking meditation under a tree. In silence they sat together, Thay and more than 700 retreants, none questioning, none restless.
At the end of the retreat, a group of young men between 18 to 22 walked up to me to share what the retreat had meant to them. “Listening to each of Thay’s Dhamma Talks has been like sitting through a meditation session. So simple and so fulfilling.” One of the young man said thoughtfully, “Thay asked us to feel the presence of the body of the Lord Buddha and the body of Baba Sahib Ambedkar within our body.Thay asked us to feel their presence within us and draw strength from them. I could have never imagined that I can connect with Lord Buddha and Baba Saheb in this way. It is so simple and so easy to practice.”A young women said, “When I saw Thay walk I felt this is the way Lord Buddha must have walked. When Thay stopped and hundreds of people sat around him in silence, I felt that this is how Lord Buddha must have sat and meditated with his Sangha 2550 years ago. Little talking, and much practice”This is exactly how I felt too. When I saw Thay walk in Nagpur, on the Indian soil, I felt that I am seeing Buddha Walk Where Buddha Was Born.
• Victims of the prernicious caste system of India, Dalits, a dispensable lot lived a sub-human existence for centuries.
Irpinder Bhatia, India.
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The following is an excerpt from a biography of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, (Baba Saheb), Please see his biography at (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar), with greatful Thanks.
"In the 1950s, Ambedkar turned his attention to Buddhism and travelled to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to attend a convention of Buddhist scholars and monks. While dedicating a new Buddhist vihara near Pune, Ambedkar announced that he was writing a book on Buddhism, and that as soon as it was finished, he planned to make a formal conversion to Buddhism.[9] Ambedkar twice visited Burma in 1954; the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon. In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India. He completed his final work, The Buddha and His Dhamma, in 1956. It was published posthumously.
Ambedkar organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in Nagpur on October 14, 1956. Accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion. He then proceeded to convert an estimated 500,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him.[9] Taking the 22 Vows, Ambedkar and his supporters explicitly condemned and rejected Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. He then traveled to Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference. He completed his final manuscript, The Buddha or Karl Marx on December 2, 1956.
He was unaware of the fact that the Buddha had Brahmin heritage. Lord Buddha is said to be a descendant of Sage Angirasa in many Buddhist texts.[10]
There too were Kshatiryas of other clans to whom members descend from Angirasa, to fulfill a childless king's wish.[11]
Also, "One of Ambedkar's allies, Kisan Phagoji Bansod, who opposed his decision to convert in 1935, found him too obsessed with reclaiming culture and not sufficiently concerned with analyzing conditions of material oppression."
