Paradigms of Buddhism

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This volume begins with the polity of interactive diversity wherein symbiosis of economic, social and cultural values can enrich life. The second chapter is on development and transcendent dimensions as constituents of renaissance. The Chinese intellectuals called the cultural revolution the "thousand weeds", which can be uprooted by the wisdom of Sütras. The fourth chapter on cultural plenitude discusses that Gross National Production should not become Gross National Pollution. The ninth chapter is a glimpse of the vast spread of the Mahābhārata in Asian lands. The earliest period of India the Indus civilization had the decimal system. Ladakh is not Southern Tibet but the Land of Dards (ch.12). Buddhism and the NW (ch.14) deals with Mithraic traditions being introduced into Buddhism e.g. Śākyamuni is replaced by Amitabha. Vikramaśilā (ch.15) had international relations. Nalanda with its splendour and serenity made Hsüan-tsang term Dharma as "sweet dew". Dandan Uiliq and other Central Asian areas became dynamic in the eastward transmission of Buddhism (chs.19, 20). Javanese bronzes of Vairocana and his consort Vajradhätvīśvarī have been identified clearly (ch.23). The 108 Lokeśvaras (not Avalokiteśvaras) of Macchandar Vahal have been precisely identified. Dharma- kośasangraha of Amṛtānanda was the foundation of Buddhist studies. Its facsimile edition (ch.30) is to reconsider certain basic assumptions, like the Five Dhyani- Buddhas. Research notes and restoration of dharanis in the Siddham script in the Taisho Tripitaka provide a glimpse of the life facets of Buddhism.

Prof. Lokesh Chandra is currently the Director of the International Academy of Indian Culture which is a premier research institution for Asian cultures. He has been President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research. He is a well-known historian and a renowned scholar of Tibetan, Mongolian and Sino-Japanese Buddhism. He has also served as a member of the Indian Parliament. In 2006 he was recognized with India's Padma Bhushan award.

He is the son of the world-renowned scholar of Oriental Studies and Linguistics Prof. Raghuvira. He was born in 1927, obtained his Master's degree in 1947 from the Punjab University at Lahore, and followed it with a Doctorate in Literature and Philosophy from the State University of Utrecht (Netherlands) in 1950. Starting with an understanding of the most ancient of India's spiritual expression enshrined in the Vedic tradition, he has moved on to the interlocution between India, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan, South East Asia, and the Indo-European languages. He has studied over twenty languages of the world. He has to his credit 626 works and text editions.

Culture and civilisation, eurocentrism and a pluralistic world, peace and freedom, interactive symbiosis of the economic, social and cultural capital are the need of a shared earth, a renaissance of multiple identities to touch the beauty of life. This polity of interactive diversity is the being of the first chapter. The second chapter is its continuation, as new paradigms of development include the transcendent dimension.

The enfant terrible of communism and secularism were the 'thousand weeds which have been replaced by dedication to wisdom and humane values. A Japanese text on the Lotus Sutra says: "All sins are like frost and dew and so the Sun of Wisdom can disperse them". The fourth chapter on cultural plenitude is on the unified flow of the cosmic to prevent Gross National Production becoming Gross National Pollution. From the cultural catalysis of the horizons will arise the plenitude of human becoming.