Talk:Tara (Buddhism)

Existence of gods and goddesses in early Buddhism

as Buddhism was originally a religion devoid of goddesses, and in fact deities, altogether. Possibly the oldest text to mention a Buddhist goddess is the Prajnaparamita Sutra (translated into Chinese from the original Sanskrit ca. 2nd century CE), around the time that Mahayana was becoming the dominant school of thought in Indian and Chinese Buddhism.

These statements show a clear lack of knowledge about Indian and Chinese Buddhism in their early stages. For one, male and female devas have always been a part of Buddhist cosmology and appear in the earliest stratum of Buddhist texts including the Pali Canon and the Agamas of the early Buddhist schools. This is basic Buddhism that anyone should know, that there are many realms of heavens in Buddhist cosmology, that are inhabited by male and female deities (devas) who appear in the early scriptures.

Second, the 2nd century CE Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra translation mentioned in the passage above has no reference whatsoever to Prajnaparamita as a personified goddess, only to Prajnaparamita as one of the Six Paramitas and the central Paramita for the practice of the Bodhisattva Path.

Third, Mahayana was not becoming the dominant school of thought in Indian Buddhism or in Chinese Buddhism in the 2nd century CE. On the contrary, all scholars in the field acknowledge that Mahayana was a smaller movement in India at this time, and that Chinese Buddhism did not distinguish Hinayana from Mahayana until some time after. The Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra translation that is being touted as corresponding with the emergence of Mahayana Buddhism as the dominant doctrine, was in fact part of the first stratum of Buddhist texts ever translated into Chinese, and Buddhism was not even really established in the country before this.

This material is very strange and out of touch with basic facts of Buddhism. Tengu800 (talk) 21:07, 25 September 2010 (UTC)