January 27th 2009

Another toe-stubber for people attempting to
understand Buddhism is
the bewildering array of words
with lots of 'A's and 'K's in them.
Take the word 'mahavairocanabhisambodhi'.
It is the name of a tantra associated with a
Buddhist cult.
If no-one can translate that word into English,
how about a number?

Because I am almost incapable of learning
these Pali and Sanscrit words,
I'll introduce a few.
Today's word is 'parivrajakas',
which means 'wanderers'.
These were the voluntarily homeless
who were the first followers of Buddha.
In the rainy season the parivrajakas tended to settle
down together for shelter.

And thus began Organization, Argument and Schism.