Question asked by Choong
Dearest Rinpoche,
Each time I encounter Mount Meru in Puja passages, a little bell goes off and I ask myself, this cannot be real or true. Sometimes it even distracts me from the Puja for a few seconds.
Research has uncovered nothing earth-shattering and HH Dalai Lama has been cited as saying that the historical Buddha got the shape of the earth wrong. "The purpose of the Buddha coming to this world was not to measure the circumference of the world and the distance between the earth and the moon, but rather to teach the Dharma, to liberate sentient beings, to relieve sentient beings of their sufferings.", HHDL.
If this is the case, shouldn't some revision be done to certain passages? What do you think?
Dear Choong,
I have never heard of Buddha getting the earth’s shape wrong.
As to revisions, I think revisions can be for examples used in India or Tibet that does not apply now, but the fundamentals of Buddhism and the methods to enlightenment should be ‘revised’ according to the geography, disposition and time the teachings are revealed. Also karmic changes. But ordinary beings like you and me would not be qualified to revise if revision was even necessary.
Tsem Rinpoche