Contributed by Zyrius:
I would like to point out a couple of gross errors in one of the world's most popular books at the moment. On page 370 of the novel “The Da Vinci Code”, Dan Brown wrote the following, as spoken by the key character Langdon - “If you and I could dig up documentation that contradicted the holy stories of Islamic belief, Judaic belief, Buddhist belief, pagan belief, should we do that? Should we wave a flag and tell the Buddhists that we have proof the Buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.”
A bestseller is not always that which sells Truth the best. The book is an entertaining story with some plausible theories though. Though some religious stories might be metaphorical, surely, not all are. And both metaphorical and literal elements can be contained in a single story.
Well, Buddhists do not believe that the Buddha was born from a lotus, but that another great Buddhist teacher, Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born, was. Since the Lotus is a symbol of purity, it means Padmasambhava was born out of purity, not of defilements. Not sure about Jesus, but the Buddha was possibly of virgin birth, though it is believed that his Mother (Queen Maya) had tried to be be with child with King Shuddhodana previously, but with no avail. But that does not definitely means she had lost her virginity. Perhaps what truly matters is that the Queen was without lust when she had an auspicious dream one night - of a white elephant (holding a Lotus in its trunk, which circumambulated her thrice) entering her right, after which she discovered herself to be with child. The white elephant was symbolic of noble greatness, the Lotus once again meant purity, and the circumambulation denoted respect.)
I would like to point out a couple of gross errors in one of the world's most popular books at the moment. On page 370 of the novel “The Da Vinci Code”, Dan Brown wrote the following, as spoken by the key character Langdon - “If you and I could dig up documentation that contradicted the holy stories of Islamic belief, Judaic belief, Buddhist belief, pagan belief, should we do that? Should we wave a flag and tell the Buddhists that we have proof the Buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.”
A bestseller is not always that which sells Truth the best. The book is an entertaining story with some plausible theories though. Though some religious stories might be metaphorical, surely, not all are. And both metaphorical and literal elements can be contained in a single story.
Well, Buddhists do not believe that the Buddha was born from a lotus, but that another great Buddhist teacher, Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born, was. Since the Lotus is a symbol of purity, it means Padmasambhava was born out of purity, not of defilements. Not sure about Jesus, but the Buddha was possibly of virgin birth, though it is believed that his Mother (Queen Maya) had tried to be be with child with King Shuddhodana previously, but with no avail. But that does not definitely means she had lost her virginity. Perhaps what truly matters is that the Queen was without lust when she had an auspicious dream one night - of a white elephant (holding a Lotus in its trunk, which circumambulated her thrice) entering her right, after which she discovered herself to be with child. The white elephant was symbolic of noble greatness, the Lotus once again meant purity, and the circumambulation denoted respect.)
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