Asoka the Great: Positive Theocracies Part 1(B)

Continued from Part A

The first of two films about religious leaders who have had a positive impact on the lives of their subjects, asking what made them so different from the myriad of psychotics that ruled in the name of faith.

Part A: looks briefly at Asoka (or Ahoska) and provides a beginners guide to the Buddha and Buddhism. I apologise for my cold mauling the Sanskrit language.

Part B: looks more at Asoka, his edicts and the kind of ruler he was.

Select Biliography

The Dharmmapada, Trans. Eknath Easwaran
Afghanistan Quarterly, Vol XXIIm 1969=70, 3-4, p. 148-150
Monthly Bulletin of the ASciatic Society, 1970, p.5
Barua, B.M. Inscriptions of Asoka, Part II, 1943 and Asoka and his Inscriptions, 1946
Basak, Radhagovinda, Asokan Inscriptions, 1959
Bhandarkak, D.R., Asoka, 4th Ed.
Bloch, Jules, Les Incriptionjs d'Asoka
Chakravarti, N.P. in Anceint India, No.4
Filliozat, J., in Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXXIV
Henning, W.B., in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol XIII
Herzfeld, E., in Epigraphica Indica, Vol. XIX
Hultzsch, E., Corpus Incriptionum Indicarum, Vol I
MookerJI, R.K., Asoka, 3rd Ed.
Schlumberger, D. And Benveniste, E., in Epigraphica Indica, Vol. XXXVII
Schumacher, W., Die Edikte des Kaisers Asoka
Sen, A.C., Asoka's Edicts
SirCar, D.C., Inscriptions of Asoka Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History and Civilisation, 2nd Ed. Maski Inscription of Asoka, Gurajja Inscription of Asoka and Rajula-Mandagiri Inscription of Asoka in Epigraphica Indica, Vol XXXI Various other works

Smart, Ninian, The Worlds Relgions

Turner, R.L., Hyderabad Archealogical Series, No.10

Category:

Education

Tags:

• religion
• theism
• atheism
• buddhsim
• buddha
• asoka
• the
• great
• ashoka
• dhammapada
• siddhartha
• positive
• theocracies
• theocracy

[GuineaPigDan]

Thanks for this series. The more I learn about Buddhism, the more I see that a lot of people (atheists and theists alike) misunderstand parts of it. Could you next do a video on the Buddhist views on truth and the self? Christian propagandists frequently say that Buddhists deny the existence of both. See here for example- catholic . com/ thisrock/ 2005/ 0505fea1 . asp

[mrgodbehere]

@GuineaPigDan That's a bizarre stance, considering that truth is very important in Buddhism as is what they would call true self knowledge. I don't think I'll get time to do a full video in the near future but this site is pretty good thebigview. com / buddhism / eightfoldpath .html

Also, I recomend reading the Dhammapada. It's not a long text and explains much of the central ideas.

[colourmegone]

I like this very much, thanks for posting it. Of all religions Buddhism is the only one that seemed to make any sense to me because it wasn't centred on life after death, in fact it's all about not living after death. It seems much more life directed than monotheism and much more peaceful and rational than Hinduism. I now consider myself an anti-theist but I have tried to practice meditation in the past still use some of the techniques, particularly those leading to relaxation.

[mrgodbehere]

@colourmegone Well thanks very much. I know what you mean, The Dharmmapada is the nicest of all the religious texts I have read and meditation can be a great way to relax.

Thanks also for subscribing!

[GuineaPigDan]

@mrgodbehere Thanks. I've also found sites like Buddhism A to Z to be very helpful too.