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Just an observation.
I found 33 male buddhas known to humanity vs 4 female ones. There are more female ones listed but I am referring to historical persons.
Out of those 33 male buddhas, majority is kshatriya, or military/rulers. Some were kings or came from royal family. None was from lower casts.
Simply makes me wonder. Absolute prevalence of the male mind for buddha enlightenment is apparently obvious. Along with belonging to a certain cast and social position.
Just an observation.
I found 33 male buddhas known to humanity vs 4 female ones. There are more female ones listed but I am referring to historical persons.
Out of those 33 male buddhas, majority is kshatriya, or military/rulers. Some were kings or came from royal family. None was from lower casts.
Simply makes me wonder. Absolute prevalence of the male mind for buddha enlightenment is apparently obvious. Along with belonging to a certain cast and social position.
I have a theory... ...that Buddhism was invented in order to allow the Kshatriya caste to wrest authority from the Brahmins. They did this by taking te theory of Hinduism and simply removing the gods as a medium that could be propitiated by making donations to the Brahmins and instead, while personal effort was the way of attaining nirvana, the donating of gifts to the Sangha, which, as you observe, was a particularly Kshatriya organization, despite being ostensibly casteless, was a way of making personal merit.
You will be aware that a constant polemic debate between the rival merits of the Brahmins and Buddhism is a feature of the Tripitaka.
I have a theory... ...that Buddhism was invented in order to allow the Kshatriya caste to wrest authority from the Brahmins. They did this by taking te theory of Hinduism and simply removing the gods as a medium that could be propitiated by making donations to the Brahmins and instead, while personal effort was the way of attaining nirvana, the donating of gifts to the Sangha, which, as you observe, was a particularly Kshatriya organization, despite being ostensibly casteless, was a way of making personal merit.
You will be aware that a constant polemic debate between the rival merits of the Brahmins and Buddhism is a feature of the Tripitaka.
An interesting theory. You might be on to something.
So far nothing has turned up to refute that, other than what appears to be the early monument suggesting that Gotama was a real person rather than an invention by a committee, and a few indications of Kshatriya -consciousness. I seem to recall Buddha deprecating the idea of marrying foreigners - a suggestion of maintaining some kind of caste purity, which seems surprising, and this idea that men are Holy and women are not.
In fact as can hardly be denied, women are often better Buddhists than men and more worthy of Nirvana by their efforts, but the best they can ever get, according to Buddhism, is a better rebirth as men or gods in order for that final try for Nirvana.
But, to get back to topic, we do seem to have female Buddhas. I should like to hear about them, as I only know of the female goddesses and Bodhhsattvas, such as Tara and Kuan-Yin, though the latter is of course the male Avalokiteshvara, transformed into a female, by some mistake.
Just Google female buddhas list. It has about 15 names on it but majority is goddesses, so I passed on those. Only handful is historic persons.
My humble opinion is it has to do with desire mind, being male aspect. I GREAT decision has to be made to let go of everything and fall into the abyss of totality. It is rather not a feeling mind, or female aspect, to make decisions of such grandeur.
I have no doubt that male buddhas had their female aspect honed too. But it is the final decision, desire., that I refer to. Desire mind IS desire, action. Feeling mind only induces desire out of desire mind.
Just an observation.
I found 33 male buddhas known to humanity vs 4 female ones. There are more female ones listed but I am referring to historical persons.
Out of those 33 male buddhas, majority is kshatriya, or military/rulers. Some were kings or came from royal family. None was from lower casts.
Simply makes me wonder. Absolute prevalence of the male mind for buddha enlightenment is apparently obvious. Along with belonging to a certain cast and social position.
No, that means there were many more buddhas. The ones I am referring to is Hindu tradition. it does not account for other, non Hindu Buddhas, like Jesus.
What it means, I found list of 33 male buddhas. List of approximately 15 female buddhas, but only 4 on the list were historical persons.
That makes it 33 male and 4 female buddhas. In Hindu tradition.
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...that Buddhism was invented in order to allow the Kshatriya caste to wrest authority from the Brahmins. They did this by taking te theory of Hinduism and simply removing the gods as a medium that could be propitiated by making donations to the Brahmins and instead, while personal effort was the way of attaining nirvana, the donating of gifts to the Sangha, which, as you observe, was a particularly Kshatriya organization, despite being ostensibly casteless, was a way of making personal merit.
