Thank you for the article and your quote from it, oetb.
– I will read the article when I find some time.
Yes. It would be a good idea to address this in a post OR in a detailed comment here. I will try to get to it ASAP.
This issue is related to what I briefly touched on in the recent post, “Difference Between “Me and Mine” and Sakkāya Diṭṭhi”
I am pasting the last part of the post below:
11. Many people have the perception that Buddha Gotama “adopted” that five-fold analysis from the Vedas because those terms appeared in Vedic literature before Buddha Gotama.
– There was Buddha Kassapa on this Earth before Buddha Gotama. Buddha Kassapa’s teachings (especially the true meanings of key concepts) were lost with time. But many terms, including the concepts of kamma, kamma vipāka, five aggregates, and many others, were incorporated into Vedic teachings and transmitted through many generations. Of course, the Vedic teachings used the Sanskrit language, which was derived from Pāli or Magadha language. Sanskrit means “derived from” (“san” + “krutha” or සන් කෘත or සංස්කෘත in Sinhala.)
– The Pāli words like kamma, Nibbāna, Paṭicca Samuppāda were made “more impressive-sounding” by mostly adding the “r” sound. Those three Pāli words became karma, nirvāna, and Pratītyasamutpāda, respectively, in Sanskrit.
– The same is true for the concept of five aggregates or pañca khandha. The Vedic teachings adopted them as five Skandhas.
Whose Concepts are Kamma, Nibbāna, Paṭicca Samuppāda, etc.?
12. A full account requires possibly a whole book. But there are several instances in the Tipitaka where Buddha Gotama explained to various Brahmins that many of their teachings originated with Buddha Kassapa.
– For example, in the Māgandhiya Sutta (MN 75), Buddha Gotama has a conversation with a Brahmin who quoted a verse from the Vedas. Buddha Gotama then says that verse was initially uttered by Buddha Kassapa and that it come down through generations in the Vedas without the true meaning. I have discussed that in the post, “Arōgyā Paramā Lābhā..“
– When Prince Siddhartha was born, such Vedic teachings were there. We have a somewhat similar situation right now, with many vital concepts misinterpreted.
– I mentioned the above because I see in online forums many people wonder whether Buddha Gotama “adopted” Vedic concepts. Those concepts originally came from Buddha Kassapa. But any Buddha discovers them by his own efforts.
– Then the question comes up as to the “evolution of humans.” There was no evolution of humans. Humans existed on Earth (with Brahma-like bodies) at the beginning of the Earth. This is why it would take a book to discuss all these things. I have given a brief account of the “beginnings” in “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27).”
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Furthermore, there is much confusion about the key Pali words anicca and anatta because many people confuse those with Sanskrit words anitya and anatma. There are no words in Sanskrit that provide the same meaning of anicca and anatta. That is discussed in the post that you quoted above.
– That is why the Buddha said not to translate the Tipitaka, especially to Sanskrit.
– The idea was to transmit the Tipitaka in Pali and to explain the content in any language.