Periyar On Buddhism

Extracts from “Periyar on Buddhism”

“The Buddhist philosophy has been blacked out. The Buddha was born in this country. Though he preached of truth, which he himself discovered, he was hounded out of this country…. All what is said in Buddhism is, ‘do not believe merely because mother says it or father says it, or because a particular thing has been long in prctice, or the Shastras, Vedas command it, or some he or she says it. But believe only those things that are found true according to one’s own reasoning and found consistent with experience.’…The time of the Buddha was one of Brahminical dominance and influence of orthodox religion. The Buddha appeared in such times; and in his view the activities and philosphies of the Brahmins, every single one of them was wrong. And he struggled to change all of them.”