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BUDDHIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA : A BLUE PRINT
BUDDHA NEEDS NO PASSPORT NOR VISA
The International Buddhist Conference was held on 4th December 1954 at Rangoon (Burma). Dr. B. R. Ambedkar attended the Conference. He delivered the speech in the Conference. He had prepared an enlarged version of his talk in the form of Memorandum in two parts : Part I of the memorandum Contains programme of propagation of Buddhism in India. Out of the points which Dr. Ambedkar has raised in the memorandum I, he himself fulfilled two important points : (1) by publishing the Buddhist Gospel under the title “BUDDHA AND HIS DHAMMA” and (2) introducing a cermony for conversion to Buddhism. Part II consists of the conditions of Indian Buddhist in South-India.—Editors.
Following are the Memoranda :
Memorandum-I
Record of My Talk to the Buddhist Sasana Council of Burma An Enlarged Version
To spread Buddhism outside Burma to be one of the aims of the Sasana Council then India is the first country they should make the centre of their effort. No other country will yield so much as India will.
The reason is obvious. India is a birthplace of Buddhism. It flourished in India from 543 B.C. to 1400 A.D. i.e. for nearly
2,000 years. Although the Buddhist Religion has vanished, the name of the Buddha is still held in great veneration and the memory of His Religion is still green. In India Buddhism may be a withered plant; but no one can say that it is dead at the roots. He is regarded by the Hindus as Avatar of Vishnu. In India we do not have to restore veneration for a new prophet as Neburchnerar had to do for his Gods among the Jews. All that we have to do is to bring back His religion. Such easy conditions for a fruitful effort cannot be found in any other country. In them there are well and long established