http://www.columbia.edu/…/00a…/ambedkar_buddha/00_intro.html
INTRODUCTION

Indications of a growth in the volume of interest in Buddhism are
noticeable in some sections of the Indian people. Along with it there is
naturally a growing demand for a clear and consistent statement of the
life and teachings of the Buddha.

Anyone who is not a Buddhist
finds it extremely difficult to present the life and teachings of the
Buddha in a manner which would make it a consistent whole. Depending on
the Nikayas, not only the presentation of a consistent story of the life
of the Buddha becomes a difficult thing and the presentation of some
parts of his teachings becomes much more so. Indeed it would not be an
exaggeration to say that of all the founders of religions in the world,
the presentation of the life and teachings of the founder of Buddhism
presents a problem which is quite puzzling if not baffling. Is it not
necessary that these problems should be solved, and the path for the
understanding of Buddhism be made clear? Is it not time that those who
are Buddhists should take up these problems, at least for general
discussion, and throw what light they can on these problems?

With
a view to raise a discussion on these problems, I propose to set them
out here. The first problem relates to the main event in the life of the
Buddha, namely, Parivraja. Why did the Buddha take Parivraja? The
traditional answer is that he took Parivraja because he saw a dead
person, a sick person and an old person. This answer is absurd on the
face of it. The Buddha took Parivraja at the age of 29. If he took
Parivraja as a result of these three sights, how is it he did not see
these three sights earlier? These are common events occurring by
hundreds, and the Buddha could not have failed to come across them
earlier. It is impossible to accept the traditional explanation that
this was the first time he saw them. The explanation is not plausible
and does not appeal to reason. But if this is not the answer to the
question, what is the real answer?

The second problem is created
by the four Aryan Truths. Do they form part of the original teachings of
the Buddha? This formula cuts at the root of Buddhism. If life is
sorrow, death is sorrow, and rebirth is sorrow, then there is an end of
everything. Neither religion nor philosophy can help a man to achieve
happiness in the world. If there is no escape from sorrow, then what can
religion do, what can Buddha do, to relieve man from such sorrow which
is ever there in birth itself? The four Aryan Truths are a great
stumbling block in the way of non-Buddhists accepting the gospel of
Buddhism. For the four Aryan Truths deny hope to man. The four Aryan
Truths make the gospel of the Buddha a gospel of pessimism. Do they form
part of the original gospel, or are they a later accretion by the
monks?

The third problem relates to the doctrines of soul, of
karma and rebirth. The Buddha denied the existence of the soul. But he
is also said to have affirmed the doctrine of karma and rebirth. At once
a question arises. If there is no soul, how can there be karma? If
there is no soul, how can there be rebirth? These are baffling
questions. In what sense did the Buddha use the words karma and rebirth?
Did he use them in a different sense than the sense in which they were
used by the Brahmins of his day? If so, in what sense? Did he use them
in the same sense in which the Brahmins used them? If so, is there not a
terrible contradiction between the denial of the soul and the
affirmation of karma and rebirth? This contradiction needs to be
resolved.

The fourth problem relates to the Bhikkhu. What was the
object of the Buddha in creating the Bhikkhu? Was the object to create a
perfect man? Or was his object to create a social servant devoting his
life to service of the people and being their friend, guide and
philosopher? This is a very real question. On it depends the future of
Buddhism. If the Bhikkhu is only a perfect man he is of no use to the
propagation of Buddhism, because though a perfect man he is a selfish
man. If, on the other hand, he is a social servant, he may prove to be
the hope of Buddhism. This question must be decided not so much in the
interest of doctrinal consistency but in the interest of the future of
Buddhism.

If I may say so, the pages of the journal of the
Mahabodhi Society make, to me at any rate, dull reading. This is not
because the material presented is not interesting and instructive. The
dullness is due to the fact that it seems to fall upon a passive set of
readers. After reading an article, one likes to know what the reader of
the journal has to say about it. But the reader never gives out his
reaction. This silence on the part of the reader is a great
discouragement to the writer. I hope my questions will excite the
readers to come and make their contribution to their solution.

PROLOGUE

“From time to time men find themselves forced to reconsider current and
inherited beliefs and ideas, to gain some harmony between present and
past experience, and to reach a position which shall satisfy the demands
of feeling and reflexion and give confidence for facing the future. If,
at the present day, religion, as a subject of critical or scientific
inquiry, of both practical and theoretical significance has attracted
increasing attention, this can be ascribed to (a) the rapid progress of
scientific knowledge and thought; (b) the deeper intellectual interest
in the subject; (c) the widespread tendencies in all parts of the world
to reform or reconstruct religion, or even to replace it by some body of
thought, more ‘rational’ and ’scientific’ or less ’superstitious’; and
(d) the effect of social, political, and international events of a sort
which, in the past, have both influenced and been influenced by
religion. Whenever the ethical or moral value of activities or
conditions is questioned, the value of religion is involved; and all
deep-stirring experiences invariably compel a reconsideration of the
most fundamental ideas, whether they are explicitly religious or not.
Ultimately there arise problems of justice, human destiny, God, and the
universe; and these in turn involve problems of the relation between
‘religious’ and other ideas, the validity of ordinary knowledge, and
practicable conceptions of ‘experience’ and ‘reality’.”

–From “Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics,” Vol. X, p. 669.