The transliteration (in a “mix of Kavi (old Javanese) alphabet in a mixed vocabulary of Tagalog, Old Malay, and Sanskrit in the year 900AD”) is as follows (from SanghaPinoy):

Swasti Shaka warsatita 822 Waisaka masa di(ng) Jyotisa. Caturthi Krisnapaksa somawara sana tatkala Dayang Angkatan lawan dengan nya sanak barngaran si Bukah anak da dang Hwan Namwaran dibari waradana wi shuddhapattra ulih sang pamegat senapati di Tundun barja(di) dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Pailah Jayadewa. Di krama dang Hwan Namwaran dengan dang kayastha shuddha nu diparlappas hutang da walenda Kati 1 Suwarna 8 dihadapan dang Huwan Nayaka tuhan Puliran Kasumuran. dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Pailah barjadi ganashakti. Dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Binwangan barjadi bishruta tathapi sadana sanak kapawaris ulih sang pamegat dewata [ba]rjadi sang pamegat Medang dari bhaktinda diparhulun sang pamegat. Ya makanya sadanya anak cucu dang Hwan Namwaran shuddha ya kapawaris dihutang da dang Hwan Namwaran di sang pamegat Dewata. Ini grang syat syapanta ha pashkat ding ari kamudyan ada grang urang barujara welung lappas hutang da dang Hwa

Vesak is the Buddhist name of the month—though now it’s shortened to a single day–which celebrates Buddha’s birthday and enlightenment. Vesak or Vesakha (in Pali) is the holiest month in the Buddhist calendar and is usually the time when debts are forgiven and festivals held. Swasti is also a very traditional Sanskrit-Buddhist greeting (similar to the modern Thai, sawatdee). The Laguna copperplate therefore indicates that the areas mentioned — Pampanga, Manila, and Bulacan — had already adopted Buddhism.”

Two good articles on the Laguna Copperplate describe a Buddhist presence, but also show that the extent of its presence is still a subject for more research:

Hector Santos: “A Philippine Leaf”
Paul Morrow: “Laguna Copperplate Inscription”

Bayang Pinagpala’s “Treasures of Pila” mentions the “Song Annals of Zhao Rugua” which notes: “‘More than one thousand families have settled there on the two banks of the stream. Some of the natives wear cloth like sheets, loosely thrown over themselves; others use the loincloth only to cover their bodies… Copper statues of the Buddha are set up all over the grassy land, but no one knows were the statues came from…’”

An important part of this story involves the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, and the effects of the Christian Catholic inquisition on both indigenous shamanic traditions as well as all other “outside” influences that were then present in the Philippines, which included Islam and Buddhism. The colonizers claimed the archipelago for Christianity and closed the area off to all trade except that with Spain. This is a shame, since trade with India and southeast Asia seems to illustrate successful economic, cultural, and spiritual exchanges and relationships between indigenous Filipinos and other peoples of southern and southeast Asia.

The Laguna copperplate was not the only early Buddhist artifact found in the Philippines — although I think that the real, living evidence of Buddhist presence is linguistic. More to come…

KF: 1. RE: the anti-mushroom culture
Tuesday, 11:35 PM EDT | Post edited: Tuesday, 11:35 PM EDT
A bit of context: the “mushroom culture” is a concept originated by Bill Hamilton and recently popularized by Daniel Ingram. It refers to the tendency of many dharma teachers to withhold information about enlightenment and high level jhanic attainments from their students. As Bill used to say, dharma teachers like to “keep ‘em (their students) in the dark and feed ‘em sh_t.”

The opposite of the mushroom culture is simply telling the truth as you know it, based on your own experience. If you are a dharma teacher and you believe you are enlightened, have the courage to say so. If you know something about jhanas, tell what you know. Although there are some downsides to making information freely available, they are far outweighed by the upsides. Mushrooms can only thrive in the dark. And if you ask yourself “who benefits from withholding information?” it becomes very clear that the answer is not “the students.” Who, then?

Tell the truth as you know it, in your own experience. That includes not only your assessment of your own relative enlightenment, but also the fact that after all these years of meditation you wake up every morning to find that you are still a human being with human emotions, human needs, and human failings. If we all tell the truth about this, we can lay to rest some of the infantile mythology about enlightenment that has gone virtually unchallenged for thousands of years. It’s time to clear the air about what enlightenment is and what it is not. Who’s on board?

Kenneth

R: 2. RE: the anti-mushroom culture
Tuesday, 11:46 PM EDT | Post edited: Tuesday, 11:46 PM EDT
I’m on board if we can talk about ALL of it, including the downsides– and even more particularly, about the issues mentioned in the chapter on ‘the embarrassments of enlightenment’ in “Saints & Psychopaths”. I’ve been mulling that stuff over for a few months now.
I’d be interested, too, in what, specifically, YOU mean by ‘the infantile mythology about enlightenment.’ I’d bet that each of us might fill in that category somewhat differently; it would be interesting to compare notes.

KF: 3. RE: the anti-mushroom culture
Yesterday, 12:04 AM EDT | Post edited: Yesterday, 12:04 AM EDT
Yes, Kate, let’s talk about all of it. I’ll start with what I mean by the infantile mythology about enlightenment:

Enlightened people:

1) do not experience fear.
2) do not experience anger.
3) do not experience sensual desire.
4) do not get stressed out.
5) do not exist in this degenerate age.
6) are easily recognizable by their beatific smiles and unswervingly pleasant demeanor.
7) wear flowing white robes.
live a constant state of cosmic bliss-out.
9) always know the answer.

Seeing the list, you may laugh at such a cartoonish vision… but don’t laugh too hard. Most of us, in our heart of hearts, are clinging to one or more of these unrealistic and demonstrably false notions. Magical/mythical thinking is alive and well in 2010. Is it time for us to grow up? I believe it is.

Kenneth