For almost all countries that Buddhism came to, it was a force of civilization. Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Tibet, Mongolia, all got their written languages from Buddhist scholar-missionaries. But not China. China was a civilized country at the time, with its own language and literature when Buddhism arrived.
I was struggling with anger and resistance to accept I was being an asshole to my loved ones, my sponsor asked: “have you kneeled to God lately?”. I was utterly surprised by that question. “What in the world is he talking about?”, I thought. I felt offended. I couldn’t believe he had the nerves to ask me to kneel.
In the old Tibetan manuscript from the 12th century, we find this story about Tso Pema, the Lotus Lake, and why the tantric master Padmasambhava allowed himself to be burned alive and then transformed the blazing fire into a lake.