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 :With respect, this is a pointless argument. If you will please look at the main page you will see that the current Dalai Lama claims the Mongolian term ""Dalai"" was a transaltaion of the Tibetan ""Gyatso' which means ""ocean."" Moreover, would not educated Mongolian monks have read the same texts as Tibetan monks referring to ""oceans""? So why should Tibetans but not Mongolians have a concept of what oceans are like? Finally, it is silly to argue about understanding what an ocean or a universe is, and how they may be understood. With our limited facilities it is probable that none us know the true nature of any thing. This does not mean that we cannot have a concept of the universe - we don't commonly confuse the ""universe"" as a planet, a solar system or even a galaxy. Likewise, a person living on a flat coral island might well gain a concept of a ""mountain"" without ever seeing one (just putting together what they have learned about the qualities of mountains). So, why do you insist that Mongolians could have had not concept of ""oceans"" - especially when they would have run across references to them in Indian, Chinese and Tibetan literature? Sincerely,   "