According to the Pali sources,
Sineru (aka Meru) is:
A mountain, forming the centre of the world. It is submerged in the sea to a depth of eighty four thousand yojanas and rises above the surface to the same height.
(SNA.ii.443; Sp.i.119; Vsm.206; cp. Mtu.ii.300; Dvy.217; it is eighty thousand leagues broad, A.iv.100).
On the top of Sineru is Tāvatimsa (SNA.ii.485f), while at its foot is the Asurabhavana of ten thousand leagues; in the middle are the four Mahādīpā with their two thousand smaller dīpā.
http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_n ... sineru.htm
According to Sattasuriya sutta (AN 4.99):
‘‘Sineru, bhikkhave, pabbatarājā caturāsītiyojanasahassāni āyāmena, caturāsītiyojanasahassāni vitthārena, caturāsītiyojanasahassāni mahāsamudde ajjhogāḷho, caturāsītiyojanasahassāni mahāsamuddā accuggato."
"Sineru, o monks, the king of the mountains, is 84000 yojanas high from the sea level, 84000 yojanas wide, 84000 yojanas deep in the great ocean."
According to relatively early Indian text, Mahabharata, the Mount Meru is located on the North Pole, and is invisible for the human eyes:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06006.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk08ch15.htm
This location of Mount Meru was also advocated by Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda during Panadura controversy:
http://www.freeratio.org/thearchives/sh ... ?p=1801084
Mount Meru is traditionally depicted in the form of the inverted cone:
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/TF41/
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/TF18/
http://phoenixandturtle.net/images/meru.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Meru
What mountain, invisible to human eyes, can be located on the North Pole, submerged deep into the ocean, in the form of the inverted cone?
This is the form of the magnetic axis of the Earth:
http://physics.uoregon.edu/~jimbrau/Bra ... G07_19.jpg
http://uvs-model.com/pictures/earth_magnetosphere.jpg
In its totality, the magnetic axis is indeed shaped like an hourglass:
Sumeru is said to be shaped like an hourglass, with a top and base of 80,000 yojanas square, but narrowing in the middle (i.e., at a height of 40,000 yojanas) to 20,000 yojanas square.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumeru
Jambudiipa, Pubbavideha, Uttarakuru and Aparagoyaana are four continents (mahaadiipa) of the world-system (cakkavaala).
They are situated on the four sides of Mount Siineru (aka Meru).
So are these continents located on the four sides of the North Pole?
Atthakatha confirms this:
"When the sun rises in this continent (Jambudiipa), it is the middle watch of the night in Aparagoyaana; sunset in Aparagoyaana is midnight in Jambudiipa, and sunrise is noon in Jambudiipa, sunset in Pubbavideha and midnight in Uttarakuru."
"Imasmi~nhi diipe suuriyuggamanakaalo pubbavidehe majjhanhiko hoti, uttarakuruusu attha"ngamanakaalo, aparagoyaane majjhimayaamo. Pubbavidehamhi uggamanakaalo uttarakuruusu majjhanhiko, aparagoyaane attha"ngamanakaalo, idha majjhimayaamo. Uttarakuruusu uggamanakaalo aparagoyaane majjhanhiko, idha attha"ngamanakaalo, pubbavidehe majjhimayaamo. Aparagoyaanadiipe uggamanakaalo idha majjhanhiko, pubbavidehe attha"ngamanakaalo, uttarakuruusu majjhimayaamoti." (DA.iii.868)
"Jambudiipa" is known to be India and its continent. Then remaining continents can be reconstructed then as:
Pubbavideha - Australia,
Uttarakuru - America,
Aparagoyaana - Africa.
Some details preserved by commentarial tradition seem to support such reconstruction.
For example, there is a mention of migration from 'Africa' to 'Eurasia', and no mentions of other migration between continents.
'America' is said to be bigger in extent than 'Africa' and 'Australia', but smaller than 'Eurasia'.
What can we conclude from such reconstruction?
Several instances are given of the Buddha having gone to Uttarakuru for alms. Having obtained his food there, he would go to the Anotatta lake, bathe in its waters and, after the meal, spend the afternoon on its banks (See, e.g., Vin.i.27-8; DhsA.16; DhA.iii.222). The power of going to Uttarakuru for alms is not restricted to the Buddha; Pacceka Buddhas and various ascetics are mentioned as having visited Uttarakuru on their begging rounds (See, e.g., J.v.316; vi.100; MA.i.340; SnA.ii.420). It is considered a mark of great iddhi-power to be able to do this (E.g., Rohita, SA.i.93; also Mil.84).
http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_n ... rakuru.htm
If this reconstruction is correct, and the information in Vinaya and Atthakatha is truthful, then Buddha has visited America.
Metta,
Dmytro
