Religions of the World: The History of Buddhism

Over the course of its year history, Buddhism has experienced many schisms and modifications; there are currently three major branches of the tradition — the Theravada "Doctrine of the Elders" , the Mahayana "Great Vehicle , and the Vajrayana "Diamond Vehicle," often simply called "Tibetan Buddhism" , although there are many sects and groups within each of these branches. The Buddhist canon consists of a vast corpus of texts that cover philosophical, devotional, and monastic matters, and each of the major divisions of Buddhism has its own distinct version of what it considers to be canonical scriptures.

Buddhism has spread from its roots in India to virtually every corner of the world, and in each place it has spread it has adopted and adapted local practices and beliefs. Although Buddhism is a distinct religious tradition, many people in the contemporary West have adopted philosophical and practical aspects of Buddhism and incorporated them into their religious and social practices; thus there are people who identify themselves "Buddhist Christians," "Buddhist Jews," and "Buddhist Atheists.

Quick Fact Sources include www. Oh, preacher, give us a good word. Protected by the Dharma , was one of the missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka to proselytize the Buddhist faith. He is described as being a Greek Pali: It eventually encompassed much of northern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Emperor Kanishka — CE is particularly known for his support of Buddhism.

Purusapura , which he used as a capital. Kanishka is also said to have convened a major Buddhist council for the Sarvastivada tradition, either in Gandhara or Kashmir. Allegedly during the council there were altogether three hundred thousand verses and over nine million statements compiled, and it took twelve years to complete.

Although this change was probably effected without significant loss of integrity to the canon, this event was of particular significance since Sanskrit was the sacred language of Brahmanism in India, and was also being used by other thinkers, regardless of their specific religious or philosophical allegiance, thus enabling a far wider audience to gain access to Buddhist ideas and practices. After the fall of the Kushans, small kingdoms ruled the Gandharan region, and later the Hephthalite White Huns conquered the area circa s— Under the Hephthalites, Gandharan Buddhism continued to thrive in cities like Balkh Bactria , as remarked by Xuanzang who visited the region in the 7th century.

Central Asia was home to the international trade route known as the Silk Road, which carried goods between China , India , the Middle east and the Mediterranean world. Buddhism was present in this region from about the second century BCE. The Kushan empire 's unification of most of this area and their support of Buddhism allowed it to easily spread along the trade routes of the region throughout Central Asia. As Buddhism reached many of these lands, Buddhists began to translate and produce texts in the local languages, such as Khotanese a Middle Iranian language , Sogdian also Iranian , Uigur Turkish , Tangut , Tibetan , and Chinese.

Indians and Iranians lived in major cities of this region like Kashgar and Khotan. The Uyghurs conquered the area in the 8th century and blended with the local Iranian peoples, absorbing the Buddhist culture of the region. Many printed Buddhist texts from the region date to the Yuan, and they were printed in the Uyghur, Xixia and Sanskrit languages. Buddhism continued to flourish in India during the Gupta Empire 4th-6th centuries which brought order to much of north India. Gupta rulers such as Kumaragupta I c. During this period, Chinese pilgrims also visited India to study Buddhism.

One of these pilgrims was Faxian , who visited India during the reign of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II in , and commented on the prosperity and mild administration of the Gupta empire. Another Chinese traveler who reached India after the end of the Guptas in the 7th century was Xuanzang. Xuanzang also noted that in various regions Buddhism was giving way to Jainism and Hinduism.

After the fall of Harsha's empire , the gangetic plain saw the rise of many small feuding kingdoms.

History of Buddhism

It was at these great Buddhist universities that scholars elaborated the philosophies of Abhidharma, Madhyamaka and Pramana, as well as the study of linguistics, medicine, astronomy, music, painting and sculpture. By the end of the 12th century, following the Islamic conquest of the Buddhist strongholds in Bihar and the loss of political support coupled with social pressures, the practice of Buddhism retreated to the Himalayan foothills in the North and Sri Lanka in the south. Additionally, the influence of Buddhism also waned due to Hinduism's revival movements such as Advaita , and the rise of the bhakti movement.

It promoted new practices such as the use of mantras , dharanis , mudras , mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas and developed a new class of literature, the Buddhist Tantras. The movement can be traced back to groups of wandering yogis called mahasiddhas. Various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism , especially the Buddhist Yogini tantras. Buddhism arrived late in Tibet, during the 7th century.

Terminology in translation was standardised around , enabling a translation methodology that was highly literal. Despite a reversal in Buddhist influence which began under King Langdarma , the following centuries saw a colossal effort in collecting available Indian sources, many of which are now extant only in Tibetan translation. Tibetan Buddhism was favored above other religions by the rulers of imperial Chinese and Mongol Yuan Dynasty — This has been called " concept-matching ".

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Some of the earliest known Buddhist artifacts found in China are small statues on "money trees", dated c. In the fifth century, Chinese Buddhists also developed new schools and traditions, such as the Tiantai school, the Huayen school, the Pure Land school and Chan Buddhism. Buddhism continued to grow during the early Tang Dynasty — It was during this dynasty that the Chinese monk Xuanzang traveled to India, bringing back Buddhist texts along with relics and statues. Buddhism recovered during the Song Dynasty — , which is known as the "golden age" of Chan.

Pure Land Buddhism also became popular during this period and was often practiced together with Chan. During the Yuan Dynasty , Tibetan Buddhism became the state religion. There is disagreement on when exactly Buddhism arrived in Vietnam. Buddhism may have arrived as early as the 3rd or 2nd century BCE via India, or alternatively during the 1st or 2nd century from China.

However Theravada Buddhism continues to exist in the south of Vietnam. Buddhism prospered in Korea during the North—South States Period period when it became a dominant force in society. Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the 6th century by Korean monks bearing sutras and an image of the Buddha.

The Historical Buddha

During the later Kamakura period , there were six new Buddhist schools founded which competed with the older Nara schools and are known as "New Buddhism" or Kamakura Buddhism. Japanese Buddhist art was especially productive between the 8th and 13th centuries during Nara period , Heian period and Kamakura period Buddhism, especially Zen, remained culturally influential during the Ashikaga period — and the Tokugawa era — Land and maritime trade routes linked India with the region and both Hindu and Buddhist beliefs became influential there during the period of the Indianization of Southeast Asia.

From the 5th to the 13th centuries, South-East Asia saw a series of powerful states which were extremely active in the promotion of Buddhism and Buddhist art alongside of Hinduism. Buddhism monks traveled to China from the kingdom of Funan in the 5th century CE, bringing Mahayana texts, a sign that the religion was already established in the region by this point.

Under the Khmer, numerous temples, both Hindu and Buddhist, were built in Cambodia and in neighboring Thailand. In the Indonesian island of Java , Indianized kingdoms like the Kalingga Kingdom th centuries were destinations for Chinese monks seeking out Buddhist texts. As Srivijaya expanded, Buddhism thrived and also became part of a local syncretism that incorporated several different religions such as Hinduism and other indigenous traditions.

BBC - Religion: Buddhism

In the island of Java, another kingdom also promoted Mahayana Buddhist culture, the Medang Kingdom — , a major rival of Srivijaya. They are known for their monumental temple construction , especially the massive Borobudur , as well as Kalasan , Sewu , and Prambanan. During the 13th and 14th centuries, Theravada became the dominant religion of Cambodia , and monasteries replaced the local priestly classes. The modern era brought new challenges to the Buddhist religion such as the colonization of traditionally Buddhist Asian countries by Western states, which weakened the traditional political structures which supported the religion as well as criticism and competition from Christianity.

In Sri Lanka under the British, Christian missionaries ran all the state approved schools and strongly criticized Buddhism. This society helped usher in a revival of Buddhism in India , where Buddhism became popular among some Indian intellectuals. Ambedkar — , leader of the Dalit Buddhist movement , who urged low caste Indian Dalits to convert to Buddhism. In Burma , a central modern figure is King Mindon r. Thailand , which was the only country to avoid colonization, had two important Buddhist kings, who pushed for modernization and reformation of the Buddhist sangha.

They were King Mongkut r. From , Vietnam , Cambodia and Laos were all French colonies. The Communists came to power in Laos in There was no widespread repression of the Buddhist sangha, but the communist government has sought to control the sangha and use it as a tool to spread its ideology. The opening of Japan in by Admiral Perry and the Meiji Restoration of led to the end of feudal Japan and rapid modernization.

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In , the Japanese government decreed that Buddhist clerics could marry. These changes led to modernization efforts by Japanese Buddhism which saw the setting up of publishing houses and the study of Western philosophy and scholarship. Chinese Buddhism meanwhile, suffered much destruction during the Christian-inspired Taiping rebellion , but saw a modest revival during the Republican period The Communist Cultural Revolution —76 led to the closing of all Buddhist monasteries and widespread destruction of Buddhist institutions. However, since , there has been a general shift in the policy of the communist government, and Buddhist activity, both monastic and lay, has once again been renewed.

Korean Buddhism suffered a series of setbacks during the Japanese invasions , occupation, and also during the Korean war. North Korea 's harsh government nevertheless offers some limited support to the sangha, but it closely controls all activity. In South Korea , Buddhism underwent a revival, with youth groups being influential and temples being rebuilt with government aid. Tibet remained a traditional theocratic state the Ganden Phodrang with the Dalai Lamas at the head, until the Chinese communist invasion in The 14th Dalai Lama fled the country in A man and only a man can become a Buddha.

Every man has within himself the potential of becoming a Buddha if he so wills it and works at it. Nevertheless, the Buddha was such a perfect human that he came to be regarded in popular religion as super-human. Man's position, according to Buddhism, is supreme. Man is his own master and there is no higher being or power that sits in judgment over his destiny. If the Buddha is to be called a "savior" at all, it is only in the sense that he discovered and showed the path to liberation, to Nirvana, the path we are invited to follow ourselves.

It is with this principle of individual responsibility that the Buddha offers freedom to his disciples. This freedom of thought is unique in the history of religion and is necessary because, according to the Buddha, man's emancipation depends on his own realization of Truth, and not on the benevolent grace of a God or any external power as a reward for his obedient behavior.

Life of the Buddha. The main events of the Buddha's life are well known. He was born Siddhartha Gautama of the Shaka clan. He is said to have had a miraculous birth, precocious childhood, and a princely upbringing. He married and had a son. He encountered an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a religious ascetic.