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Buddhism, Buddha
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Buddhism is a
religion and philosophy based on the teachings
of Siddhartha Gautama (Sanskrit; in
Pāli, Siddhattha Gotama), who lived between approximately 563 and 483
BCE. Originating in India, Buddhism gradually spread
throughout Asia to Central Asia, Tibet,
Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, as well as
the East Asian countries of China, Mongolia,
Korea, and Japan.
Statues of Buddha
such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind
followers to practice right living.
To shun all evil.
To do good.
To purify one’s heart.
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.
--Dhammapada, XIV, 5
Buddhism teaches followers to perform good and
wholesome actions, to avoid bad and harmful actions, and to purify and
train the mind. The aim of these practices is to put an end to
suffering
and achieve
enlightenment, either individually or for
all beings. Enlightenment leads to
Nirvana (Sanskrit:
"extinguishment")
Buddhist morality is underpinned by the principles of
harmlessness and moderation. Mental training focuses on moral discipline
(sila), meditative concentration (samadhi),
and wisdom (prajñā). Buddhists frequently use
meditation
to try to gain insight into the fundamental operations of human
psychology and the causal processes of the world.
While Buddhism does not deny the existence of supernatural beings
(indeed, many are discussed in Buddhist scripture), it
does not ascribe power for creation, salvation
or judgment to them. Like humans, they are regarded as having the power
to affect worldly events, and so some Buddhist schools associate with
them via ritual.
What is a Buddha?
 Buddha is a word in the
ancient Indian languages Pāli and
Sanskrit which means "one who has become awake". It is
derived from the verbal root "√budh", meaning "to awaken."
The word "Buddha" denotes not just a single religious
teacher who lived in a particular epoch, but a type of person, of which
there have been many instances in the course of cosmic time. (As an
analogy, the term "American President" refers not just to one man, but
to everyone who has ever held the office of the American presidency.)
The Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, then, is simply one member in the
spiritual lineage of Buddhas, which stretches back into the dim recesses
of the past and forward into the distant horizons of the future.
Gautama did not claim any divine status for himself,
nor did he assert that he was inspired by a god or
gods. He claimed to be not a personal savior, but a
teacher to guide those who choose to listen. A Buddha is any human being
who has fully awakened to the true nature of existence, whose insight
has totally transformed him or her beyond birth, death, and subsequent
rebirth, and who is enabled to help others achieve the same
enlightenment.
The principles by which a person can be led to enlightenment are known
as the Buddhadharma, or simply the
Dharma.
Dharma in this sense of the rather complex term means, "law, doctrine,
or truth." Anyone can attain what the Buddha attained regardless of age,
gender, or caste. Indeed, Buddhists believe there have been many
solitary buddhas (Pāli pacceka-buddha; Sanskrit: pratyekabuddha) who
achieved enlightenment on their own but did not go on to teach others.
According to one of the stories in the Sutta Nipāta, the Buddha, too,
was afraid to teach humans because he despaired of their limited
capacity for understanding. The Vedic (early
Hindu)
god Indra, however, interceded, and requested that he
teach despite this. That the historical Buddha did so is thus a mark of
special compassion.
Origins of Buddha
Legend has it that the Buddha to be,
Siddhartha Gautama, was born around the 6th century BCE. His birthplace
is said to be Lumbini in the kingdom of Magadha, in what is now Nepal.
His father was a king, and Siddhartha lived in luxury, being spared all
hardship.
 A
replica
of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath
The legends say that a seer predicted
that Siddhartha would become either a great king or a great
holy man; because of this, the king tried to make sure that
Siddhartha never had any cause for dissatisfaction with his life, as
that might drive him toward a spiritual path. Nevertheless, at the age
of 29, while being escorted by his attendant Channa, he came across
what has become known as the Four Passing Sights: an old crippled man,
a sick man, a decaying corpse, and finally a wandering holy man. These
four sights, as they are called, led him to the realization that
birth, old age, sickness and death came to everyone, not only once but
repeated for life after life in succession for uncounted eons. He
decided to abandon his worldly life, leaving behind his wife and
child, his privilege, rank, caste, and to take up the life of a
wandering holy man in search of the answer to the problem of birth,
old age, sickness, and death. It is said that he stole out of the
house in the dead of night, pausing for one last look at his family,
and did not return there for a very long time.
Indian holy men (sādhus), in those days just as
today, engaged in a variety of ascetic practices
designed to "mortify" the flesh. This belief was taken to an extreme
in the faith of Jainism. It was thought that by
enduring pain and suffering, the ātman (Sanskrit;
Pāli: atta) or "soul" became free from the round of
rebirth into pain and sorrow. Siddhartha proved adept at these
practices, and was able to surpass his teachers. However, he found no
answer to his problem and, leaving behind his teachers, he and a small
group of companions set out to take their austerities
even further. He became a skeleton covered with skin, surviving on a
single grain of rice per day, and practiced holding his breath. After
nearly starving himself to death with no success (some sources claim
that he nearly drowned), Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then
he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his
father start the season’s plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally
concentrated and focused state in which time seemed to stand still,
and which was blissful and refreshing. Perhaps this would provide an
alternative to the dead end of self-mortification?
Taking a little buttermilk from a passing goatherd, he found a large
tree (now called the Bodhi tree) under which he would
be shaded from the heat of the mid-summer sun, and set to meditating.
This new way of practicing began to bear fruit. His mind became
concentrated and pure, and then, six years after he began his quest,
he attained Enlightenment, and became a Buddha.
Historically speaking, there are questions about this story. First,
there are other narrative versions of his life that do not exactly
match - one has it that the Buddha leaves home in the "prime of his
youth", his parents weeping and wailing all the while. Second, we know
from other sources that the country of Magadha, where he was born, was
an oligarchic republic at that time, so there was no royal family of
which to speak. However, regardless of the details of his early life,
the evidence strongly indicates that the Buddha was indeed a
historical person living in approximately the same time and place in
which he is traditionally placed.
Principles of Buddhism
Symbol of the Three Jewels (triratna),
surmounted by a Dharma wheel, on a "footprint" of the Buddha, 1st
century, Gandhara.
The Three Jewels
Buddhists seek refuge in what are often referred to as
the Three Jewels, Triple Gem or
Triple Jewel. These are the Buddha, the Dharma, and
the "noble" (Sanskrit: arya) Sangha or community of
monks and nuns who have become
enlightened. While it is impossible to escape one’s
karma
or the effects caused by previous thoughts, words and deeds, it is
possible to avoid the suffering that comes from it by becoming
enlightened. In this way, dharma offers a refuge.
Dharma, used in the sense of the Buddha’s teachings, provides a raft
and is thus a temporary refuge while entering and crossing the river.
However, the real refuge is on the other side of the river.
To one who is seeking to become enlightened, taking refuge constitutes
a continuing commitment to pursuing enlightenment and following in the
footsteps of the people who have followed the path to enlightenment
before. It contains an element of confidence that enlightenment is in
fact a refuge, a supreme resort. Many Buddhists take the refuges each
day, sometimes more than once in order to remind themselves of what
they are doing and to direct their resolve inwardly towards
liberation.
Although Buddhists concur that taking refuge should be undertaken with
proper motivation (complete liberation) and an understanding of the
objects of refuge, the Indian scholar Atisha identified that in
practice there are many different motives found for taking refuge. His
idea was to use these differing motivations as a key to resolving any
apparent conflicts between all the Buddha’s teachings without
depending upon some form of syncretism that would cause as much
confusion as it attempted to alleviate.
In the 11th century, Lamp for the Path by Atisha, and in the
subsequent Lamrim tradition as elaborated by Tsongkhapa, the several
motives for refuge are enumerated as follows, typically introduced
using the concept of the "scope" (level of motivation) of a
practitioner:
Worldly scope is taking refuge to improve the lot of this life
Low scope is taking refuge to gain high rebirth and avoid the low
realms
Middle scope is taking refuge to achieve Nirvana
High scope is taking refuge to achieve Buddha hood
Highest scope is also sometimes included, which is taking refuge to
achieve Buddha hood in this life.
The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha taught that life was dissatisfactory because of craving,
but that this condition was curable by following the eightfold
path. This teaching is called the four noble truths:
Dukkha: All worldly life is unsatisfactory, disjointed, containing
suffering.
Samudaya: There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment or desire
(tanha) rooted in ignorance. In
Mahayana
and Vajrayana, this is qualified as self-centered
desire.
Nirodha: There is an end of suffering, which is Nirvana.
Marga: There is a path that leads out of suffering, known as the Noble
Eightfold Path.
The Noble Eightfold Path
 Buddhist
monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock
copy of the Tibetan Kanjur.
In order to fully understand the noble
truths and investigate whether they were in fact true, Buddha
recommended that a certain lifestyle or path be followed which
consists of:
Right Understanding
Right Thought
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
Sometimes in the Pāli Canon the Eightfold Path is
spoken of as being a progressive series of stages which the
practitioner moves through, the culmination of one leading to the
beginning of another, but it is more usual to view the stages of the
’Path’ as requiring simultaneous development.
The Eightfold Path essentially consists of meditation, following the
precepts, and cultivating the positive converse of the precepts (e.g.
benefiting living beings is the converse of the first precept of
harmlessness). The Path may also be thought of as a the way of
developing śīla, meaning mental and moral discipline.
The Five Precepts
 The
Buddha statue Aukana, in Sri Lanka
Buddhists undertake certain precepts as aids on the
path to coming into contact with ultimate reality. Laypeople generally
undertake five precepts. The five precepts are:
I undertake the precept to refrain from harming living creatures
(killing).
I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not
freely given (stealing).
I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct.
I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech (lying, harsh
language, slander, idle chit-chat).
I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss
of mindfulness.
In some schools of Buddhism, serious lay people or aspiring monks take
an additional three to five ethical precepts, and some of the five
precepts are strengthened. For example, the precept pertaining to
sexual misconduct becomes a precept of celibacy; the fourth precept,
which pertains to incorrect speech, is expanded to four: lying, harsh
language, slander, and idle chit-chat. Monks and nuns in most
countries also vow to follow the 227 patimokkha rules.
The three marks of conditioned existence
According to the Buddhist tradition all phenomena (dharmas) are marked
by three characteristics, sometimes referred to as the Dharma Seals:
Anatta (Pāli; Sanskrit: anātman):
All beings have no self. In Indian philosophy, the concept of a self
is called ātman (that is, "soul" or metaphysical
self), which refers to an unchanging, permanent essence. This concept
and the related concept of
Brahman,
the Vedantic
monistic ideal, which was regarded as an ultimate ātman for all
beings, were indispensable for mainstream Indian metaphysics, logic,
and science; for all apparent things there had to be an underlying and
persistent reality, akin to a Platonic form. The Buddha rejected the
concept of atman, emphasizing not permanence but changeability. If the
soul were permanent and unchanging--if all existence has its root in
something fixed--then change becomes philosophically difficult to
account for (this is similar to
Zen’s
paradoxes). This problem was analyzed extensively by Nāgārjuna.
Anicca (Pāli; Sanskrit: anitya): All things and experiences are
inconstant, unsteady, and impermanent. Everything is made up of parts,
and is dependent on the right conditions for its existence. Everything
is in flux, and so conditions are constantly changing. Things are
constantly coming into being, and ceasing to be. Nothing lasts.
Dukkha (Pāli; Sanskrit: duḥkha): because we fail to truly grasp the
first two conditions, we
suffer.
We desire a lasting satisfaction, but look for it amongst constantly
changing phenomena. We perceive a self, and act to enhance that self
by pursuing pleasure, and seek to prolong pleasure when it too is
fleeting.
It is by realizing (not merely understanding intellectually, but
making real in one’s experience) the three marks of conditioned
existence that one develops Prajñā, which is the antidote to the
ignorance that lies at the root of all suffering.
Buddha-dhatu
("Buddha-Principle", "Buddha-nature")
The Buddha's
Mahayana doctrines contain a set of "ultimate" (nitartha)
teachings on the immanence of a hidden core reality within all
sentient beings which is linked to the eternality of the Buddha and
Nirvana. This immanent yet transcendent essence is variously called,
in the key tathagatagarbha
sutras which expound it, the Buddha-dhatu ("Buddha-element", Buddha-nature)
or the Tathagatagarbha.
This Buddha-dhatu is empty of all that is contingent, painful and
impermanent. In the Nirvana Sutra,
it is called by the Buddha the "True Self" (to distinguish it from the
"false" worldly self of the five skandhas). It
is no less than the unfabricated, uncreated, uncompounded, immaculate,
immortal, all-knowing, radiantly shining Principle of blissful
Buddhahood - the very Dharmakaya,Dhammakaya法身.
This Tathagatagarbha/ Buddha-dhatu, inherent in all beings, can never
be destroyed or harmed, and yet is concealed from view by a mass of
obscuring mental and moral taints within the mind-stream of the
individual being. Once the Buddha-dhatu is finally seen and known by
the faithful Buddhist practitioner, it has the power to transform that
seer and knower into a Buddha. The doctrine of the Tathagatagarbha/Buddha-dhatu
is stated by the Buddha of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra
to be the "absolutely final culmination" of his Dharma.
Other principles and practices
of Buddhism
Meditation or dhyāna of some form is a
common practice in most if not all schools of Buddhism, for the clergy
if not the laity.
Central to Buddhist doctrine and practice is the law of
karma
and vipaka; action and its fruition, which happens
within the dynamic of dependent origination (pratītya-samutpāda).
Actions which result in positive retribution (happiness) are defined
as skillful or good, while actions that produce negative results
(suffering) are called unskillful or bad actions. These actions are
expressed by the way of mind, body or speech. Some actions bring
instant retribution while the results of other actions may not appear
until a future lifetime.
Rebirth,
which is closely related to the law of karma. An action in this life
may not give fruit or reaction until the next life time. This being
said, action in a past life takes effect in this one, making a chain
of existence. The full realization of the absence of an eternal self
or soul (the doctrine of anatta (Pāli; Sanskrit: anātman) breaks this
cycle of birth and death (samsara).
Vegetarianism
The first lay precept in Buddhism prohibits killing. Many see this as
implying that Buddhists should not eat the meat of animals. However,
this is not necessarily the case. The Buddha made distinction between
killing an animal and consumption of meat, stressing that it is
immoral conduct that makes one impure, not the food one eats. Monks in
ancient India were expected to receive all of their food by begging,
and so theoretically should have no control at all over their diet.
During the Buddha’s time, there was no general rule requiring monks to
refrain from eating meat. In fact, at one point the Buddha
specifically refused to institute vegetarianism and the Pali Canon
records the Buddha himself eating meat on several occasions. There
were, however, rules prohibiting certain types of meat, such as human,
leopard or elephant meat. Monks are also prohibited from consuming
meat if the monk witnessed the animal’s death or knows that it was
killed specifically for him. This rule was applied to commercial
purchase of meat in the case of a general who sent a servant to
purchase meat specifically to feed the Buddha. Therefore, eating
commercially purchased meat is not prohibited.
On the other hand, certain
Mahayana sutras make a
stronger argument against eating meat. In the Nirvana Sutra, the
Buddha states that "the eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great
compassion". A long passage in the Lankavatara Sutra shows the Buddha
weighing strongly in favor of vegetarianism. And several other
Mahayana Vyana prohibit consumption of meat.
In the modern world, attitudes toward vegetarianism vary by location.
In the
Theravada
countries of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, monks are
bound by the vinaya to accept almost any food that is offered to them,
often including meat, while in China and
Vietnam, monks are expected to eat no meat. In Japan
and Korea, some monks practice vegetarianism, and
most will do so at least when training at a monastery, but otherwise
they typically do eat meat. In Tibet, where vegetable nutrition was
historically very scarce, and the adopted vinaya was the Nikaya
Sarvāstivāda, vegetarianism is very rare, although the Dalai Lama has
recently made several comments encouraging its adoption. In the West,
of course, a wide variety of practices are followed. Lay Buddhists
generally follow dietary rules less rigorously than monks.The three main branches of Buddhism
 Buddhism
has evolved into myriad schools that can be roughly grouped into three
types: Nikaya, Mahayana, and
Vajrayana. Of the Nikaya schools, only
the Theravada survives. Each branch sees itself as representing the
true, original teachings of the Buddha, although some schools believe
that the dialectic nature of Buddhism allows its format, terminology,
and techniques to adapt over time in response to changing
circumstances.
The Theravada school, whose name means "Doctrine of the Elders", bases
its practice and doctrine exclusively on the Pali Canon.
This is considered to be the oldest of the surviving Buddhist canons,
and its sutras are accepted as authentic in every branch of Buddhism.
Theravada is the only surviving representative of the historical
Nikaya branch. Nikaya Buddhism and consequently
Theravada are sometimes referred to as Hinayana or "lesser
vehicle", although this is generally considered to be
impolite. Theravada is practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos,
Thailand, and portions of Vietnam and Malaysia.
The Mahayana, or "Great Vehicle"
branch, emphasizes universal compassion and the selfless ideal of the
bodhisattva. In addition to the Nikaya scriptures, Mahayana schools
recognize all or part of a genre of scriptures that were first put in
writing around 1 CE. These later scriptures were written in Sanskrit
and are concerned with the purpose of achieving Buddhahood
by following the path of the
bodhisattva over the
course of what is often described as countless eons of time. Because
of this immense timeframe, many Mahayana schools accept the idea of
working towards rebirth in a
Pure Land,
which is not enlightenment in itself but which is a highly conducive
environment for working toward enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhism is
practiced today in China, Japan, Korea, and most of Vietnam.
The Vajrayāna or "Diamond Vehicle"
(also referred to as
Tantric Buddhism) shares many of
the basic concepts of Mahayana, but also includes a vast array of
spiritual techniques designed to enhance Buddhist practice. One
component of the Vajrayāna is harnessing psycho-physical energy as a
means of developing profoundly powerful states of concentration and
awareness. These profound states are in turn to be used as an
efficient path to Buddhahood. Using these techniques, it is claimed
that a practitioner can achieve Buddhahood in as little as three
years. In addition to the Theravada and Mahayana scriptures, Vajrayāna
Buddhists recognize a large body of texts that include the Buddhist
Tantras. Vajrayana is practiced
today mainly in Tibet, Nepal,
Bhutan, Mongolia, Kalmykia, areas of India, and, to a limited extent,
in China and Japan.
Buddhist regions of the world
The following is a
comprehensive aspect of the dominant forms of Buddhism along with the
primary regions with which they are associated.
Theravada Buddhism: parts of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (where it is
imposed as the state religion),Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, parts of
Vietnam (along the Mekong Delta frontier with Cambodia, the so-called
"Khmer Krom" region), and parts of China (in Yunnan, Guangxi, and
Sichuan).
Mahayana Buddhism: most of China (including Hong Kong and Macau),
Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and most of Vietnam.
Vajrayana Buddhism:
Tibetan Buddhism: found in Tibet (and adjacent areas of China), North
India, Bhutan, Nepal, southwestern China, Mongolia and, various
Constituent republic of Russia that are adjacent to the area, such as:
Amur Oblast, Buryatia, Chita Oblast, Tuva Republic, and Khabarovsk
Krai. There is also Kalmykia, another constituent republic of Russia
that is in fact the only Buddhist region in Europe, paradoxically
located in the north Caucasus.
Shingon Buddhism or "True Word" Buddhism: found in Japan.
At the present time the teachings of all three branches of Buddhism
have spread throughout the world and are now easily available in the
developed countries, and increasingly translated into local languages.
It is believed that China is the only country where all of the major
sects of Buddhism have significant numbers of followers.
Buddhism after the Buddha
 Buddhism
spread slowly in India until the powerful Maurya emperor Asoka
converted to it and actively supported it. His promotion led to
construction of Buddhist religious sites and missionary
efforts that spread the faith into the countries
listed at the beginning of the article.
After about 500, Buddhism waned in India, becoming a very minor
religion after about 1200. This was partially due to Muslim invasions,
and partially due to
Hinduism absorbing Buddhist
principles. It remained in the rest of the world, although in Central
Asia and later Indonesia it was mostly replaced by Islam. In China and
Japan, it mixed with the native beliefs of Confucianism
and Taoism, and Shinto,
respectively. In
Tibet, the Vajrayana lineage was preserved after it
disappeared in India.
History of the schools
Three months after the passing of Gautama Buddha, The First Council
was held at Rajagaha by his immediate disciples who had attained
Arahantship (Enlightenment). Maha Kassapa, the most respected and
elderly monk, presided at the Council. Only two sections the Dhamma
and the Vinaya were recited at the First Council. All Arahants
unanimously agree that no disciplinary rule laid down by the Buddha
should be changed, and no new ones should be introduced. At this
point, no conflict about what the Buddha taught is known to have
occurred, so the teachings were divided into various parts and each
was assigned to an elder and his pupils to commit to memory. These
groups of people often cross-checked with each other to ensure that no
omissions or additions were made.
At the Second Council, one hundred years later, it was not the dharma
that was called into question but the monks’ code of rules or vinaya.
This resulted in the formation of the Sthaviravādin and Mahāsanghika
schools. Opinions differ on the cause of the split: the Sthaviravādins
described their opponents as lax monks who had ceased to follow all
the vinaya rules, while the Mahāsanghikas argued that the Buddha had
never intended a rigid adherence to all the minor rules. After this
initial division, more were to follow. Schism in early Buddhism was
typically not on points of doctrine (orthodoxy), but in the area of
practice (orthopraxy). So if two schools shared a vinaya, but were in
dispute over doctrinal matters, it was not unlikely that they would
continue to practice together. However, if one group disputed the
vinaya of another, this would often prevent common practice.
In the 3rd century BC the Third Council was convened under the
patronage of Emperor Ashoka, primarily for the purpose of establishing
an official orthodoxy. At the council, small groups raised questions
the specifics of the vinaya and the interpretation of doctrine. The
chairman of the council, Moggaliputta Tissa, compiled a book called
the Kathavatthu, which was meant to refute these arguments. The
council sided with Moggaliputta and his version of Buddhism as
orthodox; it was then adopted by Emperor Ashoka as his empire’s
official religion. This school of thought was termed Vibhajjavada (Pali),
literaly "Teaching of Analysis". The version of the scriptures that
had been established at the Third Council, including the vinaya, sutta
and the abhidhamma commentaries (collectively known as Tripitaka), was
taken to Sri Lanka by Emperor Ashoka’s son, the Venerable Mahinda.
There it was eventually committed to writing in the Pali language. The
Pali Canon remains the only complete set of Nikaya scriptures to
survive, although fragments of other versions exist.
Between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, the terms Mahayana
and Hinayana were first used in writing, in, for example, the Lotus
Sutra.
The Fourth Council was convened by the Kushan emperor Kanishka, around
100 AD at Jalandhar or in Kashmir, and is usually associated with the
formal rise of Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism does not
recognize the authenticity of this council, and it is sometimes called
the “council of heretical monks”.
It is said that Kanishka gathered 500 Bhikkhus, headed by Vasumitra,
to edit the Tripitaka and make references and remarks. A set of new
scriptures were approved, as well as fundamental principles of
Mahayana doctrine. The new scriptures, usually in the Gandhari
vernacular and the Kharosthi script, were rewritten in the classical
language of Sanskrit, to many scholars a turning point in the
propagation of Buddhist thought.
During and after the 2nd century, versions of the Mahayana vision
became clearly defined in the works of Nagarjuna, Asanga, Shantideva,
Ashvagosha, and Vasubandhu.
A painting depicting a Central Asian
Tocharian monk (left) along with a Chinese monk (right). The painting
is from the 9th or 10th century in the Tarim Basin.
Around the 1st century, Buddhism spread from India through successive
waves of merchants and pilgrims. It reached as far as Arabia to the
west, and eastward to southeast Asia, where the first records of
Buddhism date from around 400. Mahayana Buddhism established a major
regional center in what is today Afghanistan, and from there it spread
to China, Korea, Mongolia, and Japan. In 475, the Indian monk Bodhidharma travelled to China and established the Chan (Chinese;
Japanese: Zen), school. During the first millennium, monks from China
such as Yijing and Xuanzang made pilgrimages to India.
At one time, different Turkic and Tocharian groups along the northern
fringe of East Turkestan (modern Xinjiang in western China) adhered to
the Theravada school. However, Buddhism there was supplanted by the
introduction of Islam around 1000.
Vajrayana also evolved at this stage carried from India to Tibet
around 800 by teachers such as Padmasambhava and Atisha. There it
initially coexisted with native belief systems such as Bön, but later
came to largely supplant or absorb them. An early form of esoteric
Vajrayana known as Shingon was also transmitted by the priest Kūkai to
Japan, where it continues to be practiced.
There is still an active debate as to whether or not Tantrism was
initially developed within Buddhism or Hinduism. Buddhist literature
tends to predate the later puranic Tantras, and there is some evidence
to suggest that the basic structure of tantra depends upon the
Mahayana Buddhist philosophical schools. However, it is thought by
others that meditative Shiva sects seem to have existed from pre-Vedic
times; also, from scriptural citations and study of the Vedas, some
say Tantra saw its philosophical basis in the mystical rites and
mantras of the Atharva Veda (and later the Hindu Upanishads and
Mahayana school of Buddhism).
See also:
Buddhist Philosophy
for a more in depth discussion.Scriptures of Buddhism
The Buddhist canon of scripture is known in Sanskrit as the Tripiṭaka
and in Pāli as the Tipiṭaka. These terms literally mean "three
baskets" and refers to the three main divisions of the canon, which
are:
The Vināya Piṭaka, containing disciplinary rules for the Sāṅgha of
Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as a range of other texts which
explain why and how rules were instituted, supporting material, and
doctrinal clarification.
The Sutta Piṭaka (Pāli; Sanskrit: Sutra Piṭaka), containing discourses
of the Buddha.
The Abhidhamma or commentary Piṭaka (Pāli; Sanskrit: Abhidharma Piṭaka),
containing a philosophical systematization of the Buddha’s teaching,
including a detailed analysis of Buddhist psychology.
Young Buddhist monks in Tibet
During the first few centuries after Gautama Buddha, his teachings
were transmitted orally, but around the 1st Century CE they began to
be written down. A given school of Buddhism will generally have its
own distinctive canon of texts, which will partially overlap with
those of other schools. The most notable set of texts from the early
period is the Pali Canon, which was preserved in Sri Lanka by the
Theravāda school. The sutras it contains are also part of the canon of
every other Buddhist sect. Full versions of the original text[1]
(http://jbe.gold.ac.uk/palicanon.html) and partial English
translations[2] (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/) are now
readily available on the internet.
The appearance of the Mahāyāna tradition brought with it a collection
of new texts, composed in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, many of which were
also described as actual sermons of the Buddha. These include the
Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, the Avataṃsaka, the Lotus Sutra, the
Vimalakīrti Sutra, and the ṇirvana Sutra. Many of the Mahayana sutras
were translated into Tibetan and classical Chinese and are also now
read in the West.
The Mahayana canon further expanded after Buddhism was transmitted to
China, where the existing texts were translated, and new texts were
composed for the purpose of adapting the Indian tradition to the East
Asian philosophical mindset. Many of these works are considered by
modern scholars to be spurious. Other new texts, such as the Platform
Sutra and the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment did not pretend to be of
Indian origin, but were widely accepted as valid scriptures on their
own merits. Later writings include the Linji Lu of Chan master Linji.
In the course of the development of Korean Buddhism and Japanese
Buddhism, further important texts were composed. These included, for
example, in Korea, some of the writings of Jinul, and in Japan, works
such as Dogen’s Shobogenzo.
Arguably the most thorough compilation of Mahayana sutras is found in
the Tibetan canon. This is split into those texts attributed to be
authored by the Buddha (Kanjur), and those texts which are understood
to be commentaries by Indian practitioners (Tenjur). Vajrayāna
practitioners also study distinctive texts such as the Buddhist
tantras.
Recently an important archaeological discovery was made, consisting of
the earliest known Buddhist manuscripts, recovered from somewhere near
ancient Gandhara in northwest Pakistan. These fragments, written on
birch bark, are dated to the 1st century and have been compared to the
Dead Sea scrolls in importance. Donated to the British Library in
1994, they are now are being studied in a joint project at the
University of Washington[3] (
http://depts.washington.edu/ebmp/).
Relations with other faiths
Some Hindus (primarily in the northern regions of India) believe that
Gautama is the 9th incarnation (see
avatar)
of Vishnu;
there are accounts of the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu that are
pro- and anti-Buddhist (i.e., either that Vishnu "really meant" what
he said while incarnated as Buddha or that he was intentionally
tricking those who follow unorthodox doctrines). This is not a
majority view, however. The avatar theory came into existence in
approximately the 9th century CE.Traditionally, there has been a sharp distinction between
Buddhism and what is today called "Hinduism"; this
distinction is more accurately between Astika and Nastika philosophies,
that is, philosophies in India which either affirmed the Vedas
as divinely revealed scriptures or else regarded them
as fallible human inventions. Thus Buddhism is essentially a heresy vis
à vis orthodox Indian philosophy, though there are many syncretic or
ecumenical tendencies within either group which are accepting of the
beliefs and practices of the other. In the Japanese religion of
Shintoism he is seen as a Kami. The Baha’i Faith states he was an
independent Manifestation of God. Some Muslims believe that Gautama
Buddha is Dhul-Kifl, one of the prophets mentioned in the Qur’an.
Jainism is an Indian school of thought that was founded prior to
Buddhism. One of its two most prominent teachers, Mahāvīra, was a senior
contemporary of the Buddha whose philosophy, sometimes described as
dynamism or vitalism, was a blend of the earlier Jain teacher
Pārśvanātha’s asceticism and the naturalistic teachings of the Ājīvikas.
Dialogues between the Buddha’s disciples and Mahāvīra are recorded in
Jain texts, and dialogues between Mahāvīra’s disciples and the Buddha
are included in Buddhist texts, however there is no evidence the two
teachers actually met.
Buddhism in the modern world
 The
international Buddhist flag was designed in Sri Lanka in the 1880s with
the assistance of Henry Steele Olcott and was later adopted as a symbol
by the World Fellowship of Buddhists.
According to statistics from adherents.com (http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html),
estimates of the number of Buddhists vary between 230 and 500 million,
with 350 million as the most commonly cited figure.
Modern Asia
In northern Asia, Mahayana remains the most common form of
Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Theravada predominates in
most of Southeast Asia, including Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, as
well as Sri Lanka. Vajrayana is predominant in Tibet, Mongolia, and
portions of India.
While in the West Buddhism is often seen as exotic and progressive, in
the East Buddhism is regarded as familiar and part of the establishment.
Buddhist organizations in Asia frequently are well-funded and enjoy
support from the wealthy and influential. In some cases, this has led
critics to charge that certain monks and organizations are too closely
associated with power and are neglecting their duties to the poor.
Buddhism and the West
In the latter half of the 1800s, Buddhism (along with many
other of the world’s religions and philosophies) came to the attention
of Western intellectuals. These included the pessimistic German
philosopher Schopenhauer and the American philosopher Henry David
Thoreau, who translated a Buddhist sutra from French into English.
Spiritual enthusiasts enjoyed what they saw as the exotic and mystical
tone of the Asian traditions. At first Western Buddhology was hampered
by poor translations (often translations of translations), but soon
Western scholars began to learn Asian languages and translate Asian
texts. In 1899 Gordon Douglas became the first Westerner to be ordained
as a Buddhist monk.
 A
hallway in California's
Hsi Lai Temple
The first Buddhists to arrive in the United States were
Chinese. Hired as cheap labor for the railroads and other expanding
industries, they established temples in their settlements along the rail
lines.
The Buddhist Society, London was founded by Christmas Humphreys in 1924.
The cultural re-evaluations of the hippie generation in the late 1960s
and early 1970s included a renewed interest in Buddhism, proclaimed by
some of them as a natural path to awareness, and enlightenment. Many
people, including celebrities, traveled to Asia in pursuit of gurus and
ancient wisdom. Buddhism had become the fastest-growing religion in
Australia and many other Western nations by the 1990s, in contrast to
the steady decline of traditional western beliefs (see Christianity).
A distinctive feature of Buddhism in the West has been the emergence of
groups that, while drawing on traditional Buddhism, attempt to create a
new form of Buddhist practice. Examples include the Shambala movement,
founded by Chögyam Trungpa, and the Friends of the Western Buddhist
Order, founded by Sangharakshita.
Information
in this article was adapted with permission from
Wikipedia |
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