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Buddhism  Hsüan Tsang, a 7th century Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, returning home from India. Hsüan Tsang travelled 65,000 km/40,000 mi during his 16-year pilgrimage through India and China.  A Zen Buddhist monk, in traditional robes and straw hat, entering the Asakusa (or Sensoji) Temple in Tokyo, Japan. At the main gate is a 4 m/13 ft tall paper lantern dedicated to the god of thunder.  Wat Benchamabophit, a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand. Even the smallest village in Thailand has a wat, which creates a focus for the people, and a school.  The Buddhist monastery at Lamayuro in Ladakh, India. It is unclear exactly when Buddhism was introduced into Ladakh, but its first influence dates back to the start of the Christian era or a little earlier. Drama is important to the Ladakhi, and stories based on the lives of the Buddha are the predominant theme of the traditional theatre.  Wat Phra Keo, the Grand Palace, Thailand. The wat is a Buddhist temple. Theravada Buddhism has been practised in Thailand since the 6th century AD, and became firmly established in the country during the 14th century.  The Nayaja Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka. Every Buddhist temple has objects to remind worshippers of the Buddha's teaching. In addition to images of the Buddha himself, there is the dagoba, which preserves relics of his body or possessions, and the bo tree (a direct descendant of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment).  The mandala is an intricate symmetrical design associated with Hinduism or Buddhism and used as a meditation aid. This mandala is in Spituk, a 1,000-year-old Buddhist monastery in Ladakh, India.  Buddhist painting. Much of Buddhist art has been preserved in monasteries, although little survives of the early Buddhist pictorial art made on wood or other perishable materials.  Buddhist painting. Buddhist iconography, painting, and architecture spread from northwestern India to China and East Asia from the 1st century onwards. Different styles and techniques emerged, as the older Indian traditions were modified by local influences.  Buddhist temple roof. Most world religions have purpose-built temples or places of worship. In Buddhism there is a great diversity of methods of worship, but meditation is commonly practised, at temples, shrines, and other venues.  The ancient Buddhist stupa of Swayambhunath, Kathmandu, Nepal. Situated on a hill and visible for many miles from all sides of the valley, it is one of the most important Buddhist sites in Nepal. Although its origins pre-date the arrival of Buddhism in Kathmandu, the stupa was already a major Buddhist pilgrimage destination by the 5th century.  The ornately decorated Prayer Hall of the Grand Palace, Bangkok. Buddhism is Thailand's principal religion and is a crucial part of the daily life of the country. One of the great world religions, which originated in India in the 5th century BC. It derives from the teaching of the Buddha, who is regarded as one of a series of such enlightened beings. The chief doctrine is that all phenomena share three characteristics: they are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and lack a permanent essence (such as a soul). All beings, including gods, are subject to these characteristics, but can achieve freedom through enlightenment. The main forms of Buddhism are Theravāda (or Hīnayāna) in Southeast Asia and Mahāyāna in North and East Asia; Lamaism in Tibet and Zen in Japan are among the many Mahāyāna forms of Buddhism. There are over 350 million Buddhists worldwide (2000). Scriptures The only surviving complete canon of the Buddhist scriptures is that of the Sinhalese (Sri Lanka) Buddhists, in Pāli, but other schools have essentially the same canon in Sanskrit. The scriptures are divided into three groups, known as the Tripitaka (‘three baskets’): Vinaya-pitaka (discipline), listing offences and rules of life; the Sūtra-pitaka (discourse), or dharma (doctrine), the exposition of Buddhism by the Buddha and his disciples; and the Abhidharma-pitaka (further doctrine), later discussions on doctrine. Beliefs The self is not regarded as permanent, as it is subject to change and decay. It is attachment to the things that are essentially impermanent that causes delusion, suffering, greed, and aversion, and reinforces the sense of self. Actions that incline towards selflessness are called ‘skilful’ and constitute the path leading to enlightenment. In the Four Noble Truths the Buddha acknowledged the existence and source of suffering and showed the way of deliverance from it through the Eightfold Path. The aim of following the Eightfold Path is to attain nirvana (‘blowing out’) – the eradication of all desires. Supreme reverence is accorded to the historical Buddha (Sakyamuni, or, when referred to by his clan name, Siddartha Gautama), who is seen as one in a long and ongoing line of Buddhas, the next one (Maitreya) being due around AD 3000. Theravāda Buddhism, the School of the Elders, also known as Hīnayāna or Lesser Vehicle, prevails in Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar), and emphasizes the mendicant, meditative life as the way to break the cycle of samsāra, or death and rebirth. Its three possible goals are arahat: one who, under the guidance of a Buddha, has gained insight into the true nature of things; paccekabuddha: an enlightened one who lives alone and does not teach; and fully awakened Buddha. Its scriptures are written in Pāli, an Indo-Aryan language with its roots in northern India. In India itself, Buddhism had virtually died out by the 13th century, under pressure from Islam and Hinduism. However, it has 5 million devotees in the 20th century, and is growing. Mahāyāna Buddhism, or Greater Vehicle, arose at the beginning of the Christian era. It exhorts the individual not merely to attain personal nirvana, but to become a trainee Buddha, or bodhisattva, and so save others. Cults of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas arose. Mahāyāna Buddhism also emphasizes śunyata, or the experiential understanding of the emptiness of all things, even Buddhist doctrine. Mahāyāna Buddhism prevails in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet. In the 6th century AD Mahāyāna spread to China with the teachings of Bodhidharma and formed Ch'an, which became established in Japan from the 12th century as Zen Buddhism. Zen emphasizes silent meditation with sudden interruptions from a master to encourage awakening of the mind. Japan also has the lay organization Sōka Gakkai (Value Creation Society), founded in 1930, which equates absolute faith with immediate material benefit; by the 1980s it was followed by more than 7 million households. Esoteric, Tantric, or Diamond Buddhism became popular in Tibet and Japan, and holds that enlightenment is already within the disciple, and with the proper guidance (that is, privately passed on by a master) can be realized. Festivals The various schools of Buddhism celebrate different festivals in different ways. The most important Theravāda Buddhist festival is Wesak, commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha, while in Japan, Mahāyāna Buddhists celebrate the birth of the Buddha with the festival of Hara Matsuri. Other annual festivals include those held to mark the New Year, such as Song Kran in Thailand and Losar in Tibet; celebrations marking the end of periods of retreat, such as Kathina, which marks the end of Vassa; and festivals surrounding the veneration of a relic, such as the Sacred Tooth. The Japanese Mahāyāna festival of O-Bon commemorates a family's ancestors. More frequent observances include holy days such as Uposatha, held twice a month by Theravāda Buddhists. |
Spread of Buddhism The first major expansion of Buddhism from northeast India, where the Buddha lived and taught, was the result of its adoption by the emperor Ashoka (262–239 BC). Missionary monks were sent throughout India, and to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand. Theravāda Buddhism, the oldest of the two main forms of Buddhism, dominated this movement and is the only form of Buddhism to survive in the region. Another influence in Buddhism's spread was its adoption by traders and merchants, who travelled along trade routes between China and the eastern Mediterranean. Although westwards spread was blocked, particularly from the 7th century with the rapid expansion of Islam, all forms of Buddhism moved freely eastwards along this route. The most successful was the Mahāyāna, which became the second main form of Buddhism. This is now the major form of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and Tibet. |
| After the 12th century, Buddhism almost disappeared from India, following Muslim invasions from the northwest and the resurgence of Hinduism from the south. In the 20th century, Buddhism re-emerged as a result of missionary monks and the arrival of Tibetan Buddhist refugees. |
| Buddhism became of great interest to westerners at the beginning of the 20th century. The greatest growth in the practise of Buddhism by non-Asian westerners occurred after the 1960s. In 1967, the Friends of the Western Buddhists Order (FWBO) was founded to synthesize Buddhist ideas from various schools into an accessible form for westerners. |
Buddhism - events| 530 BC | Magadha, India | Siddhartha Gautama (later Gautama Buddha) leaves his life as a Bengal prince at the age of 30, and becomes an ascetic. | | c. 200 | India | The Indian Buddhist monk Nagarjuna expounds the Madhayamika (Middle Path) of Buddhism. Arguing that all worldly thought is empty (sunya), he advocates a middle way which will lead to a realization of the Buddha nature beyond being and nonbeing. | | 379 | China | Buddhism is declared the state religion of China. | | c. 460–c. 477 | India | Most of the 30 caves at Ajanta in Central India are completed during this time. Cut into the volcanic rock and elaborately carved and painted, they form the richest surviving Buddhist complex in India. | | 607 | Japan | Prince Shotoku Taishi of Japan founds the Buddhist Horyuji temple complex near Nara. It is the earliest surviving example of Sino-Japanese architecture and the oldest existing wooden structure. | | 805 | Japan | Returning from China, Saicho introduces the T'ien T'ai school of Buddhism to Japan where it is known as Tendai. Tendai teaches that the Buddha-nature within everyone can be realized through ethical behaviour and discipline. | | c. 873 | Japan | The cult of the Buddha Amida, the ‘the Buddha of Immeasurable Light’ begins to spread in Japan. Followers believe that when they die, Amida will take them to paradise in the western heavens. Many artists are inspired by the cult and the bodhisattva Kwannon (Kuan-yin in China) becomes extremely popular. | | 1175 | Japan | The Japanese Buddhist Amida cult becomes a separate sect called Pure Land Buddhism. It is founded by the priest Honen, who specifies that the chanting of the name Amida Buddha is the only practice necessary to reach the pure land (paradise). | | 1253 | Japan | The Buddhist monk Nichiren, after years studying the various Japanese Buddhist sects, declares that the essence of true Buddhism is only to be found in the Lotus Sutra and that all other approaches are false. His doctrine is greeted with anger and disbelief. | | 1934 | | Japanese Buddhist scholar Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki publishes An Introduction to Zen Buddhism. | | 1957 | England | The English theologian Alan Watts publishes The Way of Zen. |
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