Ancient Buddhist scripture and doctrine developed in several closely
related literary languages of ancient India, especially in Pali and
Sanskrit. In this article Pali and Sanskrit words that have gained
currency in English are treated as English words and are rendered in the
form in which they appear in English-language dictionaries. Exceptions
occur in special circumstances—as, for example, in the case of the
Sanskrit term dharma (Pali: dhamma), which has meanings that are not
usually associated with the English “dharma.” Pali forms are given in
the sections on the core teachings of early Buddhism that are
reconstructed primarily from Pali texts and in sections that deal with
Buddhist traditions in which the primary sacred language is Pali.
Sanskrit forms are given in the sections that deal with Buddhist
traditions whose primary sacred language is Sanskrit and in other
sections that deal with traditions whose primary sacred texts were
translated from Sanskrit into a Central or East Asian language such as
Tibetan or Chinese.
The foundations of Buddhism » The cultural context
Buddhism arose in northeastern India sometime between the late 6th
century and the early 4th century bce, a period of great social change
and intense religious activity. There is disagreement among scholars
about the dates of the Buddha’s birth and death. Many modern scholars
believe that the historical Buddha lived from about 563 to about 483
bce. Many others believe that he lived about 100 years later (from about
448 to 368 bce). At this time in India, there was much discontent with
Brahmanic (Hindu high-caste) sacrifice and ritual. In northwestern India
there were ascetics who tried to create a more personal and spiritual
religious experience than that found in the Vedas (Hindu sacred
scriptures). In the literature that grew out of this movement, the
Upanishads, a new emphasis on renunciation and transcendental knowledge
can be found. Northeastern India, which was less influenced by the
Aryans who had developed the main tenets and practices of the Vedic
Hindu faith, became the breeding ground of many new sects. Society in
this area was troubled by the breakdown of tribal unity and the
expansion of several petty kingdoms. Religiously, this was a time of
doubt, turmoil, and experimentation.
A proto-Samkhya group (i.e., one based on the Samkhya school of
Hinduism founded by Kapila) was already well established in the area.
New sects abounded, including various skeptics (e.g., Sanjaya
Belatthiputta), atomists (e.g., Pakudha Kaccayana), materialists (e.g.,
Ajita Kesakambali), and antinomians (i.e., those against rules or
laws—e.g., Purana Kassapa). The most important sects to arise at the
time of the Buddha, however, were the Ajivikas (Ajivakas), who
emphasized the rule of fate (niyati), and the Jains, who stressed the
need to free the soul from matter. Although the Jains, like the
Buddhists, have often been regarded as atheists, their beliefs are
actually more complicated. Unlike early Buddhists, both the Ajivikas and
the Jains believed in the permanence of the elements that constitute the
universe, as well as in the existence of the soul.
Despite the bewildering variety of religious communities, many shared
the same vocabulary—nirvana (transcendent freedom), atman (“self” or
“soul”), yoga (“union”), karma (“causality”), Tathagata (“one who has
come” or “one who has thus gone”), buddha (“enlightened one”), samsara
(“eternal recurrence” or “becoming”), and dhamma (“rule” or “law”)—and
most involved the practice of yoga. According to tradition, the Buddha
himself was a yogi—that is, a miracle-working ascetic.
Buddhism, like many of the sects that developed in northeastern India
at the time, was constituted by the presence of a charismatic teacher,
by the teachings this leader promulgated, and by a community of
adherents that was often made up of renunciant members and lay
supporters. In the case of Buddhism, this pattern is reflected in the
Triratna—i.e., the “Three Jewels” of Buddha (the teacher), dharma (the
teaching), and sangha (the community).
In the centuries following the founder’s death, Buddhism developed in
two directions represented by two different groups. One was called the
Hinayana (Sanskrit: “Lesser Vehicle”), a term given to it by its
Buddhist opponents. This more conservative group, which included what is
now called the Theravada (Pali: “Way of the Elders”) community, compiled
versions of the Buddha’s teachings that had been preserved in
collections called the Sutta Pitaka and the Vinaya Pitaka and retained
them as normative. The other major group, which calls itself the
Mahayana (Sanskrit: “Greater Vehicle”), recognized the authority of
other teachings that, from the group’s point of view, made salvation
available to a greater number of people. These supposedly more advanced
teachings were expressed in sutras that the Buddha purportedly made
available only to his more advanced disciples.
As Buddhism spread, it encountered new currents of thought and
religion. In some Mahayana communities, for example, the strict law of
karma (the belief that virtuous actions create pleasure in the future
and nonvirtuous actions create pain) was modified to accommodate new
emphases on the efficacy of ritual actions and devotional practices.
During the second half of the 1st millennium ce, a third major Buddhist
movement, Vajrayana (Sanskrit: “Diamond Vehicle”), or Esoteric Buddhism,
developed in India. This movement was influenced by gnostic and magical
currents pervasive at that time, and its aim was to obtain spiritual
liberation and purity more speedily.
Despite these vicissitudes, Buddhism did not abandon its basic
principles. Instead, they were reinterpreted, rethought, and
reformulated in a process that led to the creation of a great body of
literature. This literature includes the Pali Tipitaka (“Three
Baskets”)—the Sutta Pitaka (“Basket of Discourse”), which contains the
Buddha’s sermons; the Vinaya Pitaka (“Basket of Discipline”), which
contains the rule governing the monastic order; and the Abhidhamma
Pitaka (“Basket of Special [Further] Doctrine”), which contains
doctrinal systematizations and summaries. These Pali texts have served
as the basis for a long and very rich tradition of commentaries that
were written and preserved by adherents of the Theravada community. The
Mahayana and Vajrayana/Esoteric traditions have accepted as Buddhavacana
(“the word of the Buddha”) many other sutras and tantras, along with
extensive treatises and commentaries based on these texts. Consequently,
from the first sermon of the Buddha at Sarnath to the most recent
derivations, there is an indisputable continuity—a development or
metamorphosis around a central nucleus—by virtue of which Buddhism is
differentiated from other religions.
Giuseppe Tucci
Joseph M. Kitagawa
Frank E. Reynolds
The foundations of Buddhism » The life of the Buddha
The teacher known as the Buddha lived in northern India sometime between
the mid-6th and the mid-4th centuries before the Common Era. In ancient
India the title buddha referred to an enlightened being who has awakened
from the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from suffering.
According to the various traditions of Buddhism, buddhas have existed in
the past and will exist in the future. Some Buddhists believe that there
is only one buddha for each historical age, others that all beings will
become buddhas because they possess the buddha nature (tathagatagarbha).
The historical figure referred to as the Buddha (whose life is known
largely through legend) was born on the northern edge of the Ganges
River basin, an area on the periphery of the ancient civilization of
North India, in what is today southern Nepal. He is said to have lived
for 80 years. His family name was Gautama (in Sanskrit) or Gotama (in
Pali), and his given name was Siddhartha (Sanskrit: “he who achieves his
aim”) or Siddhatta (in Pali). He is frequently called Shakyamuni, “the
sage of the Shakya clan.” In Buddhist texts he is most commonly
addressed as Bhagavat (often translated as “Lord”), and he refers to
himself as the Tathagata, which can mean both “one who has thus come”
and “one who has thus gone.” Traditional sources on the date of his
death—or, in the language of the tradition, his “passage into
nirvana”—range from 2420 to 290 bce. Scholarship in the 20th century
limited this range considerably, with opinion generally divided between
those who believed he lived from about 563 to 483 bce and those who
believed he lived about a century later.
Information about his life derives largely from Buddhist texts, the
earliest of which were produced shortly before the beginning of the
Common Era and thus several centuries after his death. According to the
traditional accounts, however, the Buddha was born into the ruling
Shakya clan and was a member of the Kshatriya, or warrior, caste. His
mother, Maha Maya, dreamt one night that an elephant entered her womb,
and 10 lunar months later, while she was strolling in the garden of
Lumbini, her son emerged from under her right arm. His early life was
one of luxury and comfort, and his father protected him from exposure to
the ills of the world, including old age, sickness, and death. At age 16
he married the princess Yashodhara, who would eventually bear him a son.
At 29, however, the prince had a profound experience when he first
observed the suffering of the world while on chariot rides outside the
palace. He resolved then to renounce his wealth and family and live the
life of an ascetic. During the next six years, he practiced meditation
with several teachers and then, with five companions, undertook a life
of extreme self-mortification. One day, while bathing in a river, he
fainted from weakness and therefore concluded that mortification was not
the path to liberation from suffering. Abandoning the life of extreme
asceticism, the prince sat in meditation under a tree and received
enlightenment, sometimes identified with understanding the Four Noble
Truths. For the next 45 years, the Buddha spread his message throughout
northeastern India, established orders of monks and nuns, and received
the patronage of kings and merchants. At the age of 80, he became
seriously ill. He then met with his disciples for the last time to
impart his final instructions and passed into nirvana. His body was then
cremated and the relics distributed and enshrined in stupas (funerary
monuments that usually contained relics), where they would be venerated.
The Buddha’s place within the tradition, however, cannot be
understood by focusing exclusively on the events of his life and time
(even to the extent that they are known). Instead, he must be viewed
within the context of Buddhist theories of time and history. Among these
theories is the belief that the universe is the product of karma, the
law of the cause and effect of actions. The beings of the universe are
reborn without beginning in six realms as gods, demigods, humans,
animals, ghosts, and hell beings. The cycle of rebirth, called samsara
(literally “wandering”), is regarded as a domain of suffering, and the
Buddhist’s ultimate goal is to escape from that suffering. The means of
escape remains unknown until, over the course of millions of lifetimes,
a person perfects himself, ultimately gaining the power to discover the
path out of samsara and then revealing that path to the world.
A person who has set out to discover the path to freedom from
suffering and then to teach it to others is called a bodhisattva. A
person who has discovered that path, followed it to its end, and taught
it to the world is called a buddha. Buddhas are not reborn after they
die but enter a state beyond suffering called nirvana (literally
“passing away”). Because buddhas appear so rarely over the course of
time and because only they reveal the path to liberation from suffering,
the appearance of a buddha in the world is considered a momentous event.
The story of a particular buddha begins before his birth and extends
beyond his death. It encompasses the millions of lives spent on the path
toward enlightenment and Buddhahood and the persistence of the buddha
through his teachings and his relics after he has passed into nirvana.
The historical Buddha is regarded as neither the first nor the last
buddha to appear in the world. According to some traditions he is the
7th buddha, according to another he is the 25th, and according to yet
another he is the 4th. The next buddha, Maitreya, will appear after
Shakyamuni’s teachings and relics have disappeared from the world.
Sites associated with the Buddha’s life became important pilgrimage
places, and regions that Buddhism entered long after his death—such as
Sri Lanka, Kashmir, and Burma (now Myanmar)—added narratives of his
magical visitations to accounts of his life. Although the Buddha did not
leave any written works, various versions of his teachings were
preserved orally by his disciples. In the centuries following his death,
hundreds of texts (called sutras) were attributed to him and would
subsequently be translated into the languages of Asia.
Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
The foundations of Buddhism » The Buddha’s message
The teaching attributed to the Buddha was transmitted orally by his
disciples, prefaced by the phrase “evam me sutam” (“thus have I heard”);
therefore, it is difficult to say whether or to what extent his
discourses have been preserved as they were spoken. They usually allude
to the place and time they were preached and to the audience to which
they were addressed. Buddhist councils in the first centuries after the
Buddha’s death attempted to specify which teachings attributed to the
Buddha could be considered authentic.
The foundations of Buddhism » The Buddha’s message » Suffering,
impermanence, and no-self
The Buddha based his entire teaching on the fact of human suffering and
the ultimately dissatisfying character of human life. Existence is
painful. The conditions that make an individual are precisely those that
also give rise to dissatisfaction and suffering. Individuality implies
limitation; limitation gives rise to desire; and, inevitably, desire
causes suffering, since what is desired is transitory.
Living amid the impermanence of everything and being themselves
impermanent, human beings search for the way of deliverance, for that
which shines beyond the transitoriness of human existence—in short, for
enlightenment. The Buddha’s doctrine offered a way to avoid despair. By
following the “path” taught by the Buddha, the individual can dispel the
“ignorance” that perpetuates this suffering.
According to the Buddha of the early texts, reality, whether of
external things or the psychophysical totality of human individuals,
consists of a succession and concatenation of microelements called
dhammas (these “components” of reality are not to be confused with
dhamma meaning “law” or “teaching”). The Buddha departed from
traditional Indian thought in not asserting an essential or ultimate
reality in things. Moreover, he rejected the existence of the soul as a
metaphysical substance, though he recognized the existence of the self
as the subject of action in a practical and moral sense. Life is a
stream of becoming, a series of manifestations and extinctions. The
concept of the individual ego is a popular delusion; the objects with
which people identify themselves—fortune, social position, family, body,
and even mind—are not their true selves. There is nothing permanent,
and, if only the permanent deserved to be called the self, or atman,
then nothing is self.
To make clear the concept of no-self (anatman), Buddhists set forth
the theory of the five aggregates or constituents (khandhas) of human
existence: (1) corporeality or physical forms (rupa), (2) feelings or
sensations (vedana), (3) ideations (sanna), (4) mental formations or
dispositions (sankhara), and (5) consciousness (vinnana). Human
existence is only a composite of the five aggregates, none of which is
the self or soul. A person is in a process of continuous change, and
there is no fixed underlying entity.
The foundations of Buddhism » The Buddha’s message » Karma
The belief in rebirth, or samsara, as a potentially endless series of
worldly existences in which every being is caught up was already
associated with the doctrine of karma (Sanskrit: karman; literally “act”
or “deed”) in pre-Buddhist India, and it was accepted by virtually all
Buddhist traditions. According to the doctrine, good conduct brings a
pleasant and happy result and creates a tendency toward similar good
acts, while bad conduct brings an evil result and creates a tendency
toward similar evil acts. Some karmic acts bear fruit in the same life
in which they are committed, others in the immediately succeeding one,
and others in future lives that are more remote. This furnishes the
basic context for the moral life.
The acceptance by Buddhists of the teachings of karma and rebirth and
the concept of the no-self gives rise to a difficult problem: how can
rebirth take place without a permanent subject to be reborn? Indian
non-Buddhist philosophers attacked this point in Buddhist thought, and
many modern scholars have also considered it to be an insoluble problem.
The relation between existences in rebirth has been explained by the
analogy of fire, which maintains itself unchanged in appearance and yet
is different in every moment—what may be called the continuity of an
ever-changing identity.
The foundations of Buddhism » The Buddha’s message » The Four Noble
Truths
Awareness of these fundamental realities led the Buddha to formulate the
Four Noble Truths: the truth of misery (dukkha), the truth that misery
originates within us from the craving for pleasure and for being or
nonbeing (samudaya), the truth that this craving can be eliminated
(nirodhu), and the truth that this elimination is the result of
following a methodical way or path (magga).
The foundations of Buddhism » The Buddha’s message » The law of
dependent origination
The Buddha, according to the early texts, also discovered the law of
dependent origination (paticca-samuppada), whereby one condition arises
out of another, which in turn arises out of prior conditions. Every mode
of being presupposes another immediately preceding mode from which the
subsequent mode derives, in a chain of causes. According to the
classical rendering, the 12 links in the chain are: ignorance (avijja),
karmic predispositions (sankharas), consciousness (vinnana), form and
body (nama-rupa), the five sense organs and the mind (salayatana),
contact (phassa), feeling-response (vedana), craving (tanha), grasping
for an object (upadana), action toward life (bhava), birth (jati), and
old age and death (jaramarana). According to this law, the misery that
is bound with sensate existence is accounted for by a methodical chain
of causation. Despite a diversity of interpretations, the law of
dependent origination of the various aspects of becoming remains
fundamentally the same in all schools of Buddhism.
The foundations of Buddhism » The Buddha’s message » The Eightfold Path
The law of dependent origination, however, raises the question of how
one may escape the continually renewed cycle of birth, suffering, and
death. It is not enough to know that misery pervades all existence and
to know the way in which life evolves; there must also be a means to
overcome this process. The means to this end is found in the Eightfold
Path, which is constituted by right views, right aspirations, right
speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness, and right meditational attainment.
The foundations of Buddhism » The Buddha’s message » Nirvana
The aim of Buddhist practice is to be rid of the delusion of ego and
thus free oneself from the fetters of this mundane world. One who is
successful in doing so is said to have overcome the round of rebirths
and to have achieved enlightenment. This is the final goal in most
Buddhist traditions, though in some cases (particularly though not
exclusively in some Pure Land schools in China and Japan) the attainment
of an ultimate paradise or a heavenly abode is not clearly distinguished
from the attainment of release.
The living process is again likened to a fire. Its remedy is the
extinction of the fire of illusion, passions, and cravings. The Buddha,
the Enlightened One, is one who is no longer kindled or inflamed. Many
poetic terms are used to describe the state of the enlightened human
being—the harbour of refuge, the cool cave, the place of bliss, the
farther shore. The term that has become famous in the West is nirvana,
translated as passing away or dying out—that is, the dying out in the
heart of the fierce fires of lust, anger, and delusion. But nirvana is
not extinction, and indeed the craving for annihilation or nonexistence
was expressly repudiated by the Buddha. Buddhists search for salvation,
not just nonbeing. Although nirvana is often presented negatively as
“release from suffering,” it is more accurate to describe it in a more
positive fashion: as an ultimate goal to be sought and cherished.
In some early texts the Buddha left unanswered certain questions
regarding the destiny of persons who have reached this ultimate goal. He
even refused to speculate as to whether fully purified saints, after
death, continued to exist or ceased to exist. Such questions, he
maintained, were not relevant to the practice of the path and could not
in any event be answered from within the confines of ordinary human
existence. Indeed, he asserted that any discussion of the nature of
nirvana would only distort or misrepresent it. But he also asserted with
even more insistence that nirvana can be experienced—and experienced in
the present existence—by those who, knowing the Buddhist truth, practice
the Buddhist path.
Giuseppe Tucci
Hajime Nakamura
Frank E. Reynolds
Historical Development » India » Expansion of Buddhism
The Buddha was a charismatic leader who founded a distinctive religious
community based on his unique teachings. Some of the members of that
community were, like the Buddha himself, wandering ascetics. Others were
laypersons who venerated the Buddha, followed certain aspects of his
teachings, and provided the wandering ascetics with the material support
that they required.
In the centuries following the Buddha’s death, the story of his life
was remembered and embellished, his teachings were preserved and
developed, and the community that he had established became a
significant religious force. Many of the wandering ascetics who followed
the Buddha settled in permanent monastic establishments and developed
monastic rules. At the same time, the Buddhist laity came to include
important members of the economic and political elite.
During its first century of existence, Buddhism spread from its place
of origin in Magadha and Kosala throughout much of northern India,
including the areas of Mathura and Ujjayani in the west. According to
Buddhist tradition, invitations to the Council of Vesali (Sanskrit:
Vaishali), held just over a century after the Buddha’s death, were sent
to monks living throughout northern and central India. By the middle of
the 3rd century bce, Buddhism had gained the favour of a Mauryan king,
Asoka, who had established an empire that extended from the Himalayas in
the north to almost as far as Sri Lanka in the south.
To the rulers of the republics and kingdoms arising in northeastern
India, the patronage of newly emerging sects such as Buddhism was one
way of counterbalancing the political power exercised by Brahmans
(high-caste Hindus). The first Mauryan emperor, Candra Gupta (c. 321–c.
297 bce), patronized Jainism and, according to some traditions, finally
became a Jain monk. His grandson, Asoka, who ruled over the greater part
of the subcontinent from about 268 to 232 bce, traditionally played an
important role in Buddhist history because of his support of Buddhism
during his lifetime. He exerted even more influence posthumously,
through stories that depicted him as a chakravartin (“a great
wheel-rolling monarch”). He is portrayed as a paragon of Buddhist
kingship who accomplished many fabulous feats of piety and devotion. It
is therefore very difficult to distinguish the Asoka of history from the
Asoka of Buddhist legend and myth.
The first actual Buddhist “texts” that are still extant are
inscriptions (including a number of well-known Asokan pillars) that
Asoka had written and displayed in various places throughout his vast
kingdom. According to these inscriptions, Asoka attempted to establish
in his realm a “true dhamma” based on the virtues of self-control,
impartiality, cheerfulness, truthfulness, and goodness. Although he
promoted Buddhism, he did not found a state church, and he was known for
his respect for other religious traditions. He sought to maintain unity
in the Buddhist monastic community, however, and he promoted an ethic
that focused on the layman’s obligations in this world. His aim, as
articulated in his edicts, was to create a religious and social milieu
that would enable all “children of the king” to live happily in this
life and to attain heaven in the next. Thus, he set up medical
assistance for human beings and beasts, maintained reservoirs and
canals, and promoted trade. He established a system of dhamma officers
(dhamma-mahamattas) in order to help govern the empire. And he sent
diplomatic emissaries to areas beyond his direct political control.
Asoka’s empire began to crumble soon after his death, and the Mauryan
dynasty was finally overthrown in the early decades of the 2nd century
bce. There is some evidence to suggest that Buddhism in India suffered
persecution during the Shunga-Kanva period (185–28 bce). Despite
occasional setbacks, however, Buddhists persevered; and before the
emergence of the Gupta dynasty, which created the next great pan-Indian
empire in the 4th century ce, Buddhism had become a leading if not
dominant religious tradition in India.
During the approximately five centuries between the fall of the
Mauryan dynasty and the rise of the Gupta dynasty, major developments
occurred in all aspects of Buddhist belief and practice. Well before the
beginning of the Common Era, stories about the Buddha’s many previous
lives, accounts of important events in his life as Gautama, stories of
his “extended life” in his relics, and other aspects of his sacred
biography were elaborated on. In the centuries that followed, groups of
these stories were collected and compiled in various styles and
combinations.
Beginning in the 3rd century bce, and possibly earlier, magnificent
Buddhist monuments such as the great stupas at Bharhut and Sanchi were
built. During the early centuries of the 1st millennium ce, similar
monuments were established virtually throughout the subcontinent.
Numerous monasteries emerged too, some in close association with the
great monuments and pilgrimage sites. Considerable evidence, including
inscriptional evidence, points to extensive support from local rulers,
including the women of the various royal courts.
During this period Buddhist monastic centres proliferated, and there
developed diverse schools of interpretation concerning matters of
doctrine and monastic discipline. Within the Hinayana tradition there
emerged many different schools, most of which preserved a variant of the
Tipitaka (which had taken the form of written scriptures by the early
centuries of the Common Era), held distinctive doctrinal positions, and
practiced unique forms of monastic discipline. The traditional number of
schools is 18, but the situation was very complicated, and exact
identifications are hard to make.
About the beginning of the Common Era, distinctively Mahayana
tendencies began to take shape. It should be emphasized, however, that
many Hinayana and Mahayana adherents continued to live together in the
same monastic institutions. In the 2nd or 3rd century, the Madhyamika
school, which has remained one of the major schools of Mahayana
philosophy, was established, and many other expressions of Mahayana
belief, practice, and communal life appeared. By the beginning of the
Gupta era, the Mahayana had become the most dynamic and creative
Buddhist tradition in India.
At this time Buddhism also expanded beyond the Indian subcontinent.
It is most likely that Asoka sent a diplomatic mission to Sri Lanka and
that Buddhism was established there during his reign. By the beginning
of the Common Era, Buddhism, which had become very strong in
northwestern India, had followed the great trade routes into Central
Asia and China. According to later tradition, this expansion was greatly
facilitated by Kanishka, a great Kushana king of the 1st or 2nd century
ce, who ruled over an area that included portions of northern India and
Central Asia.
Historical Development » India » Buddhism under the Guptas and Palas
By the time of the Gupta dynasty (c. 320–c. 600 ce), Buddhism in India
was being influenced by the revival of Brahmanic religion and the rising
tide of bhakti (a devotional movement that emphasized the intense love
of a devotee for a personal god). During this period, for example, some
Hindus practiced devotion to the Buddha, whom they regarded as an avatar
(incarnation) of the Hindu deity Vishnu, and some Buddhists venerated
Hindu deities who were an integral part of the wider religious context
in which they lived.
Throughout the Gupta and Pala periods, Hinayana Buddhists remained a
major segment of the Indian Buddhist community. Their continued
cultivation of various aspects of Buddhist teaching led to the emergence
of the Yogacara school, the second great tradition of Mahayana
philosophy. A third major Buddhist tradition, the Vajrayana or Esoteric
tradition, developed out of the Mahayana school and became a powerful
and dynamic religious force. The new form of text associated with this
tradition, the tantras, appeared during the Gupta period, and there are
indications that distinctively Tantric rituals began to be employed at
this time as well. It was during the Pala period (8th–12th centuries),
however, that the Vajrayana/Esoteric tradition emerged as the most
dynamic component of Indian Buddhist life.
Also during the Gupta period, there emerged a new Buddhist
institution, the Mahavihara (“Great Monastery”), which often functioned
as a university. This institution enjoyed great success during the reign
of the Pala kings. The most famous of these Mahaviharas, located at
Nalanda, became a major centre for the study of Buddhist texts and the
refinement of Buddhist thought, particularly Mahayana and Vajrayana
thought. The monks at Nalanda also developed a curriculum that went far
beyond traditional Buddhism and included much Indian scientific and
cultural knowledge. In subsequent years other important Mahaviharas were
established, each with its own distinctive emphases and characteristics.
These great Buddhist monastic research and educational institutions
exerted a profound religious and cultural influence not only in India
but throughout many other parts of Asia as well.
Although Buddhist institutions seemed to be faring well under the
Guptas, Chinese pilgrims visiting India between 400 and 700 ce discerned
a decline in the Buddhist community and the beginning of the absorption
of Indian Buddhism by Hinduism. Among these pilgrims was Faxian, who
left China in 399, crossed the Gobi Desert, visited various holy places
in India, and returned to China with numerous Buddhist scriptures and
statues. The most famous of the Chinese travelers, however, was the
7th-century monk Xuanzang. When he arrived in northwestern India, he
found “millions of monasteries” reduced to ruins by the Huns, a nomadic
Central Asian people. In the northeast Xuanzang visited various holy
places and studied Yogacara philosophy at Nalanda. After visiting Assam
and southern India, he returned to China, carrying with him copies of
more than 600 sutras.
After the destruction of numerous Buddhist monasteries in the 6th
century ce by the Huns, Buddhism revived, especially in the northeast,
where it flourished for many more centuries under the kings of the Pala
dynasty. The kings protected the Mahaviharas, built new centres at
Odantapuri, near Nalanda, and established a system of supervision for
all such institutions. Under the Palas the Vajrayana/Esoteric form of
Buddhism became a major intellectual and religious force. Its adherents
introduced important innovations into Buddhist doctrine and symbolism.
They also advocated the practice of new Tantric forms of ritual practice
that were designed both to generate magical power and to facilitate more
rapid progress along the path to enlightenment. During the reigns of the
later Pala kings, contacts with China decreased as Indian Buddhists
turned their attention toward Tibet and Southeast Asia.
Historical Development » India » The demise of Buddhism in India
With the collapse of the Pala dynasty in the 12th century, Indian
Buddhism suffered yet another setback, from which it did not recover.
Although small pockets of influence remained, the Buddhist presence in
India became negligible.
Scholars do not know all the factors that contributed to Buddhism’s
demise in its homeland. Some have maintained that it was so tolerant of
other faiths that it was simply reabsorbed by a revitalized Hindu
tradition. This did occur, though Indian Mahayanists were occasionally
hostile toward bhakti and toward Hinduism in general. Another factor,
however, was probably much more important. Indian Buddhism, having
become primarily a monastic movement, seems to have lost touch with its
lay supporters. Many monasteries had become very wealthy, so much so
that they were able to employ indentured slaves and paid labourers to
care for the monks and to tend the lands they owned. Thus, after the
Muslim invaders sacked the Indian monasteries in the 12th and 13th
centuries, the Buddhist laity showed little interest in a resurgence.
Historical Development » India » Contemporary revival
In the 19th century Buddhism was virtually extinct in India. In far
eastern Bengal and Assam, a few Buddhists preserved a tradition that
dated back to pre-Muslim times, and some of them experienced a
Theravada-oriented reform that was initiated by a Burmese monk who
visited the area in the mid-19th century. By the end of that century, a
very small number of Indian intellectuals had become interested in
Buddhism through Western scholarship or through the activities of the
Theosophical Society, one of whose leaders was the American Henry
Olcott. The Sinhalese reformer Anagarika Dharmapala also exerted some
influence, particularly through his work as one of the founders of the
Mahabodhi Society, which focused its initial efforts on restoring
Buddhist control of the pilgrimage site at Bodh Gaya, the presumed site
of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Beginning in the early 20th century, a few Indian intellectuals
became increasingly interested in Buddhism as a more rational and
egalitarian alternative to Hinduism. Although this interest remained
limited to a very tiny segment of the intellectual elite, a small
Buddhist movement with a broader constituency developed in South India.
Even as late as 1950, however, an official government census identified
fewer than 200,000 Buddhists in the country, most of them residing in
east Bengal and Assam.
Since 1950 the number of Buddhists in India has increased
dramatically. One very small factor in this increase was the flood of
Buddhist refugees from Tibet following the Chinese invasion of that
country in 1959. The centre of the Tibetan refugee community, both in
India and around the world, was established in Dharmsala, but many
Tibetan refugees settled in other areas of the subcontinent as well.
Another very small factor was the incorporation of Sikkim—a region with
a predominantly Buddhist population now in the northeastern part of
India—into the Republic of India in 1975.
The most important cause of the contemporary revival of Buddhism in
India was the mass conversion, in 1956, of hundreds of thousands of
Hindus living primarily in Maharashtra state who had previously been
members of the so-called scheduled castes (formerly called
untouchables). This conversion was initiated by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar,
a leader of the scheduled castes who was also a major figure in the
Indian independence movement, a critic of the caste policies of Mahatma
Gandhi, a framer of India’s constitution, and a member of India’s first
independent government. As early as 1935 Ambedkar decided to lead his
people away from Hinduism in favour of a religion that did not recognize
caste distinctions. After a delay of more than 20 years, he determined
that Buddhism was the appropriate choice. He also decided that 1956—the
year in which Theravada Buddhists were celebrating the 2,500th year of
the death of the Buddha—was the appropriate time. A dramatic conversion
ceremony, held in Nagpur, was attended by hundreds of thousands of
people. Since 1956 more than three million persons (a very conservative
estimate) have joined the new Buddhist community.
The Buddhism of Ambedkar’s community is based on the teachings found
in the ancient Pali texts and has much in common with the Theravada
Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. There are
important differences that distinguish the new group, however. They
include the community’s reliance on Ambedkar’s own interpretations,
which are presented in his book The Buddha and His Dhamma; the
community’s emphasis on a mythology concerning the Buddhist and
aristocratic character of the Mahar (the largest of the scheduled
castes); and its recognition of Ambedkar himself as a saviour figure who
is often considered to be a bodhisattva (future buddha). Another
distinguishing characteristic of the Mahar Buddhists is the absence of a
strong monastic community, which has allowed laypersons to assume the
primary leadership roles. During the last several decades, the group has
produced its own corpus of Buddhist songs and many vernacular books and
pamphlets that deal with various aspects of Buddhist doctrine, practice,
and community life.
Historical Development » Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia
The first clear evidence of the spread of Buddhism outside India dates
from the reign of King Asoka (3rd century bce), whose inscriptions show
that he sent Buddhist missionaries to many different regions of the
subcontinent as well as into certain border areas. Asokan emissaries
were sent to Sri Lanka and to an area called Suvarnabhumi, which many
modern scholars have identified with the Mon country in southern Myanmar
(Burma) and central Thailand.
Historical Development » Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia » Sri Lanka
According to Sinhalese tradition, Buddhism took root in Sri Lanka soon
after the arrival of Asoka’s son, the monk Mahinda, and six companions.
These monks converted King Devanampiya Tissa and much of the nobility.
King Tissa built the Mahavihara monastery, which became the main centre
of the version of Theravada Buddhism that was ultimately dominant in Sri
Lanka. After Tissa’s death (c. 207 bce), Sri Lanka was ruled by kings
from South India until the time of Dutthagamani (101–77 bce), a
descendant of Tissa, who overthrew King Elara. Dutthagamani’s
association with Buddhism clearly strengthened the religion’s ties with
Sri Lankan political institutions.
In the post-Dutthagamani period, the Mahavihara tradition developed
along with other Sri Lankan monastic traditions. The Sinhalese
chronicles report that, in the last half of the 1st century bce, King
Vattagamani called a Buddhist council (the fourth in the Sinhalese
reckoning) at which the Pali oral tradition of the Buddha’s teachings
was committed to writing. The same king is said to have sponsored the
construction of the Abhayagiri monastery, which eventually included
Hinayana, Mahayana, and even Vajrayana monks. Although these
cosmopolitan tendencies were resisted by the Mahavihara monks, they were
openly supported by King Mahasena (276–303 ce). Under Mahasena’s son,
Shri Meghavanna, the “tooth of the Buddha” was taken to the Abhayagiri,
where it was subsequently maintained and venerated at the royal
palladium.
During the 1st millennium ce, the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka
coexisted with various forms of Hinduism, Mahayana Buddhism, and
Esoteric Buddhism. As Buddhism declined in India, it underwent a major
revival and reform in Sri Lanka, where the Theravada traditions of the
Mahavihara became especially prominent. Sri Lanka became a Theravada
kingdom with a sangha that was unified under Mahavihara leadership and
ruled by a monarch who legitimated his rule in Theravada terms. This
newly constituted Theravada tradition subsequently spread from Sri Lanka
into Southeast Asia, where it exerted a powerful influence.
In early modern times Sri Lanka fell prey to Western colonial powers.
The Portuguese (1505–1658) and the Dutch (1658–1796) seized control of
the coastal areas, and later the British (1794–1947) took over the
entire island. Buddhism suffered considerable disruption under
Portuguese and Dutch rule, and the higher ordination lineage lapsed. In
the 18th century, however, King Kittisiri Rajasiah (1747–81), who ruled
in the upland regions, invited monks from Siam (Thailand) to reform
Buddhism and restore the higher ordination lineages.
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, the monastic community in
Sri Lanka was divided into three major bodies. The Siam Nikaya, founded
during the reform of the late 18th century, was a conservative and
wealthy sect that admitted only members of the Goyigama, the highest
Sinhalese caste. The Amarapura sect, founded in the early 19th century,
opened its ranks to members of lower castes. The third division, the
Ramanya sect, is a small modernist group that emerged in the 19th
century. In addition, several reform groups were established among the
laity. These groups include the important Sarvodaya community, which is
headed by A.T. Ariyaratne. This group has established religious,
economic, and social development programs that have had a significant
impact on Sinhalese village life.
Since Sri Lanka gained its independence from the British in 1947, the
country has been increasingly drawn into a conflict between the
Sinhalese Buddhist majority and the Tamil Hindu minority. In the late
20th century, this conflict escalated into a vicious civil war. Many
Sinhalese, including a significant number of monks, have closely
associated their Buddhist religion with the political agenda and
anti-Tamil violence of the more militant Sinhalese nationalists. Other
Buddhist leaders, however, have tried to adopt a more moderate position
and to encourage a negotiated solution that would reestablish the kind
of peaceful coexistence that has characterized Sri Lankan politics
through the greater part of the island’s long history.
Historical Development » Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia » Southeast Asia
The peoples of Southeast Asia have not been mere satellites of the more
powerful Indian and Chinese civilizations. On the contrary, the cultures
that arose in these three vast areas might better be thought of as
alternative developments that occurred within a greater Austroasiatic
civilization, sometimes called the Asia of the monsoons. The
transmission of Buddhism and Hinduism to Southeast Asia can thus be
regarded as the spread of the religious symbols of the more advanced
Austroasiatic peoples to other Austroasiatic groups sharing some of the
same basic religious presuppositions and traditions.
In Southeast Asia the impact of Buddhism was felt in very different
ways in three separate regions. In two of these (the region of
Malaysia/Indonesia and the region on the mainland extending from Myanmar
to southern Vietnam), the main connections have been with India and Sri
Lanka via trade routes. In Vietnam, the third region, the main
connections have been with China.
Historical Development » Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia » Southeast
Asia » Malaysia and Indonesia
Although some scholars locate the Suvarnabhumi (“Land of Gold”), to
which Asokan missionaries were supposedly sent, somewhere on the Malay
Peninsula or in Indonesia, this is probably not accurate. It is certain,
however, that Buddhism reached these areas by the early centuries of the
1st millennium ce.
With the help of the monk Gunavarman and other Indian missionaries,
Buddhism gained a firm foothold on Java well before the 5th century ce.
Buddhism was also introduced at about this time in Sumatra, and by the
7th century the king of Srivijaya on the island of Sumatra was a
Buddhist. When the Chinese traveler I-ching visited this kingdom in the
7th century, he noted that Hinayana was dominant in the area but that
there were also a few Mahayanists. It was also in the 7th century that
the great scholar from Nalanda, Dharmapala, visited Indonesia.
The Shailendra dynasty, which ruled over the Malay Peninsula and a
large section of Indonesia from the 7th century to the 9th century,
promoted the Mahayana and Tantric forms of Buddhism. During this period
major Buddhist monuments were erected in Java, including the marvelous
Borobudur, which is perhaps the most magnificent of all Buddhist stupas.
From the 7th century onward, Vajrayana Buddhism spread rapidly
throughout the area. King Kertanagara of Java (reigned 1268–92) was
especially devoted to Tantric practice.
In the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia, as in India, Buddhism gradually
lost its hold during the first half of the 2nd millennium ce. In some
areas Buddhism was assimilated to Hinduism, forming a Hindu-oriented
amalgam that in some places (for example in Bali) has persisted to the
present. In most of Malaysia and Indonesia, however, both Hinduism and
Buddhism were replaced by Islam, which remains the dominant religion in
the area. In modern Indonesia and Malaysia, Buddhism exists as a living
religion primarily among the Chinese minority, but there is also a small
non-Chinese community of Buddhists that is concentrated in the vicinity
of Borobudur.
Historical Development » Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia » Southeast
Asia » From Myanmar to the Mekong delta
A second area of Buddhist expansion in Southeast Asia extends from
Myanmar in the north and west to the Mekong delta in the south and east.
According to the local Mon/Burman traditions, this is Suvarnabhumi, the
area visited by missionaries from the Asokan court. It is known that
Buddhist kingdoms had appeared in this region by the early centuries of
the 1st millennium ce. In Myanmar and Thailand, despite the presence of
Hindu, Mahayana, and Vajrayana elements, the more-conservative Hinayana
forms of Buddhism were especially prominent throughout the 1st
millennium ce. Farther to the east and south, in what is now Cambodia
and southern Vietnam, various combinations of Hinduism, Mahayana
Buddhism, and Vajrayana Buddhism became prevalent. Throughout much of
the history of Angkor, the great imperial centre that ruled Cambodia and
much of the surrounding areas for many centuries, Hinduism seems to have
been the preferred tradition, at least among the elite. In the late 12th
and early 13th centuries, however, the Buddhist King Jayavarman VII
built a new capital called Angkor Thom that was dominated by
Mahayana/Vajrayana monuments, which represent one of the high points of
Buddhist architecture.
In mainland Southeast Asia, as in Sri Lanka, a Theravada reform
movement emerged in the 11th century. Drawing heavily on the Theravada
heritage that had been preserved among the Mon in southern Myanmar, as
well as on the new reform tradition of Sri Lanka, this revival soon
established the Theravada tradition as the most dynamic in Myanmar,
where the Burmans had conquered the Mon. By the late 13th century, the
movement had spread to Thailand, where the Thai were gradually
displacing the Mon as the dominant population. During the next two
centuries, Theravada reforms penetrated as far as Cambodia and Laos.
The preeminence of Theravada Buddhism continued throughout the area
during the remainder of the premodern period. The arrival of the Western
powers in the 19th century brought important changes. In Thailand, which
retained its independence, a process of gradual reform and modernization
was led by a new Buddhist sect, the Thammayut Nikaya, which was
established and supported by the reigning Chakri dynasty. In the 20th
century reform and modernization became more diversified and affected
virtually all segments of the Thai Buddhist community.
Two new Buddhist groups, Santi Asoke (founded 1975) and Dhammakaya,
are especially interesting. Santi Asoke, a lay-oriented group that
advocates stringent discipline, moral rectitude, and political reform,
has been very much at odds with the established ecclesiastical
hierarchy. The Dhammakaya group has been much more successful at
gathering a large popular following but has also become very
controversial because of its distinctive meditational practices and
questions concerning its care of financial contributions from its
followers.
In the other Theravada countries in Southeast Asia, Buddhism has had
a much more difficult time. In Myanmar, which endured an extended period
of British rule, the sangha and the structures of Buddhist society have
been seriously disrupted. Under the military regime of General Ne Win,
established in 1962, reform and modernization were limited in all areas
of national life, including religion. Since the suppression of the
pro-democracy movement in the late 1980s, the country’s military rulers
have used their support of a very traditional form of Buddhism to
legitimize their highly repressive regime. In Laos and Cambodia, both of
which suffered an extended period of French rule followed by devastation
during the Vietnam War and the violent imposition of communist rule, the
Buddhist community has been severely crippled. Beginning in the 1980s,
however, it showed increasing signs of life and vitality. In Laos it was
recognized by the government as a part of the national heritage, and in
Cambodia it was even given the status of a state religion.
Historical Development » Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia » Southeast
Asia » Vietnam
There are indications that Vietnam was involved in the early sea trade
between India, Southeast Asia, and China, and it is quite probable that
Buddhism reached the country via this sea route near the beginning of
the 1st millennium ce. The northern part of what is now Vietnam had been
conquered by the Chinese empire in 111 bce and remained under Chinese
rule until 939 ce. Hinayana and Mahayana traditions spread into the two
Indianized states, Funan (founded during the 1st century ce) and Champa
(founded 192 ce). The long-term development of Buddhism in Vietnam,
however, was most affected by Zen and Pure Land traditions, which were
introduced from China into the northern and central sections of the
country beginning in the 6th century ce.
The first dhyana (Zen; Vietnamese: thien), or meditation, school was
introduced by Vinitaruci, an Indian monk who had gone to Vietnam from
China in the 6th century. In the 9th century a school of “wall
meditation” was introduced by the Chinese monk Vo Ngon Thong. A third
major Zen school was established in the 11th century by the Chinese monk
Thao Durong. From 1414 to 1428 Buddhism in Vietnam was persecuted by the
Chinese, who had again conquered the country. Tantrism, Daoism, and
Confucianism also filtered into Vietnam at this time. Even after the
Chinese had been driven back, a Chinese-like bureaucracy closely
supervised the Vietnamese monasteries. The clergy was divided between
those who were highborn and Sinicized and those in the lower ranks who
often were active in peasant uprisings.
During the modern period Mahayana traditions in northern and central
Vietnam have coexisted with Theravada traditions from Cambodia in the
south. Rather loosely joined together, Vietnamese Buddhists managed to
preserve their traditions through the period of French colonial rule in
the 19th and 20th centuries. During the struggle between North and South
Vietnam in the 1960s and early ’70s, many Buddhists worked to achieve
peace and reconciliation, though they met with little success; to
protest the South Vietnamese regime of Ngo Dinh Diem, some Buddhist
monks turned to self-immolation. Under the communist regime that has
ruled the reunited country since 1975, conditions have been difficult,
but Buddhism has persisted. Reports in the late 1980s and 1990s
indicated signs of vitality, though there have also been reports of
serious government limitations on Buddhist activities.
Historical Development » Tibet, Mongolia, and the Himalayan Kingdoms »
The Himalayan kingdoms
Tibetan Buddhism has exerted a considerable influence in the Himalayan
areas situated along Tibet’s southern border. In Nepal, Buddhism
interacted with both India and Tibet. Although there is evidence that
suggests that the Buddha was born in the southern part of the area that
is now Nepal—at Lumbini, about 15 miles (24 km) from Kapilavatthu (Kapilavastu)—Buddhism
seems to have been actively propagated only later, probably under Asoka.
By the 8th century Nepal had fallen into the cultural orbit of Tibet. A
few centuries later, as a result of the Muslim invasions of India, both
Hindus (such as the Brahmanic Gurkha aristocracy) and Buddhists took
refuge in the country. The Tibetan influence on the Himalayan tradition
is indicated by the presence of Tibetan-style prayer wheels and flags.
The Indian heritage is especially evident in the caste system that
embraces Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. In the late 20th century, a
significant Theravada reform movement took root among the Newari
population. The adherents of this movement, who have important
connections with Theravada practitioners in Myanmar and Sri Lanka,
oppose the maintenance of traditional caste distinctions.
In Bhutan a Tibetan lama introduced Buddhism and a Tibetan style of
hierarchical theocracy in the 17th century. Buddhism practiced in Bhutan
has been influenced by the Tibetan Bka’-brgyud-pa sect, which has
stressed the magical benefits of living in caves and has not enforced on
its clergy the discipline of celibacy. Buddhism in Bhutan, like Buddhism
in Nepal, is coming into increasing contact with modernizing forces that
are beginning to undermine many of its traditional practices.
Historical Development » Buddhism in the West
During the long course of Buddhist history, Buddhist influences have
from time to time reached the Western world. Although the evidence is
weak, some scholars have suggested that Buddhist monks and teachings had
reached as far as Egypt by about the beginning of the Common Era. There
are occasional references to what seem to be Buddhist traditions in the
writing of the Christian Church Fathers. In addition, a version of the
biography of the Buddha known as the story of Barlaam and Josephat was
disseminated widely in medieval Europe. In fact, the Buddha figure in
the story came to be recognized as a Christian saint.
Not until the modern period, however, is there evidence of a serious
Buddhist presence in the Western world. Beginning in the mid-19th
century, Buddhism was introduced into the United States and other
Western countries by large numbers of immigrants, first from China and
Japan and later from other countries, especially those of Southeast
Asia. In addition, Buddhism gained a foothold among a significant number
of Western intellectuals and—particularly during the 1960s and early
’70s—among young people seeking new forms of religious experience and
expression. The interest of Westerners in Buddhism was greatly fostered
by the work of Buddhist missionaries such as the Japanese scholar D.T.
Suzuki (1870–1966) and a number of Tibetan Buddhist teachers who moved
to the West following the Chinese conquest of their homeland in 1959.
Historical Development » Sangha, society, and state
Buddhists have always recognized the importance of community life, and
over the centuries there has developed a distinctive symbiotic
relationship between monks (and in some cases nuns) and the lay
community. The relationship between the monastics and the laity has
differed from place to place and from time to time, but throughout most
of Buddhist history both groups have played an essential role in the
process of constituting and reconstituting the Buddhist world. Moreover,
both the monastics and the laity have engaged in a variety of common and
complementary religious practices that have expressed Buddhist
orientations and values, structured Buddhist societies, and addressed
the soteriological and practical concerns of individuals.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica}
