Buddhism religion history

In this Buddhism religion history, I will cover its history in India.

In actual fact Buddhism covered almost the whole of Asia - excluding perhaps Russia. But I cannot cover all these details in a short article.

The Shakyamuni Buddha founded Buddhism through his enlightenment and teaching. He livd between 563 BC and 483 BC

Buddhism gained in popularity in India mainly during the reign of King Asoka (274-236BCE) because of his patronage. Asoka is remembered in countries as far away as Japan because of his efforts to promote and spread Buddhism. Asoka played an important role in Buddhism religion history.

The doctrine which arose as a result of the original Buddha's teaching is Theravada Buddhism - or the Path of the Elders. It is also called Hinayana Buddhism.

Around and between the period 0-500 of the Christian era Mahayana Buddhism took shape in India. Mahayana is also called the Greater Vehicle as it contains many more skillful means to attain enlightenment as compared to the Theravada tradition.

So this is another important fact that must be mentioned in a Buddhism religion history.

Alan Watts describes the evolution of Mahayana Buddhism as a response to the psychological needs caused by following the original Theravada doctrine.

There was also a need for transformation to meet the needs of new ages, new populations and different social circumstances. The old doctrine had become stale and was producing very few sages or Arahats.

Thus, a new literature came into being and this is one of the most magnificent outbursts of creative energy in human history. The realized master Nagarjuna lived in this period, which lasted for almost 500 years. During this period also Mahayana Buddhism came in touch with non-Indian influence. In North-west India where it developed it came in touch with Greek culture as well as influences from the Mediterranean and the Iranian world. This is an important stage in Buddhism religion history.

This incidentally rendered Buddhism fit for export outside India as for it to spread to other countries it first had to go through a preliminary phase of de-Indianization.

Anyway, Buddhism spread over the next 1500 years starting around the beginning of the Christian era. Mahayana has conquered the entire Northern half of the Buddhist world and the Buddhists of Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan are nearly all Mahayanists.

In India itself Buddhism came to an end about 1200 A.D. though is some States and districts such as Magadha, Bengal, Orissa and South India it lingered on for another 200 or 300 years.

The main reason for this decline and extinction was the Muslim invasions. These ruthless conquerors - with their zeal and hatred of idolatry - burned down flourishing monasteries and universities in Sindh and Bengal and killed all the monks. This however was not the only reason as Hinduism and Jainism were subject to the same fury and stood their ground. The other reasons were:-

1) Hinduism had itself assimilated much of Mahayana Buddhist thought the Buddhist were now not teaching anything different and new.

2) Buddhism failed to benefit the laity substantially and depended for its patronage mostly on kings. Where such patronage was lacking, it declined. Jainism on the other hand had wealthy merchants patronizing them who considered it an honor to support ascetics. this is an important shortcoming of Buddhism in India and must be mentioned in any Buddhism religion history.

3) Buddhism had lost its creative impulse and no new literature and doctrines were being developed at that time.

4) The other- world Buddhist monks did not consider the country of their residence very important. When they were unable to practice their monastic discipline they simply left for other countries such as Nepal, Tibet, China, etc. Thus the very reasons that led to the spread of Buddhism to other countries in Asia caused its decline in India.

5) The Buddhist monks themselves regarded their own doctrine as having a limited shelf life. All is transient according to Buddhism and their own religion is not excluded. Thus when circumstances were such as existed at that time the only thing to do was to retire gracefully from the scene.

So this then is Buddhism religion history in India.

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