Buddhism 1

Buddhism

Standing Buddha. One of the earliest knownrepresentations of the Buddha, 1st–2nd century

CE. Greco-Buddhist art, Gandhara. (TokyoNational Museum)

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Buddhism 2

Buddha by Otgonbayar Ershuu

Buddhism is a religion indigenous to the Indian subcontinent thatencompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely basedon teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonlyknown as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" in Sanskrit andPāli). The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indiansubcontinent between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.[1] He isrecognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher whoshared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering (dukkha)through eliminating ignorance (avidyā) by way of understanding andseeing dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and eliminatingcraving (taṇhā), and thus attain the cessation of all suffering, thesublime state of nirvāņa.[2]

Two major branches of Buddhism are generally recognized: Theravada("The School of the Elders") and Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle").Theravada has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia(Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar etc.). Mahayana is foundthroughout East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore,Taiwan etc.) and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, andTiantai (Tendai). In some classifications, Vajrayana—practiced mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent parts ofChina and Russia—is recognized as a third branch, while others classify it as a part of Mahayana.

While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughout the world. Estimates ofBuddhists worldwide vary significantly depending on the way Buddhist adherence is defined. Conservative estimatesare between 350 and 750 million.[3][4][5] Higher estimates are between 1.2 and 1.7 billion.[6][7][8] It is alsorecognized as one of the fastest growing religions in the world.[9][10][11][12]

Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of variousteachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices.[13] The foundations of Buddhist tradition andpractice are the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the community). Taking"refuge in the triple gem" has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path, and ingeneral distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist.[14] Other practices may include following ethical precepts;support of the monastic community; renouncing conventional living and becoming a monastic; the development ofmindfulness and practice of meditation; cultivation of higher wisdom and discernment; study of scriptures;devotional practices; ceremonies; and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Life of the Buddha

Buddhism 3

Relic depicting Gautama leaving home. TheGreat Departure, c.1–2nd century. (Musée

Guimet)

This narrative draws on the Nidānakathā biography of the Theravādasect in Sri Lanka, which is ascribed to Buddhaghoṣa in the 5th centuryCE.[15] Earlier biographies such as the Buddhacarita, theLokottaravādin Mahāvastu, and the Mahāyāna / SarvāstivādaLalitavistara Sūtra, give different accounts. Scholars are hesitant tomake unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life.Most accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order, but donot consistently accept all of the details contained in hisbiographies.[16][17]

Ascetic Gautama with his five companions, wholater comprised the first Sangha. (Painting in

Laotian temple)

According to author Michael Carrithers, while there are good reasonsto doubt the traditional account, "the outline of the life must be true:birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation,teaching, death."[18] In writing her biography of the Buddha, KarenArmstrong noted, "It is obviously difficult, therefore, to write abiography of the Buddha that meets modern criteria, because we havevery little information that can be considered historically sound... [but]we can be reasonably confident Siddhatta Gotama did indeed exist andthat his disciples preserved the memory of his life and teachings aswell as they could."[19] Wikipedia:Disputed statement

The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama wasborn in a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the northeastern Indiansubcontinent in the 5th century BCE.[20] It was either a small republic, in which case his father was an electedchieftain, or an oligarchy, in which case his father was an oligarch.[20]

The Vajrashila, where Gautamasat under a tree and became

enlightened, Bodh Gaya, India,2011

According to the Theravada Tripitaka scripturesWikipedia:Avoid weasel words(from Pali, meaning "three baskets"), Gautama was born in Lumbini in modern-dayNepal, around the year 563 BCE, and raised in Kapilavastu.[21][22]

According to this narrative, shortly after the birth of young prince Gautama, anastrologer visited the young prince's father—King Śuddhodana—and prophesied thatSiddhartha would either become a great king or renounce the material world tobecome a holy man, depending on whether he saw what life was like outside thepalace walls.

Śuddhodana was determined to see his son become a king, so he prevented him fromleaving the palace grounds. But at age 29, despite his father's efforts, Gautamaventured beyond the palace several times. In a series of encounters—known inBuddhist literature as the four sights—he learned of the suffering of ordinary people,encountering an old man, a sick man, a corpse and, finally, an ascetic holy man,apparently content and at peace with the world. These experiences promptedGautama to abandon royal life and take up a spiritual quest.

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Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India,built by King Ashoka, where the Buddha gave his

first sermon

Gautama first went to study with famous religious teachers of the day,and mastered the meditative attainments they taught. But he found thatthey did not provide a permanent end to suffering, so he continued hisquest. He next attempted an extreme asceticism, which was a religiouspursuit common among the Shramanas, a religious culture distinctfrom the Vedic one. Gautama underwent prolonged fasting,breath-holding, and exposure to pain. He almost starved himself todeath in the process. He realized that he had taken this kind of practiceto its limit, and had not put an end to suffering. So in a pivotal momenthe accepted milk and rice from a village girl and changed his approach.He devoted himself to anapanasati meditation, through which hediscovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way (Skt.madhyamā-pratipad[23]): a path of moderation between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.[24][25]

Buddha statue depicting Parinirvana.(Mahaparinirvana Temple, Kushinagar, Uttar

Pradesh, India)

Gautama was now determined to complete his spiritual quest. At theage of 35, he famously sat in meditation under a sacred fig tree —known as the Bodhi tree — in the town of Bodh Gaya, India, andvowed not to rise before achieving enlightenment. After many days, hefinally destroyed the fetters of his mind, thereby liberating himselffrom the cycle of suffering and rebirth, and arose as a fully enlightenedbeing (Skt. samyaksaṃbuddha). Soon thereafter, he attracted a band offollowers and instituted a monastic order. Now, as the Buddha, he

spent the rest of his life teaching the path of awakening he had discovered, traveling throughout the northeastern partof the Indian subcontinent,[26][27] and died at the age of 80 (483 BCE) in Kushinagar, India. The south branch of theoriginal fig tree available only in Anuradhapura Sri Lanka is known as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi.

Buddhist concepts

Life and the world

Traditional Tibetan BuddhistThangka depicting the Wheel of Life

with its six realms

Saṃsāra

Samsara is "the cycle of birth and death".[28] Sentient beings crave pleasure andare averse to pain from birth to death. In being controlled by these attitudes, theyperpetuate the cycle of conditioned existence and suffering (saṃsāra), andproduce the causes and conditions of the next rebirth after death. Each rebirthrepeats this process in an involuntary cycle, which Buddhists strive to end byeradicating these causes and conditions, applying the methods laid out by theBuddha and subsequent Buddhists.

Karma

Karma (from Sanskrit: "action, work") in Buddhism is the force that drivessaṃsāra—the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. Good, skillful deeds(Pāli: "kusala") and bad, unskillful (Pāli: "akusala") actions produce "seeds" inthe mind that come to fruition either in this life or in a subsequent rebirth.[29] Theavoidance of unwholesome actions and the cultivation of positive actions is

called śīla (from Sanskrit: "ethical conduct").

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In Buddhism, karma specifically refers to those actions (of body, speech, and mind) that spring from mental intent("cetana"),[30] and bring about a consequence or fruit, (phala) or result (vipāka).In Theravada Buddhism there can be no divine salvation or forgiveness for one's karma, since it is a purelyimpersonal process that is a part of the makeup of the universe. In Mahayana Buddhism, the texts of certainMahayana sutras (such as the Lotus Sutra, the Angulimaliya Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra) claim that reciting ormerely hearing their texts can expunge great swathes of negative karma. Some forms of Buddhism (for example,Vajrayana) regard the recitation of mantras as a means for cutting off previous negative karma.[31] The JapanesePure Land teacher Genshin taught that Amida Buddha has the power to destroy the karma that would otherwise bindone in saṃsāra.[4][5]

Rebirth

Gautama's cremation site, Ramabhar Stupa inUttar Pradesh, India

Rebirth refers to a process whereby beings go through a succession oflifetimes as one of many possible forms of sentient life, each runningfrom conception[32] to death. Buddhism rejects the concepts of apermanent self or an unchanging, eternal soul, as it is called inHinduism and Christianity. According to Buddhism there ultimately isno such thing as a self independent from the rest of the universe (thedoctrine of anatta). Rebirth in subsequent existences must beunderstood as the continuation of a dynamic, ever-changing process of"dependent arising" ("pratītyasamutpāda") determined by the laws ofcause and effect (karma) rather than that of one being, transmigratingor incarnating from one existence to the next.

Each rebirth takes place within one of five realms according to Theravadins, or six according to other schools.[33][34]

These are further subdivided into 31 planes of existence:[35]

1. Naraka beings: those who live in one of many Narakas (Hells);2. Preta: sometimes sharing some space with humans, but invisible to most people; an important variety is the

hungry ghost;[36]

3. Animals: sharing space with humans, but considered another type of life;4. Human beings: one of the realms of rebirth in which attaining Nirvana is possible;5. Asuras: variously translated as lowly deities, demons, titans, antigods; not recognized by Theravāda

(Mahavihara) tradition as a separate realm;[37]

6. Devas including Brahmas: variously translated as gods, deities, spirits, angels, or left untranslated.Rebirths in some of the higher heavens, known as the Śuddhāvāsa Worlds (Pure Abodes), can be attained by onlyskilled Buddhist practitioners known as anāgāmis (non-returners). Rebirths in the arupa-dhatu (formless realms) canbe attained by only those who can meditate on the arūpajhānas, the highest object of meditation.According to East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, there is an intermediate state (Tibetan "Bardo") between one lifeand the next. The orthodox Theravada position rejects this; however there are passages in the Samyutta Nikaya of thePali Canon (the collection of texts on which the Theravada tradition is based), that seem to lend support to the ideathat the Buddha taught of an intermediate stage between one life and the next.[38][39]

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Suffering's causes and solution

The Four Noble Truths

The teachings on the Four Noble Truths are regarded as central to the teachings of Buddhism, and are said to providea conceptual framework for Buddhist thought. These four truths explain the nature of dukkha (suffering, anxiety,dissatisfaction), its causes, and how it can be overcome. The four truths are:[40]

1. The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction)2. The truth of the origin of dukkha3. The truth of the cessation of dukkha4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha

The first truth explains the nature of dukkha. Dukkha is commonly translated as “suffering”, “anxiety”,“dissatisfaction”, “unease”, etc., and it is said to have the following three aspects:•• the obvious suffering of physical and mental illness, growing old, and dying;•• the anxiety or stress of trying to hold onto things that are constantly changing; and• a subtle dissatisfaction pervading all forms of life, due to the fact that all forms of life are impermanent and

constantly changing.[41]

The second truth is that the origin of dukkha can be known. Within the context of the four noble truths, the origin ofdukkha is commonly explained as craving (Pali: tanha) conditioned by ignorance (Pali: avijja). On a deeper level,the root cause of dukkha is identified as ignorance (Pali: avijja) of the true nature of things. The third noble truth isthat the complete cessation of dukkha is possible, and the fourth noble truth identifies a path to this cessation.[40]

Noble Eightfold Path

The Dharmachakra represents the NobleEightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path—the fourth of the Buddha's NobleTruths—consists of a set of eight interconnected factors or conditions,that when developed together, lead to the cessation of dukkha.[42]

These eight factors are: Right View (or Right Understanding), RightIntention (or Right Thought), Right Speech, Right Action, RightLivelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

Ajahn Sucitto describes the path as "a mandala of interconnectedfactors that support and moderate each other."[42] The eight factors ofthe path are not to be understood as stages, in which each stage iscompleted before moving on to the next. Rather, they are understood aseight significant dimensions of one's behaviour—mental, spoken, andbodily—that operate in dependence on one another; taken together,they define a complete path, or way of living.[43]

The eight factors of the path are commonly presented within threedivisions (or higher trainings) as shown below:

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Division Eightfold factor Sanskrit, Pali Description

Wisdom(Sanskrit: prajñā,Pāli: paññā)

1. Right view samyag dṛṣṭi,sammā ditthi

Viewing reality as it is, not just as it appears to be

2. Right intention samyagsaṃkalpa,sammā sankappa

Intention of renunciation, freedom and harmlessness

Ethical conduct(Sanskrit: śīla,Pāli: sīla)

3. Right speech samyag vāc,sammā vāca

Speaking in a truthful and non-hurtful way

4. Right action samyag karman,sammākammanta

Acting in a non-harmful way

5. Right livelihood samyag ājīvana,sammā ājīva

A non-harmful livelihood

Concentration(Sanskrit and Pāli:samādhi)

6. Right effort samyagvyāyāma,sammā vāyāma

Making an effort to improve

7. Right mindfulness samyag smṛti,sammā sati

Awareness to see things for what they are with clear consciousness;being aware of the present reality within oneself, without any craving oraversion

8. Rightconcentration

samyag samādhi,sammā samādhi

Correct meditation or concentration, explained as the first four jhānas

The Four Immeasurables

Statue of Buddha in Puji Temple on Putuo Shanisland in China

While he searched for enlightenment, Gautama combined the yogapractice of his teacher Kalama with what later became known as "theimmeasurables".[44] Wikipedia:Disputed statement Gautama thusinvented a new kind of human, one without egotism.[44]

Wikipedia:Disputed statement What Thich Nhat Hanh calls the "FourImmeasurable Minds" of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity[45] arealso known as brahmaviharas, divine abodes, or simply as fourimmeasurables.[] Pema Chödrön calls them the "four limitlessones".[46] Of the four, mettā or loving-kindness meditation is perhapsthe best known.[] The Four Immeasurables are taught as a form ofmeditation that cultivates "wholesome attitudes towards all sentientbeings."[47] The practitioner prays:

1.1. May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes,2.2. May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes,3.3. May all sentient beings never be separated from bliss without suffering,4. May all sentient beings be in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.[48]

Buddhism 8

Middle Way

An important guiding principle of Buddhist practice is the Middle Way (or Middle Path), which is said to have beendiscovered by Gautama Buddha prior to his enlightenment. The Middle Way has several definitions:1.1. The practice of non-extremism: a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and

self-mortification;2. The middle ground between certain metaphysical views (for example, that things ultimately either do or do not

exist);[49]

3. An explanation of Nirvana (perfect enlightenment), a state wherein it becomes clear that all dualities apparent inthe world are delusory (see Seongcheol);

4. Another term for emptiness, the ultimate nature of all phenomena (in the Mahayana branch), a lack of inherentexistence, which avoids the extremes of permanence and nihilism or inherent existence and nothingness.

Nature of existence

Monks debating at Sera Monastery,Tibet

Buddhist scholars have produced a remarkable quantity of intellectual theories,philosophies and world view concepts (see, for example, Abhidharma, Buddhistphilosophy and Reality in Buddhism). Some schools of Buddhism discouragedoctrinal study, and some regard it as essential practice.

The concept of liberation (nirvāṇa)—the goal of the Buddhist path—is closelyrelated to overcoming ignorance (avidyā), a fundamental misunderstanding ormis-perception of the nature of reality. In awakening to the true nature of the selfand all phenomena one develops dispassion for the objects of clinging, and isliberated from suffering (dukkha) and the cycle of incessant rebirths (saṃsāra).To this end, the Buddha recommended viewing things as characterized by thethree marks of existence.

Three Marks of Existence

The Three Marks of Existence are impermanence, suffering, and not-self.Impermanence (Pāli: anicca) expresses the Buddhist notion that all compounded or conditioned phenomena (allthings and experiences) are inconstant, unsteady, and impermanent. Everything we can experience through oursenses is made up of parts, and its existence is dependent on external conditions. Everything is in constant flux, andso conditions and the thing itself are constantly changing. Things are constantly coming into being, and ceasing tobe. Since nothing lasts, there is no inherent or fixed nature to any object or experience. According to the doctrine ofimpermanence, life embodies this flux in the aging process, the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra), and in any experience ofloss. The doctrine asserts that because things are impermanent, attachment to them is futile and leads to suffering(dukkha).

Suffering (Pāli: दुक्ख dukkha; Sanskrit दुःख duḥkha) is also a central concept in Buddhism. The word roughlycorresponds to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety,dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress, misery, and frustration. Although the term is often translated as"suffering", its philosophical meaning is more analogous to "disquietude" as in the condition of being disturbed. Assuch, "suffering" is too narrow a translation with "negative emotional connotations"[50] that can give the impressionthat the Buddhist view is pessimistic, but Buddhism seeks to be neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic. InEnglish-language Buddhist literature translated from Pāli, "dukkha" is often left untranslated, so as to encompass itsfull range of meaning.[][][]

Not-self (Pāli: anatta; Sanskrit: anātman) is the third mark of existence. Upon careful examination, one finds that no phenomenon is really "I" or "mine"; these concepts are in fact constructed by the mind. In the Nikayas anatta is not

Buddhism 9

meant as a metaphysical assertion, but as an approach for gaining release from suffering. In fact, the Buddha rejectedboth of the metaphysical assertions "I have a Self" and "I have no Self" as ontological views that bind one tosuffering.[51] When asked if the self was identical with the body, the Buddha refused to answer. By analyzing theconstantly changing physical and mental constituents (skandhas) of a person or object, the practitioner comes to theconclusion that neither the respective parts nor the person as a whole comprise a self.

Dependent arising

The doctrine of pratītyasamutpāda (Sanskrit; Pali: paticcasamuppāda; Tibetan: rten.cing.'brel.bar.'byung.ba; Chinese:緣 起) is an important part of Buddhist metaphysics. It states that phenomena arise together in a mutuallyinterdependent web of cause and effect. It is variously rendered into English as "dependent origination","conditioned genesis", "dependent co-arising", "interdependent arising", or "contingency".The best-known application of the concept of pratītyasamutpāda is the scheme of Twelve Nidānas (from Pāli"nidāna" meaning "cause, foundation, source or origin"), which explain the continuation of the cycle of suffering andrebirth (saṃsāra) in detail.[52]

The Twelve Nidānas describe a causal connection between the subsequent characteristics or conditions of cyclicexistence, each one giving rise to the next:1. Avidyā: ignorance, specifically spiritual ignorance of the nature of reality;[53]

2. Saṃskāras: literally formations, explained as referring to karma;3. Vijñāna: consciousness, specifically discriminative;[54]

4. Nāmarūpa: literally name and form, referring to mind and body;[55]

5.5. Ṣaḍāyatana: the six sense bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind-organ;6.6. Sparśa: variously translated contact, impression, stimulation (by a sense object);7.7. Vedanā: usually translated feeling: this is the "hedonic tone", i.e. whether something is pleasant, unpleasant or

neutral;8.8. Tṛṣṇā: literally thirst, but in Buddhism nearly always used to mean craving;9.9. Upādāna: clinging or grasping; the word also means fuel, which feeds the continuing cycle of rebirth;10. Bhava: literally being (existence) or becoming. (The Theravada explains this as having two meanings: karma,

which produces a new existence, and the existence itself.);[56]

11. Jāti: literally birth, but life is understood as starting at conception;[57]

12.12. Jarāmaraṇa: (old age and death) and also śokaparidevaduḥkhadaurmanasyopāyāsa (sorrow, lamentation, pain,sadness, and misery).

Sentient beings always suffer throughout saṃsāra, until they free themselves from this suffering by attainingNirvana. Then the absence of the first Nidāna—ignorance—leads to the absence of the others.

Emptiness

Mahayana Buddhism received significant theoretical grounding from Nagarjuna (perhaps c. 150–250 CE), arguably the most influential scholar within the Mahayana tradition. Nagarjuna's primary contribution to Buddhist philosophy was the systematic exposition of the concept of śūnyatā, or "emptiness", widely attested in the Prajñāpāramitā sutras that emerged in his era. The concept of emptiness brings together other key Buddhist doctrines, particularly anatta and pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination), to refute the metaphysics of Sarvastivada and Sautrantika (extinct non-Mahayana schools). For Nagarjuna, it is not merely sentient beings that are empty of ātman; all phenomena (dharmas) are without any svabhava (literally "own-nature" or "self-nature"), and thus without any underlying essence; they are "empty" of being independent; thus the heterodox theories of svabhava circulating at the time were refuted on the basis of the doctrines of early Buddhism. Nagarjuna's school of thought is known as the Mādhyamaka. Some of the writings attributed to Nagarjuna made explicit references to Mahayana texts, but his philosophy was argued within the parameters set out by the agamas. He may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a

Buddhism 10

consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the Canon. In the eyes of Nagarjuna the Buddha was notmerely a forerunner, but the very founder of the Mādhyamaka system.[58]

Sarvastivada teachings—which were criticized by Nāgārjuna—were reformulated by scholars such as Vasubandhuand Asanga and were adapted into the Yogacara (Sanskrit: yoga practice) school. While the Mādhyamaka schoolheld that asserting the existence or non-existence of any ultimately real thing was inappropriate, some exponents ofYogacara asserted that the mind and only the mind is ultimately real (a doctrine known as cittamatra). Not allYogacarins asserted that mind was truly existent; Vasubandhu and Asanga in particular did not.[59] These twoschools of thought, in opposition or synthesis, form the basis of subsequent Mahayana metaphysics in theIndo-Tibetan tradition.Besides emptiness, Mahayana schools often place emphasis on the notions of perfected spiritual insight(prajñāpāramitā) and Buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha). There are conflicting interpretations of the tathāgatagarbhain Mahāyāna thought. The idea may be traced to Abhidharma, and ultimately to statements of the Buddha in theNikāyas. In Tibetan Buddhism, according to the Sakya school, tathāgatagarbha is the inseparability of the clarity andemptiness of one's mind. In Nyingma, tathāgatagarbha also generally refers to inseparability of the clarity andemptiness of one's mind. According to the Gelug school, it is the potential for sentient beings to awaken since theyare empty (i.e. dependently originated). According to the Jonang school, it refers to the innate qualities of the mindthat expresses themselves as omniscience etc. when adventitious obscurations are removed. The "TathāgatagarbhaSutras" are a collection of Mahayana sutras that present a unique model of Buddha-nature. Even though thiscollection was generally ignored in India,[60] East Asian Buddhism provides some significance to these texts.

Liberation

Nirvana

Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya,India, where Gautama Buddha

attained Nirvana under the BodhiTree (left)

Nirvana (Sanskrit; Pali: "Nibbana") means "cessation", "extinction" (of cravingand ignorance and therefore suffering and the cycle of involuntary rebirths(saṃsāra)), "extinguished", "quieted", "calmed"; it is also known as"Awakening" or "Enlightenment" in the West. The term for anybody who hasachieved nirvana, including the Buddha, is arahant.

Bodhi (Pāli and Sanskrit, in devanagari: बॊधि) is a term applied to the experienceof Awakening of arahants. Bodhi literally means "awakening", but it is morecommonly translated into English as "enlightenment". In Early Buddhism, bodhicarried a meaning synonymous to nirvana, using only some different metaphorsto describe the experience, which implies the extinction of raga (greed,craving),[61] dosa (hate, aversion)[62] and moha (delusion).[63] In the later schoolof Mahayana Buddhism, the status of nirvana was downgraded in somescriptures, coming to refer only to the extinction of greed and hate, implying thatdelusion was still present in one who attained nirvana, and that one needed toattain bodhi to eradicate delusion:

An important development in the Mahayana [was] that it came to separate nirvana from bodhi ('awakening' tothe truth, Enlightenment), and to put a lower value on the former (Gombrich, 1992d). Originally nirvana andbodhi refer to the same thing; they merely use different metaphors for the experience. But the Mahayanatradition separated them and considered that nirvana referred only to the extinction of craving (passion andhatred), with the resultant escape from the cycle of rebirth. This interpretation ignores the third fire, delusion:the extinction of delusion is of course in the early texts identical with what can be positively expressed asgnosis, Enlightenment.

—Richard F. Gombrich, How Buddhism Began[64]

Buddhism 11

Therefore, according to Mahayana Buddhism, the arahant has attained only nirvana, thus still being subject todelusion, while the bodhisattva not only achieves nirvana but full liberation from delusion as well. He thus attainsbodhi and becomes a buddha. In Theravada Buddhism, bodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning as in the earlytexts, that of being freed from greed, hate and delusion.The term parinirvana is also encountered in Buddhism, and this generally refers to the complete nirvana attained bythe arahant at the moment of death, when the physical body expires.

Buddhas

According to Buddhist traditions a Buddha is a fully awakened being who has completely purified his mind of thethree poisons of desire, aversion and ignorance. A Buddha is no longer bound by Samsara, and has ended thesuffering which unawakened people experience in life.Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only Buddha. The Pali Canon refers to manyprevious ones (see List of the 28 Buddhas), while the Mahayana tradition additionally has many Buddhas ofcelestial, rather than historical, origin (see Amitabha or Vairocana as examples, for lists of many thousands Buddhanames see Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō numbers 439–448). A common Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist belief is thatthe next Buddha will be one named Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya).

according to Theravada

In Theravada doctrine, a person may awaken from the "sleep of ignorance" by directly realizing the true nature ofreality; such people are called arahants and occasionally buddhas. After numerous lifetimes of spiritual striving,they have reached the end of the cycle of rebirth, no longer reincarnating as human, animal, ghost, or other being.The commentaries to the Pali Canon classify these awakened beings into three types:• Sammasambuddha, usually just called the Buddha, who discovers the truth by himself and teaches the path to

awakening to others• Paccekabuddha, who discovers the truth by himself but lacks the skill to teach others• Savakabuddha, who receive the truth directly or indirectly from a SammasambuddhaBodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning, that of being freed from craving, hate, and delusion. In attaining bodhi,the arahant has overcome these obstacles. As a further distinction, the extinction of only hatred and greed (in thesensory context) with some residue of delusion, is called anagami.

Buddhism 12

according to Mahayana

The Great Statue of Buddha Amitabha inKamakura, Japan

In the Mahayana, the Buddha tends not to be viewed as merely human, butas the earthly projection of a beginningless and endless, omnipresent being(see Dharmakaya) beyond the range and reach of thought. Moreover, incertain Mahayana sutras, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are viewedessentially as One: all three are seen as the eternal Buddha himself.

The Buddha's death is seen as an illusion, he is living on in other planes ofexistence, and monks are therefore permitted to offer "new truths" based onhis input. Mahayana also differs from Theravada in its concept of śūnyatā(that ultimately nothing has existence), and in its belief in bodhisattvas(enlightened people who vow to continue being reborn until all beings canbe enlightened).[65]

Celestial Buddhas are individuals who no longer exist on the material planeof existence, but who still aid in the enlightenment of all beings.Nirvana came to refer only to the extinction of greed andhate,Wikipedia:Disputed statement implying that delusion was still presentin one who attained Nirvana. Bodhi became a higher attainment thateradicates delusion entirely.[64] Thus, the Arahant attains Nirvana but not

Bodhi, thus still being subject to delusion, while the Buddha attains Bodhi.Wikipedia:Disputed statement

The method of self-exertion or "self-power"—without reliance on an external force or being—stands in contrast toanother major form of Buddhism, Pure Land, which is characterised by utmost trust in the salvific "other-power" ofAmitabha Buddha. Pure Land Buddhism is a very widespread and perhaps the most faith-orientated manifestation ofBuddhism and centres upon the conviction that faith in Amitabha Buddha and the chanting of homage to his nameliberates one at death into the Blissful (安 樂), Pure Land (淨 土) of Amitabha Buddha. This Buddhic realm isvariously construed as a foretaste of Nirvana, or as essentially Nirvana itself. The great vow of Amitabha Buddha torescue all beings from samsaric suffering is viewed within Pure Land Buddhism as universally efficacious, if onlyone has faith in the power of that vow or chants his name.

Buddha eras

Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha was the first to achieve enlightenment in this Buddha era and is thereforecredited with the establishment of Buddhism. A Buddha era is the stretch of history during which people rememberand practice the teachings of the earliest known Buddha. This Buddha era will end when all the knowledge, evidenceand teachings of Gautama Buddha have vanished. This belief therefore maintains that many Buddha eras havestarted and ended throughout the course of human existence.[66][67] The Gautama Buddha, then, is the Buddha of thisera, who taught directly or indirectly to all other Buddhas in it (see types of Buddhas).In addition, Mahayana Buddhists believe there are innumerable other Buddhas in other universes.[68] A Theravadacommentary says that Buddhas arise one at a time in this world element, and not at all in others.[69] Theunderstandings of this matter reflect widely differing interpretations of basic terms, such as "world realm", betweenthe various schools of Buddhism.The idea of the decline and gradual disappearance of the teaching has been influential in East Asian Buddhism. PureLand Buddhism holds that it has declined to the point where few are capable of following the path, so it may be bestto rely on the power of the Amitabha Buddha.

Buddhism 13

Bodhisattvas

Bodhisattva means "enlightenment being", and generally refers to one who is on the path to buddhahood.Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is aspontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.[70] Theravada Buddhism primarily usesthe term in relation to Gautama Buddha's previous existences, but has traditionally acknowledged and respected thebodhisattva path as well.[71]

According to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") was originally even an honorary synonym forBodhisattvayāna, or the "Bodhisattva Vehicle."[72] The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, an early and importantMahāyāna text, contains a simple and brief definition for the term bodhisattva, and this definition is thefollowing:[73][74][75]

Because he has enlightenment as his aim, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is so called.Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With thesevows, one makes the promise to work for the complete enlightenment of all beings by practicing six perfections (Skt.pāramitā).[76] According to the Mahāyāna teachings, these perfections are: giving, discipline, forbearance, effort,meditation, and transcendent wisdom.A famous saying by the 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar-saint Shantideva, which the Dalai Lama often cites ashis favourite verse, summarizes the Bodhisattva's intention (Bodhicitta) as follows:

For as long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too abide to dispel themisery of the world.

Practice

DevotionDevotion is an important part of the practice of most Buddhists.[77] Devotional practices include bowing, offerings,pilgrimage, and chanting. In Pure Land Buddhism, devotion to the Buddha Amitabha is the main practice. InNichiren Buddhism, devotion to the Lotus Sutra is the main practice.

Yoga

Statue of the Buddha in meditationposition, Haw Phra Kaew, Vientiane,

Laos

Buddhism traditionally incorporates states of meditative absorption (Pali: jhāna;Skt: dhyāna).[78] The most ancient sustained expression of yogic ideas is foundin the early sermons of the Buddha.[79] One key innovative teaching of theBuddha was that meditative absorption must be combined with liberatingcognition.[80] The difference between the Buddha's teaching and the yogapresented in early Brahminic texts is striking. Meditative states alone are not anend, for according to the Buddha, even the highest meditative state is notliberating. Instead of attaining a complete cessation of thought, some sort ofmental activity must take place: a liberating cognition, based on the practice ofmindful awareness.[81]

Meditation was an aspect of the practice of the yogis in the centuries precedingthe Buddha. The Buddha built upon the yogis' concern with introspection anddeveloped their meditative techniques, but rejected their theories of liberation.[82]

In Buddhism, mindfulness and clear awareness are to be developed at all times;in pre-Buddhist yogic practices there is no such injunction. A yogi in the

Brahmanical tradition is not to practice while defecating, for example, while a Buddhist monastic should do so.[83]

Buddhism 14

Religious knowledge or "vision" was indicated as a result of practice both within and outside of the Buddhist fold.According to the Samaññaphala Sutta, this sort of vision arose for the Buddhist adept as a result of the perfection of"meditation" coupled with the perfection of "discipline" (Pali sīla; Skt. śīla). Some of the Buddha's meditativetechniques were shared with other traditions of his day, but the idea that ethics are causally related to the attainmentof "transcendent wisdom" (Pali paññā; Skt. prajñā) was original.[84]

The Buddhist texts are probably the earliest describing meditation techniques.[85] They describe meditative practicesand states that existed before the Buddha as well as those first developed within Buddhism.[86] Two Upanishadswritten after the rise of Buddhism do contain full-fledged descriptions of yoga as a means to liberation.[87]

While there is no convincing evidence for meditation in pre-Buddhist early Brahminic texts, Wynne argues thatformless meditation originated in the Brahminic or Shramanic tradition, based on strong parallels betweenUpanishadic cosmological statements and the meditative goals of the two teachers of the Buddha as recorded in theearly Buddhist texts.[88] He mentions less likely possibilities as well.[89] Having argued that the cosmologicalstatements in the Upanishads also reflect a contemplative tradition, he argues that the Nasadiya Sukta containsevidence for a contemplative tradition, even as early as the late Rig Vedic period.[88]

Refuge in the Three Jewels

Relic depicting footprint of theBuddha with Dharmachakra and

triratna, 1st century CE, Gandhāra.

Traditionally, the first step in most Buddhist schools requires taking refuge in theThree Jewels (Sanskrit: tri-ratna, Pāli: ti-ratana)[90] as the foundation of one'sreligious practice. The practice of taking refuge on behalf of young or evenunborn children is mentioned[91] in the Majjhima Nikaya, recognized by mostscholars as an early text (cf. Infant baptism). Tibetan Buddhism sometimes addsa fourth refuge, in the lama. In Mahayana, the person who chooses thebodhisattva path makes a vow or pledge, considered the ultimate expression ofcompassion. In Mahayana, too, the Three Jewels are perceived as possessed of aneternal and unchanging essence and as having an irreversible effect: "The ThreeJewels have the quality of excellence. Just as real jewels never change theirfaculty and goodness, whether praised or reviled, so are the Three Jewels(Refuges), because they have an eternal and immutable essence. These ThreeJewels bring a fruition that is changeless, for once one has reached Buddhahood,there is no possibility of falling back to suffering."[92]

The Three Jewels are:• The Buddha. This is a title for those who have attained Nirvana. See also the

Tathāgata and Gautama Buddha. The Buddha could also be represented as aconcept instead of a specific person: the perfect wisdom that understandsDharma and sees reality in its true form. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha can be viewed as the supremeRefuge: "Buddha is the Unique Absolute Refuge. Buddha is the Imperishable, Eternal, Indestructible andAbsolute Refuge."[93]

• The Dharma. The teachings or law of nature as expounded by the Gautama Buddha. It can also, especially inMahayana, connote the ultimate and sustaining Reality that is inseparable from the Buddha. Further, from someMahayana perspectives, the Dharma embodied in the form of a great sutra (Buddhic scripture) can replace theneed for a personal teacher and can be a direct and spontaneous gateway into Truth (Dharma). This is especiallysaid to be the case with the Lotus Sutra. Dr. Hiroshi Kanno writes of this view of the Lotus Sutra: "it is aDharma-gate of sudden enlightenment proper to the Great Vehicle; it is a Dharma-gate whereby one awakensspontaneously, without resorting to a teacher".[94]

Buddhism 15

• The Sangha. Those who have attained to any of the Four stages of enlightenment, or simply the congregation ofmonastic practitioners.

According to the scriptures, Gautama Buddha presented himself as a model. The Dharma offers a refuge byproviding guidelines for the alleviation of suffering and the attainment of Nirvana. The Sangha is considered toprovide a refuge by preserving the authentic teachings of the Buddha and providing further examples that the truth ofthe Buddha's teachings is attainable.

Buddhist ethics

Statue of Gautama Buddha, 1stcentury CE, Gandhara. (Musée

Guimet)

Śīla (Sanskrit) or sīla (Pāli) is usually translated into English as "virtuousbehavior", "morality", "ethics" or "precept". It is an action committed through thebody, speech, or mind, and involves an intentional effort. It is one of the threepractices (sila, samadhi, and panya) and the second pāramitā. It refers to moralpurity of thought, word, and deed. The four conditions of śīla are chastity,calmness, quiet, and extinguishment.

Śīla is the foundation of Samadhi/Bhāvana (Meditative cultivation) or mindcultivation. Keeping the precepts promotes not only the peace of mind of thecultivator, which is internal, but also peace in the community, which is external.According to the Law of Karma, keeping the precepts are meritorious and it actsas causes that would bring about peaceful and happy effects. Keeping theseprecepts keeps the cultivator from rebirth in the four woeful realms of existence.

Śīla refers to overall principles of ethical behavior. There are several levels ofsila, which correspond to "basic morality" (five precepts), "basic morality withasceticism" (eight precepts), "novice monkhood" (ten precepts) and "monkhood"(Vinaya or Patimokkha). Lay people generally undertake to live by the fiveprecepts, which are common to all Buddhist schools. If they wish, they canchoose to undertake the eight precepts, which add basic asceticism.

The five precepts are training rules in order to live a better life in which one is happy, without worries, and canmeditate well:1. To refrain from taking life (non-violence towards sentient life forms), or ahimsā;2. To refrain from taking that which is not given (not committing theft);3.3. To refrain from sensual (including sexual) misconduct;4.4. To refrain from lying (speaking truth always);5. To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness (specifically, drugs and alcohol).The precepts are not formulated as imperatives, but as training rules that laypeople undertake voluntarily to facilitatepractice.[95] In Buddhist thought, the cultivation of dana and ethical conduct themselves refine consciousness to sucha level that rebirth in one of the lower heavens is likely, even if there is no further Buddhist practice. There isnothing improper or un-Buddhist about limiting one's aims to this level of attainment.[96]

In the eight precepts, the third precept on sexual misconduct is made more strict, and becomes a precept of celibacy.The three additional precepts are:

6. To refrain from eating at the wrong time (eat only from sunrise to noon);7. To refrain from dancing and playing music, wearing jewelry and cosmetics, attending shows and otherperformances;8. To refrain from using high or luxurious seats and bedding.

Buddhism 16

The complete list of ten precepts may be observed by laypeople for short periods. For the complete list, the seventhprecept is partitioned into two, and a tenth added:

6. To refrain from taking food at an unseasonable time, that is after the mid-day meal;7. To refrain from dancing, music, singing and unseemly shows;8. To refrain from the use of garlands, perfumes, ointments, and from things that tend to beautify and adorn(the person);9. To refrain from (using) high and luxurious seats (and beds);10. To refrain from accepting gold and silver;[97]

Monastic life

Buddhist monks performing a ceremony inHangzhou, China

Vinaya is the specific moral code for monks and nuns. It includes thePatimokkha, a set of 227 rules for monks in the Theravadin recension.The precise content of the vinayapitaka (scriptures on Vinaya) differsslightly according to different schools, and different schools orsubschools set different standards for the degree of adherence toVinaya. Novice-monks use the ten precepts, which are the basicprecepts for monastics.

Regarding the monastic rules, the Buddha constantly reminds hishearers that it is the spirit that counts. On the other hand, the rulesthemselves are designed to assure a satisfying life, and provide a

perfect springboard for the higher attainments. Monastics are instructed by the Buddha to live as "islands untothemselves". In this sense, living life as the vinaya prescribes it is, as one scholar puts it: "more than merely a meansto an end: it is very nearly the end in itself."[98]

In Eastern Buddhism, there is also a distinctive Vinaya and ethics contained within the Mahayana Brahmajala Sutra(not to be confused with the Pali text of that name) for Bodhisattvas, where, for example, the eating of meat isfrowned upon and vegetarianism is actively encouraged (see vegetarianism in Buddhism). In Japan, this has almostcompletely displaced the monastic vinaya, and allows clergy to marry.

Meditation

Buddhist monks praying in Thailand

Buddhist meditation is fundamentally concerned with two themes:transforming the mind and using it to explore itself and otherphenomena.[99] According to Theravada Buddhism the Buddha taughttwo types of meditation, samatha meditation (Sanskrit: śamatha) andvipassanā meditation (Sanskrit: vipaśyanā). In Chinese Buddhism,these exist (translated chih kuan), but Chán (Zen) meditation is morepopular.[100] According to Peter Harvey, whenever Buddhism has beenhealthy, not only monks, nuns, and married lamas, but also morecommitted lay people have practiced meditation.[101] According toRoutledge's Encyclopedia of Buddhism, in contrast, throughout mostof Buddhist history before modern times, serious meditation by laypeople has been unusual.[102] The evidence of the early texts suggeststhat at the time of the Buddha, many male and female lay practitioners did practice meditation, some even to thepoint of proficiency in all eight jhānas (see the next section regarding these).[103]

Buddhism 17

Samādhi (meditative cultivation): samatha meditation

In the language of the Noble Eightfold Path, samyaksamādhi is "right concentration". The primary means ofcultivating samādhi is meditation. Upon development of samādhi, one's mind becomes purified of defilement, calm,tranquil, and luminous.Once the meditator achieves a strong and powerful concentration (jhāna, Sanskrit ध्यान dhyāna), his mind is ready topenetrate and gain insight (vipassanā) into the ultimate nature of reality, eventually obtaining release from allsuffering. The cultivation of mindfulness is essential to mental concentration, which is needed to achieve insight.Samatha meditation starts from being mindful of an object or idea, which is expanded to one's body, mind and entiresurroundings, leading to a state of total concentration and tranquility (jhāna) There are many variations in the styleof meditation, from sitting cross-legged or kneeling to chanting or walking. The most common method of meditationis to concentrate on one's breath (anapanasati), because this practice can lead to both samatha and vipassana'.

In Buddhist practice, it is said that while samatha meditation can calm the mind, only vipassanā meditation canreveal how the mind was disturbed to start with, which is what leads to knowledge (jñāna; Pāli ñāṇa) andunderstanding (prajñā Pāli paññā), and thus can lead to nirvāṇa (Pāli nibbāna). When one is in jhana, all defilementsare suppressed temporarily. Only understanding (prajñā or vipassana) eradicates the defilements completely. Jhanasare also states that Arahants abide in order to rest.

In Theravāda

In Theravāda Buddhism, the cause of human existence and suffering is identified as craving, which carries with it thevarious defilements. These various defilements are traditionally summed up as greed, hatred and delusion. These arebelieved deeply rooted afflictions of the mind that create suffering and stress. To be free from suffering and stress,these defilements must be permanently uprooted through internal investigation, analyzing, experiencing, andunderstanding of the true nature of those defilements by using jhāna, a technique of the Noble Eightfold Path. It thenleads the meditator to realize the Four Noble Truths, Enlightenment and Nibbana. Nibbana is the ultimate goal ofTheravadins.

Prajñā (Wisdom): vipassana meditation

Prajñā (Sanskrit) or paññā (Pāli) means wisdom that is based on a realization of dependent origination, The FourNoble Truths and the three marks of existence. Prajñā is the wisdom that is able to extinguish afflictions and bringabout bodhi. It is spoken of as the principal means of attaining nirvāṇa, through its revelation of the true nature of allthings as dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), anicca (impermanence) and anatta (not-self). Prajñā is also listed as the sixthof the six pāramitās of the Mahayana.Initially, prajñā is attained at a conceptual level by means of listening to sermons (dharma talks), reading, studying,and sometimes reciting Buddhist texts and engaging in discourse. Once the conceptual understanding is attained, it isapplied to daily life so that each Buddhist can verify the truth of the Buddha's teaching at a practical level. Notably,one could in theory attain Nirvana at any point of practice, whether deep in meditation, listening to a sermon,conducting the business of one's daily life, or any other activity.

Buddhism 18

Zen

Zen Buddhism (禅), pronounced Chán in Chinese, seon in Korean or zen in Japanese (derived from the Sanskrit termdhyāna, meaning "meditation") is a form of Buddhism that became popular in China, Korea and Japan and that laysspecial emphasis on meditation.[104] Zen places less emphasis on scriptures than some other forms of Buddhism andprefers to focus on direct spiritual breakthroughs to truth.Zen Buddhism is divided into two main schools: Rinzai (臨 済 宗) and Sōtō (曹 洞 宗), the former greatlyfavouring the use in meditation on the koan (公 案, a meditative riddle or puzzle) as a device for spiritualbreak-through, and the latter (while certainly employing koans) focusing more on shikantaza or "just sitting".[105]

Zen Buddhist teaching is often full of paradox, in order to loosen the grip of the ego and to facilitate the penetrationinto the realm of the True Self or Formless Self, which is equated with the Buddha himself.[106] According to Zenmaster Kosho Uchiyama, when thoughts and fixation on the little "I" are transcended, an Awakening to a universal,non-dual Self occurs: "When we let go of thoughts and wake up to the reality of life that is working beyond them, wediscover the Self that is living universal non-dual life (before the separation into two) that pervades all livingcreatures and all existence."[107] Thinking and thought must therefore not be allowed to confine and bind one.[108]

Vajrayana and Tantra

Though based upon Mahayana, Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism is one of the schools that practice Vajrayana or"Diamond Vehicle" (also referred to as Mantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Tantric Buddhism, or esoteric Buddhism). Itaccepts all the basic concepts of Mahāyāna, but also includes a vast array of spiritual and physical techniquesdesigned to enhance Buddhist practice. Tantric Buddhism is largely concerned with ritual and meditativepractices.[109] One component of the Vajrayāna is harnessing psycho-physical energy through ritual, visualization,physical exercises, and meditation as a means of developing the mind. Using these techniques, it is claimed that apractitioner can achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime, or even as little as three years. In the Tibetan tradition, thesepractices can include sexual yoga, though only for some very advanced practitioners.[110]

History

Philosophical roots

The Buddhist "Carpenter's Cave" at Ellora inMaharashtra, India

Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religious thought ofancient India during the second half of the first millennium BCE.[111]

That was a period of social and religious turmoil, as there wassignificant discontent with the sacrifices and rituals of VedicBrahmanism.[112] It was challenged by numerous new ascetic religiousand philosophical groups and teachings that broke with the Brahmanictradition and rejected the authority of the Vedas and theBrahmans.[113][114] These groups, whose members were known asshramanas, were a continuation of a non-Vedic strand of Indianthought distinct from Indo-Aryan Brahmanism.[115][116] Scholars havereasons to believe that ideas such as samsara, karma (in the sense ofthe influence of morality on rebirth), and moksha originated in theshramanas, and were later adopted by Brahmin orthodoxy.[117][118][119][120][121][122]

Buddhism 19

A ruined Buddhist temple on GurubhakthulaKonda (konda meaning "hill" in Telugu) inRamatheertham village in Vizianagaram, a

district of Andhra Pradesh, India

This view is supported by a study of the region where these notionsoriginated. Buddhism arose in Greater Magadha, which stretched fromSravasti, the capital of Kosala in the north-west, to Rajagrha in thesouth east. This land, to the east of aryavarta, the land of the Aryas,was recognised as non-Vedic.[123] Other Vedic texts reveal a dislike ofthe people of Magadha, in all probability because the Magadhas at thistime were not Brahmanised.[124] It was not until the 2nd or 3rdcenturies BCE that the eastward spread of Brahmanism into GreaterMagadha became significant. Ideas that developed in Greater Magadhaprior to this were not subject to Vedic influence. These include rebirthand karmic retribution that appear in a number of movements inGreater Magadha, including Buddhism. These movements inheritednotions of rebirth and karmic retribution from an earlier culture.[125]

Rock-cut Lord Buddha statue at Bojjanakondanear Anakapalle in the Visakhapatnam district of

Andhra Pradesh, India

At the same time, these movements were influenced by, and in somerespects continued, philosophical thought within the Vedic tradition asreflected e.g. in the Upanishads.[126] These movements included,besides Buddhism, various skeptics (such as Sanjaya Belatthiputta),atomists (such as Pakudha Kaccayana), materialists (such as AjitaKesakambali), antinomians (such as Purana Kassapa); the mostimportant ones in the 5th century BCE were the Ajivikas, whoemphasized the rule of fate, the Lokayata (materialists), the Ajnanas(agnostics) and the Jains, who stressed that the soul must be freed frommatter.[127]

Many of these new movements shared the same conceptual vocabulary- atman ("Self"), buddha ("awakened one"), dhamma ("rule" or "law"),karma ("action"), nirvana ("extinguishing"), samsara ("eternal recurrence") and yoga ("spiritual practice").[112] Theshramanas rejected the Veda, and the authority of the brahmans, who claimed they possessed revealed truths notknowable by any ordinary human means. Moreover, they declared that the entire Brahmanical system wasfraudulent: a conspiracy of the brahmans to enrich themselves by charging exorbitant fees to perform bogus rites andgive useless advice.[128]

A particular criticism of the Buddha was Vedic animal sacrifice.[84] The Buddha declared that priests reciting theVedas were like the blind leading the blind.[129] According to him, those priests who had memorized the Vedasreally knew nothing.[130] He also mocked the Vedic "hymn of the cosmic man".[131] However, the Buddha was notanti-Vedic, and declared that the Veda in its true form was declared by "Kashyapa" to certain rishis, who by severepenances had acquired the power to see by divine eyes.[132] He names the Vedic rishis, and declared that the originalVeda of the rishis[133][134] was altered by a few Brahmins who introduced animal sacrifices. The Buddha says that itwas on this alteration of the true Veda that he refused to pay respect to the Vedas of his time.[135] He declared thatthe primary goal of Upanishadic thought, the Atman, was in fact non-existent,[136] and, having explained thatBrahminical attempts to achieve liberation at death were futile, proposed his new idea of liberation in life.[137][138]

However, he did not denounce the union with Brahman,[139] or the idea of the self uniting with the Self.[140] At thesame time, the traditional Brahminical religion itself gradually underwent profound changes, transforming it intowhat is recognized as early Hinduism.[112][113][141] In particular, the brahmans thus developed "philosophicalsystems of their own, meeting the new ideas with adaptations of their doctrines".[142]

Buddhism 20

Indian BuddhismThe history of Indian Buddhism may be divided into five periods:[143] Early Buddhism (occasionally calledPre-sectarian Buddhism), Nikaya Buddhism or Sectarian Buddhism: The period of the Early Buddhist schools, EarlyMahayana Buddhism, Later Mahayana Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism (also called Vajrayana Buddhism).

Pre-sectarian Buddhism

Pre-sectarian Buddhism is the earliest phase of Buddhism, recognized by nearly all scholars. Its main scriptures arethe Vinaya Pitaka and the four principal Nikayas or Agamas. Certain basic teachings appear in many placesthroughout the early texts, so most scholars conclude that Gautama Buddha must have taught something similar tothe Three marks of existence, the Five Aggregates, Dependent origination, Karma and Rebirth, the Four NobleTruths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and Nirvana.[144] Some scholars disagree, and have proposed many othertheories.[145][146]

Early Buddhist schools

Painting depicting Buddhaghosa offering hisVisuddhimagga to monks in Mahavihara, thecenter of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka

According to the scriptures, soon after the parinirvāṇa (from Sanskrit:"highest extinguishment") of Gautama Buddha, the first Buddhistcouncil was held. As with any ancient Indian tradition, transmission ofteaching was done orally. The primary purpose of the assembly was tocollectively recite the teachings to ensure that no errors occurred inoral transmission. In the first council, Ānanda, a cousin of the Buddhaand his personal attendant, was called upon to recite the discourses(sūtras, Pāli suttas) of the Buddha, and, according to some sources, theabhidhamma. Upāli, another disciple, recited the monastic rules(vinaya). Scholars regard the traditional accounts of the council asgreatly exaggerated if not entirely fictitious.[147]

According to most scholars, at some period after the Second Councilthe Sangha began to break into separate factions.[148] The various accounts differ as to when the actual schismsoccurred. According to the Dipavamsa of the Pāli tradition, they started immediately after the Second Council, thePuggalavada tradition places it in 137 AN, the Sarvastivada tradition of Vasumitra says it was in the time of Asokaand the Mahasanghika tradition places it much later, nearly 100 BCE.

The root schism was between the Sthaviras and the Mahāsāṅghikas. The fortunate survival of accounts from bothsides of the dispute reveals disparate traditions. The Sthavira group offers two quite distinct reasons for the schism.The Dipavamsa of the Theravāda says that the losing party in the Second Council dispute broke away in protest andformed the Mahasanghika. This contradicts the Mahasanghikas' own vinaya, which shows them as on the same,winning side. The Mahāsāṅghikas argued that the Sthaviras were trying to expand the vinaya and may also havechallenged what they perceived were excessive claims or inhumanly high criteria for arhatship. Both parties,therefore, appealed to tradition.[149]

The Sthaviras gave rise to several schools, one of which was the Theravāda school. Originally, these schisms werecaused by disputes over vinaya, and monks following different schools of thought seem to have lived happilytogether in the same monasteries, but eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schisms were being caused bydoctrinal disagreements too.[150]

Following (or leading up to) the schisms, each Saṅgha started to accumulate an Abhidharma, a detailed scholastic reworking of doctrinal material appearing in the Suttas, according to schematic classifications. These Abhidharma texts do not contain systematic philosophical treatises, but summaries or numerical lists. Scholars generally date these texts to around the 3rd century BCE, 100 to 200 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore the seven

Buddhism 21

Abhidharma works are generally claimed not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of disciplesand great scholars.[151] Every school had its own version of the Adhidharma, with different theories and differenttexts. The different Adhidharmas of the various schools did not agree with each other. Scholars disagree on whetherthe Mahasanghika school had an Abhidhamma Pitaka or not.[151][152]

Early Mahayana Buddhism

A Buddhist triad depicting, left to right, aKushan, the future buddha Maitreya, GautamaBuddha, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and a

Buddhist monk. 2nd—3rd century. MuséeGuimet

The origins of Mahāyāna, which formed between 100 BCE and 100AD,[] are still not completely understood.[153] The earliest views ofMahāyāna Buddhism in the West assumed that it existed as a separateschool in competition with the so-called "Hīnayāna" schools. The splitwas on the order of the European Protestant Reformation, whichdivided Christians into Catholic and Protestant.[] Due to the venerationof buddhas and bodhisattvas, Mahāyāna was often interpreted as amore devotional, lay-inspired form of Buddhism, with supposedorigins in stūpa veneration.[154] The old views of Mahāyāna as alay-inspired sect are now largely considered misguided and wrong.[155]

There is no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formalschool or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set ofideals, and later doctrines, for bodhisattvas.[156] Initially it was known as Bodhisattvayāna (the "Vehicle of theBodhisattvas").[] Paul Williams has also noted that the Mahāyāna never had nor ever attempted to have a separateVinaya or ordination lineage from the early schools of Buddhism, and therefore each bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī adhering tothe Mahāyāna formally belonged to an early school. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka ordinationlineage in East Asia, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda ordination lineage in Tibetan Buddhism. Therefore Mahāyāna wasnever a separate rival sect of the early schools.[157] From Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that bothMahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in India often lived in the same monasteries side by side.[158]

Buddhas of Bamiyan: Vairocana before and afterdestruction by the Taliban in 2001

The Chinese monk Yijing who visited India in the 7th century CE,distinguishes Mahāyāna from Hīnayāna as follows:[159]

Both adopt one and the same Vinaya, and they have in commonthe prohibitions of the five offences, and also the practice of theFour Noble Truths. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas andread the Mahāyāna sūtras are called the Mahāyānists, whilethose who do not perform these are called the Hīnayānists.

Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comesfrom early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyānateachings were first propagated into China by Lokakṣema, the firsttranslator of Mahāyāna sūtras into Chinese during the 2nd centuryCE.[160] Some scholars have traditionally considered the earliest

Mahāyāna sūtras to include the very first versions of the Prajñāpāramitā series, along with texts concerningAkṣobhya Buddha, which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India.[161][162][163]

Buddhism 22

Late Mahayana Buddhism

During the period of Late Mahayana Buddhism, four major types of thought developed: Madhyamaka, Yogacara,Tathagatagarbha, and Buddhist Logic as the last and most recent.[164] In India, the two main philosophical schools ofthe Mahayana were the Madhyamaka and the later Yogacara.[165] According to Dan Lusthaus, Madhyamaka andYogacara have a great deal in common, and the commonality stems from early Buddhism.[166] There were no greatIndian teachers associated with tathagatagarbha thought.[167]

Vajrayana (Esoteric Buddhism)

Scholarly research concerning Esoteric Buddhism is still in its early stages and has a number of problems that makeresearch difficult:[168]

1. Vajrayana Buddhism was influenced by Hinduism, and therefore research must include explore Hinduism aswell.

2.2. The scriptures of Vajrayana have not yet been put in any kind of order.3.3. Ritual must be examined as well, not just doctrine.

Development of Buddhism

Buddhist proselytism at the time of emperorAshoka (260–218 BCE).

Coin depicting Indo-Greek king Menander, who,according to Buddhist tradition records in the

Milinda Panha, converted to the Buddhist faithand became an arhat in the 2nd century BCE .

(British Museum)

Buddhism may have spread only slowly in India until the time of theMauryan emperor Ashoka, who was a public supporter of the religion.The support of Aśoka and his descendants led to the construction ofmore stūpas (Buddhist religious memorials) and to efforts to spreadBuddhism throughout the enlarged Maurya empire and even intoneighboring lands—particularly to the Iranian-speaking regions ofAfghanistan and Central Asia, beyond the Mauryas' northwest border,and to the island of Sri Lanka south of India. These two missions, inopposite directions, would ultimately lead, in the first case to thespread of Buddhism into China, and in the second case, to theemergence of Theravāda Buddhism and its spread from Sri Lanka tothe coastal lands of Southeast Asia.

This period marks the first known spread of Buddhism beyond India.According to the edicts of Aśoka, emissaries were sent to variouscountries west of India to spread Buddhism (Dharma), particularly ineastern provinces of the neighboring Seleucid Empire, and even fartherto Hellenistic kingdoms of the Mediterranean. It is a matter ofdisagreement among scholars whether or not these emissaries wereaccompanied by Buddhist missionaries.[169]

The gradual spread of Buddhism into adjacent areas meant that it cameinto contact with new ethnical groups. During this period Buddhismwas exposed to a variety of influences, from Persian and Greekcivilization, to changing trends in non-Buddhist Indianreligions—themselves influenced by Buddhism. Striking examples ofthis syncretistic development can be seen in the emergence ofGreek-speaking Buddhist monarchs in the Indo-Greek Kingdom, and

in the development of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhāra. A Greek king, Menander, has even been immortalized inthe Buddhist canon.

Buddhism 23

The Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BCE, to Sri Lanka and Thailand and Burma andlater also Indonesia. The Dharmagupta school spread (also in 3rd century BCE) north to Kashmir, Gandhara andBactria (Afghanistan).The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China is most commonly thought to have started in the late 2nd or the1st century CE, though the literary sources are all open to question.[170][171] The first documented translation effortsby foreign Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE, probably as a consequence of the expansion of theKushan Empire into the Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin.[172]

In the 2nd century CE, Mahayana Sutras spread to China, and then to Korea and Japan, and were translated intoChinese. During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism (from the 8th century onwards), Buddhism spread fromIndia to Tibet and Mongolia.

Buddhism today

Polish Buddhists

By the late Middle Ages, Buddhism had become virtually extinct in India, andalthough it continued to exist in surrounding countries, its influence was nolonger expanding. It is now again gaining strength worldwide.[173][174] Estimatesof the number of Buddhist followers by scholars range from 550 million to 1.691billion. Most scholars classify similar numbers of people under a category theycall "Chinese folk" or "traditional" religion, an amalgam of various traditions thatincludes Buddhism.

Map showing regions whereBuddhism is a major religion

Formal membership varies between communities, but basic lay adherence isoften defined in terms of a traditional formula in which the practitioner takesrefuge in The Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings of theBuddha), and the Sangha (the Buddhist community).

Estimates are uncertain for several reasons:•• difficulties in defining who counts as a Buddhist;• syncretism among the Eastern religions. Buddhism is practiced by adherents

alongside many other religious traditions- including Taoism, Confucianism,Shinto, traditional religions, shamanism, and animism- throughout East andSoutheast Asia.[175][176][177][178][179][180][181]

• difficulties in estimating the number of Buddhists who do not have congregational memberships and often do notparticipate in public ceremonies;[182]

• official policies on religion in several historically Buddhist countries that make accurate assessments of religiousadherence more difficult; most notably China, Vietnam and North Korea.[183][184][185] In many current andformer Communist governments in Asia, government policies may discourage adherents from reporting theirreligious identity, or may encourage official counts to underestimate religious adherence.

China and India are now starting to fund Buddhist shrines in various Asian countries as they compete for influence inthe region.[186]

Buddhism 24

Late 20th Century Buddhist MovementsA number of modern movements or tendencies in Buddhism emerged during the second half of the 20th Century,including the Dalit Buddhist movement[][] (also sometimes called 'neo-Buddhism'), Engaged Buddhism, and thefurther development of various Western Buddhist traditions.

Demographics

Percentage of cultural/nominal adherents of combined Buddhism with its relatedreligions (according to the highest

estimates).[187][188][189][190][191][192][193][]

According to one analysis, Buddhism is thefourth-largest religion in the world behindChristianity, Islam and Hinduism.[194] Themonks' order (Sangha), which began duringthe lifetime of the Buddha, is among theoldest organizations on earth. Buddhism wasthe first world religion[195][196][197] and wasthe world's largest religion in the first half ofthe 20th century — in 1951 Buddhism wasthe world's largest religion with 520 millionadherents. By comparison, the secondlargest was Christianity with 500 millionadherents.[198][199][200][201][202][203][204][205][206][207][208][209]

• Theravada Buddhism, using Sanskrit and Pāli as its scriptural languages, is the dominant form of Buddhism inCambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma. The Dalit Buddhist movement in India (inspired by B. R.Ambedkar) also practices Theravada. Approximately 124 million adherents.[210]

• East Asian forms of Mahayana Buddhism that use Chinese scriptures are dominant in most of China, Japan,Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam as well as such communities within Indochina, Southeast Asia and theWest. Vietnam and Singapore are major concentrations of Mahayana Buddhism in Southeast Asia.Approximately 500 million to one billion.[211]

• Tibetan Buddhism is found in Bhutan, Nepal, Mongolia, areas of India (it's the majority religion in Ladakh;significant population in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim), China (particularly in Tibet andInner Mongolia), and Russia (Kalmyk Autonomous Republic). Approximately 20 million adherents.[210]

Most Buddhist groups in the West are at least nominally affiliated with one of these three traditions.At the present time, the teachings of all three branches of Buddhism have spread throughout the world, and Buddhisttexts are increasingly translated into local languages. While in the West Buddhism is often seen as exotic andprogressive, in the East it is regarded as familiar and traditional. Buddhists in Asia are frequently well organized andwell funded. In a number of countries, it is recognized as an official religion and receives state support. Moderninfluences increasingly lead to new forms of Buddhism that significantly depart from traditional beliefs andpractices.Overall there is an overwhelming diversity of recent forms of Buddhism.[212]

Buddhism 25

Schools and traditions

A young monk

Buddhists generally classify themselves as either Theravada orMahayana.[213] This classification is also used by somescholars[214]Wikipedia:Citing sources and is the one ordinarily used inthe English language.[215] An alternative scheme used by somescholars[216] divides Buddhism into the following three traditions orgeographical or cultural areas: Theravada, East Asian Buddhism andTibetan Buddhism.

Some scholars[217] use other schemes. Buddhists themselves have avariety of other schemes. Hinayana (literally "lesser vehicle") is usedby Mahayana followers to name the family of early philosophicalschools and traditions from which contemporary Theravada emerged, but as this term is rooted in the Mahayanaviewpoint and can be considered derogatory, a variety of other terms are increasingly used instead, includingŚrāvakayāna, Nikaya Buddhism, early Buddhist schools, sectarian Buddhism, conservative Buddhism, mainstreamBuddhism and non-Mahayana Buddhism.

Not all traditions of Buddhism share the same philosophical outlook, or treat the same concepts as central. Eachtradition, however, does have its own core concepts, and some comparisons can be drawn between them. Forexample, according to one Buddhist ecumenical organization,[218] several concepts common to both major Buddhistbranches:• Both accept the Buddha as their teacher.• Both accept the Middle way, Dependent origination, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and the

Three marks of existence.• Both accept that members of the laity and of the sangha can pursue the path toward enlightenment (bodhi).•• Both consider buddhahood the highest attainment.

TimelineThis is a rough timeline of the development of the different schools/traditions:

Timeline: Development and propagation of Buddhist traditions (ca. 450 BCE – ca. 1300 CE)

450 BCE[219] 250 BCE 100 CE 500 CE 700 CE 800 CE

1200 CE[220]

India EarlySangha Early Buddhist schools Mahayana Vajrayana

Sri Lanka &Southeast Asia

Theravada Buddhism

Central Asia Greco-Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism

Silk Road Buddhism

East Asia Chán, Tiantai, Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Shingon

450 BCE 250 BCE 100 CE 500 CE 700 CE 800 CE 1200 CE

Buddhism 26

Legend: = Theravada tradition = Mahayana traditions = Vajrayana traditions

Theravada schoolTheravada ("Doctrine of the Elders", or "Ancient Doctrine") is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It is relativelyconservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism.[221] This school is derived from the Vibhajjavāda groupingthat emerged amongst the older Sthavira group at the time of the Third Buddhist Council (c. 250 BCE). This schoolgradually declined on the Indian subcontinent, but its branch in Sri Lanka and South East Asia continues to survive.The Theravada school bases its practice and doctrine exclusively on the Pāli Canon and its commentaries. Afterbeing orally transmitted for a few centuries, its scriptures, the Pali Canon, were finally committed to writing in the1st century BCE, in Sri Lanka, at what the Theravada usually reckon as the fourth council. It is also one of the firstBuddhist schools to commit the complete set of its canon into writing.[citation needed] The Sutta collections and Vinayatexts of the Pāli Canon (and the corresponding texts in other versions of the Tripitaka), are generally considered bymodern scholars to be the earliest Buddhist literature, and they are accepted as authentic in every branch ofBuddhism.Theravāda is primarily practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia as well as small portions ofChina, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh. It has a growing presence in Europe and America.Theravadin Buddhists think that personal effort is required to realize rebirth. Meditation is done by forest monks forthe most part, while village monks teach and serve their lay communities. Laypersons can perform good actions,producing merit that can be traded to the gods who may reward it with material benefits.[222]

Mahayana traditions

Chinese and Central Asian monks.Bezeklik, Eastern Tarim Basin,

China, 9th–10th century. (NationalInstitute of Informatics and the Tōyō

Bunko)

Mahayana Buddhism flourished in India from the 5th century CE onwards,during the dynasty of the Guptas. Mahāyāna centres of learning were established,the most important one being the Nālandā University in north-eastern India.

Mahayana schools recognize all or part of the Mahayana Sutras. Some of thesesutras became for Mahayanists a manifestation of the Buddha himself, and faithin and veneration of those texts are stated in some sutras (e.g. the Lotus Sutra andthe Mahaparinirvana Sutra) to lay the foundations for the later attainment ofBuddhahood itself.

Buddhism 27

Japanese Mahayana Buddhist monkwith alms bowl

Native Mahayana Buddhism is practiced today in China, Japan, Korea,Singapore, parts of Russia and most of Vietnam (also commonly referred to as"Eastern Buddhism"). The Buddhism practiced in Tibet, the Himalayan regions,and Mongolia is also Mahayana in origin, but is discussed below under theheading of Vajrayana (also commonly referred to as "Northern Buddhism".There are a variety of strands in Eastern Buddhism, of which "the Pure Landschool of Mahayana is the most widely practised today.".[223] In most of this areahowever, they are fused into a single unified form of Buddhism. In Japan inparticular, they form separate denominations with the five major ones being:Nichiren, peculiar to Japan; Pure Land; Shingon, a form of Vajrayana; Tendai,and Zen. In Korea, nearly all Buddhists belong to the Chogye school, which isofficially Son (Zen), but with substantial elements from other traditions.[224]

Vajrayana traditions

Bodhnath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

The Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism spread to China, Mongolia, andTibet. In Tibet, Vajrayana has always been a main component ofTibetan Buddhism, while in China it formed a separate sect. However,Vajrayana Buddhism became extinct in China but survived in elementsof Japan's Shingon and Tendai sects.There are differing views as to just when Vajrayāna and its tantricpractice started. In the Tibetan tradition, it is claimed that the historicalŚākyamuni Buddha taught tantra, but as these are esoteric teachings,they were passed on orally first and only written down long after theBuddha's other teachings. Nālandā University became a center for thedevelopment of Vajrayāna theory and continued as the source ofleading-edge Vajrayāna practices up through the 11th century. Thesepractices, scriptures and theories were transmitted to China, Tibet,Indochina and Southeast Asia. China generally received Indiantransmission up to the 11th century including tantric practice, while avast amount of what is considered Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayāna)stems from the late (9th–12th century) Nālandā tradition.

In one of the first major contemporary academic treatises on the subject, Fairfield University professor Ronald M.Davidson argues that the rise of Vajrayana was in part a reaction to the changing political climate in India at thetime. With the fall of the Gupta dynasty, in an increasingly fractious political environment, institutional Buddhismhad difficulty attracting patronage, and the folk movement led by siddhas became more prominent. After perhapstwo hundred years, it had begun to get integrated into the monastic establishment.[225]Wikipedia:Citing sources

Vajrayana combined and developed a variety of elements, a number of which had already existed for centuries.[226]

In addition to the Mahāyāna scriptures, Vajrayāna Buddhists recognise a large body of Buddhist Tantras, some ofwhich are also included in Chinese and Japanese collections of Buddhist literature, and versions of a few even in thePali Canon.

Buddhism 28

Buddhist texts

Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu readsMahayana sutras from an old woodblock copy of

the Tibetan Kanjur.

Buddhist scriptures and other texts exist in great variety. Differentschools of Buddhism place varying levels of value on learning thevarious texts. Some schools venerate certain texts as religious objectsin themselves, while others take a more scholastic approach. Buddhistscriptures are mainly written in Pāli, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese.Some texts still exist in Sanskrit and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.

Unlike many religions, Buddhism has no single central text that isuniversally referred to by all traditions. However, some scholars havereferred to the Vinaya Pitaka and the first four Nikayas of the SuttaPitaka as the common core of all Buddhist traditions.[227] This could beconsidered misleading, as Mahāyāna considers these merely apreliminary, and not a core, teaching. The Tibetan Buddhists have noteven translated most of the āgamas (though theoretically theyrecognize them) and they play no part in the religious life of eitherclergy or laity in China and Japan.[228] Other scholars say there is nouniversally accepted common core.[229] The size and complexity of the

Buddhist canons have been seen by some (including Buddhist social reformer Babasaheb Ambedkar) as presentingbarriers to the wider understanding of Buddhist philosophy.

The followers of Theravāda Buddhism take the scriptures known as the Pāli Canon as definitive and authoritative,while the followers of Mahāyāna Buddhism base their faith and philosophy primarily on the Mahāyāna sūtras andtheir own vinaya. The Pāli sutras, along with other, closely related scriptures, are known to the other schools as theāgamas.Over the years, various attempts have been made to synthesize a single Buddhist text that can encompass all of themajor principles of Buddhism. In the Theravada tradition, condensed 'study texts' were created that combinedpopular or influential scriptures into single volumes that could be studied by novice monks. Later in Sri Lanka, theDhammapada was championed as a unifying scripture.Dwight Goddard collected a sample of Buddhist scriptures, with the emphasis on Zen, along with other classics ofEastern philosophy, such as the Tao Te Ching, into his 'Buddhist Bible' in the 1920s. More recently, Dr. BabasahebAmbedkar attempted to create a single, combined document of Buddhist principles in "The Buddha and HisDhamma" [230]. Other such efforts have persisted to present day, but currently there is no single text that representsall Buddhist traditions.

Pāli Tipitaka

Buddhism 29

Pāli CanonVinaya Pitaka•• Suttavibhanga•• Khandhaka•• Parivara

Sutta Pitaka•• Digha Nikaya•• Majjhima Nikaya•• Samyutta Nikaya•• Anguttara Nikaya•• Khuddaka Nikaya

Abhidhamma Pitaka•• Dhammasangani•• Vibhanga• Dhatukatha and Puggalapannatti•• Kathavatthu•• Yamaka•• Patthana

The Pāli Tipitaka, which means "three baskets", refers to the Vinaya Pitaka, the Sutta Pitaka, and the AbhidhammaPitaka. The Vinaya Pitaka contains disciplinary rules for the Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as explanations ofwhy and how these rules were instituted, supporting material, and doctrinal clarification. The Sutta Pitaka containsdiscourses ascribed to Gautama Buddha. The Abhidhamma Pitaka contains material often described as systematicexpositions of the Gautama Buddha's teachings.The Pāli Tipitaka is the only early Tipitaka (Sanskrit: Tripiṭaka) to survive intact in its original language, but anumber of early schools had their own recensions of the Tipitaka featuring much of the same material. We haveportions of the Tipitakas of the Sārvāstivāda, Dharmaguptaka, Sammitya, Mahāsaṅghika, Kāśyapīya, andMahīśāsaka schools, most of which survive in Chinese translation only. According to some sources, some earlyschools of Buddhism had five or seven pitakas.[231]

According to the scriptures, soon after the death of the Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held; a monk namedMahākāśyapa (Pāli: Mahākassapa) presided. The goal of the council was to record the Buddha's teachings. Upālirecited the vinaya. Ānanda, the Buddha's personal attendant, was called upon to recite the dhamma. These becamethe basis of the Tripitaka. However, this record was initially transmitted orally in form of chanting, and wascommitted to text in the last century BCE. Both the sūtras and the vinaya of every Buddhist school contain a widevariety of elements including discourses on the Dharma, commentaries on other teachings, cosmological andcosmogonical texts, stories of the Gautama Buddha's previous lives, and various other subjects.Much of the material in the Canon is not specifically "Theravadin", but is instead the collection of teachings that thisschool preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of teachings. According to Peter Harvey, it contains material atodds with later Theravadin orthodoxy. He states: "The Theravadins, then, may have added texts to the Canon forsome time, but they do not appear to have tampered with what they already had from an earlier period."[232]

Buddhism 30

Mahayana sutras

The Tripiṭaka Koreana in South Korea, an editionof the Chinese Buddhist canon carved and

preserved in over 81,000 wood printing blocks.

The Mahayana sutras are a very broad genre of Buddhist scriptures thatthe Mahayana Buddhist tradition holds are original teachings of theBuddha. Some adherents of Mahayana accept both the early teachings(including in this the Sarvastivada Abhidharma, which was criticizedby Nagarjuna and is in fact opposed to early Buddhist thought[233]) andthe Mahayana sutras as authentic teachings of Gautama Buddha, andclaim they were designed for different types of persons and differentlevels of spiritual understanding.

The Mahayana sutras often claim to articulate the Buddha's deeper,more advanced doctrines, reserved for those who follow thebodhisattva path. That path is explained as being built upon themotivation to liberate all living beings from unhappiness. Hence thename Mahāyāna (lit., the Great Vehicle).

According to Mahayana tradition, the Mahayana sutras were transmitted in secret, came from other Buddhas orBodhisattvas, or were preserved in non-human worlds because human beings at the time could not understandthem:[234]

Some of our sources maintain the authenticity of certain other texts not found in the canons of these schools(the early schools). These texts are those held genuine by the later school, not one of the eighteen, whicharrogated to itself the title of Mahayana, 'Great Vehicle'. According to the Mahayana historians these textswere admittedly unknown to the early schools of Buddhists. However, they had all been promulgated by theBuddha. [The Buddha's] followers on earth, the sravakas ('pupils'), had not been sufficiently advanced tounderstand them, and hence were not given them to remember, but they were taught to various supernaturalbeings and then preserved in such places as the Dragon World.

Approximately six hundred Mahayana sutras have survived in Sanskrit or in Chinese or Tibetan translations. Inaddition, East Asian Buddhism recognizes some sutras regarded by scholars as of Chinese rather than Indian origin.Generally, scholars conclude that the Mahayana scriptures were composed from the 1st century CE onwards: "Largenumbers of Mahayana sutras were being composed in the period between the beginning of the common era and thefifth century",[235] five centuries after the historical Gautama Buddha. Some of these had their roots in otherscriptures composed in the 1st century BCE. It was not until after the 5th century CE that the Mahayana sutrasstarted to influence the behavior of mainstream Buddhists in India: "But outside of texts, at least in India, at exactlythe same period, very different—in fact seemingly older—ideas and aspirations appear to be motivating actualbehavior, and old and established Hinnayana groups appear to be the only ones that are patronized andsupported."[235] These texts were apparently not universally accepted among Indian Buddhists when they appeared;the pejorative label hinayana was applied by Mahayana supporters to those who rejected the Mahayana sutras.Only the Theravada school does not include the Mahayana scriptures in its canon. As the modern Theravada schoolis descended from a branch of Buddhism that diverged and established itself in Sri Lanka prior to the emergence ofthe Mahayana texts, debate exists as to whether the Theravada were historically included in the hinayanadesignation; in the modern era, this label is seen as derogatory, and is generally avoided.Scholar Isabelle Onians asserts that although "the Mahāyāna ... very occasionally referred contemptuously to earlierBuddhism as the Hinayāna, the Inferior Way," "the preponderance of this name in the secondary literature is far outof proportion to occurrences in the Indian texts." She notes that the term Śrāvakayāna was "the more politicallycorrect and much more usual" term used by Mahāyānists.[236] Jonathan Silk has argued that the term "Hinayana" wasused to refer to whomever one wanted to criticize on any given occasion, and did not refer to any definite groupingof Buddhists.[237]

Buddhism 31

Comparative studiesBuddhism provides many opportunities for comparative study with a diverse range of subjects. For example,Buddhism's emphasis on the Middle way not only provides a unique guideline for ethics but has also allowedBuddhism to peacefully coexist with various differing beliefs, customs and institutions in countries where it hasresided throughout its history. Also, its moral and spiritual parallels with other systems of thought—for example,with various tenets of Christianity—have been subjects of close study. In addition, the Buddhist concept ofdependent origination has been compared to modern scientific thought, as well as Western metaphysics.

Is Buddhism a religion?There are differences of opinion on the question of whether or not Buddhism should be considered a religion. Manysources commonly refer to Buddhism as a religion. For example:• Peter Harvey states: "The English term 'Buddhism' correctly indicates that the religion is characterized by

devotion to 'the Buddha', 'Buddhas', or 'buddhahood'."[238]

• Joseph Goldstein states: "Although there are many difference among the various religions of the world, andamong the various schools of Buddhism itself, there is also a great deal in common..."[239]

Other sources note that the answer to this question depends upon how religion is defined. For example:• Surya Das states: "For Buddhism is less a theology or religion than a promise that certain meditative practices and

mind trainings can effectively show us how to awaken our Buddha-nature and liberate us from suffering andconfusion."[240]

• B. Alan Wallace states: "When we in the West first engage with Buddhism, it is almost inevitable that we bringout one of our familiar stereotypes and apply it to Buddhism, calling it simply a 'religion.'... But Buddhism hasnever been simply a religion as we define it in the West. From the very beginning it has also had philosophicalelements, as well as empirical and rational elements that may invite the term 'science.'"[241]

• Rupert Gethin states: "I am not concerned here to pronounce on a question that is sometimes asked of Buddhism:is it a religion? Obviously it depends on how one defines ‘a religion’. What is certain, however, is that Buddhismdoes not involve belief in a creator God who has control over human destiny, nor does it seek to define itself byreference to a creed; as Edward Conze has pointed out, it took over 2,000 years and a couple of Western convertsto Buddhism to provide it with a creed. On the other hand, Buddhism views activities that would be generallyunderstood as religious—such as devotional practices and rituals—as a legitimate, useful, and even essential partof the practice and training that leads to the cessation of suffering.[242] Gethin points out that some keydifferences between Buddhism and conventionally considered Western religions are that Buddhism does notassert a belief in a creator god, nor does it define itself by a particular creed. On the other hand, Gethin notes,Buddhist practice often includes devotional practices and ritual, which are typically associated with religiousbelief.[242]

• Damien Keown states: "Problems [...] confront us as soon as we try to define what Buddhism is. Is it a religion? Aphilosophy? A way of life? A code of ethics? It is not easy to classify Buddhism as any of these things, and itchallenges us to rethink some of these categories. What, for example, do we mean by ‘religion’? Most peoplewould say that religion has something to do with belief in God. [...] If belief in God in this sense is the essence ofreligion, then Buddhism cannot be a religion. [...] Some have suggested that a new category – that of the‘non-theistic’ religion – is needed to encompass Buddhism. Another possibility is that our original definition issimply too narrow.[243]

• The Dalai Lama states: "From one viewpoint, Buddhism is a religion, from another viewpoint Buddhism is ascience of mind and not a religion. Buddhism can be a bridge between these two sides. Therefore, with thisconviction I try to have closer ties with scientists, mainly in the fields of cosmology, psychology, neurobiologyand physics. In these fields there are insights to share, and to a certain extent we can work together."[244]

Buddhism 32

• Ilkka_Pyysiäinen states: "There are thus great difficulties involved in conceptualizing religion as belief in god(s),superhuman agents, etc., although we intuitively think that some such beings, nevertheless, are essential inreligion. As is well-known, Buddhism is the favorite example of scholars who have argued that we should findsome other way of defining religion than the one based on the idea of belief in gods or superhuman beings." and"Buddhism does not have to be the problematic touchstone for a global concept of religion."[245]

• Martin Southwold states: "It is argued that Buddhism, though non-theistic, resembles other religions in dependingon mystical notions; it is shown how this contributes to understanding the social functions of religions."[246]

• Walpola Rahula states: "The question has often been asked: Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? It does notmatter what you call it. Buddhism remains what it is whatever label you may put on it. The label is immaterial.Even the label 'Buddhism' which we give to the teaching of the Buddha is of little importance. The name onegives it is inessential. What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet. Inthe same way Truth needs no label: it is neither Buddhist, Christian, Hindu nor Moslem. It is not the monopoly ofanybody. Sectarian labels are a hindrance to the independent understanding of Truth, and they produce harmfulprejudices in men's minds."[247]

Notes[1][1] "Buddhism". (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition.[2] Gethin (1998), Foundations, pp. 27–28, pp. 73–74[3] Major Religions Ranked by Size (http:/ / www. adherents. com/ Religions_By_Adherents. html#Buddhism); U.S. State Department's

International Religious Freedom Report 2004. http:/ / www. state. gov/ g/ drl/ rls/ irf/ 2004/ Accessed 20 September 2008; Garfinkel, Perry."Buddha Rising", National Geographic Dec. 2005: 88–109; CIA - The World Factbook (https:/ / www. cia. gov/ library/ publications/the-world-factbook/ geos/ xx. html#People)

[4] Lopez, Story of Buddhism. p. 239[5] Lopez, Buddhism. p. 248[6] http:/ / www. thedhamma. com/ buddhists_in_the_world. htm[7] http:/ / www. dhammawiki. com/ index. php?title=Buddhists_in_the_world[8] http:/ / www. pbs. org/ thebuddha/ blog/ 2010/ mar/ 17/ how-buddhism-came-west-maia-duerr/[9] http:/ / www. proutglobe. org/ 2012/ 01/ buddhism-may-regain-its-status-as-the-worlds-largest-religion/[10] http:/ / www. telegraph. co. uk/ news/ religion/ 5977093/ Buddhism-is-fastest-growing-religion-in-English-jails-over-past-decade. html[11] http:/ / www. asiantribune. com/ ?q=node/ 10418[12] http:/ / www. abc. net. au/ stateline/ wa/ content/ 2006/ s1947996. htm[13] Robinson et al., Buddhist Religions, page xx; Philosophy East and West, vol 54, ps 269f; Williams, Mahayana Buddhism, Routledge, 1st ed.,

1989, pp. 275f (2nd ed., 2008, p. 266)[15] Swearer, Donald. Becoming the Buddha. 2004. p. 177[16] Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism Vol. 1, p. 352[18] Carrithers, Michael. "The Buddha", in the Oxford University paperback Founders of Faith, 1986, p. 10.[20] Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988,

page 49.[21] UNESCO, Lumbini is the birthplace of the Lord Buddha (http:/ / whc. unesco. org/ en/ list/ 666), Gethin Foundations, p. 19, which states

that in the mid-3rd century BCE the Emperor Ashoka determined that Lumbini was Gautama's birthplace and thus installed a pillar there withthe inscription: "... this is where the Buddha, sage of the Śākyas (Śākyamuni), was born."

[22] For instance, Gethin Foundations, p. 14, states: "The earliest Buddhist sources state that the future Buddha was born Siddhārtha Gautama(Pali Siddhattha Gotama), the son of a local chieftain—a rājan—in Kapilavastu (Pali Kapilavatthu) what is now the Indian–Nepalese border."However, Professor Gombrich (Theravāda Buddhism, p. 1) and the old but specialized study by Edward Thomas, The Life of the Buddha,ascribe the name Siattha/fitta to later sources.

[26] Keown, Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 267[27] Skilton, Concise, p. 25[28] Smith, Huston & Novak, Philip, Buddhism: A Concise Introduction,HarperCollins 2003, p.116[29] Journal of Buddhist Ethics: "Zen as a Social Ethics of Responsiveness" (http:/ / www. buddhistethics. org/ 13/ zse1-kasulis. pdf) (PDF), T.

P. Kasulis, Ohio State University[30] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 40[31] Dr. Richard K. Payne (ed.), Tantric Buddhism in East Asia, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2006, p. 74[32] Keown, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 107[33] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 34[34] Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume Two), p. 711

Buddhism 33

[35] The 31 Planes of Existence (http:/ / www. buddhanet. net/ pdf_file/ allexistence. pdf) (PDF), Ven. Suvanno Mahathera[36] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 33[37] André Bareau, Les Sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule, École Française d'Extrême-Orient, Saigon, 1955, pp. 212–223: the top of p. 212

says: "Here are the theses of the Theravadins of the Mahavihara"; then begins a numbered list of doctrines over the following pages, includingon p. 223: "There are only five destinies ... the kalakanjika asuras have the same colour, same nourishment, same foods, same lifespan as thepetas, with whom ... they marry. As for the Vepacittiparisa, they have the same colour, same nourishment, same foods, same lifespan as thegods, with whom they marry."(Translated from the French)

[38] Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. 1, p. 377[39][39] The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Translator. Wisdom Publications.[40] See the article Four Noble Truths for further details and citations. In particular, the section "The four truths" within that article provides a

footnote showing variety of translations of these four statements.[41] See the article Dukkha for further details and citations.[42][42] Ajahn Sucitto 2010, p. 87-88.[43][43] Gethin 1998, p. 82.[44][44] Armstrong, p. 77.[45][45] Nhat Hahn, Thich, p. 36.[47][47] and[49] Kohn, Shambhala, pp. 131, 143[50] Jeffrey Po, "Is Buddhism a Pessimistic Way of Life?" (http:/ / www. 4ui. com/ eart/ 172eart1. htm)[51] Thanissaro Bhikkhu, The Not-Self Strategy (http:/ / www. accesstoinsight. org/ lib/ authors/ thanissaro/ notself. html), See Point 3The Canon

quote Thanissaro Bhikkhu draws attention to is the Sabbasava Sutta (http:/ / www. accesstoinsight. org/ tipitaka/ mn/ mn. 002. than.html#ayoniso).

[52] This twelve nidana scheme can be found, for instance, in multiple discourses in chapter 12 of the Samyutta Nikaya—Nidana Vagga (e.g., seeSN 12.2, Thanissaro, 1997a) (http:/ / www. accesstoinsight. org/ tipitaka/ sn/ sn12/ sn12. 002. than. html). Other "applications" of what mightbe termed "mundane dependent origination" include the nine-nidana scheme of Digha Nikaya 15 (e.g., Thanissaro, 1997b) (http:/ / www.accesstoinsight. org/ tipitaka/ dn/ dn. 15. 0. than. html) and the ten-nidana scheme of Samyutta Nikaya 12.65 (e.g., Thanissaro, 1997c). (http:/ /www. accesstoinsight. org/ tipitaka/ sn/ sn12/ sn12. 065. than. html) So-called "transcendental dependent origination" (also involving twelvenidanas) is described in Samyutta Nikaya 12.23 (e.g., see Bodhi, 1995). (http:/ / www. accesstoinsight. org/ lib/ authors/ bodhi/ wheel277.html) In addition, Digha Nikaya 15 describes an eleven-nidana scheme (starting with "feeling") that leads to interpersonal suffering ("thetaking up of sticks and knives; conflicts, quarrels, and disputes; accusations, divisive speech, and lies").

[53][53] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, page 56[54][54] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 57[55][55] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 58[56][56] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 59[57][57] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 60[58] Christian Lindtner, Master of Wisdom. Dharma Publishing 1997, p. 324.[59] Dan Lusthaus, "What is and isn't Yogacara" (http:/ / www. acmuller. net/ yogacara/ articles/ intro-uni. htm)[60] Williams, Paul. Buddhist Thought. Routledge 2000, page 161.[61] raga, Pali-English Dictionary (http:/ / dsal. uchicago. edu/ cgi-bin/ philologic/ getobject. pl?c. 3:1:489. pali), The Pali Text Society[62] dosa, Pali-English Dictionary (http:/ / dsal. uchicago. edu/ cgi-bin/ philologic/ getobject. pl?c. 1:1:2598. pali), The Pali Text Society[63] moha, Pali-English Dictionary (http:/ / dsal. uchicago. edu/ cgi-bin/ philologic/ getobject. pl?c. 3:1:229. pali), The Pali Text Society[64] Richard F. Gombrich, How Buddhism Began, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1997, p. 67[65][65] Hawkins, pp. 40, 46.[68] Kogen Mizuno, Essentials of Buddhism, Shunju-sha, 1972, English translation, Kosei, Tokyo, 1996, p. 57[69] Dispeller of Delusion. Vol. II. Pali Text Society, p. 184[70] The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others, page 1, Tharpa Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-50-0[72] Nattier, Jan (2003), A few good men: the Bodhisattva path according to the Inquiry of Ugra: p. 174[73] Mall, Linnart. Studies in the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita and Other Essays. Motilal Banarsidass. 2005. pp. 53-54.[74] Hirakawa, Akira. A History of Indian Buddhism: from Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna. Motilal Banarsidass. 2007. p. 297.[75] Conze, Edward. The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and its Verse Summary. Grey Fox Press. 2001. p. 89.[76] The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others, pages 4-12, Tharpa Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-50-0[77][77] Harvey, p. 170[78] Zen Buddhism: A History (India and China) by Heinrich Dumoulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter (page 22)[79] Barbara Stoler Miller, Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: the Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali; a Translation of the Text, with Commentary,

Introduction, and Glossary of Keywords. University of California Press, 1996, page 8.[80] Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge, 2007, page 73.[81] Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge, 2007, page 105.[82] Michael Carrithers, The Buddha. Taken from Founders of Faith, published by Oxford University Press, 1986, page 30.[83] Alexander Wynne, The origin of Buddhist meditation. Routledge, 2007, p. 72.

Buddhism 34

[84] Dharmacarini Manishini, Western Buddhist Review. Accessed at http:/ / www. westernbuddhistreview. com/ vol4/ kamma_in_context. html[85] Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988,

page 44.[86] Johannes Bronkhorst, The Two Traditions of Mediation in Ancient India. Franz Steiner Verlag Weisbaden GmbH, pages 1-17.[87] Randall Collins, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. Harvard University Press, 2000, page 199 (http:/ /

books. google. com/ books?id=2HS1DOZ35EgC& pg=PA177& source=gbs_toc_r& cad=0_0#PPA199,M1).[88][88] Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 51.[89][89] Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 56.[91] Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha, tr. Nanamoli, rev. Bodhi, Wisdom Publications, 1995, pp. 708f[92] Professor C.D. Sebastian, Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana Buddhism, Sri Satguru Publications, Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series

No. 238, Delhi, 2005, p. 83[93] Professor C.D. Sebastian, Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana Buddhism, Delhi, 2005, p. 82[94] Hiroshi Kanno, Huisi's Perspective on the Lotus Sutra as Seen Through the Meaning of the Course of Ease and Bliss in the Lotus Sutra, p.

147, http:/ / www. iop. or. jp/ 0414/ kanno2. pdf, consulted 5 February 2010[95] Stewart McFarlane in Peter Harvey, ed., Buddhism. Continuum, 2001, page 187.[96] Stewart McFarlane in Peter Harvey, ed., Buddhism. Continuum, 2001, pages 195-196.[98] Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988,

page 89. He is quoting Carrithers.[99] B. Alan Wallace, Contemplative Science. Columbia University Press, 2007, p. 81.[100] Welch, Practice of Chinese Buddhism, Harvard, 1967, p. 396[101] Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 144.[102] Damien Keown, Charles S Prebish, editors, Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Routledge, 2007. p. 502[103] Sarah Shaw, Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from the Pāli Canon. Routledge, 2006, page 13. Shaw also notes that discourses

on meditation are addressed to "bhikkhave", but that in this context the terms is more generic than simply (male) "monks" and refers to allpractitioners, and that this is confirmed by Buddhaghosa.

[104] According to Charles S. Prebish (in his Historical Dictionary of Buddhism, Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi, 1993, p. 287): "Although avariety of Zen 'schools' developed in Japan, they all emphasize Zen as a teaching that does not depend on sacred texts, that provides thepotential for direct realization, that the realization attained is none other than the Buddha nature possessed by each sentient being ...".

[105] Prebish comments (op. cit., p. 244): "It presumes that sitting in meditation itself (i.e. zazen) is an expression of Buddha nature." Themethod is to detach the mind from conceptual modes of thinking and perceive Reality directly. Speaking of Zen in general, Buddhist scholarStephen Hodge writes (Zen Masterclass, Godsfield Press, 2002, pp. 12–13): "... practitioners of Zen believe that Enlightenment, theawakening of the Buddha-mind or Buddha-nature, is our natural state, but has been covered over by layers of negative emotions and distortedthoughts. According to this view, Enlightenment is not something that we must acquire a bit at a time, but a state that can occur instantly whenwe cut through the dense veil of mental and emotional obscurations."

[106] (Critical Sermons on the Zen Tradition, Hisamatsu Shin'ichi, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2002, passim) Commenting on Rinzai Zenand its Chinese founder, Linji, Hisamatsu states: "Linji indicates our true way of being in such direct expressions as 'True Person' and 'TrueSelf'. It is independent of words or letters and transmitted apart from scriptural teaching. Buddhism doesn't really need scriptures. It is just ourdirect awakening to Self ..." (Hisamatsu, op. cit., p. 46).

[107] Kosho Uchiyama, Opening the Hand of Thought: Approach to Zen, Penguin Books, New York, 1993, p. 98[108] Harvey, Introduction, pp. 165f[109] Williams, Mahayana Buddhism, Routledge, 1st ed., 1989, p. 185[110] Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism, p. 781 .[111] Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. xv[112][112] Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Buddhism: The foundations of Buddhism: The cultural context. Retrieved 19-07-2009.[113][113] Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Hinduism: History of Hinduism: The Vedic period (2nd millennium - 7th century BCE); Challenges to

Brahmanism (6th - 2nd century BCE); Early Hinduism (2nd century BCE - 4th century CE). Retrieved 19-07-2009.[114][114] Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.32[115][115] Y. Masih (2000) In : A Comparative Study of Religions, Motilal Banarsidass Publ : Delhi, ISBN 81-208-0815-0 Page 18. "There is no

evidence to show that Jainism and Buddhism ever subscribed to vedic sacrifices, vedic deities or caste. They are parallel or native religions ofIndia and have contributed to much to the growth of even classical Hinduism of the present times."

[116] S. Cromwell Crawford, review of L. M. Joshi, Brahmanism, Buddhism and Hinduism, Philosophy East and West (1972): "AlongsideBrahmanism was the non-Aryan Shramanic culture with its roots going back to prehistoric times."

[117][117] "This confirms that the doctrine of transmigration is non-aryan and was accepted by non-vedics like Ajivikism, Jainism and Buddhism. TheIndo-aryans have borrowed the theory of re-birth after coming in contact with the aboriginal inhabitants of India. Certainly Jainism andnon-vedics [..] accepted the doctrine of rebirth as supreme postulate or article of faith." Masih, page 37.

[118] Karel Werner, The Longhaired Sage in The Yogi and the Mystic. Karel Werner, ed., Curzon Press, 1989, page 34. "Rahurkar speaks ofthem as belonging to two distinct 'cultural strands' ... Wayman also found evidence for two distinct approaches to the spiritual dimension inancient India and calls them the traditions of 'truth and silence.' He traces them particularly in the older Upanishads, in early Buddhism, and insome later literature."

Buddhism 35

[119] Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University — Press : UK ISBN 0-521-43878-0 - "The origin anddoctrine of Karma and Samsara are obscure. These concepts were certainly circulating amongst sramanas, and Jainism and Buddhismdeveloped specific and sophisticated ideas about the process of transmigration. It is very possible that the karmas and reincarnation entered themainstream brahaminical thought from the sramana or the renouncer traditions." Page 86.

[120][120] Padmanabh S. Jaini 2001 "Collected Paper on Buddhist Studies" Motilal Banarsidass Publ 576 pages ISBN 81-208-1776-1: "Yajnavalkya'sreluctance and manner in expounding the doctrine of karma in the assembly of Janaka (a reluctance not shown on any other occasion) canperhaps be explained by the assumption that it was, like that of the transmigration of soul, of non-brahmanical origin. In view of the fact thatthis doctrine is emblazoned on almost every page of sramana scriptures, it is highly probable that it was derived from them." Page 51.

[121][121] Govind Chandra Pande, (1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya, Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81-208-1104-6 : Early Upanishad thinkerslike Yajnavalkya were acquainted with the sramanic thinking and tried to incorporate these ideals of Karma, Samsara and Moksa into thevedic thought implying a disparagement of the vedic ritualism and recognising the mendicancy as an ideal. Page 135.

[122] "The sudden appearance of this theory [of karma] in a full-fledged form is likely due, as already pointed out, to an impact of the wanderingmuni-and-shramana-cult, coming down from the pre-Vedic non-Aryan time." Kashi Nath Upadhyaya, Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita.Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998, page 76.

[123][123] Satapatha Brahmana 13.8.1.5[124][124] Oldenburg, Hermann, The Doctrine of the Upanishads and Early Buddhism, 1915, reprinted 1991 by Shridhar B. Shrotri, Delhi, Motilalal

Banardass[125][125] Greater Magadha, Studies the Culture of Early India, Bronkhorst, Johannes, Brill Academic Publishers Inc, 2007, Series: Handbook of

Oriental Studies, Section 2 South Asia Series, ISBN 978-90-04-11519-4[126][126] Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.30-32[127][127] Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.39[128][128] Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. P.33[129] Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, pages 9-10.[130] "The brahmin by caste alone, the teacher of the Veda, is (jokingly) etymologized as the 'non-meditator' (ajhāyaka). Brahmins who have

memorized the three Vedas (tevijja) really know nothing: it is the process of achieving Enlightenment — what the Buddha is said to haveachieved in the three watches of that night—which constitutes the true 'three knowledges.'" R.F. Gombrich in Paul Williams, ed., "Buddhism:Critical Concepts in Religious Studies." Taylor and Francis 2006, page 120.

[131] Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988,page 85.

[132] P. 177 The sacred books of the Buddhists compared with history and modern science By Robert Spence Hardy[133] Vinaya Pitaka of the Mahavagga (I.245) in P. 494 The Pali-English dictionary By Thomas William Rhys Davids, William Stede[134] "Atthako, Vâmako, Vâmadevo, Vessâmitto, Yamataggi, Angiraso, Bhâradvâjo, Vâsettho, Kassapo, and Bhagu" in P. 245 The Vinaya

piṭakaṃ: one of the principle Buddhist holy scriptures ..., Volume 1 edited by Hermann Oldenberg[135] The Vinaya Pitaka's section Anguttara Nikaya: Panchaka Nipata in P. 44 The legends and theories of the Buddhists, compared with history

and science By Robert Spence Hardy[136][136] Richard Francis Gombrich, How Buddhism began: the conditioned genesis of the early teachings Continuum International Publishing

Group, 1996, pages 38-39[137][137] Michael Carrithers, The Buddha, 1983, pages 41-42. Found in Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press, 1986.[138][138] Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 21.[139] "Even so have I, monks, seen an ancient way, an ancient road followed by the wholly awakened ones of olden time....Along that have I

done, and the matters that I have come to know fully as I was going along it, I have told to the monks, nuns, men and women lay-followers,even monks, this Brahma-faring brahmacharya that is prosperous and flourishing, widespread and widely known become popular in short,well made manifest for gods and men." (P. 57 Buddhist Art & Antiquities of Himachal Pradesh, Upto 8th Century A.D. By Omacanda Hāṇḍā)

[140] . 59 What the Buddha taught by Walpola Rāhula[141][141] Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Vedic religion. Retrieved 19-07-2009.[142][142] Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.35[143] A History of Indian Buddhism — Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1993, p.

7[144] Mitchell, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 34 & table of contents[145] Skorupski, Buddhist Forum, vol I, Heritage, Delhi/SOAS, London, 1990, p. 5; Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies,

vol 21 (1998), part 1, pp. 4, 11[146] see also the book Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks, University of Hawai'i Press, by Dr Gregory Schopen[147] Encyclopedia of Religion, Macmillan, New York, sv Councils, Buddhist[148] Journal of the Pāli Text Society, volume XVI, p. 105)[149] Janice J. Nattier and Charles S. Prebish, 1977. Mahāsāṅghika Origins: the beginnings of Buddhist sectarianism in History of Religions,

Vol. 16, pp. 237–272[150] Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 74[151][151] "Abhidhamma Pitaka." Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.[152] Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Routledge. p. 485.

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[153] Akira, Hirakawa (translated and edited by Paul Groner) (1993. A History of Indian Buddhism. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass: p. 260[154] Akira, Hirakawa (1993), A History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana: p. 271[155] "One of the most frequent assertions about the Mahayana ... is that it was a lay-influenced, or even lay-inspired and dominated, movement

that arose in response to the increasingly closed, cold, and scholastic character of monastic Buddhism. This, however, now appears to bewrong on all counts." Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (2004): p. 494

[156] Nattier, Jan (2003), A few good men: the Bodhisattva path according to the Inquiry of Ugra: p. 193-194[157] Williams, Paul (2008) Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations: p. 4-5[158] Williams, Paul (2000) Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition: p. 97[159] Williams, Paul (2008) Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations: p. 5[160] "The most important evidence — in fact the only evidence — for situating the emergence of the Mahayana around the beginning of the

common era was not Indian evidence at all, but came from China. Already by the last quarter of the 2nd century CE, there was a small,seemingly idiosyncratic collection of substantial Mahayana sutras translated into what Erik Zürcher calls 'broken Chinese' by an Indoscythian,whose Indian name has been reconstructed as Lokaksema." Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (2004): p. 492

[161] Akira, Hirakawa (translated and edited by Paul Groner) (1993. A History of Indian Buddhism. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass: p. 263, 268[162] "The south (of India) was then vigorously creative in producing Mahayana Sutras" – Warder, A.K. (3rd edn. 1999). Indian Buddhism: p.

335.[163] Akira, Hirakawa (translated and edited by Paul Groner) (1993. A History of Indian Buddhism. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass: p. 253[164] A History of Indian Buddhism — Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1993, p.

8,9[165][165] Peter Harvey, "An Introduction to Buddhism." Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 95.[166] Dan Lusthaus, Buddhist Phenomenology. Routledge, 2002, pages 236-237.[167][167] Peter Harvey, "An Introduction to Buddhism." Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 113. "There were no great Indian teachers

associated with this strand of thought."[168] A History of Indian Buddhism — Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1993, p.

9[169] Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism, Routledge, 2nd ed, 2006, page 135[170][170] Zürcher (1972), pp. 22-27.[171] Hill (2009), p. 30, for the Chinese text from the Hou Hanshu, and p. 31 for a translation of it.[172][172] Zürcher (1972), p. 23.[173] Carol E. Henderson, Culture and Customs of India. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, page 42.[174] Joseph B. Tamney in William H. Swatos, editor, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Rowman Altamira, 1998, page 68.[183] State Attitudes to Religion (http:/ / opendemocracy. net/ pix/ home/ stateattitudes. pdf) (PDF), The Atlas of Religion, Joanne O'Brien &

Martin Palmer, openDemocracy.net[186] "China and India use Buddha for regional karma." (http:/ / www. aljazeera. com/ indepth/ features/ 2013/ 01/ 2013171148400871. html)[188] http:/ / oproject. files. wordpress. com/ 2007/ 09/ mapofwar. jpg[190] http:/ / library. thinkquest. org/ 05aug/ 02016/ images/ map_of_religions. png[191] http:/ / www. wadsworth. com/ religion_d/ special_features/ popups/ maps/ matthews_world/ images/ w001. jpg[193] Britannica (http:/ / media-2. web. britannica. com/ eb-media/ 31/ 3731-004. gif)[195][195] The world's living religions page 335[196][196] An introduction to Hinduism page 76[197][197] Sources of Japanese Tradition: From earliest times through the sixteenth century page 101[198] http:/ / www. ascd. org/ ASCD/ pdf/ journals/ ed_lead/ el_195401_bush. pdf[199][199] Buddhism: religion in Korea paghe 13[200][200] On the antiquity of intellectual man page 104[201][201] Eclectic magazine: foreign literature, Volume 40[202][202] The Eclectic magazine of foreign literature, science, and art, Volume 103[203][203] Religions of Primitive Peoples - Page 28 4[204][204] The Wisdom of Life, and Other Essays page 217[205][205] Universal classics library: Volume 29[206][206] Christianity and non-Christian religions compared - page 79[207][207] Why India lives - page 228[208][208] Prabuddha bharata: or awakened India: Volume 69[209][209] The Vedanta kesari: Volume 51[210] Major Branches of Buddhism (http:/ / www. adherents. com/ adh_branches. html#Buddhism), Adherents.com, retrieved on 2008-01-15[211][211] The Everything Buddhism Book - page 121[212] Philosophy East and West, volume 54, page 270[213] Keown, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1996, page 12[214] Smith, Buddhism; Juergensmeyer, Oxford Handbook.

Buddhism 37

[216] (Harvey, 1990); (Gombrich,1984); Gethin (1998), pp. 1–2, identifies "three broad traditions" as: (1) "The Theravāda tradition of Sri Lankaand South-East Asia, also sometimes referred to as 'southern' Buddhism"; (2) "The East Asian tradition of China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam,also sometimes referred to as 'eastern' Buddhism"; and, (3) "The Tibetan tradition, also sometimes referred to as 'northern' Buddhism.";Robinson & Johnson (1982) divide their book into two parts: Part One is entitled "The Buddhism of South Asia" (which pertains to EarlyBuddhism in India); and, Part Two is entitled "The Development of Buddhism Outside of India" with chapters on "The Buddhism of SoutheastAsia", "Buddhism in the Tibetan Culture Area", "East Asian Buddhism" and "Buddhism Comes West; Penguin handbook of Living Religions,1984, page 279; Prebish & Keown, Introducing Buddhism, ebook, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 2005, printed ed, Harper, 2006

[217] See e.g. the multi-dimensional classification in Encyclopedia of Religion, Macmillan, New York, 1987, volume 2, pages 440ff[218] A Comparative Study of the Schools (http:/ / www. buddhanet. net/ e-learning/ history/ comparative. htm), Tan Swee Eng[219] Cousins, L.S. (1996); Buswell (2003), Vol. I, p. 82; and, Keown & Prebish (2004), p. 107. See also, Gombrich (1988/2002), p. 32:

“…[T]he best we can say is that [the Buddha] was probably Enlightened between 550 and 450, more likely later rather than earlier."[220] Williams (2000, pp. 6-7) writes: "As a matter of fact Buddhism in mainland India itself had all but ceased to exist by the thirteenth century

CE, although by that time it had spread to Tibet, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia." Embree et al. (1958/1988), "Chronology," p. xxix: "c.1000-1200: Buddhism disappears as [an] organized religious force in India." See also, Robinson & Johnson (1970/1982), pp. 100-1, 108 Fig.1; and, Harvey (1990/2007), pp. 139-40.

[221] Gethin, Foundations, page 1[222][222] Hawkins, p. 88.[223] Clarke & Beyer, The World's Religions, Routledge, 2009, page 86[224] Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume One), pages 430, 435[226] Prebish & Keown, Introducing Buddhism, page 89[227][227] A.K. Warder, Indian Buddhism, 3rd edition (2000)[228] Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, Edward Arnold, London, 1935, page 16[229] Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha, Oxford University Press, 2008, page xiv[230] http:/ / www. columbia. edu/ itc/ mealac/ pritchett/ 00ambedkar/ ambedkar_buddha/[231] Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume XVI, page 114[232] Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press, 1995, page 9.[233] David Kalupahana, "Sarvastivada and its theory of sarvam asti." University of Ceylon Review 24 1966, 94-105.[234] Indian Buddhism, 3rd edition, page 4[235] MacMillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 494[236][236] Isabelle Onians, "Tantric Buddhist Apologetics, or Antinomianism as a Norm," D.Phil. dissertation, Oxford, Trinity Term 2001 pg 72[237] Jonathan A Silk. What, if anything, is Mahayana Buddhism? Numen 49:4 (2002):335-405. Article reprinted in Williams, Buddhism, Vol

III, Routledge, 2005[238][238] Harvey 1990, p. 1.[239][239] Goldstein 2011, p. 27.[240][240] Lama Surya Das 1997, p. 16.[241][241] Goleman 2008, Kindle Locations 1301-1305.[242][242] Gethin 1998, p. 65-66.[243][243] Keown 2000, Kindle Locations 361-372.[244][244] Pinburn 1990, p. 101.[247][247] Walpola Rahula 2007, Kindle Locations 316-323.

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Погодин, こ ち ぴ か り, 小 為, 松 岡

明 芳, 4352 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg  License: Public domain  Contributors: User:World ImagingFile:Dharma Wheel.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Dharma_Wheel.svg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported  Contributors:user:Esteban.barahona, user:ShazzFile:Buddha-painting.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Buddha-painting.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  Contributors: Otgo Otgonbayar ErshuuFile:Le grand départ.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Le_grand_départ.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: DdalbiezImage:Ascetic Bodhisatta Gotama with the Group of Five.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ascetic_Bodhisatta_Gotama_with_the_Group_of_Five.jpg  License:Public Domain  Contributors: myselfFile:Bodhitree.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bodhitree.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: Tangopaso, Tevaprapas, Wiki-ukFile:Monastery around Dhamek stupa, Sarnath.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Monastery_around_Dhamek_stupa,_Sarnath.jpg  License: Creative CommonsAttribution 2.0  Contributors: R. M. Calamar from Brooklyn, New York, USAFile:Mahaparinirvana.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mahaparinirvana.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5  Contributors: myselfFile:Bhavachakra.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bhavachakra.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: MladifilozofFile:Kushinara1.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Kushinara1.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5  Contributors: myselfFile:Statue of Buddha in Puji Temple on Putuo Shan island.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Statue_of_Buddha_in_Puji_Temple_on_Putuo_Shan_island.JPG License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:CtnyFile:Debating Monks.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Debating_Monks.JPG  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Rhaessner, Takeaway, WstFile:Mahabodhitemple.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mahabodhitemple.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5  Contributors: MyselfImage:Kamakura-buddha-2.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Kamakura-buddha-2.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: ThyesFile:Buddha in Haw Phra Kaew.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Buddha_in_Haw_Phra_Kaew.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:TevaprapasFile:Buddha-Footprint.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Buddha-Footprint.jpeg  License: Public domain  Contributors: Beta m common, Conscious, Look2See1,Shoulder-synth, Tintazul, Wst, 1 anonymous editsFile:StandingBuddha.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:StandingBuddha.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Bukk, Eug, Gryffindor, Kilom691, Officer, Paddy,Quadell, Ranveig, Sailko, Samulili, Siebrand, Tsui, Vassil, 1 anonymous editsFile:Chinese Buddhist Monks Ceremony Hangzhou.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chinese_Buddhist_Monks_Ceremony_Hangzhou.jpeg  License: CreativeCommons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0  Contributors: Jon BraggFile:Rank celebration of Thai Buddhist monk 1.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Rank_celebration_of_Thai_Buddhist_monk_1.jpg  License: Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0  Contributors: Tevaprapas, XupuFile:ElloraPuja.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ElloraPuja.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0  Contributors: andiheftiFile:A view of Ruined Buddhist temple on hilltop at ---File---Ramatheertham Vizianagaram AP India.jpg  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:A_view_of_Ruined_Buddhist_temple_on_hilltop_at_---File---Ramatheertham_Vizianagaram_AP_India.jpg  License: Creative Commons Zero Contributors: Adityamadhav83File:Rock-cut Lord --Buddha-- Statue at Bojjanakonda near Anakapalle of Visakhapatnam dist in AP.jpg  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Rock-cut_Lord_--Buddha--_Statue_at_Bojjanakonda_near_Anakapalle_of_Visakhapatnam_dist_in_AP.jpg  License: Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0  Contributors: Adityamadhav83File:Buddhaghosa offering his commentaries.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Buddhaghosa_offering_his_commentaries.jpg  License: Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0  Contributors: Chielbuseyne, ThiotrixFile:BuddhistTriad.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:BuddhistTriad.JPG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported  Contributors: Kilom691,Sailko, Vassil, World Imaging, 2 anonymous editsFile:Taller Buddha of Bamiyan before and after destruction.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: Buddha_Bamiyan_1963.jpg: UNESCO/A Lezine; Original uploader was Tsui at de.wikipedia. Later version(s) wereuploaded by Liberal Freemason at de.wikipedia. Buddhas_of_Bamiyan4.jpg: Carl Montgomery derivative work: Zaccarias (talk)

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 43

File:Asoka Kaart.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Asoka_Kaart.gif  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Abhishekjoshi, Fschoenm, GijsvdL, Koavf, Magog theOgre, Mdd, Podzemnik, Razorbliss, Roland zh, Varlaam, 1 anonymous editsFile:MenandrosCoin.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:MenandrosCoin.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Alexandrin, Dorieo, Jastrow, Uploadalt, WorldImagingFile:Bon shim.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bon_shim.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0  Contributors: Branislav SobotkaFile:Buddhist_sects.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Buddhist_sects.png  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:Javierfv1212File:Buddhist distribution.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Buddhist_distribution.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: TheGreenEditorFile:Young Mo nk s.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Young_Mo_nk_s.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:PpyoonusFile:Central Asian Buddhist Monks.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Central_Asian_Buddhist_Monks.jpeg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Beta m common,Colegota, DhJ, Gryffindor, HéctorTabaré, Infrogmation, Kanguole, Shakko, Takeaway, Tengu800, Tsui, 2 anonymous editsFile:Japanese buddhist monk by Arashiyama cut.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Japanese_buddhist_monk_by_Arashiyama_cut.jpg  License: Public Domain Contributors: Amagase, Berrucomons, Econt, Howcheng, JuTa, Kam Solusar, Marubatsu, Mattes, Morio, Skipjack, Smial, Thermos, Tony Wills, Wst, Xupu, 10 anonymous editsFile:20110725 Budha eyes closeup Bodhnath Stupa Kathmandu Nepal.jpg  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:20110725_Budha_eyes_closeup_Bodhnath_Stupa_Kathmandu_Nepal.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:User:GgiaImage:Konchog-wangdu.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Konchog-wangdu.jpeg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Beta m common,Conscious, Mattes, Ranveig, Roland zh, 1 anonymous editsFile:Korea-Haeinsa-Tripitaka Koreana-01.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Korea-Haeinsa-Tripitaka_Koreana-01.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: Lauren Heckler (the Flickr ID is malpuella) at Flicker

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