Buddhism, a once prominent and powerful religion in India, experienced a variety of changes between 300 BCE and 1100 CE leading to the disappearance of the religion from the political and social realms of Indian culture. Although many scholars attribute the collapse of Buddhism to have occurred in the 6th century due to the invasion of the White Huns, which caused a weakening of the Gupta Empire, this reductiveness perspective only encompasses a small portion of the history of the decline of this world religion. Rather, it was a process of demise which occurred over many centuries as evidenced by travellers of the time, such as Faxian and Alberuni. The decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent is a heavily debated issue and various factors …show more content…
In Peter Harvey’s, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, Buddhist values are explained to be centered around the goal of ending suffering. By overcoming greed and attachment, and hatred and delusion, one can end suffering by resolving the roots of unwholesome action. Through generosity and sharing, combined with restraint from theft and cheating, greed can be overcome. Monastic training and meditative training allows one to overcome subtler forms of attachment which are the keys of suffering. Along with social ethics, economic ethics are also important to understand in Buddhist culture in order to trace deviance from the guidance of the Buddha and the values of the religion leading to its decline. The Buddha himself gave guidance to the lay people in their economic activity showing his interest in economic affairs. Monasticism gained support by both lay people and monastics, and generally remained an important part of economics in Buddhist lands. Buddhist emphasis on economic activity could be fulfilled through generosity, especially in support of monastics. The social and economic ethics of Buddhism demonstrated the early key Buddhist values. With the changes occurring between 300 BCE and 1100 CE, there is a deviance from these early key values and ethics causing the religion to slowly lose legitimacy at the hands of political, social, and economic power in
Buddhism’s approach to ethics and practices are centred upon the principal beliefs of; the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Five Precepts. By adhering to these guidelines, Buddhists are ensured that they are taking a step closer to escaping Samsara, and attaining the revered state of Nirvana,
Thesis Statement: These key events reforming religion are what shaped the world for good and for bad in the 14th to the 19th century.
In the comparison with other class of Chinese faith , the study of Chinese Buddhism benefits. First, the International range of Buddhism allows for fruitful comparison with developments in other neighboring finish such as India and japan and the contemporary identicalness of Buddhism as a missionary. Buddhism is a way of breakthrough repose within oneself. It is a organized religion that helps us to find the happiness and contentment we seek. Buddhist develop inner peace, kindness and wisdom through their daily practice; and then share their experience with others delivery real number benefit to this humankind .They try not to injury others and to live
The Three Jewels, the Five Precepts, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path greatly influence individuals and the Buddhist community through their everyday lives, whether it be guiding the adherent’s actions, ethical decision making, or practice. Adherents who follow the teachings become more aware that having an ignorant mindset distracts one from living a good life and happy life; “The purpose of life is to be happy” (Dalai Lama). This was explained in Buddha’s first Sermon, “There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low… the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.” (Buddha), thus avoiding both these extremes,
Buddhism was a powerful force both in politics and in everyday life. It was a tad of the ruling class to appease the people in times of hardship, especially during the political disunity between dynasties. However, as times changed, Buddhism was blamed for much of the trouble in society and for edging out the much more strict doctrine of Confucianism. Even though most of these documents seem to come from Confucian scholars, the documents indicate a spread, nonetheless, of Buddhism among the people.
Buddhism saw its initial, but slow rise under the Han Dynasty, which lasted from 206 BCE to 220 CE; however, the religion spread rapidly towards the end of the Han amidst political chaos and hesitance in Confucian principles. During the postclassical era, Buddhism’s spread in China was caused by the prospect of Nirvana, while it also gave way to both negative and positive responses.
Buddhists believe that life is pain, and pain is caused by desire. They believed that ridding themselves of all desire would also end any pain they felt. These beliefs are known as the Four Noble Truths. The last step to end pain is to follow the Eightfold Path. If an individual has right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right recollection, right effort, and right meditation all pain would cease (Doc 6). Without the interference of pain, Buddhists strive to reach a state of higher truth, peace, and enlightenment known of nirvana. Reaching nirvana also real eases the soul from its constant cycle of
Buddhism originated in India in the sixth century BCE and spread throughout China starting from about the first century CE. Buddhist ideologies appealed to a majority of the lower-class in china, as it served to embody a much more pleasant life, rather than the lack of opportunities for them in China’s political society. However, the social elites and government authorities saw Buddhism as a threat to their previous decrees and traditions, and may consequently result in a loss of their political power. As a result, they sought to undermine the impact of Buddhism on their societies by discrediting it’s teachings.
While Nirvana is the ultimate spiritual attainment, most ordinary Buddhists show their commitment to the Buddha through several religious practices. The basic motives behind Buddhist practices mirror with those behind the Catholic tradition (Seay (2001,p.58). Both traditions aim to create togetherness within their community by developing a sense of communion with all present through a group activity. Some of these activities include group prayer/meditation and group singing/chanting. Another motive behind some Buddhist and Catholic practices is the principle of suffering, a significant element of religious tradition. This principle was formed on the basis of the suffering endured by Saddartha Gutama and Jesus Christ and is put into practice through traditions like achieving Nirvana and Le...
Compare And Analysis The Japanese Buddhism And Indo Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy founded by Siddhartha Gautama in northeast India during the period from the late 6th century to the early 4th century BC. Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played an influential role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of much of the Eastern world. It is the prevailing religious force in most of Asia (India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet). ‘Buddhism’ is reformulated and re-expressed in different cultures and at different times, adopting and redefining aspects of the cultures in which it has taken root. Today, there are about 300 million followers. (Yamplosky) The Indian religion Buddhism, founded in the sixth century BC, is one of the common features of Asian civilization, and Buddhist institutions and believers are found all over East, South, and Southeast Asia. While Buddhism is now just a minority belief in the country of it’s founding, it remains a significant religious and cultural force in Japan today. Buddhism started in India and made its way to China and Korea. From there, it ended up in Japan. Buddhism went through several different periods before it became Japan's national religion. In indo Buddhism, the temple is the main sanctuary, in which services, both public and private, are performed but Japanese Buddhism is mainly hub of individual activities and services. Similarly to Japanese Buddhism, in Indo Buddhism the monastery is a complex of buildings, located usually in a spot chosen for its beauty and seclusion. Its function is to house the activities of the monks. Images are important features of temples, monasteries, and shrines in both Indo a...
Buddhism is currently the fourth most popular religion in our society today, following Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Its major ideologies are based on the philosophies of Siddhartha Guatama, also known as “Buddha”, who began his teachings in 598 BCE at the age of 35, according to Buddhist texts. A Buddhist’s foremost aspiration is the obtainment of Bodhi, or enlightenment through meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of the breath). Buddhism shares many ideologies with India’s Hinduism and Yoga such as non-harming, non-violence, and self-awareness. In many instances, people regard Buddhism as a way of life rather than a religion, for it has no clear belief in the idea of a God or Gods. Its structure is built upon a hierarchy much like Christianity where superior orders such as Lamas or the Dalai Lama are said to be chosen by nature through the process of reincarnation rather than by a council like Christianity’s Pope. Though these “higher level” Buddhists are rare (not everyone is a reincarnation of an ancient Buddhist “priest”), all are permitted to follow “The Middle Way” either as a Buddhist monk or the simple attendance of a weekly teaching session from time to time. Throughout the last few hundred years the Buddhist population has blossomed into a healthy 381,611,000 and over fifteen different sects including Zen, Mahayana, and Theravada.
Buddhism has answers to many problems in the materialistic societies. Buddhism includes a deep understanding of the human mind; which is why I believe that Institutionalized Buddhism can be adapt...
Buddhism is one of the prominent and influential religions and philosophies of the world. A basic tenet of Buddhism is that worldly desires and possessions cause all suffering. To absolve one’s self of necessities beyond basic human survival is one of the many plateaus that Buddhists strive to achieve. Furthermore, Buddhists free themselves from temptation via seclusion from society and attempt to allow nature to support them. They believe that Nirvana, the ascension to heaven, can be achieved by freeing oneself of earthly desires.
To reach enlightenment in Buddhism, one must overcome attachment to the pleasure of peace. Gampopa defines the pleasure of peace as “the desire to achieve nirvana only for oneself without the altruistic mind for sentient beings, and because of it, one does not benefit others” which is also termed as the lesser vehicle (Gampopa, 126). The remedy for this is the practices of loving-kindness and compassion. When one develops this loving-kindness and compassion, then one will have a mind that wants all sentient beings to meet with happiness as well as be free from suffering and its cause. When one achieves this, then one is attached to all sentient beings and no longer wants to attain liberation only for oneself. Compassion is so heavily ingrained in Buddhist practices, that it has been noted that the Buddha had said “the cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is not just part of our practice, it is all of our practice” (Strain, “Compassion & Stoic Philosophy”). Compassion is not just a crucial aspect of the path to Enlightenment; practicing and training in compassion can function to improve the lives of those unconcerned with achieving Buddahood through means of improving health, well-being and increasing self-motivation. Considering the benefits that can come from compassion, everyone should take part in practicing and experiencing compassion as its benefits extend into other aspects of life.
“I desire not of the Lord the greatness which comes by the attainment of the eightfold powers, nor do I pray to him that I may not be born again; my one prayer to him is that I may feel the pain of others, as if I were residing within their bodies, and that I may have the power of relieving their pain and making them happy.” (Santi Deva, pg. 148). This quote is a perfect representation of conflict of interests between values of our society and those of the Buddhists. The quote captivated me because it is completely opposite to the ideals in our society. The “...