Exploring the Origins and Spread of Buddhism

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Buddhism was created in early Indian civilization. Development of the religion began with the death of their founder. The Buddhist community established their standard cannon and their common goal which was, to bring enlightenment to the world. (Robinson and Johnson, 3) Buddhism spread rapidly and as with all other major religions when it begins to spread it breaks up into sects. Buddhism divided into two sects Hinayana and Mahayana. The Hinayanas settled in greater India and followed the earlier traditions. The Mahayanas traveled throughout India and Asia. The most dense areas of Buddhist populations are within central and east Asia. Buddhism's main goal when created was to bring enlightenment to the world. It was also founded on the commitment to nonviolence, this is called Ahimsa. Ahimsa is an extremely important foundation that Buddhism was built from. Buddha once said to his followers “Overcome anger by peacefulness: Overcome evil with good. Overcome the mean by generosity;and the man who lies by truth” (Fink, 375) This quote shows that the Buddhist religion is one …show more content…

Its population is 21,866,445. The majority of their population are Buddhist the rest are either Muslim, Hindu, or Christian. Buddhism was brought to Sri Lanka in the 5th century B.C. The legend that is told states that Buddha ordered a group of his followers to travel to Sri Lanka and spread Buddhism. According to this legend Buddha said that Buddhism would strive in Sri Lanka for 5,000 years. (Flinkins,3) This legend holds true for the most part, the sinhalese Buddhists have taken down any threat that has been made to their religion. With the knowledge that Buddhism is a religion of nonviolence and peacefulness one may assume that Sri Lanka could be one of the most peaceful nations in the world. Unfortunately this assumption is very wrong. The way the Buddhist tackle the threats to their religion causes this country to be

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