3. The Manner that Buddhism
Spread
- The expansion of Buddhism throughout most of Asia was
peaceful and occured in several ways.
- Did not asks others to denounce and give up their own
religion and convert tto a new one.
- Not seeking to establish his own religion.
- Trying to help others overcome the happiness and
suffering.
4. History of Buddhism
- began in India 500 years ago,
- emerged in 6th century B.C.
- marked a profound break with some Hindu Beliefs,
- denies the aouthority of Vedas.
- founded by Siddhartha Gautama
5. Early Biography
+ Family Background:
` Siddhartha – his given name.
` Gautama – his family name.
` Sakyamuni – his clan name.
` Suddhodana – his father, as a king of Shakya tribe in India.
` Queen Maya – his mother
` Yasodhara – his wife, whom he was married at an age of 16.
` Rahula – his son’s name.
* Siddhartha Gautama
- the prince of India, and the founder
- (also known as the Buddha “the awakened one” or enlightened one)
- Born about 560 B.C in northern India, Kapilavastu / Nepal
- the leader and founder of a sect of wonderer ascetics ( Sramanas)
- who seek enlightenment or “wisdom”.
6. Enlightenment
*Buddhism Explanations:
- the realization of spiritual or religious understanding
- the awakened one.
- realized after he attended the 4 Stage of trance.
- all of the answers he had been seeking became clear, and achieved
full awareness, there by becoming Buddha.
7. Buddha’s Enlightment
- ‘ One day, he informed his father that he wish to see the world ( at an age of 29).
* 4 Passing Sights
- also known as Great Renunciation
- the excursion that would forever change his life, for it was during his
journey:
1st, Saw a decrepit man.
2nd, Met a sick man.
3rd, Saw a funeral procession with a corpse.
4th, Saw a monk begging for his food.
- A former prince , now a beggar.
- Spent his time wandering from place to place.
9. Theravada Buddhism
- the oldest surviving branch of Buddhism.
- its doctrines are taken from the Tripitaka ,
- its basic teachings begin with the Four Noble Truths
- emphasizing critical analysis and personal experience rather than blind faith,
- considers anatman to mean that an individual's ego or personality is a fetter and
delusion
- dominant form in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar)
- derived from the Sanskrit; sthaviravada, and literally means
"the Teaching of the Elders".
- its own origins exist were under the patronage of the Indian Emperor Ashoka,
around 250 BCE.
- These teachings were known as the Vibhajjavada,
- Vibhajjavādins in turn split into four groups: the Mahīśāsaka, Kāśyapīya,’
Dharmaguptaka, and the Tāmraparṇīya.
10. Origin:
- The name Theravāda comes from the ancestral Sthaviravada, from
which the Theravadins claim descentl
- a small group of "elderly members", i.e. sthaviras, broke away from
the majority Mahāsāṃghika during the Second Buddhist council,
giving rise to the Sthaviravada,
- According to its own accounts: Theravāda school is fundamentally
derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or "doctrine of analysis"),was a division
of the Sthaviravada.
11. Mahayana Buddhism
- considers all physical forms to be void and individual autonomy to be a delusion.
- "individual enlightenment" is an oxymoron.
- to enable all beings to be enlightened together.
- considers all physical forms to be void of intrinsic self (a teaching called
shunyata- which means "emptiness") and individual autonomy ‘to be a delusion’.
- Major Schools:
Nichiren Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Zen Buddhism.
- dominant in China, Japan, Taiwan, Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea and
Vietnam, and recently India.
12. Origin:
- (Sanskrit: महायान , literally the "Great Vehicle")
- one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism as a classification of
Buddhist philosophies and practice.
- originated in India, and associated with one of the oldest historical branches
of Buddhism, the Mahāsāṃghika
- spread from India to various other Asian countries such as:
Bangladesh, China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan,
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Malaysia, and Mongolia.
- earliest textual evidence comes from sūtras , originating around the beginning
of the common era.
14. Veneration of Buddha
1. The countenance of the Buddha is like the clear full moon,
Or again. Like at thousand suns releasing their splendor.
His eyes are pure, as large and as broad as a blue lotus.
His teeth are white, even and close, as snowy white jade.
2. The Buddha's virtue resemble the boundless great ocean.
Infinite wonderful jewels are amassed within it.
The calm, virtues of water always fills it.
Hundreds and thousand of supreme concentrations throng it.
3. The of the wheel beneath his feet are all elegantThe hub, the rim, and the thousand spokes which are all even.
The webs on his hands and his feet are splendid in all parts.
He is fully endowed with markings like the king of geese.
4. The Buddha-body’s radiance is like a golden mountains,
It is clear, pure, peculiar without equal or likeness.
And it too has the virtues of beauty and loftiness.
Therefore I bow my head to the Buddha, king of mountain.
5. His marks and signs are as unfathomable as the sky.
And they surpass a thousand suns releasing their splendor.
All like a flame or a phantom are inconceivable.
Thus I bow my head to him hose mind has no attachment.
16. Introduction of Buddhism
According to traditional Sri Lankan
chronicles (such as the Dipavamsa),
Buddhism was introduced into Sri
Lanka in the 3rd century BCE by
Venerable Mahinda, the son of the
Emperor Ashoka, during the reign of
Sri Lanka's King Devanampiya Tissa.
During this time, a sapling of the
Bodhi Tree was brought to Sri Lanka
and the first monasteries and
Buddhist monuments were
established. Among these, the
Isurumuni-vihaara and the Vessagirivihaara remain important centers of
worship. He is also credited with the
construction of the Pathamaka-cetiya,
the Jambukola-vihaara and the
Hatthaalhaka-vihaara, and the
refectory. The Pali Canon, having
previously been preserved as an oral
tradition, was first committed to
writing in Sri Lanka around 30 BCE
17. Buddhism was one of the major
religions in Afghanistan during preIslamic era. The religion was wide
spread south of the Hindu Kush
mountains. Buddhism first arrived in
Afghanistan in 305 BCE when the
Seleucid Empire made an alliance
with the Indian Maurya Empire. The
religion started fading with the arrival
of Islam in the 7th century but finally
ended during the Ghaznavids in the
11th century.[1]
