Emergence and Councils of Buddhism
The life of the buddha is a part of the background to his teaching. The early tripitka did not contain any comprehensive account of the birth. Adopting 566 BC as a provisional date of the birth and 537 BC for the renunciation of the buddha. Buddha was born in the Sakya republic which was the city state boundary of Nepal against the Indian frontier.
The sangha originated in the group of disciples who renounced the worldly life to wander with the Buddha and listen to his teachings. After the Buddha's death his disciples continued to live together as a community, wandering from place to place, living off the receipt of alms. The First Buddhist council was a gathering of senior monks of the Buddhist order convened just after Gautama Buddha's death, which according to Buddhist tradition was c. 483 BCE, though most modern scholars place it around 400 BCE. The story of the gathering is recorded in the Vinaya Pitaka of the Theravadins. The Second Buddhist council is convened by Kalasoka of the Shishunaga dynasty and held in Vaishali. The Sangha divides into the Sthaviravadins and the Mahasanghikas led by the monk Mahādeva, primarily over the question of addition or subtraction of rules from the Vinaya. The Nanda Empire briefly predominates in Magadha over the Shishunagas. The reign of Chandragupta Maurya, grandfather of Ashoka, who subdues the Nanda Empire by c. 320 BCE, and gradually conquers much of northern India. 250 BCE Third Buddhist council, convened by Ashoka and chaired by Moggaliputta-Tissa, compiles the Kathavatthu to refute the heretical views and theories held by some Buddhist sects. Edicts of Ashoka in the Maurya Empire in support of Buddhism. Ashoka sends various Buddhist missionaries to faraway countries, as far as China, mainland Southeast Asia and the Malay kingdoms in the east and the Hellenistic kingdoms in the west, in order to make Buddhism known to them. First-fully developed examples of Kharosthi script in the inscriptions at Shahbazgarhi and Mānsehrā in Gandhara. Indian traders regularly visit ports in the Arabian Peninsula, explaining the prevalence of place names in the region with Indian or Buddhist origin Ashokan emissary monks bring Buddhism to Suvarnabhumi, the location of which is disputed.Theravada is officially introduced to Sri Lanka by the Mahinda, son of Ashoka, during the reign of Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura.
Timeline: Development and propagation of Buddhist traditions
2nd Century BCE - 1st Century BCE
Starting from 185 BCE General Pushyamitra Shunga overthrows the Maurya Empire and establishes the Shunga Empire, apparently starting a wave of persecution against Buddhism. In 180 BCE Demetrius I of Bactria invades India as far as Pataliputra and establishes the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180–10 BCE), under which Buddhism flourishes. Reign of the Indo-Greek king Menander I, who converts to Buddhism under the sage Nagasena according to the account of the Milinda Panha. According to the Sinhalese chronicles, the content of the Pali Canon is written down in the reign of King Vaṭṭagamiṇi (29–17 BCE).
From 1st Century - Till
Liu Ying's sponsorship of Buddhism is the first documented case of Buddhist practices in China. Buddhism comes to China with the two monks Kasyapa and Dharmaraksha. In 68 Buddhism is officially established in China with the founding of the White Horse Temple. According to Mahayana tradition, the Fourth Buddhist council takes place under Kushana king Kanishka's reign, near Jalandar, India the Kushans, under Kanishka, establish a kingdom centered on Kashgar, also taking control of Khotan and Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. An Shigao, a Parthian prince and Buddhist monk, arrives in China and proceeds to make the first translations of Theravada texts into Chinese.
From c. 150–250-c. 250–350 Indian and Central Asian Buddhists travel to Vietnam. Use of Kharoṣṭhī script in Gandhara stops. Kharoṣṭhī script is used in the southern Silk Road cities of Khotan and Niya. The university at Nalanda grows to support 3,000–10,000 monks. The Gandharan monk Marananta arrived in Baekje, in modern-day Korea, and the royal family received the strain of Buddhism he brought. Fa Xian travels from China to India, then returns to translate Buddhist works into Chinese. The kingdom of Funan (centered in modern Cambodia) begins to advocate Buddhism in a departure from Hinduism. Earliest evidence of Buddhism in Myanmar (Pali inscriptions). Earliest evidence of Buddhism in Indonesian (statues). Earliest reinterpretations of Pali texts. The stupa at Dambulla (Sri Lanka) is constructed.
In 464 Buddhabhadra reaches China to preach Buddhism. Bodhidharma settles into the Shaolin monastery in Henan province of China. Buddhism is introduced to Japan via Baekje (Korea), according to Nihonshoki; some scholars place this event in 538. Xuanzang travels to India, noting the persecution of Buddhists by Sasanka (king of Gauda, a state in northwest Bengal) before returning to Chang'an in China to translate Buddhist scriptures.
Around 8th century Buddhist Jataka stories are translated into Syriac and Arabic as Kalilag and Damnag. An account of Buddha's life is translated into Greek by John of Damascus and widely circulated among Christians as the story of Barlaam and Josaphat. By the 14th century, this story of Josaphat becomes so popular that he is made a Catholic saint. Under the reign of Emperor Kanmu of Japan, a fleet of four ships sets sail for mainland China. Of the two ships that arrive, one carries the monk Kūkai—recently ordained by the Japanese government as a Bhikkhu—who absorbs Vajrayana teachings in Chang'an and returns to Japan to found the Japanese Shingon school. The other ship carries the monk Saichō, who returns to Japan to found the Japanese Tendai school, partly based upon the Chinese Tiantai tradition.
A priest of the Tendai school, travels in China for nine years. He reaches both the famous Buddhist mountain of Wutaishan and the Chinese capital, Chang'an, keeping a detailed diary that is a primary source for this period of Chinese history, including the Buddhist persecution.
Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty (given name: Li Yan) reigns in China; he is one of three Chinese emperors to prohibit Buddhism. From 843 to 845, Wuzong carries out the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution, permanently weakening the institutional structure of Buddhism in China. In Southeast Asia, and especially in Sri Lanka, the Bhikkhuni (Buddhist nuns) Order dies out due to invasions. The bhikkhu line in Sri Lanka is later revived with bhikkhus from Burma. In 1063 A copy of the Khitans' printed canon arrives in Korea from mainland China. Bhikkhus from Pagan arrive in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka to reinstate the Theravada ordination line. From 1084 - 1112 In Myanmar, King Kyansittha reigns. He completes the building of the Shwezigon Pagoda, a shrine for relics of the Buddha, including a tooth brought from Sri Lanka. Various inscriptions refer to him as an incarnation of Vishnu, a chakravartin, a bodhisattva, and dharmaraja. In 1164 Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka destroyed by foreign invasion. With the guidance of two forest monks – Ven. Mahākassapa Thera and Ven. Sāriputta Thera, Parakramabahu I reunites all bhikkhus in Sri Lanka into the Mahavihara sect. The self-styled bodhisattva Jayavarman VII, a devout follower of Mahayana Buddhism (though he also patronised Hinduism), assumes control of the Khmer kingdom. He constructs the Bayon, the most prominent Buddhist structure in the Angkor temple complex. This sets the stage for the later conversion of the Khmer people to Theravada Buddhism. Aroun c. 1200 The great Buddhist educational centre at Nalanda, India, (the origin of Buddhism) where various subjects were taught subjects such as Buddhism, Logic, Philosophy, Law, Medicine, Grammar, Yoga, Mathematics, Alchemy, and Astrology, is sacked, looted and burnt by Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji. Birth of Nichiren Daishonin (1222–1282), the Japanese founder of Nichiren Buddhism. Theravada overtakes Mahayana—previously practised alongside Hinduism—as the dominant form of Buddhism in Cambodia; Sri Lanka is an influence in this change. The Pagan Empire, the largest Theravada kingdom of Southeast Asia, falls due to Mongol invasions. Mongol leader Ghazan Khan is converted to Islam, ending a line of Tantric Buddhist leaders.
Around c. 1300 in Persia, the historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani records some eleven Buddhist texts circulating in Arabic translation, amongst which the Sukhavati-vyuha and Karanda-vyuha Sutras are recognizable. Portions of the Samyutta and Anguttara-Nikayas, along with parts of the Maitreya-vyakarana, are identified in this collection. Buddhists in Persia attempt to convert Uldjaitu Khan. In the Mahayana tradition during the 13th century, the Japanese Mugai Nyodai became the first female abbess and thus the first ordained female Zen master. Gyalwa Gendun Drubpa, first Dalai Lama of Tibet. In 1753 Sri Lanka reinstatement of monks ordination from Thailand – the Siyam Nikaya lineage. Jade Buddha Temple is founded in Shanghai, China, with two Jade Buddha statues imported from Burma. Irish-born U Dhammaloka ordained in Burma; first named but not first known western bhikkhu. In 1893 The World Parliament of Religions meets in Chicago, Illinois; Anagarika Dharmapala and Soyen Shaku attend. Using Fa Xian's records, Nepalese archaeologists rediscover the great stone pillar of Ashoka at Lumbini. In 1903 Formation of the International Buddhist Society known as Buddhasāsana Samāgama which went on to gain official representatives in Austria, Burma, Ceylon, China, Germany, Italy, America, and England. The Buddhist Lodge had changed its name and was known as the Buddhist Society. It had relocated to its current address in Eccleston Square. Notably its journals have been Buddhism and The Middle Way and Christmas Humphreys was its president from 1926 until his death 1983.
In 1954 The Sixth Buddhist Council is held in Rangoon, Burma, organized by U Nu. It ends in time for the 2500th anniversary of the passing of the Buddha according to the Burmese reckoning. In 1955 The Buddhist Society of India is founded in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. In 1956 the father of the Indian Constitution and untouchable leader B. R. Ambedkar converts to Navayana Buddhism, with more than 650,000 followers—beginning the modern Neo-Buddhist movement. First Theravada Buddhist Mission to Germany from Sri Lanka sponsored by the German Dharmaduta Society founded by Asoka Weeraratna. The Mission comprised Ven. Soma, Ven. Kheminde and Ven. Vinitha of the Vajiraramaya Temple in Colombo, and was accompanied by Asoka Veeraratna. In 1962 The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association is founded by Tripitaka Master Shramana Hsuan Hua, who later founds the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and ordains the first five fully ordained American Buddhist monks and nuns. In 1966 The World Buddhist Sangha Council is convened by Theravadins in Sri Lanka with the hope of bridging differences and working together. The first convention is attended by leading monks from many countries and sects, Mahayana as well as Theravada. Nine Basic Points Unifying the Theravada and Mahayana are written by Ven. Walpola Rahula are approved unanimously. In 1996 A Bhikkhuni (Buddhist nuns) Order and lineage is revived in Sarnath, India through the efforts of Sakyadhita, an International Buddhist Women Association. The revival is done with some resistance from some of the more literal interpreters of the Buddhist Vinaya (monastic code) and lauded by others in the community. In 2001 May – Two of the world's tallest ancient Buddha statues, the Buddhas of Bamyan, are completely destroyed by the Taliban in Bamyan, Afghanistan. In 2014 Nalanda University (also known as Nalanda International University) is a newly established university located in Rajgir, near Nalanda, Bihar, India. It has been established in a bid to revive the ancient seat of learning. The university has acquired 455 acres of land for its campus and has been allotted ₹2727 crores (around $454M) by the Indian government. It is also being funded by the governments of China, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, and others
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