Buddhism History Origin Founder, System And Practice In Details-Buddhism was born in India in the 6th century BC, but in course of time, Buddhism almost disappeared from India, while Buddhism continued to spread and develop in other parts of the world. The development of Buddhism started from the 6th century BC, after the massacre of millions of people in Kalinga by Emperor Ashoka, after seeing the mountains of Narmunds, he accepted Buddhism and replaced it as the state religion due to self-aggrandizement.
Which later, due to their dominion, spread not only in India – China, Japan, Siam, Lanka, Afghanistan, Singapore, Thailand and all the Hindu nations of the western countries of Asia. History like Emperor Ashoka After the Kalinga war, the famous emperor adopted Buddhism and it was made the state religion. Some scholars have also said that Buddhism has declined due to the decline of the moral conduct of the monks of Buddhism, but this is not true.
Every religion starts with good motives, but later on, all kinds of misconceptions come in it, as it happened with Buddhism too. But this reason alone is not sufficient. The Buddhist period has seen not only a period of great development but also a strong first central authority. During this period India had become the center of spirituality and knowledge. Due to the rapid expansion of Buddhism, there was a lot of economic development in addition to religious and political at that time. There are many reasons for the decline of Buddhism in India.
- By the seventh century, many evils had come in Buddhism, like Vedic religion, rituals had become involved in it. As Buddhism was losing its true identity, many Buddhist monks were themselves skeptical about their religion. At the same time scholars like Kumaril Bhatta and Adi Shankaracharya extended Vedic religion by propounding philosophies like Mimamsa and Vedanta.
- Adi Shankaracharya defeated many Buddhist monks and abbots in the scriptures and made them his followers, and then Vedic religion started spreading from these Buddhist monasteries. In Vedic religion, the philosophy and traditions of other religions and sects were recognized. By compiling the legends of different sects, they were either included in the old texts or new texts were created. Due to the fusion of other religions and sects in Vedic religion, its form also changed somewhat, which we can call Hinduism today. The fusion of several sects and sects gave rise to a complex caste system in Hinduism, which also encouraged social discrimination and exploitation.
- In the later years, many Hindu saints spread the easy and ritualistic path of devotion among the people, due to which Hinduism reached the common people rapidly. Due to which Buddhism almost ended from India and remained mostly confined to Buddhist monasteries.
Buddhism In Maurya Empire
- With the decline of the Maurya Empire, Buddhism began to weaken in India, as well as the spread of Vedic religion again. In Vedic religion, not only other religions and sects of India, the philosophies and principles of foreign invaders were also being respected and they were becoming a part of Vedic religion, due to this the prevalence of Vedic religion started increasing.
- After the fall of the Maurya Empire, there were many Buddhist and Hindu kings, they patronized their own religion but did not harm other religions like the Mauryas for the spread of religion. This is the reason why Buddhist and Vedic religions co-existed for a long time even after the Maurya rule, the competition between them was only to restore their own philosophy.
Buddhism In Gupta Empire
- In the Gupta period, Vedic religion developed more than Buddhism, then during the time of Kushan and Harshavardhana, Buddhism tried to regain its prestige again. The greatest damage to Buddhism and Hinduism was caused by repeated foreign invasions.
- Buddhism, which was already weakened, could not fully recover after these invasions. At the end of the 5th century AD, northwestern India (today’s Pakistan and Afghanistan) was invaded by the Huns led by Toraman, a race from Central Asia (or in some cases northern China).
- The Gupta king Skandagupta‘s army drove him away but he had done a lot of looting and destruction there. After a few years, Toraman’s son Mihirkul attacked again and established his kingdom from Malwa to Central Asia. It attacked brutally and destroyed many Buddhist monasteries and Hindu and Jain temples.
- It inflicted great cruelty on the Buddhist monasteries of Taxila and almost destroyed them and burnt the scriptures. Taxila was an important site of Buddhism, it was the center connecting India, Central Asia and China with Buddhism. It is said that Mihirkul wanted to become a Buddhist, but due to his violent nature, the Buddhist monks sent a junior monk to his court to teach him Buddhist teachings, on discovering this, Mihirkul considered it an insult.
- After this, as a vengeance, he committed many murders on the Buddhists. Mihirkul had also destroyed Hindu temples in Mathura, due to which he is also called Malechha in Hindu texts. Perhaps later he became a devotee of Shiva, which is known from the figure of Rishabh on his posture. After the death of Mihirkul, the Huns settled in India and adopted Vedic religion.
Important Points And Questions From Buddhism
- Gautam Buddha was born in 563 BC in a village called Lumbini in Kapilvastu (Nepal).
- The founder of Buddhism was Gautam Buddha. Gautam Buddha is also called as the Light of Asia.
- Gautam Buddha’s father’s name was Shuddhodhana and his mother’s name was Mayadevi. His mother died on the seventh day after the birth of Gautam Buddha.
- Gautam Buddha was brought up by his stepmother. His step mother’s name was Prajapati Gautami.
- Gautam Buddha’s childhood name was Siddhartha. His marriage took place at the age of sixteen (16) years.
- The name of Gautam Buddha’s wife was Yashodhara. They had a son named Rahul.
- Gautam Buddha’s father was the head of a Shuddhodhana Shakya Gana.
- Buddha attained enlightenment at the age of 35 after six years of hard penance under a Peepal tree on the full moon night of Vaishakh on the banks of the Niranjana (Phalgu) river in Bodh Gaya, without consuming any food or water.
- At the age of 29, Gautam Buddha left his home and set out in search of truth. This event of renunciation is called Mahabhinishkraman in Buddhism.
- After renunciation, Gautam Buddha received the education of Sankhya philosophy from his first guru Alar Kalam.
- After Siddhartha attained enlightenment, he was known as Gautam Buddha and Tathagata.
- The place where the Buddhist attained enlightenment came to be known as Bodh Gaya. The enlightenment acquired from Gautam Buddha is called Bodhi.
- Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon in “Pali” language at Sarnath (Rishipatnam) near Varanasi. This event of preaching is called Dharmachakra pravartana.
- In Gautama Buddhism the entry was called Upasampada. The three jewels of Buddhism are the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha.
- Siddhartha’s gotra (caste) was “Gautam”. Buddha called nirvana the state of waning of craving.
- According to Gautam Buddha, the gods also come under the principle of karma.
- The followers of Gautam Buddha were divided into mendicants and worshipers. One who takes sannyas for the propagation of Buddhism is called a monk. And the one who leads a householder’s life is called a worshiper.
- Gautam Buddha was Gautam Buddha’s dearest and dearest disciple Ananda.
- The first woman to adopt Buddhism was Prajapati Gautami, the mother of Gautam Buddha.
- The credit for spreading Buddhism outside India goes to King Emperor Ashoka. The first statue of Buddha was built in Mathura art.
- After the Fourth Buddhist Association, Buddhism was divided into Hinayana and Mahayana. Buddhism was the first to start a religious procession.
- About Buddhism we get from the Pali Tripitaka. In Buddhism, there is a belief of ancestor birth.
- According to Pew Research of America, Buddhism is followed by 54 million people, which is 7% of the world’s population. According to this, it is the fourth largest religion in the world.
- The Buddhist preached the Four Noble Truths, the first is suffering, the second is the community of suffering, the third is the cessation of suffering, the fourth is the prevention of suffering.
- Buddha has said eight things to get rid of sorrow. 1. Right vision 2. Right resolution 3. Right speech 4. Right action 5. Right living 6. Right exercise 7. Right memory 8. Right Samadhi.
- The Buddha emphasized the following ten precepts to facilitate the attainment of nirvana. 1. Non-violence 2. Truth 3. Asteya (not stealing) 4. Aparigraha (meaning not keeping any kind of property) 5. Non-drinking 6. Not eating untimely food 7. Not sleeping on pleasant expanses 8. Accumulating wealth Do not do 9. Stay away from women 10. Dance anthem
- One had to be at least 15 years of age to join the Buddhist Sangha.
- The Buddha took the principle of “the world is full of sorrows” from the Upanishads. Buddha taught the medium path.
- Nirman is the ultimate goal of Buddhism which means “to put out the lamp” which means to get rid of the cycle of life and death.
- Buddhism and Jainism have similarities in relation to the latter. Buddhism is atheistic, it does not even have the concept of soul.
- The date of birth and death of a Buddhist is determined on the basis of Canton inscriptions of Chinese tradition.
- Buddha had five Brahmin disciples at Uruvela. The names of these five disciples were Kaundinya, Vappa, Bhadiya, Assagi and Mahanama.
- The last exhortation given by Mahatma Buddha was “All things are perishable, so man should be his own guide”.
- The major followers of Buddhism were the rulers Bimbisara, Prasenjit and Udayana.
- Vaishakh Purnima is the holiest festival of Buddhists. Which is known as Buddha Purnima. The significance of this festival is because Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and took place on the full moon day of Mahaparinirvana.
- Buddha gave most of his teaching skills in the country’s capital Sravasti.
- The largest number of Buddha statues were built in the Gandhara style. The first two followers of Buddha were Kalliks, Tapasu.
- Mahatma Buddha died at the age of 80 in 483 BC after having a meal offered by Chunda in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. Which is called Mahaparinirvana.
- Lord Buddha has taught his followers to observe the five Shilohs. 1. Ahimsa 2. Asteya 3. Aparigraha 4. Truth 5. Pali
- There are five main pilgrimages around the world for the followers of Lord Buddha. 1 Lumbini – Where Lord Buddha was born. 2 Bodh Gaya – Where Buddha attained enlightenment. 3 Sarnath – From where Buddha started giving divine knowledge. 4 Kushinagar – where Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana took place. 5 Deekshabhoomi – Where Buddhism revived in India.
- When Siddhartha went for a tour of Kapilavastu, he saw four scenes:- (i) an old man (ii) a sick man (iii) a dead body (iv) a sanyasi.
- According to one legend, after death, the remains of Buddha’s body were divided into eight parts and eight stupas were built on them.
- The date of birth and death of Buddha is determined on the basis of Canton inscriptions of Chinese tradition.
- The first Buddhist council was held in Rajagrihi in 483 BC during the reign of Ajatashatru under the chairmanship of Mahakashyapa.
- The Second Buddhist Council was held in Vaishali in 383 BC during the reign of Kalashoka, headed by Sabakami.
- The Tritiya Buddhist Council was held at Pataliputra in 255 BC during the reign of Ashoka under the chairmanship of Moggaliputta Tissa.
- The fourth Buddhist council was held in Kundalavan in the first century AD under the presidency of Mahavasumitra or Asvaghosha during the reign of Kanishka.
- The number of Buddhists in the state of Maharashtra is the largest in India.
- Gautam Buddh’s mother was related to Kasol dynasty.
Buddhism History Origin Founder, System And Practice In Details
Buddhism History Origin Founder, System And Practice
Buddhism History Origin Founder
Buddhism History Origin Founder, System