What is the first thing that pops into your mind then you hear the word Buddhism? Is it Buddha himself? Counties like Japan or Tibet? Maybe you think of a Jackie Chan movie? People in funny robes and shaved heads? Whichever your answer it was it probably wasn’t its origins and its ascending. But how do you think it happened? How is it become so crazy popular? What even is Buddhism? Is it a word that one just throws into a conversation about religion with your mates? Or do you think of it dull meditation and banging and drum once in awhile? There wont be a discussion about what is your favorite karate movie even though it did technically originate from Buddhism (loosely), nor will the wardrobe of the holy monks be rated on a top ten scale not even yay or nay. There were many factors that affected the rise of Buddhism which will be discussed in moments time. Be patient. Much like in Buddhism patience is a virtue. Before one can jump in how the faith rose from just one skinny man to tens of thousands of people following the teaching of Gautama the Buddha one needs to understand what is Buddhism and where it came from. The dictionary defines Buddhism as follows:
“Buddhism, a religion that originated in India by Gautama the Buddha and later spreading to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet and parts of Southeast Asia. Holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and ignorance, that the way to end suffering is through enlighten that enables one to halt the endless
The Spread of Buddhism Despite the fact Buddhism was originally accepted by China and influenced numerous people to join, there were many others who opposed to the idea and saw it as a cynical act towards the society. Buddhism made its way into China in the first century gaining popularity over the years. Its belief soon became to be questioned by many people, preferably those studying other philosophical teachings. It is uncertain how appealing Buddhism was in China, and therefore additional documents such as statistics or graphs of the citizens who converted to Buddhism would allow for a better evaluation.
The spread of Buddhism in China occurs during a time of great political faction following the collapse of the Han dynasty. Initially, many citizens convert but as time continues people begin to question the belief. Unlike legalism or Confucianism, Buddhism has very little interference with the political climate of a country. When the country is in a state of tyranny or chaos, many people adopt Buddhist beliefs to appease themselves. Other popular belief sets of the time include Confucianism and Daoism, which were commonly practiced during peace times. By 845 C.E the emperor issues a statement in opposition of Buddhism; this would be respected by many of the citizens under him. The resistance to the spread of the religion is emphasized in documents 4 and 6. There are scholars who continue to support Buddhism, as seen in documents 2 and 3. Documents 1 and 5 provide logical and unbiased statements, that can help create compromise and respect between others.
In the sixth century B.C.E., the religion of Buddhism was founded in India. Seven centuries later, the religion would find itself arriving in China in the midst of the Han Dynasty. In China, there were many different views of the religion as it arrived and spread throughout the country. There were two main responses to the religion. One response was that Buddhism could stand alongside other Chinese religions and philosophies such as Confucianism, as it could do a lot of good for China; while another view was that Buddhism had no place in China, as it came from foreign people and was barbaric, stealing from the Chinese.
In classical India, the religion of Buddhism was formed in reaction to the strict ways of Hinduism. Many people, mainly lower class, converted to seek a better life and be enlightened more efficiently. This new religion made its way to China where much of its population converted through trade and missionaries. The conversion of Buddhism in China caused many effects of the spread of Buddhism because of its influential impacts from 300 to 900 CE which are influencing the government, caused some people to reject it, and mainly was a unifying force for China. An effect the spread of Buddhism is the influence of its morals on China’s government in 300-900 CE (Doc’s 1, 7). On some occasions Chinese people vehemently rejected Buddhism and rather practice more Chinese driven religion (Doc’s 5, 7). The most impactful effect of the spread of Buddhism is its ability to unite the Chinese in the way of
In order to be able to properly understand how Buddhism spread one would first have to understand the ideas present in this religion and its foundation. One of the first things about it is that "Buddhism is an abstraction, as is any religion" (Heirman and Bumbacher, 1). People started to elaborate in regard to the personality of the initial Buddha and the ones following him in accordance with Buddhist concepts. So as for one to be able to thoroughly comprehend how Buddhism spread, the respective individual would have to acknowledge that its evolution needs to be analyzed from the moment when it first appeared and until the moment when it began to have a solid basis across Asia.
Buddhism began by Buddha himself preaching his enlightenment message on his view on the world and how humans should, and the best way to, succeed in the world. However in the 6th century BCE the government had fallen and there was period of instability until the Sui Dynasty took over, during this period was when Buddhism began to majorly spread. After the fall of the Han dynasty, there were many responses to the spread of Buddhism throughout China between the 6th century BCE and 570 CE. Buddhism was accepted, tolerated, and rejected. Buddhism was accepted because it was an acceptable path to enlightenment. It was tolerated by those who would not be affected by its popularity and power. Those who rejected it were people whose wealth
There are multiple reasons why and how Buddhism spread in China. I feel that factors like, religion, politics, and social, played a major part in spreading Buddhism throughout China. The factors mentioned are usually a contributor in global changes and has definitely played its part in China’s adapting a new belief. Of course there were other reasons, like economic, that caused the people of China to gravitate to the Buddhist ways. People reconsidering their faith, due to many of life downfalls or the weight of participants in something that’s new, gained recognition and spread due to popular demand. During the political chaos from 221 to 589 that came with the collapse of the Han Dynasty, Buddhism started to become a strong existence in
Buddhism is a religous and philosophy belief propagated by the Buddha, a teacher from India who lived between the 4th and 6th century before the common era. The teachings of the Buddha whose real name was Siddharwa spread through Asia and to the West after his death as it was practised by the followers.
“Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are, it solely relies on what you think”, The Buddha. Buddhism is a message of deep enlightenment for the spiritual mind set of breaking the chain of reincarnation to achieve nirvana. Buddhism was founded by a man named Siddhartha Gautama who lived five hundred years ago. He spawned a spiritual enlightenment for the mind which we call Buddhism and eventually it came to the United States. Buddha, spreading his teachings of the four noble truths throughout Asia and many parts of the world that would someday enlighten the minds of the American culture and help lead people to a higher state of enlightenment. Over many hundreds of years Buddhism has transformed into many sects throughout history and is becoming one of the many fastest growing religion in America. (Pew, 31-33).
Buddhism dates back to Nepal, India in the 5th century BCE. The early followers of Buddhism were a community of monks called the sangha. The literal meaning of Buddhism is “those who follow the teachings of Buddha.” The teachings of the Buddha are often referred to as the “dharma”, which also means cosmic law and order.
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. It is the oldest and fourth largest religion in the world with around 500 million followers. Buddhism focuses on teaching people how to come to terms with and end the suffering of themselves and others by cutting out greed, hatred, and ignorance from their lives. Unlike most major world religions, Buddhism does not revolve around worshiping a god or divine creator, instead the focus of Buddhism is living one 's best life and transforming the lives of others. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach Enlightenment and upon death achieve Nirvana, the liberation of pain and suffering. For Buddhists, it is the individual’s responsibility to find his or her own path to enlightenment; the principles of Buddhism are seen more as guidelines than rules.
Buddhism is a tradition that evolved from the original teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha or Enlightened One. Buddha was born a Hindu in about 563 B.C.E. He was of aristocratic birth and grew up in relative luxury and the security of the ruling class of that period. At age twenty-nine, he tired of his comfortable existence and renounced the world and went in search of wisdom. Tradition states that he attained enlightenment on a full moon day in May - under a fig tree.
According to dictionary.com, Buddhism is defined as a religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeast Asia, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. While do research on the religion of Buddhism i found out alot of information that i didn’t know before. We may all know the Buddha named Siddhartha Gautama, but what we may not know is that he came from a wealthy family. Siddhartha Gautama grew up in a wealthy family, he decided to follow a path of self-denial. He attempted many different rituals
Buddhism is a philosophy, a moral code, and, for some a religious faith which originated in 530 BC in India. Buddhism evolved as a modification of Hinduism when Hinduism started to become very complicated due to too many sacrifices in the name of God. Today, an estimated 300 million people follow one of the many varieties of Buddhism.
Buddhism originated from India, and was founded by Prince Siddharta Gautama, who later came to be known as Buddha, or the enlightened one. Born of a princely caste, he later renounced his comfortable life in search for nirvana. In order to do that, he joined a band of ascetic, who was a group of Hindu priests.