137-531: Theravāda ( / ˌ t ɛr ə ˈ v ɑː ð ə / ; lit. 'School of the Elders') is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism 's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins ( anglicized from Pali theravādī ), have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha 's teaching or Dhamma in the Pāli Canon for over two millennia. The Pāli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in
274-622: A Middle Way between extremes such as asceticism or sensual indulgence. Teaching that dukkha arises alongside attachment or clinging , the Buddha advised meditation practices and ethical precepts rooted in non-harming . Widely observed teachings include the Four Noble Truths , the Noble Eightfold Path , and the doctrines of dependent origination , karma , and the three marks of existence . Other commonly observed elements include
411-535: A classical Indian language , Pāli , which serves as the school's sacred language and lingua franca . In contrast to Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna , Theravāda tends to be conservative in matters of doctrine ( pariyatti ) and monastic discipline ( vinaya ). One element of this conservatism is the fact that Theravāda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared c. 1st century BCE onwards). Consequently, Theravāda generally does not recognize
548-626: A body of teachings incorporating esoteric tantric techniques, may be viewed as a separate branch or tradition within Mahāyāna. The Theravāda branch has a widespread following in Sri Lanka as well as in Southeast Asia, namely Myanmar , Thailand , Laos , and Cambodia . The Mahāyāna branch—which includes the East Asian traditions of Tiantai , Chan , Pure Land , Zen , Nichiren , and Tendai
685-535: A period of Buddhist missionary activity. After being orally transmitted (as was the custom for religious texts in those days) for some centuries, the texts were finally committed to writing in the 1st century BCE. Theravāda is one of the first Buddhist schools to commit its Tipiṭaka to writing. The recension of the Tipiṭaka which survives today is that of the Sri Lankan Mahavihara sect. The oldest manuscripts of
822-525: A phenomenon known as Greco-Buddhism . An example of this is evidenced in Chinese and Pali Buddhist records, such as Milindapanha and the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhāra . The Milindapanha describes a conversation between a Buddhist monk and the 2nd-century BCE Greek king Menander , after which Menander abdicates and himself goes into monastic life in the pursuit of nirvana. Some scholars have questioned
959-572: A self ( attā ) and conditioned. This is spelled out in the Patisambhidhamagga , which states that dhammas are empty of svabhava ( sabhavena suññam ). According to Ronkin, the canonical Pāli Abhidhamma remains pragmatic and psychological, and "does not take much interest in ontology " in contrast with the Sarvastivada tradition. Paul Williams also notes that the Abhidhamma remains focused on
1096-553: Is nibbana . The 81 conditioned dhammas are divided into three broad categories: consciousness ( citta ), associated mentality ( cetasika ) and materiality, or physical phenomena ( rupa ). Since no dhamma exists independently, every single dhamma of consciousness, known as a citta , arises associated ( sampayutta ) with at least seven mental factors ( cetasikas ) . In Abhidhamma, all awareness events are thus seen as being characterized by intentionality and never exist in isolation. Much of Abhidhamma philosophy deals with categorizing
1233-536: Is "only for the purposes of description" that they are postulated. Noa Ronkin defines dhammas as "the constituents of sentient experience; the irreducible 'building blocks' that make up one's world, albeit they are not static mental contents and certainly not substances." Thus, while in Theravāda Abhidhamma, dhammas are the ultimate constituents of experience, they are not seen as substances , essences or independent particulars, since they are empty ( suñña ) of
1370-657: Is a far greater volume of Theravāda literature in vernacular languages than in Pāli." An important genre of Theravādin literature, in both Pāli and vernacular languages, are the Jataka tales , stories of the Buddha's past lives. They are very popular among all classes and are rendered in a wide variety of media formats, from cartoons to high literature. The Vessantara Jātaka is one of the most popular of these. Most Theravāda Buddhists generally consider Mahāyāna Buddhist scriptures to be apocryphal , meaning that they are not authentic words of
1507-590: Is also the author of a very important compendium of Theravāda doctrine, the Visuddhimagga . Other figures like Dhammapala and Buddhadatta also wrote Theravāda commentaries and other works in Pali during the time of Buddhaghosa. While these texts do not have the same scriptural authority in Theravāda as the Tipiṭaka, they remain influential works for the exegesis of the Tipiṭaka. An important genre of Theravādin literature
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#17330853810331644-473: Is attained in four stages of awakening ( bodhi ): In Theravāda Buddhism, a Buddha is a sentient being who has discovered the path out of samsara by themselves, has reached Nibbana and then makes the path available to others by teaching (known as "turning the wheel of the Dhamma"). A Buddha is also believed to have extraordinary powers and abilities ( abhiññā ), such as the ability to read minds and fly through
1781-521: Is believed to have originally been a branch of the sacred fig tree at Bodh Gaya (Bihar, India), under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. These vast networks of ancient temples and monasteries now cover over 100 square kilometers (40 sq mi) of area of the city today. The city was mostly destroyed and largely deserted after 993 CE , with the Chola invasion from South India. Although several attempts were made by later Sinhalese kings to return
1918-614: Is predominantly practised in Nepal , Bhutan , China , Malaysia , Vietnam , Taiwan , Korea , and Japan . Tibetan Buddhism , a form of Vajrayāna , is practised in the Himalayan states as well as in Mongolia and Russian Kalmykia . Japanese Shingon also preserves the Vajrayana tradition as transmitted to China . Historically, until the early 2nd millennium , Buddhism was widely practiced in
2055-400: Is scholarly disagreement on whether insight was seen as liberating in early Buddhism or whether it was a later addition to the practice of the four jhānas . Scholars such as Bronkhorst also think that the four noble truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight". According to Vetter, the description of
2192-459: Is shorter handbooks and summaries, which serve as introductions and study guides for the larger commentaries. Two of the more influential summaries are Sariputta Thera's Pālimuttakavinayavinicchayasaṅgaha, a summary of Buddhaghosa's Vinaya commentary and Anuruddha's Abhidhammaṭṭhasaṅgaha (a "Manual of Abhidhamma"). Throughout the history of Theravāda, Theravāda monks also produced other works of Pāli literature such as historical chronicles (like
2329-640: Is shown by a large increase in epigraphic and manuscript evidence in this period. However, it still remained a minority in comparison to other Buddhist schools. Mahāyāna Buddhist institutions continued to grow in influence during the following centuries, with large monastic university complexes such as Nalanda (established by the 5th-century CE Gupta emperor, Kumaragupta I ) and Vikramashila (established under Dharmapala c. 783 to 820) becoming quite powerful and influential. During this period of Late Mahāyāna, four major types of thought developed: Mādhyamaka, Yogācāra, Buddha-nature ( Tathāgatagarbha ), and
2466-657: Is still considered a sacred spot; and is a place of pilgrimage." Various excavations have taken place at the site, beginning in 1884–86 by Stephen Montagu Burrows . Anuradhapura became the centre of administration of the North Central Province and with the building of the Northern Railway line , Anuradhapura became an important railway town with the opening of the Anuradhapura railway station in 1904. The Government of Ceylon tasked Oliver Weerasinghe to develop
2603-479: Is the capital city of North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District . The city lies 205 kilometers (127 mi) north of the current capital of Colombo in the North Central Province, on the banks of the historic Malwathu Oya . The city is now a World Heritage Site famous for its well-preserved ruins of the ancient Sinhalese civilisation . While Mahāvaṃsa places the founding of
2740-419: Is the language of realism that one encounters. The whole Buddhist practical doctrine and discipline, which has the attainment of Nibbana as its final goal, is based on the recognition of the material world and the conscious living beings living therein. The Theravāda Abhidhamma holds that there is a total of 82 possible types of dhammas, 81 of these are conditioned ( sankhata ), while one is unconditioned, which
2877-442: Is traced to the minister named 'Anuradha' in the court of Prince Vijaya (543–505 BCE ), the first Sinhalese king of the island. According to the legends related to Vijaya, his minister named 'Anuradha' established the settlement that later became Anuradhapura. However, the finding of earlier settlements in the citadel area of the old city dating back to until 10 century BCE would doubt this claim. The name 'Anuradhapura' means
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#17330853810333014-530: The Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa ), hagiographies , poetry, Pāli grammars, and " sub-commentaries " (that is, commentaries on the commentaries). While Pāli texts are symbolically and ritually important for many Theravādins, most people are likely to access Buddhist teachings through vernacular literature, oral teachings, sermons, art and performance as well as films and Internet media. According to Kate Crosby, "there
3151-717: The Abhayagiri and Jetavana . While the Abhayagiri sect became known for the syncretic study of Mahayana and Vajrayana texts, as well as the Theravāda canon, the Mahāvihāra tradition did not accept these new scriptures. Instead, Mahāvihāra scholars like Buddhaghosa focused on the exegesis of the Pali scriptures and on the Abhidhamma . These Theravāda sub-sects often came into conflict with each other over royal patronage. The reign of Parākramabāhu I (1153–1186) saw an extensive reform of
3288-656: The Dharma of the Buddha , fójiào in Chinese, bukkyō in Japanese, nang pa sangs rgyas pa'i chos in Tibetan, buddhadharma in Sanskrit, buddhaśāsana in Pali. Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( Sinhala : අනුරාධපුරය , romanized: Anurādhapuraya ; Tamil : அனுராதபுரம் , romanized: Aṉurātapuram ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka . It
3425-809: The Dharmaguptaka school. The Islamic conquest of the Iranian Plateau in the 7th-century, followed by the Muslim conquests of Afghanistan and the later establishment of the Ghaznavid kingdom with Islam as the state religion in Central Asia between the 10th- and 12th-century led to the decline and disappearance of Buddhism from most of these regions. The origins of Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") Buddhism are not well understood and there are various competing theories about how and where this movement arose. Theories include
3562-458: The Jain cosmology . This entire cyclical multiverse of constant birth and death is called samsara . Outside of this system of samsara is nibbana (lit. "vanishing, quenching, blowing out"), a deathless ( amata ) and transcendent reality, which is a total and final release ( vimutti ) from all suffering ( dukkha ) and rebirth. According to Theravāda doctrine, release from suffering (i.e. nibbana )
3699-673: The Milindapanha version, expressing doubts whether Menander was Buddhist or just favourably disposed to Buddhist monks. The Kushan empire (30–375 CE) came to control the Silk Road trade through Central and South Asia, which brought them to interact with Gandharan Buddhism and the Buddhist institutions of these regions. The Kushans patronised Buddhism throughout their lands, and many Buddhist centres were built or renovated (the Sarvastivada school
3836-465: The Pali canon . The history of Indian Buddhism may be divided into five periods: Early Buddhism (occasionally called pre-sectarian Buddhism ), Nikaya Buddhism or Sectarian Buddhism (the period of the early Buddhist schools), Early Mahayana Buddhism , Late Mahayana, and the era of Vajrayana or the "Tantric Age". According to Lambert Schmithausen Pre-sectarian Buddhism is "the canonical period prior to
3973-585: The Philippines , Indonesia , Malaysia , and Taiwan . The diaspora of all of these groups, as well as converts around the world, also embrace and practice Theravāda Buddhism. During the modern era, new developments have included Buddhist modernism , the Vipassana movement which reinvigorated Theravāda meditation practice, the growth of the Thai Forest Tradition which reemphasized forest monasticism and
4110-535: The Sinhala Kingdom of Rajarata , following the kingdoms of Tambapanni and Upatissa Nuwara . Anuradhapura was also the centre of Theravada Buddhism for many centuries and has been a major Buddhist pilgrimage site with ruins of many ancient Buddhist temples, including the famous Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya and the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi , the oldest still-living, documented, planted tree in the world and that
4247-659: The Tarim Basin . The first documented Buddhist texts translated into Chinese are those of the Parthian An Shigao (148–180 CE). The first known Mahāyāna scriptural texts are translations into Chinese by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema in Luoyang , between 178 and 189 CE. From China, Buddhism was introduced into its neighbours Korea (4th century), Japan (6th–7th centuries), and Vietnam ( c. 1st –2nd centuries). During
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4384-555: The Theravada tradition had not established any deities, but were epistemologically cautious rather than directly atheist . Later Buddhist traditions were more influenced by the critique of deities within Hinduism and therefore more committed to a strongly atheist stance. These developments were historic and epistemological as documented in verses from Śāntideva 's Bodhicaryāvatāra , and supplemented by reference to suttas and jātakas from
4521-654: The Triple Gem , the taking of monastic vows , and the cultivation of perfections ( pāramitā ). The Buddhist canon is vast, with many different textual collections in different languages (such as Sanskrit , Pali , Tibetan , and Chinese ). Buddhist schools vary in their interpretation of the paths to liberation ( mārga ) as well as the relative importance and "canonicity" assigned to various Buddhist texts , and their specific teachings and practices. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravāda ( lit. ' School of
4658-574: The Wayback Machine - Census 2001 Anuradhapura has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen As ). Anuradhapura is served by railway and highways. The Northern railway line connects Anuradhapura with Colombo , Jaffna , and Kankesanthurai . Anuradhapura railway station is the city's rail gateway, with major services, such as the Yal Devi , Uttara Devi stopping there. There are a number of bus routes passing through Anuradhapura from Colombo to
4795-581: The epistemological tradition of Dignaga and Dharmakirti . According to Dan Lusthaus , Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra have a great deal in common, and the commonality stems from early Buddhism. During the Gupta period (4th–6th centuries) and the empire of Harṣavardana ( c. 590 –647 CE), Buddhism continued to be influential in India, and large Buddhist learning institutions such as Nalanda and Valabahi Universities were at their peak. Buddhism also flourished under
4932-512: The five aggregates or khandha and the eighteen elements of cognition or dhatus . Theravāda traditionally promotes itself as the Vibhajjavāda "teaching of analysis" and as the heirs to the Buddha's analytical method. Expanding this model, Theravāda Abhidhamma scholasticism concerned itself with analyzing " ultimate truth " ( paramattha-sacca ) which it sees as being composed of all possible dhammas and their relationships. The central theory of
5069-584: The Śramaṇa traditions. New ideas developed both in the Vedic tradition in the form of the Upanishads, and outside of the Vedic tradition through the Śramaṇa movements. The term Śramaṇa refers to several Indian religious movements parallel to but separate from the historical Vedic religion , including Buddhism, Jainism and others such as Ājīvika . Several Śramaṇa movements are known to have existed in India before
5206-490: The 'city of Anuradha' (Anuradha+pura), where "pura" stand for 'city' in Sinhala , Sanskrit , Pali , and Tamil . However, before Anuradhapura was considered a city, it was called the 'Anuradhagrama,' meaning the 'village of Anuradha,' from "Anuradha" and "grama". This older name was also mentioned in the work of ancient Greek and Roman scholars such as Strabo and Claudius Ptolemy . In Ptolemy's world map from 2 century CE ,
5343-504: The 1200s. The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China is most commonly thought to have started in the late 2nd or the 1st century CE, though the literary sources are all open to question. The first documented translation efforts by foreign Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory of
5480-517: The 15th and 16th centuries, Theravāda also became established as the state religion in Cambodia and Laos. In Cambodia, numerous Hindu and Mahāyāna temples, most famously Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom , were transformed into Theravādin monasteries. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Theravāda Buddhists came into direct contact with western ideologies, religions and modern science. The various responses to this encounter have been called " Buddhist modernism ". In
5617-417: The 1870s. The contemporary city, much of which was moved during the mid-20th century to preserve the site of the ancient capital, is a major road junction of northern Sri Lanka and lies along a railway line. The city is the headquarters of Sri Lanka's archeological survey, and tourism is a significant factor in its economy. According to historical records such as Mahavamsa , the origin of the name Anuradhapura
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5754-560: The 5th to 6th century. Before the Theravāda tradition became the dominant religion in Southeast Asia, Mahāyāna, Vajrayana and Hinduism were also prominent. Starting at around the 11th century, Sinhalese Theravāda monks and Southeast Asian elites led a widespread conversion of most of mainland Southeast Asia to the Theravādin Mahavihara school. The patronage of monarchs such as the Burmese king Anawrahta (Pali: Aniruddha, 1044–1077) and
5891-556: The 6th century BCE (pre-Buddha, pre- Mahavira ), and these influenced both the āstika and nāstika traditions of Indian philosophy . According to Martin Wilshire, the Śramaṇa tradition evolved in India over two phases, namely Paccekabuddha and Savaka phases, the former being the tradition of individual ascetic and the latter of disciples, and that Buddhism and Jainism ultimately emerged from these. Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical ascetic groups shared and used several similar ideas, but
6028-543: The Abhidhamma is thus known as the " dhamma theory ". "Dhamma" has been translated as "factors" (Collett Cox), "psychic characteristics" (Bronkhorst), "psycho-physical events" (Noa Ronkin) and "phenomena" ( Nyanaponika Thera ). According to the Sri Lankan scholar Y. Karunadasa , a dhammas ("principles" or "elements") are "those items that result when the process of analysis is taken to its ultimate limits". However, this does not mean that they have an independent existence, for it
6165-591: The Anuradhapura Preservation Plan in 1949, aimed at establishing a new planned town east of the existing Anuradhapura town, thereby establishing the Sacred city of Anuradhapura, with the aim of preserving the ancient city. The "New Town" had many of the government offices and law courts moved into it. The Anuradhapura Preservation Board was established with this aim. Nissanka Wijeyeratne was Government Agent of Anuradhapura District from 1958 to 1962. He
6302-664: The Bhairava Vidyapitha tantras. Ronald M. Davidson meanwhile, argues that Sanderson's claims for direct influence from Shaiva Vidyapitha texts are problematic because "the chronology of the Vidyapitha tantras is by no means so well established" and that the Shaiva tradition also appropriated non-Hindu deities, texts and traditions. Thus while "there can be no question that the Buddhist tantras were heavily influenced by Kapalika and other Saiva movements" argues Davidson, "the influence
6439-521: The British colonies of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) and Burma (Myanmar), Buddhist institutions lost their traditional role as the prime providers of education (a role that was often filled by Christian schools). In response to this, Buddhist organizations were founded which sought to preserve Buddhist scholarship and provide a Buddhist education. Anagarika Dhammapala , Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera , Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera and Henry Steel Olcott (one of
6576-557: The Buddha. Consequently, Theravādin generally does not recognize the existence of many Buddhas and bodhisattvas believed by the Mahāyāna school, such as Amitābha and Vairocana , because they are not found in the canonical scriptures. The core of Theravāda Buddhist doctrine is contained in the Pāli Canon, the only complete collection of Early Buddhist Texts surviving in a classical Indic language . These basic Buddhist ideas are shared by
6713-484: The Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way". In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path. According to numerous Buddhist scriptures, soon after the parinirvāṇa (from Sanskrit: "highest extinguishment") of Gautama Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held to collectively recite the teachings to ensure that no errors occurred in oral transmission. Many modern scholars question
6850-504: The Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907), Chinese Esoteric Buddhism was introduced from India and Chan Buddhism (Zen) became a major religion. Chan continued to grow in the Song dynasty (960–1279) and it was during this era that it strongly influenced Korean Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhism also became popular during this period and was often practised together with Chan. It
6987-599: The Elders ' ) and Mahāyāna ( lit. ' Great Vehicle ' ). The Theravada tradition emphasizes the attainment of nirvāṇa ( lit. ' extinguishing ' ) as a means of transcending the individual self and ending the cycle of death and rebirth ( saṃsāra ), while the Mahayana tradition emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal , in which one works for the liberation of all sentient beings. Additionally, Vajrayāna ( lit. ' Indestructible Vehicle ' ),
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#17330853810337124-711: The Indian subcontinent before declining there ; it also had a foothold to some extent elsewhere in Asia, namely Afghanistan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , and Tajikistan . The names Buddha Dharma and Bauddha Dharma come from Sanskrit : बुद्ध धर्म and बौद्ध धर्म respectively ("doctrine of the Enlightened One" and "doctrine of Buddhists"). The term Dharmavinaya comes from Sanskrit: धर्मविनय , literally meaning "doctrines [and] disciplines". The Buddha ("the Awakened One")
7261-468: The Pali Nikayas, then we should be compelled to conclude that Buddhism is realistic. There is no explicit denial anywhere of the external world. Nor is there any positive evidence to show that the world is mind-made or simply a projection of subjective thoughts. That Buddhism recognizes the extra-mental existence of matter and, the external world is clearly suggested by the texts. Throughout the discourses it
7398-404: The Pāli Tipiṭaka has been transmitted with a high degree of accuracy for well over 1,500 years." There are numerous editions of the Tipiṭaka, some of the major modern editions include the Pali Text Society edition (published in Roman script), the Burmese Sixth Council edition (in Burmese script , 1954–56) and the Thai Tipiṭaka edited and published in Thai script after the council held during
7535-431: The Sangha (the community of monks and nuns)." The language of the Tipiṭaka, Pāli , is a middle-Indic language which is the main religious and scholarly language in Theravāda. This language may have evolved out of various Indian dialects, and is related to, but not the same as, the ancient language of Magadha . An early form of the Tipiṭaka may have been transmitted to Sri Lanka during the reign of Ashoka , which saw
7672-455: The Sri Lankan sangha after years of warfare on the island. Parākramabāhu created a single unified sangha which came to be dominated by the Mahāvihāra sect. Epigraphical evidence has established that Theravāda Buddhism became a dominant religion in the Southeast Asian kingdoms of Sri Ksetra and Dvaravati from about the 5th century CE onwards. The oldest surviving Buddhist texts in the Pāli language are gold plates found at Sri Ksetra dated circa
7809-467: The Thai king Ram Khamhaeng ( floruit . late 13th century) was instrumental in the rise of Theravāda Buddhism as the predominant religion of Burma and Thailand. Burmese and Thai kings saw themselves as Dhamma Kings and as protectors of the Theravāda faith. They promoted the building of new temples, patronized scholarship, monastic ordinations and missionary works as well as attempted to eliminate certain non-Buddhist practices like animal sacrifices. During
7946-416: The Theravada Majjhima Nikaya and Sarvastivada Madhyama Agama contain mostly the same major doctrines. Richard Salomon , in his study of the Gandharan texts (which are the earliest manuscripts containing early discourses), has confirmed that their teachings are "consistent with non-Mahayana Buddhism, which survives today in the Theravada school of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, but which in ancient times
8083-412: The Theravāda school. There are also some texts which were late additions that are included in the fifth Nikaya, the Khuddaka Nikāya ('Minor Collection'), such as the Paṭisambhidāmagga (possibly c. 3rd to 1st century BCE) and the Buddhavaṃsa (c. 1st and 2nd century BCE). The main parts of the Sutta Pitaka and some portions of the Vinaya show considerable overlap in content with the Agamas ,
8220-437: The Third Buddhist council when elder Moggaliputta-Tissa is said to have compiled the Kathavatthu , an important work which lays out the Vibhajjavāda doctrinal position. Aided by the patronage of Mauryan kings like Ashoka , this school spread throughout India and reached Sri Lanka through the efforts of missionary monks like Mahinda . In Sri Lanka, it became known as the Tambapaṇṇiya (and later as Mahāvihāravāsins) which
8357-446: The Tipiṭaka from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia date to the 15th Century, and they are incomplete. Complete manuscripts of the four Nikayas are only available from the 17th Century onwards. However, fragments of the Tipiṭaka have been found in inscriptions from Southeast Asia, the earliest of which have been dated to the 3rd or 4th century. According to Alexander Wynne, "they agree almost exactly with extant Pāli manuscripts. This means that
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#17330853810338494-422: The Vinaya (monastic rule), and this caused a split with the conservatives who rejected this change, they were called Mahāsāṃghikas . While most scholars accept that this happened at some point, there is no agreement on the dating, especially if it dates to before or after the reign of Ashoka. Buddhism may have spread only slowly throughout India until the time of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (304–232 BCE), who
8631-406: The age of 80 in Kushinagar , India. The Buddha's teachings were propagated by his followers, which in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE became various Buddhist schools of thought , each with its own basket of texts containing different interpretations and authentic teachings of the Buddha; these over time evolved into many traditions of which the more well known and widespread in
8768-476: The air. Buddhism Buddhism ( / ˈ b ʊ d ɪ z əm / BUUD -ih-zəm , US also / ˈ b uː d -/ BOOD - ), also known as Buddha Dharma , is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha , a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE . It is the world's fourth-largest religion , with over 520 million followers, known as Buddhists , who comprise seven percent of
8905-690: The ancient religion Jainism , is also claimed to be ksatriya by his early followers. ) According to early texts such as the Pali Ariyapariyesanā-sutta ("The discourse on the noble quest", MN 26) and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204, Gautama was moved by the suffering ( dukkha ) of life and death, and its endless repetition due to rebirth . He thus set out on a quest to find liberation from suffering (also known as " nirvana "). Early texts and biographies state that Gautama first studied under two teachers of meditation, namely Āḷāra Kālāma (Sanskrit: Arada Kalama) and Uddaka Ramaputta (Sanskrit: Udraka Ramaputra), learning meditation and philosophy, particularly
9042-435: The canon, mainly the Abhidhamma and some parts of the Vinaya, contain some distinctive elements and teachings which are unique to the Theravāda school and often differ from the Abhidharmas or Vinayas of other early Buddhist schools . For example, while the Theravāda Vinaya contains a total of 227 monastic rules for bhikkhus , the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (used in East Asian Buddhism ) has a total of 253 rules for bhikkhus (though
9179-401: The capital to Anuradhapura, it was not reestablished as a major population centre of the island until the British colonial era in the 19th century CE . Despite its political decline, Anuradhapura remained a vital pilgrimage site for Buddhists throughout the medieval period and continues to be an important spiritual destination to this day. The revival of the current city began in earnest in
9316-450: The citadel area of the old city puts the date of the human settlement as far back as the 10th century BC. According to these excavations, protohistoric Iron Age of the city spans from 900 - 600 BCE , with the appearance of iron technology, pottery, the horse, domestic cattle and paddy cultivation. In the time period 700-600 BCE, the settlement in Anuradhapura had grown over an area of at least 50 ha. Irrigable and fertile land surround
9453-413: The city in 437 BCE , the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement on the island for almost three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Asia. It is the cradle of the Hydraulic Sri Lankan civilisation, Theravada Buddhism, and the longest-serving ancient capital of Sri Lanka that has survived for 1500 years. Moreover, It was the first capital of
9590-400: The city with gates and quarters for traders. The city at the time covered an area of one square kilometer, making it one of the largest cities on the continent at the time. The city was largely deserted after the invasion by the Chola Tamil Hindu king Rajaraja 1 in 993 CE and his son Rajendra 1 in 1014 CE . According to Culavamsa (6th century CE -18th century CE ), Anuradhapura
9727-596: The city, strategically situated with major ports northwest and northeast of the island. The city also benefited from dense jungle surroundings, providing a natural defense from invaders. Excavation at Anuradhapura has unearthed Painted Gray Ware (PGW) pottery from the 'Basal early historic' period of Anuradhapura (600 BC-500 BCE) showing connections with North India (during vedic period ). Details of city's development in this early historic period, spanning from 500 to 250 BCE can be found in Sinhalese Chronicles. According to these records, King Pandukabhaya formally planned
9864-563: The colonial era), the religion became much more centralized, bureaucratized and controlled by the state after a series of reforms promoted by Thai kings of the Chakri dynasty . King Mongkut (r. 1851–1868) and his successor Chulalongkorn (1868–1910) were especially involved in centralizing sangha reforms. Under these kings, the sangha was organized into a hierarchical bureaucracy led by the Sangha Council of Elders ( Pali : Mahāthera Samāgama ),
10001-467: The development of different schools with their different positions". The early Buddhist Texts include the four principal Pali Nikāyas (and their parallel Agamas found in the Chinese canon) together with the main body of monastic rules, which survive in the various versions of the patimokkha . However, these texts were revised over time, and it is unclear what constitutes the earliest layer of Buddhist teachings. One method to obtain information on
10138-403: The different consciousnesses and their accompanying mental factors as well as their conditioned relationships ( paccaya ). The Pāli Tipiṭaka outlines a hierarchical cosmological system with various planes existence ( bhava ) into which sentient beings may be reborn depending on their past actions. Good actions lead one to the higher realms, bad actions lead to the lower realms. However, even for
10275-415: The doctrinal position that the canonical Abhidhamma Pitaka was actually taught by the Buddha himself. Modern scholarship in contrast, has generally held that the Abhidhamma texts date from the 3rd century BCE onwards. However some scholars, such as Frauwallner , also hold that the early Abhidhamma texts developed out of exegetical and catechetical work which made use of doctrinal lists which can be seen in
10412-618: The earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to include the first versions of the Prajnaparamita series, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya , which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India. There is no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of Buddhism, with a separate monastic code (Vinaya), but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals, and later doctrines, for bodhisattvas. Records written by Chinese monks visiting India indicate that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks could be found in
10549-587: The early texts, which has led most scholars to conclude that Gautama Buddha must have taught something similar to the Four Noble Truths , the Noble Eightfold Path , Nirvana , the three marks of existence , the five aggregates , dependent origination , karma and rebirth . According to N. Ross Reat, all of these doctrines are shared by the Theravada Pali texts and the Mahasamghika school's Śālistamba Sūtra . A recent study by Bhikkhu Analayo concludes that
10686-663: The end of the communist regime the Cambodian Sangha was re-established by monks who had returned from exile. In contrast, communist rule in Laos was less destructive since the Pathet Lao sought to make use of the sangha for political ends by imposing direct state control. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the official attitudes toward Buddhism began to liberalise in Laos and there was a resurgence of traditional Buddhist activities such as merit-making and doctrinal study. The modern era also saw
10823-500: The ending of the mental defilements ( asavas ), the ending of suffering, and the end of rebirth in saṃsāra . This event also brought certainty about the Middle Way as the right path of spiritual practice to end suffering. As a fully enlightened Buddha , he attracted followers and founded a Sangha (monastic order). He spent the rest of his life teaching the Dharma he had discovered, and then died, achieving " final nirvana ", at
10960-520: The existence of many Buddhas and bodhisattvas believed by the Mahāyāna school, such as Amitābha and Vairocana , because they are not found in the canonical scriptures. Modern Theravāda derives from Sri Lankan Branch of the Vibhajyavada tradition, which is in turn a sect of the Indian Sthavira nikāya . This tradition began to establish itself in Sri Lanka from the 3rd century BCE onwards. It
11097-699: The first American western converts to Buddhism) were some of the main figures of the Sri Lankan Buddhist revival. Two new monastic orders were formed in the 19th century, the Amarapura Nikāya and the Rāmañña Nikāya . In Burma, an influential modernist figure was king Mindon Min (1808–1878), known for his patronage of the Fifth Buddhist council (1871) and the Tripiṭaka tablets at Kuthodaw Pagoda (still
11234-626: The global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a śramaṇa movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of development which leads to awakening and full liberation from dukkha ( lit. ' suffering or unease ' ). He regarded this path as
11371-431: The gods ( devas ) in the higher realms like Indra , there is still death, loss and suffering. The main categories of the planes of existence are: These various planes of existence can be found in countless world systems ( loka-dhatu ), which are born, expand, contract and are destroyed in a cyclical nature across vast expanses of time (measures in kappas). This cosmology is similar to other ancient Indian systems, such as
11508-553: The highest body of the Thai sangha. Mongkut also led the creation of a new monastic order, the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, which kept a stricter monastic discipline than the rest of the Thai sangha (this included not using money, not storing up food and not taking milk in the evening). The Dhammayuttika movement was characterized by an emphasis on the original Pali Canon and a rejection of Thai folk beliefs which were seen as irrational. Under
11645-493: The historicity of this event. However, Richard Gombrich states that the monastic assembly recitations of the Buddha's teaching likely began during Buddha's lifetime, and they served a similar role of codifying the teachings. The so called Second Buddhist council resulted in the first schism in the Sangha . Modern scholars believe that this was probably caused when a group of reformists called Sthaviras ("elders") sought to modify
11782-434: The idea that it began as various groups venerating certain texts or that it arose as a strict forest ascetic movement. The first Mahāyāna works were written sometime between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts, mainly those of Lokakṣema . (2nd century CE). Some scholars have traditionally considered
11919-553: The initial settlement at the site of the city can be attributed to the second global cycle of historical evolution with the generalised diffusion of iron technology in the Old World through the first millennium BCE , culminating in the emergence of many historical civilizations. The history of Anuradhapura then extends from its traditional founding in the recorded history in the fourth century BCE and its subsequent laying-out by Devanampiya Tissa (250–210 BCE ) to its abandonment by
12056-468: The last of the Anuradhapura kings at the end of the tenth century CE , its brief reoccupation in the eleventh century and the restoration of some of its major monuments, in the late 13th century CE by Vijayabahu IV (1267–1270 CE ). Even though, historical chronicle Mahāvaṃsa (5th century CE ) place founding of the city in the 5th century BC, the archaeological data from the excavation of
12193-550: The leadership of Prince Wachirayan Warorot , a new education and examination system was introduced for Thai monks. The 20th century also saw the growth of "forest traditions" which focused on forest living and strict monastic discipline. The main forest movements of this era are the Sri Lankan Forest Tradition and the Thai Forest Tradition , founded by Ajahn Mun (1870–1949) and his students. Theravāda Buddhism in Cambodia and Laos went through similar experiences in
12330-616: The local population remained aware of the ruins. In Robert Knox 's 1681 An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon , he wrote: "At this City of Anurodgburro is a Watch kept, beyond which are no more people that yield obedience to the King of Kandy". In 1821, John Davy wrote that: "Anooradapoora, so long the capital of Ceylon, is now a small mean village, in the midst of a desert. A large tank, numerous stone pillars, two or three immense tumuli, (probably old dagobahs,) are its principal remains. It
12467-506: The main scriptures of the Theravāda, was committed to writing in the first century BCE. Throughout the history of ancient and medieval Sri Lanka, Theravāda was the main religion of the Sinhalese people and its temples and monasteries were patronized by the Sri Lankan kings , who saw themselves as the protectors of the religion. Over time, two other sects split off from the Mahāvihāra tradition,
12604-610: The maintenance of a political state during succession and wars to resist invasion. During the Middle Ages, Buddhism slowly declined in India, while it vanished from Persia and Central Asia as Islam became the state religion. The Theravada school arrived in Sri Lanka sometime in the 3rd century BCE. Sri Lanka became a base for its later spread to Southeast Asia after the 5th century CE ( Myanmar , Malaysia , Indonesia , Thailand , Cambodia and coastal Vietnam ). Theravada Buddhism
12741-467: The material in the earlier portions is not specifically "Theravādan", but the collection of teachings that this school's adherents preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of teachings. According to Peter Harvey , while the Theravādans may have added texts to their Tipiṭaka (such as the Abhidhamma texts and so on), they generally did not tamper with the earlier material. The historically later parts of
12878-412: The meditative attainment of "the sphere of nothingness" from the former, and "the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception" from the latter. Finding these teachings to be insufficient to attain his goal, he turned to the practice of severe asceticism , which included a strict fasting regime and various forms of breath control . This too fell short of attaining his goal, and then he turned to
13015-573: The meditative practice of dhyana . He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree—now called the Bodhi Tree —in the town of Bodh Gaya and attained "Awakening" ( Bodhi ). According to various early texts like the Mahāsaccaka-sutta, and the Samaññaphala Sutta , on awakening, the Buddha gained insight into the workings of karma and his former lives, as well as achieving
13152-478: The modern era are Theravada , Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religious thought of Iron Age India around the middle of the first millennium BCE. This was a period of great intellectual ferment and socio-cultural change known as the "Second urbanisation" , marked by the growth of towns and trade, the composition of the Upanishads and the historical emergence of
13289-617: The modern era. Both had to endure French colonialism, destructive civil wars and oppressive communist governments. Under French Rule , French indologists of the École française d'Extrême-Orient became involved in the reform of Buddhism, setting up institutions for the training of Cambodian and Lao monks, such as the Ecole de Pali which was founded in Phnom Penh in 1914 . While the Khmer Rouge effectively destroyed Cambodia's Buddhist institutions, after
13426-482: The old were being transferred to the new town. It was a time of some tension and of excitement. He managed this process of change with courage and remarkable political skills. While in Anuradhapura, he unveiled a memorial for H. R. Freeman , a popular British Government Agent who later was elected by the people of the district to represent them in the 1st State Council of Ceylon . Coming events cast their shadows before. A striking feature of Wijeyeratne's Anuradhapura days
13563-596: The oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pāli Canon and other texts. The reliability of the early sources, and the possibility to draw out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute. According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies. According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished: According to Mitchell, certain basic teachings appear in many places throughout
13700-627: The origins of early Vajrayana has been taken up by various scholars. David Seyfort Ruegg has suggested that Buddhist tantra employed various elements of a "pan-Indian religious substrate" which is not specifically Buddhist, Shaiva or Vaishnava. According to Indologist Alexis Sanderson , various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism . Sanderson has argued that Buddhist tantras can be shown to have borrowed practices, terms, rituals and more form Shaiva tantras. He argues that Buddhist texts even directly copied various Shaiva tantras, especially
13837-491: The other Early Buddhist schools as well as by Mahayana traditions . They include central concepts such as: The orthodox standpoints of Theravāda in comparison to other Buddhist schools are presented in the Kathāvatthu ("Points of Controversy"), as well as in other works by later commentators like Buddhaghosa. Traditionally, the Theravāda maintains the following key doctrinal positions, though not all Theravādins agree with
13974-438: The overall structure is the same). These differences arose from the systematization and historical development of doctrines and monasticism in the centuries after the death of the Buddha. The Abhidhamma-pitaka contains "a restatement of the doctrine of the Buddha in strictly formalized language." Its texts present a new method, the Abhidhamma method, which attempts to build a single consistent philosophical system (in contrast with
14111-585: The parallel collections used by non-Theravāda schools in India which are preserved in Chinese and partially in Sanskrit , Prakrit , and Tibetan , as well as the various non-Theravāda Vinayas. On this basis, these Early Buddhist texts (i.e. the Nikayas and parts of the Vinaya) are generally believed to be some of the oldest and most authoritative sources on the doctrines of pre-sectarian Buddhism by modern scholars. Much of
14248-451: The place was named 'Anourogrammoi.' Thus, It is believed that the expansion of this earlier smaller settlement called Anuradhagrama into a city during the reign of Sinhalese king Pandukabhaya (474–367 BCE ) in 437 BCE caused the change of the name to Anuradhapura. Significant milestones in the development of the name Anuradhapura is the best representation of the beginnings of pre-modern urbanization in Sri Lanka. The development of
14385-469: The practicalities of insight meditation and leaves ontology "relatively unexplored". Ronkin does note however that later Theravāda sub-commentaries ( ṭīkā ) do show a doctrinal shift towards ontological realism from the earlier epistemic and practical concerns. On the other hand, Y. Karunadasa contends that the tradition of realism goes back to the earliest discourses, as opposed to developing only in later Theravada sub-commentaries: If we base ourselves on
14522-639: The precise dates are uncertain, although the 5th century BCE seems to be the best estimate. Early texts have the Buddha's family name as "Gautama" (Pali: Gotama), while some texts give Siddhartha as his surname. He was born in Lumbini , present-day Nepal and grew up in Kapilavastu , a town in the Ganges Plain , near the modern Nepal–India border, and he spent his life in what is now modern Bihar and Uttar Pradesh . Some hagiographic legends state that his father
14659-574: The reign of Rama VII (1925–35). There is also a Khmer edition, published in Phnom Penh (1931–69). The Pāli Tipitaka consists of three parts: the Vinaya Pitaka , Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka . Of these, the Abhidhamma Pitaka is believed to be a later addition to the collection, its composition dating from around the 3rd century BCE onwards. The Pāli Abhidhamma was not recognized outside
14796-427: The royal family and nobility of Sri Lanka strongly supported Buddhism. As such, they frequently commissioned works of art and donated these items to Buddhist temples. In return, the temple and local Buddhist community supported the king's rule. Artworks featuring depictions of Avalokitesvara , the Bodhisattva of Mercy and Compassion, became increasingly popular. The area was sparsely inhabited for many centuries, but
14933-402: The same monasteries, with the difference that Mahāyāna monks worshipped figures of Bodhisattvas, while non-Mahayana monks did not. Mahāyāna initially seems to have remained a small minority movement that was in tension with other Buddhist groups, struggling for wider acceptance. However, during the fifth and sixth centuries CE, there seems to have been a rapid growth of Mahāyāna Buddhism, which
15070-593: The schisms, each Saṅgha started to accumulate their own version of Tripiṭaka (triple basket of texts). In their Tripiṭaka, each school included the Suttas of the Buddha, a Vinaya basket (disciplinary code) and some schools also added an Abhidharma basket which were texts on detailed scholastic classification, summary and interpretation of the Suttas. The doctrine details in the Abhidharmas of various Buddhist schools differ significantly, and these were composed starting about
15207-467: The society he grew up in may have been invented and interpolated at a later time into the Buddhist texts. Various details about the Buddha's background are contested in modern scholarship. For example, Buddhist texts assert that Buddha described himself as a kshatriya (warrior class), but Gombrich writes that little is known about his father and there is no proof that his father even knew the term kshatriya . ( Mahavira , whose teachings helped establish
15344-511: The spread of Theravāda Buddhism around the world and the revival of the religion in places where it remains a minority faith. Some of the major events of the spread of modern Theravāda include: According to Kate Crosby, for Theravāda, the Pāli Tipiṭaka , also known as the Pāli Canon is "the highest authority on what constitutes the Dhamma (the truth or teaching of the Buddha) and the organization of
15481-675: The spread of Theravāda westward to places such as India and Nepal, along with Buddhist immigrants and converts in the European Union and in the United States . The Theravāda school descends from the Vibhajjavāda , a division within the Sthāvira nikāya , one of the two major orders that arose after the first schism in the Indian Buddhist community. Theravāda sources trace their tradition to
15618-639: The support of the Pāla Empire (8th–12th centuries). Under the Guptas and Palas, Tantric Buddhism or Vajrayana developed and rose to prominence. It promoted new practices such as the use of mantras , dharanis , mudras , mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas and developed a new class of literature, the Buddhist Tantras . This new esoteric form of Buddhism can be traced back to groups of wandering yogi magicians called mahasiddhas . The question of
15755-456: The suttas, called matikas. There are numerous Theravāda works which are important for the tradition even though they are not part of the Tipiṭaka. Perhaps the most important texts apart from the Tipiṭaka are the works of the influential scholar Buddhaghosa (4th–5th century CE), known for his Pāli commentaries (which were based on older Sri Lankan commentaries of the Mahavihara tradition). He
15892-463: The suttas, which present numerous teachings given by the Buddha to particular individuals according to their needs). Because the Abhidhamma focuses on analyzing the internal lived experience of beings and the intentional structure of consciousness, it has often been compared to a kind of phenomenological psychology by numerous modern scholars such as Nyanaponika , Bhikkhu Bodhi and Alexander Piatigorsky . The Theravāda school has traditionally held
16029-680: The third century BCE and through the 1st millennium CE. According to the edicts of Aśoka , the Mauryan emperor sent emissaries to various countries west of India to spread "Dharma", particularly in eastern provinces of the neighbouring Seleucid Empire , and even farther to Hellenistic kingdoms of the Mediterranean. It is a matter of disagreement among scholars whether or not these emissaries were accompanied by Buddhist missionaries. In central and west Asia, Buddhist influence grew, through Greek-speaking Buddhist monarchs and ancient Asian trade routes,
16166-509: The three Vedic sacrificial fires, reinterpreting and explaining them as ethical conduct. The Śramaṇa religions challenged and broke with the Brahmanic tradition on core assumptions such as Atman (soul, self), Brahman , the nature of afterlife, and they rejected the authority of the Vedas and Upanishads . Buddhism was one among several Indian religions that did so. Early Buddhist positions in
16303-492: The traditional point of view: Theravāda scholastics developed a systematic exposition of the Buddhist doctrine called the Abhidhamma . In the Pāli Nikayas, the Buddha teaches through an analytical method in which experience is explained using various conceptual groupings of physical and mental processes, which are called "dhammas". Examples of lists of dhammas taught by the Buddha include the twelve sense 'spheres' or ayatanas ,
16440-534: The world's largest book) with the intention of preserving the Buddha Dhamma. Burma also saw the growth of the " Vipassana movement ", which focused on reviving Buddhist meditation and doctrinal learning . Ledi Sayadaw (1846–1923) was one of the key figures in this movement. After independence, Myanmar held the Sixth Buddhist council ( Vesak 1954 to Vesak 1956) to create a new redaction of the Pāli Canon , which
16577-563: The Śramaṇa traditions also drew upon already established Brahmanical concepts and philosophical roots, states Wiltshire, to formulate their own doctrines. Brahmanical motifs can be found in the oldest Buddhist texts, using them to introduce and explain Buddhist ideas. For example, prior to Buddhist developments, the Brahmanical tradition internalised and variously reinterpreted the three Vedic sacrificial fires as concepts such as Truth, Rite, Tranquility or Restraint. Buddhist texts also refer to
16714-454: Was "utterly destroyed in every way by the Chola army. Still, the place was continuously inhabited after this event as indicated by records of visitors to the island such as Robert Knox and others. Thus, the city was the longest-serving Sinhalese capital of Sri Lanka from the 5th century BCE (437 BCE ) until the 11th century CE (1017 CE) flourishing for around 1,500 years. Anuradhapura
16851-647: Was a Śramaṇa who lived in South Asia c. 6th or 5th century BCE. Followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Sakyan -s or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India. Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez asserts they also used the term Bauddha , although scholar Richard Cohen asserts that that term was used only by outsiders to describe Buddhists. Details of the Buddha's life are mentioned in many Early Buddhist Texts but are inconsistent. His social background and life details are difficult to prove, and
16988-468: Was a king named Suddhodana , his mother was Queen Maya. Scholars such as Richard Gombrich consider this a dubious claim because a combination of evidence suggests he was born in the Shakya community, which was governed by a small oligarchy or republic-like council where there were no ranks but where seniority mattered instead. Some of the stories about the Buddha, his life, his teachings, and claims about
17125-486: Was a major intellectual centre for early Theravada Buddhism, home to revered Buddhist philosophers including Buddhaghosa . During the reign of Dhatusena (455-473) a redaction of the Theravada Buddhist canon took place while at the same time 18 new vihara (temple complexes) were built and a statue erected for Mahinda, the Indian prince-monk who introduced Buddhism to the island. During the late Anuradhapura period,
17262-615: Was a public supporter of the religion. The support of Aśoka and his descendants led to the construction of more stūpas (such as at Sanchi and Bharhut ), temples (such as the Mahabodhi Temple ) and to its spread throughout the Maurya Empire and into neighbouring lands such as Central Asia and to the island of Sri Lanka . During and after the Mauryan period (322–180 BCE), the Sthavira community gave rise to several schools, one of which
17399-491: Was also during the Song that the entire Chinese canon was printed using over 130,000 wooden printing blocks. During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism (from the 8th century onwards), Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia . Johannes Bronkhorst states that the esoteric form was attractive because it allowed both a secluded monastic community as well as the social rites and rituals important to laypersons and to kings for
17536-905: Was apparently mutual". Already during this later era, Buddhism was losing state support in other regions of India, including the lands of the Karkotas , the Pratiharas , the Rashtrakutas , the Pandyas and the Pallavas . This loss of support in favor of Hindu faiths like Vaishnavism and Shaivism , is the beginning of the long and complex period of the Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent . The Islamic invasions and conquest of India (10th to 12th century), further damaged and destroyed many Buddhist institutions, leading to its eventual near disappearance from India by
17673-530: Was arguably the best known of all government agents of his time. His stature ensured that the voice of Anuradhapura was heard at the highest levels in Colombo. Apart from being Government Agent, he was Chairman of the Anuradhapura Preservation Board. This was the time when the city of Anuradhapura was in a period of historic transition. The new town of Anuradhapura was being built, and the residents of
17810-564: Was based at the Great Vihara (Mahavihara) in Anuradhapura (the ancient Sri Lankan capital). According to Theravāda sources, another one of the Ashokan missions was also sent to Suvaṇṇabhūmi ("The Golden Land"), which may refer to Southeast Asia. By the first century BCE, Theravāda Buddhism was well established in the main settlements of the Kingdom of Anuradhapura . The Pali Canon, which contains
17947-468: Was his great ability to see the bigger picture and focus on the key issues, and delegate responsibilities to his staff officers. He was never one to be enmeshed in detail. He also set up the Sacred City of Anuradhapura shifted the urban city to the newly created Anuradhapura town and is responsible for the establishment of Anuradhapura Airport . Source: www.statistics.gov.lk Archived 13 July 2017 at
18084-528: Was in Sri Lanka that the Pāli Canon was written down and the school's commentary literature developed. From Sri Lanka the Theravāda tradition subsequently spread to Southeast Asia . Theravāda is the official religion of Sri Lanka , Myanmar , and Cambodia , and the main dominant Buddhist variant found in Laos and Thailand . It is practiced by minorities in India , Bangladesh , China , Nepal , North Korea , Vietnam ,
18221-480: Was particularly favored), especially by Emperor Kanishka (128–151 CE). Kushan support helped Buddhism to expand into a world religion through their trade routes. Buddhism spread to Khotan , the Tarim Basin , and China, eventually to other parts of the far east. Some of the earliest written documents of the Buddhist faith are the Gandharan Buddhist texts , dating from about the 1st century CE, and connected to
18358-478: Was represented by eighteen separate schools." However, some scholars argue that critical analysis reveals discrepancies among the various doctrines found in these early texts, which point to alternative possibilities for early Buddhism. The authenticity of certain teachings and doctrines have been questioned. For example, some scholars think that karma was not central to the teaching of the historical Buddha, while other disagree with this position. Likewise, there
18495-584: Was the Theravada school which tended to congregate in the south and another which was the Sarvāstivāda school, which was mainly in north India. Likewise, the Mahāsāṃghika groups also eventually split into different Sanghas. Originally, these schisms were caused by disputes over monastic disciplinary codes of various fraternities, but eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schisms were being caused by doctrinal disagreements too. Following (or leading up to)
18632-635: Was the dominant religion in Burma during the Mon Hanthawaddy Kingdom (1287–1552). It also became dominant in the Khmer Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries and in the Thai Sukhothai Kingdom during the reign of Ram Khamhaeng (1237/1247–1298). The term "Buddhism" is an occidental neologism, commonly (and "rather roughly" according to Donald S. Lopez Jr. ) used as a translation for
18769-468: Was then published by the government in 40 volumes. The Vipassana movement continued to grow after independence, becoming an international movement with centers around the world. Influential meditation teachers of the post-independence era include U Narada , Mahasi Sayadaw , Sayadaw U Pandita , Nyanaponika Thera , Webu Sayadaw , U Ba Khin and his student S.N. Goenka. Meanwhile, in Thailand (the only Theravāda nation to retain its independence throughout
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