The story of Indian Buddhism religion history

In this article on Buddhism religion history, I will mention some interesting details about its history in India, where it originated. I cannot in a short article cover its history in other countries as these countries cover almost the whole of Asia- excluding perhaps Russia.

Buddhism was founded by the Siddhartha Gautama Buddha who lived and died between 563 to 483BCE. The Buddha and history have a long association together.

There are many interesting similarities between Buddhism and Hinduism. More details are on this page on Hinduism and Buddhism a comparison

More details on the life of Gautama Buddha and history can be found on this page on Interesting fact about Buddhism You might also wish to refer to this inspiring account on the Buddha’s life Old Path White Clouds available at Amazon. This book was written by the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh who is one of my favorite authors.

So this is about early Buddhism religion history in India

Buddhism gained in popularity in India mainly during the reign of King Asoka (274-236BCE) because of his patronage. Asoka is remembered in countries as far away as Japan because of his efforts to promote and spread Buddhism.

Asoka is a prominent figure in Buddhism history. Religion and its ethics formed the basis of his administration.

The doctrine which arose as a result of the original Buddha’s teaching is Theravada Buddhism – or the Path of the Elders. It is also called Hinayana Buddhism.

In fact, it may be a mistake to say that this teaching is that of the original Buddha because no accurate records were ever kept of what he actually taught. All the accounts, which describe the early teachings, were written many centuries after the death of the Buddha. It is still however an inspiring and profound teaching containing analysis and a solution to the ills that plague mankind.

But the lack of accurate historical records is a fact about Buddhism religion history.

So these are some facts about Buddhism in ancient India. What follows are more details about ancient India Buddhism.

A simple account of the very basic Buddhist concepts can be found on this page on Buddhism and facts It describes very simple concepts, which are verified by modern science and simple logic and common sense. These concepts if contemplated and practiced are quite enough to transform our lives.

Buddhism preaches the decay and extinction of all forms and being in the Universe. It certainly did not exclude itself from the forms, which would ultimately be extinct. The history of Buddhism may be divided into 5 periods of 500 years each till the present day. The Buddhist monks themselves believed that their religion would become extinct at the end of that period.

Any Buddhism religion history should mention this point.

This prediction is however not borne out by facts as the Buddhism religion is alive and kicking in many countries to which it had spread and has made steady inroads to the West in recent years. Anyway back to an account of Buddhism religion history in India.

Around and between the period 0-500 of the Christian era Mahayana Buddhism took shape in India. Mahayana is also called the Greater Vehicle as it contains many more skillful means to attain enlightenment as compared to the Theravada tradition.

Alan Watts describes the evolution of Mahayana Buddhism as a response to the psychological needs caused by following the original Theravada doctrine. There was also a need for transformation to meet the needs of new ages, new populations and different social circumstances. The old doctrine had become stale and was producing very few sages or Arahats.

These are some details contained in a brief history of Buddhism.

Buddhism was alivng seed and Buddhism religion history was constantly evolving. Thus, a new literature came into being and this is one of the most magnificent outbursts of creative energy in human history. The realized master Nagarjuna lived in this period, which lasted for almost 500 years. During this period also Mahayana Buddhism came in touch with non-Indian influence. In North-west India where it developed it came in touch with Greek culture as well as influences from the Mediterranean and the Iranian world.

This incidentally rendered Buddhism fit for export outside India as for it to spread to other countries it first had to go through a preliminary phase of de-Indianization.

So this fact needs to be mentioned in this Buddhism religion history.

There is this interesting phenomenon that even the teachings that were very probably developed in this period were attributed to the Buddha. This further confuses the historians. But Alan Watts says that this is very likely due to the fact that the Buddha is not regarded so much as one individual who lived and died at a certain period, but as the Timeless embodiment of Truth.

An inspired master composing a teaching during this period is likely to attribute his insight and knowledge to the Grace of God or to the Buddha. He himself is just an empty vessel through which the knowledge flows. For this reason he does not put his name on it.

This has the effect of course of confusing the historians. In fact, according to the distinguished writer Edward Conze, nothing is known of what the original Buddha actually said. What teachings that are now attributed to him are pure guesswork.

So lack of accurate records are a part of a brief history of Buddhism.

Anyway, Buddhism spread over the next 1500 years starting around the beginning of the Christian era. Mahayana has conquered the entire Northern half of the Buddhist world and the Buddhists of Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan are nearly all Mahayanists. This constitutes Buddhism religion history in the middle period.

In India itself Buddhism came to an end about 1200 A.D. though is some States and districts such as Magadha, Bengal, Orissa and South India it lingered on for another 200 or 300 years.

The main reason for this decline and extinction was the Muslim invasions. These ruthless conquerors – with their zeal and hatred of idolatry – burned down flourishing monasteries and universities in Sindh and Bengal and killed all the monks. This was an important stage in Indian Buddhism religion history which explains why it vanished from India.

There have been many influences on Buddhism history. Religion of Islam is one of them.

This however was not the only reason as Hinduism and Jainism were subject to the same fury and stood their ground. The other reasons were:-

1) Hinduism had itself assimilated much of Mahayana Buddhist thought the Buddhist were now not teaching anything different and new.

2) Buddhism failed to benefit the laity substantially and depended for its patronage mostly on kings. Where such patronage was lacking, it declined. Jainism on the other hand had wealthy merchants patronizing them who considered it an honor to support ascetics.

3) Buddhism had lost its creative impulse and no new literature and doctrines were being developed at that time.

4) The other-world Buddhist monks did not consider the country of their residence very important. When they were unable to practice their monastic discipline they simply left for other countries such as Nepal, Tibet, China, etc. Thus the very reasons that led to the spread of Buddhism to other countries in Asia caused its decline in India.

5) The Buddhist monks themselves regarded their own doctrine as having a limited shelf life. All is transient according to Buddhism and their own religion is not excluded. Thus when circumstances were such as existed at that time the only thing to do was to retire gracefully from the scene.

These then are the important aspects of Buddhism religion history in India.

In conclusion Buddhism in ancient India may be interesting but actually Buddhism is flourishing today in other Asian countries. Hinduism is the main religion in modern and ancient India. Buddhism has almost died out.

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