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ORIGINS AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM

ORIGINS AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM. Siddhartha Gautama (563 - 483 B.C.) – founder searching for understanding of suffering Emperor Asoka (3rd Century B.C.) Spread Buddhism in India. BUDDHISM. Objected to harsher features of Hinduism such as the caste system

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ORIGINS AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM

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  1. ORIGINS AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM • Siddhartha Gautama (563 - 483 B.C.) – founder searching for understanding of suffering • Emperor Asoka (3rd Century B.C.) Spread Buddhism in India

  2. BUDDHISM • Objected to harsher features of Hinduism such as the caste system • Focuses on knowledge, especially self-knowledge • Enlightenment ends the cycle of reincarnation • Elimination of worldly desires • Ahimsa - determination not to hurt or kill people or animals

  3. FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS • Sorrow and suffering are part of all life. • People suffer because they desire things they cannot have. • The way to escape suffering is to end desire, to stop wanting, and to reach a stage of not wanting (NIRVANA). • To end desire, follow the “middle path,” i.e., the path that avoids the extremes of too much pleasure and desire.

  4. EIGHTFOLD PATH TO THE MIDDLE WAY • Right understanding • Right purpose • Right speech • Right conduct • Right means of earning a living • Right effort • Right awareness • Right meditation

  5. Practices of Buddhism • Meditation – derived from Buddha’s experience and teachings • Mantras – Sacred sounds believed to possess superpowers • Prayer Wheel – Spinning the wheel is effective as reciting sacred texts (saw them in Mt. Everest video)

  6. Sects of Buddhism • Theravada – stressed monastic life as the way to reach nirvana. • Respected the Buddha, but did not see him as a god. • Mahayana – Offers a more mainstream way of practicing Buddhism (allows work, marriage, possessions). Some in this sect worshipped the Buddha and other enlightened ones as gods… Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff

  7. How and where did Buddhism spread? • Buddha set up monasteries and covenants • Followers spread Buddha’s teaching through word of mouth • Three Baskets of Wisdom – book of Buddha’s teachings • Spread throughout parts of Asia (China, Tibet, Japan, Burma, Thailand, etc.)

  8. FALL OF BUDDHISM ON THE SUBCONTINENT • Hinduism - broad and tolerant, accepting many of the teachings of Buddha • Buddhists in India - willing to compromise with the beliefs and customs of Hinduism • Final blow - 8th century - arrival of Islam -- Destroyed the great Buddhist monasteries -- Burned libraries -- Killed monks -- Mughal Empire conquered the lower Indus valley • Today - only 1 million Buddhists in India

  9. Religious Rivalries in South Asia • Hinduism • Major faith of India and Nepal • Forms of worship differ by region – roots lie within the Aryan culture • Islam • 400 million Muslims in the region, among the largest Muslim communities in the world • Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives are mostly Muslim • In India, Muslims concentrated in the cities, in the north, the upper and central Ganges plain, and in Kerala • Sikhism • Sikhism: faith incorporating elements of Hinduism and Islam • Originated in Punjab in 1400s, still concentrated in Punjab • Sikh men noted for work as soldiers and bodyguards

  10. Religious Rivalries (cont.) • Buddhism and Jainism • Buddhism virtually disappeared in India but persisted in Sri Lanka, mainland Southeast Asia, and the high valleys of the Himalayas • Jainism – religion that emerged around 500 B.C. as protest to Hinduism ties to the caste system • Stressed extreme non-violence • Other Religious Groups • Parsis (Zoroastrians): an ancient religion focusing on the cosmic struggle between good and evil • Concentrated in the Mumbai area • More Indian Christians than either Parsis or Jains • British missionaries converted animists to Protestantism

  11. Hindu/Muslim-practices/perceptions • Muslims see Hindus as polytheistic infidels not to be tolerated • Muslims eat meat (cows) – not pork • Eternal life in heaven or hell • Muslims are strict monotheists • Muslims reject the concept of castes – equality of believers • Reject reincarnation • Hindus tend to be vegetarians (ahimsa and reincarnation beliefs foster this) • Cows are sacred animals • Believe in reincarnation • Brahman, if it is God, is an impersonal one • Acknowledges multiple gods • Follow caste system – no social or religious mobility within one lifetime

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