1.
Arecaceae
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The Arecaceae are a botanical family of perennial climbers, shrubs, acaules and trees commonly known as palm trees. They are flowering plants, a family in the monocot order Arecales, currently 181 genera with around 2600 species are known, most of them restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves, known as fronds, however, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts. Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families and they have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms, and palms are widely used in landscaping, making them one of the most economically important plants. In many historical cultures, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, for inhabitants of cooler climates today, palms symbolize the tropics and vacations. Whether as shrubs, trees, or vines, palms have two methods of growth, solitary or clustered, the common representation is that of a solitary shoot ending in a crown of leaves. This monopodial character may be exhibited by prostrate, trunkless, some common palms restricted to solitary growth include Washingtonia and Roystonea. Palms may instead grow in sparse though dense clusters, the trunk develops an axillary bud at a leaf node, usually near the base, from which a new shoot emerges. The new shoot, in turn, produces an axillary bud, exclusively sympodial genera include many of the rattans, Guihaia, and Rhapis. Several palm genera have both solitary and clustering members, Palms which are usually solitary may grow in clusters, and vice versa. These aberrations suggest the habit operates on a single gene, Palms have large, evergreen leaves that are either palmately or pinnately compound and spirally arranged at the top of the stem. The leaves have a sheath at the base that usually splits open on one side at maturity. The inflorescence is a spadix or spike surrounded by one or more bracts or spathes that become woody at maturity, the flowers are generally small and white, radially symmetric, and can be either uni- or bisexual. The sepals and petals usually number three each, and may be distinct or joined at the base, the stamens generally number six, with filaments that may be separate, attached to each other, or attached to the pistil at the base. The fruit is usually a single-seeded drupe but some genera may contain two or more seeds in each fruit, like all monocots, palms do not have the ability to increase the width of a stem via the same kind of vascular cambium found in non-monocot woody plants. This explains the shape of the trunk that is often seen in palms. The Arecaceae are notable among monocots for their height and for the size of their seeds, leaves, Ceroxylon quindiuense, Colombias national tree, is the tallest monocot in the world, reaching up to 60 m tall
2.
Chinese language
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Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases mutually unintelligible, language varieties, forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many ethnic groups in China. Nearly 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language, the varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family. The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to that of the Romance languages, There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin, followed by Wu, Min, and Yue. Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and certain Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms, all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. Standard Chinese is a form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. It is the language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six languages of the United Nations. The written form of the language, based on the logograms known as Chinese characters, is shared by literate speakers of otherwise unintelligible dialects. Of the other varieties of Chinese, Cantonese is the spoken language and official in Hong Kong and Macau. It is also influential in Guangdong province and much of Guangxi, dialects of Southern Min, part of the Min group, are widely spoken in southern Fujian, with notable variants also spoken in neighboring Taiwan and in Southeast Asia. Hakka also has a diaspora in Taiwan and southeast Asia. Shanghainese and other Wu varieties are prominent in the lower Yangtze region of eastern China, Chinese can be traced back to a hypothetical Sino-Tibetan proto-language. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty, as the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have sought to promulgate a unified standard. Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, in addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach, and are often also sensitive border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of proto-Sino-Tibetan, the structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, the earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BCE in the late Shang dynasty
3.
Yuan dynasty
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The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan, was the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. His realm was, by point, isolated from the other khanates and controlled most of present-day China and its surrounding areas. Some of the Mongolian Emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others used their native language. The Yuan dynasty is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and an imperial Chinese dynasty and it was the khanate ruled by the successors of Möngke Khan after the division of the Mongol Empire. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song dynasty, the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, yet he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu. In addition to Emperor of China, Kublai Khan also claimed the title of Great Khan, supreme over the other khanates, the Chagatai, the Golden Horde. As such, the Yuan was also referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan. However, while the claim of supremacy by the Yuan emperors was at times recognized by the khans, their subservience was nominal. In 1271, Kublai Khan imposed the name Great Yuan, establishing the Yuan dynasty, dà Yuán is from the clause 大哉乾元 in the Commentaries on the Classic of Changes section regarding Qián. The counterpart in Mongolian language was Dai Ön Ulus, also rendered as Ikh Yuan Üls or Yekhe Yuan Ulus, in Mongolian, Dai Ön is often used in conjunction with the Yeke Mongghul Ulus, resulting in Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus, meaning Great Mongol State. Nevertheless, both terms can refer to the khanate within the Mongol Empire directly ruled by Great Khans before the actual establishment of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1271. Genghis Khan united the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the steppes and he and his successors expanded the Mongol empire across Asia. Under the reign of Genghis third son, Ögedei Khan, the Mongols destroyed the weakened Jin dynasty in 1234, Ögedei offered his nephew Kublai a position in Xingzhou, Hebei. Kublai was unable to read Chinese but had several Han Chinese teachers attached to him since his early years by his mother Sorghaghtani and he sought the counsel of Chinese Buddhist and Confucian advisers. Möngke Khan succeeded Ögedeis son, Güyük, as Great Khan in 1251 and he granted his brother Kublai control over Mongol held territories in China. Kublai built schools for Confucian scholars, issued paper money, revived Chinese rituals and he adopted as his capital city Kaiping in Inner Mongolia, later renamed Shangdu. Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols
4.
Zhao Mengfu
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Zhao Mengfu, was a descendant of the Song Dynastys imperial family, and a Chinese scholar, painter and calligrapher during the Yuan Dynasty. He was recommended by the Censor-in-chief Cheng Jufu to pay an audience with Kublai Khan in 1286 at the Yuan capital of Dadu and his work was however, greatly appreciated later by the Confucian-inspired Yuan Emperor Renzong. Zhao was a member of the Academy of Worthies and he was married to Guan Daosheng, who was also an accomplished poet, painter and calligrapher. He was known for his paintings of horses and his landscapes are also considered to be done in a style that focuses more on a literal laying of ground. Rather than organizing them in a foreground, middle ground, and this pattern of organization makes his paintings appear very simple and approachable. It was this characteristic that so many people valued about his style, Zhao Mengfu had several sons with his wife Guan Daosheng. His second son, Zhao Yong, also became a painter and calligrapher. He was also the grandfather of Wang Meng, another famous painter. Zhao Mengfu was related to the later Ming dynasty literary figure Zhao Yiguang, the former residence of Zhao Mengfu in Huzhou, Zhejiang province has been restored into a museum, and opened to public since 2012. A167 kilometer-diameter crater on Mercury was named the Chao Meng-Fu crater in memorial of him, hanlin Academy Yuan poetry House of Zhao Mu, Yiqin, Zhao Mengfu
5.
Mahayana
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Mahayana is one of two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. The Buddhist tradition of Vajrayana is sometimes classified as a part of Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva who has accomplished this goal is called a samyaksaṃbuddha, or fully enlightened Buddha. A samyaksaṃbuddha can establish the Dharma and lead disciples to enlightenment, Mahayana Buddhists teach that enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime, and this can be accomplished even by a layperson. The Mahāyāna tradition is the largest major tradition of Buddhism existing today, with 53. 2% of practitioners, major traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism today include Chan Buddhism, Korean Seon, Japanese Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, and Nichiren Buddhism. It may also include the Vajrayana traditions of Tiantai, Tendai, Shingon Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism, according to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna was originally an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna — the vehicle of a bodhisattva seeking buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. The term Mahāyāna was therefore formed independently at a date as a synonym for the path. The earliest Mahāyāna texts often use the term Mahāyāna as a synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, the presumed dichotomy between Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna can be deceptive, as the two terms were not actually formed in relation to one another in the same era. Among the earliest and most important references to the term Mahāyāna are those that occur in the Lotus Sūtra dating between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE. Seishi Karashima has suggested that the term first used in an earlier Gandhāri Prakrit version of the Lotus Sūtra was not the term mahāyāna, the origins of Mahāyāna are still not completely understood. The earliest Western views of Mahāyāna assumed that it existed as a school in competition with the so-called Hīnayāna schools. The earliest textual evidence of Mahāyāna comes from sūtras originating around the beginning of the common era. There is also no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals. Membership in these nikāyas, or monastic sects, continues today with the Dharmaguptaka nikāya in East Asia, therefore, Mahāyāna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools. Paul Harrison clarifies that while monastic Mahāyānists belonged to a nikāya, from Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in India often lived in the same monasteries side by side. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas and read the Mahayana sūtras are called the Mahāyānists, much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyāna teachings were first propagated into China by Lokakṣema, the first translator of Mahāyāna sūtras into Chinese during the 2nd century CE. Guang Xing states, Several scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā probably developed among the Mahāsāṃghikas in southern India, in the Āndhra country, warder believes that the Mahāyāna originated in the south of India and almost certainly in the Āndhra country. They note that the ancient Buddhist sites in the lower Kṛṣṇa Valley, including Amaravati, Nāgārjunakoṇḍā and Jaggayyapeṭa can be traced to at least the third century BCE, akira Hirakawa notes the evidence suggests that many Early Mahayana scriptures originated in South India
6.
Buddhism by country
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Buddhism is a religion practiced by an estimated 488 million in the world,495 million, or 535 million people as of the 2010s, representing 9% to 10% of the worlds total population. China is the country with the largest population of Buddhists, approximately 244 million or 18. 2% of its total population and they are mostly followers of Chinese schools of Mahayana, making this the largest body of Buddhist traditions. Mahayana, also practiced in broader East Asia, is followed by half of world Buddhists. The second largest body of Buddhist schools is Theravada, mostly followed in Southeast Asia, the third and smallest body of schools, Vajrayana, is followed mostly in Tibet, the Himalayan region, Mongolia and parts of Russia, but has been disseminated throughout the world. According to a demographic analysis reported by Peter Harvey, Eastern Buddhism has 360 million adherents, Southern Buddhism has 150 million adherents, seven million additional Buddhists are found outside Asia. com
7.
History of Buddhism in India
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Buddhism is a world religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha, and is based on the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama who was deemed a Buddha. Buddhism spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddhas lifetime, in modern times, two major branches of Buddhism exist, the Theravāda in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and the Mahāyāna throughout the Himalayas and East Asia. Except for Himalayan region and south India, Buddhism almost became extinct in India after the arrival of Islam in late 12th century, remains have also been found in Andhra Pradesh, the origin of Mahayana Buddhism. According to the 2001 census, Buddhists make up 0. 8% of Indias population, Buddha was born in Lumbini, in Nepal, to a Kapilvastu King of the Shakya Kingdom named Suddhodana. After asceticism and meditation which was a Samana practice, the Buddha discovered the Buddhist Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence, Siddhārtha Gautama attained enlightenment sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Gautama, from then on, was known as The Perfectly Self-Awakened One, Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisāra. The emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist Vihāras and this eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first Saṅgha, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, for the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain of Northern India and other regions. Buddha died in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Saugata. Other terms were Sakyans or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India, sakyaputto was another term used by Buddhists, as well as Ariyasavako and Jinaputto. Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez states they also used the term Bauddha, the Buddha did not appoint any successor, and asked his followers to work toward liberation. The teachings of the Buddha existed only in oral traditions, the Sangha held a number of Buddhist councils in order to reach consensus on matters of Buddhist doctrine and practice. Mahākāśyapa, a disciple of the Buddha, presided over the first Buddhist council held at Rājagṛha and its purpose was to recite and agree on the Buddhas actual teachings and on monastic discipline. Some scholars consider this council fictitious, the Second Buddhist Council is said to have taken place at Vaiśālī. Its purpose was to deal with questionable monastic practices like the use of money, the drinking of wine, and other irregularities. What is commonly called the Third Buddhist Council was held at Pāṭaliputra, organized by the monk Moggaliputta Tissa, it was held in order to rid the sangha of the large number of monks who had joined the order because of its royal patronage. Most scholars now believe this council was exclusively Theravada, and that the dispatch of missionaries to various countries at about this time was nothing to do with it and it is generally believed to have been a council of the Sarvastivāda school. The Early Buddhist Schools were the schools in which pre-sectarian Buddhism split in the first few centuries after the passing away of the Buddha
8.
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
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Buddhism entered Han China via the Silk Road, beginning in the 1st or 2nd century CE. Direct contact between Central Asian and Chinese Buddhism continued throughout the 3rd to 7th century, well into Tang period, much of the land route connecting northern India with China at that time was ruled by the Buddhist Kushan Empire, and later the Hephthalite Empire, see Gandhara. China was later reached by the Indian form of tantra esoteric Buddhism in the 7th century, tibetan Buddhism was likewise established as a branch of Vajrayana, in the 8th century. But from about this time, the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism began to decline with the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana, Buddhism was brought to China via the Silk Road. Buddhist monks travelled with merchant caravans on the Silk Road, to preach their new religion, the powerful Greco-Bactrian Kingdoms in Afghanistan and the later Indo-Greek Kingdoms practiced Greco-Buddhism and formed the first stop on the Silk Road, after China, for nearly 300 years. 100 BC, must remain open to question, the earliest direct references to Buddhism concern the 1st century AD, but they include hagiographical elements and are not necessarily reliable or accurate. The first missionaries and translators of Buddhists scriptures into Chinese were either Parthian, Kushan, Sogdian or Kuchean and they promoted both Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna scriptures. Thirty-seven of these early translators of Buddhist texts are known, according to the earliest reference to him, by Yang Xuanzhi, he was a monk of Central Asian origin whom Yang Xuanshi met around 520 at Loyang. Throughout Buddhist art, Bodhidharma is depicted as a rather ill-tempered and he is referred to as The Blue-Eyed Barbarian in Chinese Chan texts. Five monks from Gandhāra who traveled in 485 CE to the country of Fusang, an Shigao translated Buddhist texts on basic doctrines, meditation and abhidharma. An Xuan, a Parthian layman who worked alongside An Shigao, Mahāyāna Buddhism was first widely propagated in China by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema, who came from the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhāra. Lokakṣema translated important Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, as well as rare, early Mahāyāna sūtras on topics such as samādhi and these translations from Lokakṣema continue to give insight into the early period of Mahāyāna Buddhism. From the 4th century onward, Chinese pilgrims also started to travel on the Silk Road to India, according to Chinese sources, the first Chinese to be ordained was Zhu Zixing, after he went to Central Asia in 260 to seek out Buddhism. It is only from the 4th century CE that Chinese Buddhist monks started to travel to India to discover Buddhism first-hand, faxians pilgrimage to India is said to have been the first significant one. He left along the Silk Road, stayed six years in India, Xuanzang and Hyecho traveled from Korea to India. The most famous of the Chinese pilgrims is Xuanzang, whose large and precise translation work defines a new translation period and he also left a detailed account of his travels in Central Asia and India. The legendary accounts of the holy priest Xuanzang were described in the famous novel Journey to the West, during the fifth and sixth centuries C. E. Merchants played a role in the spread of religion, in particular Buddhism
9.
Chinese Buddhism
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Chinese Buddhism has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, medicine, and material culture. Chinese Buddhism is also marked by the interaction between Indian religions, Nepalese religion Chinese religion, and Taoism, various legends tell of the presence of Buddhism in Chinese soil in very ancient times. Nonetheless, the consensus is that Buddhism first came to China in the first century CE during the Han dynasty. Generations of scholars have debated whether Buddhist missionaries first reached Han China via the maritime or overland routes of the Silk Road, after entering into China, Buddhism blended with early Daoism and Chinese traditional esoteric arts and its iconography received blind worship. A number of accounts in historical Chinese literature have led to the popularity of certain legends regarding the introduction of Buddhism into China. According to the most popular one, Emperor Ming of Han precipitated the introduction of Buddhist teachings into China, the next day he asked his officials, What god is this. The emperor then sent an envoy to Tianzhu to inquire about the teachings of the Buddha, Buddhist scriptures were said to have been returned to China on the backs of white horses, after which White Horse Temple was named. Two Indian monks also returned with them, named Dharmaratna and Kaśyapa Mātaṅga, however, neither the Shiji nor Book of Han histories of Emperor Wu mentions a golden Buddhist statue. The first documented translation of Buddhist scriptures from various Indian languages into Chinese occurs in 148 CE with the arrival of the Parthian prince-turned-monk An Shigao, an Shigao translated Buddhist texts on basic doctrines, meditation, and abhidharma. An Xuan, a Parthian layman who worked alongside An Shigao, Mahāyāna Buddhism was first widely propagated in China by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema, who came from the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhāra. Lokakṣema translated important Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, as well as rare, early Mahāyāna sūtras on topics such as samādhi and these translations from Lokakṣema continue to give insight into the early period of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Harrison points to the enthusiasm in the Lokakṣema sūtra corpus for the ascetic practices, for dwelling in the forest. The Dharmaguptakas made more efforts than any other sect to spread Buddhism outside India, to such as Afghanistan, Central Asia, and China. Therefore, most countries which adopted Buddhism from China, also adopted the Dharmaguptaka vinaya and ordination lineage for bhikṣus, warder, in some ways in those East Asian countries, the Dharmaguptaka sect can be considered to have survived to the present. They appear to have carried out a vast circling movement along the routes from Aparānta north-west into Iran. The Mahīśāsakas and Kāśyapīyas appear to have followed them across Asia into China, for the earlier period of Chinese Buddhism it was the Dharmaguptakas who constituted the main and most influential school, and even later their Vinaya remained the basis of the discipline there. Initially, Buddhism in China faced a number of difficulties in becoming established, the concept of monasticism and the aversion to social affairs seemed to contradict the long-established norms and standards established in Chinese society. Gentry Buddhism was a medium of introduction for the beginning of Buddhism in China, it gained imperial, by the early 5th century Buddhism was established in south China
10.
Buddhism in Japan
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Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since its official introduction in 552 AD according to the Nihon Shoki from Baekje, Korea by Buddhist monks. Though some Chinese sources place the first spreading of the religion earlier during the Kofun period, Buddhism has had a major influence on the development of Japanese society and remains an influential aspect of the culture to this day. In modern times, Japans most popular schools of Buddhism are Pure Land Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism, as of 2008 approximately 34% of the Japanese identify as Buddhists and the number has been growing since the 1980s. In 2009, a survey showed that over half the Japanese families had a butsudan or Buddhist altar in their homes. In 2009 data from the Agency of Cultural Affairs stated that there were 89 million Buddhists in Japan, in 2011, after the Tsunami, it was reported that 90% of the Japanese identified as Buddhist or Shinto or a combination of both. In 2013, official said there were over 87 million Buddhists in Japan. The arrival of Buddhism in Japan is ultimately a consequence of the first contacts between China and Central Asia, where Buddhism had spread from the Indian subcontinent. These contacts occurred with the opening of the Silk Road in the 2nd century BC and these contacts culminated with the official introduction of Buddhism in China in 67 CE. Historians generally agree that by the middle of the 1st century, according to the Book of Liang, which was written in 635, five Buddhist monks from Gandhara traveled to Japan in 467. In former times, the people of Fusang knew nothing of the Buddhist religion and they propagated Buddhist doctrine, circulated scriptures and drawings, and advised the people to relinquish worldly attachments. As a result the customs of Fusang changed, the powerful Soga clan played a key role in the early spread of Buddhism in the country. Initial uptake of the new faith was slow, and Buddhism only started to spread some years later when Empress Suiko openly encouraged the acceptance of Buddhism among all Japanese people. On January 15,593, Soga no Umako ordered relics of Buddha deposited inside the stone under the pillar of a pagoda at Asuka-dera. In 607, in order to obtain copies of sutras, an envoy was dispatched to Sui China. As time progressed and the number of Buddhist clergy increased, the offices of Sōjō, by 627, there were 46 Buddhist temples,816 Buddhist priests, and 569 Buddhist nuns in Japan. These were not exclusive schools, and temples were apt to have scholars versed in several of the schools and it has been suggested that they can best be thought of as study groups. This kind of Buddhism had little to offer the illiterate and uneducated masses and their practice was a combination of Buddhist and Daoist elements and the incorporation of shamanistic features of indigenous practices. Some of these figures became popular, and were a source of criticism towards the sophisticated academic and bureaucratic Buddhism of the capital
11.
Korean Buddhism
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Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Mahayana Buddhism. Early Korean monks believed that the traditions they received from countries were internally inconsistent. To address this, they developed a new approach to Buddhism. Korean Buddhist thinkers refined their predecessors ideas into a distinct form, as it now stands, Korean Buddhism consists mostly of the Seon lineage, primarily represented by the Jogye and Taego Orders. The Korean Seon has a relationship with other Mahayana traditions that bear the imprint of Chan teachings as well as the closely related Zen. Other sects, such as the revival of the Cheontae lineage, the Jingak Order. Korean Buddhism has also contributed much to East Asian Buddhism, especially to early Chinese, Japanese, when Buddhism was originally introduced to Korea from Former Qin in 372, or about 800 years after the death of the historical Buddha, shamanism was the indigenous religion. As it was not seen to conflict with the rites of nature worship, thus, the mountains that were believed to be the residence of spirits in pre-Buddhist times became the sites of Buddhist temples. Korean shamanism held three spirits in especially high regard, Sanshin, Toksong and Chilsong, Korean Buddhism accepted and absorbed these three spirits and, even today, special shrines are set aside for them in many temples. The Mountain Spirit receives particular recognition in an attempt to appease the mountain spirits. This blend of Buddhism and Shamanism became known as Korean Buddhism, during this period, Neo-Confucianism overcame the prior dominance of Buddhism. Only after Buddhist monks helped repel the Japanese invasions of Korea did the persecution of Buddhism, Buddhism in Korea remained subdued until the end of the Joseon period, when its position was strengthened somewhat by the colonial period, which lasted from 1910 to 1945. After World War II, the Seon school of Korean Buddhism once again gained acceptance, a 2005 government survey indicated that about a quarter of South Koreans identified as Buddhist. However, the number of Buddhists in South Korea is ambiguous as there is no exact or exclusive criterion by which Buddhists can be identified. With Buddhisms incorporation into traditional Korean culture, it is now considered a philosophy, as a result, many people outside of the practicing population are deeply influenced by these traditions. Thus, when counting secular believers or those influenced by the faith while not following other religions, the number of Buddhists in South Korea is considered to be much larger. Similarly, in officially atheist North Korea, while Buddhists officially account for 4. 5% of the population, there is concrete evidence of an earlier introduction of Buddhism than traditionally believed. A mid-4th century tomb, unearthed near Pyongyang, is found to incorporate Buddhist motifs in its ceiling decoration, some Korean Buddhist monks traveled to China or India in order to study Buddhism in the late Three Kingdoms Period, especially in the 6th century
12.
Buddhism in Vietnam
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Buddhism in Vietnam as practiced by the ethnic Vietnamese is mainly of the Mahayana tradition. Buddhism may have first come to Vietnam as early as the 3rd or 2nd century BCE from South Asia or from China in the 1st or 2nd century CE, Vietnamese Buddhism has had a symbiotic relationship with certain elements of Taoism, Chinese spirituality, and the Vietnamese folk religion. There are conflicting theories regarding whether Buddhism first reached Vietnam during the 3rd or 2nd century BCE via delegations from India, luy Lâu was the capital of the Han region of Jiaozhi and was a popular place visited by many Indian Buddhist missionary monks en route to China. The monks followed the trade route from the Indian sub-continent to China used by Indian traders. A number of Mahayana sutras and the āgamas were translated into Classical Chinese there, including the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters, Jiaozhi was the birthplace of Buddhist missionary Kang Senghui who was of Sogdian origin. Over the next eighteen centuries, Vietnam and China shared many features of cultural, philosophical. This was due to proximity to one another and Vietnam being annexed twice by China. Vietnamese Buddhism is thus related to Chinese Buddhism in general, Theravada Buddhism, on the other hand, would become incorporated through the southern annexation of Khmer people and territories. During the Đinh dynasty, Buddhism was recognized by the state as an official faith, the Early Lê dynasty also afforded the same recognition to the Buddhist church. The growth of Buddhism during this time is attributed to the recruitment of erudite monks to the court as the independent state needed an ideological basis on which to build a country. Subsequently this role was ceded to Confucianism, Vietnamese Buddhism reached its zenith during the Lý dynasty beginning with the founder Lý Thái Tổ, who was raised in a pagoda. All of the kings during the Lý dynasty professed and sanctioned Buddhism as the state religion and this endured with the Trần dynasty but Buddhism had to share the stage with the emerging growth of Confucianism. By the 15th century, Buddhism fell out of favor with the court during the Later Lê dynasty, officials like Lê Quát attacked it as heretical and wasteful. It was not until the 19th century that Buddhism regained some stature under the Nguyễn dynasty who accorded royal support, the movement continued into the 1950s. From 1954 to 1975, Vietnam was split into North and South Vietnam, in a country where surveys of the religious composition estimated the Buddhist majority to be approximately 50 to 70 percent, President Ngô Đình Diệms policies generated claims of religious bias. As a member of the Catholic Vietnamese minority, he pursued policies that antagonized many Buddhists. This led to widespread protest against the government, troops were sent in and this led to mass rallies against Diệms government, termed as the Buddhist crisis. The conflicts culminated in Thích Quảng Đứcs self-immolation, President Diệms younger brother Ngô Đình Nhu favored strong-armed tactics and Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces engaged in the Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, killing estimated hundreds
13.
Buddhism in Indonesia
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Buddhism in Indonesia has a long history, with a considerable range of relics dated from its earlier years in Indonesia. Buddhism is recognized as one of six religions in Indonesia, along with Islam, Christianity. According to the 2000 national census, roughly 0. 8% of the citizens of Indonesia were Buddhists. Most Buddhists are concentrated in Jakarta, Riau, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung, North Sumatra, today, most Buddhists in Indonesia are Chinese, however small numbers of native Buddhists are also present. Buddhism is the second oldest religion in Indonesia after Hinduism, arriving around the second century, the history of Buddhism in Indonesia is closely related to the history of Hinduism, as a number of empires influenced by Indian culture were established around the same period. The arrival of Buddhism in the Indonesian archipelago was started with the activity that began in the early of first century on the maritime Silk Road between Indonesia and India. The oldest Buddhist archaeological site in Indonesia is arguably the Batujaya stupas complex in Karawang, the oldest relic in Batujaya was estimated to originate from the 2nd century, while the latest dated from the 12th century. Subsequently, numbers of Buddhist sites were found in Jambi, Palembang, and Riau provinces in Sumatra, Indonesian archipelago has witnessed the rise and fall of powerful Buddhist empires such as the Sailendra dynasty, the Mataram and Srivijaya empires. According to some Chinese source, a Chinese Buddhist monk I-tsing on his journey to India. The empire served as a Buddhist learning center in the region, a notable Srivijayan revered Buddhist scholar is Dharmakirti, a Srivijayan prince of the Sailendra dynasty, born around the turn of the 7th century in Sumatra. He became a revered scholar-monk in Srivijaya and moved to India to become a teacher at the famed Nalanda University and he built on and reinterpreted the work of Dignaga, the pioneer of Buddhist Logic, and was very influential among Brahman logicians as well as Buddhists. His theories became normative in Tibet and are studied to this day as a part of the monastic curriculum. Other Buddhist monks that visited Indonesia were Atisha, Dharmapala, a professor of Nalanda, Srivijaya was the largest Buddhist empire ever formed in Indonesian history. During the era of Kediri, Singhasari and Majapahit empire, buddhism — identified as Dharma ri Kasogatan — was acknowledged as one of kingdoms official religions along with Hinduism, in the 13th century Islam entered the archipelago, and began gaining foothold in coastal port towns. The fall of Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit empire in late 15th century marked the end of dharmic civilization dominance in Indonesia, by the end of the 16th century, Islam had supplanted Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religion of Java and Sumatra. After that for 450 years, there is no significant Buddhist adherence and practice in Indonesia, many of Buddhist sites, stupas, temples, and manuscripts are lost or forgotten, as the region has become more predominantly Muslim. Many of klenteng in Indonesia are in fact a temple that houses three faiths, namely Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. In 1934, Narada Thera, a monk from Sri Lanka
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Buddhism in Malaysia
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Sri Dhammananda and a sizeable population of Malaysian Indians. Buddhism was introduced to the Malays and also to the people of the Malay Archipelago as early as 200 BCE, Chinese written sources indicated that some 30 small Indianised states rose and fell in the Malay Peninsula. Malay-Buddhism began when Indian traders and priests traveling the maritime routes and brought with them Indian concepts of religion, government, however, the Malay Kedah Kingdom denounced Indian religion after the king of Chola from Tamil Nadu attacked them in the early 11th century. According to the Malaysian constitution, the majority group, the Malays, are legally defined as Muslim. They constitute 60% of the population, with the remainder consisting mostly of Chinese, who are generally Buddhists or Christians, and to the lesser extent Indians, who are generally Hindus. There are also numbers of other indigenous and immigrants, among the latter are Malaysians of Sinhalese, Thai. Nearly all of the Buddhists in Malaysia live in urban areas, groups involved in these education efforts include the Buddhist Missionary Society. In response to needs, religious practices are carried out. Efforts are made to explain why sutras are chanted, lamps lit, flowers offered, as a religion without a supreme head to direct its development, Buddhism is practised in various forms, which, although rarely in open conflict, can sometimes lead to confusion among Buddhists. In Malaysia, some ecumenical moves have made to coordinate the activities of different types of Buddhists. In 2013, a video of a group of Buddhist practitioner from Singapore conducting religious ceremonies in a surau had become viral on Facebook, Malaysian police have arrested a resort owner after he allowed 13 Buddhists to use a Muslim prayer room for their meditation at Kota Tinggi, Johor. The incident has been a frown upon Muslims in Malaysia and it has also become a hot topic in the social media. At the time, Syed Ahmad Salim, the owner explained that he had allowed the group of Buddhists to use the surau for a meditation session as he was unaware that it was an offence. According to the 2010 Census,5,620,483 people or 19. 8% of the population identify themselves as Buddhists. Most Chinese Malaysian follow a combination of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and ancestor-worship but, as a result,83. 6% of all the Chinese Malaysian self-identifying as Buddhist. Information collected in the based on respondents answer and did not refer to any official document. In Search of Nirvana, in, Sacred Tensions, Modernity, young Buddhist Association Of Malaysia Soka Gakkai Malaysia
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Buddhism in Singapore
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Buddhism owes its origins primarily from Shakyamuni Buddha who appeared in India around 2500 years ago or more. As a religion, Buddhism is introduced in modern-day Singapore primarily by migrants from across the world over past centuries, in 2010, out of 2,779,524 Singaporeans polled,943,369 of them aged 15 and over identified themselves as Buddhists. There are a variety of Buddhist organizations in Singapore, with the more predominant authorities being established ones such as the Singapore Buddhist Federation, Buddhism first appeared around the Singapore Straits during the 2nd century. They include Japanese and Western interpretations of the tripitaka, although a local presence have their origins dating back into historic South East and East Asian kingdoms. This coincided with the basic Buddhist teaching that the Shakyamuni Buddha is neither a theist God nor a saviour, there is also an active female involvement in Singaporean Buddhism, which includes lay female followers as well as monastic nuns. Buddhists generally classify themselves as either Theravada or Mahayana and he also faces a lawsuit from a trustee Lee Boon Teow of the monastery, who has also filed a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau report against the abbot. Venerable Ming Yi of Foo Hai Chan Monastery as of 2015 was also imprisoned in a corruption scandal many years ago. Wat Ananda Youth Chia, Jack Meng Tat, Buddhism in Singapore, A State of the Field Review. State, Society and Religious Engineering, Towards a Reformist Buddhism in Singapore, Buddhism in Singapore, A Short Narrative History. In Understanding Singapore Society, eds. Ong Jin Hui, Tong Chee Kiong and Tan Ern Ser, pp. 130–162
16.
Tibetan Buddhism
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Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the regions surrounding the Himalayas and much of Central Asia. It derives from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism and preserves the Tantric status quo of eighth-century India, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Religious texts and commentaries comprise the Tibetan Buddhist canon, such that Tibetan is a language of these areas. Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, the number of its adherents is estimated to be between ten and twenty million. Westerners unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism initially turned to China for an understanding, there the term used was lamaism to distinguish it from a then traditional Chinese form. The term was taken up by scholars including Hegel, as early as 1822. Insofar as it implies a discontinuity between Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, the term has been discredited, another term, Vajrayāna is occasionally used mistakenly for Tibetan Buddhism. More accurately, it signifies a certain subset of practices included in, not only Tibetan Buddhism, the native Tibetan term for all Buddhism is doctrine of the internalists. There is an association between the religious and the secular the spiritual and the temporal in Tibet. The term for this relationship is chos srid zung brel, in the west the term Indo-Tibetan Buddhism has become current, in acknowledgement of its derivation from the latest stages of Buddhist development in northern India. Tibetan Buddhism comprises the teachings of the three vehicles of Buddhism, the Foundational Vehicle, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna, the Mahāyāna goal of spiritual development is to achieve the enlightenment of buddhahood in order to most efficiently help all other sentient beings attain this state. The motivation in it is the mind of enlightenment — an altruistic intention to become enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings. Bodhisattvas are revered beings who have conceived the will and vow to dedicate their lives with bodhicitta for the sake of all beings, Tibetan Buddhism teaches methods for achieving buddhahood more quickly by including the Vajrayāna path in Mahāyāna. Buddhahood is defined as a free of the obstructions to liberation as well as those to omniscience. When one is freed from all mental obscurations, one is said to attain a state of continuous bliss mixed with a simultaneous cognition of emptiness, in this state, all limitations on ones ability to help other living beings are removed. It is said there are countless beings who have attained buddhahood. Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to all sentient beings. However it is believed that ones karma could limit the ability of the Buddhas to help them, there is a long history of oral transmission of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism
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Oirats
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Oirats are the westernmost group of the Mongols whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in Kalmykia, a federal subject of Russia. Historically, the Oirats were composed of four tribes, Dzungar, Torghut, Dörbet. The minor tribes include, Khoid, Bayads, Myangad, Zakhchin, the name probably means oi and ard, and they were counted among the forest people in the 13th century. A second opinion believes the name derives from Mongolian word oirt meaning close, the name Oirat may derive from a corruption of the groups original name Dörben Öörd, meaning The Allied Four. In the 17th century, Zaya Pandita, a Gelug monk of the Khoshut tribe, the Todo Bichig writing system remained in use in Kalmykia until the mid-1920s when it was replaced by a Latin-based script, and later the Cyrillic alphabet. It can be seen in public signs in the Kalmyk capital, Elista. In Mongolia it was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet in 1941. Some Oirats in China still use Todo Bichig as their writing system. A monument of Zaya Pandita was unveiled on the 400th anniversary of Zaya Panditas birth, comprising the Khoshut, Choros or Ölöt, Torghut, and Dörbet ethnic groups, they were dubbed Kalmyk or Kalmak, which means remnant or to remain, by their western Turkic neighbours. Various sources also list the Bargut, Buzava, Keraites, and Naiman tribes as comprising part of the Dörben Öörd, some tribes may have joined the original four only in later years. This name may reflect the Kalmyks remaining Buddhist rather than converting to Islam. One of the earliest mentions of the Oirat people in a text can be found in The Secret History of the Mongols. In the Secret History, the Oirats are counted among the forest people and are said to live under the rule of a known as bäki. They lived in Tuva and Mongolian Khövsgöl Province and the Oirats moved to the south in the 14th century, in one famous passage the Oirat chief, Quduqa Bäki, uses a yada or thunder stone to unleash a powerful storm on Genghis army. The magical ploy backfires however, when a wind blows the storm back at Quduqa. During early stages of Temujin Genghiss rise, Oirats under Quduqa bekhi fought against Genghis and were defeated, Oirats were fully submitted to Mongol rule after their ally Jamukha, Temujins childhood friend and later rival, was destroyed. Subject to the khan Oirats would form themselves as a loyal, in 1207, Jochi the eldest son of Genghis, subjugated the forest tribes including the Oirats and the Kyrgyzs
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Yugur
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The Yugurs, or Yellow Uyghurs, as they are traditionally known, are one of Chinas 56 officially recognized nationalities, consisting of 13,719 persons according to the 2000 census. The Yugur live primarily in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County in Gansu, Chinese historical documents have recorded these ethnonyms as Sālǐ Wèiwùr or Xīlǎgǔr. During the Qing dynasty, the Yugur were also called by a term that included fān, in order to distinguish both groups and their languages, Chinese linguists coined the terms Xībù Yùgùr Western Yugur and Dōngbù Yùgùr Eastern Yugur based on their geographical distribution. The population of kingdom, estimated at 300,000 in Song chronicles. In 1037 the Yugur came under Tangut domination, the Gansu Uyghur Kingdom was forcibly incorporated into the Western Xia after a bloody war that raged from 1028–1036. Mahmud al-Kashgari, who lived at the time in Kashgar, stated that Uyghur blood was pouring like a stream during this war. The Mongolic-speaking Yugurs are probably the descendants of one of the Mongolic-speaking groups that invaded North China during the Mongol conquests of the thirteenth century, the Yugurs were eventually incorporated into Qing China in 1696 during the reign of the second Qing ruler, the Kangxi Emperor. Then, in 1907, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim visited the Western Yugur village of Lianhua, Mannerheim was the first to conduct a detailed ethnographic investigation of the Yugur. In 1911, he published his findings in an article for the Finno-Ugrian Society, about 4,600 of the Yugurs speak Western Yugur and about 2,800 Eastern Yugur. Western Yugur has preserved many archaisms of Old Uyghur, the remaining Yugurs of the Autonomous County lost their respective Yugur language and speak Chinese. A very small number of the Yugur reportedly speak Tibetan, both Yugur languages are now unwritten, although the Old Uyghur alphabet was in use in some Yugur communities until end of 19th century. The Turkic speaking Yugur mainly live in the part of the County in Mínghuā District, in the Townships of Liánhuā and Mínghǎi. The Mongolic speaking Yugur mainly live in the Countys eastern part, in Huángchéng District, the Yugur people are predominantly employed in animal husbandry. The traditional religion of the Yugur is Tibetan Buddhism, which used to be practised alongside shamanism, the historical country of Sarig Yogir is a playable nation in the Paradox Interactive grand strategy video game Europa Universalis IV. Slide shows, maps and other material on the Yugur from author Eric Enno Tamm Original Western Yugur texts with English translation plus PDF grammar of Sarig Yugur
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Inner Mongolia
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Its capital is Hohhot, and other major cities include Baotou, Chifeng, and Ordos. It is the third largest subdivision of China, spanning approximately 1,200,000 km2 or 12% of Chinas total land area and it recorded a population of 24,706,321 in the 2010 census, accounting for 1. 84% of Mainland Chinas total population. Inner Mongolia is the countrys 23rd most populous province-level division, the majority of the population in the region is Han Chinese, with a sizeable titular Mongol minority. In Chinese, the region is known as Inner Mongolia, where the terms of Inner/Outer are derived from Manchu dorgi/tulergi. The term Inner 内 referred to the Nei Fan 内番, i. e. those descendants of Genghis Khan who granted the title khan in Ming and Qing Dynasties and lived in part of southern part of Mongolia. In recent years, some Mongols began to call Inner Mongolia Nan Menggu, literally South Mongolia, much of what is known about the history of Greater Mongolia, including Inner Mongolia, is known through Chinese chronicles and historians. Slab Grave cultural monuments are found in northern, central and eastern Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, north-western China, Mongolian scholars prove that this culture related to the Proto-Mongols. During the Zhou Dynasty, central and western Inner Mongolia were inhabited by peoples such as the Loufan, Linhu. During the Warring States period, King Wuling of the state of Zhao based in what is now Hebei, after destroying the Dí state of Zhongshan in what is now Hebei province, he defeated the Linhu and Loufan and created the commandery of Yunzhong near modern Hohhot. King Wuling of Zhao also built a long wall stretching through the Hetao region and he also maintained two commanderies in the region, Jiuyuan and Yunzhong, and moved 30,000 households there to solidify the region. After the Qin Dynasty collapsed in 206 BC, these efforts were abandoned, during the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu sent the general Wei Qing to reconquer the Hetao region from the Xiongnu in 127 BC. After the conquest, Emperor Wu continued the policy of building settlements in Hetao to defend against the Xiong-Nu, in that same year he established the commanderies of Shuofang and Wuyuan in Hetao. At the same time, what is now eastern Inner Mongolia was controlled by the Xianbei, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xiongnu who surrendered to the Han Dynasty began to be settled in Hetao, and intermingled with the Han immigrants in the area. Hetao was then taken over by the Khitan Empire, founded by the Khitans and they were followed by the Western Xia of the Tanguts, who took control of what is now the western part of Inner Mongolia. The Khitans were later replaced by the Jurchens, precursors to the modern Manchus, after Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes in 1206 and founded the Mongol Empire, the Tangut Western Xia empire was ultimately conquered in 1227, and the Jurchen Jin dynasty fell in 1234. In 1271, Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan established the Yuan dynasty, Kublai Khans summer capital Shangdu was located near present-day Dolonnor. During that time Ongud and Khunggirad peoples dominated the area of what is now Inner Mongolia, after the Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Han-led Ming dynasty in 1368, the Ming captured parts of Inner Mongolia including Shangdu and Yingchang. The Ming rebuilt the Great Wall of China at its present location, the Ming established the Three Guards composed of the Mongols there
20.
Buddhism in Bhutan
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Buddhism is the major religion in Bhutan. Vajrayana Buddhism is the religion of Bhutan, and Buddhists comprise two-thirds to three-quarters. Although the Buddhism practiced in Bhutan originated in Tibetan Buddhism, it significantly in its rituals, liturgy. The state religion has long been supported financially by the government through subsidies to Buddhist monastery, shrines, monks. Guaranteed representation in the National Assembly and the Royal Advisory Council, in 1989 some 1,000 monks belonged to the Central Monastic Body in Thimphu and Punakha, and some 4,000 monks belonged to district monastic bodies. The hierarchy is headed by the Je Khenpo, who was assisted by five lopons or masters, each in charge of religious tradition, liturgy, lexicography, or logic and university. The lonpon, one of whom, the Dorji Lonpon, normally succeeded the current Je Khenpo, had under them religious administrators and junior officials in charge of art, music. In all, there were some 12,000 monks in Bhutan in the late 1980s, there were also active congregations of nuns, but no figures were readily available. The majority of Bhutans Buddhists are adherents of the Drukpa subsect of the Kargyupa school, subsequently Trizin Tsering Rimpoche was enthroned as the chairman by Truku Jigme Chödrag Rinpoche since June 2003. Prior to 1907, the highest Buddhist leader in Bhutan was the Zhabdrung and his formal activity to benefit all sentient beings is destined to occur in seven lives, each with his own prophecy. Monasteries and convents are common in Bhutan, both monks and nuns keep their heads shaved and wear distinguishing maroon robes. Such monastic music and singing, not normally heard by the public, has been reported to have great virility. Common people do practice the religion in their own ways, day to day works, in their speech, in their thought and visiting the holy place, to bring Buddhism to the people, numerous symbols and structures are employed. Religious monuments, prayer walls, prayer flags, and sacred mantras carved in stone hillsides are prevalent, among the religious monuments are chorten, the Bhutanese version of the Indian stupa. They range from simple rectangular house chorten to complex edifices with ornate steps, doors, domes, some are decorated with the Buddhas eyes that see in all directions simultaneously. These earth, brick, or stone structures commemorate deceased kings, Buddhist saints, venerable monks, and other notables, prayer walls are made of laid or piled stone and inscribed with Tantric prayers. Before the introduction of Buddhism, Bön religion was prevalent in Bhutan, Bön continues to be practiced in modern Bhutan. loc. gov/frd/cs/. Historical Observations on Buddhism in Bhutan, The Tibet Journal, Vol.2, pp. 74-91 – via JSTOR Menjong Chöthün Tshogpa Buddha Dordenma Image Foundation About Bhutan and Buddhism in Bhutan
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Buddhism in Mongolia
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Buddhism in Mongolia derives much of its recent characteristics from Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug and Kagyu lineages. Although the emperors of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th and 15th century had already converted to Tibetan Buddhism, the Mongols returned to their old shamanist ways after the collapse of their empire. In 1578 Altan Khan, a Mongol military leader with ambitions to unite the Mongols and to emulate the career of Genghis Khan and they formed an alliance that gave Altan Khan legitimacy and religious sanction for his imperial pretensions and that provided the Buddhist school with protection and patronage. Altan Khan of Mongolia gave the Tibetan leader the title of Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism combines Vajrayana with indigenous rituals of curing and exorcism, shares the common Buddhist goal of individual release from suffering and the cycles of rebirth. Tantrism contributed esoteric techniques of meditation and a repertoire of sacred icons, phrases and mudra that easily lent themselves to pragmatic and magical interpretation. In Tibet Buddhism thus became an amalgam, combining colorful popular ceremonies and these leaders, referred to as tulkus, held secular power and supervised a body of ordinary monks or lamas. The monks were supported by the laity, who thereby gained merit and who received from the instructions in the rudiments of the faith and monastic services in healing, divination. Though Tibetan influence is prevalent in Mongolia, Mongolian Buddhism is distinct, the earliest introduction of Buddhism into the Mongolian steppes took place during the periods of pre-Mongol states. Buddhism penetrated Mongolia from Nepal via Central Asia, many Buddhist terms of Sanskrit origin were adopted via the Sogdian language. The rulers of the pre- and para-Mongol states such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran Khaganate, Buddhism prevailed among aristocrats and was patronised by the monarchs of the Northern Wei established by the Xianbei and of the Liao dynasty established by the Khitan people. The Khitan aristocracy regarded Buddhism as the culture of the Uyghur Khaganate that dominated the Mongolian steppes before the rise of the Khitans, the monarchs of the Jin established by the Jurchen people also regarded Buddhism as part of their Khitan. Tibetan Buddhist monasticism made an important impact on the development of Mongolian Buddhism. The Buddhist monkhood has always played significant political roles in Central and Southeast Asia, Mongols assisted Tibetans in unifying the country. The activities of the Mongols were conducive to the prominency of the Sakya school and then the Gelug, by the beginning of the twentieth century, Outer Mongolia had 583 monasteries and temple complexes, which controlled an estimated 20 percent of the countrys wealth. Almost all Mongolian cities have grown up on the sites of monasteries, Ikh Huree, as Ulaanbaatar was then known, was the seat of the preeminent living Buddha of Mongolia, who ranked third in the ecclesiastical hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. Two monasteries there contained approximately 13,000 and 7000 monks, respectively, over the centuries, the monasteries acquired riches and secular dependents, gradually increasing their wealth and power as the wealth and power of the Mongol nobility declined. Some nobles donated a portion of their dependent families — people, rather than land, were the foundation of wealth, some herders dedicated themselves and their families to serve the monasteries, either from piety or from the desire to escape the arbitrary exactions of the nobility. In some areas, the monasteries and their living buddhas were also the secular authorities, about 250,000 people, more than a third of the total population, either lived in territories administered by monasteries and living Buddhas or were hereditary dependents of the monasteries
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Buddhism in Nepal
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Buddha was born in Shakya Kingdom of Kapilvastu which lies in present-day Rupandehi district, Lumbini zone of Nepal. It has not been possible to assign with certainty the year in which Prince Siddhartha was born,10. 74% of Nepals population practice Buddhism, consisting mainly of Tibeto-Burman-speaking ethnicities. In Nepals hill and mountain regions Hinduism has absorbed Buddhist tenets to such an extent that in many cases they have shared deities as well as temples, for instance, the Muktinath Temple is sacred and a common house of worship for both Hindus and Buddhists. During the reign of King Aṃśuvarman, the Nepalese princess Bhrikuti played a significant role in spreading and developing Buddhism in Tibet, Tibetan Buddhist architecture has long been influenced by Nepalese artists and sculptors like Araniko. The sacred Buddhist texts in Mahayana Buddhism are mainly written in the Ranjana alphabet, the script of the Newars, or scripts like Lantsa, Newar Buddhism is a form of Vajrayana influenced by Theravada Buddhism. Many Buddhist groups are also influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism is the dominant religion of the thinly populated northern areas, which are inhabited by Tibetan-related peoples, namely the Sherpa, Lopa, Manangi, Thakali, Lhomi, Dolpa and Nyimba. They constitute a minority of the countrys population. Ethnic groups that live in central Nepal such as the Gurungs, Lepcha, Tamang, Magar, Newars, Yakkha, Thami, Chhantyal and these ethnic groups have larger populations compared to their northern neighbours. They came under the influence of Hinduism due to their contacts with the Hindu castes. In turn, many of them eventually adopted Hinduism and have largely integrated into the caste system. The Kirati people, especially the Limbu and the Rai people, have also adopted Tibetan Buddhist practises from their Buddhist neighbours, the Jirel people, who are considered a Kirati, have also adopted Tibetan Buddhism. Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha in Nepal and he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, in present-day Bihar, India. He there preached his teachings and thus Buddhism came into existence, emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire put up a pillar at Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, in the second century BCE. After the Third Buddhist council, Ashoka missionaries to Nepal and it is also believed that Ashoka went to Patan and had four stupas built there. It is believed that his daughter Charumati established the village of Chabahil, the Licchavi period saw the flourishing of both Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal. Ancient Buddhist texts claim that Mulasarvasti Vadavinaya came to Nepal, then known as Newal, another Buddhist text, the Manjushrimula Kalpa, mentioned Manadeva as the King of Nepal Mandala. Researchers believe the Mulasarvastivadavinaya was written in the 2nd century CE, the Swayambhu Purana, the ancient Buddhist Purana text, and a Licchavi inscription all mentioned Nepal Mandala. Buddhist inscriptions and chronicles and Tibetan sources also record a few tantric Buddhist deities, namely Aksyobhya, Amitabha, Vajrayogini, Vajrabhairava, Usnisavijaya, strong influence from Animism resulted in belief in Buddhist deities such as the Pancaraksas
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Buddhism in Russia
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Historically, Buddhism was incorporated into Russian lands in the early 17th century. Buddhism is considered as one of Russias traditional religions, legally a part of Russian historical heritage, besides the historical monastic traditions of Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva, Buddhism is now widespread all over Russia, with many ethnic Russian converts. The main form of Buddhism in Russia is the Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, although Tibetan Buddhism is most often associated with Tibet, it spread into Mongolia, and via Mongolia into Russia. By 1887, there were already 29 publishing houses and numerous datsans, after the Russian Revolution, the datsans were closed down. By the 1930s, Buddhists were suffering more than any religious community in the Soviet Union with lamas being expelled and accused of being Japanese spies. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a Buddhist revival began in Kalmykia with the election of President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and it was also revived in Buryatia and Tuva and began to spread to Russians in other regions. In 1992, the Dalai Lama made his first visit to Tuva in Russia, there are several Tibetan Buddhist university-monasteries throughout Russia, concentrated in Siberia, known as Datsans. India–Russia relations Buddhism in Buryatia Buddhism in Kalmykia Datsan - Buddhist temples in Russia Datsan Gunzechoinei Juergensmeyer, the Oxford Handbook of Global Religions
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Buddhism in the West
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Buddhism in the West broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia. Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years, the Western and Buddhist worlds have occasionally intersected since the distant past. It was possible that the earliest encounter was in 334 BCE, early in the history of Buddhism, the Seleucids and successive kingdoms established Hellenistic influence in the area, interacting with Buddhism introduced from India, producing Greco-Buddhism. The Mauryan Emperor Aśoka converted to Buddhism after his bloody conquest of the territory of Kalinga in eastern India during the Kalinga War, regretting the horrors brought about by the conflict, the Emperor decided to renounce violence. He propagated the faith by building stupas and pillars urging, amongst other things, respect of all animal life, perhaps the finest example of these is the Great Stupa of Sanchi in India. This stupa was constructed in the 3rd century BCE and later enlarged and its carved gates, called Toran, are considered among the finest examples of Buddhist art in India. He also built roads, hospitals, universities and irrigation systems around the country and he treated his subjects as equals regardless of their religion, politics or caste. This period marks the first spread of Buddhism beyond India to other countries, in the Christian era, Buddhist ideas periodically filtered into Europe via the Middle East. The first direct recorded encounter between European Christians and Buddhists was in 1253 when the king of France sent William of Rubruck as an ambassador to the court of the Mongol Empire. Later, in the 17th century, Mongols practicing Tibetan Buddhism established Kalmykia, several instances of interaction between Buddhism and the Roman Empire are documented by Classical and early Christian writers. Roman historical accounts describe an embassy sent by the Indian king Pandion, also named Porus, the embassy was travelling with a diplomatic letter in Greek, and one of its members—called Zarmanochegas—was an Indian religious man who burned himself alive in Athens to demonstrate his faith. The event created a sensation and was described by Nicolaus of Damascus, who met the embassy at Antioch, a tomb was made for Zarmanochegas, still visible in the time of Plutarch, which bore the following inscription, ΖΑΡΜΑΝΟΧΗΓΑΣ ΙΝΔΟΣ ΑΠΟ ΒΑΡΓΟΣΗΣ. These accounts at least indicate that Indian religious men were visiting Mediterranean countries, however, the term sramana is a general term for Indian religious man in Jainism, Buddhism, and Ājīvika. It is not clear which religious tradition the man belonged to in this case, in English, Sir Edwin Arnolds book-length poem The Light of Asia, a life of the Buddha, became a best-seller and has remained continuously in print since it first appeared. These included the German philosopher Schopenhauer, who first read about Buddhism, the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau translated a Buddhist sutra from French into English. In the latter half of the 19th century, Buddhism came to the attention of a wider Western public, immigrant monks soon began teaching to western audiences, as well. The first Buddhists to arrive in the United States were Chinese, hired as cheap labor for the railroads and other expanding industries, they established temples in their settlements along the rail lines. At about the time, immigrants from Japan began to arrive as laborers on Hawaiian plantations
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Buddhism in the United States
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Buddhism is one of the largest religions in the United States behind Christianity, Judaism and Islam. American Buddhists include many Asian Americans, as well as a number of converts of other ethnicities. In 2012, U-T San Diego estimated U. S. practitioners at 1.2 million people, in terms of percentage, Hawaii has the most Buddhists at 8% of the population due to its large Asian American community. A trend in Buddhism is export or evangelical Buddhist groups based in another country who actively recruit members in the US from various backgrounds, modern Buddhism is not just an American phenomenon. Soka Gakkai International is perhaps the most successful of Japans new religious movements that grew around the world after the end of World War II. Soka Gakkai, which means Value Creation Society, is one of three sects of Nichiren Buddhism that came to the United States during the 20th century, because of a rift with Nichiren Shōshū in 1991, the SGI has no priests of its own. Its main religious practice is chanting the mantra Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, unlike trends such as Zen, Vipassanā, and Tibetan Buddhism, Soka Gakkai Buddhists do not practice meditative techniques other than chanting. An SGI YouTube series called Buddhist in America has over a million views in total as of 2015. Buddhism was introduced into the USA by Asian immigrants in the 19th century, in the United States, immigrants from China entered around 1820, but began to arrive in large numbers following the 1849 California Gold Rush. Immigrant Buddhist congregations in North America are as diverse as the different peoples of Asian Buddhist extraction who settled there, the Immigration Act of 1965 increased the number of immigrants arriving from China, Vietnam, and the Theravada-practicing countries of Southeast Asia. Fanciful accounts of a visit to North America at the end of the 5th century written by a Chinese monk named Huishen or Hushen can be found in the Wenxian Tongkao by Ma Tuan-Lin. This account is challenged but it is at least plausible in the words of James Ishmael Ford. The first Buddhist temple in America was built in 1853 in San Francisco by the Sze Yap Company, unfortunately a casualty of racism, these temples were often the subject of suspicion and ignorance by the rest of the population, and were dismissively called joss houses. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 curtailed growth of the Chinese American population, in both cases, immigration was at first primarily to Hawaii. Populations from other Asian Buddhist countries followed, and in each case, for instance, the first Japanese temple in Hawaii was built in 1896 near Paauhau by the Honpa Hongwanji branch of Jodo Shinshu. In 1898, Japanese missionaries and immigrants established a Young Mens Buddhist Association, the first Japanese Buddhist temple in the continental U. S. was built in San Francisco in 1899, and the first in Canada was built at the Ishikawa Hotel in Vancouver in 1905. The first Buddhist clergy to take up residence in the continental U. S. were Shuye Sonoda and Kakuryo Nishimjima, the Buddhist Churches of America and the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii are immigrant Buddhist organizations in the United States. The BCA is an affiliate of Japans Nishi Hongwanji, a sect of Jōdo Shinshū, all of the Buddhist Missions leadership, along with almost the entire Japanese American population, had been interned during World War II
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Maha Bodhi Society
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The Maha Bodhi Society is a South Asian Buddhist society founded by the Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala and the British journalist and poet Sir Edwin Arnold. The organizations self-stated initial efforts were for the resuscitation of Buddhism in India, although some Indians had remained culturally Buddhist for centuries after the decline of Buddhist philosophy, they did not self-identify as Buddhist. Prior to that, in 1885 Sir Edwin Arnold visited the site, the Mahabodhi Society at Colombo was founded in 1891 but its offices were moved to Calcutta the following year. One of its aims was the restoration of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya. To accomplish this Dharmapala initiated a lawsuit against the Brahmin priests who had control of the site for centuries. After a protracted struggle this was successful with the restoration of the site to the management of the Maha Bodhi Society in 1949. Maha Bodhi Society branches have been established in countries, most significantly in India. A United States branch was founded by Dr. Paul Carus, there is also a Maha Bodhi Society of Bangalore, founded by Acharya Buddharakkhita in 1956, which is not a part of or tied to the Maha Bodhi Society of India or Sri Lanka. During this period, the Mahabodhi Temple fell into disrepair and was largely abandoned, during the 16th century, a Hindu monastery was established near Bodh Gaya. Over the following centuries, the abbot or mahant became the areas primary landholder. In the 1880s, the-then British government of India began to restore Mahabodhi Temple under the direction of Sir Alexander Cunningham, in 1885, Sir Edwin Arnold visited the site and published several articles drawing the attention of the Buddhists to the deplorable conditions of Buddhagaya. He was guided in this undertaking by Ven. Weligama Sri Sumangala In 1891, Anagarika Dharmapala started a campaign to control of the temple to Buddhists. The campaign was successful in 1949, when control passed from the Hindu mahant to the state government of Bihar. The committee has nine members, a majority of whom, including the chairman, mahabodhis first head monk under the management committee was Anagarika Munindra, a Bengali man who had been an active member of the Maha Bodhi Society. In 1931 the Mulaghandakuti Vihara was erected at Sarnath, an ancient Buddhist site and they have also published books and pamphlets in local/regional languages and dialects, sometimes in partnership with other presses. The outgoing president, B. K. Modi, was a Hindu, at the same meeting, the 14th Dalai Lama was given the new title of chief patron. Buddhism in India Mahabodhi Society Mahabodhi Society, Bangalore
27.
Bodhisattva
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Bodhisattvas are a popular subject in Buddhist art. In early Indian Buddhism, the term bodhisattva was primarily used to specifically to Gautama Buddha in his former life. The Jataka tales, which are the stories of the Buddhas past lives, depict the various attempts of the bodhisattva to embrace qualities like self-sacrifice, mount Potalaka, for example, is one of Bodhisattvayana. Because Hinayana was disliked and the terms Śrāvaka-Bodhisattva or Pratyekabuddha-Bodhisattva were not widely used, nevertheless, bodhisattva retained an implied reference to someone on the path to become an arhat or pratyekabuddha. In contrast, the goal of Mahayanas bodhisattva path is to achieve Samyaksambodhiṃ, when, during his discourses, he recounts his experiences as a young aspirant, he regularly uses the phrase When I was an unenlightened bodhisatta. The term therefore connotes a being who is bound for enlightenment, in other words, in the Pāli canon, the bodhisatta is also described as someone who is still subject to birth, illness, death, sorrow, defilement, and delusion. Some of the lives of the Buddha as a bodhisattva are featured in the Jataka tales. According to the Theravāda monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, the path is not taught in the earliest strata of Buddhist texts such as the Pali Nikayas which instead focus on the ideal of the Arahant. In later Theravada literature, the bodhisatta is used fairly frequently in the sense of someone on the path to liberation. He also quotes an inscription from the 10th Century king of Sri Lanka, Mahinda IV, paul Williams writes that some modern Theravada meditation masters in Thailand are popularly regarded as bodhisattvas. Like perhaps some of the early Mahāyāna forest hermit monks, or the later Buddhist Tantrics and they are widely revered, worshipped, and held to be arhats or bodhisattvas. Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva, according to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna was originally even an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, or the Bodhisattva Vehicle. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra contains a simple and brief definition for the term bodhisattva and this definition is given as the following. Because he has enlightenment as his aim, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is so called, the early Rastrapalapariprccha sutra also promotes a solitary life of meditation in the forests, far away from the distractions of the householder life. The Rastrapala is also critical of monks living in monasteries and in cities who are seen as not practicing meditation. These texts seem to indicate the initial Bodhisattva ideal was associated with a strict forest asceticism, Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the enlightenment of all sentient beings by practicing the six perfections. Indelibly entwined with the vow is merit transference
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Samadhi
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Samadhi, also called samāpatti, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools refers to a state of meditative consciousness. It is a meditative absorption or trance, attained by the practice of dhyāna, in samādhi the mind becomes still. It is a state of being aware of the present moment. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path, in the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Sarbacker, samādhi is meditative absorption, attained by the practice of dhyāna, diener, Erhard & Fischer-Schreiber, samādhi is a non-dualistic state of consciousness in which the consciousness of the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object. Shankman, an abiding in which becomes very still but does not merge with the object of attention. Dhi, consciousness, a state of being where all distinctions between the person who is the subjective meditator, the act of meditation and the object of meditation merge into oneness. Common Chinese terms for samadhi include the transliterations sanmei and sanmodi, kumarajivas translations typically use sanmei, while the translations of Xuanzang tend to use ding. The Chinese Buddhist canon includes these as well as translations and transliterations of the term. According to Rhys Davids the first attested usage of the samadhi in Sanskrit literature was in the Maitri Upanishad. The origins of the practice of dhyana, which culminates into samadhi, are a matter of dispute and these practices were paired to mindfulness and insight, and given a new interpretation. Kalupahana also argues that the Buddha reverted to the practices he had learned from Alara Kalama. The term Samadhi derives from the root sam-a-dha, which means to collect or bring together, in the early Buddhist texts, samadhi is also associated with the term samatha. In the suttas, samadhi is defined as one-pointedness of mind, the Theravada Pali texts mention four kinds of samadhi, Momentary concentration, A mental stabilization which arises during vipassana. Preliminary concentration, Arises out of the initial attempts to focus on a meditation object. Access concentration, Arises when the five hindrances are suppressed, when jhana is present, absorption concentration, The total immersion of the mind on its meditation of object and stabilization of all four jhanas. Samadhi is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path, Samādhi refers here to the jhanas, levels of gradual deepening of meditation. The Pāli canon describes eight progressive states of jhāna, four meditations of form, according to Bronkhorst, the four rūpa jhāna may be an original contribution of the Buddha to the religious landscape of India
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Trikaya
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The Trikāya doctrine is a Mahayana Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of Buddhahood. Even before the Buddhas parinirvāṇa, the term Dhammakāya was current, and the Buddha comforts him, Enough, Vakkali. Why do you want to see this filthy body, whoever sees the Dhamma sees me, whoever sees me sees the Dhamma. Because the titles of the Tathagatha are, The Body of Dhamma, The Body of Brahma, the Manifestation of Dhamma, the Dharmakāya doctrine was possibly first expounded in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā The Perfection of Wisdom In Eight Thousand Verses, composed in the 1st century BCE. Mahayana Buddhism introduced the Sambhogakāya, which conceptually fits between the Nirmāṇakāya and the Dharmakaya, the Sambhogakaya is that aspect of the Buddha, or the Dharma, that one meets in visions and in deep meditation. It could be considered an interface with the Dharmakaya, the Trikaya-doctrine and the Buddha-nature bring the transcendental within reach, by placing the transcendental within the plane of immanence. Around 300 CE, the Yogacara school systematized the prevalent ideas on the nature of the Buddha in the Trikaya or three-body doctrine, schools have different ideas about what the three bodies are. The Three Bodies of the Buddha from the point of view of Pure Land Buddhist thought can be broken down like so, an example would be Gautama Buddhas body. The Sambhogakāya is the reward/enjoyment body, whereby a bodhisattva completes his vows, amitābha, Vajrasattva and Manjushri are examples of Buddhas with the Sambhogakaya body. The Dharmakāya is the embodiment of the truth itself, and it is seen as transcending the forms of physical and spiritual bodies. Vairocana Buddha is often depicted as the Dharmakāya, particularly in esoteric Buddhist schools such as Shingon, Tendai, as with earlier Buddhist thought, all three forms of the Buddha teach the same Dharma, but take on different forms to expound the truth. According to Schloegl, in the Zhenzhou Linji Huizhao Chansi Yulu and they would be mental configurations that are merely names or props and would only perform a role of light and shadow of the mind. The Zhenzhou Linji Huizhao Chansi Yulu advises, Do you wish to be not different from the Buddhas, then just do not look for anything outside. The pure light of your own heart at this instant is the Dharmakaya Buddha in your own house, the non-differentiating light of your heart at this instant is the Sambhogakaya Buddha in your own house. The non-discriminating light of your own heart at this instant is the Nirmanakaya Buddha in your own house and this trinity of the Buddhas body is none other than he here before your eyes, listening to my expounding the Dharma. Vajrayana sometimes refers to a body called the svābhāvikakāya essential body. The svābhāvikakāya is simply the unity or non-separateness of the three kayas, the term is also known in Gelug teachings, where it is one of the assumed two aspects of the dharmakāya, svābhāvikakāya essence body and jñānakāya body of wisdom. Haribhadra claims that the Abhisamayalankara describes Buddhahood through four kāyas in chapter 8, one perceives that the essence of mind is empty, but that it also has a potentiality that takes the form of luminosity
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Prajnaparamita
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Prajñāpāramitā means the Perfection of Wisdom in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The word Prajñāpāramitā combines the Sanskrit words prajñā wisdom with pāramitā perfection, Prajñāpāramitā is a central concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism and is generally associated with the doctrine of emptiness or lack of Svabhava and the works of Nagarjuna. Its practice and understanding are taken to be elements of the Bodhisattva path. According to Edward Conze the Prajñāpāramitā Sutras are a collection of about forty texts. composed in India between approximately 100 BC and AD600, some Prajñāpāramitā sūtras are thought to be among the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras. One of the important features of the Prajñāpāramitā Sutras is anutpada and this chronology is based on the views of Edward Conze, who largely considered dates of translation into other languages. The first translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā into Chinese occurred in the 2nd century CE and this text also has a corresponding version in verse format, called the Ratnaguṇasaṃcaya Gāthā, which some believe to be slightly older because it is not written in standard literary Sanskrit. However, these rely on late-dating Indian texts, in which verses. Additionally, a number of scholars have proposed that the Mahāyāna Prajñāpāramitā teachings were first developed by the Caitika subsect of the Mahāsāṃghikas and they believe that the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra originated amongst the southern Mahāsāṃghika schools of the Āndhra region, along the Kṛṣṇa River. These Mahāsāṃghikas had two famous monasteries near Amarāvati and the Dhānyakataka, which gave their names to the Pūrvaśaila and Aparaśaila schools, each of these schools had a copy of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra in Prakrit. Guang Xing also assesses the view of the Buddha given in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra as being that of the Mahāsāṃghikas, Edward Conze estimates that this sūtra originated around 100 BCE. In 2012, Harry Falk and Seishi Karashima published a damaged and it is radiocarbon dated to ca.75 CE, making it one of the oldest Buddhist texts in existence. It is very similar to the first Chinese translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā by Lokakṣema whose source text is assumed to be in the Gāndhārī language and this points to the text being composed in Gāndhārī, the language of Gandhara. The Split ms. is evidently a copy of an earlier text, in contrast to western scholarship, Japanese scholars have traditionally considered the Diamond Sūtra to be from a very early date in the development of Prajñāpāramitā literature. The usual reason for this relative chronology which places the Vajracchedikā earlier is not its date of translation, some western scholars also believe that the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra was adapted from the earlier Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. Examining the language and phrases used in both the Aṣṭasāhasrikā and the Vajracchedikā, Gregory Schopen also sees the Vajracchedikā as being earlier than the Aṣṭasāhasrikā. This view is taken in part by examining parallels between the two works, in which the Aṣṭasāhasrikā seems to represent the later or more developed position, according to Schopen, these works also show a shift in emphasis from an oral tradition to a written tradition. The titles of these eight Prajñāpāramitā texts are given according to their length, the texts may have other Sanskrit titles as well, or different variations which may be more descriptive. The lengths specified by the titles are given below, in addition to these, there are also other Prajñāpāramitā sūtras such as the Heart Sutra, which exists in a shorter and longer versions
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Lotus Sutra
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The Lotus Sūtra is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras, and the basis on which the Tiantai, Tendai, Cheontae, and Nichiren schools of Buddhism were established. According to Paul Williams, For many East Asian Buddhists since early times the Lotus Sutra contains the final teaching of the Buddha, complete and sufficient for salvation. The earliest known Sanskrit title for the sūtra is the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, in English, the shortened form Lotus Sūtra is common. The Lotus Sūtra has also highly regarded in a number of Asian countries where Mahāyāna Buddhism has been traditionally practiced. According to Fuse, the sections of chapters 1-9 and 17 were probably created in the first century BCE. He estimates the date of the stage, chapters 10,11, 13-16, 18-20 and 27. Chapters 21-26 belong to the last stage, according to Teiser and Stone, there is consensus about the stages of composition but not about the dating of these strata. Tamura argues that the first stage of composition, chapters 2-9, was completed around 50 CE and he dates the third stage, chapters 22-27, around 150 CE. Karashima proposes another modified version of Fuse´s hypothesis with the sequence of composition. The first layer of this includes the tristubh verses of these chapters which may have been transmitted orally in a Prakrit dialect. The second layer consists of the verses and the prose of chapters 2-9. Chapters 1, 10-20,27, and a part of chapter 5 that is missing in Kumarajivas translation, chapters 21-26 and the section on Devadatta in chapter 11 of the Sanskrit version. Three translations of the Lotus Sūtra into Chinese are extant, The Lotus Sūtra of the Correct Dharma, in ten volumes and twenty-seven chapters, the Lotus Sūtra of the Wonderful Dharma, in eight volumes and twenty-eight chapters, translated by Kumārajīva in 406 CE. The Supplemented Lotus Sūtra of the Wonderful Dharma, in seven volumes and twenty-seven chapters, the Lotus Sūtra was originally translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmarakṣa in 286 CE in Changan during the Western Jin Period. However, the view there is a high degree of probability that the base text for that translation was actually written in a Prakrit language has gained widespread acceptance. It may have originally been composed in a Prakrit dialect and then translated into Sanskrit to lend it greater respectability. This early translation by Dharmarakṣa was superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva´s team in 406 CE, according to Jean-Noël Robert, Kumārajīva relied heavily on the earlier version. The Sanskrit editions are not widely used outside of academia and this composite sutra is often called the Threefold Lotus Sūtra or Three-Part Dharma Flower Sutra
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Vimalakirti Sutra
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The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra or Vimalakīrti Sūtra is a Mahayana Buddhist sutra. Sometimes used in the title, the word nirdeśa means instruction, the sutra teaches, among other subjects, the meaning of nondualism. It contains a report of a teaching addressed to both arhats and bodhisattvas by the upāsaka Vimalakīrti, who expounds the doctrine of śūnyatā to them and this culminates with the wordless teaching of silence. The sutra has been influential in East Asian Buddhism for its brash humor and it has also been influential in Mahayana Buddhism for its inclusiveness and respect for non-monastic practitioners as well as stating the equal role of women in Buddhism. Translator Burton Watson argues that the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra was likely composed in approximately 100 CE, although lost for centuries, a version in the original Sanskrit has recently been recovered amongst the Chinese governments Potala collection in Tibet. It was translated into Chinese several times, the first being produced in 188 CE and this translation was made by the Kuṣāṇa monk Lokakṣema, who came to China from the kingdom of Gandhāra. The sūtra was translated six more times at later dates, with two especially influential translations are the Kumārajīva version, which is the most widely used, chos-nyid-tshul-khrims also translated it into Tibetan in the early 8th century. Most Japanese versions are based on the Chinese Kumarajiva version, the Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods then made available in 2007 a Romanized Sanskrit version of what was named as Āryavimalakīrtinirdeśo Nāma Mahāyānasūtram. Vimalakīrti, a wealthy Buddhist lay bodhisattva who is considered a paragon of Buddhist virtue, is feigning illness, when the ruler of the region and various officials and others visit him, he takes the opportunity to expound Dharma teachings. The same is repeated with various great bodhisattvas, until Mañjuśrī, Vimalakīrti and Mañjuśrī subsequently discuss points of doctrine in Vimalakīrtis room, which miraculously accommodates the multitudes of people who have come to watch. Finally, in the Amra Gardens, Vimalakīrti and Mañjuśrī join Śākyamuni Buddha for further expositions of the Dharma, the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra offers us two dramatic and contrasting moments of silence. The first of these the silence of Śāriputra, who is rendered silent during an exchange with a goddess, Śāriputra abandons speech too quickly, Vimalakīrti remains silent while discussing the subject of emptiness with an assembly of bodhisattvas. The bodhisattvas give a variety of answers on the question what non-duality is, manjusri is the last bodhisattva to answer, and says that by giving an explanation they have already fallen into dualism. Vimalakirti, in his turn, answers with silence, the Vimalakirti Sutra has become widely popular in East Asia with the sutra becoming especially popular in the Zen school. John McRae notes that in contrast to India and Tibet where the Vimalakīrti Sūtra left little discernible impact, mather describes the popularity of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra in China as having multiple causes. Among those noted are its brash humor, its criticism of śrāvakas and Abhidharma, hu Shi, an important figure in Chinese language reform in the early 20th century, wrote that the Vimalakīrti Sūtra was among Kumārajīvas three most influential translations. As a literary work, he praised this version of the sūtra as half novel and half drama, with the greatest impact on literature, Nan Huaijin also regards this translation of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra as unique in Chinese literature, and forming virtually its own literary realm. According to Nan Huaijins description of the Chan/Zen monastic system, the abbot of the monastery customarily lived in a small room patterned after that of Vimalakīrtis room
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Avatamsaka Sutra
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The Avataṃsaka Sūtra is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras of East Asian Buddhism. The title is rendered in English as Flower Garland Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra describes a cosmos of infinite realms upon realms, mutually containing one another. The vision expressed in work was the foundation for the creation of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism. The Huayan school is known as Hwaeom in Korea and Kegon in Japan and this work has been used in a variety of countries. Some major traditional titles include the following, Sanskrit, Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, Vaipulya refers to key sizable, inclusive sūtras. Flower garland/wreath/adornment refers to a manifestation of the beauty of Buddhas virtues or his inspiring glory, Chinese, Dàfāngguǎng Fóhuáyán Jīng Chinese, 大方廣佛華嚴經, commonly known as the Huáyán Jīng, meaning Flower-adorned Sūtra. Vaipulya here is translated as corrective and expansive, fāngguǎng, huá means at once flower and magnificence. Yán, short for zhuàngyán, means to decorate, japanese, Daihōkō Butsu-kegon Kyō, usually known as the Kegon Kyō. This title is identical to Chinese above, just in Shinjitai characters, korean, 대방광불화엄경 Daebanggwang Bulhwaeom Gyeong or Hwaeom Gyeong, the Sino-Korean pronunciation of the Chinese name. Vietnamese, Đại phương quảng Phật hoa nghiêm kinh, shortened to the Hoa nghiêm kinh, Tibetan, མདོཕལཔོཆེ་, Wylie, mdo phal po che, Standard Tibetan Dopel Poché According to a Dunhuang manuscript, this text was also known as the Bodhisattvapiṭaka Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra was written in stages, beginning from at least 500 years after the death of the Buddha, two full Chinese translations of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra were made. Fragmentary translation probably began in the 2nd century CE, and the famous Ten Stages Sutra, the first complete Chinese version was completed by Buddhabhadra around 420 in 60 scrolls with 34 chapters, and the second by Śikṣānanda around 699 in 80 scrolls with 40 chapters. There is also a translation of the Gaṇḍavyūha section by Prajñā around 798, the second translation includes more sutras than the first, and the Tibetan translation, which is still later, includes many differences with the 80 scrolls version. Scholars conclude that sutras were being added to the collection, According to Paramārtha, a 6th-century monk from Ujjain in central India, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra is also called the Bodhisattva Piṭaka. In his translation of the Mahāyānasaṃgrahabhāṣya, there is a reference to the Bodhisattva Piṭaka and this sutra gives details on the ten stages of development a bodhisattva must undergo to attain supreme enlightenment. The ten stages are also depicted in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra and the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the sutra also touches on the subject of the development of the aspiration for Enlightenment to attain supreme buddhahood. The last chapter of the Avatamsaka circulates as a separate and important text known as the Gaṇḍavyūha Sutra, considered the climax of the larger text, this section details the pilgrimage of the youth Sudhana to various lands at the behest of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. Despite its being at the end of the Avataṃsaka, the Gaṇḍavyūha —, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra was translated in its entirety from the Śikṣānanda edition by Thomas Cleary, and was divided originally into three volumes
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Yogachara
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Yogachara is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing phenomenology and ontology through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. It was associated with Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism in about the 4th century CE, Yogācāra discourse explains how our human experience is constructed by the mind. Masaaki states, ccording to the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, the first Yogācāra text, the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, as the doctrinal trailblazer of Yogācāra, inaugurated the paradigm of the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma, with its own tenets in the third turning. The Yogācāra texts are considered part of the third turning along with the relevant sutra. Moreover, Yogācāra discourse surveys and synthesizes all three turnings, the orientation of the Yogācāra school is largely consistent with the thinking of the Pāli nikāyas. It frequently treats later developments in a way that realigns them with earlier versions of Buddhist doctrines, one of the agendas of the Yogācāra school was to reorient the complexity of later refinements in Buddhist philosophy to accord with early Buddhist doctrine. Yogācāra, which had its genesis in the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, was formulated by the brahmin-born half-brothers Asaṅga. Asaṅga spent many years in meditation, during which time tradition says that he often visited the Tuṣita Heaven to receive teachings from Maitreya. Heavens such as Tuṣita are said to be accessible through meditation and accounts of this are given in the writings of the Indian Buddhist monk Paramārtha, the Yogācāra school held a prominent position in Indian Buddhism for centuries after the time of Asaṅga and Vasubandhu. Teachings and derivations of this school have influenced and become well-established in East Asian Buddhism, as evidenced by Tibetan sources, this school was in protracted dialectic with the Madhyamaka. However, there is disagreement among contemporary Western and traditional Buddhist scholars about the degree to which they were opposed, not all Yogācārins, however, asserted that mind was truly inherently existent. According to some interpretations, Vasubandhu and Asaṅga in particular did not, the position that Yogācāra and Madhyamaka were in dialectic was expounded by Xuanzang in the 7th century. Some later Yogācāra exponents also synthesized the two views, particularly Śāntarakṣita in the 8th century, whose view was later called Yogācāra-Svatantrika-Madhyamaka by the Tibetan tradition, translations of Indian Yogācāra texts were first introduced to China in the early 5th century CE. Among these was Guṇabhadras translation of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra in four fascicles, during the 6th century CE, the Indian monk and translator Paramārtha widely propagated Yogācāra teachings in China. His translations include the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, the Madhyāntavibhāga-kārikā, the Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā, Paramārtha also taught widely on the principles of Consciousness Only, and developed a large following in southern China. Many monks and laypeople traveled long distances to hear his teachings, although Yogācāra teachings had been propagated widely in China before the 7th century, most look to Xuanzang as the most important founder of East Asian Yogācāra. At the age of 33, Xuanzang made a journey to India in order to study Buddhism there. Xuanzang spent over ten years in India traveling and studying under various Buddhist masters, Xuanzangs teachers included Śīlabhadra, the abbot of Nālandā, who was then 106 years old
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Tiantai
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Tiantai is a school of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam that revers the Lotus Sutra as the highest teaching in Buddhism. In Japan the school is known as Tendai, in Korea as Cheontae, the name is derived from the fact that Zhiyi, the fourth patriarch, lived on Tiantai Mountain. Zhiyi is also regarded as the first major figure to make a significant break from the Indian tradition, Tiantai is sometimes also called The Lotus School, after the central role of the Lotus Sutra in its teachings. Unlike earlier schools of Chinese Buddhism, the Tiantai school was entirely of Chinese origin, over time, the Tiantai school became doctrinally broad, able to absorb and give rise to other movements within Buddhism, though without any formal structure. The tradition emphasized both scriptural study and meditative practice, and taught the attainment of Buddhahood through observing the mind. The school is based on the teachings of Zhiyi, Zhanran, and Zhili. These teachers took an approach called classification of teaching in an attempt to harmonize the numerous and this was achieved through a particular interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra. Due to the use of Nāgārjunas philosophy of the Middle Way, the sixth century dhyāna master Huiwen is traditionally considered to be the second patriarch of the Tiantai school. Huiwen later transmitted his teachings to Chan master Nanyue Huisi, who is traditionally figured as the third patriarch, during meditation, he is said to have realized the Lotus Samādhi, indicating enlightenment and Buddhahood. Huisi then transmitted his teachings to Zhiyi, traditionally figured as the patriarch of Tiantai. He authored many treatises such as explanations of the Buddhist texts, the above lineage was proposed by Buddhists of later times and do not reflect the popularity of the monks at that time. Most scholars consider Zhiyi to have been the founder of the Tiantai school, since he did the most to systematize and popularize the doctrines. At a later date, the sixth patriarch, Zhanran. Zhiyi analyzed and organized all the Āgamas and Mahayana sutras into a system of five periods and these Āgamas were an upaya, or skillful means - an example of the Buddha employing his boundless wisdom to lead those people towards the truth. Zhiyis classification culminated with the Lotus Sutra, which he held to be the synthesis of Buddhist doctrine. The difference on Zhiyis explanation to the Golden Light Sutra caused a debate during the Song dynasty, in addition to its doctrinal basis in Indian Buddhist texts, the Tiantai school also created its own meditation texts which emphasize the principles of śamatha and vipaśyanā. Of the Tiantai meditation treatises, Zhiyis Concise Śamatha-vipaśyanā, Mahā-śamatha-vipaśyanā, rujun Wu identifies the work Mohe Zhiguan of Zhiyi as the seminal meditation text of the Tiantai school. Tiantai classified the Buddhas teachings in Five Periods and Eight Teachings and this classification is usually attributed to Zhiyi, but is probably a later development
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Huayan
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The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty. It is based on the Avatamsaka Sutra and on a lengthy Chinese interpretation of it, the name Flower Garland is meant to suggest the crowning glory of profound understanding. The Huayan School is known as Hwaeom in Korea and Kegon in Japan, the Hua-yen school was established during the period of the end of the Sui and beginning of Tang dynasty. The Tiantai school, which was favoured by the Sui, fell in disgrace, the Tang rulers favoured Taoism, but under Emperor Taizong, interest in Buddhism, especially Yogacara, revived at the court. Empress Wu Zetian supported the Huayan school of Fazang, the founding of the school is traditionally attributed to a series of five patriarchs who were instrumental in developing the schools doctrines. These men each played a significant and distinct role in the development of the school, for example, Chengguan was born 26 years after Fazangs death. Another important figure in the development and popularization of Huayan thought was the lay scholar Li Tongxuan, some accounts of the school also like to extend its patriarchship earlier to Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna. After the time of Zongmi and Li Tongxuan the Chinese school of Huayan generally stagnated in terms of new development, nonetheless, its profound metaphysics, such as that of the Four Dharmadhātu of interpenetration, had a deep impact on surviving East Asian schools. The Huayan school centered on the philosophy of interpenetration and mutual containment which its founders perceived in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra is a compilation of sutras of various length. The earliest of texts, the Ten Stages Sutra, maybe dates from the first century CE. The Daśabhūmika Sūtra describes the ten stages on the Bodhisattva-path, the various sutras were probably joined together shortly before its translation into Chinese, at the beginning of the 5th century CE. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra integrates the teachings on śūnyatā and Yogacara thinking, the basic idea of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra is the unity of the absolute and the relative, All in One, One in All. The All melts into a single whole, there are no divisions in the totality of reality t views the cosmos as holy, as one bright pearl, the universal reality of the Buddha. The universal Buddhahood of all reality is the message of the Avatamsaka-sutra. Each part of the world reflects the totality of the cosmos, In each dust-mote of these worlds Are countless worlds, from the tip of each hair of Buddhas body Are revealed the indescribable Pure Lands. The indescribable infinite Lands All ensemble in a hairs tip, All levels of reality are related and interpenetrated. This is depicted in the image of Indras net and this unity in totality allows every individual entity of the phenomenal world its uniqueness without attributing an inherent nature to anything. Yet despite basic reliance on this sutra, much of the terminology that the school became famous for is not found in the sutra itself
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Chan Buddhism
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Chan, from Sanskrit dhyāna, is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism combined with Taoism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming dominant during the Tang and Song dynasties, after the Yuan, Chan more or less fused with Pure Land Buddhism. Chan spread south to Vietnam as Thiền and north to Korea as Seon, the historical records required for a complete, accurate account of early Chan history no longer exist. The history of Chan in China can be divided in several periods, Chan as we know it today is the result of a long history, with many changes and contingent factors. Each period had different types of Chan, some of which have remained influential, little written information is left from this period. The Six Patriarchs, including Bodhidharma and Huineng, were among the first teachers of Chan, the split occurred between the Northern and the Southern School. The Classical period, from the end of the An Lushan Rebellion around 765 CE to the beginning of the Song Dynasty around 950 CE. This is the time of the masters of Chan, such as Mazu Daoyi and Linji Yixuan, and the creation of the yulu genre. The Literary period, from around 950 to 1250, which spans the era of the Song Dynasty, monks compiled collections of gongan, sayings and deeds by the famous masters, appended with poetry and commentary. This genre reflects the influence of literati on the development of Chan, people from this time idealized the previous period as the golden age of Chan, producing the literature that portrays the supposed spontaneity of the celebrated masters. It was based on the practice of dhyana, and is connected to the figures of Bodhiharma and its principal text is the Two Entrances and Four Practices, attributed to Bodhidharma. Early Chan Chan took its first clear contours, main factions were the Northern School, Southern School and Oxhead School. Middle Chan Iconoclastic masters became to prominence, prime figures are Mazu Daoyi, Shitou Xiqian, Linji Yixuan, and Xuefeng Yicun. Song-Dynasty Chan Chan took its shape, including the picture of the golden age of the Chan of the Tang Dynasty. Key figures were Dahui Zonggao, who introduced the Hua Tou practice, and Hongzhi Zhengjue, main factions were the Linji school and the Caodong school. Classic koan collections, such as the Blue Cliff Record, were assembled, in this phase Chan is transported to Japan, and exerts a great influence on Korean Seon via Jinul. Neither Ferguson nor McRae gives a periodisation for Chinese Chan after the Song Dynasty, when Buddhism came to China, it was adapted to the Chinese culture and understanding. Theories about the influence of other schools in the evolution of Chan vary widely and heavily reliant upon speculative correlation rather than on written records or histories, a number of other conflicting theories exist
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Pure Land Buddhism
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Pure Land Buddhism, also referred to as Amidism in English, is a broad branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism and one of the most widely practiced traditions of Buddhism in East Asia. Pure Land is a tradition of Buddhist teachings that are focused on Amitābha Buddha, the Pure Land teachings were first developed in India, and were very popular in Kashmir and Central Asia, where they may have originated. Pure Land sutras were brought from the Gandhāra region to China as early as 147 CE, the earliest of these translations show evidence of having been translated from the Gāndhārī language, a prakrit language related to Sanskrit. There are also images of Amitābha Buddha with the bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara, in the Buddhist traditions of India, Pure Land doctrines and practices were disseminated by well-known exponents of the Mahāyāna teachings, including Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu. The three principal Pure Land sūtras are the Amitabha Sutra, the Infinite Life Sutra, and the Amitayurdhyana Sutra and these sutras describe Amitābha and his Pure Land of Bliss, called Sukhavati. Bodhisattvas hear about the Buddha Amitābha and call him to again and again in this land. Because of this calling to mind, they see the Buddha Amitābha, having seen him they ask him what dharmas it takes to be born in the realm of the Buddha Amitābha. In addition to these sutras, many other Mahāyāna texts also feature Amitābha Buddha, in the Infinite Life Sutra, the Buddha begins by describing to his attendant Ānanda a past life of the buddha Amitābha. He states that in a past life, Amitābha was once king who renounced his kingdom, under the guidance of the buddha Lokeśvararāja, innumerable buddha-lands throughout the ten directions were revealed to him. After meditating for five eons as a bodhisattva, he made a great series of vows to save all sentient beings. This land of Sukhāvatī would later come to be known as the Pure Land in Chinese translation, the Pure Land teachings first became prominent in China with the founding of Donglin Temple at Mount Lu by Huiyuan in 402 CE. As a young man, Huiyuan practiced Daoism, but felt the theories of immortality to be vague and unreliable, instead, he turned to Buddhism and became a monk learning under Dao An. Later he founded a monastery at the top of Mount Lu, and invited well-known literati to study and practice Buddhism there, where they formed the White Lotus Society. The Mount Lu is regarded as the among the most sacred sites of the Pure Land Buddhist tradition. The Pure Land teachings and meditation methods quickly spread throughout China and were systematized by a series of elite monastic thinkers, namely Tanluan, Daochuo, Shandao and his knowledge of Buddhism is deep. He uses over twenty sūtras and more than a dozen śāstras to argue his case, there are eighty-one references to the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra alone, and twenty-one references to the Chinese Mādhyamaka Master Sengchao, none of them trivial or out of place. At a later date, the Pure Land teachings spread to Japan, genshin caused Fujiwara no Michinaga to accept the Pure Land teachings. Hōnen established Pure Land Buddhism as an independent sect in Japan, today Pure Land is an important form of Buddhism in Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam
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Vajrayana
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Vajrayāna, Mantrayāna, Esoteric Buddhism and Tantric Buddhism refer to the Buddhist tradition of Tantra, an esoteric system of beliefs and practices that developed in medieval India. Vajrayāna is usually translated as Diamond Vehicle or Thunderbolt Vehicle, referring to the Vajra, according to Vajrayāna scriptures, the term Vajrayāna refers to one of three vehicles or routes to enlightenment, the other two being the Śrāvakayāna and Mahāyāna. Founded by Indian Mahāsiddhas, Vajrayāna subscribes to the known as the Buddhist Tantras. Elements of Tantric Buddhism can be traced back to groups of wandering yogis called mahasiddhas. These yogic circles came together in tantric feasts often in sacred sites and places which included dancing, singing, sex rites and it is interesting to note that at least two of the Mahasiddhas given in the Buddhist literature are actually names for Shaiva Nath saints who practiced Hatha Yoga. According to Schumann, a movement called Sahaja-siddhi developed in the 8th century in Bengal and it was dominated by long-haired, wandering yogis called mahasiddhas who openly challenged and ridiculed the Buddhist establishment. The Mahasiddhas pursued siddhis, magical powers such as flight and Extrasensory perception as well as liberation, earlier Mahayana sutras already contained some elements which are emphasized in the Tantras, such as mantras and dharani. The practice of visualization of Buddhas such as Amitabha is also seen in texts like the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra. Vajrayana developed a large corpus of texts called the Buddhist Tantras, some of which can be traced to at least the 7th century CE, the dating of the tantras is a difficult, indeed an impossible task according to David Snellgrove. The earliest such texts include the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Guhyasamāja Tantra. Later monastic Vajrayana Buddhists reinterpreted and internalized these radically transgressive and taboo practices as metaphors, the Kalachakra tantra developed in the 10th century. It is farthest removed from the earlier Buddhist traditions, and incorporates concepts of messianism, various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism. According to Alexis Sanderson, the Vajrayana Yogini-tantras draw extensively from Shaiva Bhairava tantras classified as Vidyapitha, there is even direct borrowing of passages from Saiva texts. The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, an associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members into Saiva Siddhanta scriptures. The Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Shaiva text Tantrasadbhava, according to Louis de La Vallée-Poussin and Alex Wayman, the view of the Vajrayana is based on Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, mainly the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools. The major difference seen by Vajrayana thinkers is Tantras superiority due to being a vehicle to liberation containing many skillful methods of tantric ritual. The doctrine of Buddha-nature, as outlined in the Ratnagotravibhāga of Asanga, was also an important theory which became the basis for Tantric views, by passion the world is bound, by passion too it is released, but by heretical Buddhists this practice of reversals is not known. As Snellgrove notes, this doctrine is also present in Asangas Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika and therefore it is possible that he was aware of Tantric techniques
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Nichiren Buddhism
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Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese priest Nichiren and belongs to the schools of so-called Kamakura Buddhism. Nichiren Buddhism has several schools and many sub-schools, as well as several of Japans new religions. Its many denominations have in common a focus on the chanting and recital of the Lotus Sutra, believed by adherents to imbue auspicious and it is opposed to any other form of Buddhism, which Nichiren saw as deviating from the Buddhist truth he had discovered. He eventually concluded that the highest teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha were to be found in the Lotus Sutra, the mantra he expounded on 28 April 1253, known as the Daimoku or Odaimoku, Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, expresses his devotion to that body of teachings. In doing so, he provoked the ire of the rulers and of the priests of the sects he criticized, he was subjected to persecution which included an attempted beheading. After a pardon and his return from exile, Nichiren moved to Mt. Minobu in todays Yamanashi Prefecture, Nichiren spent most of the rest of his life here training disciples. Nichiren Buddhism is based on the Lotus Sutra, common to most lineages of Nichiren Buddhism is the chanting of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō or Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, and veneration of the Gohonzon. The definition of Gohonzon varies between the Nichiren schools, most of these teachings are shared and identical in most schools and groups of Nichiren Buddhism. However, different interpretations are found for the doctrine of the Three Great Secret Dharmas, called also The Three Great Secret Laws and these writings are collectively known as Gosho or Goibun. Which of these writings, including the Ongi Kuden, are deemed authentic or apocryphal is a matter of debate within the schools of todays Nichiren Buddhism. One of his most important writings the Rissho Ankoku Ron, preserved at Shochuzan Hokekyo-ji, is one of the National Treasures of Japan, Nichiren Buddhism is not a single denomination. Nichiren was originally an ordained Tendai priest and is not known to have established a separate Buddhist school, nevertheless, his teachings led to the formation of different schools within several years after his passing. Before his death Nichiren had named six senior priests whom he wanted to transmit his teachings to future generations, Nisshō, Nichirō, Nikō, Nitchō, Nichiji, and Nikkō. Each started a lineage of schools, but Nichiji eventually travelled to the Asian continent and was never heard from again, although the former five disciples remained loosely affiliated to varying degrees, the last—Nikkō—made a clean break by leaving Kuon-ji in 1289. The disciple Nikko had come to the conclusion that the five disciples were embarking on heresy. Pious legends also recount his journey with the Dai-Gohonzon as he left Mount Minobu, consequently, the disciple Nitcho began to share the same complaints and grievances and would later join him in later years. By the 14th century a split within the Nichiren Schools occurred though. One differentiates between the so-called Ichi lineage and Shoretsu lineage, the Ichi lineage today comprises most of the traditional schools within Nichiren Buddhism, including some Nikkō temples, of which the Nichiren Shū is the biggest representative
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Schools of Buddhism
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Schools of Buddhism refers to the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism that have existed from ancient times up to the present. That have made up or currently make up the whole of Buddhist traditions, the sectarian and conceptual divisions of Buddhist thought are part of the modern framework of Buddhist studies, as well as comparative religion in Asia. The most common classification among scholars is threefold, with Mahāyāna itself split between the traditional Mahāyāna teachings, and the Vajrayāna teachings which emphasize esotericism, Vajrayāna, primarily in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia and the Russian republic of Kalmykia. The following terms may be encountered in descriptions of the major Buddhist divisions, Ekayāna Mahayana texts such as the Lotus Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra sought to unite all the different teachings into a single great way. These texts serve as the inspiration for using the term Ekayāna in the sense of one vehicle and this one vehicle became a key aspect of the doctrines and practices of Tiantai and Tendai Buddhist sects, which subsequently influenced Chán and Zen doctrines and practices. In Japan, the teaching of the Lotus Sutra also inspired the formation of the Nichiren sect. Esoteric Buddhism usually considered synonymous with Vajrayāna, some scholars have applied the term to certain practices found within the Theravāda, particularly in Cambodia. It is considered a term when applied by the Mahāyāna to mistakenly refer to the Theravāda school. Moreover, Hīnayāna refers to the now non extant schools with limited set of views, practices and results and its use in scholarly publications is now also considered controversial. Lamaism an old term, still used, synonymous with Tibetan Buddhism. Mahāyāna a movement that emerged from early Buddhist schools, together with its later descendants, Vajrayāna traditions are sometimes listed separately. The main use of the term in East Asian and Tibetan traditions is in reference to spiritual levels, mainstream Buddhism a term used by some scholars for the early Buddhist schools. Mantrayāna usually considered synonymous with Vajrayāna, the Tendai school in Japan has been described as influenced by Mantrayana. Newar Buddhism a non-monastic, caste based Buddhism with patrilineal descent, nikāya Buddhism or schools an alternative term for the early Buddhist schools. Non-Mahāyāna an alternative term for the early Buddhist schools, northern Buddhism an alternative term used by some scholars for Tibetan Buddhism. Also, a term still sometimes used to encompass both East Asian and Tibetan traditions. It has even used to refer to East Asian Buddhism alone. Secret Mantra an alternative rendering of Mantrayāna, a literal translation of the term used by schools in Tibetan Buddhism when referring to themselves
Mahayana Buddhism
