1.
Dunhuang
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Silk Road was an online black market and the first modern darknet market, best known as a platform for selling illegal drugs. As part of the web, it was operated as a Tor hidden service. The website was launched in February 2011, development had begun six months prior, initially there were a limited number of new seller accounts available, new sellers had to purchase an account in an auction. Later, a fee was charged for each new seller account. In October 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down the website, on 6 November 2013, Silk Road 2.0 came online, run by former administrators of Silk Road. It too was shut down, and the operator was arrested on 6 November 2014 as part of the so-called Operation Onymous”. Ulbricht was convicted of eight charges related to Silk Road in U. S. Federal Court in Manhattan and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, Silk Road was founded in February 2011. The name Silk Road comes from a network of trade routes started during the Han Dynasty between Europe, India, China, and many other countries on the Afro-Eurasian landmass. Silk Road was operated by the pseudonymous Dread Pirate Roberts, who was known for espousing libertarian ideals, two other individuals were also closely involved in the sites growth and success, known as Variety Jones and Smedley. In June 2011, Gawker published an article about the site led to Internet buzz. Once the site was publicly, U. S. Senator Charles Schumer asked federal law enforcement authorities to shut it down, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, australian police and the DEA have targeted Silk Road users and made arrests, albeit with limited success at reaching convictions. In December 2013, a New Zealand man was sentenced to two years and four months in jail after being convicted of importing 15 grams of methamphetamine that he had bought on Silk Road. In May 2013, Silk Road was taken down for a period of time by a sustained DDoS attack. On 23 June 2013, it was first reported that the DEA seized 11.02 bitcoins, then worth $814, Ross Ulbricht was alleged by the FBI to be the founder and owner of Silk Road and the person behind the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts. He was arrested on 2 October 2013 in San Francisco at 3,15 p. m. PST in Glen Park Library, Ulbricht was indicted on charges of money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic narcotics, and attempting to have six people killed. Prosecutors alleged that Ulbricht paid $730,000 to others to commit the murders, Ulbricht ultimately was not prosecuted for any of the alleged murder attempts. The FBI initially seized 26,000 bitcoins from accounts on Silk Road, an FBI spokesperson said that the agency would hold the bitcoins until Ulbrichts trial finished, after which the bitcoins would be liquidated
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
9.
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
10.
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
Mahayana Buddhism
