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Vajrayana (Tantric or Esoteric) Buddhism

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Mystical practices and esoteric sects are found in all forms of Buddhism. The mystical tendency that Buddhism inherited from Indian religion became increasingly pronounced. Following the codification of the Theravada canon—which according to tradition emerged orally shortly after the Buddha’s death and was written down by the late 1st century BCE—and the subsequent emergence of Mahayana (1st century CE), this mystical element slowly developed into discrete schools of thought. Buddhist mysticism (including the philosophical school of Chan), like other

forms of mysticism, insists on the ineffability of the mystical experience, because it is not intelligible to anyone who has not had a similar experience. Mystical knowledge is not intellectual but is “felt knowledge” that views things in a different perspective and gives them new significance. The experience is both ineffable and timeless, which means that the mystic seems to be outside time and space, oblivious to his surroundings and the passage of time.

Early Buddhist mysticism was concerned with the emptying of subjective being, considered to be the greatest obstacle to the individual’s spiritual growth. This passing into a new dimension of reality is described in terms of a flame going out. In this emptying process the limits of the individual’s being are supposedly transcended. The experience of this new dimension of reality is a vision that goes far beyond the reach of “mere logic” and normal perception.

While Theravada Buddhism was analytic in its attempt to free reality from the imposition of subjectivity, Mahayana extended the analytic process to objective reality. In its rejection of subjectivism and objectivism, it emphasized the nature of reality-as-such, which was experienced in enlightenment (Pali and Sanskrit: bodhi). While the various philosophical trends associated with Mahayana dealt with the intellectual problem of reality, the tantras (Sanskrit: “treatises”), which form the distinctive literature of Vajrayana Buddhism, dealt with the existential problem of what it is like or how it feels to attain the highest goal.


Vajrayana Buddhism in India

Origins


Vajrayana (Sanskrit: “Diamond Vehicle” or “Thunderbolt Vehicle”) or Mantrayana (Sanskrit: “Path of the Sacred Formulas”), also known as Tantric Buddhism, first emerged in various parts of India and Sri Lanka. The esoteric nature of Tantric doctrine and practice makes identifying the origins of the Vajrayana school difficult, but some Buddhist traditions associate them with Nagarjuna and Asanga and therefore suggest that Vajrayana began to

develop quietly in the 2nd or 4th century CE. Vajrayana was prominent in India and Tibet, and a form of it, which does not seem to have emphasized sexoyogic practices, spread to China and then to Japan, where it became associated with the Tendai and Shingon schools.

Although Vajrayana texts describe numerous yogic or contemplative stages that must be experienced before enlightenment can be achieved, they preserve the Mahayana identification of nirvana and samsara as a basic truth. Moreover, Vajrayana teaches that nirvana as shunyata (“voidness”) is one side of a polarity that must be complemented by karuna (“compassion of the bodhisattva”). Shunyata, according to the Vajrayana tradition, is the passive wisdom (prajna) that possesses an absolutely indestructible or diamond-like (vajra) nature beyond all

duality, and karuna is the means (upaya) or dynamic aspect of the world. Enlightenment arises when these seeming opposites are understood to be one. This realization, which is known experientially and not cognitively, is portrayed in Vajrayana imagery and practice as the union of the passive female deity, which signifies wisdom or voidness, with the dynamic male, signifying compassion without attachment. Such a union, yab-yum (Tibetan: “father-mother”), is a symbol of the unity of opposites that brings the “great bliss,” or enlightenment.

Vajrayana Buddhists believe that, as all things are in truth of one nature—the void—physical-mental processes can be used as a vehicle for enlightenment. According to the Kalachakra-tanta, the Buddha taught that, in this age of degeneration, enlightenment must be achieved through the body, which contains the whole cosmos. Vajrayana

specialists warn, however, that the first step toward enlightenment is taken by undergoing instruction by a master who has been initiated into the mysteries and can teach the correct use of the body’s process. The master directs every step so that the pupil learns to control mental and physical processes instead of being dominated by them.

The master, it is believed, leads the student to compassion through meditation on the transitoriness of life, the relation of cause and effect of one’s actions, and the suffering of humanity. After sympathy for human suffering

has been aroused, the student is taught yogic, or contemplative, exercises that help to produce inner experiences corresponding to the various stages of spiritual growth. Advancement toward enlightenment involves the identification of the initiate with deities that represent various cosmic forces. These gods are first visualized

with the help of mudras (meditative gestures and postures), mantras (sacred syllables and phrases), and icons portrayed in a mandala, all of which are believed to possess the essence of the divinities to be invoked. After this visualization the initiate identifies with the divinities and finds that each in turn is shunyata (“voidness”).

According to Vajrayana traditions, the culmination of this process, called vajrasattva yoga, gives the initiate a diamond-like body beyond all duality. The four stages in the process are described in four different groups of tantras (the Kriya-tantra, Charya-tantra, Yoga-tantra, and Anuttarayoga-tantra) that are compared with the fourfold phases of courtship (the exchange of glances, a pleasing or encouraging smile, the holding of hands, and consummation in the sexual act). The first stage involves external ritual acts, and the second combines these

outward acts with contemplation. The third stage involves only contemplation, and the fourth is the unification of all dualities in the sexual act, symbolically or effectively. The last stage is divided into two phases. In the first the initiate uses controlled imagination to experience the union on an ideational level. The second phase is the maithuna, or sexual coupling. Unlike the ordinary sexual act, which gives only momentary pleasure, the maithuna is considered a technique to attain enlightenment and eternal bliss because the initiate has already realized the voidness of all things, allowing perfect control over emotions and a complete absence of attachment.

These Vajrayana practices have been condemned by some Buddhists and some modern scholars as degenerate, a view ostensibly borne out by the Guhyasamaja-tantra, which states that adultery and eating of human flesh are actions of the bodhisattva. Vajrayana practices and the imagery of its texts, however, were designed to shock the

complacency and self-righteousness of more traditional Buddhists. Moreover, the imagery of the texts was based on the belief that voidness alone exists and that it is beyond good or evil in the usual sense. The imagery is also based on the belief that any acts that bring about this realization are acts that benefit the practitioner and all sentient beings.


Vajrayana literature


The tantras, the genre of texts unique to the Vajrayana tradition, are written in a highly figurative and symbolic language to enable individual spiritual development. Because of this symbolic character, the tantras have usually been kept secret, and a literalist interpretation of such texts has usually failed to make any sense out of them.

The Guhyasamaja-tantra (“Treatise on the Sum Total of Mysteries”), also called the Tathagataguhyaka (“The Mystery of Tathagatahood Buddhahood”), is the earliest-known tantra and is traditionally ascribed to Asanga (c. 4th century CE), the renowned Indian scholar and propounder of the Yogachara philosophy. Unlike most tantras, which do not explain the technical or symbolic terms that they employ, the Guhyasamaja-tantra devotes a very long chapter to the elucidation of these terms.

An important feature of all tantras is a polarity symbolism, which appears on the physical level as the union of male and female, on the ethical level as the union of beneficial activity and an appreciation of what there is as it is, and on the philosophical level as the synthesis of absolute reality and absolute compassion. The richness of this symbolism is apparent in the opening of the Guhyasamaja, where the absolute, which is depicted as a

polarity, manifests itself in various mandalas (circular diagrams that have both a psychological and a cosmic reference), each related to one of the celestial buddhasAkshobhya, Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi. Each of these buddhas again represents a polarity that is often portrayed in iconographic works through their union with female consorts.

The tantras may emphasize either “beneficial activity” or “appreciative awareness” or their “unity,” and, therefore, Tantric literature has been divided into the so-called Father Tantra (emphasizing activity), the Mother Tantra (emphasizing appreciation), and the Nondual Tantra (dealing with both aspects unitively). The original Sanskrit versions of most of these works have been lost, but their influence is noticeable in works such

as Jnanasiddhi (“Attainment of Knowledge”) by the great Vajrayana teacher Indrabhuti (c. 687–717), Prajnopayavinishchayasiddhi (“The Realization of the Certitude of Appreciative Awareness and Ethical Action”) by the 8th-century writer Anangavajra, and the songs of the 84 mahasiddhas (“masters of miraculous powers,” who were considered to have attained the Vajrayana goal). One of the last Sanskrit works to have been written in Central Asia was the Kalachakra-tantra (“Wheel of Time”), which probably entered India in 966 CE. It taught that the Adi-Buddha—primeval Buddhahood—manifested itself as a continuum of time (kala) and space (chakra).


Vajrayana Schools in Tibet


When Tibet was converted to Buddhism (7th to 11th century), the most dynamic form in India was Vajrayana; thus, it was this tradition that became established in Tibet. Little is known about the early stages of the conversion (7th to 9th century), however, and the role of Vajrayana in the conversion before the 11th century, when several identifiable schools emerged, remains unclear.


Rnying-ma-pa


Among the Vajrayana schools of Tibet and neighbouring regions, the Rnying-ma-pa claims to preserve most purely the teachings of Padmasambhava, the 8th-century Indian miracle worker who helped convert Tibet by using his magical prowess, it is believed, to quell the local demons. The Rnying-ma-pa makes fuller use than any other school of the “discovered” texts of Padmasambhava. These texts are believed to have been hidden since the early

9th century, when persecution began in Tibet, and their discovery began in the 11th century and continued until the late 20th century. Their importance to this school is reinforced by the Rnying-ma-pa notion that “hidden treasure” has strong spiritual and historical overtones.

The Rnying-ma-pa order divides Buddhist teaching into nine progressively superior groups and subdivides the tantras in a manner different from that of other Vajrayana schools.

The six groups of tantras are: Kriya, or ritual; Upayoga, which involves the convergence of the two truths and meditation on the pentad of buddhas; Yoga, which involves the evocation

of the god, the identification of the self with the god, and meditation on the mandala; Mahayoga, which involves meditation on the factors of human consciousness (skandhas) as divine forms;


Anuyoga, which involves secret initiation into the presence of the god and his consort and meditation on “voidness” in order to destroy the illusory nature of things; and Atiyoga, which

involves meditation on the union of the god and his consort, leading to the experience of bliss. Members of the order believe that those initiated into the Kriya can attain Buddhahood

after seven lives, the Upayoga after five lives, the Yoga after three lives, the Mahayoga in the next existence, the Anuyoga at death, and the Atiyoga in the present existence.

One of the most profound thinkers of the Rnying-ma-pa tradition, Klong-chen rab-’byams-pa (1308–64), is the author of the Klong-chen-mdzod-bdun (Tibetan: “Seven Treasures of Klong-chen”). In modern times Mi-’pham of Khams (1846–1914) wrote important Vajrayana commentaries on the canonical texts.


Sa-skya-pa, Bka’-brgyud-pa, and related schools


Several Tibetan schools that developed during the 11th and 12th centuries traced their lineage back several centuries to particular Indian Vajrayana saints. The Sa-skya-pa and the Bka’-brgyud-pa orders were the most prominent, and they gave rise to many others, including the descendant of Bka’-brgyud-pa, the Karma-pa (Tibetan: “Black Hat”), which has its major centre at the monastery of Mtshur-phu.

Although the Sa-skya-pa order traces its lineage back to Virupa, its founder was the Tibetan ’Brog-mi (992–1072), who went to India and received training in the Vajrayana. The order places great emphasis on the Hevajra-tantra, which ’Brog-mi translated into Tibetan.

The Sa-skya-pa order had an important impact on the society around it. The order produced many great translators, and its scholars also contributed original works on Vajrayana philosophy and linguistics. On the ecclesiastical and political level, the order sometimes exerted considerable power. During the 13th century, for example, the

Sa-skya-pa abbotPhags-pa (1235–80?) initiated Kublai Khan (founder of the Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty in China) into the tradition of the Hevajra-tantra. ’Phags-pa was then appointed dishi (Chinese: “imperial preceptor”) and invested with the authority to govern Tibet, though under the control of the Mongol court.

The Bka’-brgyud-pa school developed from the teachings of the Indian master Tilopa, who transmitted them to the Indian yogi Naropa, the master of Mar-pa, the 11th-century householder-teacher, who was in turn the master of Mi-la-ras-pa (1040–1123). The school preserved a collection of songs attributed to the founder and a hagiographic account of his life. Sgam-po-pa (1079–1153), who was Mi-la-ras-pa’s greatest disciple, systematized the school’s

teaching and established the basis for its further development. His most famous work, Thar-rgyan (Tibetan: “The Jewel Ornament of Liberation”), is one of the earliest examples of the Tibetan and Mongolian Vajrayana literary tradition Lam Rim (Tibetan: “Stages on the Path”), which presents Buddhist teachings in terms of gradations in a soteriological process leading to the attainment of Buddhahood.

Bka’-brgyud-pa teachers stressed the exercises of hatha yoga and posited as the supreme goal the mahamudra (“the great seal”), or the overcoming of dichotomous thought in the emptiness of Buddhahood. The Bka’-brgyud-pa made frequent reference to the “Six Teachings of

Naropa,” which set forth techniques for attaining enlightenment, either in this life or at the moment of death. These techniques are associated with self-produced heat (the voluntary raising of the

body temperature), the illusory body, dreams, the experience of light, the state of existence intermediate between death and rebirth (Tibetan: Bardo), and the movement from one existence to another.


The Bka’-gdams-pa and Dge-lugs-pa


The Bka’-gdams-pa school was founded by ’Brom-ston (c. 1008–c. 1064), who based his school’s teachings on those of Atisha (an Indian monk who went to Tibet in the 11th century). The school produced the Bka’-gdams gces-bsdus (Tibetan: “Collection of the Sayings of the Bka’-gdams-pa Saints”), which preserves the poetic utterances of the

founder’s disciples. The central practice of the school was the purification of the mind, which required the elimination of intellectual and moral blemishes in order to obtain a clear vision of emptiness (Sanskrit: shunyata). The school relied on the Prajnaparamita and made use of mantras. It was absorbed in the 15th century by the reform movement that became the Dge-lugs-pa school.

Members of the Dge-lugs-pa (Gelugpa; the “Virtuous”) are commonly known as Yellow Hats, in reference to the colour of their head cover. Their founder, Tsong-kha-pa, attended the important Sa-skya-pa, Bka’-brgyud-pa, and Bka’-gdams-pa schools, and his own school is considered the continuation of the 8Bka’-gdams-pa. Tsong-kha-pa initiated monastic reforms in response to what he deemed a general laxity of morals, increasingly less-rigorous

observance of monastic rules, and deviations in the interpretation of the tantras. He imposed respect for the traditional rules of the Vinaya and reemphasized dogmatics and logic as aids to salvation. His treatise, the Lam-rim chen-mo (Tibetan: “The Great Gradual Path”), based on the Bodhipathapradipa by Atisha, presents a process of mental purification ascending through 10 spiritual levels (bhumi) that lead to Buddhahood. The essential points of such a process are the state of quiescence and the state of enhanced vision.

Tsong-kha-pa instituted regular debates at monasteries. Competing monks sought to reach, by means of formal logic and in the presence of an abbot of great learning, an unassailable conclusion on a chosen topic. Various ranks of monks were established on the basis of examinations, the highest being that of dge-bshes (Tibetan: “philosopher”).

The attention to doctrinal and logical problems did not exclude interest in the tantras, and Tsong-kha-pa’s Sngags-rim chen-mo (Tibetan: “The Great Gradual Tantric Path”) deals with Tantric ritual. Tantric initiation, however, was open only to students who had already acquired extensive learning. The literature of the Dge-lugs-pa is enormous, including the gigantic collections of the Dalai and Panchen lamas, both of whom are members of this school.

The Dge-lugs-pa assert that the nature of the mind element is light, which constitutes the cognitive capacity. The continuum of each person, therefore, is a thinking and luminous energy, which is in either a coarse or a subtle state, the latter state being achieved only after purification through meditation and contemplation.


Vajrayana traditions in China and Japan


During the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries, Indian Vajrayana Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia and East Asia. In East Asia, it became established in the Zhenyan (“True Word”) school in China and in the Tendai and Shingon schools in Japan.


Zhenyan


According to the Zhenyan tradition, Vajrayana Buddhism was taken from India to China by three missionary monks who translated the basic Zhenyan texts. The first monk, Shubhakarasimha, arrived in China in 716, and he translated the Mahavairochana-sutra and a closely related ritual compendium, the Susiddhikara, into Chinese. The other two monks, Vajrabodhi and his disciple Amoghavajra, arrived in 720 and produced two abridged translations of the Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha (“Symposium of Truth of All the Buddhas”), also known as the Tattvasamgraha.

Between the arrival of Shubhakarasimha and the great persecution of 845, the Zhenyan school enjoyed amazing success. The tradition of Shubhakarasimha and the Mahavairochana-sutra merged with that of Vajrabodhi and the Tattvasamgraha. The Chinese disciples of this new tradition, such as Huiguo, contributed to an emerging Zhenyan

synthesis. The combination of sophisticated doctrinal instruction and miracle-working powers supposedly conferred by the esoteric rituals enabled Zhenyan leaders to gain the confidence of the court, especially of Emperor Daizong (762–779/780), who rejected Daoism in favour of Zhenyan Buddhism.

Although Zhenyan lost its position of prominence in China after the persecution of 845, it maintained spiritual vitality and communal visibility through the Song dynasty (960–1279). Moreover, the Zhenyan school contributed a great deal that has endured in the larger fabric of Chinese religion.


Shingon


Although Vajrayana Buddhism played a much greater role in China than is usually recognized, it was in Japan that it became most influential. Esoteric elements, called taimitsu in Japanese, have been an important element in the Japanese Tendai school, which was founded by the monk Saichō (764–822), who studied with Zhenyan and Tiantai masters in China. The most systematized and elaborated expressions of the Vajrayana tradition, however, were developed in the Shingon school, the Japanese version of Zhenyan.

The founder of the Shingon school in Japan was Kūkai, better known by his posthumous name, Kōbō Daishi (Japanese: “Great Master Who Understood the Dharma”). An exceptional scholar, poet, painter, and calligrapher, he wrote a treatise comparing Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist thought and naming the latter as superior. Although trained

for government service, he experienced a change of heart and became a Buddhist monk. Like many monks in pursuit of the pure Buddhist doctrine, he journeyed to China, where he met the master Huiguo, who recognized Kūkai’s potential and taught him Zhenyan Buddhism. After the death of Huiguo, Kūkai returned to Japan, where he received many governmental honours and established a monastery on Mount Kōya as the centre of Shingon Buddhism.

In propagating the teachings of his school, Kūkai wrote many important texts, including the Jūjū shinron (Japanese: “The Ten Stages of Consciousness”). In this work Kūkai presented a model of the development of the spiritual life that arranged Buddhist teachings and those of other religions into a hierarchical system. He taught that the first stage of human spiritual development was one in which humans are controlled by their

instincts. In the second stage, which Kūkai identifies with Confucian teachings, human beings attempt to live a proper moral existence. The third stage, in which the individual strives for supernatural powers and heavenly rewards, is that of Brahmanism and Daoism. The fourth and fifth stages of spiritual development are taught by the

Hinayana schools and are characterized by the striving for self-enlightenment. Stages six to nine, identified with the Mahayanist teachings of Hossō, Sanron, Tendai, and Kegon, lead the individual to compassion for others. The zenith of spiritual development is identified by Kūkai with the esoteric teachings of Shingon.

The Shingon school claimed that its doctrine was the purest because it was not based on the teachings of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, who expounded his doctrine with the limitations of his audience in mind, but on

the timeless and immutable teachings of the Buddha in his dharmakaya, or cosmic body. This buddha, named Mahavairochana, was felt to be beyond all earthly dualism and impurity but at the same instant to be within all things as their buddha nature.

In Shingon the realization that one’s own buddha nature is identical with Mahavairochana is enlightenment. This enlightenment, as depicted in Kūkai’s treatise Sokushin-jōbutsugi (Japanese: “The Doctrine of Becoming a Buddha with One’s Body During One’s Earthly Existence”), can be achieved in this world while possessing a human body. To achieve this enlightened state, however, the aspirant must receive the secret doctrine of Shingon orally and

directly from a Shingon master. The truth that the master reveals is founded on the ritual mysteries of the body, speech, and mind; these mysteries invoke cosmic forces embodied in the buddhas and bodhisattvas with which the aspirant identifies before becoming one with Mahavairochana. The experience of the mystery of the body involves the use of mudras: devotional gestures of the hands and fingers, postures of meditation, and the handling of such

sacred instruments as the vajra (“thunderbolt” or “diamond”) and the lotus. The mystery of speech involves the recitation of dharanis or mantras, mystical verses and sounds believed to be the essence of the cosmic forces with which one wishes to commune. Attaining the mystery of the mind involves yogic contemplation of and absorption in the buddha Mahavairochana and his attendants.


The aspirant is further helped in his quest to identify his buddha nature with the Cosmic Buddha by means of two mandalas, often placed on the Shingon altar. The mandalas, believed to contain all the power of the cosmos, were drawn in accordance with the teaching of Huiguo, who maintained that the buddha Mahavairochana’s doctrines were so profound that their meanings could be conveyed only in art. One mandala, called the “Diamond Mandala” (based on the Tattvasamgraha and known in Japanese as kongō-kai), portrays the buddha Mahavairochana sitting upon a

white lotus in deep contemplation, surrounded by the buddhas of the four regions. This symbolizes Mahavairochana’s indestructible, immutable, or potential aspect. The second mandala, called the “Womb Mandala of Great Compassion” (based on the Mahavairochana-sutra and known in Japanese as taizō-kai), reveals Mahavairochana sitting on a red lotus surrounded by innumerable buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Indian gods, with consorts. This represents the Cosmic Buddha’s dynamic manifestation in which he is immanent in everything. It was believed that, by meditating correctly on these two mandalas, the aspirant would realize the unity beyond the diversity of the world.


The emphasis of Shingon upon ritual, symbolism, and iconography, coupled with the government’s praise of Kūkai and the bestowal upon him of the shrine for the protection of the country, made Shingon very popular in Japan. Shingon’s popularity was a cause of the growth of Ryōbu Shintō (Japanese: “Two Aspects Shintō”), which identified Shintō kami (object of worship or sacred power) with bodhisattvas. Moreover, believing that Shingon rites

controlled the forces of the cosmos, many people used them to ward off evil and bring supernatural help in everyday life. While this combination of esoteric Buddhism with more this-worldly concerns caused schisms, Shingon maintains its position as one of Japan’s strongest Buddhist schools.


Mythology


Myth in Buddhism is used at various intellectual levels in order to give symbolic and sometimes quasi-historical expression to religious teachings. Accepted on its own terms, Buddhism is a supernatural religion in the sense that, without a buddha to reveal them, the truths remain unknown. Only after human beings have received the Buddha’s revelation can they proceed apparently by their own efforts. This teaching was explicit in the early schools, in which the revelation was

still thought of as historically related to Shakyamuni’s mission in the world. Gradually some Buddhists developed the idea of the Buddha’s continuous revelation and gracious assistance, deriving from his glorified state of time-transcending enlightenment. Thus, the comparatively simple mythology of the great Buddha myth developed into the far more elaborate tradition of Mahayana.

The acceptance of the mythology, whether early or fully developed, has been a crucial factor in the development of Buddhism. Without the rich mythology associated with the Buddha, the religion collapses, and nothing is left but a demythologized, supposedly historical figure in whom it makes little sense to “take refuge.” He becomes a

wandering ascetic of ancient India, like many others, and the appeal and growth of his religion has no adequate explanation. It was therefore the extraordinary combination of the historical Shakyamuni and the mythology that became associated with him that set the great religion known as Buddhism on its historical course.

In Buddhism myth is continually used at second or even third remove to bolster the primary Buddha myth. These subsidiary forms include, for example, stories about the recitation of the Buddhist canon soon after Shakyamuni’s decease, details of his previous lives, and descriptions of

the six spheres of rebirth. Some Buddhist traditions take these subsidiary myths more seriously than others, and in each tradition there are also variations among individual adherents. But, even for those Buddhists who are most skeptical, the myths associated with the Buddha and his saving activity remain central and useful.


Shakyamuni in literature and art

Traditional literary accounts


The traditional biographies of the Buddha Shakyamuni all derive ultimately from early Indian extracanonical rearrangements of the still-earlier scattered canonical accounts of his great acts. The best-known of the Indianbiographies” are the Sanskrit works the Mahavastu (“Great Story”), the Buddhacharita (“Poetic Discourse on the Acts of the Buddha”), and the Lalitavistara (“Detailed Narration on the Sport [of the Buddha]”); the Chinese

Abhiniskramana-sutra (“Discourse on the Going Forth”), translated from an Indian original; and the Pali introduction to the Jatakas, the Nidanakantha (“Account of the Origins”), as well as the commentary on the Buddhavamsa (“Chronicle of the Buddhas”). These early works grew out of earlier traditions,

and ascertaining the dates of their final versions helps in no way to estimate the actual age or reliability of much of the material they contain. All that can be said is that this material agrees substantially with the earliest-known fragmentary

canonical accounts and that, once presented in biographical form, there are only minor variations in the “national” versions of the story. The later Sinhalese, Thai, Myanmar (Burmese), and Cambodian stories are all firmly based on the earlier Pali versions. The Koreans and Japanese derived their accounts directly from the Chinese, who in turn derived their traditions, via Central Asia, from Indian sources. The Tibetans developed their versions from the same earlier Indian versions. The biography of Shakyamuni included by the Tibetan

historian Bu-ston (1290–1364) in his Chos ’byung (“History of Buddhism”) differs from other traditional accounts only by its listing of the later Mahayana doctrines as part of Shakyamuni’s teachings on earth. All in all, the unity of the mythological and quasi-historical interpretations of the life and death of the “historical” Buddha, in whatever Buddhist country they have been retold, remains impressive.

The kernel of truth in the claim of the Theravadin Buddhists of Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia to represent unadulterated “original Buddhism” derives from the fact that they have remained faithful to the early enthusiastic acclamation of Shakyamuni as the one and only

Buddha of the present dispensation. Although other buddhas were recognized from a very early date, the attention of the early community was focused almost exclusively on the person and activities of Shakyamuni.


All the early canonical accounts agree in describing Shakyamuni’s experience of enlightenment as a definitive victory over Mara, the Evil One, and as resulting in a threefold knowledge: that of his own previous births, that of the births and deaths of all other sentient beings, and that of the saving insight that brings final release from the whole unhappy process. Moreover, Shakyamuni was acclaimed Mahamuni (“Great Sage”) and Bhagavat (“Lord”)

in the texts not because he achieved a state of spiritual equilibrium in the context of ordinary existence but because he attained the supramundane state of nirvana. There are no textual indications that he was ever regarded by his followers as a kind of Socratic sage; on the contrary, he was thought to be a perfected yogi who possessed miraculous powers and divine insight, combined with an extraordinary concern for the spiritual advancement of

others. Thus, from the first his state of enlightenment, or Buddhahood, was recognized as lokottara (“transcendent”) and as the transient embodiment of supramundane knowledge.

Shakyamuni was identified with the pre-Buddhist Indian myth of the Mahapurusha (“Great Man”). As a Great Man, he could have become a universal monarch, but he chose instead the even higher career for which a Great Man was also prepared—the career of a universal religious teacher.


According to one very important early text, Shakyamuni was accepted as the seventh in a series of previous buddhas. His contemporary Mahavira, leader of the Jains, was linked to a similar series of 24 great religious figures. The essential mythical idea consists not in the numbers but in the notion of a necessary soteriological

lineage. The title Tathagata, probably meaning “he who has thus attained,” was regularly used by Shakyamuni to refer to himself. Had it not been for his utter confidence in his achievement, his religious movement would doubtless have died with him.


Not only do buddhas appear at more or less regular intervals, but the final appearance of any buddha is the culmination of a whole series of previous lives, characterized by gradual advancement toward enlightenment. The belief accords well with the worldview of the region in which Buddhism originated, and it may be supposed that

Shakyamuni believed this of himself. In any case, the earliest-known Buddhist tradition most certainly presented him as so believing. Building on this basis, many stories of events in his previous lives became very popular, some drawn from various folk traditions, others having a more distinctively Buddhist flavour. These stories have played an extraordinarily important role in Buddhist teaching and art.

The fundamental myth, however, was sometimes supplemented by later additions. One such addition concerns Mara, who represented the force of spiritual evil that Shakyamuni was conscious of having confronted and overcome. Mara is explicitly identified as Concupiscence and as Death, the twin foes of all those who strive toward the tranquil

and immortal state of nirvana. At the same time, Mara is identified with various demons and evil spirits, and the texts usually describe him in these terms. The definitive victory over Mara, on whatever spiritual or popular level it may be understood, remains an inalienable element of the myth. It is just as important as the belief, universally attested in the earliest traditions of all Buddhists, in the omniscience and the miraculous powers of Shakyamuni.

Since Shakyamuni’s followers were interested in him as a marvelous being and as a transcendent Buddha, historical reminiscences that were preserved in the story are incidental to the recounting of such things as the great acts of his previous lives, his miraculous birth in his last life, the drama of his final enlightenment while sitting

under the pipal tree, his stupendous decision to convert and save others (as symbolized by his first sermon in the Deer Park near Varanasi [[[Benares]]]), and his final decease at Kushinara.


Shakyamuni in art and archaeology


The primary Buddhist monument, both in early and present-day Buddhism, is the stupa, originally a reliquary mound or tumulus. Although the cult of the stupa is attested archaeologically only from the 3rd century BCE onward, the canonical tradition links this cult to the great events associated with Shakyamuni’s decease. Mythologically, the stupa is the supreme symbol of the Buddha in his fully realized state beyond the bonds of mortality. Carved

stonework preserved from the 2nd century BCE onward, especially from the ancient stupas of Bharhut and Sanchi in India, reveals the great Buddha myth in visual form. The scenes on these stupas depict not only the great events of the Buddha’s last life but also those of his previous births as well.


In the earliest period symbols were used to represent the figure of the Buddha in scenes from his life as Shakyamuni—a tree indicating his enlightenment, a wheel his first preaching, and a miniature stupa his final nirvana—because the sanctity of his being was thought to be too great to be portrayed physically. The tree cult involved ancient pre-Buddhist traditions that coalesced with the act of the enlightenment as performed beneath

the pipal or bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa). The wheel was the symbol both of the universal monarch and of the Buddha as universal guide and teacher. The stupa cult, with its extraordinary preoccupation with human relics, may have been a special Buddhist development related to the belief in nirvana as a supramundane state. It is in marked contrast to the usual Hindu (Brahmanic) horror of mortal remains as unclean.


Sculptural representations of the Buddha appeared in northwestern India from about the 1st century BCE, and stereotyped images of him soon became the model for use throughout Asia. Common types of Buddha image are those that represent his calling the earth to witness against Mara by touching it with the fingertips of the right

hand, the meditating Buddha protected by a cobra’s hood, and the Buddha lying on his right side as he enters final nirvana. The Buddha protected by a cobra’s hood represents a coalescing of the Buddha myth with the pre-Buddhist cult of snakes as protecting divinities (the naga cult) and derives from a legend in which the Buddha was protected from a rainstorm by a great naga king named Mucilinda.


The Buddha image was adapted to all the main scenes of Shakyamuni’s life. While the later stupas in India and Southeast Asia achieved ever-greater artistic splendour, they remained the symbols of Shakyamuni’s transcendence and preserved the iconographic traditions concerning scenes from his previous lives as well as his last life. Famous examples are Amaravati in South India, dating from about the 3rd century CE (some of its stone carvings

are preserved in the British Museum), and Borobudur, which was built in Java between 778 and 850 CE and embodies Mahayana (and perhaps Vajrayana) components in its symbolic structure. It also displays the close association between later developments and the great Buddha myth of Shakyamuni.


Temples and monasteries hewn out of rock were used by Buddhists at least from the 2nd century BCE until the 8th century CE and probably later. Early cave monasteries, famous for their temples with internal stupas set in a kind of sanctuary, are Bhaja, Bhedsa, and Karli, all within reach of Mumbai (Bombay). Other cave monasteries famous for the development of the iconography of the Buddha are Kanheri (near Mumbai), Nasik, Ellora, and,

especially, Ajanta, which contains fine murals dating from the 1st century BCE to the 9th century CE. These mainly represent Shakyamuni in his last life and in his previous lives as a compassionate bodhisattva. Magnificent cave temples and monasteries were established in many other Buddhist areas, especially in China.

The iconographic traditions of Shakyamuni thrive to this day chiefly in Sri Lanka and the Southeast Asian countries where Theravada Buddhism prevails. In the Mahayana countries of Nepal, Tibet, China, Japan, Mongolia, and Korea, the same iconographic traditions are observed whenever an image or painting of Shakyamuni is required. So long as Buddhism remains, the visual representations of Shakyamuni will continue to be meaningful.


Celestial buddhas and bodhisattvas

Literary references


The starting point of all the later-developed traditions of the Buddha was the great Buddha myth. The early idea of a series of buddhas in time, first 7 and later 24, soon allowed for the idea of a future buddha Maitreya, whose cult became popular throughout the Buddhist world. Next came the tendency to focus attention on other buddhas in buddha lands distributed through endless space.

In the Indian context the most important of the new buddhas that came to be recognized were gradually systematized into a set of five Celestial or Dhyani Buddhas. The buddha who was usually placed at the centre of the group was Vairochana, the Illuminator, the universal sage or chakravartin buddha. He is often depicted using

the gesture of preaching or by the symbol of the wheel of dharma. The buddha of the east, Akshobhya (the Imperturbable), is iconographically associated with Shakyamuni in the “earth-witness” posture. The cult of the Imperturbable buddha probably derives from the cult at Bodh Gaya, the historical place of the Buddha’s enlightenment. The buddha of the south was Ratnasambhava, the Jewel-Born, who represents the Buddha’s selfless

giving, indicated by the gesture of giving gifts—right hand open, pointing outward and downward. Amitabha was the buddha of the western paradise, around whom an important devotional cult developed. The buddha of the north was Amoghasiddhi, “Infallible Success,” who represents the Buddha’s miraculous power to save, indicated by the hand gesture of giving protection—right hand raised, palm outward and pointing upward. These five celestial buddhas seem—in the early stages of their development—to have been celestial manifestations of various aspects of Shakyamuni.


Two of these buddhas developed an important mythology and cult of their own quite apart from their role in the group of five Dhyani Buddhas. The first of these was Amitabha, the great buddha who presided over the western paradise and became the central figure in the traditions of Pure Land Buddhism. The Pure Land tradition, which probably began in northwestern India about the beginning of the Common Era, was most successful in China and

Japan, where it became the dominant Buddhist tradition. The second of the five great buddha figures with a very important independent history was Vairochana. This “central” buddha developed an important role throughout the Buddhist world and emerged as the central buddha figure in the Vajrayana traditions of Japan, particularly Shingon.

The Dhyani Buddhas prepared the way for the psychophysical theories of the tantras. The five were associated with the centre and four compass points, namely, the macrocosm, conceived as a unity of the Five Great Elements. They were also identified with the microcosm of the human personality understood in terms of the Five Components

(skandhas)—rupa (materiality or form), vedana (feelings of pleasure or pain or the absence of either), samjna (cognitive perception), samskara (the forces that condition the psychic activity of an individual), and vijnana (consciousness)—and with the Five Great Evils (ignorance, wrath, desire, malignity, and envy), typifying normal phenomenal existence. At this stage mythology and psychological symbolization are inextricably bound together.

In the tantras, Buddhist mythology overlapped with Hindu mythology. Akshobhya, for example, acquires a fierce Tantric form that is reminiscent of the fierce form of the Hindu god Shiva; in this form he became known by the Buddhist names Heruka, Hevajra, or Samvara. He is known in Japan in this guise as Fudō (“Imperturbable”). The

Indian god Bhairava, a fierce bull-headed divinity, was adopted by Tantric Buddhists as Vajrabhairava. Also called Yamantaka (“Slayer of Death”) and identified as the fierce expression of the gentle Manjushri, he was accorded quasi-buddha rank.

The bodhisattvas also developed manifold forms. Maitreya, the buddha-yet-to-come, was already known prior to the beginning of the Common Era and became the focus of a major devotional cult that spread across Asia. This early cult seems to have prepared the way for the Pure Land traditions involving Amitabha, which gradually superseded it. From the 1st century CE onward, a number of other celestial bodhisattvas were recognized, and cults of

various kinds developed around them. Bodhisattvas who became popular included Manjughosha (“Gentle Voice”) or Manjushri (“Glorious Gentle One”), the representative of divine wisdom, and Vajrapani, “the one who wields the ritual thunderbolt [[[vajra]]]” and who, as lord of yakshas (a class of local Indian divinities), entered the pantheon as a great protector.

Avalokiteshvara, the lord of compassion, first appeared in India and subsequently became an important figure in virtually every Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist tradition. He was recognized as the great patron of Tibet, who is believed to reincarnate in each of the Dalai Lamas. As Guanyin in China, Kannon in Japan, and Kwanseium in Korea, this bodhisattva coalesced with his feminine counterpart, Tara, and became a kindly madonna.

The bodhisattva Kshitigarbha (“Womb of the Earth”), who had hardly any significance in India, Nepal, or Tibet, attracted a cult as lord of the underworld in Central Asia. Kshitigarbha and his cult spread to China and other areas of eastern Asia. Known as Dizang in Chinese and Jizō in Japanese, he is lord of hell and therefore became the central figure in important and popular after-death liturgies.


Art and archaeology


It is mainly from artistic and archaeological remains that scholars have been able to trace the remarkable spread of Mahayana Buddhist mythology throughout Asia from the 1st century CE onward. The main points of departure for this mythology were northwestern India and the Bay of Bengal, especially the port of Tamralipti. Early Mahayana developments also affected South India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.

In India itself Bihar and Bengal remained Buddhist, largely late Mahayana and Vajrayana, until the 13th century. In Java and Sumatra there is iconographic evidence of the popularity of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and fierce quasi-buddha figures mentioned above. There are even traces in Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia of images and paintings of late Mahayana and Vajrayana divinities. In Southeast Asia the island of Bali retains a living but mixed Hindu-Vajrayana Buddhist culture.

Paintings and figures unearthed during the 20th century in Central Asia (Chinese Turkistan) revealed the manner in which Buddhist architecture, iconography, and painting passed from northwestern India to China and East Asia. Especially important are the paintings of buddhas and bodhisattvas in the caves of Dunhuang (4th to 10th century CE). These paintings reveal the popularity in China, Japan, and Korea of Amitabha-Amitayus, Vairochana, Maitreya, Manjushri, Kshitigarbha, and Avalokiteshvara (as the goddess Guanyin).


The main repository of Indian Mahayana and Vajrayana iconographic traditions is Tibet, where Buddhism was introduced from the 8th to the 13th century. Until the communist takeover of 1959, the Tibetans preserved and developed Indian (Pala) styles of iconography. They also preserved ancient techniques and styles of Indian Buddhist painting that were modified and enriched in some schools by much later influence from China.


Recurrent mythic themes

Mythic figures in the Three Worlds cosmology


In the early Buddhist tradition, Gautama is represented as denying the importance of questions concerning the nature of the universe. It was enough to realize that normal existence consists of a process of continual birth, death, and rebirth, a process from which, by following the path the Buddha discovered, one might achieve release.

If the early texts are correct, however, such an ordinance did not prevent the Buddha, and certainly did not prevent his followers, from accepting the general cosmological beliefs of the time, modified by conclusions drawn from the Buddha’s own teachings.

The cosmology, as it was systematized in the Buddhist tradition, included an infinite number of cosmos, all of which have the same structure. Each cosmos has three different realms, each of which is within the confines of samsara (the ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth) and is regulated more or less strictly by the law of karma, according to which good and pious deeds are rewarded while evil and impious deeds are punished.

At the top of the cosmos is the arupa-loka (Pali and Sanskrit: “realm of formlessness”), in which the most-exalted brahma deities live and in which there are neither material qualities nor mythological activity. The brahma deities who are associated with the next-lower level, called rupa-loka (Pali and Sanskrit: “realm of material form”), do have a role in Buddhist mythology, particularly in the cosmogony through which the lower strata of the cosmos are restored after the eschatological cataclysms that periodically destroy them. According

to an influential version of the primary creation myth, found in the Agganna-sutta, certain brahma deities whose abode was above the destruction begin—as the waters that are left from the old cataclysm start to coagulate below them—to savour the taste of the matter that constitutes these lower strata. As the strata take form, these brahma deities gradually descend into the lower realms and eventually become the first inhabitants of the new earth, from whom all humans descend.

Below the realms of the brahma deities is the kama-loka (Pali and Sanskrit: “the realm of desire”). This realm includes a set of six gatis (“destinies”) that have played an important role as a setting for mythology in virtually all Buddhist traditions in Asia. The highest of these six destinies is that of the devatas (though both gods and goddesses are included among the devatas, the goddesses generally have a secondary role). Within this

destiny there are many heavens, each inhabited by many deities. Mythologically, the most important are the Tushita Heaven, where the future buddha Maitreya awaits the time for his coming to earth; the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods, which is presided over by Inda (Sanskrit: Indra; sometimes called Sakka [[[Sanskrit]]: Shakra], a deity who plays a significant mythological role); and the Heaven of the Four Guardian Kings, protective deities who are found in many Buddhist myths.

The second of the gatis is the destiny occupied by human beings. The Agganna-sutta continues the story of creation by recounting the process through which the primal people devolved from their original idyllic earthly situation. Human vices and human conflicts emerge until a king called Mahasammata (“Great Elect”) is chosen to keep the peace and slow the pace of decline. Beyond this story of the beginnings of social life, the human realm is the locus for a myriad of widely diversified mythic stories about pious monks, nuns, kings, and other laypersons.

The third gati is the destiny of the asuras (“demons”), who in Indian mythology are the traditional enemies of the devas or devatas, though in the Buddhist mythology they generally play a limited role. (In fact, in some contexts the gati of the asuras is omitted from the system.) The fourth gati—the destiny of the animals—provides the setting for stories about many fabulous creatures, including nagas (mythical snakes), Garuda (a mythical bird), lions, and elephants.

The two remaining gatis, those of the pretas (“hungry ghosts”) and the hell beings, are mythically important in two respects. The descriptions provided of the punishments that are inflicted in these realms are very vivid indeed. In addition, there are widely distributed and well-known mythic stories of compassionate bodhisattvas and Buddhist saints who make journeys to these gatis to assuage the torment of those who suffer and to secure their release.

In different areas of Asia, new gods, goddesses, and demons were incorporated into the cosmology (for example, in Southeast Asia the great Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva were often depicted as devas). Despite these new mythic contents, however, the classic cosmological structure was kept remarkably intact.


Local gods and demons


Although the contemplative elite may deny the real existence of gods and demons together with the rest of phenomenal existence, the majority of Buddhists have preserved indigenous religious beliefs and practices. It has already been noted how Mara, the manifestation of spiritual evil, was presented in the earliest literature in terms of local demonological beliefs. It is also the case that the early stupas and entrances to cave temples

were decorated with local male and female deities (usually referred to as yakshas and yakshinis) who were seen as converted defenders of the new faith. This proved to be a satisfying way of justifying the continuance of the cult of local deities, and it has been employed in varying degrees in every Buddhist land. Thus, there developed a pantheon of minor deities that continued to take in new members wherever Buddhism was established.

The Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions welcomed these local deities and have admitted some of their cults into the liturgies in honour of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Such favoured deities include Mahakala, the great black divinity; the mother goddess Hariti; Kuvera, the god of wealth; and especially Hayagriva, a fierce horse-faced

god who is powerful in driving off unconverted demonic forces. The Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions have also identified local deities as manifestations of various buddhas and bodhisattvas. This process is particularly

prominent in Japan, where the identification of buddhas and bodhisattvas with indigenous kami (Japanese: “god” or “spirit”) has included both the great gods (for example, in the identification of the buddha Mahavairochana with the great ancestral Sun goddess, Amaterasu) and the kami of local territories.

In other cases that are equally widespread, local gods and demons have been conquered, converted, and taken into the pantheon or relegated to the periphery (where they may still require propitiation). Perhaps the most interesting example is found in Tibet, where it is commonly believed that Buddhism became established in the 8th century only as the result of the wholesale subjugation of local deities—a subjugation that must, from time to time, be repeated through the performance of rituals marked by their dynamism and ferocity.

In Theravada, Buddhism has had to come to terms with local beliefs. In some cases well-organized pantheons have been built. In Sri Lanka, for example, various local, Hindu, and Buddhist deities hold places within a hierarchy headed by the Buddha himself. In Myanmar the traditional hierarchy of local nats is headed by Thagya Min. Identified with Indra, he becomes a divine protector of Buddhism, who reigns in the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods.

These neatly organized systems, even where they exist, are, however, only a small part of the story. Throughout the various Theravada countries, a wide variety of deities and spirits have been incorporated into the Buddhist world as the inhabitants of particular realms within the Buddhist cosmos or as the guardians of various images, stupas, and temples. At the same time, there are others who, like the demons of Tibet, remain only partially encompassed within the Buddhist domain.


Female deities


In many Buddhist traditions female deities and spirits have been relegated to minor and secondary positions in the pantheon. Among the Theravadins, for example, it is rare for female deities to play a major role. An important exception is the goddess Pattini, who is a significant figure in the Theravada pantheon in Sri Lanka.

In the Mahayana tradition several female deities became major figures. Notably, Supreme Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) is often personified as the Mother of All Buddhas, who is manifest especially in Maha Maya, the virgin mother of Shakyamuni. Tara, the female saviour, is a much more popular figure who has often been seen as the female

counterpart of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. In China and Japan, Avalokiteshvara himself gradually assumed a female form. As Guanyin (Japanese: Kannon), Avalokiteshvara became probably the most popular figure in the entire panoply of buddhas and bodhisattvas.

It was, however, in the Vajrayana traditions that female deities became ubiquitous at the highest levels of the pantheon. From the 7th century onward, a riot of female divinities found their way into certain circles of Buddhist yogis, where they were actually represented by women partners in a special kind of sexual yoga (physical and mental discipline). The process was gradually interpreted as an internal form of celibate yoga, for, in

accordance with Vajrayana theory, enlightenment is achieved by the union of Wisdom and Method, now conceived of symbolically as female and male. Thus, it became possible to present supreme Buddhahood as the union of a male and female pair and then to represent every celestial buddha or quasi-buddha by a pair of male and female forms. The actual sexual ritual was certainly performed at one time in India and Nepal, seemingly to a very limited

extent in Tibet, and perhaps not at all in China and Japan. Nonetheless, this form of Tantric symbolism, with its plethora of female buddhas and quasi-buddhas, has been taken for granted as part of the received tradition of virtually all Vajrayana Buddhists.


Kings and yogis


The great Buddha myth is a combination of the ideals of universal kingship and universal religious preeminence. This is clearly expressed in the myth of the prophetic utterance of future greatness by the sage Asita, who examined auspicious signs on the infant Gautama and determined that he was a Mahapurusha (a Great Man capable of attaining universal rulership or Buddhahood) who was destined to become a buddha.

According to the Jataka tradition, Gautama, in his penultimate life as Vessantara (Sanskrit: Vishantara), had already realized the perfection of the extraordinary combination of kingship and all-abandoning asceticism. As crown prince, Vessantara was famous for his vast generosity, and, to the despair of his more practical-minded

father, he accepted banishment to the forest. There he attained ultimate self-abnegation by giving away his children and his wife, and in some accounts even his own eyes. In the end all the things Vessantara had given up

were miraculously restored to him, and, responding to the demands of his countrymen, he returned home to become the best of kings. Similarly, the last life of Gautama, up to the time of his great renunciation, is told entirely as a royal story.

Although the practice of Buddhist religion strictly required withdrawal from the world, or at least renunciation of its pleasures, the Buddha and his followers were eager to win royal support. They needed benefactors, and what better benefactor than a king. Any suggestion of royal benefaction thus resulted in the revival of the “myth” of the vastly generous monarch. Even within the Theravada tradition, the notion of the beneficent king as a bodhisattva has been prominent.

The most famous example of the mythologized kings is the Indian emperor Ashoka, who helped spread Buddhism and became the protagonist in many Buddhist legends. He is credited with having built 84,000 stupas as well as having disseminated Buddhism to neighbouring countries. On a smaller scale, legends embellish the life of King Tissa of

Sri Lanka (3rd century BCE), who presided over the arrival of Buddhism. Similar legends developed around other royal supporters of Buddhism, including Prince Shōtoku of Japan (died 622 CE)—whose enthusiasm for Buddhism is genuinely historical—Srong-brtsan-sgam-po of Tibet (died 650 CE), and Tibet’s two other great “kings of religion”: Khri-srong-lde-btsan (reigned 755–797 CE) and Ral-pa-can, who was assassinated in 838 CE.

The great 8th/9th-century stupa of Borobudur in central Java deliberately represents the ruling monarch of Java as a king who exhibited aspirations toward Buddhahood. The king presents himself as the bodhisattva par excellence. The Tibetans developed a similar idea when they identified their reincarnating Dalai Lama as a manifestation of their great patron, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The Manchu emperors of China were regarded as manifestations of the bodhisattva Manjushri.


From early in the history of Buddhism, the Buddha was recognized as a fully perfected yogi who possessed great religious insight and miraculous powers. Among the Buddha’s disciples, Maha Moggallana was especially known for his yogic attainments and magical powers. Notably, he traveled through various cosmic realms, bringing back to

the Buddha reports of things that were transpiring in those worlds. In later Theravada accounts Maha Moggallana’s successor, the monk Phra Malai, visited the Tushita Heaven to question the future buddha Maitreya concerning the time when he was to be reborn on earth in order to complete his buddha mission.

At a more general level, the early disciples of Shakyamuni, known as arhats when they achieved perfection, were conceived of as miracle-working yogis and were presented in the early canonical literature in this way. This same ideal was acknowledged in the Theravada tradition, and all Theravada areas have claimed their share of arhats.

But it was in Tibet, which drew on the more developed Indian myth of the mahasiddha (Sanskrit: “great yogi”) of the Tantric period (8th to 12th century CE), that this theme was most effusively developed. Especially famous are Padmasambhava (also called Guru Rimpoche), an 8th-century Indian yogi credited with having quelled the evil spirits of Tibet, and Pha-dam-pa Sangs-rgyas (died 1117), a Brahman of South India who became a Buddhist and visited Tibet and possibly China in the 11th century. Doubtless historical, Pha-dam-pa Sangs-rgyas passed out of history into myth with his fantastic powers and equally fantastic longevity. Better known in Europe is the story of the great Tibetan yogi Milarepa (1040–1123).

Early in the history of Chinese Buddhism, the same mythical tendencies appeared. Bodhidharma (6th century), the founder of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, was considered to be an Indian yogi. Subsequently, the ideal of the Buddhist sage, as typified by the arhats, coalesced in Chinese thought with the Daoist immortals (xian) in mythical

figures known as lohans. In Japan new mythicized stories developed, some associated with the founders of Japanese schools such as Kūkai and Shinran, others with popular holy men who were the Buddhist counterparts of indigenous shamans and ascetics. Through the continued generation of such new myths and stories, Buddhism was able to move from culture to culture, taking root in each one along the way.


David Llewelyn Snellgrove

Popular religious practices


Like other great religions, Buddhism has generated a wide range of popular practices. Among these, two simple practices are deeply rooted in the experience of the earliest Buddhist community and have remained basic to all Buddhist traditions.

The first is the veneration of the Buddha or other buddhas, bodhisattvas, or saints, which involves showing respect, meditating on the qualities of the Buddha, or giving gifts. Such gifts are often given to the relics of the Buddha, to images made to represent him, and to other traces of his presence, such as places where his

footprint can supposedly be seen. After the Buddha’s death the first foci for this sort of veneration seem to have been his relics and the stupas that held them. By the beginning of the Common Era, anthropomorphic images of the Buddha were being produced, and they took their place alongside relics and stupas as focal points for

venerating him. Still later, in the context of the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, the veneration of other buddhas and bodhisattvas came to supplement or replace the veneration of the Buddha Gautama. In the course of Buddhist history, the forms have become diverse, but the practice of honouring and even worshiping the Buddha or Buddha figure has remained a central component in all Buddhist traditions.

The second basic practice is the exchange that takes place between monks and laypersons. Like the Buddha himself, the monks embody or represent the higher levels of spiritual achievement, which they make available in various ways to the laity. The laity improve their soteriological condition by giving the monks material gifts that function as sacrificial offerings. Although the exchange is structured differently in each Buddhist tradition, it has remained until recently a component in virtually all forms of Buddhist community life.

Both of these practices appear independently within the tradition. The veneration of the Buddha or Buddha figure is a common ritual often practiced independently of other rituals. Moreover, the dana (Pali: “gift-giving”) ritual of the Theravada tradition and similar exchanges between monks and laypersons are performed independently of other rituals. Both of these practices, however, are embedded in one way or another in virtually all other Buddhist rituals, including calendric rituals, pilgrimage rituals, rites of passage, and protective rites.


Calendric rites and pilgrimage

Uposatha


The four monthly holy days of ancient Buddhism, called uposatha, continue to be observed in the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia. The days—the new moon and full moon days of each lunar month and the eighth day following the new and full moons—originated, according to some scholars, in the fast days that preceded the Vedic soma sacrifices. Buddhist laypersons and monks are expected to perform religious duties during the uposatha days.

The uposatha service typically includes the repetition of the precepts, the offering of flowers to the Buddha image, the recitation of Pali suttas, meditation practices, and a sermon by one of the monks for the benefit of those in attendance. The more pious laymen may vow to observe the eight precepts for the duration of the uposatha. These include the five precepts normally observed by all Buddhists—not to kill, steal, lie, take

intoxicants, or commit sexual offenses, which came to entail complete sexual continence—as well as injunctions against eating food after noon, attending entertainments or wearing bodily adornments, and sleeping on a luxurious bed. The monks observe the uposatha days by listening to the recitation by one of their members of the patimokkha, or rules of conduct, contained in the Vinaya Pitaka and by confessing any infractions of the rules they have committed.


Anniversaries


The three major events of the Buddha’s life—his birth, enlightenment, and entrance into final nirvana (parinibbana)—are commemorated in all Buddhist countries but not everywhere on the same day. In Theravada countries the three events are all observed together on Vesak (also spelled Wesak), the full moon day of the sixth lunar month (Vesakha), which usually occurs in May. In Japan and other Mahayana countries, however, the

three anniversaries of the Buddha are observed on separate days (in some countries the birth date is April 8, the enlightenment date is December 8, and the death date is February 15). Festival days honouring other buddhas and bodhisattvas of the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions are also observed, and considerable emphasis is placed on

anniversaries connected with the patriarchs of certain schools. Padmasambhava’s anniversary, for example, is especially observed by the Rnying-ma-pa sect in Tibet, and the birthday of Nichiren is celebrated by his followers in Japan.


Vassa


The beginning and end of vassa, the three-month rainy-season retreat from July to October, are two of the major festivals of the year among Theravada Buddhists, particularly in Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. The retreat has largely been given up by Mahayana Buddhists. It is an accepted practice in countries such as Thailand for a layman to take monastic vows for the vassa period and then to return to lay life. Commonly, the number of years a monk has spent in monastic life is expressed by counting up the number of vassas he has observed.

The end of vassa is marked by joyous celebration, and the following month is a major occasion for presenting gifts to monks and acquiring the consequent merit. The kathina, or robe-offering ceremony, is a public event during this period and usually involves a collective effort by a village, a group of villages, or a company to

bestow gifts on an entire monastery. A public feast and display of the robes and other presents on a “wishing tree” are the usual components of the ceremony. The kathina celebration culminates in the making and presentation of the mahakathina (“great robe”), a particularly meritorious gift that requires the cooperation of a number of

people who, theoretically at least, must produce it—from spinning the thread to stitching the cloth—in a single day and night. The robe commemorates the act of the Buddha’s mother, who, on hearing that he was about to renounce worldly life, wove his first mendicant robes in one night.


All Souls festival


The importance of the virtues of filial piety and the reverence of ancestors in China and Japan have established Ullambana, or All Souls Day, as one of the major Buddhist festivals in those countries. In China worshipers in Buddhist temples make fachuan (“boats of the law”) out of paper, some very large, which are then burned in the

evening. The purpose of the celebration is twofold: to remember the dead and to free those who are suffering as pretas, or hell beings, so that they may ascend to heaven. Under the guidance of Buddhist temples, societies (hui, Youlanhui) are formed to carry out the necessary ceremonies—lanterns are lit, monks are invited to recite

sacred verses, and offerings of fruit are made. An 8th-century Indian monk, Amoghavajra, is said to have introduced the ceremony into China, from where it was transmitted to Japan. During the Japanese festival of Bon

(Obon), two altars are constructed, one to make offerings to the spirits of dead ancestors and the other to make offerings to the souls of those dead who have no peace. Odorinembutsu (the chanting of invocations accompanied by dancing and singing) and invocations to Amida are features of the Bon celebrations.


New Year’s and harvest festivals


New Year’s festivals demonstrate Buddhism’s ability to co-opt preexisting local traditions. On the occasion of the New Year, images of the Buddha in some countries are taken in procession through the streets. Worshipers visit Buddhist sanctuaries and circumambulate a stupa or a sacred image, and monks are given food and other

gifts. One of the most remarkable examples of the absorption of a local New Year’s celebration in Buddhist practice was the Smonlam festival in Tibet, celebrated on a large scale in Lhasa until the beginning of Chinese communist rule in 1959. The festival was instituted in 1408 by Tsong-kha-pa, the founder of the Dge-lugs-pa sect,

who transformed an old custom into a Buddhist festivity. Smonlam took place at the beginning of the winter thaw, when caravans began to set out once again and the hunting season was resumed. The observances included exorcistic ceremonies performed privately within each family to remove evil forces lying in wait for individuals as well as

for the community as a whole. They also included propitiatory rites performed to ward off evil such as droughts, epidemics, or hail during the coming year. During the more public propitiatory rites, the sangha cooperated with the laity by invoking the merciful forces that watch over good order, and processions, fireworks, and various

amusements created an atmosphere of hopefulness. Through the collaboration of the monastic community and the laity, a general reserve of good karma was accumulated to see everyone through the dangerous moment of passage from the old year to the new.

Harvest festivals also provide Buddhism an opportunity to adopt local customs and adapt them to the Buddhist calendar. The harvest festival celebrated in the Tibetan villages during the eighth lunar month was quite different from the New Year ceremonies. Most commonly, offerings of thanks were made to local deities in rites

that were only externally Buddhist. The same interplay between Buddhism and folk tradition is observable elsewhere. At harvest time in Sri Lanka, for example, there is a “first fruitsceremony that entails offering the Buddha a large bowl of milk and rice. Moreover, an integral part of the harvest celebrations in many Buddhist

countries is the sacred performance of an episode in the life of a buddha or a bodhisattva. In Tibet troupes of actors specialize in performances of Buddhist legends. In Thailand the recitation of the story of Phra Wes (Pali: Vessantara) constitutes one of the most important festival events of the agricultural calendar.


Buddhist pilgrimage


Within the first two centuries of the Buddha’s death, pilgrimage had already become an important component in the life of the Buddhist community. Throughout early Buddhist history there were at least four major pilgrimage centres—the place of the Buddha’s birth at Lumbini, the place of his enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, the Deer Park in Varanasi (Benares), where he supposedly preached his first sermon, and the village of Kushinara, which was recognized as the place of his parinibbana (final nirvana or final death).


During this period the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodh Gaya was the most important pilgrimage centre, and it remained so throughout much of Buddhist history. After the collapse of Buddhism in India, however, Bodh Gaya was taken over by Hindu groups and served as a Hindu shrine. In the late 20th century, Buddhist control was partially restored, and Bodh Gaya once again became the major Buddhist pilgrimage site.

During the post-Ashokan period, four other sites in northeastern India became preeminent pilgrimage sites. In addition to these eight primary sites in the Buddhist “homeland,” major pilgrimage centres have emerged in every region or country where Buddhism has been established. Many local temples have their own festivals associated

with a relic enshrined there or an event in the life of a sacred figure. Some of these, such as the display of the tooth relic at Kandy, Sri Lanka, are occasions for great celebrations attracting many pilgrims. In many Buddhist countries famous mountains have become sacred sites that draw pilgrims from both near and far. In China,

for example, four such mountain sites are especially important: Emei, Wutai, Putuo, and Jiuhua. Each is devoted to a different bodhisattva whose temples and monasteries are located on the mountainside. In many Buddhist regions there are pilgrimages that include stops at a whole series of sacred places. One of the most interesting of these is the Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan, which involves visits to 88 temples located along a route that extends for more than 700 miles (1,130 km).

Buddhist pilgrimages, like those in other religions, are undertaken for a wide range of reasons. For some Buddhists pilgrimage is a discipline that fosters spiritual development; for others it is the fulfillment of a vow made, for example, to facilitate recovery from an illness; and for others it is simply an occasion for travel and enjoyment. Whatever its motivations, pilgrimage remains one of the most important Buddhist practices.


Rites of passage and protective rites


Initiation

Ordination

Admission to the sangha involves two distinct acts: pabbajja (lower ordination), which consists of renunciation of secular life and acceptance of monastic life as a novice, and upasampada (higher ordination), official consecration as a monk. The evolution of the procedure is not entirely clear; in early times the two acts

probably occurred at the same time. Subsequently, the Vinaya established that upasampada, or full acceptance into the monastic community, should not occur before the age of 20, which, if the pabbajja ceremony took place as early as age 8, would mean after 12 years of training. Ordination could not occur without the permission of the aspirant’s parents. The initial Pali formula was “Ehi bhikkhu,” “Come, O monk!”

The rite established in ancient Buddhism remains essentially the same in the Theravada tradition. To be accepted the postulant shaves his hair and beard and dons the yellow robes of the monk. He bows to the abbot or senior monk, to whom he makes his petition for admittance, and then seats himself with legs crossed and hands folded,

pronouncing three times the formula of the Triple Refuge—“I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dhamma, I take refuge in the sangha.” He repeats after the officiating monk the Ten Precepts and vows to observe them. Thereafter, in the presence of at least 10 monks (fewer in some cases), the postulant is questioned in detail by the abbot—as to the name of the master under whom he studied, whether he is free of faults and defects

that would prevent his admission, and whether he has committed any infamous sins, is diseased, is mutilated, or is in debt. The abbot, when satisfied, thrice proposes acceptance of the petition; the chapter’s silence signifies consent. Nuns were once ordained in basically the same way, though the ordination of a nun required the presence of monks in order to be recognized as valid.


Bodhisattva vows


In Mahayana Buddhism new rituals were added to the ceremony of ordination prescribed by the Pali Vinaya. The declaration of the Triple Refuge is as central an assertion as ever, but special emphasis is placed on the candidate’s intention to achieve enlightenment and his undertaking of the vow to become a bodhisattva. Five monks are required for the ordination: the head monk, one who guards the ceremony, a master of secrets (the esoteric teachings, such as mantras), and two assisting officiants.


Abhisheka


The esoteric content of Vajrayana tradition requires a more complex consecration ceremony. Along with other ordination rites, preparatory study, and training in yoga, the Tantric neophyte receives abhisheka (Sanskrit: “sprinkling” of water). This initiation takes several forms, each of which has its own corresponding vidya

(Sanskrit: “wisdom”), rituals, and esoteric formulas and is associated with one of the five Celestial Buddhas or Dhyani-Buddhas. The initiate meditates on the vajra (Sanskrit: “thunderbolt”) as a symbol of Vajrasattva Buddha (the Adamantine Being), on the bell as a symbol of the void, and on the mudra (ritual gesture) as “seal.” The intent of the initiation ceremony is to produce an experience that anticipates the moment of death. The candidate emerges reborn as a new being, a state marked by his receipt of a new name.


Funeral rites


The origin of Buddhist funeral observances can be traced back to Indian customs. The cremation of the body of the Buddha and the subsequent distribution of his ashes are told in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (“Sutta on the Great Final Deliverance”). Early Chinese travelers such as Faxian described cremations of venerable monks. After cremation the ashes and bones of the monk were collected and a stupa built over them. That this custom was widely observed is evident from the large number of stupas found near monasteries.

With less pomp, cremation is also used for ordinary monks and laymen, though not universally. In Sri Lanka, for example, burial is also common, and in Tibet, because of the scarcity of wood, cremation is rare. The bodies of great lamas, such as the Dalai and Panchen lamas, are placed in rich stupas in attitudes of meditation, while lay corpses are exposed in remote places to be devoured by vultures and wild animals.

Buddhists generally agree that the thoughts held by a person at the moment of death are of essential significance. For this reason sacred texts are sometimes read to the dying person to prepare the mind for the moment of death; similarly, sacred texts may be read to the newly dead, since the conscious principle is thought to remain in the body for about three days following death. In Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese lamaseries, a lama sometimes recites the famous Bardo Thödol (commonly referred to in English as “The Tibetan Book of the Dead”).


Protective rites From a very early period in its development, Buddhism has included within its repertoire of religious practices specific rituals that are intended to protect against various kinds of danger and to exorcise evil influences. In the Theravada tradition, these rituals are closely associated with texts called parittas, many of which are attributed directly to the Buddha. In Sri Lanka and the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia, parittas are traditionally chanted during large public rituals designed to avert collective, public danger. They are also very widely used in private rituals intended to protect the sponsor against illness and various other misfortunes.

In the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, the role taken by protective and exorcistic rituals is even greater. For example, dharanis (short statements of doctrine that supposedly encapsulate its power) and mantras (a further reduction of the dharani, often to a single word) were widely used for this purpose. Protective and exorcistic rituals that used such dharanis and mantras were extremely important in the process through which the populations of Tibet and East Asia were converted to Buddhism. They have remained an integral part of the Buddhist traditions in these areas, reaching what was perhaps their fullest development in Tibet.

Giuseppe Tucci

Buddhism in the contemporary world

Trends since the 19th century


During the 19th and 20th centuries, Buddhism responded to new challenges and opportunities that cut across the regional religious and cultural patterns that characterized the Buddhist world in the premodern period. A number of Buddhist countries were subjected to Western rule, and even those that avoided direct conquest felt the heavy pressure of Western religious, political, economic, and cultural influences. Modern rationalistic and scientific

modes of thinking, modern notions of liberal democracy and socialism, and modern patterns of capitalist economic organization were introduced and became important elements in the thought and life of Buddhists and non-Buddhists all across Asia. In addition, Buddhism returned to areas where it had previously been an important force (India is the major case in point), and it spread very rapidly into the West, where new developments took place that in turn influenced Buddhism in Asia.

Buddhists responded to this complex situation in diverse ways. In many cases they associated Buddhism with the religious and cultural identity that they sought to preserve in the face of Western domination. Buddhists used a variety of measures to meet the challenge posed by the presence of Western Christian missionaries, often adopting

modern Christian practices such as the establishment of Sunday schools, the distribution of tracts, and the arrangement of worship areas so as to resemble churches and meeting houses. They also attempted to strengthen the Buddhist cause by promoting missionary activity in Asia and in the West. In the West they also adopted Christian forms of religious organization and practice, particularly in the United States. For example, the U.S. branch of

Japanese Pure Land (Jōdo Shinshū) Buddhism adopted the word church in its official name (Buddhist Churches of America) and established temples with worship areas resembling Protestant congregations. A number of societies were established to promote cooperation between Buddhists from all countries and denominations, including the

Maha Bodhi Society (established in 1891 in order to win back Buddhist control of the pilgrimage site associated with the enlightenment of the Buddha), the World Fellowship of Buddhists (founded in 1950), and the World Buddhist Sangha Council (1966).

Four other responses deserve to be mentioned. In some situations Buddhists introduced reforms designed to make Buddhism a more appealing and effective force in the modern world. In the late 19th century, Buddhist leaders put forward a highly rationalized interpretation of Buddhism that de-emphasized the supernormal and ritualized

aspects of the tradition and focused on the supposed continuity between Buddhism and modern science and on the centrality of ethics and morality. This interpretation represents, according to its proponents, a recovery of the true Buddhism of the Buddha.

Another response has been the development of so-called Engaged Buddhism. Those who identify with this cause include Asian Buddhists, such as the Vietnamese-born monk and writer Thich Nhat Hanh, and Western converts who have developed understandings of Buddhist teachings and practice that focus on the implementation of progressive

social, political, and economic activity. In some cases attention has been centred on Buddhist ideas and activities that seek to foster world peace and world justice. The Buddhist Peace Fellowship (founded 1978) is one of the most-prominent organizations within this movement.

Both within Engaged Buddhism and outside it, socially active Buddhists have sought to develop Buddhist teachings as a basis for a modern democratic society. Still others have supported the development of a Buddhist-based economic system that is socially and ecologically responsible. Socially conscious Buddhists have also developed a Buddhist form of feminism and have been associated with groups that are attempting to reestablish (in the Theravada world) or to enhance (in Mahayana and Vajrayana contexts) the role of Buddhist nuns.

A third widespread pattern of Buddhist reform has involved the promotion of movements that give the laity a much stronger role than it traditionally had. In the Theravada world, lay-oriented meditation movements focusing on vipassana (Pali: “insight”) techniques of meditation have been successful and in some cases have found followers

far beyond the borders of the Theravada community. In East Asia an anticlerical, lay-oriented trend, which appeared before the beginning of the modern period, has culminated in the formation and rapid expansion of new, thoroughly laicized Buddhist movements, particularly in Japan.

The fourth trend that can be identified stretches the usual notion of “reform.” This trend is exemplified in the emergence of new kinds of popular movements associated with charismatic leaders or with particular forms of practice that promise immediate success not only in religious terms but in worldly affairs as well. Since the

20th century, groups of this kind, both large and small, both tightly organized and loosely knit, have proliferated all across the Buddhist world. One example is the Dhammakaya group, a very large, well-organized,

hierarchical, and commercialized sectarian group that is centred in Thailand. Sometimes labeled “fundamentalist,” the Dhammakaya group propagates meditational techniques that promise the immediate attainment of nirvana, as well as patterns of ritual donation that claim to ensure immediate business and financial success.


Challenges and opportunities


The condition of contemporary Buddhist communities and the challenges they face differ radically from area to area. There are a number of countries, for example, where previously well-established Buddhist communities have

suffered severe setbacks that have curtailed their influence and seriously sapped their vitality. This situation prevails primarily in countries that are or once were ruled by communist governments that worked self-consciously to undercut Buddhist institutional power and influence. This has happened in the Mongol areas of Central Asia, in

mainland China and Tibet, in North Korea, in Vietnam, in Cambodia, and in Laos. By the end of the 20th century, the pressure on Buddhist communities in many of these areas had eased, though conditions varied from country to country and from time to time. In Cambodia, Buddhism has been officially reinstated as the state religion.


A different situation exists in parts of Asia where Buddhism has remained the leading religious force and has continued to exert a strong influence on political, economic, and social life. This is the case in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where Buddhism is the dominant religion among the Sinhalese and Burman majorities, and in Thailand,

where more than 90 percent of the population is counted as Buddhist. Although in the majority, Buddhists face unique challenges in these areas. In Sri Lanka, Buddhists were divided over the proper response to the civil war (1983–2009) between the Sinhalese government and the Tamil Tigers, a paramilitary group that sought an independent state in the north for the primarily Hindu Tamils. In Myanmar, Buddhists confronted the profound political division between the military junta, which ruled from 1962 until 2011 and sought to legitimate its

dictatorship in traditional Buddhist terms, and the democratic opposition—led by Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace—which based its resistance on a very different version of Buddhist teaching and practice. In 2007 Buddhist monks were prominent in Myanmar’s so-called Saffron Revolution (named for the saffron-coloured robes traditionally worn by Theravada monks), a large demonstration in Yangon for democratic reforms that drew a

harsh response from the government. That action was a catalyst helping to effect constitutional reforms in 2008 and a change in government in 2011. As the state religion of Thailand, Buddhism has retained a firm position within a relatively stable social and political order, despite deep divisions and conflicts that have developed among various groups. Buddhism is the officially recognizedspiritual heritage” of Bhutan, a traditionally Vajrayana Buddhist kingdom that completed its transition to parliamentary government in 2008.

A third situation occurs in societies where Buddhist traditions operate with a considerable degree of freedom and effectiveness, though Buddhism’s role is circumscribed to varying degrees. This situation prevails in several of the Pacific Rim countries, including South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, and to a lesser extent in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, where Buddhism is practiced by significant numbers of the large Chinese minority. The primary example, however, is Japan, where Buddhism has continued to exert an important influence. In the highly modernized society that has developed in Japan, many deeply rooted Buddhist traditions,

such as Shingon, Tendai, Pure Land, and Zen, have persisted and have been adapted to changing conditions. At the same time, new Buddhist sects such as Risshō-Kōsei-kai (“Society for Establishing Righteousness and Friendly

Relations”) and Sōka-gakkai (“Value-Creation Society”) have gained millions of converts in Japan and throughout the world. The latter, which is a variant of Nichiren Buddhism, has increased its international profile since the late 20th century under the leadership of Daiseku Ikeda.

Finally, new Buddhist communities have established roots in areas where Buddhism disappeared many centuries ago or did not exist at all before the mid-19th century. In India, for example, the Mahar Buddhist community established by B.R. Ambedkar has developed its own style of Buddhist teaching and practice that incorporates and integrates religious elements drawn from the pre-existing Mahar tradition.


In the Western world, particularly in the United States and Canada, the growth of new Buddhist communities—which include Buddhist immigrants from different parts of Asia, the North American-born children of immigrants, and indigenous converts—has been very rapid indeed. In these areas older Buddhist traditions have mixed and

interacted in ways that have generated rapid changes in ways of thinking and in modes of practice. Many indigenous converts place greater emphasis upon the practice of meditation than upon monastic life, and since the mid-20th century a steady stream of books and other media have reflected this trend. Many other North American-

born Buddhists of non-Asian descent have studied in traditional Buddhist countries, become ordained, and returned to the United States to lead and even found monasteries and Buddhist community centres. Some practicing Buddhists and scholars of Buddhism believe that the process of accomodation and acculturation in the West, and particularly

in North America, is leading to a “fourth turning of the Wheel of the Dharma,” a new form of Buddhism that will turn out to be quite different from the traditional forms of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana while incorporating aspects of each.

For more than two millennia, Buddhism has been a powerful religious, political, and social force, first in India, its original homeland, and then in many other lands. It remains a powerful religious, political, and cultural force in many parts of the world today. There is every reason to expect that the appeal of Buddhism will continue far on into the future.


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