Chapter 4
The Development of Buddhism on the Indian Subcontinent
In This Chapter
Preserving the Buddha’s teachings
Breaking down the basic Buddhist canon
Recognizing the role of Emperor Ashoka in spreading the new religion
Starting the engine of the Great Vehicle — new scriptures and themes
Checking out the decline and reappearance of Buddhism in India
Looking at Buddhism in Nepal
Buddhism began about 2,500 years ago with one person’s experience of spiritual awakening. During his lifetime, Shakyamuni Buddha had contact with thousands of people. By the time of his death, the influence of his teachings extended throughout a handful of kingdoms in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. But in the centuries that followed, Buddhist teachings spread through large parts of Asia. Today millions of people around the world practice Buddhism in some form. Interestingly enough, however, Buddhism was reintroduced into India only in the past century, about 700 years after it disappeared from the country where it was born.
The Buddha himself didn’t practice “Buddhism” — he merely taught what he called the Dharma, the law of the cause of suffering and the path to its cessation. Because his teachings were orally transmitted for a long time and written down much later, many uncertainties surround what the historical Buddha actually taught. His disciples and their successors interpreted, clarified, and developed the Buddha’s teachings, creating a variety of Buddhist schools and traditions that took the Dharma in directions the Buddha himself may not have anticipated.
In this chapter, we chronicle the growth and development of Buddhism. We concentrate on the changes the Buddha’s teachings underwent as they spread throughout the Indian subcontinent (including Sri Lanka). In Chapter 5, we follow Buddhism as it transformed and adapted to the cultures of Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and finally the West.
You may wonder what relevance the ancient history of Buddhism has today. But as you read this abbreviated account of its development, we think you’ll discover issues and themes that have timeless significance — ideas that keep reappearing in Buddhist practice and thought wherever and whenever the religion takes root. Besides, it’s a fascinating story.
Convening the First Buddhist Council
Before the Buddha died — or, as Buddhist scriptures put it, before he entered parinirvana (final liberation) — he told his disciples not to worry about being leaderless after he was gone. He said that the teachings themselves would be their guide. According to tradition, after the Buddha’s death, the Venerable Mahakashyapa presided over the community of monks and gathered 500 of the Buddha’s most spiritually advanced disciples to recite the precious teachings.
Gathering the council
This important communal recitation, known in Buddhist history as the First Council, was held at Rajgir, the capital of the kingdom of Magadha (see Chapter 9 for present-day Rajgir pilgrimage info). At the council, Mahakashyapa selected some of the Buddha’s foremost disciples to recite from memory the teachings they’d heard. Because Ananda, the Buddha’s cousin, who had been his personal attendant and constant companion for more than 30 years, had heard more of the Master’s discourses than anyone else, he went first.
Ananda began each recitation with the words “Thus I have heard,” to indicate that he himself had been present at the teaching he was about to relate — no second-hand information here. Then he mentioned the place where the Buddha had given that particular discourse — for example, at the Buddha’s rainy-season residence near Shravasti (see Chapter 9) — and who had been in the audience on that particular occasion. After setting the scene in this way, Ananda recited from memory what he remembered. Monks who had also been present at that particular teaching were asked to confirm that Ananda’s recitation was accurate. When they agreed, the recitation was accepted, and Mahakashyapa directed the assembly to commit it to memory.
Categorizing the teachings: The three baskets
The First Council formally divided the Buddha’s discourses into two groups, the general discourses and the discipline (the prescriptions for monks). Later the teachings were divided into three “baskets” (pitaka) that make up the principal categories of the Buddhist canon, or collection of teachings. Here are the three baskets (tipitaka in Pali; tripitaka in Sanskrit):
The Basket of Discourses (Sutta Pitaka in Pali; Sutra Pitaka in Sanskrit): Recited by Ananda, this extensive collection contains the advice the Buddha gave about the practice of meditation and related topics. The principal discourses in this basket demonstrate how you can train your mind to gain the insights that lead eventually to nirvana — the complete release from suffering.
For example, within the Sutta Pitaka, you can find the teaching known as the Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness (Pali: Maha-satipatthana Sutta), which contains essential instructions for gaining a clear, unmistaken realization of the four noble truths (check out Chapter 3 for more insight into these truths). Meditation practices of many Buddhist traditions were developed on the basis of this discourse.
The Basket of Discipline (called the Vinaya Pitaka in both Pali and Sanskrit): Recited by a monk named Upali (who’d been a barber in Kapilavastu before joining the Buddha), this collection contains the more than 225 rules of conduct that guide the life of the community of monks and nuns.
The Buddha generally formulated such rules spontaneously, in response to new situations. In other words, whenever he noticed his followers behaving in a way that was contrary to the spirit of his teachings or that could bring discredit to the community of monks and nuns (known in Sanskrit and Pali as the Sangha), he established the appropriate rule to govern that behavior. For example, the monk Sudinna once confessed to having sexual relations with his former wife (in order, it is said, to provide an heir who could inherit his family’s property). The Buddha first rebuked him, pointing out that such behavior was unbecoming of a member of the Sangha and leads to further attachment to the world of sensual desires rather than liberation from it. Then the Buddha established the rule that forbids individuals following the monastic way of life from engaging in any sexual behavior whatsoever. (See Chapter 12 for more on the basic rules of conduct for both monastics and laypeople.)
The Basket of Higher Teachings (Abhidhamma Pitaka in Pali; Abhidharma Pitaka in Sanskrit): Although the texts in this basket are of a considerably later date, one tradition has it that after Ananda and Upali finished recounting what they remembered at the First Council (by the way, some accounts state that Upali recited first), Mahakashyapa addressed the assembly. The subject of his recitation was an analysis of reality from the point of view of some early Buddhist authorities.
The Buddha often pointed out that the kind of philosophical speculation that was widespread in India at the time (“Does the world have a beginning or an end?” for example) didn’t lead anywhere. But he did want his followers to know how suffering arises and how it can be eliminated. Therefore, the Buddha taught a version of the 12 links outlining the way ignorance perpetuates suffering. (We present the 12 links, according to a Tibetan tradition, in Chapter 13.) These early instructions led to the extensive teachings on philosophy and related matters that make up Buddhist “higher knowledge” studies.
Spreading the Teachings — Peacefully
When Mahakashyapa died not long after the First Council, Ananda became head of the Buddhist order. During the 40 years of his leadership, Buddhism spread throughout India as monks dispersed in all directions, following the Buddha’s advice to teach “for the welfare of the many, out of compassion for the world.”
Ananda himself taught thousands of disciples, setting them firmly on the path to liberation. He and the other Sangha leaders who followed — sometimes referred to as the early Buddhist patriarchs — did a lot to help Buddhism spread. The early leaders founded many monastic communities, which produced new members for the Sangha and brought a large number of lay disciples into the Buddhist fold.
To the credit of the disciples involved in the rapid growth during the early years, the spread of Buddhism occurred peacefully. People became Buddhists for various reasons, but not because they were forced to.
The following scenario is typical of the way interest in Buddhism grew. A pair of simply clad monks entered a village in the early morning, having spent the previous night outdoors in the nearby forest. Carrying begging bowls, they walked from house to house seeking food, silently receiving whatever food people offered them, and then returned to the outskirts of town. Villagers who were sufficiently impressed by the calm, self-controlled demeanor of these monks often approached them after the monks had finished their one meal of the day and requested instruction. Some villagers even asked how they could join the Buddhist order.
Following the example of the Buddha, the monks responded to these requests in ways that seemed suitable — freely sharing whatever teachings they’d memorized and understood before moving on in their homeless wandering to the next village. The fact that these monks spoke respectfully with all members of society, whether they were of a high caste or low, increased their standing with the general population, and the number of Buddhists grew correspondingly.
A Fork in the Road: Managing a Developing Split in the Buddhist Community
Though peaceful, the Buddhist communities weren’t free from differences — or even the occasional controversy. As Buddhist communities in India became larger and more widespread, different styles of practice emerged. For example, some monks favored a strict interpretation of the rules of discipline, while others took a somewhat more liberal approach.
Convening the Second Council
According to recent scholarship, to deal with the various concerns that were dividing the community, a second Buddhist council was held in Vaishali about 60 years after the first. The different accounts of this meeting — both accounts written by Western historians and accounts given by the various Buddhist traditions themselves — disagree about exactly what took place there.
But everyone does agree that the Second Council led to the first major schism, or split, within the Buddhist community. Depending on which account you follow, several thousand monks either were expelled from the council or left voluntarily because they felt that the others were interpreting the spirit of the Buddha’s teachings too narrowly.
Two major Buddhist groups emerged from the Second Council. They called themselves by these names:
The Elders (Sanskrit: Sthavira; Pali: Thera): Considered themselves the keepers of the Buddha’s original teachings
The Great Community (Sanskrit: Mahasanghika): Held a more liberal interpretation of the Buddha’s word that they believed matched his original intentions
Over time, two major traditions of Buddhism developed. They are still followed today:
Theravada: Meaning “Doctrine of the Elders,” this tradition is practiced primarily in Sri Lanka and in Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar and Thailand.
Mahayana: Translated as “Great Path” or “Great Vehicle,” this tradition is primarily practiced in Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.
Advancing the teachings in different ways
The way the various traditions divided and evolved, especially in the early centuries of Buddhism’s development, is a complicated subject, to say the least. Because the subject is complex and views of it are shaded by the tradition each individual follows, we present only the most basic outline of the process. If you want to research this matter in more detail, we suggest that you check out different books on the subject and then attempt to unravel this complex story for yourself.
Within a couple centuries of the Buddha’s death, many separate Buddhist schools were active throughout India. Each had its own version of the monastic rules. As chaotic as the situation may seem, the existence of these different schools wasn’t necessarily a bad thing (especially because the different schools apparently never actually fought with one another, other than in philosophical debate).
You likely aren’t too surprised to hear about divisions and subdivisions in the Buddhist community in those early years. After all, the Buddha himself didn’t teach all his followers in exactly the same way. Taking into account differences in their interests and intellectual capacities, he taught in the manner that most benefited each audience. As a result, his teachings — especially those regarding the nature of the self (see Chapter 13) — can be interpreted in a variety of ways. It’s only natural that later generations of Buddhists grouped themselves into schools identifying with the philosophical position that best suited their own understanding.
Besides purely philosophical differences, other differences emerged among Buddhists, some concerning standards of acceptable behavior and others based on language. The Buddha encouraged his followers to make the teachings they themselves had heard and understood widely available to others, and he exhorted them to do so in their native language. In this way, everyone (not just the literate and highly educated) could benefit from the teachings. India was a land of many different languages, as it is today, and these linguistic differences also helped give each school its own character or flavor.
Making Buddhism a Religion of the People: The Emperor Ashoka’s Influence
In the third century BCE, a figure appeared on the Indian scene who had a dramatic effect on the entire course of Buddhist history. This figure was Emperor Ashoka, the third ruler of the powerful Mauryan dynasty established by his grandfather.
Ashoka was the individual most responsible for setting Buddhism on the road to becoming a world religion.
Transforming his approach
In the beginning of his reign (approximately 268 BCE), Ashoka followed the same warlike, expansionist policies as his father and grandfather before him. His conquests were so extensive that he eventually ruled an empire stretching over a vast portion of the Indian subcontinent.
But his bloody campaign to put down a rebellion in what is now the eastern state of Orissa involved such an enormous loss of life that Ashoka was horrified by his own actions. Deeply regretting all the suffering he’d caused, he underwent a profound spiritual transformation. Having become acquainted with the Buddhist teachings through a monk he’d met, Ashoka made the momentous decision to rule his empire according to the Buddhist principles of nonviolence and compassion.
Ashoka set out to put these lofty principles into practice on an unprecedented scale:
He gave up military conquest and instead devoted himself to the welfare of his people.
He established schools and hospitals, and even had wells dug along the main roads for the relief of travelers.
In the spirit of respect and toleration, he gave royal support to many different religious institutions — not just the Buddhist ones.
Because of his special interest in promoting the Buddhist moral code, he ordered edicts to be carved on pillars and rocks throughout his empire, exhorting his people to behave toward others with generosity, humility, and honesty.
Ashoka also promoted the practice of pilgrimage, visiting the various sites the Buddha had blessed with his presence (travel over to Chapter 9 for more on pilgrimages) and ordered the construction of thousands of burial monuments (known in Sanskrit as stupas) to the Compassionate One. With his devotion as their example, many of Ashoka’s subjects developed interest in Buddhism as well, and the number of individuals professing the Buddhist faith rose dramatically, especially among ordinary laypeople.
Before Ashoka, Buddhism appealed largely to people who were well educated or highly placed in society. Afterward, it became much more a religion of the people.
Promoting Buddhism beyond India
Emperor Ashoka also sent emissaries in all directions from India to spread the word of the Buddha. Some of them supposedly reached lands as far west as Egypt, Syria, and Macedonia, although no evidence indicates that they had much of an impact in these areas.
The mission to Sri Lanka, however, turned out to be a huge success. Buddhism reached the island in the third century BCE. According to the Buddhist tradition of Sri Lanka, two of the emissaries to this island nation were the Buddhist monk Mahinda and the nun Sanghamitta, said to be Ashoka’s children. They were well received by the local ruler, King Tissa, and were invited to the royal city of Anuradhapura, where a great monastery was later established. Ashoka’s daughter brought with her a cutting from the original Bodhi tree under which the Buddha was believed to have achieved enlightenment, and the descendant of the tree that grew from this cutting remains a popular pilgrimage site in Sri Lanka to this day. (Check out Chapter 3 for the story of the Bodhi tree.)
For 400 years or so in India, different collections of the Buddha’s teachings were passed down orally, in various languages and dialects, from one generation to the next. But in the first century BCE, a version of these teachings was finally put into writing in Sri Lanka.
The particular form of the Tripitaka (the “three baskets” we mention in the section “Categorizing the teachings: The three baskets,” earlier in the chapter) transcribed at that time was the one preserved in the Theravada tradition, which is believed to have arrived in Sri Lanka with Ashoka’s children and primarily spread to Southeast Asia. Its language is Pali, one of India’s more ancient languages.
Even now, more than 2,000 years later, many people turn to the Pali canon of the Theravada Buddhist tradition (a complete English translation was published last century by the Pali Text Society) when they want a taste of early Buddhism. (Peruse the sidebar “How original is ‘original’ Buddhism?” for more details.)
Two Levels of Practice in Early Buddhism
When you visit a country that subscribes to the Theravada Buddhist tradition, like Thailand, where people still practice many of the customs from the early days of Buddhism, you can get a feeling for how Buddhism must’ve impacted Indian society in its early years.
Members of the Buddhist order (the Sangha) relied on villagers and townspeople for their basic necessities of life, and the townspeople relied on members of the Sangha for spiritual instruction and the performance of religious rites. You can still see this interaction today, even in Thailand’s overgrown capital of Bangkok. Early every morning, monks carrying begging bowls emerge from their neighborhood temples into the city’s streets, where members of the local populace wait to make food offerings to them. After the monks complete their rounds, they return to their temples. Later some of the same families who gave food may gather at one of the local temples to request that the monks offer prayers or teachings on their behalf.
An important element in this interaction between monks and townspeople is known as the collection of merit. It’s a common belief in South Asian religions that virtuous actions — such as the practice of generosity — create a store of positive energy, or merit (punya in Sanskrit). This meritorious energy brings about positive results in the future, in accordance with the karmic law of cause and effect (see Chapter 12 for more on karma). The person to whom you present offerings — the object, or recipient, of your virtuous actions — is known as your field of merit, and the more worthy your field, the more merit you create.
Because fully ordained monks (and nuns, in the few places where their lineage still exists) are among the most worthy of all fields of merit, making offerings to them is a powerful way of quickly collecting vast stores of merit. Therefore, when a woman standing in front of her house places food in the begging bowl of a monk from a nearby temple, she feels that she herself is the one who truly benefits from this act of generosity, because she receives the merit. And the merit she collects, she hopes, will bring her happiness in the future, specifically a rebirth in one of the more fortunate realms of existence (see Chapter 13, where we explain the various realms in which beings live).
This example of the interaction between monks and the townspeople neatly illustrates two levels of Buddhist practice that existed side by side in the early days of Buddhism in India — and that still exist in many places throughout the Buddhist world.
On one level of Buddhist practice was the renounced style of the monastic community. Monks and nuns gave up family, possessions, and worldly ambition in their quest for complete liberation from suffering. They shaved their heads and donned robes, thereby eliminating (or at least minimizing) anything in their lives that would distract them from their ultimate goal, and devoted themselves primarily to the strict observance of moral precepts (check out Chapter 12 for more on these precepts) and the practice of meditation. (Chapter 7 deals with meditation in detail.)
Many of the devoted laypeople followed the other level of Buddhist practice (traditionally regarded as inferior, from a spiritual perspective). Individuals (called householders) who chose to live an ordinary life and raise a family were generally believed to be passing up the chance to win liberation in this lifetime.
A layperson was generally assumed to be limited to amassing enough merit — largely by supporting people who were committed to the monastic way of life — that he could achieve happiness later in this life and a favorable rebirth in the future. Then if the future rebirth was particularly fortunate, an individual might be able to devote himself to the pure practices of a fully ordained Sangha member at that time. But in the Buddha’s discourses, we also read about householders who attained awakening.
Witnessing Shifting Allegiances and New Ideals
The division of the Buddhist faithful into two groups — one seeking freedom from the wheel of suffering (the pattern of recurring misery and dissatisfaction known as cyclic existence, or samsara) and the other hoping only for temporary comfort within it and perhaps the chance for a better rebirth in the future — was perhaps never that sharp in practice.
The system required that the townspeople continue to highly respect the ordained Sangha. Arhats, such as Ananda and some of the patriarchs who followed (see the section “Convening the First Buddhist Council,” earlier in this chapter), were undoubtedly worthy of the highest esteem. But not everyone who wears the robes of a monk or a priest is a model of virtue, as is painfully evident in many religious traditions today, Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike.
Turning to the stupas
Historical evidence indicates that the growing number of stupas (burial monuments) located throughout India (see the section “Making Buddhism a Religion of the People: The Emperor Ashoka’s Influence,” earlier in the chapter) became important objects of worship for Buddhists.
The faithful regarded these monuments, originally built to house the relics of the Buddha, as indistinguishable from Shakyamuni Buddha himself. An increasing number of Buddhists, lay and monastic alike, congregated at these monuments and walked around them in the same way Shakyamuni’s own disciples centuries before had walked respectfully around the Buddha before addressing him. (For more information on the location of some of these stupas, see Chapter 9.)
The stupa has been an important cult object in the Buddhist world from early times. Originally a simple burial mound, the stupa evolved over time and included elements such as gateways, a platform, a parasol-like structure on the top, and a circumambulatory passage around it. The most well-known example in India is the Great Stupa located in Sanchi (see Figure 4-1), in the modern state of Madhya Pradesh. It was built around 300 BCE but has been frequently reconstructed.
Taking a ride in the Great Vehicle: Mahayana Buddhism
Around the same time as the cult of stupas was growing, the traditions of Buddhist thought and practice subsumed under the name Mahayana began emerging in India. The word Mahayana means the “Great Vehicle” or “Great Path.”
At the center of Mahayana doctrine is the figure of the bodhisattva. The Mahayanists didn’t invent this term, but they did broaden its meaning. In the Theravada tradition, it is assumed that Shakyamuni Buddha had to strive for many lives as a bodhisattva, an enlightenment-bound being, before attaining awakening.
Figure 4-1: The well-known Great Stupa of Sanchi in India.
According to the Mahayana, anyone compassionate and dedicated enough to place the welfare of others before his own attainment of nirvana can achieve the same enlightenment as Shakyamuni. In other words, instead of working toward becoming an arhat and achieving liberation just for oneself, the compassionate bodhisattva’s aim for Buddhahood is to bring infinite benefit to all others. This approach points to another reason for the term Mahayana, or “Great Vehicle”: These teachings not only benefit many beings, but also lead the practitioners (the bodhisattvas) to the greatest possible achievement: supreme enlightenment.
For individuals who lacked this supremely altruistic intention and were intent only on their own personal liberation, the Mahayanists coined the rather negative term Hinayana, or “Lesser Vehicle.” We’ve avoided using this term until now. It’s used polemically, and many writers have inaccurately applied this label to entire Buddhist traditions, such as the Theravada. This categorization is grossly unfair and inappropriate.
Recognizing the Major Mahayana Themes
Certain themes characterize the Mahayana worldview and reappear in the Buddhist traditions that developed in Central Asia and the Far East:
The compassionate bodhisattva, working for the benefit of all beings, is the ideal embodiment of spiritual fulfillment, replacing the arhat, who strives for his own liberation.
All beings, lay as well as ordained, have the ability to achieve the highest spiritual realization, even in the midst of “ordinary” life.
Buddhahood is an enduring principle that exists throughout the universe. Before adopting a Mahayana worldview, the faithful focused their respect on one historical person, Shakyamuni Buddha. Now they could direct their devotion toward infinite Buddhas and transcendent bodhisattvas throughout space and time.
The nature of all existence is essentially nondualistic. That is, ultimate reality is beyond all divisions into “this” and “that” — beyond the reach of thoughts, words, and conceptions — but still capable of being directly realized through insight.
Chronicling the Rise of the Mahayana Teachings
Even though books on Buddhism often speak about the Mahayana tradition in the singular, as if only one existed, a number of different Mahayana traditions rose to prominence starting around the first century CE — and almost certainly existed in some form even before then.
To be more precise, different Mahayana sutras (or discourses) began to circulate about that time, and each one expanded the Buddhist worldview in some way. These sutras (which are mostly written in Sanskrit) claimed to be teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha that some of his disciples had preserved in secret and were now unveiling to address the needs of the historical moment. In many cases, their proponents asserted that these sutras presented the teachings in a deeper, more potent form than what had appeared before. We explain the most important of these teachings in the next few sections.
Many of these sutras never self-identify as being Mahayana and were labeled or classified as such only later. Many were originally exegetical writings that became sutras because of their followers’ veneration of them or as the result of some systematizers’ deliberate attempt to pass them off as the Buddha’s own words.
White Lotus of the Good Dharma Sutra
Popularly known as the Lotus Sutra, this extensive Mahayana scripture became very influential in East Asia. (To find out more about the way the Lotus Sutra and the other Buddhist teachings and traditions mentioned in this chapter spread throughout Asia and to the West, check out Chapter 5.)
This poetic work (called Saddharma-pundarika in Sanskrit) presents a cosmic view of time and space and the spiritual path. As in a number of other scriptures, the events in this sutra start out at Vulture Peak near Rajgir (see Chapter 9), but they soon get a lot broader in scope. How much broader? We’re talking all of existence here. Shakyamuni reveals a spectacular vision of the universe populated by countless Buddhas instructing their huge circles of disciples. He then explains that, although Buddhas like himself may teach paths that lead to lesser goals (such as individual liberation), all beings ultimately have only one final spiritual destination: the supreme enlightenment of Buddhahood.
Exposition of Vimalakirti Sutra
This work is one of the oldest and most beloved of all Mahayana scriptures. The events take place at Vaishali (site of the Second Council; see the section “Convening the Second Council,” earlier in this chapter). This scripture is so popular among laypeople mainly because its central character, the layperson Vimalakirti, is described as having a more profound understanding of the teachings than even Shakyamuni’s close disciple Shariputra, a monk renowned for his wisdom. This sutra (Sanskrit: Vimalakirti-nirdesha) also contains a famous gender-bending scene in which a goddess appears and temporarily transforms Shariputra into a woman, much to his wonder and embarrassment. This event demonstrates that all conceptual ideas, including the concepts of male and female, lack ultimate reality.
Perfection of Wisdom Sutras
This collection of discourses presents the path to supreme awakening as the union of compassionate method and insightful wisdom (see Chapters 2 and 14, which explain the connection between compassion and wisdom). Focusing on the career of the altruistically minded seeker of enlightenment, these teachings provide a philosophical foundation for many of the emerging Mahayana traditions.
In addition to outlining the bodhisattva’s compassionate way of life, these sutras expand the scope and depth of Buddhist teachings on wisdom. In most earlier Buddhist texts, the insight of selflessness (see Chapters 2 and 13 for more on what it means to be without a self) is generally applied only to your ego-identity, or personality. If you want to achieve liberation, you have to penetrate this ignorant notion of self-identity to discover that there is no I. The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras (Prajna-paramita) expand — or, perhaps more accurately, transform — this insight into the truth of universal emptiness (shunyata), teaching that you can’t find even one atom of concrete, self-existent reality anywhere in the world. (For more on emptiness, see Chapter 14.)
This view — so contrary to the ordinary notion that things exist as separately and individually as they appear — was expounded in great detail by Nagarjuna, the founder of the Madhyamika (Middle Doctrine) school of Mahayana Buddhism.
Descent into Lanka Sutra
Besides Nagarjuna’s Madhyamika school, the other major philosophical school of Mahayana Buddhism is Asanga’s Yogachara, which emphasizes the role of the mind in shaping and creating experience. Madhyamika points to the inherent emptiness of phenomena by demonstrating that every concept and assertion you may have about reality is untrue, but Yogachara teaches that this inherent emptiness is actually the nature of consciousness itself, which underlies all phenomena as a deeper, abiding truth. In other words, instead of saying, “There is only emptiness,” Yogachara says, “There is only consciousness” — or Mind with a capital m. (Despite the apparent disagreement, many Buddhist masters have taught that consciousness and emptiness are merely indicators of the same indivisible, nondual (that is, inseparable) reality. For a more detailed comparison of Yogachara and Madhyamika, see Chapter 10.)
The Lankavatara Sutra is one of the main scriptural sources for the Yogachara school. It urges its practitioners to gain, through meditation, a direct and intuitive experience of consciousness itself, which is the deeper reality beyond the illusions generated by the conceptual mind.
World-Array Sutra
This beautiful scripture, which is really the last part of a vast collection of teachings known as the Flower Ornament Sutra, recounts the pilgrimage made by a young man named Sudhana — at the urging of Manjushri (see Figure 4-2), the bodhisattva of wisdom — to find the perfect teacher who can reveal to him the knowledge of enlightenment. This spiritual journey takes Sudhana to more than 50 teachers (each one instructs him in some aspect of the bodhisattva’s path) until he finally meets Maitreya, the future Buddha, who has the knowledge he seeks. Maitreya shows Sudhana that all his teachers have revealed the same truth to him, but in different guises. Under Maitreya’s guidance, Sudhana realizes that no difference exists between his own mind and the minds of the infinite Buddhas throughout the universe.
Sudhana’s journey represents a meditator’s experiences along the path to full awakening. Its vivid imagery draws the reader into an enchanted universe that stretches imagination to its limits. This sutra (Gandavyuha) has inspired numerous works of Buddhist art over the centuries — most notably, the reliefs that decorate the gigantic monument at Borobudur in Indonesia. (Chapter 9 has info about many pilgrimage sites, including Borobudur.) The predominant theme of this sutra, and of the various Mahayana traditions that derived from it, is the interpenetration of all universal phenomena. Everything that exists mirrors everything else, and the entire universe is like a vast hall of mirrors or net of jewels, endlessly reflecting one another.
Figure 4-2: Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom.
Land of Bliss Sutras
This collection of three sutras teaches the faithful how to live and die so that they can be reborn in the Buddha field (or pure land) of Amitabha, who (as his name expresses) is the Buddha of Infinite Light. Described as a celestial paradise, this land is a realm or domain completely outside the wheel of samsaric suffering. The compassionate Amitabha Buddha created this land while he was still a bodhisattva, and all the conditions in this pure land are right for achieving supreme enlightenment. Even the sound of the wind passing through the trees imparts teachings.
Unlike other Buddhist approaches to enlightenment, in which you rely on your own effort to propel you toward your goal, birth in this pure land (called Sukhavati, the “Blissful,” which is also the Sanskrit name of these sutras) largely depends on your devotion to its presiding Buddha, Amitabha. He brought this realm into existence, and you can reach it simply by maintaining faith in his saving grace. (See Chapter 5 for more on the worship of Amitabha — called Amida in Japanese — in Far Eastern Pure Land Buddhism.) The worship of Amitabha represents a general move in Mahayana Buddhism away from devotion to Shakyamuni alone and toward the worship of a vast array of Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
These brief descriptions give you a small taste of the extraordinary outburst of creative energy that produced the flowering of Mahayana over a relatively short period of time (approximately 100 BCE to 200 CE).
One important later text of Indian Mahayana Buddhism (it is not a sutra!) is the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, the Bodhicharyavatara or Bodhisattvacharyavatara.The monk Shantideva, who lived in the first half of the eighth century, wrote this work, poetic as well as philosophic in nature. It details the conduct of a bodhisattva, beginning at the moment he generates the thought of enlightenment (bodhichitta) until he attains insight. (We explain bodhichitta in Chapter 14.) The Sanskrit text has been transmitted in different versions and was translated into Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongolian. This work has become something of a classic in modern times and is accessible in several good English translations.
Just as the reign of Ashoka saw the Theravada Buddhism of the Pali canon spread to Sri Lanka on its way to Southeast Asia (see the section “Making Buddhism a Religion of the People: The Emperor Ashoka’s Influence,” earlier in this chapter), the peace and prosperity of the reign of King Kanishka in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent (first half of the second century CE) enabled the sutras of Mahayana Buddhism to begin spreading north and east on their way to China and beyond. Mahayana monks weren’t the only individuals responsible for this diffusion. Merchants and other lay practitioners also established pockets of Buddhism along the trade routes of Central Asia.
Looking at the Decline and Reappearance of Buddhism in India
Buddhism eventually declined in India. But the decline didn’t occur before Buddhism planted innumerable seeds that eventually flowered and took root in other lands, giving rise to the various Buddhist traditions recognized today. (Travel to Chapter 5 to find out more about the spread of Buddhism to the rest of Asia and, ultimately, the West.)
Before its decline, the Indian Sangha established numerous monasteries and several major universities that nurtured, practiced, and taught Buddhist philosophy not only to Indians, but also to visiting scholars and monks from Southeast Asia, Tibet, and China. These visitors returned home with new ideas, methods, and, above all, realizations to inspire their own and subsequent generations of spiritual seekers.
Disappearing act
You may be wondering why Buddhism declined in India, the land of its origin. Well, as is often the case, rulers of the day wanted to rule over all aspects of their domain. In the 12th century, Muslim rulers set about extending blanket control over India. Invaders destroyed major Buddhist monasteries and centers of learning, such as Nalanda and Vikramashila in present-day Bihar, in the 12th and 13th centuries. But whereas Hindu and Jain traditions survived the Muslim rule, Buddhism went into steep decline in India around the 13th century and was practiced by just a few isolated communities.
Scholars have long debated the causes for the decline of Buddhism in India. Almost everyone agrees that two factors contributed to its decline:
Lack of support: Buddhism, especially in its later Vajrayana form (for the term Vajrayana, see Chapter 5), was largely practiced in monastic establishments and had little following among the lay population. When the major centers were destroyed, Buddhism had no firm means of survival in India.
Assimilation by Hindu groups: Hindu traditions were growing in popularity. These traditions gradually assimilated a number of Buddhist ideas, and some even added the figure of the Buddha to the incarnations (avatara) of the god Vishnu.
Reappearing in India
But Buddhism couldn’t be completely extinguished from India. A few Buddhist communities have lingered from ancient times. Other groups practicing Buddhism are Tibetans who settled in India and members of certain ethnic groups (such as Tamangs and Sherpas) living in areas bordering Nepal, Thailand, and Myanmar. But most important were the modern Buddhist movements.
Two modern movements, in particular, helped Buddhism reappear:
The Maha Bodhi Society: A small group of Indians converted to Buddhism as a result of missionary activities of the Maha Bodhi Society of India. This Theravada Buddhist reform movement was founded in 1891 and has attempted to revive Buddhism in the land of its origin.
Ambedkar Buddhism: The largest number of Indian Buddhists are the comparatively recent converts to the neo-Buddhist movement founded by the charismatic Bhim(rao) Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) in the state of Maharashtra, in the western part of India. These are the so-called Ambedkar Buddhists.
Moving Mountains: Buddhism in Nepal
As Buddhism spread over Asia, its teachings came into contact with indigenous beliefs and practices, setting in motion a complex process of assimilation and interchange of ideas. Many local Buddhist traditions developed. When Buddhism came to the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal from India, it also developed there in specific ways. But even before this, given their position between India and Tibet, the inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley had a long tradition of engaging with both cultures.
Buddhism continued to flourish in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal long after its decline in India. It survived in this remote area, separated from India by formidable mountain ranges, because it suffered no major Muslim raids and thus never came under Muslim rule. When Muslims took control of India, many Buddhist teachers and monks escaped to Nepal. The Kathmandu Valley, the cultural center of Nepal, played an important role in transmitting Buddhism from India to Tibet. Tibetan scholars studied and taught in Nepal and made pilgrimages to important Buddhist sites in Nepal.
Delving into Buddhist traditions of Nepal
In addition to Hinduism, different forms of Buddhism are practiced in Nepal. Theravada, locally referred to as Shravakayana (Vehicle of the Disciples), reached the Kathmandu Valley perhaps as early as the third century BCE, and certainly no later than the first century CE. However, it was superseded by Mahayana, especially by the tantric traditions within it. Monks, mainly from Sri Lanka, reintroduced the Theravada tradition in the Kathmandu Valley in the 1930s. Theravada groups are now quite active in promoting their form of Buddhism. Vipassana meditation, which originated in the Theravada tradition, has also been popular among Newar Buddhists since the 1980s (we explain vipassana in Chapter 5). The Newars are one of several ethnic groups in Nepal and are known for their skills as artists. Newar craftsmen contributed significantly to Buddhist art and were often invited to work for patrons in Tibet. The Newars speak Newari, a Tibeto-Burman language.
In addition to the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley who practice Buddhism are Tibetans living in Nepal who follow Tibetan Buddhism. They have attracted followers among Newars and other ethnic groups in the country.
Narrowing in on Newar Buddhism
A significant portion of the Newars in Nepal practice both tantric and nontantric forms of Mahayana Buddhism (we explain tantric forms of Buddhism in Chapter 5). These forms are therefore known collectively as Newar Buddhism. The Newar Buddhist tradition is important for several reasons. Although it developed in specific ways, it continues the Mahayana Buddhist tradition of India. It’s the only Buddhist tradition that uses Sanskrit as the sacred liturgical language. Newars in Nepal have preserved and transmitted many ancient Sanskrit manuscripts that were lost in India. In particular, Buddhist texts from India that were written in Sanskrit have been faithfully transmitted, copied, and commented upon, and sometimes reworked or expanded in the Newari language. A large corpus of Buddhist ritual manuals, devotional texts, and legends is written in Newari.
An important text of Newar Buddhism is the 15th-century Svayambhu-Purana, which gives a mythological account of the origin of the Kathmandu Valley and the self-arisen (svayambhu) Caitya. This stupalike structure is located on a hill near Kathmandu and is an important religious monument of Newar Buddhism.
Consider these distinctive features of Newar Buddhism:
Caste system: Newar Buddhism maintains a caste system. The priestly caste consists of the Shakyas and Vajracharyas.
Loss of living monastic communities: With the loss of living monastic communities, Shakyas and Vajracharyas typically lead married lives as householders. These “householder-monks” undergo ordination as boys, but only for a period of three days.
Living tantric traditions: Some Newars follow tantric Buddhism. They have preserved the elaborate ritual associated with the tantric tradition, which includes specific features such as dances accompanied by songs and musical instruments during which the initiated practitioners identify themselves with deities of the tantric pantheon.