Evaluation Of Early Buddhism History Essay
Published: Mon, 5 Dec 2016
The early Buddhism showed more positive aspects, so the cultural, political, religious and ideological origins got the faster development, because of the form of advantages and the higher reasonable content. However, this effect has been weakened with the continuous development of society, even started to reverse, which is the common nature of all religious forms. Everything can exist forever just be in the state of absolute motion. This essay will firstly discuss the cultural development of early Buddhism. Following this, it will explain the political development of early Buddhism. And then, it will explain the Religious development of early Buddhism. Finally, it will look at Intellectual context for the origins and development of early Buddhism.
Cultural development of early Buddhism refers to the succession and innovation with the spreading, succession and inheritance of Buddhism. The innovation of Buddhism refers to its development process while it eliminates the old as the creation of new content. The succession and innovation is very important as the Buddhist cultural with two basic styles in early Buddhist development(D. J. Kalupahana,1992). From the history of Buddhism, Buddhism passed all the path of development which had experienced nothing more than track Inheritance and Innovation. The time of development of Buddhism history is equivalent to the Buddhist cultural with heritage and innovation. Since Sakyamuni founded Buddhism in the 6th century BC to the 5th century in India, it had gone through the early Buddhist school of Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism and Tantra in History. In this long historical evolution, the latter form culture of Buddhist is the transmission of Buddhist culture while there are differences and distinctive innovative features.( T. W. Rhys Davids,1936) For instance, in the differences of early Buddhist precepts and moral principles doctrines on the pioneering development which is so-called “non-Mahayana Buddha,” its essence is how to understand and treat the Buddhist heritage and innovation relations. After the creation of Indian Buddhism gradually spread out, it northward into the Chinese mainland and formed Chinese Buddhism. From Nepal into China’s Tibet region, Buddhist cultural heritage is very rich in content in the formation of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Buddhist doctrines, commandments, rituals and all kinds of self-cultivation methods, passing a variety of ways. They are important, such as interpretation, workshops, teaching, communication centers, etc., and some sects also formed Heritage Ancestors system. Buddhist cultural heritage of the process is a continuous succession in time, and the essence in process of dissemination in space is a constant in the history, and the heritage in the coordination of regional conflicts balance the contradictions and overcome the contradictions. Buddhist cultural heritage in the face of the major problems, conflicts, difficulties, generally in the following areas: Buddhist culture and ethnic heritage in language, national character, national customs, how to deal with conflict issues, etc., and Buddhist cultural traditions also had changed and opened with the development of history with a constant transformation and innovation. Both need to preserve the traditional positive and actively update and create. The innovation is the essential requirement of the development of Buddhist culture, Buddhism is the most important sign of cultural development. Buddhist culture is very open with dynamic system and it showed the development of heritage as well as innovation as the heritage and innovation complement each other and go hand in hand. (K.H.J. Gardiner,1969).In Buddhist culture development, the innovation is very important. Because innovation will help rule out the conservative and complacent in the long-standing while it help to improve and enrich the connotation of Buddhist culture and contribute to the development of Buddhist culture. Buddhism has been able to maintain the vigor and vitality, one of the most important reasons is its own innovation. For Buddhist culture to endless, the new creation is a key. Early Buddhist culture of innovation is mainly derived from changes in social history, progress of the times and the corresponding changes in people’s spiritual needs. These changes required to respond positively to the Buddhist culture and put forward the needs and human needs of the times the idea of opinion. Buddhist culture of innovation is varied, and the basic types of original innovation integrated innovation and innovation imitation through the creative transformation of them drawing on others to form a new complex integrated innovation is particularly important. It can be initially established by the Buddhist culture of innovation and the basic scale, which is consistent with the core beliefs and values of Buddhism, and can be to combine features of the times and adapt to meet the needs of people of faith to help to drive forward the development of Buddhism. Inheritance and innovation is not absolutely opposed, mutually exclusive relationship, but rather the unity of opposites with mutually complementary relationship as they have a mutual promotion. The innovation and content is rich in Buddhist culture to provide new content for the inheritance, so the development of Buddhist cultural heritage will never stop, and the innovation adapts to the different regions of the believers as the people’s needs. The innovation and the Buddhist culture to the vast geographical expanded the scope of the Buddhist cultural heritage and increased the influence of Buddhist culture while the innovation as the Buddhist cultural heritage will not be interrupted and terminated as it always maintain the vitality of inheritance to provide strong support and even guarantee.
An important and effective way in Good Buddhist cultural heritage and innovation is to do a good job combining theory with practice, which apply the basic theory of Buddhism, such as the origin, cause and effect, equality, compassion, Middle, harmonious, and so on to analyze the actual social situation of the social problems and conflicts, and to respond to the voice of the community, thus enhancing the quality of society and improve the social environment. At the meanwhile, it must be applied the basic principles of Buddhist theory to sum up the mass of Buddhist practices to some benefits of Buddhism and social development of successful experience, which upgrade fresh Buddhist theory and then turn to guide the broad masses of believers practice, thereby promoting the development of Buddhist culture to promote the advancement of Buddhism.
Political development of early Buddhism
The significance of political development in early Buddhism is great while the religion and politics are two different historical phenomenon when the interaction between them is not abstract, and it promoted by the people with social groups. The interaction between the people directly involved in interests and social development and operation of a very specific color with very strong social movement, which includes the rational level is clearly lagging behind.
Early Buddhism was a higher reason, including the clearly superior to the ancient India and the rational position, but it also led to the rational development of India was slow. Reason was the relative backwardness of the Arab Peninsula, the continuous development and improvement of its religious form, and later gave birth to Christianity and Islam through the continuous blending of national civilization as the rational development of the state but more rapidly. No species among the nation the pros and cons, the objective of the development of the state also has its own advantages and disadvantages. Any nation has its opposite side of the state. For general sense, it has more with a long history. At that time, the state of backwardness became the basis for subsequent development of the world which can not change anything for this particular reason absolutely.
The various regimes in history and religious groups to seek social stability and development without losing its grasp of them, and appropriate to the dual nature of religion and between religion and politics or some kind of harmonious relationship with each other to accommodate. Therefore, it needs a variety of efforts to understand and grasp the interaction between religion and politics which is not only a theoretical issue, but also has practical significance. This duality is the basis of religion which explore the way religious and political interaction, religious and political integration of models, and multi-religious society in terms of interaction between them. Duality of religion is the basis of religion and political interaction in the dual nature of religious sociology of religion which is often used to explain the characteristics of religious function of the two sides, regardless of how people of different religious duality of induction, they are all based on the most basic duality. On the one hand, it advocates religion as the fundamental elements of religious belief which has its own internal causes and characteristics of religious values is better than the real world the other side of the world thousand times while it is an ideal beyond the real heaven and not subject to social constraints; On the other hand, religions and religious organizations survive in the real world believers do not deny the fact, beliefs, rituals and religious forms of organization which is deeply social impact. This duality is not a function, but is determined that the religious ideal and the real world of distance and resentment by the fundamental nature of religion. The interaction between religion and politics is built on the basis of this fundamental property, their expression and interaction orientation generally constrained by this duality.
Meanwhile, the basic approach between religious and political interaction is the integration of religion and politics. In the very long period of time, religion is an important factor in social integration. This situation typically occurs in a relatively closed, the text has not yet appeared in the society, especially in religious professionals have not yet occupied an important position in the society. In these societies, religion, kinship, economic, political and educational organizations has no clear distinction between types. Tribal or social context and the scope of religious systems are the same, religious groups and political groups are essentially same.
In the book Faith of Sociology¼ˆ1975¼‰¼Œit pointed out that most of the belief system that has the characteristics: What is good with the provisions of the interaction of religious and political integration of the basic method religion and politics. In the very long period of time, religion is an important factor in social integration. This situation typically occurs in a relatively relationship, and the text has not yet appeared in the society, especially in religious professionals have not yet occupy an important position in the society. In these societies, religion, kinship, economic, political and educational organizations, there is no clear distinction between types. Tribal or social context and the scope of religious systems are the same, and the religious groups and political groups are essentially same. And a belief system to determine what the observed and the new information “evaluation standards” with this belief system, physical factors and other factors linked to the “logic”. This group has decided how a relationship with other groups and the world’s “view” with regard to sacred things with some of the “important conviction”, which on the behavior of the “norms and taboos” and have some means to achieve worthy goals and skills in the form of “technology.”
Religious development of early Buddhism
Early Buddhist religions got along with the development of Christianity and Islam and came about at that time. Through the continuous blending of national civilization, the rational development of the state was but more rapidly. In the thought of T.W. Rhys Davids, compared with the earlier period of the birth of petty Luoyasite teaching and Brahmanism, their differences in a rational state of objective reality in the same religion as a form of ancient India and ancient Arabian Peninsula was the form of religion, including rational Clearly, and the level is relatively backward. (T. W. Rhys Davids,1936). However, this process of development only has a transient state with the more perfect form of religion, its hinder rational further development of the role would occurred as strengths and weaknesses. Brahmanism in India’s higher rational basis that the birth of Buddhism began with a high rational contain the results it appears to become more perfect form of religion, and thus a serious impediment to the development of rationality, but to late-comer rock, beyond the realization of the real reason.
Early Buddhism was a higher reason, including clearly superior to the ancient India, the rational position, but it also led to the rational development of India was slow. Reason was the relative backwardness of the Arab Peninsula, the continuous development and improvement of its religious form, and later gave birth to Christianity and Islam through the continuous blending of national civilization, the rational development became more rapidly. No species among the nation as the pros and cons, and the objective of the development of the state also has its own advantages and disadvantages. At that time of the state of backwardness, it would become the basis for subsequent development of the world which can not be absolutely anything for this particular reason.
Intellectual context for the origins and development of early Buddhism
Intellectual context for the origins and development of early Buddhism is also worth to mention. When the early Buddhism was created, India has entered the feudal serf society ruled by feudal lords. In History of Buddhism in Cambodia, it was said that the King Asohka sent missionaries to the land of Suvannabhumi, which has sometimes been identified as the mainland southeast Asian region of the Mon kingdoms of southern Thaton in Burma, central Thailand and Issan. The Mahavamsa, a Sinhalese Pali chronicle, mentions these missions. For many people, it was very fashion to speak and write while the Buddhism was a sect of Hinduism. Buddha was a Hindu while Hinduism was so catholic that it tolerated and worshiped the heretical and anti-Vedic teacher just like the Buddha for the origin of Buddhism. (D. J. Kalupahana,1992).To many scholars and historians, the comfortable theory was so thoroughly propagated that it would take a long time for them to sweep away the illusions and clear the Buddhist study ways for the growth from historical standpoint and on scientific senses. These later theories which presented prevailing standpoints of India towards the origin of Buddhism mainly referred to the general faith of Indian. What’s more, the attitude of them towards Buddhism as well as the scholastic interpretations of Buddhism.
At the present stage of the Indian society, in the general faith of Indian, most Indian people perfect the strong faith of belief with Hinduism to the Buddhism even though the Buddhism has deeply given an influence to Hinduism theoretically and practically. For Indians, it’s a common sense that Hinduism converted many of Indians to the faith of themselves. In the 21st century, the Monopolization not only refers to the India’s ideology, but also refers to the life and thinking in the political, economic or scientific fields in the way of India. However, this kind of tendency has separated from the people of the world with the fundamentalist thinking way that the set of the Indians even today.( Murti, T. R. V,2007)
In the ordinary Indian people’s mind, the Indian attitude towards Buddhism shows that all of them concede that Buddhism merged into Hinduism while the Buddha was a great Hindu reformer as the Buddha was a great Hindu master. These were important in that it led us from the beginning to end. At the same time, it examined carefully and let us thought it differently as a separate and independent world religion which cannot be studied beyond the perspectives of historical and scientific. In India, the people were very sensitive that they admired of their most beloved religion, their Vedic culture and their mythological doctrines as they happened to meet each other and have the deep discussion.
The interpretation of scholastic shows that the modern Indian historians, national leaders and ideologists have described while Buddhism as an off-shoot with the more ancient faith of Hindus. A number of Hindus who educated specialized in Buddhist studies and some knowledge of Buddhism as some of them read books about Buddhism and conceded. The Buddhism as a heresy of Brahmanism was deeply influenced by the Vedic thought in its origin. Archaeologically, many of people cannot treat Buddhism merely as a heresy against the prevailing Brahmanical orthodoxy at least. However, on the contrary, Buddhism should be thought as the practice with historical and independent. In the way of life, that has nothing to do with the so ancient faith of Hindus.
From the above perspective, the theory of the origin of early Buddhism told us that the Vedas and the Brahmins of the tendencies and had a monopoly position in the field of ideology. It was not only in India but also in Buddhism and Brahmanism in the social relations with historical research. The story of the origin of Buddhism with words was a street talk about this on every adult, regardless of his or her religious history of ancient India and archaeological knowledge of Hinduism. To reveal and clarify the true face of Buddhism, they were most likely to figure more that related to the ancient Buddhist faith, orthodox Brahmanism and the time of its own significant problems.
In Unconfirmed Singhalese sources, as mainland Southeast Asia, Buddhism was introduced to Suvannabhumi or the Golden Peninsula which was once referred to the 3rd century B.C. under the reign of King Ashoka with the great Buddhist ruler. According to these sources, two monks, Sona and Uttara, were sent to propagate the doctrine of the Master in this region after the great council of 274 B.C. held in Asoka’s capital Pataliputta, India. At the same time, it indicated that Buddhism had been present in Southeast Asia for a long time while this mission may be legendary. The sects and schools of Various Buddhist, including Tantrism, vied or coexisted with a dominant Brahamanism and indigenous animistic faiths for centuries before the rise of the classical Southeast Asian empires beginning in the 9th century A.D. In part through Indian merchant traders, Indian cultural influence was pervasive in this early period. In Funan (1st to 5th century AD), the first organized Rouge regime, the Khmer people not only support Brahmanism and Buddhism, religions, but also the Indian social customs and moral values. In the period between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D, the Kingdom of Funan in the present-day Mekong Delta established a booming maritime trade among China, Indonesia, and India. This was the Hindu Kingdom of Funan sponsored Vishnu, Shiva worship. As a secondary religion in these earliest times, Buddhism was already present in Funan. It should refer to the viewpoint of the Dr. S. Radhakrishan who was the most eminent Indian scholar as his viewpoint might be considered as a prevailing Indian standpoint towards Buddhist relation with Brahmanism. On this point, the Dr. S. Radhakrishan’s most mature opinion is summarized: the Buddha did not think he was to announce a new religion that he was born, grow and die in a Hindu, and he was a new emphasis on India’s ancient civilization and Aryan ideals, which reaffirmed ideological trend of Buddhism mainly refers to the traditional interpretation, a materialistic interpretation, as well as Buddhism and Brahmanism fundamentalist interpretation of the Indian scholars.
L. Mani Joshi ‘s thought was that the traditional interpretation showed that Buddhism arose out of anti-ritualistic tendency within the religion of the brahmanas, which held by those the Brahmanical standpoint possessed scholars. In fact, the history of ancient India was a record of the two opposite ideologies as the world-affirmation represented by the priestly brahmanas of the Vedic tradition (Brahmanism) and world-denial and world-transcendence represented by the ascetic sramanas of Buddhism. (L. Mani Joshi,1987). There was no doubt that both of Buddhism and Brahmanism represented two separate traditions historically with the Vedic tradition and the Sramanic tradition respectively. Therefore, it was irrelevant to establish the theory of Vedic origin of Buddhism. The materialist interpretation means that some scholars, based on the influence of historical materialism associated with the promotion for ascetic and intellectual thought of the Buddha (624-544 years) rose up to the trend of the middle class and the capitalist commodity economy. However, it was completely speculative. After all, there was no clear evidence of a money economy, the capitalist Marxist sense the existence of an organized entirely by the middle class in the seventh and sixth century BC social control. In addition, it was not that the Bodhisattva (Buddha potential) of the spirit of the idea that social consciousness as the result of material progress. In fact, Buddhism was a materialist explanation of their philosophy as the evidence to determine rough.
PV Kane’s idea was that the fundamentalist interpretation of the means of some Hindus in the eyes of the Buddha is Brahman iconoclastic, because the former Buddhist Brahmanism, the expense of principle and doctrine of the four castes, the most fundamental factor was the criticism and rejection entirely by the Buddha. (P. V. Kane,1994). Despite the noble animal advocate of mercy despite religious morality and about the presence or absence of a permanent soul of hair splitting discussion Nevertheless, the construction of the entire Buddhist eventually fell off the end was destroyed. In Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought, the criticism and condemnation to the Buddha and his religion was not only due to the history of philosophy and religious studies, but other religious fundamentalism momentum. In the relationship between Brahmanism and Buddhism, a number of Indian scholars described the traditional monopoly of the Indian representative of the academic field of view the dialogue between different religions expansion, which trends in the Indian social and academic study of religion. Some modern scholars in India tried to strong Brahmin Veda, and determined to make the teachings of Buddhism and Brahmanism assimilation. Boldly stated, they wanted to show that Buddhism as well as Vedic thinking came within the emergence of anti-Brahmanism ceremony tendency. In other words, it was a heresy or heretical Brahmanism. Historical perspective means that the relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism should be from a historical perspective and scientific research ideas; Buddhist Studies from India was a Hindu concept of research, but not Buddhism. (Masao Abe,1976) It was wrongly employed to support the modern Hindu view that Buddha himself claimed to teach the path of the ancient “Hindu” sages and to show that Buddha did not feel that he was announcing a new religion. It was wrong to support the view that the modern Hinduism, the Buddha taught the old man said to himself, “The Hindu” saints of the road, indicating that the Buddha did not think he is a new religion. The word “Hindu” did not occur in the statement of Buddha; nor did he refer to Vedic sages or Indo-Aryan seers or brahmanas (priests) as the teachers of that ancient path which he followed and practiced.
This perspective of linguistic means the language point of view, “The Hindu” is a foreign coin of the Persian and Arabic origin and religion and medieval Indian Brahman in the form of position ( Allan Hunt Badiner,1990). The term Hinduism began to be Hindu religious traditions of India in order to distinguish from the commonly used Christianity and Islam in the Indian tradition of them. It can not be used the pre-Vedic and the age of the word Hindu Brahmanism, although medieval Hinduism was based on the extent of some of the Vedic religion as Judaism in the birth of Jesus Christ can not be properly called Christian although Christianity is to establish the first Jewish Christian .
Archaeological point of view implies that the word “Hindu” appears in any ancient Indian archaeological or literary source has yet been discovered since the time of Alberuni. Perhaps, he first mentioned the “Hindu” of non-Islamic faith of the Indians. The term “Hindu”, a kind of “Sindhu”, the first used by the Persians, took place with the word “Gadala”, a form of “Gandhara” King Darius inscription in Iran;here is the use of geographical sense that denote the person or country on the river Sindhu conquered by that monarch. In the old Persian “Sa” is pronounced as “ha” while the “Sindhu” was called “The Hindu” will further damage from the Greek “Sintos” or “Indos” derived from the word Arbic and Persia and India, India Stan and its English words India and India
During that time, the scope of Buddhism spread from the north Himalayan foothills to south Keith River. Generally considered, a direct spin-off from the Theravada was the Ministry. And the Department of Theravada doctrine on the general publics was quite different. The main differences between the two Ministries are on the law understanding. Sarvastivadins claimed that the body of law was the eternal existence, past, present and future reality. The understanding of the Buddha, Ministry of birth and death in the world community that the Sakyamuni Buddha was the incarnation, the Buddha’s real body was made of accumulation of very long-term practice, he has a boundless life and power in a tone that all the law. Mass Department of Buddha emphasized the breadth of compassion all beings desire, these are the origin of early Buddhist thought(Buddhism and Ecology,1992). The development of early Buddhism as following description:
In the Buddhist Handbook, Buddhist tradition records in the Milinda Panha that the 2nd century BCE Indo-Greek king Menander converted to the Buddhist faith and became an arhat. At that time, the Buddhism spread only slowly in India until the time of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka who was a public supporter of the religion. At the same time, the support of AÅ›oka and his descendants led to the construction of more Buddhist religious memorials and to effort to spread Buddhism throughout the enlarged Maurya empire and even into the neighboring lands. These two missions would ultimately lead in opposite directions in the first case to the spread of Buddhism into China, and in the second case, to the emergence of TheravÄda Buddhism and its spread from Sri Lanka to the coastal lands of Southeast Asia. This period made the first known spread of Buddhism beyond India. According to the edicts of AÅ›oka, emissaries were sent to various countries west of India in order to spread Buddhism, particularly in eastern provinces of the neighboring Seleucid Empire, and even farther to the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Mediterranean. This led, a century later, during this period Buddhism was exposed to a variety of influences, from Persian and Greek civilization, and from changing trends in non-Buddhist Indian religions-themselves influenced by Buddhism. It was a matter of disagreement among scholars whether or not, and these emissaries were accompanied by Buddhist missionaries.
In addition, the Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BC to Sri Lanka and Thailand and Burma and later also Indonesia. The Dharmagupta school spread (also in 3rd century BC) north to Kashmir, Gandhara and Bactria. In the 2nd century AD, Mahayana Sutras spread from that general area to China, and then to Korea and Japan and were translated into Chinese. During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism from 8th century, the Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia.
What’s more¼Œin Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion and Encyclopaedia Britannica, as early as the religious theory of Buddha in the fifth and sixth century, the practice of a people-oriented way was of thinking in particular. The Buddha himself reflects on the state of human life which was his theory of religion starting and ending point. Although Buddhism was the development, has make its scope Kuotaidaole the entire universe, but this people-centered model of Ji Ben, Huanshidedao Le inheritance and development of research on human Zishenzhuangtai, has been the most important Buddhist Li Lun. In fact, Buddhism was not only that all forms of religion with such features, and just in respect to this sense, religion can also be seen early in human society, the emergence and development of human life resulting significance. Because the early Buddhism, the form of advantages and a higher reason including, the regulation of human psychology, and social lives, showed more positive aspects, and have been rapid development, but this effect, as the society the continuous development of weakening, or even started to reverse, and it is the common nature of all religious forms. Can research in the form of religion, Buddhism is born early, including higher rational and more complete form of religious form, which is the basic conclusion of Buddhism.
In conclusion, in the time of the development of early Buddhism, the cultural, political, religious and intellectual context for the origins and development of early Buddhism had a great progress. Because the advantages form of early Buddhism and a higher reason content, the regulation of human psychology, and social lives, showed more positive aspects and rapid development, but this effect as the society the continuous development of weakening or even started to reverse is the common nature of all religious forms. In the form of religion which can be researched, the Buddhism was born early with higher rational contain. At the same time, it is not consistent with the core beliefs and values of Buddhism and the ability to combine features of the times, and adapts to meet the needs of people with faith, but also help promote Buddhism forward. No species among the nation as the pros and cons, and the objective of the development of the state also has its own advantages and disadvantages. For any nation, it has the opposite side of the state. In general sense, the state of backwardness will become the basis for subsequent development of the world that can not be anything for this particular reason absolutely.