When Buddhism appeared, it interests everyone who begins to get involved in this world religion. It is noteworthy that if earlier it was mainly developed in Asian countries, in recent decades it has found more and more followers in the West and in Russia. In this article we will tell how religion came about, what were the reasons, and learn about the basics of this teaching.
Background
Before we figure out when Buddhism appeared, consider the premises that actually led to its emergence. It is worth noting that this is a doctrine of doctrine, which had predecessors - lokayata and Jainism. The first current existed in ancient India. Today, his supporters are mistakenly considered atheists. The second is the dharmic religion that originated in India, the practice and philosophy of which is based on self-improvement of the soul to achieve omnipotence, omniscience and eternal bliss.
It is fairly accurate where Buddhism came from. This happened in northeast India. At that time, the ancient states of Lichchavi, Koshal and Magadha were located there.
If very little is known about the first, then we can say about Koszal that it was a slave-owning state in the territory of southwestern Nepal and the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Magadha is an ancient historical area in India ruled by Buddhist kings. It is believed that it was here that the king of Bimbisara, a contemporary of Buddha, who contributed to the development of this religion, lived well with Jainism. This is where Buddhism appeared.
Causes
Today's world religion originated in the middle of the first millennium BC. Very scarce and fragmentary information has been preserved about those times that does not allow us to give answers to many important questions. For example, it is not known in which year Buddhism appeared. But it is possible to reason with a certain degree of confidence what became the reasons for its development and consolidation in the minds of Hindus.
Firstly, in the middle of the first millennium BC, the Vedic religion was in a deep crisis, which led to the emergence of a large number of alternative and unorthodox teachings. In most cases, they were created by ascetics, wandering philosophers and shamans. One of them was precisely Siddhartha Gautama, the historical founder of this world religion.
Secondly, at that time, active processes of strengthening state power began. To do this, it was necessary to maximize the authority of warriors and kings as opposed to brahmanas. The existence of such a conflict between castes can be judged by pranic late-medieval literature. Buddhism became an alternative to Brahmanism, the teaching was in opposition, and therefore it was chosen to strengthen the power of the Kshatriyas.
There is concrete evidence that when Buddhism appeared, it was the royal religion. For example, in the 7th-13th centuries, when the kings of individual Indian states ceased to support him, he quickly disappeared from there. But in countries in which the rulers gave him protection, continued to flourish.
Siddhartha Gautama
The founder of religion was born in 623 or 563 BC in the royal Indian tribe of the Iron Age of Shakya. This happened in the south of modern Nepal.
Having spent his youth in the magnificent palace of his father, Siddhartha accidentally encountered the harsh reality of the world around him, coming to the conclusion that life is based on grief and suffering. After that, he refused to live in the palace, settling in the forest as a hermit and ascetic. In particular, he followed the practices of killing and tormenting his body.
He then decided that extreme forms of asceticism would not lead a person to liberation from the suffering associated with death and birth. Therefore, he began to look for an intermediate path between the desire for self-mortification and sensual pleasures.
During meditation, Siddhartha decided to do everything for the sake of the search for truth, reaching Enlightenment at the age of 35. After that, he began to call himself Buddha Gautama or simply Buddha, which literally means "awakened."
The remaining 45 years of his life he spent in wanderings in Central India, in particular in the Ganges valley. He had a lot of students and followers. Over the next four centuries, they formed all kinds of schools and teachings.
First Buddhist Cathedral
With a great deal of certainty, it can be argued that Buddhism appeared in the world when the first Buddhist Council took place. This happened in the VI century BC.
According to legend, it took place after the Buddha reached nirvana. Then his disciples gathered, who from memory reproduced everything that he taught them. These were the rules and norms of the monastic hostel, the so-called disciplinary charter, teachings, sermons and philosophy. Now everyone understands in what century Buddhism appeared.
Split
The second Buddhist Cathedral was held in 383 BC. It was led by King Kalasoka because of the conflict that arose between different Buddhist schools.
Traditionalists considered Buddha an ordinary person who was able to achieve enlightenment. They believed that any monk was able to repeat this experience, for which rituals and rules should be strictly followed.
Proponents of liberal interpretations considered this approach too selfish, and the goal of achieving arhatism was completely unimportant. In their opinion, the truth should be the desire to achieve the full state of the Buddha. When Buddhism appeared, this position was very common. Over time, this teaching developed into Mahayana. His supporters preached a more lightened monastic rule, so they received support from most supporters and monks, even in places where Buddhism originally appeared.
The council ended with a condemnation of the latter, who left the assembly in protest. After that, they settled in Central Asia and in the northwest of modern India.
This was not the last division of this religion. A total of 18 schools stood out. Knowing where Buddhism appeared, many followers of this belief tend to be in these places.
Buddhism and Christianity
There are four main religions in the world today, with the most supporters and followers. These are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. When someone asks what came before, Buddhism or Christianity, the answer in this case is obvious to everyone who is familiar with world history.
From Christianity, a new era begins, when Jesus Christ was born. When Buddhism appeared as a religion, it is known to everyone who deals with this issue. This happened in the VI century BC.
World religions
It is more difficult to solve the question of which of the religions is the oldest, to understand when Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam appeared. Historians argue that of this four, the most ancient will still be Judaism. At the same time, it is believed that the Hebrew religion originally existed, which appeared in the 11th century BC, simultaneously with the emergence of the state among the Jewish people and its division into classes.
Judaism replaced it only in the 7th century BC, having arisen about a hundred years earlier than Buddhism. In this case, even a year is known. In 621 BC, the king of Judea, Josiah, issued a decree prohibiting the worship of all gods except one. After this, the authorities began to actively fight polytheism, their images were destroyed, sanctuaries were destroyed, Jews who continued to offer sacrifices to other gods were subjected to cruel punishment up to the death penalty.
Islam is the youngest of these four religions. It arose in the 7th century AD in the west of the Arabian Peninsula.
Differences from other popular beliefs
Discussing the differences between Buddhism and other religions, its incredible diversity and flexibility are among the main ones. At a time when most world religions all the time sought to at least formally adhere to orthodoxy, Buddhism easily adapted any belief system to its needs without exception.
He easily tuned into animism, polytheism, shamanism, esoteric teachings. It refers to the religions of the law of nature. In Buddhism they do not deny the existence of the gods. The main feature in this case is that the unbreakable law of nature is considered the highest power. According to him, absolutely everything exists in the world, including the gods.
This higher power is depersonalized, it does not have its own interests, as, for example, the gods of polytheistic and monotheistic religions. She has no opponents, it makes no sense to try to negotiate with her or try to appease her.
The consequence of this is the lack of the concept of missionary work, the denial of science, other religions, the impossibility of religious wars.
Buddhism in Russia
The first evidence of the existence of this religion in our country dates back to the 8th century AD. They are associated with a state called Bohai, which was located on the site of modern Amur and Primorye. That's when Buddhism appeared in Russia.
It finally became entrenched in our culture in the 17th century, when some Kalmyk tribes received Russian citizenship. Soon, this religion spread to the territory of Buryatia. Here settled the Tibetan and Mongolian lamas, who, apparently, escaped from persecution in their homeland. In 1764, Empress Catherine II even approved the post of head of the Buddhists of Transbaikalia and Eastern Siberia. It is believed that it was then that Buddhism became one of the state religions in the country.
In the 20th century
In the 30s of the XX century, after several uprisings in Buddhist monasteries against Soviet power, the government decided to start a fight against Buddhists. By the beginning of World War II, most of the clergy were repressed; there was not a single monastery left. In many respects, this had to be done due to the extensive intelligence work of the Japanese, who declared support for their co-religionists, proposing to create a puppet state of the Mongolian Buddhists within the USSR.
Many monks who were dissatisfied with the Soviet regime went to cooperation. Only after the defeat of Japan in World War II did a partial revival of this religion begin on the territory of the Soviet Union.
Currently, there are several Buddhist regions in Russia, the departments of sinology, Sanskritology are opened in some large universities, the most important Buddhist treatises are translated into Russian. Traditionally, this religion is practiced in the Trans-Baikal Territory, Buryatia, Tuva, Kalmykia, and Altai. The total number of ethnic Buddhists is about 900 thousand people.
Doctrines
Despite different schools, all Buddhist teachings are based on four doctrines.
- There is dukkha, that is, an analogue of suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction, preoccupation, anxiety, fear.
- The reason for dukkha is the desire for sensual pleasures, desires based on the misconception of a person about the lowliness and insignificance of his own "I".
- You can free yourself from dukkha, for this you should stop the effects of its causes.
- There is a way to get rid of dukkha. Through it, the Buddhist reaches nirvana.
Middle way
Buddha’s teaching is based on the existence of a middle path, which must be completed in each situation again. According to him, Buddha does not accept either hedonism or asceticism.
It is also important to remember the three turns of the Dharma wheel. First, Buddha preaches about four noble truths, then about emptiness, and finally about the nature of his teachings.
Jewels of buddhism
It is noteworthy that one cannot become a Buddhist at birth. It must be a conscious decision of an adult who understands the three main treasures.
These include Buddha, dharma (the teaching itself) and the sangha, that is, a community by which we understand all Buddhists in the world in general, and a small group close to the faith.