by buddhist in 12/04/2011 · Filed under Uncategorized · TaggedBuddhism asia, Buddhism asiaBuddhism asia
Buddhism in Southeast AsiaFro
m Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search
Thai Theravada monks on pilgrimage.Buddhism in Southeast Asia is mostly Theravadin[1]. Vietnam however had in pre-Communist times a Mahayana majority due to Chinese influence.[2] Indonesia was Mahayana Buddhist since the time of the Sailendra and Srivijaya empires[3] but Mahayana Buddhism in Indonesia is now largely practiced by the Chinese diaspora, as in Singapore and Malaysia.
Southeast Asian countries with a Theravada Buddhist majority are Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Burma.
Read the rest of this entry »
by buddhist in 15/04/2011 · Filed under Uncategorized · TaggedBuddhist Ethics and Social Criticism
SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY
Philosophical Paradigms from Ancient India: Ethics, Doctrines of Impermanence and Change; Buddhist Ideology
——————————————————————————–
Buddhist Ethics and Social Criticism
Buddhism arose in India during a period of intense intellectual and social ferment. It was a period during which the authority of the Vedas had been placed in doubt, the concept of god as a supreme being and creator was in question, the hereditary restrictions on caste mobility were under attack, and the efficacy of Brahminical rituals was being challenged. The authors of the Upanishads had opened the door for various heterodox currents to emerge in society, and amongst the most significant of these were the Lokayatas who polemicized against religious charlatans, and the Nyayavadis whose rational epistemology created the foundation for intense philosophical debate and encouraged the investigation of the real world based on reason and logic, freed from the burden of superstition and irrational adherence to burdensome rituals. Various ideological sects competed for the attention and acceptance of the ruling elites and the public.
Read the rest of this entry »
by buddhist in 15/04/2011 · Filed under Uncategorized
Buddhism – events
530 BC Magadha, India Siddhartha Gautama (later Gautama Buddha) leaves his life as a Bengal prince at the age of 30, and becomes an ascetic.
c. 200 India The Indian Buddhist monk Nagarjuna expounds the Madhayamika (Middle Path) of Buddhism. Arguing that all worldly thought is empty (sunya), he advocates a middle way which will lead to a realization of the Buddha nature beyond being and nonbeing.
379 China Buddhism is declared the state religion of China.
c. 460–c. 477 India Most of the 30 caves at Ajanta in Central India are completed during this time. Cut into the volcanic rock and elaborately carved and painted, they form the richest surviving Buddhist complex in India.
607 Japan Prince Shotoku Taishi of Japan founds the Buddhist Horyuji temple complex near Nara. It is the earliest surviving example of Sino-Japanese architecture and the oldest existing wooden structure.
805 Japan Returning from China, Saicho introduces the T’ien T’ai school of Buddhism to Japan where it is known as Tendai. Tendai teaches that the Buddha-nature within everyone can be realized through ethical behaviour and discipline.
Read the rest of this entry »
