The Rise of Buddhism
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin
As with many other great religious leaders, when the Buddha died in northern India in 486 BC, his followers numbered only a few hundred. Today they number in the hundreds of millions, making Buddhism one of the great world religions and the universal faith of Asia.
For several centuries. followers of the Buddha formed various monastic and lay communities in northern India, slowly spreading in numbers and influence. It was only in the middle of the third century BC that Buddhism began major successful missionary efforts both within and outside India, due to the conversion of Ashoka (r. 269-232 BC), emperor of India. Filled with remorse for the suffering he had caused through his imperial military conquests, Ashoka became a pacifist and Buddhist. He vowed to undertake instead a conquest of hearts and minds through missionary work. Ashoka, who was as important to the history of Buddhism as Constantine was in the history of Christianity, sent Buddhist missionaries throughout India, to Sri Lanka (Ceylon), to Afghanistan, and even as far as Egypt and Syria, which was then ruled by Greek successors of Alexander the Great.
Centuries of Growth
Like Christianity, Buddhism took centuries to spread throughout Asia. Indeed, Buddhist and Christian monks competed for converts among the nomads of Central Asia from the fifth through the twelfth centuries. Manichaeism was, in part, an attempt to reconcile competing Christian and Buddhist claims. However, it was Buddhism that was destined to become the universal religion of Asia.
By the first century after Christ, Buddhism was firmly planted in Southeast Asia, where, in the course of the next millennium, it would become the dominant religion. In Afghanistan, Buddhist monks converted Milinda (Menander), an Indianized Greek king who was descended from one of the generals of Alexander the Great. From Afghanistan, merchants carried Buddhism into Central Asia (first century BC), reaching China by the first century AD. Chinese Buddhists carried the religion to Korea by the fourth century. By the sixth century, forms of Chinese Buddhism were introduced to the court of Japan, which at that time was undergoing major cultural influences from China. Tibet was converted, beginning in the seventh century. Some of the Mongol nobility became Buddhists in the thirteenth century, but widespread conversion of the Mongols did not occur until the sixteenth century.
Ironically-and again paralleling Christian history-even as Buddhism was finding great success throughout Asia it was declining in its homeland. It had virtually disappeared in India by the thirteenth century, and only small Buddhist communities survive in India today.
Variations and Denominations of Buddhism
Also like Christianity, two parallel and interrelated transformations occurred as Buddhism spread throughout Asia. First, Buddhism absorbed many ideas and practices from the local peoples who were converted. Thus, although a number of the fundamental principles are universal, Buddhism has dozens of regional and ethnic variations. Second, as Buddhism spread it divided into different denominations. Although there are numerous sub-groups and extinct sects, today Buddhism is generally divided into three major branches, each with different doctrines and scriptures, and each flourishing in different regions of Asia:
- Southern or Theravada Buddhism is dominant in Sri Lanka and southeast Asia. This branch accepts the Pali canon of scripture.
- Various forms of eastern or Mahayana Buddhism are found in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. A collection of texts known as the Chinese Tripitaka is their most important scripture.
- Finally, although its adherents represent a small minority among Buddhists as a whole, northern or Tibetan Buddhism is found in Tibet and Mongolia.
The total number of Buddhists in the world today is difficult to ascertain, both because of syncretism with other religions-Japanese, for example, will often be simultaneously Buddhist and Shinto-and because of the suppression of Buddhism in Communist China. Estimates range as high as a billion followers; certainly there are hundreds of millions.
New Age Adherents
In the past century, Buddhism has made increasing inroads in Europe and the United States, originally being brought by immigrants from Asia. Increasingly, however, European and American converts to Buddhism are forming what could be called Western or “New Age” Buddhism. With an eclectic and mystical predisposition, this form of Buddhism selectively takes ideas from the various traditional branches of Buddhism, often liberally mixed with beliefs and practices from any number of other mystical movements. Although its followers are quite few in absolute numbers, New Age Buddhism is espoused by several Hollywood celebrities such as Richard Gere, thereby attaining some public attention.
Among the numerous books on Buddhism, a useful introduction is Heinz Bechert and Richard F. Gombrich, editors, The World of Buddhism (Thames & Hudson, 1991, reprint); ISBN: 0500276285.
