Buddhism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Buddhism - Research Paper ExampleAlthough its spread was initially slow, it was aided by Ashoka, who was the emperor of Maurya and the religions ardent supporter. He, together with his descendants, promoted the construction of religious memorials of Buddhism known as stupas, and their efforts spread the religion beyond the inflated Maurya Empire into side by side(p) territories. They brought Buddhism into Central Asia and Afghanistans regions that spoke Iranian, as well as Sri Lanka. This paper will research on the history of Buddhism and its reflection on the culture of southerly India including Arts, Epics and architecture such as temples and tombs. There is gen whilel consensus among most historians that the origins of Buddhism are in north Indias era of the fifth light speed BCE. Its traditions can be traced to the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known as Buddha and denoting the Enlightened or Awakened one, who was born in Nepals Lumbini area. Buddha observed the worlds suffering and affiliated himself to find its remedy. He achieved a state of enlightenment through analysis and mediation, which characterized the end of suffering caused by attachments and liberty from the sequence of rebirth upon death. Buddhisms earliest phase, the Pre-sectarian Buddhism, had the Vinaya Pitaka as its main scriptures and Nakayas four principles, also known as the Agamas (Takakusu 134). The Early Buddhist Schools opine that the Buddhist council was conducted after the death of Buddha (or parinirvana), where teachings were orally transmitted. The council was primarily to declaim teachings collectively so as to ensure there were no errors in the oral transmissions. The monastic code, also known as Vinaya, was recited by Upali, and Buddhas dearie disciple and cousin Ananda recited his lessons known s the Sutras. The Early Mahayana Buddhism was formed around 100 BCE and fully established in 100 AD on the presumptuousness that its existence was separate from the com petition of the Hinayana schools. The Late Mahayana Buddhism saw the development of four key thoughts which were Madhyamaka, Tathagatagarba, Yogacara and the most recent Buddhist Logic (Takakusu 114). Hinduism greatly influenced Esoteric Buddhism. The era of Ashoka is greatly credited with the spread of the religion outside India as emissaries were deployed to other(a) countries, especially the eastern provinces that neighbored the Seleucid Empire and further on to the Hellenistic kingdoms. That spread ensured that Buddhism interacted with other diverse ethnic groups, exposing it to various influences that came from the Greek and Persian civilization. Buddhisms originality started fragmenting in subsequent centuries, with the most noticeable split occurring after conducting the second council which came a century after the first was held. Following debates between traditionalists and liberal groups, the liberal groups termed themselves s the Mahasangha and left, in conclusion evol ving into North Asias Mahayana tradition. On their part, the traditionalists labeled themselves as Sthaviranda, which meant the way of the elders, came up with a set of complex philosophical concepts collectively known as Abhidharma, which went beyond the ones that Buddha had revealed. However, the Abhidharma soon gave rise to disagreements, encouraging more splinter groups to leave the fold, eventually developing 18 different schools that had different interpretations of