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Buddhism,religion andphilosophy that developed from the teachings of theBuddha (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”), a teacher who lived in northernIndia between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuriesbce (before the Common Era). Spreading fromIndia toCentral andSoutheast Asia,China,Korea, andJapan, Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life ofAsia, and, beginning in the 20th century, it spread to the West.
Ancient Buddhistscripture anddoctrine developed in several closely related literary languages of ancient India, especially inPali andSanskrit. In this article Pali and Sanskrit words that have gained currency in English are treated as English words and are rendered in the form in which they appear in English-language dictionaries. Exceptions occur in special circumstances—as, for example, in the case of the Sanskrit termdharma (Pali:dhamma), which has meanings that are not usually associated with the termdharma as it is often used in English. Pali forms are given in the sections on the core teachings of early Buddhism that are reconstructed primarily from Pali texts and in sections that deal with Buddhist traditions in which the primarysacred language is Pali. Sanskrit forms are given in the sections that deal with Buddhist traditions whose primary sacred language is Sanskrit and in other sections that deal with traditions whose primary sacred texts were translated from Sanskrit into a Central or East Asian language such asTibetan orChinese.
The foundations of Buddhism
The cultural context
Buddhism arose in northeastern India sometime between the late 6th century and the early 4th centurybce, a period of greatsocial change and intense religious activity. There is disagreement among scholars about the dates of the Buddha’s birth and death. Many modern scholars believe that the historical Buddha lived from about 563 to about 483bce. Many others believe that he lived about 100 years later (from about 448 to 368bce). At this time in India, there was much discontent withBrahmanic (Hindu high-caste)sacrifice andritual. In northwestern India there wereascetics who tried to create a more personal and spiritual religious experience than that found in theVedas (Hindu sacred scriptures). In the literature that grew out of this movement, theUpanishads, a new emphasis onrenunciation and transcendental knowledge can be found. Northeastern India, which was less influenced by Vedic tradition, became the breeding ground of many new sects. Society in this area was troubled by the breakdown of tribal unity and the expansion of several petty kingdoms. Religiously, this was a time of doubt, turmoil, and experimentation.
A proto-Samkhya group (i.e., one based on theSamkhya school ofHinduism founded byKapila) was already well established in the area. New sects abounded, including various skeptics (e.g., Sanjaya Belatthiputta), atomists (e.g., Pakudha Kaccayana), materialists (e.g., Ajita Kesakambali), and antinomians (i.e., those against rules or laws—e.g., Purana Kassapa). The most important sects to arise at the time of the Buddha, however, were theAjivikas (Ajivakas), who emphasized the rule of fate (niyati), and theJains, who stressed the need to free thesoul from matter. Although the Jains, like the Buddhists, have often been regarded as atheists, their beliefs are actually more complicated. Unlike early Buddhists, both the Ajivikas and the Jains believed in the permanence of the elements thatconstitute the universe, as well as in the existence of the soul.
Despite the bewildering variety of religiouscommunities, many shared the same vocabulary—nirvana (transcendent freedom),atman (“self” or “soul”),yoga (“union”),karma (“causality”),Tathagata (“one who has come” or “one who has thus gone”),buddha (“enlightened one”),samsara (“eternal recurrence” or “becoming”), anddhamma (“rule” or “law”)—and most involved the practice of yoga. According to tradition, the Buddha himself was a yogi—that is, a miracle-workingascetic.
Buddhism, like many of the sects that developed in northeastern India at the time, wasconstituted by the presence of acharismatic teacher, by the teachings this leaderpromulgated, and by acommunity of adherents that was often made up of renunciant members and lay supporters. In the case of Buddhism, this pattern is reflected in theTriratna—i.e., the “Three Jewels” ofBuddha (the teacher),dharma (the teaching), andsangha (the community).
In the centuries following the founder’s death, Buddhism developed in two directions represented by two different groups. One was called theHinayana (Sanskrit: “Lesser Vehicle”), a term given to it by its Buddhist opponents. This moreconservative group, which included what is now called theTheravada (Pali: “Way of the Elders”) community, compiled versions of the Buddha’s teachings that had been preserved in collections called theSutta Pitaka and theVinaya Pitaka and retained them as normative. The other major group, which calls itself theMahayana (Sanskrit: “Greater Vehicle”), recognized the authority of other teachings that, from the group’s point of view, madesalvation available to a greater number of people. These supposedly more advanced teachings were expressed insutras that the Buddha purportedly made available only to his more advanceddisciples.
As Buddhism spread, it encountered new currents of thought and religion. In some Mahayana communities, for example, the strict law ofkarma (thebelief that virtuous actions create pleasure in the future and nonvirtuous actions create pain) was modified to accommodate new emphases on theefficacy of ritual actions and devotional practices. During the second half of the 1st millenniumce, a third major Buddhist movement,Vajrayana (Sanskrit: “Diamond Vehicle”; also called Tantric, orEsoteric, Buddhism), developed in India. This movement was influenced bygnostic andmagical currentspervasive at that time, and its aim was to obtain spiritual liberation and purity more speedily.
Despite thesevicissitudes, Buddhism did not abandon its basic principles. Instead, they were reinterpreted, rethought, and reformulated in a process that led to the creation of a great body of literature. This literature includes the PaliTipitaka (“Three Baskets”)—theSutta Pitaka (“Basket of Discourse”), which contains the Buddha’s sermons; theVinaya Pitaka (“Basket of Discipline”), which contains the rule governing the monastic order; and theAbhidhamma Pitaka (“Basket of Special [Further] Doctrine”), which contains doctrinal systematizations and summaries. These Pali texts have served as the basis for a long and very rich tradition of commentaries that were written and preserved by adherents of the Theravada community. The Mahayana andVajrayana traditions have accepted asBuddhavachana (“the word of the Buddha”) many othersutras andtantras, along with extensivetreatises and commentaries based on these texts. Consequently, from the first sermon of the Buddha atSarnath to the most recent derivations, there is an indisputable continuity—a development ormetamorphosis around a central nucleus—by virtue of which Buddhism isdifferentiated from other religions.