Disappearance of Buddhism From India: An Untold Story

Discussion in 'Eastern Philosophy' started by kmguru, Jan 14, 2008.

  1. kmguru Staff Member

    Messages:
    11,757
    Siddhartha Gautama was born - 560 BC
    Alexander was born in Pella - 356 BC
    Alexander invaded India - 327 BC

    That is 200 years differential. So, the original teaching may not be influenced by Alexander or the Greek Philosophers.
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. kmguru Staff Member

    Messages:
    11,757

    The central philosophy of Buddhism is to remove Sorrow, Misery, Depresion and Pessimism. Remember Buddha saw the sick, the old and the dead....and set out to reduce that suffering...

    There was another person who also set out to reduce human suffering too....~400 years later....
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. Michael 歌舞伎 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    20,285
    That's fair enough, I was referring to the type of Buddhism that migrated to China, Korea and Japan.
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. kmguru Staff Member

    Messages:
    11,757
    Around 297 BC, King Ashoka was converted to Buddhism and Nonviolence in state of Orissa (Kalinga) in the middle of his invasion. Then he sent emissaries to China, Japan and South East to spread the word on Buddhism. By then India was trading with Europe. So, that is possible then or later....
     
  8. kmguru Staff Member

    Messages:
    11,757
    Excerpts from an email:

    Quoted from ‘Dr Ambedkar Life & Mission by
    Dhananjay Keer’. Dr B R Ambedkar addressed delegates
    of Young Men’s Buddhist Association in May 1950 at
    Colombo on ‘Rise & fall of Buddhism in India’ -
    ‘Buddhism in its material force had disappeared. But
    as a spiritual force it still exists’. As regards
    Hinduism he said it went through three phases, Vedic
    religion, Brahmanism and Hinduism. It was during the
    Brahmanism period that Buddhism was born. It was not
    true that after the days of Shankaracharya Buddhism
    was dead in India. It was going on for years together.
    In fact Shankaracharya and his teacher were both
    Buddhists he added. While he was digging material on
    the subject for the decline/vanish of Buddhism from
    India the reasons were - adoption of some rituals &
    practices from Buddhism by the Vaishnava & Shaiva
    cults, which were vociferous in their propaganda
    against Buddhism. During the invasion by Allauddin
    Khilji thousands of priests in Bihar were massacred
    and consequently some of them fled for their lives to
    Tibet, China & Nepal. In the meanwhile, the majority
    of Buddhists went over to Hinduism. The third cause
    was that Buddhism was difficult to practice while
    Hinduism was not. Reason four was that the political
    atmosphere in India had been unfavorable to the
    advancement of Buddhism he concluded.

    But according to Hindu scholars the fall of Buddhism
    was due to many reasons. Owing to universalistic
    ambition its spread was everywhere but it had
    geographical center nowhere. It discarded all national
    gods & godmen & proclaimed Buddha the greatest of all
    gods. As long as it reacted as a reformative flank in
    India, Buddhism gained ground but when it began to act
    against the Vedic religion, which was the national
    religion of the majority, Buddhism lost sympathy in
    India. The Vedic Hindus fought the Muslims bravely and
    did not flee to any other country. But the Buddhists
    when attacked, having a center nowhere, fled to
    different countries and even it is said acclaimed the
    invasion of India by non-Hindus with the ringing of
    bells. Besides its godlessness, its over-emphasis on
    redemption, its sad tone, its unconcern with the world
    & neglect of family checked rather than fostered
    enterprise. Quote ends.
     
  9. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    72,825
    Not depressing, more like unattractive.
    If you remove desire from your life, you might as well be a computer, or an android.
     
  10. Michael 歌舞伎 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    20,285
    From wiki

    In Japan, Buddhist art started to develop as the country converted to Buddhism in 548 CE. Some tiles from the Asuka period, the first period following the conversion of the country to Buddhism, display a strikingly classical style, with ample Hellenistic dress and realistically-rendered body shape characteristic of Greco-Buddhist art.
     
  11. kmguru Staff Member

    Messages:
    11,757
    That is true. At the other extreme...you will have Sodom and Gommorah. It is all about balance, not one extreme or the other....
     
  12. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    72,825
  13. Michael 歌舞伎 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    20,285
    Funny that so many Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Tibetan, etc... etc... etc... converted? I wonder why - I mean it's so unattractive and gee who could imagine being an android. I don't know about you but when I think of Thai Buddhists the first thing that pops into my mind is "there goes an android devoid of all emotion and with it any reason for living life... poor bastard"

    Ever seen the Dali Lama - now there's an Dell compac android if ever I seen one! Ever see him laugh - pure android! Almost metallic sounding.
     
  14. Michael 歌舞伎 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    20,285
    The statue or the wiki quote? The statues are clearly in the greek style.
     
  15. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    72,825
    Yeah, apparently they are all apostates. The Dalai Lama shoots birds, very Buddhist of him.

    The Burmese have riots, burn down mosques and churches and now operate in a dictatorship, the Sri Lankans oppress the Tamils, the Tibetans skinned the Banpo, the Japanese are famous for their kindly nature .:shrug:
     
  16. Gustav Banned Banned

    Messages:
    12,575


    The Pali Canon is the standard scripture collection of the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pali language. The Canon was written down from oral tradition at the occasion of the Fourth Buddhist Council (in the usual Theravada numbering), 1st century BCE, in Sri Lanka on ola (palm) leaves. Passed down in writing and to other Theravadin countries, this originally largely North Indian Canon is the most complete surviving early Buddhist canon and one of the first to be written down.

    The Canon was not printed until the nineteenth century, and is now also available in electronic form.

    The Pali Canon falls into three general categories, called pitaka (piṭaka, basket) in Pali. Because of this, the canon is traditionally known as the Tipitaka (Tipiṭaka; three baskets).The three pitakas are as follows.

    1. Vinaya Pitaka, dealing with rules for monks and nuns
    2. Sutta Pitaka, discourses, mostly ascribed to the Buddha, but some to disciples
    3. Abhidhamma Pitaka, variously described as philosophy, psychology, metaphysics etc (wiki)



    so ahh
    whence the certainty?
     
  17. Michael 歌舞伎 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    20,285
    I thought your point was they were android like? You know, your hypothesis that Islam is better because it's more "real" man, polygamy, slavery, belief-tax, that's real stuff man, down to earth stuff - whereas Buddhism is fundamentally flawed because it's seeks this pie in the sky bullshit ideal of becoming an android-like cyborg drone and they can't even manage that one because look at how violent they are. Heck, the word Buddhism is almost synonymous with violence - Pffff EVERYONE knows that!

    Anyway, so what the summary here? Buddhism died out in India because they were conquered by Hindu?
     
  18. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    72,825
    My point is that I have never met a Buddhist.
     
  19. Gustav Banned Banned

    Messages:
    12,575
    are you sam?
     
  20. draqon Banned Banned

    Messages:
    35,006
    let meet up.
     
  21. Kadark Banned Banned

    Messages:
    3,724
    This topic isn't my specialty, but how could the Hindus conquer the Buddhists if they predated them? Also, it is my understanding that Buddhism originated in Nepal/South east China, and expanded upward/eastward. There really never was a significant presence of Buddhism over other religions in India at any time.

    ...or, do I just have no clue what I'm talking about?
     
  22. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    72,825
    Buddhism originated with Gautama Siddhartha in Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India.

    It was the dominant religion of India for over a 1000 years.
     
  23. Kadark Banned Banned

    Messages:
    3,724
    I thought the maps showed Nepal/South China?

    Was it ever more dominant than Hinduism?
     

Share This Page