The Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the four holy sites related to the life of the Lord Buddha, and particularly to the attainment of Enlightenment. The first temple was built by The Indian Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century BC, and the present temple dates from the 5th century or 6th century AD. It is one of the earliest Buddhist temples built entirely in brick, still standing in India, from the late Gupta period.^[1]

Buddhism is a world religion, which arose in and around ancient kingdom of Magadha, (now in Bihar, India), and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (born as a prince of the ancient Kapilavastu kingdom now in Lumbini of Nepal),^[2] who has the indian Sanskrit name "Siddhārtha Gautama" and the indian pali name Siddhattha Gotama Buddha (literally the Enlightened One or Awakened One). It spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddha's lifetime, and with the reign of the Buddhist Mauryan Emperor Asoka, spread across Nepal straight down to china and all the way to japan and became One of the dominant religions in these parts of Asia.^[3][4] Followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Sakyans or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India.^[5][6] Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez asserts they also used the term Bauddha,^[7] although scholar Richard Cohen asserts that that term was used only by outsiders to describe Buddhists.^[8]

Buddhism has spread outside of India through two main traditions; Theravada which extended south and east and now has widespread following in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, and Mahayana, which diffused first west, then north and later east throughout East Asia. Both traditions have since spread throughout the world, mainly in North America and Europe. The practice of Buddhism as a distinct and organized religion declined from the land of its origin in around 13th century, but not without leaving a significant impact. Hindus continued to absorb Buddhist practices and teachings, such as Ahimsa and the renunciation of the material world. Buddhist practice is most common in Himalayan areas like Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Buddhism has been reemerging in India since the past century, due to its adoption by many Indian intellectuals, the migration of Buddhist Tibetan exiles, and the mass conversion of hundreds of thousands of Hindu Dalits.^[9]

After asceticism and meditation which was a Vedic practice, he discovered the Buddhist Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.

Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Gautama, from then on, was known as "The Perfectly Self-Awakened One," the Samyaksambuddha.

Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisara. The emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist "Viharas." This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar.^[10]

At the Deer Park Water Reservation near Vārāṇasī in northern India, Buddha set in motion the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first Saṅgha, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) was completed.

For the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain of Northeastern India and other regions.

Buddha attained Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra.

Buddhist movements[link]

The Buddha did not appoint any successor, and asked his followers to work for personal salvation. The teachings of the Buddha existed only in oral traditions. The Sangha held a number of Buddhist councils in order to reach consenseus on matters of Buddhist doctrine and practice.

According to the scriptures, a Brahmin monk by the name of Mahakasyapa presided over the first Buddhist council held at Rajgir. Its purpose was to recite and agree on the Buddha's actual teachings and on monastic discipline. Some scholars consider this council fictitious.^[11]

The Second Buddhist Council is said to have taken place at Vaishāli. Its purpose was to deal with questionable monastic practices like the use of money, the drinking of palm wine, and other irregularities; the council declared these practices unlawful.

The Sattapanni caves of Rajgir served as the location for the First Buddhist Council.

What is commonly called the Third Buddhist Council was held at Pātaliputra, and was allegedly called by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. Organized by the monk Moggaliputta Tissa, it was held in order to rid the sangha of the large number of monks who had joined the order because of its royal patronage. Most scholars now believe this council was exclusively Theravada, and that the dispatch of missionaries to various countries at about this time was nothing to do with it.

What is often called the Fourth Buddhist council is generally believed to have been held under the patronage of emperor Kanishka at Jālandhar, though the late Monseigneur Professor Lamotte considered it fictitious.^[12] It is generally believed to have been a council of the Sarvastivada school.

Following the Buddha's passing, many philosophical movements emerged within Buddhism. The first of these were the various Early Buddhist Schools (including Theravada). Later Mahayana Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism arose.

The Brahmins of Buddhism worked very hard to spread the dharma. The Buddha's disciples were mostly Brahmins, including the 2 chief disciples. For example, Asoka was converted to Buddhism by his Brahmin gurus Radhaswami and Manjushri.

Early Buddhism Schools[link]

The Early Buddhist Schools were the various schools in which pre-sectarian Buddhism split in the first few centuries after the passing away of the Buddha (in about the fifth century BCE). These schools have in common an attitude to the scriptures, that doesn't accept the inclusion of the Mahayana Sutras as valid teachings of Gautama Buddha. It accepts the Tipitaka as the final recension of the teachings of the Buddha.

• Theravada is the single remaining representative of the Early Buddhist Schools of Indian Buddhism. Theravada is now practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.
• Another prominent Nikaya school was the Sarvastivada, and much of its doctrine was incorporated into Tibetan Buddhism. It included one of the main branches of Indian Abhidharma that was instrumental in the creation of the Yogacara doctrine. Its system of monastic rules Vinaya is still used in Tibetan Buddhism and has also been influential in monastic Chinese Buddhism.

A statue of Nagarjuna, Kullu, India. Nagarjuna authored the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way), which contains the essentials of his thought in twenty-seven short chapters.

Mahayana[link]

The Mahāyāna branch of Buddhism popularized the concept of a Bodhisattva (literally enlightened being or "a Buddha-to-be") and the worship of the bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas like Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara, Maitreya became the focus of popular devotional worship in the Mahāyāna sect. According to the Mahāyāna tradition, the key attributes of the bodhisattvas are compassion and kindness.

Mahayana Buddhism includes the following Indian schools:

• Mādhyamaka (Middle Way), a Mahāyāna tradition popularized by Nāgārjuna and Aśvaghoṣa.

• Yogācāra (Consciousness Only), founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu.

Vajrayana[link]

A form of Indian Buddhism that emerged in the 4th century AD and later became widespread in Tibet, and Japan. The Vajrayana developed in India, but was spread to Tibet, and has also been practiced in Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia.^[13]

This school emerged from forest meditation traditions in northern India, in which the entire emphasis of teachings was on practice, using skillful means to attain the goal of enlightenment in one's present lifetime. This form is also known as Vajrayana (The Diamond Vehicle). Tantrism is an esoteric tradition. Its initiation ceremonies involve entry into a mandala, a mystic circle or symbolic map of the spiritual universe. Also central to Tantrism is the use of mudras and mantras. Vajrayana became the dominant form of Buddhism in Tibet and was also transmitted through China to Japan, where it continues to be practiced by the Shingon sect.

It is generally accepted that the spread of Buddhism from India to Tibet and then to the wider regions of Central and East Asia took place mainly via Kashmir.

A lesser known route of transmission is that which went through the valley of Kathmandu, situated in present-day Nepal. The valley, forms the cradle of the Nepali state today, and since the farthest point in historical time, has found itself under the cultural influence of the South Asian Hindu (and also Buddhist) civilization. However, being a distant outpost of Hinduism (and Buddhism), it was spared from the ravages of later conquests and social upheavals. Even after Buddhism died in the heartland, it survived in Kathmandu valley. Monastic records in the numerous monasteries show that till the mid-medieval period in Nepali history, Tibetan students regularly came there for learning Buddhism from the local spiritual masters. The Tibetan religious scripts Lantsha and Vartu are variants of the Ranjana system used by the Newars of Kathmandu. However, due to numerous social, economic and political factors prominent among which was declining patronage from the Hindu rulers, Buddhist monasticism in the valley died. By then Tibetan Buddhism had already gained prominence in the region. Today, in the urban centres of Kathmandu valley, we still find Indian Mahayana Buddhism, modified through mixing with Vajrayana, practiced by the local Buddhist Newar population.^[14]

Strengthening of Buddhism in India[link]

The Early Spread of Buddhism[link]

"During the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E., commerce and cash became increasingly important in an economy previously dominated by self-sufficient production and bartered exchange. Merchants found Buddhist moral and ethical teachings an attractive alternative to the esoteric rituals of the traditional brahmin priesthood, which seemed to cater exclusively to brahmin interests while ignoring those of the new and emerging social classes." ^[15]

"Furthermore, Buddhism was prominent in communities of merchants, who found it well suited to their needs and who increasingly established commercial links throughout the Mauryan empire."^[16]

"Merchants proved to be an efficient vector of the Buddhist faith, as they established diaspora communities in the string of oasis towns-Merv, Bukhara, Samarkand, Kashgar, Khotan, Kuqa, Turpan, Dunhuang - that served as lifeline of the silk roads through central Asia."^[17]

Asoka and the Mauryan Empire[link]

The Northern gateway to the great Stupa of Sanchi.

The Maurya empire reached its peak at the time of emperor Asoka, who himself converted to Buddhism after the Battle of Kalinga. This heralded a long period of stability under the Buddhist emperor. The power of the empire was vast—ambassadors were sent to other countries to propagate Buddhism. Greek envoy Megasthenes describes the wealth of the Mauryan capital. Stupas, pillars and edicts on stone remain at Sanchi, Sarnath and Mathura, indicating the extent of the empire.

Emperor Ashoka the Great (304 BCE–232 BCE) was the ruler of the Maurya Empire from 273 BCE to 232 BCE.

Buddhist proselytism at the time of king Asoka (260-218 BCE), according to his Edicts.

Ashoka reigned over most of India after a series of military campaigns. Emperor Ashoka's kingdom stretched from South Asia and beyond, from present-day Afghanistan and parts of Persia in the west, to Bengal and Assam in the east, and as far south as Mysore.

According to legend, emperor Ashoka was overwhelmed by guilt after the conquest of Kalinga, following which he accepted Buddhism as personal faith with the help of his Brahmin mentors Radhasvami and Manjushri. Ashoka established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Shakyamuni Buddha, and according to Buddhist tradition was closely involved in the preservation and transmission of Buddhism.^[18] He used his position to propagate the relatively new philosophy to new heights, as far as ancient Rome and Egypt.

Graeco-Bactrians, Sakas and Indo-Parthians[link]

Menander was the most famous bactrian king. He ruled from Taxila and later from Sagala (Sialkot). He rebuilt Taxila (Sirkap) and Pushkalavati. He became Buddhist and is remembered in Buddhists records due to his discussions with a great Buddhist philosopher in the book Milinda Panha.

The Buddhist gods Pancika (left) and Hariti (right), 3rd century AD, Takht-i Bahi, Gandhara, British Museum.

By 90 BC Parthians took control of eastern Iran and around 50 BC put an end to last remnants of Greek rule in Afghanistan. By around 7 AD an Indo-Parthian dynasty succeeded in taking control of Gandhara. Parthians continued to support Greek artistic traditions in Gandhara. The start of the Gandharan Greco-Buddhist art is dated to the period between 50 BC and 75 AD.

Kushan Empire[link]

Kushan Empire under emperor Kanishka was known as the Kingdom of Gandhara. The Buddhist art spread outward from Gandhara to other parts of Asia. He greatly encouraged Buddhism. Before Kanishka, Buddha was not represented in human form. In Gandhara Mahayana Buddhism flourished and Buddha was represented in human form.

The Pala and Sena era[link]

Under the rule of the Pala and Sena kings, large mahaviharas flourished in what is now Bihar and Bengal. According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas stood out: Vikramaśīla, the premier university of the era; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious, Somapura, Odantapurā, and Jaggadala.^[19] The five monasteries formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" and their existed "a system of co-ordination among them . . it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them.^[20]

Dharma masters[link]

Bodhidharma, woodblock print by Yoshitoshi, 1887.