Buddhism

"Buddhadharma" and "Buddhist" redirect here. For the magazine, see Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly. For the racehorse, see Buddhist (horse).

The Kamakura Daibutsu, a 13th-century bronze statue of the Buddha Amitābha in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
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Buddhism (/ˈbʊdɪzəm/ BUUD-ih-zəm, US also /ˈbuːd-/ BOOD-),[1][2][3] also known as Buddha Dharma, is an Indian religion[a] and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE.[7] It is the world's fourth-largest religion,[8][9] with over 520 million followers, known as Buddhists, who comprise seven percent of the global population.[10][11] It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a śramaṇa movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to the West in the 20th century.[12]

According to tradition, the Buddha taught that dukkha (lit. 'suffering or unease'[note 1]) arises alongside attachment or clinging, but that there is a path of development which leads to awakening and full liberation from dukkha.[17] This path employs meditation practices and ethical precepts rooted in non-harming, with the Buddha regarding it as the Middle Way between extremes such as asceticism or sensual indulgence.[18][19] Widely observed teachings include the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Noble Path, and the doctrines of dependent origination, karma, and the three marks of existence. Other commonly observed elements include the Triple Gem, the taking of monastic vows, and the cultivation of perfections (pāramitā).[20]

The Buddhist canon is vast, with many different textual collections in different languages (such as Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, and Chinese).[21] Buddhist schools vary in their interpretation of the paths to liberation (mārga) as well as the relative importance and "canonicity" assigned to various Buddhist texts, and their specific teachings and practices.[22][23] Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravāda (lit. 'School of the Elders') and Mahāyāna (lit. 'Great Vehicle'). The Theravada tradition emphasizes the attainment of nirvāṇa (lit. 'extinguishing') as a means of transcending the individual self and ending the cycle of death and rebirth (saṃsāra),[24][25][26] while the Mahayana tradition emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal, in which one works for the liberation of all sentient beings. Additionally, Vajrayāna (lit. 'Indestructible Vehicle'), a body of teachings incorporating esoteric tantric techniques, may be viewed as a separate branch or tradition within Mahāyāna.[27]

The Theravāda branch has a widespread following in Sri Lanka as well as in Southeast Asia, namely Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. The Mahāyāna branch—which includes the East Asian traditions of Tiantai, Chan, Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren, and Tendai is predominantly practised in Nepal, Bhutan, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Tibetan Buddhism, a form of Vajrayāna, is practised in the Himalayan states as well as in Mongolia[28] and Russian Kalmykia.[29] Japanese Shingon also preserves the Vajrayana tradition as transmitted to China. Historically, until the early 2nd millennium, Buddhism was widely practiced in the Indian subcontinent before declining there;[30][31][32] it also had a foothold to some extent elsewhere in Asia, namely Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.[33]

  1. ^ Wells (2008).
  2. ^ Roach (2011).
  3. ^ "buddhism noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com". Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  4. ^ Jonathan H. X. Lee; Kathleen M. Nadeau (2011). Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. ABC-CLIO. p. 504. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5., Quote: "The three other major Indian religions – Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism – originated in India as an alternative to Brahmanic/Hindu philosophy"
  5. ^ Jan Gonda (1987), Indian Religions: An Overview – Buddhism and Jainism, Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd Edition, Volume 7, Editor: Lindsay Jones, Macmillan Reference, ISBN 0-02-865740-3, p. 4428
  6. ^ K. T. S. Sarao; Jefferey Long (2017). Encyclopedia of Indian Religions: Buddhism and Jainism. Springer Netherlands. ISBN 978-94-024-0851-5., Quote: "Buddhism and Jainism, two religions which, together with Hinduism, constitute the three pillars of Indic religious tradition in its classical formulation."
  7. ^ Siderits, Mark (2019). "Buddha". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Buddhism". (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 November 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition.
  9. ^ Lopez (2001), p. 239.
  10. ^ "Buddhists". Global Religious Landscape. Pew Research Center. 18 December 2012. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Christianity 2015: Religious Diversity and Personal" (PDF), International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 39 (1): 28–29, January 2015, doi:10.1177/239693931503900108, S2CID 148475861, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017, retrieved 29 May 2015 – via Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
  12. ^ Reynolds, Frank; Tucci, Giuseppe. "Buddhism". Britannica. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  13. ^ Monier-Williams 1899, p. 483, entry note: .
  14. ^ Analayo (2013).
  15. ^ Beckwith (2015), p. 30.
  16. ^ Alexander (2019), p. 36.
  17. ^ Donner, Susan E. (April 2010). "Self or No Self: Views from Self Psychology and Buddhism in a Postmodern Context". Smith College Studies in Social Work. 80 (2): 215–227. doi:10.1080/00377317.2010.486361. ISSN 0037-7317. S2CID 143672653. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  18. ^ Bronkhorst (2011), pp. 233–237.
  19. ^ Schuhmacher & Woener (1991), p. 143.
  20. ^ Avison, Austin (4 October 2021). "Delusional Mitigation in Religious and Psychological Forms of Self-Cultivation: Buddhist and Clinical Insight on Delusional Symptomatology". The Hilltop Review. 12 (6): 1–29. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2021 – via Digital Commons.
  21. '^ British Library The development of the Buddhist 'canon Archived 7 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine at bl.uk. Retriebved 10 February 2023.
  22. ^ Williams (1989), pp. 275ff.
  23. ^ Robinson & Johnson (1997), p. xx.
  24. ^ Gethin (1998), pp. 27–28, 73–74.
  25. ^ Harvey (2013), p. 99.
  26. ^ Powers (2007), pp. 392–393, 415.
  27. ^ White, David Gordon, ed. (2000). Tantra in Practice. Princeton University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-691-05779-8. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  28. ^ Powers (2007), pp. 26–27.
  29. ^ "Candles in the Dark: A New Spirit for a Plural World" by Barbara Sundberg Baudot, p. 305
  30. ^ Claus, Peter; Diamond, Sarah; Mills, Margaret (28 October 2020). South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-000-10122-5. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  31. ^ Akira Hirakawa; Paul Groner (1993). A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 227–240. ISBN 978-81-208-0955-0.
  32. ^ Damien Keown (2004). A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford University Press. pp. 208–209. ISBN 978-0-19-157917-2.
  33. ^ Richard Foltz, "Buddhism in the Iranian World," The Muslim World. 100/2-3, 2010, pp. 204-214


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