Lesson Objectives

• Orient ourselves historically to understand the evolution of Buddhism

• Appreciate the centrality of the life of the Buddha and his teachings

• Understand how Buddhism spread throughout the world

• Understand some of the key differences in Buddhist schools

• Appreciate the history and variety of Buddhist texts

• Appreciate some of the rituals and practices central to Buddhist identity

Key Terms

The Four Sights

The Buddha

The Three Fires

The Four Noble Truths

The Three Jewels

Maps

Aryan India (cf. the Kurgan Model)

Mughal India

Modern India (GM)

Buddhist History in Brief

600 - 300 BCE | Ascetic Age of India

• Decline of priestly focus on Brahman

• Emergence of concept of samsatra

• Upanishads written. The life of the Buddha

• First & Second Buddhist Councils

300 BCE - 100 CE | Buddhist India

• Third & Fourth Buddhist Councils

• Buddhism takes hold of India and travels East

• Emperor Ashoka of India sends proselytes to Greece & China

• Rise of Mahayana Buddhism in China

100 - 600s | Buddhism in the East

• Buddhist scriptures trans. into Chinese

• Pure Land Buddhism begins

• Buddhism in Vietnam & Southeast Asia

• Buddhism in Korea & Japan

600 - 1400s | Medieval Buddhism

• Rise of Tibetan Buddhism

• Decline of Buddhism in Mother India (cf. Bhakti Marga & Islam)

• Chán (China) & Zen (Japan) Buddhism

• Spread of Buddhism to Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia

1400 - 2000s | Modern Buddhism

• First Dalai Lama in Tibet

• Japanese Buddhists encounter Catholic missionaries

• Buddhism vascilates between support and suppression in China

• Rise of Buddhism in the West, particularly Australia