BRIEF HISTORY OF BUDDHISM

 

1. INDIA

 

One of the greatest epock‑making events in the spiritual history of mankind was marked when the "Light of Asia" was set out brightly in the central part of India, or, in other words, when the Spring of Great Wisdom and Compassion gushed up there, which, in the course of time, has come to enrich the human mind over many centuries up to the present day.

 

Buddha Gautama, who came to be known by later Buddhist followers as Shakyamuni or the "Sage of the Shakya clan," abandoned His home, became a mendicant and turned His steps toward the south, to Magadha it is believed to have been in the middle of the 5th century B.C., that He finally attained Enlighten­ment under a Bodhi‑tree there. He continued His untiring efforts for forty‑five long years, from this time on to His "Great Death" by which He entered Maha‑pari‑Nirvana, all the while preaching the teaching of Wisdom and Compassion. As a result, great Buddhist steadfastly continued to appear in the kingdoms and various tribes in mid‑India.

 

During the time of King Asoka (reigning: 268‑232 B.C.), the third ruler of the Maurya Kingdom, the teaching of Buddha Gautama spread throughout the whole of India and was also being propagated beyond the boundaries of the country.

Maurya had been the first of the consolidated kingdoms in India. This kingdom at the time of its first ruler, Chandragupta (reigning: 316‑293 B.C. or thereabouts,) was already occupying a vast domain, extending from the Himalayan Mountains in the north, to the Bay of Bengal in the east, to the Hindu Kush Moun­tains in the west, and beyond the Vindhya Mountains to the south. King Asoka further expanded this domain to the Deccan Plateau, by conquering Kalinga and others.

 

This King is said to have been very furious in nature, being called by his people Chandisoka (the Furious Asoka); but his character showed a complete change when he witnessed the disastrous conditions caused by the war in which Kalinga had been conquered. He became an earnest devotee of the teaching of Wisdom and Compassion. After that, he did many things as a Buddhist believer, among which the following two undertakings were most worthy of note.

 

The first was the "Asoka's carved edict," or the administrative concepts based on the Buddhist teaching carved onto stone pillars, or on polished cliff walls, which he ordered done at numerous places, thus spreading the teaching of Buddha. Secondly, he sent missions beyond his kingdom to countries in all directions conveying the teaching of Wisdom and Compassion. Especially remarkable is the fact that some of the missions were sent out to such places as Syria, Egypt, Kyrene, Macedonia and Epeiros, spreading Buddhism far and wide to the western world. Moreover, Mahindra (in Pali, Mahinda) the envoy sent to Tamraparni or Ceylon, was successful in "Establishing the beautiful teaching on the beautiful Lankadvipa (Pali, Lankidlipa)'-', and thus founded the starting point of the Buddhist teaching for its successful propagation on the island.

 

2. THE RISE OF MAHAYANA BUDDHISM

 

The "Eastward Movement of Buddhism" has often been spoken of by the Buddhists of the later years. But during the B.C. centuries, the "face" of Buddhism was evidently turned toward the West. It was about a little before or after the beginning of the Christian era that this "face" of Buddhism began to be turned toward the East. However, before we refer to this matter, we must speak of the great change that was occurring in Buddhism. This change was none other than the "New Wave" which is known as Mahayana Buddhism, or Greater Vehicle Buddhism, that was taking strong root and appearing as a conspicuous element in the teaching of the time.

 

When and how and by whom was such a "New Wave" started? Nobody is as yet able to definitely answer these questions. In this regard, what we can only point out are: First, the trend must have been brought about in the so-called thought-genealogy constituent of the Mahasamghika school by the progressive priests of the time; second, the fact is that there had already existed some of the important elements of the Mahayana scriptures during the period from one or two centuries B.C. to the first century of the Christian Era. And, when the superb thought of Nagarjuna, backed by the Mahayana scriptures, developed, Mahayana Buddhism vividly 'presented itself in the foreground on the stage of the history of the religion.

 

The role that was played by Mahayana Buddhism was very great in the long history of Buddhism. Now as to China and Japan, Buddhism in these countries through almost of all their history has developed under the influence of the Mahayana teaching. This does not seem strange because there was already worked out a new ideal for the salvation of the masses, envisaging living saints in the form of Bodhisattvas to practice this ideal, moreover, to support them, the intellectual results in the metaphysical or psychological domains that: were brought about by the Mahayana thinkers were really magnificent in this way, although it was linked with the teaching of Buddha Gautama on the one hand, many new phases of Wisdom, and Compassion were added. With these new additions, Buddhism became full of ardor and energy, and came to enrich the countries in the East like the rushing stream of a great river.

 

3. CENTRAL ASIA

 

It was through the Central-Asian countries that China came to learn of Buddhism for the first time. Therefore, to tell of the teaching spreading from India to China, it is necessary to speak of the Silk Road. This road passed through the boundless territories in mid-Asia to connect the West and the East, and it was during the age of King Wu of the Han dynasty (reigning: 140-87 B.C.) that this trade route was opened. At that time, the domain of Han extended far westward, and in such adjoining countries as Ferghana, Sagdiana, Tukhara and even Parthia, the spirit of mercantilism, which had formerly been inspired by Alexander the Great, was still vigorously active. Along this ancient route that ran through these countries silk played the most important role, hence the name Silk Road. From the time a little before or after the beginning of the Christian Era, India and China started their cultural contacts first by means of the trade route. Thus, the Road can be said to have been the route for Buddhism as well.

 

4. CHINA

 

The history of Chinese Buddhism starts from their acceptance of the Buddhist scriptures and translation thereof. The oldest work from the ancient times is said to be the "Ssu-shih-er-chang-ching (Sutra in Forty-two Sections Spoken by Buddha)" a translation done by Kasyapamatanga and others during the Ying-ping era (58-76 A.D.) of King Ming of the Latter Eastern Han, but it is today regarded as a doubtful legendary story. The corroborated opinion now gives the credit to An-shih-kao who was engaged in translation at Lo-yang from about 148 to 171 A.D. From this time on to the time of the Northern Sung Dynasty (960-1129 A.D.), the translation work continued for nearly one thousand years.

 

During the earlier years, those who played pivotal roles in the introduction of the scriptures and in making translations there of were mostly the priests from the Central-Asian countries. For instance, An-shih-kao, mentioned above, came from Parthia; K'ang-seng-Pai came to Lo-yang in about the 3rd century and translated "Sukhavativyuha" (the Book of Limitless Life) and was a man from the Samarkand region. Moreover, Chu-fa-hu or Dharmaraksha, who is known as the translator of the "Saddharmapundarika," came from Tukhara and stayed in Lo-yang or Ch'ang-an 6m the latter part of the 3rd century to the early part of the 4th century.

When Kumarajiva, who came from Kucha, appeared in the early part of the 5th century, the translation work in China reached a

high point.

 

From about that time priests began visiting India from China to learn Sanskrit. The pioneer of such priests was Fa-hsien (339-420? A.D.). He left Lo-yang in 399 for India and returned home 15 years later. The most distinguished of these priests visiting India was Hsuan-chuang (600-664 A.D.) who left for India in 627 and returned home in 645, after nineteen long years. Further, I-Ching (635-713 A.D.) (not to be confused with the book I-Ching) left for India by sea in 671 and returned home by the same route twenty-five years later.

 

These priests visited India by themselves to learn Sanskrit and brought home those scriptures they had chosen, playing the leading role in the scripture translation work. Especially the linguistic ability that Hsuan-chuang showed was most outstanding, and by his energetic work, the translation of the scriptures in China reached another peak. The works of the former days done by those represented by Kumarajiva are called the "Old Translations, " and the works by Hsuan-chuang and the later translators are called the "New Translations" by Buddhist scholars in later periods.

 

Based on this enormous number of volumes, which they had translated from Sanskrit, the tendency of thought and religious activity of these learned men gradually but strongly turned toward Sinicism. There appeared plainly the racial nature, needs and confidences. That the priests in the early stages turned their minds metaphysically towards "Non-substantiality" especially, which is dealt with in the Prajna of the Sutras, was a manifestation of this tendency. Later, they cast away the so-called "Hinayana", or the Lesser Vehicle, and turned their attention exclusively toward "Mahayana", the Greater Vehicle. Moreover, this tendency gradually became notable in the Tendai Sect and may be said to have reached its height when the Zen Sect appeared.

 

It was in the latter half of the 6th century that the Tendai Sect accomplished its completion in China, which was perfected by Tendai Daishi, Chih-i (538-597 A.D.), it’s third patriarch. He was one of the most outstanding figures in Buddhist thought, and the critical classification of Buddha's teaching into the Five Periods and Eight Doctrines worked out by this saint had long maintained a wide influence on the Buddhism of China as well as of Japan.

 

A review will show that in China, the various sutras were brought in without regard to the order of the time of their origin and were translated as they were taken in. In the face of the enormous number of these sutras, the problem was how to understand their origin and evaluation. It was necessary to appreciate Buddhism as a whole and to show how one should stand according to one’s own understanding of it. As to the evaluation of the sutras, the trend of the Chinese thought, first of all, comes to the fore. Above all, that of Chih-i was most systematic and, therefore, splendidly persuasive. But, with the appearance of the Buddhist research work of modern times, even such a dominating influence was to come to an end.

In the history of Buddhism in China "The one that came last" was the Zen Sect. Its founder is said to have been Sramana, of a foreign country, or Bodhidharma (-528 A.D.); but the seed sown by him had seen its glorious, flower only after the time of Hui-n8ng (638-713 A.D.), the sixth patriarch of the stream. After the 8th century, the sect in China had sent out many priests of talent in succession, bringing about the prosperity of Zen for a period of several centuries.

 

 

It can be seen that there was a new way of thinking in Buddhism that was deeply rooted in the nature of the Chinese people. It-was nothing other than a Buddhism colored by the Chinese way of thinking. And yet the stream of the teaching of Buddha Gautama, with this fresh current added, had grown into a still larger river and came to enrich the countries to the east.

 

5. JAPAN

 

The history of Buddhism in Japan began in the 6th century. In 538 A.D., the King of Pochi (or Kudara, Korea) dispatched his envoy to present a Buddhist image and scroll of sutras to the Imperial Court of Emperor Kinmei. This marked the first introduction of Buddhism into this country. The history of the religion is therefore more than 1,400 years old now.

 

In this long history, we can think of Japanese Buddhism in connection with three focuses. The first can be placed on the Buddhism of roughly the 7th and 8th centuries. To show this materially we can refer to the Horyuji Temple (607 A.D.) and the Todaiji Temple (752 A.D.), these temples being constructed during this period. In looking back to this time, the one thing that cannot be overlooked is the fact that the tide of culture rose unusually high throughout the whole of Asia during this period, while the civilization of the West was shut up in deep darkness. The East was developing an astonishingly active and magnificent movement. In China, in Central Asia, in India and in the South-sea countries, the activities in the intellectual, religious and art fields were going on strongly. Joining these movements, Buddhism was washing the Eastern world with its vast tide of humanism. And this new movement of the Japanese culture as witnessed by the construction of the brilliant Horyuji and the magnificent Todaiji, and also in the colorful religious and art activities that came about in connection with these events, shows this absorbing at the extreme eastern end of the general cultural tide that was covering all the vast area of Asia.

 

The people of this country, which had been in an uncivilized state for a long time, now bathed in the current of a great culture; the flower of civilization opened up all of a sudden. Such was the good turn of fortune that favored Japan in those centuries. And the chief champion responsible for the rise in this culture was none other than Buddhism, the Buddhist temples of the time became very important social centers, and the priests were the leaders of the new learning. There developed a wide and great culture rather than just a religion. This was the actual state of Buddhism that was transplanted to this country.

 

In the ninth century, two great priests, Saicho (Dengyo Daishi, 767-822) and Kukai (Kobo Daishi, 774-835) appeared on the scene and founded two Buddhist denominations usually referred to together as Heian-Buddhism. This was the establishment of a purely Japanese Buddhism. They grasped Buddhism in its original standpoint and practice, and founded the central monasteries on Mt. Hiei and Mt. Koya respectively. During the three hundred years after their founding, until the Kamakura Period, these two esoteric denominations, the Tendai and the Shingon, prospered chiefly among the aristocrats and in the imperial courts.

 

The second of the focuses can be placed on the Buddhism of the 12th and 13th centuries. There appeared such great priests as Honen (1133-1212 A.D.), Shinran (1173-1262 A.D.), Dogen (1200-1253 A.D.), Nichiren (1222-1282 A.D.), etc. When we talk of the Buddhism of Japan we cannot well do so without mentioning the names of these great priests. Why then did only those centuries in question produce such outstanding men? it is because of the fact that a common problem was facing them all at that time. What was this common problem, then? Perhaps it was the fact that Buddhism was being accepted, but in a unique Japanese way.

 

This might lead to the question, "Why? Was it not true that Buddhism had been introduced to this country long before that time?" It is so historically. But it is also true that several hundred years were needed for the people of this country to sufficiently digest and remodel the imported religion so as to make it completely their own. In short, it was in the 7th and 8th centuries that the efforts in this country for the acceptance of Buddhism began, and as a result of these efforts, it bloomed through those Buddhists of the 12th and 13th centuries.

 

After this, Buddhism in Japan, based on the foundation built up by those prominent priests, has kept up its work to this day. Since the time those distinguished men appeared, no more of the brilliancy of those centuries has ever again appeared in the history of Japanese Buddhism. However, it seems to the present writer that there is another thing that attracts our attention and that is the fruit of the research into original Buddhism made in our modern times.

 

Since the time of its first acceptance, Buddhism in Japan, practically all of it, was Mahayana, under the influence of Chinese Buddhism. Especially after the appearance of the great teachers during the 12th and 13th centuries, the Mahayana teaching formed the main current with the sect founders as its center, which view has continued to this date. In the history of Buddhism in Japan as such, the study of original Buddhism was started after the mid-Meiji Era. The figure of Buddha Gautama vividly reappeared before those who were apt to forget the fact that there was also the founder of Buddhism besides the sect founders, and it was made plain to those who did not heed anything other than the Mahayana teaching that there was also the systematic creed of Buddhism. These new phases still remain within the sphere of scholastic learning and as yet are not strong enough to awake religious enthusiasm among the masses. But it seems that the knowledge of the people of this country in regard to Buddhism appears to be taking a turn. The writer of this article would like to put a spot light on this phase, to make it the third or the last of the three focuses referred to above.