Mahayana Buddhism in Southeast Asia (Essay Sample)

Mahayana Buddhism in Southeast Asia
Background Information
Buddhism is one of the most ancient religions still being regularly practiced in today’s society. Although born and predominantly practiced in Asia, it has grown to be recognized by a wide diversity of people throughout the world. This paper explores the foundations and roots of Buddhism and its spread throughout Asia, before critically evaluating its influence and presence in today’s society in an effort to provide a deeper understanding and awareness of the religious influences in Asia’s culture (Emerson, 1984).
Foundations and Roots of Buddhism
Dating back to before Buddhism, Hinduism was the prominent religion that had a great impact in most of Asia. Both of these religions share many similar beliefs and history backgrounds like being born in India, reincarnation, karma, yoga, and many other beliefs. Although, Hinduism did have a great influence on Buddhism there were many people who opposed "against the injustice of the Hindu case system and the overwhelming power of the priestly class, known as the Brahmins.”(Ushistory.com 2014) It was not until around 563 B.C.E that Siddhartha Gautama was born and little did he know that he would be the one to rise up questions to challenge the Hindu beliefs and grow up to be the Buddha (Emerson, 1984).
Siddhartha was born into a Nobel family never had a clear understanding of what suffering meant due to his father’s supervision and sheltered upbringing. The father could only guard his son for so long until eventually Siddhartha’s curiosities lead him to discover a world filled with suffering. The suffering he encountered influenced him to realize that not even the wealthiest person in the world could live in a life without avoiding suffering. The next years that followed Siddhartha went on a quest to find answers to the suffering of life. After years of meditating, praying, and fasting he finally understood the basic truths of life. It was then that Siddhartha reached nirvana a state of enlightenment and received the title of Buddha or the "Awakened One" (Emerson, 1984).
Once Siddhartha reached enlightenment he lived the rest of his life spreading the good news on how to reach Nirvana. Within Buddhism people believe that it is important for everyone to reach Nirvana, and to achieve this one must detach from the world by meditating and analyzing. When people detach away from the world they have time to step away from suffering and be released from the cycle of rebirth (samsara). The teachings of Buddhism are usually summarized in The Four Noble truths, which contain sermons that the Buddha delivered after attaining enlightenment, and also the Eightfold Path, which is a guide on how to live in this world. Throughout the years Buddhism experienced a variety of modifications that contributed in building three different major branches: the Theravada ("Doctrine of the Elders"), the Mahayana ("Great Vehicle), and the Vajrayana ("Diamond Vehicle," often simply called "Tibetan Buddhism") (Emerson, 1984).
Out of the three, Theravada and Mahayana are the two dominant branches that have had an outspread through Asia and in the west. Theravada for the most part has been accepted to have the oldest records of the Buddha’s teaching and is the predominant religion in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. While the Mahayana has some similar beliefs as the original Buddha teachings, Mahayana distant itself, making its way to the Northern parts of Asia (Brown, 2004).
Spread of Buddhism throughout Asia
As earlier mentioned, Buddhism is a religious movement that embodies a variety of beliefs and traditional inclinations that not only guide human existence but also enable people to get in touch with their inner realities of interaction and engagement with each other. The inherent principles of Buddhism are anchored on the overall desire to ameliorate the existential threshold of human beings in social systems. Since the founding of the Buddhism religious movement, there has been monumental rise in its popularity and practice across the world (Brown, 2004). The practice of Buddhism is mostly prevalent in the Asian region owing to the fundamental factors that characterized its founding and popularization in society. Unlike other mainstream religious movements, Buddhism did not anchor its spread on the establishment of missionary outfits. However, absence of a missionary movement did not in any way hamper the spread of Buddha teachings and fundamental beliefs. The initial influence of Buddhism was felt in the region surrounding the Indian subcontinent before it made inroads into the wider Asian region. Due to regional disparities, the Buddhist principles had to undergo modification in order to fit the existential parameters of the communities where it spread and got accepted as a religious practice (Brown, 2004). However, it is important to note that the fundamental principles and tenets of Buddhism remained and are still unaltered. In fact, the aforementioned alterations were meant to enrich it and give it the necessary impetus to support its entrenchment into human society. The early promoters of Buddhism were keen to allay any attempts to dilute and compromise on the inherent value and teachings of Buddha. During the process of translocation, religious movements are always at a risk of failing to uphold its core values and beliefs due to the dominant influences of the societies where they intend to initiate practice and religious observance (Brown, 2004).
During the early days of the spread of Buddhism, there were certain areas where it deviated from other contemporary religious movements. For instance, Buddhism did not actualize a systematic hierarchy of command in regard to leadership and governance. Instead, every country where it spread endeavored to develop its specific unique structure of administration that supported the existent parameters that were recurrent in the local context. Therefore, the Buddhism religious movement did not actualize a global leadership structure but ensured propagation of localized units that manage the affairs of the religious outfit in the society (Hawkins, 2004). The localized units of leadership have their spiritual heads that are tasked with the responsibility of oversight and offering guidance to the followers. Most of these religious leaders have continually upped their influence in society by offering contribution to social discourse regarding challenges that characterize human existence in contemporary society. One of the most revered Buddhist religious leader is His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Buddhism manifests in two major independent arms that vouch for specific fundamental beliefs that are the hallmark of their propagation (Hawkins, 2004). The Hinayana arm of Buddhism impresses upon freedom of the individual through liberation and awareness of the inner self. The Mahayana arm of Buddhism impresses upon enlightment and awareness in order to foster knowledge and ideas that lead to the betterment of individuals and other people around them. In the due course, Buddhism has mutated into other smaller constituent belief systems that are also popular in the respective societies where they exist. The most dominant and prevalent constituents of Buddhism are Hinayana, also known as Theravada. This is mostly practiced in Southeast Asia. Two Mahayana strains of Buddhism exist under the auspices of Chinese and Tibetan systems of traditional religious beliefs (Hawkins, 2004).
The spread of Theravada initialized in India and found its way to Sri Lanka and Burma. This was evident in the 3rd Century BCE, from where it translocated into other regions such as the Chinese province of Yunnan, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Indonesia. The spread of Buddhism was later witnessed in the Arabian Peninsula and further to areas such as Egyptian region. In later days, there was active fusion of the prevalent forms of Buddhism that culminated into Mahayana as the hegemonic form of Buddhism practice in most of the Asian region (Hawkins, 2004).
The translocation of Buddhism into the Asian region was systematic and devoid of upheaval that was evident in the spread of other mainstream religious movements around the world. This has been credited to the tireless efforts of shakyamuni Buddha through his dedication and effort as a teacher. He oft travelled to foreign areas as he sought to share his views and ideas on the Buddhist religious beliefs and values. His efforts were well received wherever he went because of his humility and ability to connect with people and their prevailing circumstantial thresholds (Heidhues, 2000). He also enlisted the services of monks whose main duty and responsibility was to move to new areas and spread the message that was embodied in the Buddhist dogma. His approach to religion was unique and characteristic of a person whose main idea was to overcome the tribulations that affected people in society. For instance, he did not require people to quit their allegiance to their religious movements. He only sought to impart beliefs and norms that would enable them to overcome tribulations that were the hallmark of human existence in society (Heidhues, 2000). He argued that people were visiting trouble upon themselves due to their inability to comprehend the dynamics of inner peace and tranquility. Using personal example and experience, shakyamuni Buddha demonstrated the essence and rationale for achieving peaceful living through understanding appropriate patterns of behavior towards other people in society. Suffice to say, Shakyamuni Buddha enlisted many followers who were later responsible for the spread of his teachings to communities in other regions in Asia. The aforementioned realities are meant to demonstrate the humble beginnings of the religious movement that is currently known as B...