Describe and Trace the Invention and Diffusion of One Important Religion (Buddhism) (Essay Sample)

BUDDHISM: INVENTION, DIFFUSION AND IMPACT
Name:
Course:
Date:
Describe and Trace the Invention and Diffusion of One Important Religion?
Buddhism, a religion to approximately 30 million across the globe, has its origins around 2,500 years ago. To many followers, Buddhism is beyond religion; it is more of a life philosophy that promotes love of wisdom. In essence, Buddhism expounds on the purpose of life, the apparent inequality and injustice that characterizes the world, and presents a way of life or code of practice that can lead to true happiness. Over the years, the religion has spread and grown immensely, mostly because of its answers to issues pertaining to the materialistic nature of the contemporary society. From an individual perspective, Buddhism is a spiritual tradition emphasizing on spiritual development and attainment of deep insight into life’s real nature. The changes that have occurred as Buddhism diffused have resulted into individuals taking only what they require from the religion, as opposed to what it actually teaches. The purity and transmission of the teachings are driven by needs. This paper will analyze this in detail.[Heirman, Ann, and Stephan Peter Bumbacher. The Spread of Buddhism. (New York: BRILL, 2007), 215]
Buddhism was introduced by Siddhartha Gautama, a 29-year old prince of Nepal’s ruling house, who abandoned the luxuries his status accorded him, affections of his young wife and son, and became a wandering ascetic. While this behavior seems odd today, it was not an uncommon pattern in India at the time when individuals abandoned the rigidities of the priest-dominated Hindu religion to seek a personal religion. He desired enlightenment. Gautama saw misery, illness, and poverty for the first time in his life shortly after going ahead with his decision. He commenced his quest with a starvation period. It was one of the techniques that led him to make a revelation. He realized that he had to establish an alternative way- one that was between the rich and impoverished lifestyles he had experienced. This made him follow the Middle Path. Gautama derived his enlightenment through meditation; he would sit under a papal tree and concentrate for long durations, shutting off worldly temptations. It was after 4o days of meditation that he reached his ultimate goal known as nirvana.[Gautama was born around 563 B.C.E. in the Himalayas foothills and lived a sheltered life prior to his decision to live (ibid.)] [As per legend, he became so thin that he felt his hand on his stomach when he placed the other on his back Ananda, Balangoda, Maitreya Mahanayaka, Thera Abhidhaja, Maharatthaguru Aggamaha, Pandita DLitt, and Jayasili Litt. Introducing Buddhism. (Kendal, Cumbria: Jacquetta Gomes, 2007), 307]
Afterwards, Gautama, or Buddha, embarked on his mission to teach others how to follow the Middle Path and share his own experiences. He traversed northeastern India for a number of decades, diffusing his philosophy to everyone interested regardless of their caste or gender. He died after four and-a-half decades of traveling and teaching (around 483 B.C.E.), passing into a state of nirvana. In his last breadth, he uttered four words of encouragement: "strive on with awareness." To this day, his followers seek to abide by the inspiration. The diffusion of Buddhism has been a gradual process. Despite the religion’s philosophy not developing as a missionary movement, Gautama’s teachings nonetheless spread all over the Indian subcontinent and throughout Asia. In all cultures it has reached, it inculcates Buddhist techniques and styles, which are in turn modified to suit local mentalities, albeit without altering the essential aspects of compassion and wisdom. Unlike other religions, Buddhism did not develop a general hierarchy of authority with a premier leader. Every nation to which it spread devised its own spiritual leadership and religious structure. In the present day, the most renowned and globally acclaimed authority is Tibet’s His Holiness the Dalai Lama.[He even managed to convert members of the nobility and Brahmins into Buddhism (Ibid., 308)] [Here, nirvana describes the ultimate release from worldly suffering where the self is no longer inexistence and salvation has been achieved (ibid.)] [Ibid.]
In the exploration of Buddhism, it is evident that it has undergone changes as it diffused into different countries and cultures. Philosophies and religions die, or wither, according to their capability to address existential concerns of specific places and time. As religions evolve, conservatists struggle to maintain practices and ideas that have lost their resonance. On the other hand, modernists struggle to reinvent religions to meet their needs according to the moment. Any religion that desires to exist has to balance these two views, a concept that has extended Buddhism’s lifespan and rate of diffusion since its inception. For instance, a Buddhist sect such as Rajagiriya is not popular today while new forms are emerging with unsurprising regularity. In furthering this analysis, it is prudent to investigate how Buddhism has adapted to evolved existential circumstances. All philosophical systems from India, for instance, Jainism, Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, and Buddhism, have been concerned with a common thing: freedom from cyclic existence. The ceaseless cycle of rebirth was worthless, life was suffering, and the karma doctrine had lost its credibility. Gautama had offered a way of moralizing karma and elucidating a path for ceasing the cyclic existence that characterized his time.[Heine, Steven, and Charles S. Prebish. Buddhism in the Modern World: Adaptations of an Ancient Tradition. (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2003), 4] [Saraswat Library. Studies in Buddhism. (New Delhi: Saraswat Library, 1974), 362] [One of the several heterodox Buddhist sects that branched off in the 2nd century (around 235 years after Buddha’s death). It was established as part of Andhaka, another controversial sect (ibid.)]
Change, as...