1. The ethical philosophy of Buddha; emphasizes physical and spiritual discipline as a means of liberation from the physical world.
2. The religion venerating Buddha represented by many groups especially in Asia.
Asian relig. founded in 5th century BC by Gautama Buddha.
One of the great world religions, which originated in India about 500 BC. It derives from the teaching of the Buddha, who is regarded as one of a series of such enlightened beings; there are no gods. The chief doctrine is that of karma, good or evil deeds meeting an appropriate reward or punishment either in this life or (through reincarnation) a long succession of lives. The main divisions in Buddhism are Theravada (or Hinayana) in SE Asia and Mahayana in N Asia; Lamaism in Tibet and Zen in Japan are among the many Mahayana sects. Its symbol is the lotus. There are over 300 million Buddhists worldwide (1994).
Scriptures
The only complete canon of the Buddhist scriptures is that of the Sinhalese (Sri Lanka) Buddhists, in Pali, but other schools have essentially the same canon in Sanskrit. The scriptures, known as pitakas (baskets), date from the 2nd to 6th centuries AD. There are three divisions: vinaya (discipline), listing offenses and rules of life; the sutras (discourse), or dharma (doctrine), the exposition of Buddhism by the Buddha and his disciples; and abhidharma (further doctrine), later discussions on doctrine.
Beliefs
The self is not regarded as permanent, as it is subject to change and decay. It is attachment to the things that are essentially impermanent that causes delusion, suffering, greed, and aversion, the origin of karma, and they in turn create further karma and the sense of self is reinforced. Actions which incline toward selflessness are called “skillful karma” and they are on the path leading to enlightenment. In the Four Noble Truths the Buddha acknowledged the existence and source of suffering and showed the way of deliverance from it through the Eightfold Path. The aim of following the Eightfold Path is to break the chain of karma and achieve dissociation from the body by attaining nirvana (“blowing out”)—the eradication of all desires, either in annihilation or by absorption of the self in the infinite. Supreme reverence is accorded to the historical Buddha (Sakyamuni, or, when referred to by his clan name, Gautama), who is seen as one in a long and ongoing line of Buddhas, the next one (Maitreya) being due
C. AD 3000.
Theravada Buddhism, the School of the Elders, also known as Hinayana or Lesser Vehicle, prevails in SE Asia (Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar), and emphasizes the mendicant, meditative life as the way to break the cycle of samsara, or death and rebirth. Its three alternative goals are arahat: one who has gained insight into the true nature of things; Paccekabuddha, an enlightened one who lives alone and does not teach; and fully awakened Buddha. Its scriptures are written in Pali, an Indo-Aryan language with its roots in N India. In India itself Buddhism had virtually died out by the 13th century, and was replaced by Hinduism. However, it has 5 million devotees in the 20th century and is growing.
Mahayana Buddhism, or Greater Vehicle, arose at the beginning of the Christian era. This tradition emphasized the eternal, formless principle of the Buddha as the essence of all things. It exhorts the individual not merely to attain personal nirvana, but to become a trainee Buddha, or bodhisattva, and so save others; this meant the faithful could be brought to enlightenment by a bodhisattva without following the austerities of Theravada, and the cults of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas arose. Mahayana Buddhism also emphasizes shunyata, or the experiential understanding of the emptiness of all things, even Buddhist doctrine.
Mahayana Buddhism prevails in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet. In the 6th century AD Mahayana spread to China with the teachings of Bodhidharma and formed Ch’an, which became established in Japan from the 12th century as Zen Buddhism. Zen emphasizes silent meditation with sudden interruptions from a master to encourage awakening of the mind. Japan also has the lay organization Soka Gakkai (Value Creation Society), founded 1930, which equates absolute faith with immediate material benefit; by the 1980s it was followed by more than 7 million households.
Esoteric, Tantric, or Diamond Buddhism became popular in Tibet and Japan, and holds that enlightenment is already within the disciple and with the proper guidance (that is privately passed on by a master) can be realized.