Buddhism is one of the world's religions, because any person can be its adherent, regardless of where he lives and what nationality he belongs to. Buddhism is one of the oldest beliefs, as it originated much earlier than Christianity and Islam. This religion has had a great influence on the development and life of many Asian countries from its inception to the present.
The origin of religion
Buddhism appeared on the territory of the Indian subcontinent, closer to its northeastern edge in about the 6th century BC. At this time, another religion reigned on the peninsula - Brahmanism. However, it was in the 6th century BC that it began to experience a crisis, so its influence, especially in the north, began to weaken somewhat. Simultaneously with this process, the influence of the secular estates in the life of society began to increase, as opposed to the caste of clergy. Against the background of all the events taking place, a new doctrine was born, which could compete with traditional Brahmanism.
According to researchers, the process of the birth of Buddhism was gradual. However, the new teaching became widespread thanks to Siddhartha Gautama, who is considered the founder of Buddhism. He was, according to legend, the heir to the ruler of the Shakya, a tribe living in the northern part of Hindustan. Until the age of 30, the prince did not know that there could be suffering in life. Therefore, when I first saw them, it shocked him so much that he left his home and became a hermit.
For several years, he vainly tried to comprehend a way to get rid of suffering in a person's life, using various techniques and limiting himself in everything. But it was only after a few years that an insight descended on him, and he became a Buddha, which means "enlightened." After that, Buddha began to preach a new teaching and gradually gained a large number of disciples. In old age, he delivered his last sermon and left the world, going into nirvana, as the legend says.
According to Buddhist teachings, all life is a series of suffering caused by a strong attachment to life's benefits. Therefore, the main goal of life should be the attainment of nirvana, a special state in which a person gets rid of all attachments and gains complete equanimity of the spirit.
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The emergence of three main directions
After the Buddha left, the teachings gradually began to change, so his followers eventually split into several streams. As a result, over the next centuries, almost 20 directions of Buddhism appeared. However, all of them could be attributed to 2 main branches, which subsequently developed in the direction of Mahayana and Hinayana. At the same time, the first was most widespread in the northern countries, and the second, respectively, in the southeast.
According to the Hinayana, only a person who has entered the path of monasticism can achieve complete nirvana. At the same time, Buddha is considered a real person who has attained a state of complete liberation, and the adherents of the school strive for the same result.
Unlike the Hinayana, in the Mahayana, Buddha is not represented as a human being, but as a kind of reality of a metaphysical plan that unites all that exists. At the same time, the followers of this doctrine strive to achieve the good of all beings living in the world by observing the basic canons of religion.
There is another school of Buddhism called Vajrayana. It combines the principles of the Mahayana with the use of tantric practices. Moreover, according to the teachings of this school, it is possible to achieve a state of complete nirvana during just one life, and not during a certain number of rebirths.
Further distribution
Subsequently, the new trend began to acquire an increasing number of followers on the territory of Hindustan. However, a new religion, Hinduism, came to replace Brahmanism, which was able to oust Buddhism from India by the 12th century AD. The main reason for this was the caste system, sacred in Brahmanism and subsequent Hinduism.
It is worth noting that Buddhism began to quickly spread to neighboring countries and territories. So, for several centuries, the teachings penetrated the territory of China, Japan, the countries of Central Asia, Tibet and Mongolia, as well as Siberia. At the end of the 19th century, Buddhism became known in Western countries, including Russia. This religion aroused the interest of people, followers of the doctrine appeared. Today adherents of religion are found all over the world. But Buddhism is especially widespread in the countries of Southeast Asia.
The Buddha's teachings quickly found followers in different regions due to the fact that one of his principles is the preservation of local traditions and culture. Thanks to this approach, each region has its own rituals and symbols, resulting from a mixture of local customs and traditional Buddhism.