Does the specific origin and evolution of Buddhism have functional significance?

Buddhism was founded by Sakyamuni (known as Buddha) in ancient India before the 6th century BC, and it ranks as the three major religions in the world along with Christianity and Islam. "Buddha" (or Buddha) means enlightened person, and "teaching" can be understood as religion or education, which means a universal and inherited education of the Buddha to the masses. Buddhism attaches importance to the progress and consciousness of human mind, and all human troubles (sufferings) are caused by fate. "All laws are born because of life, and all laws are destroyed because of life." People, like other sentient beings, are immersed in suffering and are constantly in the cycle of life and death. Only when the greedy, angry and stupid saints (Buddha, Buddha and Arhat) stop can they get rid of the cycle of life and death and achieve nirvana (meaning cold silence, that is, no worries). Sakyamuni became a Buddha at the age of 35 and preached the truth he discovered to everyone. The purpose of Buddhists is to see through the truth of suffering and "self-nature" (origin method) from the Buddha's education, and finally transcend life and death and suffering, get rid of all troubles, and become a Buddha or an arhat.

Modern Buddhism can be divided into two heritages: Southern Buddhism and Northern Buddhism, while Northern Buddhism can be divided into Han Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, so it can be divided into three heritages. Please refer to Buddhist sects for detailed classification. Southern Buddhism is basically a seated Buddhism, while Buddhism in the north is basically a popular Buddhism, including Mahayana Buddhism (mainly in the Han Dynasty), Tantric Mahayana Buddhism or Vajrayana Buddhism (mainly Tibetan Buddhism). There is basically no difference in the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, but the characteristics of practice are different from some theories, among which the difference of Bodhisattva theory is the most obvious.

Buddhism is popular in Chinese mainland (30%), Taiwan Province Province (28%), Japan (7 1%), South Korea (23%), Mongolia (93%) and other East Asian regions, as well as Thailand (94%), Cambodia (93%), Myanmar (90%) and Vietnam (90%). There are more than 700 million Buddhists, accounting for 1 1% of the world population.

Buddhist history

Main items: Buddhist history

Hong kong Tiantan Buddha

Shipu Temple Buddhism in Taipei was founded by Gautama Siddharta (also known as Sakyamuni or Buddha) in ancient India at the age of 35. Since there are two versions of the year of birth and death of Sakyamuni (see Sakyamuni's entry), there are two different views on the time when Buddhism began. One thought it was a full moon in May 523 BC, and the other thought it was 589 or 588 BC. At that time, Sakyamuni realized Taoism under the bodhi tree. In the following decades, he traveled around and trained many disciples, and the influence of Buddhism gradually expanded.

After the death of Sakyamuni, his disciples sorted out his words and deeds, preached and taught, and after several collections, they became the "Sanzang" of classics, statutes and theories. After that, Buddhism developed very rapidly in ancient India, and became the state religion when King Ashoka of Peacock Dynasty, and Buddhism was greatly promoted. With the development of the situation, Buddhism has revised and developed the theory of Sakyamuni, which is divided into 18 (some people say it is 20). Mahayana Buddhism originated in 1 century.

From the peacock dynasty, Buddhism spread to the north and south respectively. Southern Buddhism (also known as Hinayana Buddhism) mainly affects Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and other places. Northern Buddhism (also known as Mahayana Buddhism) is divided into two tribes. One arrived in Xinjiang via Kashmir, and was introduced to China in the Han Dynasty, forming Han Buddhism, and then introduced to Korea, Japan and Vietnam; The other spread mainly in Tibet, called Tibetan Buddhism, and later spread to Mongolia and Northeast China.

The traditional social class system

Hinduism believes that gods dominate everything, and by praying to these gods, we can gain various benefits in this world, so various sacrifices and praises to various gods gradually appeared, and then four Vedas were formed.

According to master Xuanzang's masterpiece "The Tale of the Western Regions in Datang", "His Brahma has four Vedas. A longevity is called health preservation and repair; Second, temples, that is, enjoying sacrifices and prayers; Three times, called etiquette divination, art of war, and military formation; The fourth is skill, which refers to the number of skills and spells. "

Due to the great differences in race class, social division of labor, culture and education for a long time, ancient Indian society gradually divided into four extremely unequal classes: Brahman, Khrushchev, Vishnu and sudra. Brahman mainly engaged in sacrifice, Khrushchev inherited military and political affairs, and Vishnu managed the agriculture, industry and commerce of the city. sudra was a poor free man, but he was close to the status of a slave. In addition, there is a lower status "Dalit", known as "Dalit". Master I Ching, who studied in India in the Tang Dynasty, recorded in the Biography of the South China Sea Returning to China: "Brahma is the most important victory in the land of five days. But whenever there is a seat, he will not travel with Yu San. " India has been translated into Tianzhu in ancient times, which is divided into East, South, West, North and China, and is called "Five Days". Even at that time, people thought that when their "Brahma Gongzu" created mankind, Brahma was born from his mouth, Khrushchev from his shoulders, Veda from his abdomen and sudra from his feet. Cheap people live underground. Today, despite Mahatma Gandhi's persistent innovation, the caste system still hangs over Indian society.

Anti-Vedic trend of thought

From the 6th century BC to the 5th century BC, various non-Brahmin thoughts appeared, mainly including the following six schools:

Ayutthaya: They believe that man is made up of earth, water, fire and wind. They deny the soul, oppose sacrifice, have materialistic thoughts and pursue secular happiness.

"Individualism" school: it advocates that no decision is made on all issues, and the final answer and knowledge cannot be obtained in philosophical debate, which is a subjectivist school;

The last generation of Kerry school: it is futile to advocate that all practices have no cause and effect, and everyone will be freed after many generations, belonging to fatalism;

Ordinary Ye Jia School: it also denies the retribution of good and evil, denies social morality and advocates indulgence;

Beaufort School: Man is composed of seven elements: earth, water, fire, wind, happiness, suffering and life. The separation of elements is death, and human elements are eternal, which is materialistic;

Niqianzi school: it advocates that through asceticism, karma can be accelerated, and thus liberation can be faster. Sacrifice is forbidden, no killing is strictly allowed, and some people don't even wear clothes. They were dubbed naked heretics and later developed into luxurious Buddhism, which still has a certain influence in India today.

Basic teachings

Main items: Buddhist terminology

Six parts in the wheel of karma

Buddhism believes that all sentient beings live and die in heaven, man, Asura, beast, hungry ghost and hell, which is endless.

Four noble truths

According to Buddhism, what the Buddha taught all his life was mainly to understand and eliminate suffering. The four truths theory is the core of Buddhist teachings.

Bitterness: Buddhism believes that life is alive, and no one can avoid many hardships such as birth, aging, illness and death. These sufferings will not end with people's death, because people will not completely disappear after death, and they will still circulate in the six paths. No matter in heaven, hell or on earth, suffering always exists, but in different degrees. Buddhism also believes that everything in the world is changeable and has no eternity, which is called impermanence. For all beings, this endless change itself is a torment.

Collecting truth: collecting truth is the cause of pain. Buddhism believes that there is no fruit without cause, and there is no fruit without cause. The reason why all beings suffer is that in the endless cycle, driven by greed, anger and ignorance, many karma have been done, and these karma have accumulated and become the bitter cause of the future.

Extinction: Buddhism believes that as long as you are in six paths, you cannot avoid suffering. The only way for all living beings to truly and completely get rid of suffering is to get rid of reincarnation.

Dao: In order to get rid of reincarnation, one must practice. The methods given by Buddha are mainly abstinence, determination and wisdom. From the four thoughts to the eight paths, after the second practice, you can achieve nirvana and get rid of reincarnation forever.

The development of Buddhist theory

The four noble truths mentioned above are the teachings preached by the Buddha to his disciples when he was alive. These teachings were later called primitive Buddhism or Hinayana Buddhism.

Mahayana

About 500 years after the founding of Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism rose in India and made great progress in Buddhist theory.

If the core of primitive Buddhism is a "bitter" word, then the core of Mahayana Buddhism is an "empty" word. Mahayana Buddhism believes that this world, whether it is sentient beings or material elements, or even time and space, is an illusion perceived by people, not real. Therefore, if you want to get rid of suffering, you don't have to completely get rid of the six paths as the Buddha said, because the so-called "six paths" and even the "suffering" itself are all illusions perceived by people in Mahayana Buddhism. And even if you break away from the six divisions in the wheel of karma and become an arhat, according to the standards of Mahayana Buddhism, it can only be regarded as a temporary relief from pain, not a real relief at all.

Mahayana Buddhism believes that as long as people can prove emptiness, the present is liberation. True and complete liberation can only be achieved by becoming a Buddha. All living beings should become Buddhas, and all living beings can become Buddhas. Of course, before becoming a Buddha, all living beings have to go through the time robbed by the three monks for penance. This kind of Buddhist disciple who practices with the ultimate goal of becoming a Buddha is called Bodhisattva.

Tantric Buddhism

In the 6th and 7th centuries, Mahayana Buddhism gradually declined in India, and esotericism began to rise. Tantric Buddhism (or mystical Buddhism, Vajrayana) was born after Buddhism absorbed some thoughts, theories and practice methods of primitive Brahmanism in India. Tantric Buddhism believes that the original Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism are the convenience of the Buddha, not the true meaning of the Buddha. Even the Sakyamuni Buddha in history is just the incarnation of Buddha in Mi Cheng's view. The true teachings of the Buddha are unacceptable to ordinary believers and can only be secretly taught to qualified disciples by the master.

The practice methods of secret meditation mainly include "holding a spell" and "initiation" blessing. If you practice well, you will soon become a Buddha.

Zen thought

Meditation was originally the practice of Mahayana Buddhism. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, bodhidharma, an Indian monk, came to China to establish Zen Buddhism and advocated the Zen method of "pointing directly at people's hearts without words". Zen believes that liberation is not outside the body and does not need the help of classics. The way out lies in people's hearts. As long as you can let go of persistence and self, it is liberation.

The development of Zen in China is very prosperous, and the Zen thought itself has also experienced great development, which has had a great influence on China's literature, art, ideology and culture.

Pure land belief

Pure land Sect is also a Sect of Mahayana Buddhism, named after advocating pure land Sect law. The Pure Land Law is mainly a belief in Amitabha and Elysium.

According to the idea of pure land, Amitabha, the founder of Elysium, once vowed that as long as all sentient beings recite Amitabha's name devoutly and sincerely hope to live in Elysium (Pure Land) after death, he will be led there by Amitabha on his deathbed and get rid of the pain of the six masters in the wheel of karma forever. Elysium, as its name implies, is a very beautiful place where all beings practice continuously until they become Buddhas.

The concept of pure land calls on everyone to read Buddha and live in pure land after death. And think this road is the simplest, fastest and safest.

Among the various Buddhist sects in the Han Buddhism area, the people who believe in pure land are the most.

Buddhist believers

Main events: Buddhists

Generally speaking, people who convert to Buddhism are called Buddhists. Buddhists are divided into monks and monks at home.

Monks include: monks, monks, monks, monks, monks, monks, monks. In China, many people include: Youposai and Youpoyi.

The precepts observed by Buddhists:

The influence of Buddhism

Buddhism has the deepest influence in Asian countries, and Buddhist thoughts have been integrated into the lives of people in Buddhist countries. However, in India, the influence of Buddhism is declining. Buddhists account for only 0.6% of India's population, and their distribution is also very scattered.

Buddhism has had a great influence on the prevailing countries and regions. Including culture, art and many other fields.

Buddhist art

buddhist music

Buddhist art

Buddhist Scripture

Main Item: List of Buddhist Scriptures

Buddhist classics include classics, dharma and theory, and Buddhist classics are Buddhist classics. All the works of Buddhist Sanzang are called Tripitaka.

Buddhist Sect

Eight Cases of Buddhism in Han Dynasty

Sanlunzong

Tiantai Sect

Xian Shouzong (Hua Yanzong)

Chan sect

Tantric (Shinrikyo)

Jingtu school

Lupai

Faxiangzong

Tibetan Buddhist Sect

Ningma brand

Kayupa

Sakya Sect

Juenangpai

Kadampa

Gelugpa

Greek Cypriot faction

Sterilization faction

Generous school

Xialupai