186

CHAPTTER VI

CONCLUSION

Sixth Century B.C. was remarkable for the spiritual unrest and intellectual ferment in
many countries. In that period many remarkable teachers worked upon their
inheritance and developed new points of views. In India Buddha did not start a new
and independent religion as such but it was rather an offshoot of the more ancient
faith of Hindus, perhaps a schism or a heresy. Buddha protested against certain
practices, which were in vogue at that time. His main objective was to bring about
reformation in religious practices and return to the basic principles which are the
developments of a new type of free man, free from all prejudices intent on working
out his own future with one’s self as one’s light “attadipa”. His humanism crossed
racial and national barriers and spread all over the world.
Buddha’s philosophy of humanity is neither in Europe nor Asia, neither East nor
West, but humanity in all lands and of all Ages. In spite of political divisions, the
world is One, whether we like it or not. The fortunes of everyone are linked with
those of others. But we are suffering from an exhaustion of spirit an increase of
egoism - individuals and collective which seems to make the ideal of world society
too difficult to desire. If we wish to achieve peace, we must maintain that inner
harmony, which is essential element of peace. The message of Buddha was the basis
of the great spiritual movement, which has led and will lead humanity more and more
to its liberation, that is to say, to its escape from falsehood and ignorance towards the
truth. When Buddhism spread beyond India to South-East Asia. Tibet, China, Japan
and other countries of the world, certain aspects of Buddhism were emphasised in
each locale generating a wide variety of interpretations and practices. Buddhism was
adopted to meet the requirements of the people of various cultures, resulting wide
variation of interpretation. As for example Indian Buddhism is compared to Chinese
and Japanese Buddhism. Differences in climate and geography are seen to affect
religious practices and those adaptations in practice brought about changes in
doctrine. In contrast, the countries like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand (where
TheravUda Buddhism is practiced) are much closer to Indian Buddhism than the East
Asian Buddhism.1.

1. International Encyclopedia of Buddhism- Edt by Nagendra Kr. Singh, Vol-19 (INDIA)

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The early order eventually divided into the progressive ‘Mahasanghika’ and the
conservative ‘Sthaviravada or Theravada Buddhism. Later, a number of schools came
into existence and criticized each other. However, all of them were recognised as
Buddhist. This toleration for a-wide variety of interpretations was based on the
Buddhist emphasis on the importance of the individual’s enlightenment and his
freedom to contemplate and interpret doctrine. This tolerance for doctrinal differences
is one of the best features of Buddhism.
In the First Century AD. Mahayana Buddhism came up to respond to the demand of a
new time. It included many elements not found in early Buddhism. Despite these
innovations, the original spirit of the Buddha’s teaching was not actually lost. The
magical element played an important role in Mahayana Buddhism probably because
they were the responses to the religious need of the common people. Over the
centuries, these magical formulae came to play an increasingly important role in
Mahayana Buddhism. Presently, Buddhism is getting more popularity in Western
Countries of the world.

In spite of the long period of oblivion, however, the high personality of the
Buddha hovered so strongly in the minds of the people that they had to accept
him as an incarnation of their god Vishnu and even today the Hindu priest in his
daily worship recites, "In this age of the incarnation of the Buddha (Buddh
2vat5ra) I offer this oblation . . There is no denying that the present form of
Hinduism definitely bears marks of Buddhist influences2. There are small

pockets of people throughout the country whose worship includes Buddhist

meditation not yet beyond the possibility of recognition. For instance, the
Tharus of the Tarai area in the United Provinces, the Dharma worshipers of
Bengal and Orissa, and the Ayyappan cult of Malabar in southern India are
undoubtedly the remnants of the old Buddhists of India. There are still small groups
of people in Kashmir, Assam, and Chittagong who have not lost their identity as
Buddhists.
The darkest period of Buddhism in India lasted from the eighteenth to the
middle of the twenty-fourth centuries after the Buddha (thirteenth to the
nineteenth centuries A. D.). The first glimpse of the rays of a Buddhist revival in
India dawned with the enthusiastic efforts of Western archeologists and
historians who contributed much to bringing to light this lost culture*. One of the

2. Morgan, K.H., “ The path of the Buddha”, p-50,

t TlsiJ
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heroes of the Indian War of Independence of 1857, Babu Amar Singh, started the
revival of the Sangha tradition in India by going to Ceylon for training as a
monk and to Burma for instruction in the methods of meditation and then
returning to Kushinara to establish a monastery at the place of the great
Demise of the Master. This monastery of Kushinara has formed the nucleus
for the modern Buddhist movement in India, winning a handful of Indian monks
who, as renowned scholars of Pali, Sanskrit, Hindi, and English, are giving their
lives to the revival of Buddhism in India. Buddhist centers now exist at Nalanda,
where the University has been revived by :he Government, and at Lucknow,
Calcutta, and Chittagong. Twenty-one centuries after the Arhat Mahinda took
the PaliTipitaka to Ceylon, the Buddhists of Ceylon sent back to Nalanda copies
of the Pali Tripitaka to be restored to the script and language of India. Scholars
from all Buddhist countries have come once more to Nalanda to study, making it
again the unique meeting place of Mahayana and Theravlda Buddhism, as it was
centuries ago, according to the reports of Chinese scholars like Hiuen-tsang.*
About a century ago the Ceylon Buddhist Mission to India established the Maha
Bodhi Society, which has organizations in Calcutta, Samath, and Buddhagaya
and other important places in India. This society has been primarily concerned with
the protection of pilgrimage places in India, with assisting pilgrims and with
publishing books for the benefit of Indian readers. Ceylonese, Chinese, Burmese,
Tibetan and Japanese Buddhists have built rest houses for pilgrims at various
shrines for the benefit of their people as they visit India. Thus, although Buddhism
has virtually disappeared from the land of its birth, the scared places of Buddhism in
India are once more being recovered and the land of the Buddha is again a land of
inspiration to the Buddhists throughout the world.
Over twenty-two centuries ago, Asoka, at the instruction of the Arahat Moggaliputta
Tissa, who was president of the Third Great Buddhist Council, sent able and wise
missionaries abroad to the foreign countries of the world to preach the noble Dhamma
“for the good and welfare of the many”, as the Master had urged in his lifetime.
Undoubtedly it is this unprecedented act, which has made India the center of a
glorious culture, which has spread to most of the eastern half of the globe.

* Yuan Chuang
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There have been political and commercial ties between India and various other
countries from time to time, but none of them were as lasting as this cultural
relationship, which was founded on true good will and spiritual insight. Regardless of
any temporary setbacks, so long as this Message of Peace and Good Will exists on the
face of the earth, nothing can break the relationship between these countries.
According to the Ceylonese Great Chronicle (MahSvamsa) and the Burmese
Chronicle of the Dispensation of the Buddha (SSsanavamsa), the great Buddhist
emperor sent messengers of the Dhamma to northern India, Afghanistan and Central
Asia, Syria, Egypt, Nepal, Tibet, Burma, Ceylon, and the countries of southern India,
which lay outside Ak»ka’s realm. Traditionally, the arrival of Buddhism in
Thailand is attributed to the two celebrated Asokan missionaries, Sopa and
Uttara, who are said to have brought Buddhism to Burma. The Mons of Thaton
and the Mons of Thailand were of the same stock, which made it quite natural for
the Theravada Buddhism of That on to have spread to Thailand, aided by the
missionaries who came from Amaravati and Conjeeveram in India. At the same
time, Ma hSy ana Buddhism was introduced from Java and Malaya and from
Cambodia. The early Thai kings were impressed by the Theravada culture of
Pagan and turned to Ceylon as the seat of the Pure Dhamma for guidance in
establishing Theravada Buddhism in their kingdom. Their influence extended
to Cambodia and Laos. Throughout all the dynastic changes in Thailand, their
adherence to Theravada Buddhism remained strong, as it is to this day. The area
which now includes Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam, as well as the further areas
of Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Bali were at one time so completely
colonized by Indians that they were commonly known as "farther India." Until
about the eighteenth century after the Buddha (thirteenth century A.D.) the
Hindu influence was strong in these areas. The renaissance of TheravSda in
Ceylon in the Polonnaruwa period (sixteen centuries after the Buddha— eleventh
century A.D.) had set in motion currents, which came in waves, one after another, to
the far shores of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Within two centuries, all
these countries became fervent followers of Theravada Buddhism and have
remained so Ato this day. In Cambodia, this influence was felt first through
Thailand, and then directly from Ceylon and Burma. As in Thailand, traces of
Hinduism still remain in court ceremonials, but the ruler is the defender of
Buddhism and the government lends its aid to the Sangha. It was in the years
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between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries after the Buddha (ninth to
fourteenth centuries A.D.)that the beautiful Buddhist architecture flourished at
Angkor. The history of Buddhism in Laos closely parallels that of Cambodia, with
Theravada Buddhism coming in about two centuries after its renaissance at
Polonnaruwa in Ceylon and continuing as the chief religion to the present time.
Within the past century there has been a movement, starting in Cambodia, to revive
Theravada in Viet Nam and there is now a Sangha at Saigon. Malaya, Sumatra, Java,
Bali, Borneo this area was a chain of prosperous Indian Colonies closely linked with
India by commerce and culture, it was natural that Buddhism should spread to these
countries at a veiy early date. Both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism were found
here, sometimes aggressively repressed by Hindu rulers and sometimes favored by
rulers who were Buddhist. Chinese pilgrims came to Java and Malaya to study with
famous Buddhist scholars, and the great temples at Borobudur- one of the finest
examples of Buddhist art - indicate the important role which Buddhist played there at
one time.
We have looked back over the twenty-five centuries since the Dhamma was first
taught to men, we have seen how Buddhism has spread from the dear park at Samath
west to the borders of Iran, northward to the Gobi Desert, eastward to Japan, and
throughout all of southeastern Asia to Borneo and Java. Today, only ancient ruins
remain at Bamiyan and in Central Asia, at Pagan in Burma, at Angkor Wat in
Cambodia, at Borobudur in Indonesia, and at the historic pilgrimage sites in India, but
the Light of the Dhamma still shines in Asia, in Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia,
and Laos, on the other hand in Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. Today, as for
uncounted generations in the past, tens of millions of men and women follow the
teachings of the Buddha, the Enlightened One.
All the teachings of the Buddha can be summed up in one word: Dhamma. It also
means law, the law, which exists in a man’s, own heart and mind. It is the principle of
righteousness. Therefore the Buddha appeals to man to be noble, pure, and charitable
not in order to please any Supreme Being but in order to be true to the highest in
himself. Buddhism has attempted to arrive at the truth, not by excluding its
opposites as falsehood, but by including them as another form of the same truth.
Although Buddhism was predominant in many Asiatic countries, there is no
record of any persecution by Buddhists of the followers of any other faith. They
waged no religious war. It is very difficult to have a firm conviction and at the
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same time to be tolerant, but the Buddha himself and many of his followers have

achieved such tolerance.

Buddhists are generally noted for their liberal attitude toward other religions,
whether polytheistic, monotheistic, or atheistic. This feature is found in. all Buddhist
countries. Buddhists admit the truth of any moral and philosophical system,
whether primitive or developed, provided only that it is capable of leading men at
least part way toward their final goal.
In both Theravada and Mahayana, the Buddhist community has never been
organized around a central authority, which could decree doctrines, or practices,
which must be observed by all followers. Buddhist followers of all types have been
comparatively individualistic and unwilling to submit to a rigid outer authority.
Agreement as to the doctrines to be held and the practices to be followed has been
reached by discussion within the community, guided by the scriptures accepted as a
basis for their faith. In Theravada countries at the present time, there is great unity,
with the different sects playing only a minor role. In Tibet, although there are
several sects, the one million Buddhists in the country are united in most matters;
such divisions as exist there are more political than religious. In China they formerly
had rather marked sectarian differences, but in modem times they have blended into
one general form of Mahayana Buddhism. Only in Japan are there marked sectarian
differences, as we have seen.
Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism have accepted two standards for the truth of a
statement: it must be in. accord with the scriptures and must be proved true by
reasoning. No Buddhist is expected to. believe anything, which does not meet these two
tests. All schools of Buddhism have presupposed universal laws, called dharmas, which
govern human existence and may be known by reason. According to the Buddha,
personal relations should be brought into harmony with the universal norms, the
universal laws that apply to all existence. The word dharma is often used as meaning
the Doctrine of the Buddha; in this sense dharma is not dogma, but is rather the Path,
which is regarded as the universal norm for all mankind, conformity to the nature of the
universe.
The acceptance of rational analysis of the nature of human existence has been a
continuing characteristic of Buddhism, but it should be noted that metaphysical
speculation concerning problems not related to human activities and the attainment of
Enlightenment have not been considered to be a proper part of Buddhist rationalism.
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Thus, the Doctrine of the Buddha is not a system of philosophy in the Western sense
but is rather a Path. A Buddha is simply one who has trodden this Path and can
report to others on what he has found. We can interpret the appellation Tathagata—
one who has gone thus—in this sense.
All metaphysical views are only partial apprehensions of the whole truth, which lies
beyond rational analysis. Only a Buddha can apprehend the whole truth. Rational
analysis is useful in making clear the limitations of rationality. The Doctrine of the
Buddha transcends comparison; it is neither inferior, nor equal, nor superior to other
doctrines. It is by detaching oneself from philosophical oppositions that one is able to
grasp the truth. Thus in Buddhism there is no dogma, which opposes other dogmas.
Of course, Buddhism as a cultural and historical product developed many different
systems of thought in the course of time, but it has always sought to avoid
obscurantism or coercion to believe what seems to be irrational.
However, all Buddhists, whether Theravada or Mahayana, agree that they aim to
teach the way to realize an ideal life. In Buddhism the entire stress lies on the mode
of living, on the Saintliness of life, on the removal of attachment to the world. A merely
theoretical proposition, such as "There is no ego," would be regarded as utterly sterile
and useless. All Buddhists follow the Buddha in wanting to teach how to lead a selfless
life. Rational analysis is no more than a tool, which is justified in its products. That is
why there are so many teachings even on one subject, such as dependent origination.
The Buddha's doctrine is called a vehicle in the sense that it is like a ferryboat. One
enters the Buddhist vehicle to cross the river of life from the shore of worldly
experience, the shore of spiritual ignorance, desire, and suffering, to the other shore
of transcendental wisdom which is liberation from bondage and suffering. Suppose
a man builds a raft and by this means succeeds in attaining the other shore. "What
would be your opinion of this man?" asks the Buddha. "Would he be a clever man
if, out of gratitude for the raft that carried him across the stream to safety, he,
having reached the other shore, should cling to it, take it on his back, and walk
about with the weight of it?" The monks replied, "No." The Buddha then
concludes, "In the same way the vehicle of the doctrine is to be cast away and
forsaken, once the other shore of Enlightenment (Nirvana) has been
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attained3" Just as the difference in shape, weight, and material among rafts does
not matter, difference in teachings does not matter. This point of view is set forth
both in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.
In recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in the West - Primarily in
Europe and the USA. Until the late 19th century, the teachings of Theravada
were little known outside of Southern and Southeast Asia, where they has
flourished for some two and one half millennia. In the last century, however,
the West has begun to take notice of Theravada’s unique spiritual legacy and
teachings of Awakening. In recent decades, this interest has swelled, with the
monastic Sangha from the various schools within Theravada establishing
dozens of monasteries across Europe and North America. In addition a
growing number of lay meditation centers in the West, operating
independently of the Sangha Currently strain to meet the demands of lay men
and women - Buddhist and otherwise seeking to learn selected aspects of the
Buddha’s teachings4.
The turn of the 21st Century present opportunities to the South and South-east
Asian countries for the development of Theravlda Buddhism. But this century
presents both opportunities as well as dangers for Theravada Buddhism in the
West - Because the question which naturally arises in that will the Buddha’s
teachings be patiently studied and put into practice, so that they may be
allowed to establish deep roots in Western soil, for the benefit of many
generations to come? Will the current popular climate of “openness” and
cross fertilization between spiritual traditions lead to the emergence of a
strong new form of Buddhist practice unique to the modern era, or will it
simple lead the dilution and confusion of these priceless teaching of Lord
Buddha? There are open questions, only time will tell5.

3. Majjhima Nikaya, I, 3, 2. No. 22.

4. The Buddhists, Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Compiler and Editor; Subodh Kapoor, Vol-V (T-Z)
5. Encyclopedia of Buddhism ( Vol-II) (M-Z), Robert E. Buswell, Jr. Editor in Chief. (See Theravada
Buddhism)
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The truest test of these teachings, of course, is whether they yield the
promised results in the crucible of your own heart. The Buddha presented us
with a challenge; it is upto each of us individually to put that challenge to the
test.
In the modern period, Theravada has spread world wide through Diaspora and
mission. Nowadays Theravada is the dominant form of Buddhism in
Cambodia, Laos and of course Thailand. It remains a central component of the
Buddhism of Vietnam, even of after its formal unification with Mahayana
forms in the 1960s. The tradition is followed by the Baruas, Chakma, and
Magh ethnic groups in Bangladesh, and the Shans of Southern China. The
Theravada school has been instrumental in the Buddhist revival in India and
has begun to replace traditional Newari Buddhism in the Kathmandu Valley
of Nepal. Missionary monks - worldwide serve both diasporic and convert
Buddhists, often as separate congregations. In the two relatively recent
phenomena of Western convert and Engaged Buddhism. Theravada is likely to
be universalised rather than culturally specific, and to be mixed or at least in
dialogue with other forms of Buddhism and even other religions. There are an
estimated 100 million Theravada Buddhists World wide. In the teachings of
Buddhism the words like Enlightenment, ignorance, freedom and attachment
are preliminary helps, referring to no ultimate reality, mere hints or signposts
for the traveler on the Path, serving only to point out the goal. The wisdom,
which is sought in Buddhism, is not the wisdom of conflicting metaphysical
systems; it is the wisdom of Enlightenment as to the true nature of human
existence.
With the new learning and the new means of communication and travel, it is
easy to hope and expect that Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism will grow
closer to each other and that Buddhism will once more reach out to bring the
people of the World to the Path of the Buddha.