Buddhism

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Standing Buddha. One of the earliest known representations of the Buddha, 1st-2nd century
CE. Greco-Buddhist art, Gandhara. (Tokyo National Museum)
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Buddhism is a religion indigenous to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of

traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama,
who is commonly known as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" in Sanskrit and Pāli).
The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent some time
between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.[1] He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or
enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering (dukkha)
through eliminating ignorance (avidyā) by way of understanding and seeing dependent
origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and eliminating craving (taṇhā), and thus attain the highest
happiness, nirvāņa.[2]

Two major branches of Buddhism are generally recognized: Theravada ("The School of the
Elders") and Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada has a widespread following in Sri
Lanka and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar etc.). Mahayana is found
throughout East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan etc.) and includes
the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, and
Tiantai (Tendai). In some classifications, Vajrayana—practiced mainly in Tibet and
Mongolia, and adjacent parts of China and Russia—is recognized as a third branch, while
others classify it as a part of Mahayana.

While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughout
the world. Estimates of Buddhists worldwide vary significantly depending on the way
Buddhist adherence is defined. Lower estimates are between 350–500 million.[3][4][5]

Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and
canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices.[6] The
foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma
(the teachings), and the Sangha (the community). Taking "refuge in the triple gem" has
traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path, and in
general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist.[7] Other practices may include
following ethical precepts; support of the monastic community; renouncing conventional
living and becoming a monastic; the development of mindfulness and practice of meditation;
cultivation of higher wisdom and discernment; study of scriptures; devotional practices;
ceremonies; and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Contents
 1 Life of the Buddha
 2 Buddhist concepts
o 2.1 Life and the world
 2.1.1 Saṃsāra
 2.1.2 Karma
 2.1.3 Rebirth
o 2.2 Suffering's causes and solution
 2.2.1 The Four Noble Truths
 2.2.2 Noble Eightfold Path
 2.2.3 The Four Immeasurables
 2.2.4 Middle Way
o 2.3 Nature of existence
 2.3.1 Three Marks of Existence
 2.3.2 Dependent arising
 2.3.3 Emptiness
o 2.4 Liberation
 2.4.1 Nirvana
 2.4.2 Buddhas
 2.4.2.1 according to Theravada
 2.4.2.2 according to Mahayana
 2.4.3 Buddha eras
 2.4.4 Bodhisattvas
 3 Practice
o 3.1 Devotion
 3.1.1 Yoga
 3.1.2 Refuge in the Three Jewels
o 3.2 Buddhist ethics
o 3.3 Monastic life
o 3.4 Meditation
 3.4.1 Samādhi (meditative cultivation): samatha meditation
 3.4.1.1 In Theravāda
 3.4.2 Prajñā (Wisdom): vipassana meditation
 3.4.3 Zen
 3.4.4 Vajrayana and Tantra
 4 History
o 4.1 Philosophical roots
o 4.2 Indian Buddhism
 4.2.1 Pre-sectarian Buddhism
 4.2.2 Early Buddhist schools
 4.2.3 Early Mahayana Buddhism
 4.2.4 Late Mahayana Buddhism
 4.2.5 Vajrayana (Esoteric Buddhism)
o 4.3 Development of Buddhism
o 4.4 Buddhism today
o 4.5 Late 20th Century Buddhist Movements
 5 Demographics
 6 Schools and traditions
o 6.1 Timeline
 o 6.2 Theravada school
o 6.3 Mahayana traditions
o 6.4 Vajrayana traditions
 7 Buddhist texts
o 7.1 Pāli Tipitaka
o 7.2 Mahayana sutras
 8 Comparative studies
o 8.1 Is Buddhism a religion?
 9 See also
 10 Notes
 11 References
 12 Bibliography
o 12.1 Online
 13 External links

Life of the Buddha

Relic depicting Gautama leaving home. The Great Departure, c.1–2nd century. (Musée
Guimet)
Main article: Gautama Buddha

This narrative draws on the Nidānakathā biography of the Theravāda sect in Sri Lanka,
which is ascribed to Buddhaghoṣa in the 5th century CE.[8] Earlier biographies such as the
Buddhacarita, the Lokottaravādin Mahāvastu, and the Mahāyāna / Sarvāstivāda Lalitavistara
Sūtra, give different accounts. Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the
historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic
order, but do not consistently accept all of the details contained in his biographies.[9][10]

Ascetic Gautama with his five companions, who later comprised the first Sangha. (Painting in
Laotian temple)
According to author Michael Carrithers, while there are good reasons to doubt the traditional
account, "the outline of the life must be true: birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening
and liberation, teaching, death."[11] In writing her biography of the Buddha, Karen Armstrong
noted, "It is obviously difficult, therefore, to write a biography of the Buddha that meets
modern criteria, because we have very little information that can be considered historically
sound... [but] we can be reasonably confident Siddhatta Gotama did indeed exist and that his
disciples preserved the memory of his life and teachings as well as they could."[12][dubious – discuss]

The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born in a community
that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the northeastern Indian
subcontinent in the 5th century BCE.[13] It was either a small republic, in which case his father
was an elected chieftain, or an oligarchy, in which case his father was an oligarch.[13]

The Vajrashila, where Gautama sat under a tree and became enlightened, Bodh Gaya, India,
2011

According to the Theravada Tripitaka scriptures[which?] (from Pali, meaning "three baskets"),
Gautama was born in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal, around the year 563 BCE, and raised in
Kapilavastu.[14][15]

According to this narrative, shortly after the birth of young prince Gautama, an astrologer
visited the young prince's father—King Śuddhodana—and prophesied that Siddhartha would
either become a great king or renounce the material world to become a holy man, depending
on whether he saw what life was like outside the palace walls.

Śuddhodana was determined to see his son become a king, so he prevented him from leaving
the palace grounds. But at age 29, despite his father's efforts, Gautama ventured beyond the
palace several times. In a series of encounters—known in Buddhist literature as the four
sights—he learned of the suffering of ordinary people, encountering an old man, a sick man,
a corpse and, finally, an ascetic holy man, apparently content and at peace with the world.
These experiences prompted Gautama to abandon royal life and take up a spiritual quest.
Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, built by King Ashoka, where the Buddha
gave his first sermon

Gautama first went to study with famous religious teachers of the day, and mastered the
meditative attainments they taught. But he found that they did not provide a permanent end to
suffering, so he continued his quest. He next attempted an extreme asceticism, which was a
religious pursuit common among the Shramanas, a religious culture distinct from the Vedic
one. Gautama underwent prolonged fasting, breath-holding, and exposure to pain. He almost
starved himself to death in the process. He realized that he had taken this kind of practice to
its limit, and had not put an end to suffering. So in a pivotal moment he accepted milk and
rice from a village girl and changed his approach. He devoted himself to anapanasati
meditation, through which he discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way (Skt.
madhyamā-pratipad[16]): a path of moderation between the extremes of self-indulgence and
self-mortification.[17][18]

Buddha statue depicting Parinirvana. (Mahaparinirvana Temple, Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh,

India)

Gautama was now determined to complete his spiritual quest. At the age of 35, he famously
sat in meditation under a sacred fig tree — known as the Bodhi tree — in the town of Bodh
Gaya, India, and vowed not to rise before achieving enlightenment. After many days, he
finally destroyed the fetters of his mind, thereby liberating himself from the cycle of suffering
and rebirth, and arose as a fully enlightened being (Skt. samyaksaṃbuddha). Soon thereafter,
he attracted a band of followers and instituted a monastic order. Now, as the Buddha, he
spent the rest of his life teaching the path of awakening he had discovered, traveling
throughout the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent,[19][20] and died at the age of 80
(483 BCE) in Kushinagar, India. The south branch of the original fig tree available only in
Anuradhapura Sri Lanka is known as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi.

Buddhist concepts
Main article: Buddhist terms and concepts

Life and the world

Traditional Tibetan Buddhist Thangka depicting the Wheel of Life with its six realms

Saṃsāra

Main article: Saṃsāra (Buddhism)

Samsara is "the cycle of birth and death".[21] Sentient beings crave pleasure and are averse to
pain from birth to death. In being controlled by these attitudes, they perpetuate the cycle of
conditioned existence and suffering (saṃsāra), and produce the causes and conditions of the
next rebirth after death. Each rebirth repeats this process in an involuntary cycle, which
Buddhists strive to end by eradicating these causes and conditions, applying the methods laid
out by the Buddha and subsequent Buddhists.

Karma

Main article: Karma in Buddhism

Karma (from Sanskrit: "action, work") in Buddhism is the force that drives saṃsāra—the
cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. Good, skillful deeds (Pāli: "kusala") and bad,
unskillful (Pāli: "akusala") actions produce "seeds" in the mind that come to fruition either in
this life or in a subsequent rebirth.[22] The avoidance of unwholesome actions and the
cultivation of positive actions is called śīla (from Sanskrit: "ethical conduct").

In Buddhism, karma specifically refers to those actions (of body, speech, and mind) that
spring from mental intent ("cetana"),[23] and bring about a consequence or fruit, (phala) or
result (vipāka).

In Theravada Buddhism there can be no divine salvation or forgiveness for one's karma, since
it is a purely impersonal process that is a part of the makeup of the universe. In Mahayana
Buddhism, the texts of certain Mahayana sutras (such as the Lotus Sutra, the Angulimaliya
Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra) claim that reciting or merely hearing their texts can expunge
great swathes of negative karma. Some forms of Buddhism (for example, Vajrayana) regard
the recitation of mantras as a means for cutting off previous negative karma.[24] The Japanese
Pure Land teacher Genshin taught that Amida Buddha has the power to destroy the karma
that would otherwise bind one in saṃsāra.[4][5]
Rebirth

Gautama's cremation site, Ramabhar Stupa in Uttar Pradesh, India

Main article: Rebirth (Buddhism)

Rebirth refers to a process whereby beings go through a succession of lifetimes as one of

many possible forms of sentient life, each running from conception[25] to death. Buddhism
rejects the concepts of a permanent self or an unchanging, eternal soul, as it is called in
Hinduism and Christianity. According to Buddhism there ultimately is no such thing as a self
independent from the rest of the universe (the doctrine of anatta). Rebirth in subsequent
existences must be understood as the continuation of a dynamic, ever-changing process of
"dependent arising" ("pratītyasamutpāda") determined by the laws of cause and effect
(karma) rather than that of one being, transmigrating or incarnating from one existence to the
next.

Each rebirth takes place within one of five realms according to Theravadins, or six according
to other schools.[26][27] These are further subdivided into 31 planes of existence:[28]

1. Naraka beings: those who live in one of many Narakas (Hells);

2. Preta: sometimes sharing some space with humans, but invisible to most people; an
important variety is the hungry ghost;[29]
3. Animals: sharing space with humans, but considered another type of life;
4. Human beings: one of the realms of rebirth in which attaining Nirvana is possible;
5. Asuras: variously translated as lowly deities, demons, titans, antigods; not recognized
by Theravāda (Mahavihara) tradition as a separate realm;[30]
6. Devas including Brahmas: variously translated as gods, deities, spirits, angels, or left
untranslated.

Rebirths in some of the higher heavens, known as the Śuddhāvāsa Worlds (Pure Abodes), can
be attained by only skilled Buddhist practitioners known as anāgāmis (non-returners).
Rebirths in the arupa-dhatu (formless realms) can be attained by only those who can meditate
on the arūpajhānas, the highest object of meditation.

According to East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, there is an intermediate state (Tibetan
"Bardo") between one life and the next. The orthodox Theravada position rejects this;
however there are passages in the Samyutta Nikaya of the Pali Canon (the collection of texts
on which the Theravada tradition is based), that seem to lend support to the idea that the
Buddha taught of an intermediate stage between one life and the next.[31][32]

Suffering's causes and solution

The Four Noble Truths

Main article: Four Noble Truths

The teachings on the Four Noble Truths are regarded as central to the teachings of Buddhism,
and are said to provide a conceptual framework for Buddhist thought. These four truths
explain the nature of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction), its causes, and how it can be
overcome. The four truths are:[a]

1. The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction)

2. The truth of the origin of dukkha
3. The truth of the cessation of dukkha
4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha

The first truth explains the nature of dukkha. Dukkha is commonly translated as “suffering”,
“anxiety”, “dissatisfaction”, “unease”, etc., and it is said to have the following three aspects:

 the obvious suffering of physical and mental illness, growing old, and dying;
 the anxiety or stress of trying to hold onto things that are constantly changing; and
 a subtle dissatisfaction pervading all forms of life, due to the fact that all forms of life
are impermanent and constantly changing.[b]

The second truth is that the origin of dukkha can be known. Within the context of the four
noble truths, the origin of dukkha is commonly explained as craving (Pali: tanha) conditioned
by ignorance (Pali: avijja). On a deeper level, the root cause of dukkha is identified as
ignorance (Pali: avijja) of the true nature of things. The third noble truth is that the complete
cessation of dukkha is possible, and the fourth noble truth identifies a path to this cessation.[a]

Noble Eightfold Path

Main articles: Noble Eightfold Path and Buddhist Paths to liberation

The Dharmachakra represents the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path—the fourth of the Buddha's Noble Truths—consists of a set of
eight interconnected factors or conditions, that when developed together, lead to the cessation
of dukkha.[33] These eight factors are: Right View (or Right Understanding), Right Intention
(or Right Thought), Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

Ajahn Sucitto describes the path as "a mandala of interconnected factors that support and
moderate each other."[33] The eight factors of the path are not to be understood as stages, in
which each stage is completed before moving on to the next. Rather, they are understood as
eight significant dimensions of one's behaviour—mental, spoken, and bodily—that operate in
dependence on one another; taken together, they define a complete path, or way of living.[34]

The eight factors of the path are commonly presented within three divisions (or higher
trainings) as shown below:

Sanskrit,
Division Eightfold factor Description
Pali
samyag dṛṣṭi, Viewing reality as it is, not just as it
1. Right view
sammā ditthi appears to be
Wisdom
samyag
(Sanskrit: prajñā,
2. Right saṃkalpa, Intention of renunciation, freedom and
Pāli: paññā)
intention sammā harmlessness
sankappa
samyag vāc, Speaking in a truthful and non-hurtful
3. Right speech
sammā vāca way
samyag
Ethical conduct karman,
4. Right action Acting in a non-harmful way
(Sanskrit: śīla, sammā
Pāli: sīla) kammanta
samyag
5. Right
ājīvana, A non-harmful livelihood
livelihood
sammā ājīva
samyag
vyāyāma,
6. Right effort Making an effort to improve
sammā
vāyāma
Awareness to see things for what they
Concentration samyag
7. Right are with clear consciousness;
(Sanskrit and Pāli: smṛti,
mindfulness being aware of the present reality within
samādhi) sammā sati
oneself, without any craving or aversion
samyag
8. Right samādhi, Correct meditation or concentration,
concentration sammā explained as the first four jhānas
samādhi

The Four Immeasurables

Statue of Buddha in Puji Temple on Putuo Shan island in China
Main article: Brahmavihara

While he searched for enlightenment, Gautama combined the yoga practice of his teacher
Kalama with what later became known as "the immeasurables".[35][dubious – discuss] Gautama thus
invented a new kind of human, one without egotism.[35][dubious – discuss] What Thich Nhat Hanh
calls the "Four Immeasurable Minds" of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity[36] are also
known as brahmaviharas, divine abodes, or simply as four immeasurables.[37] Pema Chödrön
calls them the "four limitless ones".[38] Of the four, mettā or loving-kindness meditation is
perhaps the best known.[37] The Four Immeasurables are taught as a form of meditation that
cultivates "wholesome attitudes towards all sentient beings."[39] The practitioner prays:

1. May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes,

2. May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes,
3. May all sentient beings never be separated from bliss without suffering,
4. May all sentient beings be in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.[40]

Middle Way

Main article: Middle Way

An important guiding principle of Buddhist practice is the Middle Way (or Middle Path),
which is said to have been discovered by Gautama Buddha prior to his enlightenment. The
Middle Way has several definitions:

1. The practice of non-extremism: a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-
indulgence and self-mortification;
2. The middle ground between certain metaphysical views (for example, that things
ultimately either do or do not exist);[41]
3. An explanation of Nirvana (perfect enlightenment), a state wherein it becomes clear
that all dualities apparent in the world are delusory (see Seongcheol);
4. Another term for emptiness, the ultimate nature of all phenomena (in the Mahayana
branch), a lack of inherent existence, which avoids the extremes of permanence and
nihilism or inherent existence and nothingness.

Nature of existence
Monks debating at Sera Monastery, Tibet

Buddhist scholars have produced a remarkable quantity of intellectual theories, philosophies

and world view concepts (see, for example, Abhidharma, Buddhist philosophy and Reality in
Buddhism). Some schools of Buddhism discourage doctrinal study, and some regard it as
essential practice.

The concept of liberation (nirvāṇa)—the goal of the Buddhist path—is closely related to
overcoming ignorance (avidyā), a fundamental misunderstanding or mis-perception of the
nature of reality. In awakening to the true nature of the self and all phenomena one develops
dispassion for the objects of clinging, and is liberated from suffering (dukkha) and the cycle
of incessant rebirths (saṃsāra). To this end, the Buddha recommended viewing things as
characterized by the three marks of existence.

Three Marks of Existence

Main article: Three marks of existence

The Three Marks of Existence are impermanence, suffering, and not-self.

Impermanence (Pāli: anicca) expresses the Buddhist notion that all compounded or
conditioned phenomena (all things and experiences) are inconstant, unsteady, and
impermanent. Everything we can experience through our senses is made up of parts, and its
existence is dependent on external conditions. Everything is in constant flux, and so
conditions and the thing itself are constantly changing. Things are constantly coming into
being, and ceasing to be. Since nothing lasts, there is no inherent or fixed nature to any object
or experience. According to the doctrine of impermanence, life embodies this flux in the
aging process, the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra), and in any experience of loss. The doctrine
asserts that because things are impermanent, attachment to them is futile and leads to
suffering (dukkha).

Suffering (Pāli: दक्

ु ख dukkha; Sanskrit दःु ख duḥkha) is also a central concept in Buddhism.
The word roughly corresponds to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain,
unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress,
misery, and frustration. Although the term is often translated as "suffering", its philosophical
meaning is more analogous to "disquietude" as in the condition of being disturbed. As such,
"suffering" is too narrow a translation with "negative emotional connotations"[42] that can give
the impression that the Buddhist view is pessimistic, but Buddhism seeks to be neither
pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic. In English-language Buddhist literature translated
from Pāli, "dukkha" is often left untranslated, so as to encompass its full range of meaning.[43]
[44][45]

Not-self (Pāli: anatta; Sanskrit: anātman) is the third mark of existence. Upon careful
examination, one finds that no phenomenon is really "I" or "mine"; these concepts are in fact
constructed by the mind. In the Nikayas anatta is not meant as a metaphysical assertion, but
as an approach for gaining release from suffering. In fact, the Buddha rejected both of the
metaphysical assertions "I have a Self" and "I have no Self" as ontological views that bind
one to suffering.[46] When asked if the self was identical with the body, the Buddha refused to
answer. By analyzing the constantly changing physical and mental constituents (skandhas) of
a person or object, the practitioner comes to the conclusion that neither the respective parts
nor the person as a whole comprise a self.

Dependent arising

Main article: Pratītyasamutpāda

The doctrine of pratītyasamutpāda (Sanskrit; Pali: paticcasamuppāda; Tibetan:

rten.cing.'brel.bar.'byung.ba; Chinese: 緣起) is an important part of Buddhist metaphysics. It
states that phenomena arise together in a mutually interdependent web of cause and effect. It
is variously rendered into English as "dependent origination", "conditioned genesis",
"dependent co-arising", "interdependent arising", or "contingency".

The best-known application of the concept of pratītyasamutpāda is the scheme of Twelve

Nidānas (from Pāli "nidāna" meaning "cause, foundation, source or origin"), which explain
the continuation of the cycle of suffering and rebirth (saṃsāra) in detail.[47]

Main article: Twelve Nidānas

The Twelve Nidānas describe a causal connection between the subsequent characteristics or
conditions of cyclic existence, each one giving rise to the next:

1. Avidyā: ignorance, specifically spiritual ignorance of the nature of reality;[48]

2. Saṃskāras: literally formations, explained as referring to karma;
3. Vijñāna: consciousness, specifically discriminative;[49]
4. Nāmarūpa: literally name and form, referring to mind and body;[50]
5. Ṣaḍāyatana: the six sense bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind-organ;
6. Sparśa: variously translated contact, impression, stimulation (by a sense object);
7. Vedanā: usually translated feeling: this is the "hedonic tone", i.e. whether something
is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral;
8. Tṛṣṇā: literally thirst, but in Buddhism nearly always used to mean craving;
9. Upādāna: clinging or grasping; the word also means fuel, which feeds the continuing
cycle of rebirth;
10. Bhava: literally being (existence) or becoming. (The Theravada explains this as
having two meanings: karma, which produces a new existence, and the existence
itself.);[51]
11. Jāti: literally birth, but life is understood as starting at conception;[52]
 12. Jarāmaraṇa: (old age and death) and also śokaparidevaduḥkhadaurmanasyopāyāsa
(sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and misery).

Sentient beings always suffer throughout saṃsāra, until they free themselves from this
suffering by attaining Nirvana. Then the absence of the first Nidāna—ignorance—leads to the
absence of the others.

Emptiness

Main article: Śūnyatā

Mahayana Buddhism received significant theoretical grounding from Nagarjuna (perhaps c.

150–250 CE), arguably the most influential scholar within the Mahayana tradition.
Nagarjuna's primary contribution to Buddhist philosophy was the systematic exposition of the
concept of śūnyatā, or "emptiness", widely attested in the Prajñāpāramitā sutras that
emerged in his era. The concept of emptiness brings together other key Buddhist doctrines,
particularly anatta and pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination), to refute the metaphysics
of Sarvastivada and Sautrantika (extinct non-Mahayana schools). For Nagarjuna, it is not
merely sentient beings that are empty of ātman; all phenomena (dharmas) are without any
svabhava (literally "own-nature" or "self-nature"), and thus without any underlying essence;
they are "empty" of being independent; thus the heterodox theories of svabhava circulating at
the time were refuted on the basis of the doctrines of early Buddhism. Nagarjuna's school of
thought is known as the Mādhyamaka. Some of the writings attributed to Nagarjuna made
explicit references to Mahayana texts, but his philosophy was argued within the parameters
set out by the agamas. He may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a
consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the Canon. In the eyes of
Nagarjuna the Buddha was not merely a forerunner, but the very founder of the Mādhyamaka
system.[53]

Sarvastivada teachings—which were criticized by Nāgārjuna—were reformulated by scholars

such as Vasubandhu and Asanga and were adapted into the Yogacara (Sanskrit: yoga
practice) school. While the Mādhyamaka school held that asserting the existence or non-
existence of any ultimately real thing was inappropriate, some exponents of Yogacara
asserted that the mind and only the mind is ultimately real (a doctrine known as cittamatra).
Not all Yogacarins asserted that mind was truly existent; Vasubandhu and Asanga in
particular did not.[54] These two schools of thought, in opposition or synthesis, form the basis
of subsequent Mahayana metaphysics in the Indo-Tibetan tradition.

Besides emptiness, Mahayana schools often place emphasis on the notions of perfected
spiritual insight (prajñāpāramitā) and Buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha). There are conflicting
interpretations of the tathāgatagarbha in Mahāyāna thought. The idea may be traced to
Abhidharma, and ultimately to statements of the Buddha in the Nikāyas. In Tibetan
Buddhism, according to the Sakya school, tathāgatagarbha is the inseparability of the clarity
and emptiness of one's mind. In Nyingma, tathāgatagarbha also generally refers to
inseparability of the clarity and emptiness of one's mind. According to the Gelug school, it is
the potential for sentient beings to awaken since they are empty (i.e. dependently originated).
According to the Jonang school, it refers to the innate qualities of the mind that expresses
themselves as omniscience etc. when adventitious obscurations are removed. The
"Tathāgatagarbha Sutras" are a collection of Mahayana sutras that present a unique model of
Buddha-nature. Even though this collection was generally ignored in India,[55] East Asian
Buddhism provides some significance to these texts.

Liberation

Nirvana

Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya, India, where Gautama Buddha attained Nirvana under the
Bodhi Tree (left)
Main article: Nirvana (concept)

Nirvana (Sanskrit; Pali: "Nibbana") means "cessation", "extinction" (of craving and
ignorance and therefore suffering and the cycle of involuntary rebirths (saṃsāra)),
"extinguished", "quieted", "calmed"; it is also known as "Awakening" or "Enlightenment" in
the West. The term for anybody who has achieved nirvana, including the Buddha, is arahant.

Bodhi (Pāli and Sanskrit, in devanagari: बॊधि) is a term applied to the experience of
Awakening of arahants. Bodhi literally means "awakening", but it is more commonly
translated into English as "enlightenment". In Early Buddhism, bodhi carried a meaning
synonymous to nirvana, using only some different metaphors to describe the experience,
which implies the extinction of raga (greed, craving),[56] dosa (hate, aversion)[57] and moha
(delusion).[58] In the later school of Mahayana Buddhism, the status of nirvana was
downgraded in some scriptures, coming to refer only to the extinction of greed and hate,
implying that delusion was still present in one who attained nirvana, and that one needed to
attain bodhi to eradicate delusion:

An important development in the Mahayana [was] that it came to separate nirvana from bodhi
('awakening' to the truth, Enlightenment), and to put a lower value on the former (Gombrich,
1992d). Originally nirvana and bodhi refer to the same thing; they merely use different
metaphors for the experience. But the Mahayana tradition separated them and considered that
nirvana referred only to the extinction of craving (passion and hatred), with the resultant
escape from the cycle of rebirth. This interpretation ignores the third fire, delusion: the
extinction of delusion is of course in the early texts identical with what can be positively
expressed as gnosis, Enlightenment.
—Richard F. Gombrich, How Buddhism Began[59]
Therefore, according to Mahayana Buddhism, the arahant has attained only nirvana, thus
still being subject to delusion, while the bodhisattva not only achieves nirvana but full
liberation from delusion as well. He thus attains bodhi and becomes a buddha. In Theravada
Buddhism, bodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning as in the early texts, that of being freed
from greed, hate and delusion.

The term parinirvana is also encountered in Buddhism, and this generally refers to the
complete nirvana attained by the arahant at the moment of death, when the physical body
expires.

Buddhas

Main article: Buddhahood

According to Buddhist traditions a Buddha is a fully awakened being who has completely
purified his mind of the three poisons of desire, aversion and ignorance. A Buddha is no
longer bound by Samsara, and has ended the suffering which unawakened people experience
in life.

Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only Buddha. The Pali
Canon refers to many previous ones (see List of the 28 Buddhas), while the Mahayana
tradition additionally has many Buddhas of celestial, rather than historical, origin (see
Amitabha or Vairocana as examples, for lists of many thousands Buddha names see Taishō
Shinshū Daizōkyō numbers 439–448). A common Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist belief
is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya).

according to Theravada

In Theravada doctrine, a person may awaken from the "sleep of ignorance" by directly
realizing the true nature of reality; such people are called arahants and occasionally buddhas.
After numerous lifetimes of spiritual striving, they have reached the end of the cycle of
rebirth, no longer reincarnating as human, animal, ghost, or other being. The commentaries to
the Pali Canon classify these awakened beings into three types:

 Sammasambuddha, usually just called the Buddha, who discovers the truth by himself
and teaches the path to awakening to others
 Paccekabuddha, who discovers the truth by himself but lacks the skill to teach others
 Savakabuddha, who receive the truth directly or indirectly from a Sammasambuddha

Bodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning, that of being freed from craving, hate, and
delusion. In attaining bodhi, the arahant has overcome these obstacles. As a further
distinction, the extinction of only hatred and greed (in the sensory context) with some residue
of delusion, is called anagami.

according to Mahayana
The Great Statue of Buddha Amitabha in Kamakura, Japan

In the Mahayana, the Buddha tends not to be viewed as merely human, but as the earthly
projection of a beginningless and endless, omnipresent being (see Dharmakaya) beyond the
range and reach of thought. Moreover, in certain Mahayana sutras, the Buddha, Dharma and
Sangha are viewed essentially as One: all three are seen as the eternal Buddha himself.

The Buddha's death is seen as an illusion, he is living on in other planes of existence, and
monks are therefore permitted to offer "new truths" based on his input. Mahayana also differs
from Theravada in its concept of śūnyatā (that ultimately nothing has existence), and in its
belief in bodhisattvas (enlightened people who vow to continue being reborn until all beings
can be enlightened).[60]

Celestial Buddhas are individuals who no longer exist on the material plane of existence, but
who still aid in the enlightenment of all beings.

Nirvana came to refer only to the extinction of greed and hate,[dubious – discuss] implying that
delusion was still present in one who attained Nirvana. Bodhi became a higher attainment
that eradicates delusion entirely.[59] Thus, the Arahant attains Nirvana but not Bodhi, thus still
being subject to delusion, while the Buddha attains Bodhi.[dubious – discuss]

The method of self-exertion or "self-power"—without reliance on an external force or being

—stands in contrast to another major form of Buddhism, Pure Land, which is characterised
by utmost trust in the salvific "other-power" of Amitabha Buddha. Pure Land Buddhism is a
very widespread and perhaps the most faith-orientated manifestation of Buddhism and
centres upon the conviction that faith in Amitabha Buddha and the chanting of homage to his
name liberates one at death into the Blissful (安樂), Pure Land (淨土) of Amitabha Buddha.
This Buddhic realm is variously construed as a foretaste of Nirvana, or as essentially Nirvana
itself. The great vow of Amitabha Buddha to rescue all beings from samsaric suffering is
viewed within Pure Land Buddhism as universally efficacious, if only one has faith in the
power of that vow or chants his name.

Buddha eras

Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha was the first to achieve enlightenment in this Buddha era
and is therefore credited with the establishment of Buddhism. A Buddha era is the stretch of
history during which people remember and practice the teachings of the earliest known
Buddha. This Buddha era will end when all the knowledge, evidence and teachings of
Gautama Buddha have vanished. This belief therefore maintains that many Buddha eras have
started and ended throughout the course of human existence.[61][62] The Gautama Buddha,
then, is the Buddha of this era, who taught directly or indirectly to all other Buddhas in it (see
types of Buddhas).

In addition, Mahayana Buddhists believe there are innumerable other Buddhas in other
universes.[63] A Theravada commentary says that Buddhas arise one at a time in this world
element, and not at all in others.[64] The understandings of this matter reflect widely differing
interpretations of basic terms, such as "world realm", between the various schools of
Buddhism.

The idea of the decline and gradual disappearance of the teaching has been influential in East
Asian Buddhism. Pure Land Buddhism holds that it has declined to the point where few are
capable of following the path, so it may be best to rely on the power of the Amitabha Buddha.

Bodhisattvas

Main article: Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva means "enlightenment being", and generally refers to one who is on the path to
buddhahood. Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has
generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all
sentient beings.[65] Theravada Buddhism primarily uses the term in relation to Gautama
Buddha's previous existences, but has traditionally acknowledged and respected the
bodhisattva path as well.[66]

According to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") was originally even an
honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, or the "Bodhisattva Vehicle."[67] The Aṣṭasāhasrikā
Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, an early and important Mahāyāna text, contains a simple and brief
definition for the term bodhisattva, and this definition is the following:[68][69][70]

Because he has enlightenment as his aim, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is so called.

Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the

bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the complete
enlightenment of all beings by practicing six perfections (Skt. pāramitā).[71] According to the
Mahāyāna teachings, these perfections are: giving, discipline, forbearance, effort, meditation,
and transcendent wisdom.

A famous saying by the 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar-saint Shantideva, which the
Dalai Lama often cites as his favourite verse, summarizes the Bodhisattva's intention
(Bodhicitta) as follows:

For as long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too
abide to dispel the misery of the world.

Practice
Devotion

Main article: Buddhist devotion

Devotion is an important part of the practice of most Buddhists.[72] Devotional practices

include bowing, offerings, pilgrimage, and chanting. In Pure Land Buddhism, devotion to the
Buddha Amitabha is the main practice. In Nichiren Buddhism, devotion to the Lotus Sutra is
the main practice.

Yoga

Statue of the Buddha in meditation position, Haw Phra Kaew, Vientiane, Laos

Buddhism traditionally incorporates states of meditative absorption (Pali: jhāna; Skt:

dhyāna).[73] The most ancient sustained expression of yogic ideas is found in the early
sermons of the Buddha.[74] One key innovative teaching of the Buddha was that meditative
absorption must be combined with liberating cognition.[75] The difference between the
Buddha's teaching and the yoga presented in early Brahminic texts is striking. Meditative
states alone are not an end, for according to the Buddha, even the highest meditative state is
not liberating. Instead of attaining a complete cessation of thought, some sort of mental
activity must take place: a liberating cognition, based on the practice of mindful awareness.[76]

Meditation was an aspect of the practice of the yogis in the centuries preceding the Buddha.
The Buddha built upon the yogis' concern with introspection and developed their meditative
techniques, but rejected their theories of liberation.[77] In Buddhism, mindfulness and clear
awareness are to be developed at all times; in pre-Buddhist yogic practices there is no such
injunction. A yogi in the Brahmanical tradition is not to practice while defecating, for
example, while a Buddhist monastic should do so.[78]

Religious knowledge or "vision" was indicated as a result of practice both within and outside
of the Buddhist fold. According to the Samaññaphala Sutta, this sort of vision arose for the
Buddhist adept as a result of the perfection of "meditation" coupled with the perfection of
"discipline" (Pali sīla; Skt. śīla). Some of the Buddha's meditative techniques were shared
with other traditions of his day, but the idea that ethics are causally related to the attainment
of "transcendent wisdom" (Pali paññā; Skt. prajñā) was original.[79]
The Buddhist texts are probably the earliest describing meditation techniques.[80] They
describe meditative practices and states that existed before the Buddha as well as those first
developed within Buddhism.[81] Two Upanishads written after the rise of Buddhism do
contain full-fledged descriptions of yoga as a means to liberation.[82]

While there is no convincing evidence for meditation in pre-Buddhist early Brahminic texts,
Wynne argues that formless meditation originated in the Brahminic or Shramanic tradition,
based on strong parallels between Upanishadic cosmological statements and the meditative
goals of the two teachers of the Buddha as recorded in the early Buddhist texts.[83] He
mentions less likely possibilities as well.[84] Having argued that the cosmological statements
in the Upanishads also reflect a contemplative tradition, he argues that the Nasadiya Sukta
contains evidence for a contemplative tradition, even as early as the late Rig Vedic period.[83]

Refuge in the Three Jewels

Relic depicting footprint of the Buddha with Dharmachakra and triratna, 1st century CE,
Gandhāra.
Main articles: Refuge (Buddhism) and Three Jewels

Traditionally, the first step in most Buddhist schools requires taking refuge in the Three
Jewels (Sanskrit: tri-ratna, Pāli: ti-ratana)[85] as the foundation of one's religious practice.
The practice of taking refuge on behalf of young or even unborn children is mentioned[86] in
the Majjhima Nikaya, recognized by most scholars as an early text (cf. Infant baptism).
Tibetan Buddhism sometimes adds a fourth refuge, in the lama. In Mahayana, the person who
chooses the bodhisattva path makes a vow or pledge, considered the ultimate expression of
compassion. In Mahayana, too, the Three Jewels are perceived as possessed of an eternal and
unchanging essence and as having an irreversible effect: "The Three Jewels have the quality
of excellence. Just as real jewels never change their faculty and goodness, whether praised or
reviled, so are the Three Jewels (Refuges), because they have an eternal and immutable
essence. These Three Jewels bring a fruition that is changeless, for once one has reached
Buddhahood, there is no possibility of falling back to suffering."[87]

The Three Jewels are:

  The Buddha. This is a title for those who have attained Nirvana. See also the
Tathāgata and Gautama Buddha. The Buddha could also be represented as a concept
instead of a specific person: the perfect wisdom that understands Dharma and sees
reality in its true form. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha can be viewed as the
supreme Refuge: "Buddha is the Unique Absolute Refuge. Buddha is the
Imperishable, Eternal, Indestructible and Absolute Refuge."[88]
 The Dharma. The teachings or law of nature as expounded by the Gautama Buddha. It
can also, especially in Mahayana, connote the ultimate and sustaining Reality that is
inseparable from the Buddha. Further, from some Mahayana perspectives, the
Dharma embodied in the form of a great sutra (Buddhic scripture) can replace the
need for a personal teacher and can be a direct and spontaneous gateway into Truth
(Dharma). This is especially said to be the case with the Lotus Sutra. Dr. Hiroshi
Kanno writes of this view of the Lotus Sutra: "it is a Dharma-gate of sudden
enlightenment proper to the Great Vehicle; it is a Dharma-gate whereby one awakens
spontaneously, without resorting to a teacher".[89]

 The Sangha. Those who have attained to any of the Four stages of enlightenment, or
simply the congregation of monastic practitioners.

According to the scriptures, Gautama Buddha presented himself as a model. The Dharma
offers a refuge by providing guidelines for the alleviation of suffering and the attainment of
Nirvana. The Sangha is considered to provide a refuge by preserving the authentic teachings
of the Buddha and providing further examples that the truth of the Buddha's teachings is
attainable.

Buddhist ethics

Main article: Śīla

Statue of Gautama Buddha, 1st century CE, Gandhara. (Musée Guimet)

Śīla (Sanskrit) or sīla (Pāli) is usually translated into English as "virtuous behavior",
"morality", "ethics" or "precept". It is an action committed through the body, speech, or mind,
and involves an intentional effort. It is one of the three practices (sila, samadhi, and panya)
and the second pāramitā. It refers to moral purity of thought, word, and deed. The four
conditions of śīla are chastity, calmness, quiet, and extinguishment.

Śīla is the foundation of Samadhi/Bhāvana (Meditative cultivation) or mind cultivation.

Keeping the precepts promotes not only the peace of mind of the cultivator, which is internal,
but also peace in the community, which is external. According to the Law of Karma, keeping
the precepts are meritorious and it acts as causes that would bring about peaceful and happy
effects. Keeping these precepts keeps the cultivator from rebirth in the four woeful realms of
existence.

Śīla refers to overall principles of ethical behavior. There are several levels of sila, which
correspond to "basic morality" (five precepts), "basic morality with asceticism" (eight
precepts), "novice monkhood" (ten precepts) and "monkhood" (Vinaya or Patimokkha). Lay
people generally undertake to live by the five precepts, which are common to all Buddhist
schools. If they wish, they can choose to undertake the eight precepts, which add basic
asceticism.

The five precepts are training rules in order to live a better life in which one is happy, without
worries, and can meditate well:

1. To refrain from taking life (non-violence towards sentient life forms), or ahimsā;
2. To refrain from taking that which is not given (not committing theft);
3. To refrain from sensual (including sexual) misconduct;
4. To refrain from lying (speaking truth always);
5. To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness (specifically, drugs and
alcohol).

The precepts are not formulated as imperatives, but as training rules that laypeople undertake
voluntarily to facilitate practice.[90] In Buddhist thought, the cultivation of dana and ethical
conduct themselves refine consciousness to such a level that rebirth in one of the lower
heavens is likely, even if there is no further Buddhist practice. There is nothing improper or
un-Buddhist about limiting one's aims to this level of attainment.[91]

In the eight precepts, the third precept on sexual misconduct is made more strict, and
becomes a precept of celibacy. The three additional precepts are:

6. To refrain from eating at the wrong time (eat only from sunrise to noon);
7. To refrain from dancing and playing music, wearing jewelry and cosmetics,
attending shows and other performances;
8. To refrain from using high or luxurious seats and bedding.

The complete list of ten precepts may be observed by laypeople for short periods. For the
complete list, the seventh precept is partitioned into two, and a tenth added:

6. To refrain from taking food at an unseasonable time, that is after the mid-day meal;
7. To refrain from dancing, music, singing and unseemly shows;
8. To refrain from the use of garlands, perfumes, ointments, and from things that tend
to beautify and adorn (the person);
9. To refrain from (using) high and luxurious seats (and beds);
10. To refrain from accepting gold and silver;[92]
Monastic life

Buddhist monks performing a ceremony in Hangzhou, China

Vinaya is the specific moral code for monks and nuns. It includes the Patimokkha, a set of
227 rules for monks in the Theravadin recension. The precise content of the vinayapitaka
(scriptures on Vinaya) differs slightly according to different schools, and different schools or
subschools set different standards for the degree of adherence to Vinaya. Novice-monks use
the ten precepts, which are the basic precepts for monastics.

Regarding the monastic rules, the Buddha constantly reminds his hearers that it is the spirit
that counts. On the other hand, the rules themselves are designed to assure a satisfying life,
and provide a perfect springboard for the higher attainments. Monastics are instructed by the
Buddha to live as "islands unto themselves". In this sense, living life as the vinaya prescribes
it is, as one scholar puts it: "more than merely a means to an end: it is very nearly the end in
itself."[93]

In Eastern Buddhism, there is also a distinctive Vinaya and ethics contained within the
Mahayana Brahmajala Sutra (not to be confused with the Pali text of that name) for
Bodhisattvas, where, for example, the eating of meat is frowned upon and vegetarianism is
actively encouraged (see vegetarianism in Buddhism). In Japan, this has almost completely
displaced the monastic vinaya, and allows clergy to marry.

Meditation

Buddhist monks praying in Thailand

Main article: Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation is fundamentally concerned with two themes: transforming the mind and
using it to explore itself and other phenomena.[94] According to Theravada Buddhism the
Buddha taught two types of meditation, samatha meditation (Sanskrit: śamatha) and
vipassanā meditation (Sanskrit: vipaśyanā). In Chinese Buddhism, these exist (translated
chih kuan), but Chán (Zen) meditation is more popular.[95] According to Peter Harvey,
whenever Buddhism has been healthy, not only monks, nuns, and married lamas, but also
more committed lay people have practiced meditation.[96] According to Routledge's
Encyclopedia of Buddhism, in contrast, throughout most of Buddhist history before modern
times, serious meditation by lay people has been unusual.[97] The evidence of the early texts
suggests that at the time of the Buddha, many male and female lay practitioners did practice
meditation, some even to the point of proficiency in all eight jhānas (see the next section
regarding these).[98]

Samādhi (meditative cultivation): samatha meditation

Main articles: Samādhi (Buddhism) and Dhyāna in Buddhism

In the language of the Noble Eightfold Path, samyaksamādhi is "right concentration". The
primary means of cultivating samādhi is meditation. Upon development of samādhi, one's
mind becomes purified of defilement, calm, tranquil, and luminous.

Once the meditator achieves a strong and powerful concentration (jhāna, Sanskrit ध्यान
dhyāna), his mind is ready to penetrate and gain insight (vipassanā) into the ultimate nature
of reality, eventually obtaining release from all suffering. The cultivation of mindfulness is
essential to mental concentration, which is needed to achieve insight.

Samatha meditation starts from being mindful of an object or idea, which is expanded to
one's body, mind and entire surroundings, leading to a state of total concentration and
tranquility (jhāna) There are many variations in the style of meditation, from sitting cross-
legged or kneeling to chanting or walking. The most common method of meditation is to
concentrate on one's breath (anapanasati), because this practice can lead to both samatha and
vipassana'.

In Buddhist practice, it is said that while samatha meditation can calm the mind, only
vipassanā meditation can reveal how the mind was disturbed to start with, which is what
leads to knowledge (jñāna; Pāli ñāṇa) and understanding (prajñā Pāli paññā), and thus can
lead to nirvāṇa (Pāli nibbāna). When one is in jhana, all defilements are suppressed
temporarily. Only understanding (prajñā or vipassana) eradicates the defilements completely.
Jhanas are also states that Arahants abide in order to rest.

In Theravāda

Main article: Jhāna in Theravada

In Theravāda Buddhism, the cause of human existence and suffering is identified as craving,
which carries with it the various defilements. These various defilements are traditionally
summed up as greed, hatred and delusion. These are believed deeply rooted afflictions of the
mind that create suffering and stress. To be free from suffering and stress, these defilements
must be permanently uprooted through internal investigation, analyzing, experiencing, and
understanding of the true nature of those defilements by using jhāna, a technique of the
Noble Eightfold Path. It then leads the meditator to realize the Four Noble Truths,
Enlightenment and Nibbana. Nibbana is the ultimate goal of Theravadins.

Prajñā (Wisdom): vipassana meditation

Main articles: Prajñā and Vipassana

Prajñā (Sanskrit) or paññā (Pāli) means wisdom that is based on a realization of dependent
origination, The Four Noble Truths and the three marks of existence. Prajñā is the wisdom
that is able to extinguish afflictions and bring about bodhi. It is spoken of as the principal
means of attaining nirvāṇa, through its revelation of the true nature of all things as dukkha
(unsatisfactoriness), anicca (impermanence) and anatta (not-self). Prajñā is also listed as the
sixth of the six pāramitās of the Mahayana.

Initially, prajñā is attained at a conceptual level by means of listening to sermons (dharma

talks), reading, studying, and sometimes reciting Buddhist texts and engaging in discourse.
Once the conceptual understanding is attained, it is applied to daily life so that each Buddhist
can verify the truth of the Buddha's teaching at a practical level. Notably, one could in theory
attain Nirvana at any point of practice, whether deep in meditation, listening to a sermon,
conducting the business of one's daily life, or any other activity.

Zen

Main article: Zen

Zen Buddhism (禅), pronounced Chán in Chinese, seon in Korean or zen in Japanese (derived
from the Sanskrit term dhyāna, meaning "meditation") is a form of Buddhism that became
popular in China, Korea and Japan and that lays special emphasis on meditation.[99] Zen
places less emphasis on scriptures than some other forms of Buddhism and prefers to focus
on direct spiritual breakthroughs to truth.

Zen Buddhism is divided into two main schools: Rinzai (臨済宗) and Sōtō (曹洞宗), the
former greatly favouring the use in meditation on the koan (公案, a meditative riddle or
puzzle) as a device for spiritual break-through, and the latter (while certainly employing
koans) focusing more on shikantaza or "just sitting".[100]

Zen Buddhist teaching is often full of paradox, in order to loosen the grip of the ego and to
facilitate the penetration into the realm of the True Self or Formless Self, which is equated
with the Buddha himself.[101] According to Zen master Kosho Uchiyama, when thoughts and
fixation on the little "I" are transcended, an Awakening to a universal, non-dual Self occurs:
"When we let go of thoughts and wake up to the reality of life that is working beyond them,
we discover the Self that is living universal non-dual life (before the separation into two) that
pervades all living creatures and all existence."[102] Thinking and thought must therefore not
be allowed to confine and bind one.[103]

Vajrayana and Tantra

Though based upon Mahayana, Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism is one of the schools that
practice Vajrayana or "Diamond Vehicle" (also referred to as Mantrayāna, Tantrayāna,
Tantric Buddhism, or esoteric Buddhism). It accepts all the basic concepts of Mahāyāna, but
also includes a vast array of spiritual and physical techniques designed to enhance Buddhist
practice. Tantric Buddhism is largely concerned with ritual and meditative practices.[104] One
component of the Vajrayāna is harnessing psycho-physical energy through ritual,
visualization, physical exercises, and meditation as a means of developing the mind. Using
these techniques, it is claimed that a practitioner can achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime, or
even as little as three years. In the Tibetan tradition, these practices can include sexual yoga,
though only for some very advanced practitioners.[105]

History
Main article: History of Buddhism

Philosophical roots

The Buddhist "Carpenter's Cave" at Ellora in Maharashtra, India

Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religious thought of ancient India during the
second half of the first millennium BCE.[106] That was a period of social and religious turmoil,
as there was significant discontent with the sacrifices and rituals of Vedic Brahmanism.[107] It
was challenged by numerous new ascetic religious and philosophical groups and teachings
that broke with the Brahmanic tradition and rejected the authority of the Vedas and the
Brahmans.[108][109] These groups, whose members were known as shramanas, were a
continuation of a non-Vedic strand of Indian thought distinct from Indo-Aryan Brahmanism.
[110][111]
Scholars have reasons to believe that ideas such as samsara, karma (in the sense of the
influence of morality on rebirth), and moksha originated in the shramanas, and were later
adopted by Brahmin orthodoxy.[112][113][114][115][116][117]

A ruined Buddhist temple on Gurubhakthula Konda (konda meaning "hill" in Telugu) in

Ramatheertham village in Vizianagaram, a district of Andhra Pradesh, India

This view is supported by a study of the region where these notions originated. Buddhism
arose in Greater Magadha, which stretched from Sravasti, the capital of Kosala in the north-
west, to Rajagrha in the south east. This land, to the east of aryavarta, the land of the Aryas,
was recognised as non-Vedic.[118] Other Vedic texts reveal a dislike of the people of Magadha,
in all probability because the Magadhas at this time were not Brahmanised.[119] It was not
until the 2nd or 3rd centuries BCE that the eastward spread of Brahmanism into Greater
Magadha became significant. Ideas that developed in Greater Magadha prior to this were not
subject to Vedic influence. These include rebirth and karmic retribution that appear in a
number of movements in Greater Magadha, including Buddhism. These movements inherited
notions of rebirth and karmic retribution from an earlier culture.[120]

Rock-cut Lord Buddha statue at Bojjanakonda near Anakapalle in the Visakhapatnam district
of Andhra Pradesh, India

At the same time, these movements were influenced by, and in some respects continued,
philosophical thought within the Vedic tradition as reflected e.g. in the Upanishads.[121] These
movements included, besides Buddhism, various skeptics (such as Sanjaya Belatthiputta),
atomists (such as Pakudha Kaccayana), materialists (such as Ajita Kesakambali), antinomians
(such as Purana Kassapa); the most important ones in the 5th century BCE were the Ajivikas,
who emphasized the rule of fate, the Lokayata (materialists), the Ajnanas (agnostics) and the
Jains, who stressed that the soul must be freed from matter.[122]

Many of these new movements shared the same conceptual vocabulary - atman ("Self"),
buddha ("awakened one"), dhamma ("rule" or "law"), karma ("action"), nirvana
("extinguishing"), samsara ("eternal recurrence") and yoga ("spiritual practice").[107] The
shramanas rejected the Veda, and the authority of the brahmans, who claimed they possessed
revealed truths not knowable by any ordinary human means. Moreover, they declared that the
entire Brahmanical system was fraudulent: a conspiracy of the brahmans to enrich themselves
by charging exorbitant fees to perform bogus rites and give useless advice.[123]

A particular criticism of the Buddha was Vedic animal sacrifice.[79] The Buddha declared that
priests reciting the Vedas were like the blind leading the blind.[124] According to him, those
priests who had memorized the Vedas really knew nothing.[125] He also mocked the Vedic
"hymn of the cosmic man".[126] However, the Buddha was not anti-Vedic, and declared that
the Veda in its true form was declared by "Kashyapa" to certain rishis, who by severe
penances had acquired the power to see by divine eyes.[127] He names the Vedic rishis, and
declared that the original Veda of the rishis[128][129] was altered by a few Brahmins who
introduced animal sacrifices. The Buddha says that it was on this alteration of the true Veda
that he refused to pay respect to the Vedas of his time.[130] He declared that the primary goal
of Upanishadic thought, the Atman, was in fact non-existent,[131] and, having explained that
Brahminical attempts to achieve liberation at death were futile, proposed his new idea of
liberation in life.[132][133] However, he did not denounce the union with Brahman,[134] or the
idea of the self uniting with the Self.[135] At the same time, the traditional Brahminical religion
itself gradually underwent profound changes, transforming it into what is recognized as early
Hinduism.[107][108][136] In particular, the brahmans thus developed "philosophical systems of
their own, meeting the new ideas with adaptations of their doctrines".[137]

Indian Buddhism

Main article: History of Buddhism in India

The history of Indian Buddhism may be divided into five periods:[138] Early Buddhism
(occasionally called Pre-sectarian Buddhism), Nikaya Buddhism or Sectarian Buddhism: The
period of the Early Buddhist schools, Early Mahayana Buddhism, Later Mahayana
Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism (also called Vajrayana Buddhism).

Pre-sectarian Buddhism
Main article: Pre-sectarian Buddhism

Pre-sectarian Buddhism is the earliest phase of Buddhism, recognized by nearly all scholars.
Its main scriptures are the Vinaya Pitaka and the four principal Nikayas or Agamas. Certain
basic teachings appear in many places throughout the early texts, so most scholars conclude
that Gautama Buddha must have taught something similar to the Three marks of existence,
the Five Aggregates, Dependent origination, Karma and Rebirth, the Four Noble Truths, the
Noble Eightfold Path, and Nirvana.[139] Some scholars disagree, and have proposed many
other theories.[140][141]

Early Buddhist schools

Main articles: Early Buddhist schools, Buddhist councils, and Theravada

Painting depicting Buddhaghosa offering his Visuddhimagga to monks in Mahavihara, the

center of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka

According to the scriptures, soon after the parinirvāṇa (from Sanskrit: "highest
extinguishment") of Gautama Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held. As with any
ancient Indian tradition, transmission of teaching was done orally. The primary purpose of
the assembly was to collectively recite the teachings to ensure that no errors occurred in oral
transmission. In the first council, Ānanda, a cousin of the Buddha and his personal attendant,
was called upon to recite the discourses (sūtras, Pāli suttas) of the Buddha, and, according to
some sources, the abhidhamma. Upāli, another disciple, recited the monastic rules (vinaya).
Scholars regard the traditional accounts of the council as greatly exaggerated if not entirely
fictitious.[142]

According to most scholars, at some period after the Second Council the Sangha began to
break into separate factions.[143] The various accounts differ as to when the actual schisms
occurred. According to the Dipavamsa of the Pāli tradition, they started immediately after the
Second Council, the Puggalavada tradition places it in 137 AN, the Sarvastivada tradition of
Vasumitra says it was in the time of Asoka and the Mahasanghika tradition places it much
later, nearly 100 BCE.

The root schism was between the Sthaviras and the Mahāsāṅghikas. The fortunate survival of
accounts from both sides of the dispute reveals disparate traditions. The Sthavira group offers
two quite distinct reasons for the schism. The Dipavamsa of the Theravāda says that the
losing party in the Second Council dispute broke away in protest and formed the
Mahasanghika. This contradicts the Mahasanghikas' own vinaya, which shows them as on the
same, winning side. The Mahāsāṅghikas argued that the Sthaviras were trying to expand the
vinaya and may also have challenged what they perceived were excessive claims or
inhumanly high criteria for arhatship. Both parties, therefore, appealed to tradition.[144]

The Sthaviras gave rise to several schools, one of which was the Theravāda school.
Originally, these schisms were caused by disputes over vinaya, and monks following
different schools of thought seem to have lived happily together in the same monasteries, but
eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schisms were being caused by doctrinal
disagreements too.[145]

Following (or leading up to) the schisms, each Saṅgha started to accumulate an Abhidharma,
a detailed scholastic reworking of doctrinal material appearing in the Suttas, according to
schematic classifications. These Abhidharma texts do not contain systematic philosophical
treatises, but summaries or numerical lists. Scholars generally date these texts to around the
3rd century BCE, 100 to 200 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore the seven
Abhidharma works are generally claimed not to represent the words of the Buddha himself,
but those of disciples and great scholars.[146] Every school had its own version of the
Adhidharma, with different theories and different texts. The different Adhidharmas of the
various schools did not agree with each other. Scholars disagree on whether the
Mahasanghika school had an Abhidhamma Pitaka or not.[146][147]

Early Mahayana Buddhism

Main article: Mahāyāna

A Buddhist triad depicting, left to right, a Kushan, the future buddha Maitreya, Gautama
Buddha, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and a Buddhist monk. 2nd—3rd century. Musée
Guimet

The origins of Mahāyāna, which formed between 100 BCE and 100 AD,[148] are still not
completely understood.[149] The earliest views of Mahāyāna Buddhism in the West assumed
that it existed as a separate school in competition with the so-called "Hīnayāna" schools. The
split was on the order of the European Protestant Reformation, which divided Christians into
Catholic and Protestant.[148] Due to the veneration of buddhas and bodhisattvas, Mahāyāna
was often interpreted as a more devotional, lay-inspired form of Buddhism, with supposed
origins in stūpa veneration.[150] The old views of Mahāyāna as a lay-inspired sect are now
largely considered misguided and wrong.[151]

There is no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of
Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals, and later doctrines, for
bodhisattvas.[152] Initially it was known as Bodhisattvayāna (the "Vehicle of the
Bodhisattvas").[148] Paul Williams has also noted that the Mahāyāna never had nor ever
attempted to have a separate Vinaya or ordination lineage from the early schools of
Buddhism, and therefore each bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī adhering to the Mahāyāna formally
belonged to an early school. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage
in East Asia, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda ordination lineage in Tibetan Buddhism. Therefore
Mahāyāna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools.[153] From Chinese monks
visiting India, we now know that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in India often
lived in the same monasteries side by side.[154]

Buddhas of Bamiyan: Vairocana before and after destruction by the Taliban in 2001

The Chinese monk Yijing who visited India in the 7th century CE, distinguishes Mahāyāna
from Hīnayāna as follows:[155]

Both adopt one and the same Vinaya, and they have in common the prohibitions of the five
offences, and also the practice of the Four Noble Truths. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas
and read the Mahāyāna sūtras are called the Mahāyānists, while those who do not perform
these are called the Hīnayānists.

Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese
translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyāna teachings were first propagated into China
by Lokakṣema, the first translator of Mahāyāna sūtras into Chinese during the 2nd century
CE.[156] Some scholars have traditionally considered the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to include
the very first versions of the Prajñāpāramitā series, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya
Buddha, which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India.[157][158]
[159]

Late Mahayana Buddhism

During the period of Late Mahayana Buddhism, four major types of thought developed:
Madhyamaka, Yogacara, Tathagatagarbha, and Buddhist Logic as the last and most recent.[160]
In India, the two main philosophical schools of the Mahayana were the Madhyamaka and the
later Yogacara.[161] According to Dan Lusthaus, Madhyamaka and Yogacara have a great deal
in common, and the commonality stems from early Buddhism.[162] There were no great Indian
teachers associated with tathagatagarbha thought.[163]

Vajrayana (Esoteric Buddhism)

Main article: Vajrayana

Scholarly research concerning Esoteric Buddhism is still in its early stages and has a number
of problems that make research difficult:[164]
 1. Vajrayana Buddhism was influenced by Hinduism, and therefore research must
include explore Hinduism as well.
2. The scriptures of Vajrayana have not yet been put in any kind of order.
3. Ritual must be examined as well, not just doctrine.

Development of Buddhism

Main article: Timeline of Buddhism

Buddhist proselytism at the time of emperor Ashoka (260–218 BCE).

Coin depicting Indo-Greek king Menander, who, according to Buddhist tradition records in
the Milinda Panha, converted to the Buddhist faith and became an arhat in the 2nd century
BCE . (British Museum)

Buddhism may have spread only slowly in India until the time of the Mauryan emperor
Ashoka, who was a public supporter of the religion. The support of Aśoka and his
descendants led to the construction of more stūpas (Buddhist religious memorials) and to
efforts to spread Buddhism throughout the enlarged Maurya empire and even into
neighboring lands—particularly to the Iranian-speaking regions of Afghanistan and Central
Asia, beyond the Mauryas' northwest border, and to the island of Sri Lanka south of India.
These two missions, in opposite directions, would ultimately lead, in the first case to the
spread of Buddhism into China, and in the second case, to the emergence of Theravāda
Buddhism and its spread from Sri Lanka to the coastal lands of Southeast Asia.

This period marks the first known spread of Buddhism beyond India. According to the edicts
of Aśoka, emissaries were sent to various countries west of India to spread Buddhism
(Dharma), particularly in eastern provinces of the neighboring Seleucid Empire, and even
farther to Hellenistic kingdoms of the Mediterranean. It is a matter of disagreement among
scholars whether or not these emissaries were accompanied by Buddhist missionaries.[165]
The gradual spread of Buddhism into adjacent areas meant that it came into contact with new
ethnical groups. During this period Buddhism was exposed to a variety of influences, from
Persian and Greek civilization, to changing trends in non-Buddhist Indian religions—
themselves influenced by Buddhism. Striking examples of this syncretistic development can
be seen in the emergence of Greek-speaking Buddhist monarchs in the Indo-Greek Kingdom,
and in the development of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhāra. A Greek king, Menander, has
even been immortalized in the Buddhist canon.

The Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BCE, to Sri Lanka and
Thailand and Burma and later also Indonesia. The Dharmagupta school spread (also in 3rd
century BCE) north to Kashmir, Gandhara and Bactria (Afghanistan).

The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China is most commonly thought to have started
in the late 2nd or the 1st century CE, though the literary sources are all open to question.[166]
[167]
The first documented translation efforts by foreign Buddhist monks in China were in the
2nd century CE, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan Empire into the
Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin.[168]

In the 2nd century CE, Mahayana Sutras spread to China, and then to Korea and Japan, and
were translated into Chinese. During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism (from the 8th
century onwards), Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia.

Buddhism today

Main article: Timeline of Buddhism:Common Era

Polish Buddhists

By the late Middle Ages, Buddhism had become virtually extinct in India, and although it
continued to exist in surrounding countries, its influence was no longer expanding. It is now
again gaining strength in India and elsewhere.[169][170] Estimates of the number of Buddhist
followers by scholars range from 230 million to 1.691 billion. Most scholars classify similar
numbers of people under a category they call "Chinese folk" or "traditional" religion, an
amalgam of various traditions that includes Buddhism.
Formal membership varies between communities, but basic lay adherence is often defined in
terms of a traditional formula in which the practitioner takes refuge in The Three Jewels: the
Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha), and the Sangha (the Buddhist
community).

Estimates are uncertain for several reasons:

 difficulties in defining who counts as a Buddhist;

 syncretism among the Eastern religions. Buddhism is practiced by adherents
alongside many other religious traditions- including Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto,
traditional religions, shamanism, and animism- throughout East and Southeast Asia.
[171][172][173][174][175][176][177]

 difficulties in estimating the number of Buddhists who do not have congregational

memberships and often do not participate in public ceremonies;[178]
 official policies on religion in several historically Buddhist countries that make
accurate assessments of religious adherence more difficult; most notably China,
Vietnam and North Korea.[179][180][181] In many current and former Communist
governments in Asia, government policies may discourage adherents from reporting
their religious identity, or may encourage official counts to underestimate religious
adherence.

China and India are now starting to fund Buddhist shrines in various Asian countries as they
compete for influence in the region.[182]

Late 20th Century Buddhist Movements

A number of modern movements or tendencies in Buddhism emerged during the second half
of the 20th Century, including the Dalit Buddhist movement[183][184] (also sometimes called
'neo-Buddhism'), Engaged Buddhism, and the further development of various Western
Buddhist traditions.

Demographics

Percentage of cultural/nominal adherents of combined Buddhism with its related religions

(according to the highest estimates).[185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192]

According to one analysis, Buddhism is the fourth-largest religion in the world behind
Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.[193] The monks' order (Sangha), which began during the
lifetime of the Buddha, is among the oldest organizations on earth. Buddhism was the first
world religion[194][195][196] and was the world's largest religion in the first half of the 20th
century — in 1951 Buddhism was the world's largest religion with 520 million adherents. By
comparison, the second largest was Christianity with 500 million adherents.[197][198][199][200][201]
[202][203][204][205][206][207][208]

 Theravada Buddhism, using Sanskrit and Pāli as its scriptural languages, is the
dominant form of Buddhism in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma.
The Dalit Buddhist movement in India (inspired by B. R. Ambedkar) also practices
Theravada. Approximately 124 million adherents.[209]
 East Asian forms of Mahayana Buddhism that use Chinese scriptures are dominant in
most of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam as well as such
communities within Indochina, Southeast Asia and the West. Vietnam and Singapore
are major concentrations of Mahayana Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Approximately
500 million to one billion.[210]
 Tibetan Buddhism is found in Bhutan, Nepal, Mongolia, areas of India (it's the
majority religion in Ladakh; significant population in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh and Sikkim), China (particularly in Tibet and Inner Mongolia), and Russia
(Kalmyk Autonomous Republic). Approximately 20 million adherents.[209]

Most Buddhist groups in the West are at least nominally affiliated with one of these three
traditions.

At the present time, the teachings of all three branches of Buddhism have spread throughout
the world, and Buddhist texts are increasingly translated into local languages. While in the
West Buddhism is often seen as exotic and progressive, in the East it is regarded as familiar
and traditional. Buddhists in Asia are frequently well organized and well funded. In a number
of countries, it is recognized as an official religion and receives state support. Modern
influences increasingly lead to new forms of Buddhism that significantly depart from
traditional beliefs and practices.

Overall there is an overwhelming diversity of recent forms of Buddhism.[211]

Schools and traditions

Main articles: Schools of Buddhism and Buddhahood

A young monk

Buddhists generally classify themselves as either Theravada or Mahayana.[212] This

classification is also used by some scholars[213][page  needed] and is the one ordinarily used in the
English language.[214] An alternative scheme used by some scholars[215] divides Buddhism into
the following three traditions or geographical or cultural areas: Theravada, East Asian
Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism.

Some scholars[216] use other schemes. Buddhists themselves have a variety of other schemes.
Hinayana (literally "lesser vehicle") is used by Mahayana followers to name the family of
early philosophical schools and traditions from which contemporary Theravada emerged, but
as this term is rooted in the Mahayana viewpoint and can be considered derogatory, a variety
of other terms are increasingly used instead, including Śrāvakayāna, Nikaya Buddhism, early
Buddhist schools, sectarian Buddhism, conservative Buddhism, mainstream Buddhism and
non-Mahayana Buddhism.

Not all traditions of Buddhism share the same philosophical outlook, or treat the same
concepts as central. Each tradition, however, does have its own core concepts, and some
comparisons can be drawn between them. For example, according to one Buddhist
ecumenical organization,[217] several concepts common to both major Buddhist branches:

 Both accept the Buddha as their teacher.

 Both accept the Middle way, Dependent origination, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble
Eightfold Path and the Three marks of existence.
 Both accept that members of the laity and of the sangha can pursue the path toward
enlightenment (bodhi).
 Both consider buddhahood the highest attainment.

Timeline

This is a rough timeline of the development of the different schools/traditions:

Timeline: Development and propagation of Buddhist traditions (ca. 450 BCE – ca. 1300 CE)
[218] 250 BCE [219]
 
 
450 BCE 100 CE 500 CE 700 CE 800 CE 1200 CE
   

Early
India Sangha Early Buddhist schools Mahayana  
Vajrayana  
 

   

Sri  Lanka & Theravada  

   
 
Southeast  Asia Buddhism    

Greco-Buddhism
Central  Asia    

Silk Road Buddhism   Tibetan Buddhism

 

Shingon
Chán, Tiantai, Pure Land,
East  Asia    
 
Zen, Nichiren
  450 BCE 250 BCE 100 CE 500 CE 700 CE 800 CE 1200 CE

  Legend:   = Theravada tradition   = Mahayana traditions   = Vajrayana traditions

Theravada school

Main article: Theravada

Theravada ("Doctrine of the Elders", or "Ancient Doctrine") is the oldest surviving Buddhist
school. It is relatively conservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism.[220] This school
is derived from the Vibhajjavāda grouping that emerged amongst the older Sthavira group at
the time of the Third Buddhist Council (c. 250 BCE). This school gradually declined on the
Indian subcontinent, but its branch in Sri Lanka and South East Asia continues to survive.

The Theravada school bases its practice and doctrine exclusively on the Pāli Canon and its
commentaries. After being orally transmitted for a few centuries, its scriptures, the Pali
Canon, were finally committed to writing in the 1st century BCE, in Sri Lanka, at what the
Theravada usually reckon as the fourth council. It is also one of the first Buddhist schools to
commit the complete set of its canon into writing.[citation needed] The Sutta collections and Vinaya
texts of the Pāli Canon (and the corresponding texts in other versions of the Tripitaka), are
generally considered by modern scholars to be the earliest Buddhist literature, and they are
accepted as authentic in every branch of Buddhism.

Theravāda is primarily practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia as
well as small portions of China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh. It has a growing
presence in Europe and America.

Theravadin Buddhists think that personal effort is required to realize rebirth. Meditation is
done by forest monks for the most part, while village monks teach and serve their lay
communities. Laypersons can perform good actions, producing merit that can be traded to the
gods who may reward it with material benefits.[221]

Mahayana traditions

Main article: Mahayana

Chinese and Central Asian monks. Bezeklik, Eastern Tarim Basin, China, 9th–10th century.
(National Institute of Informatics and the Tōyō Bunko)

Mahayana Buddhism flourished in India from the 5th century CE onwards, during the
dynasty of the Guptas. Mahāyāna centres of learning were established, the most important
one being the Nālandā University in north-eastern India.

Mahayana schools recognize all or part of the Mahayana Sutras. Some of these sutras became
for Mahayanists a manifestation of the Buddha himself, and faith in and veneration of those
texts are stated in some sutras (e.g. the Lotus Sutra and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra) to lay the
foundations for the later attainment of Buddhahood itself.
Japanese Mahayana Buddhist monk with alms bowl

Native Mahayana Buddhism is practiced today in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, parts of
Russia and most of Vietnam (also commonly referred to as "Eastern Buddhism"). The
Buddhism practiced in Tibet, the Himalayan regions, and Mongolia is also Mahayana in
origin, but is discussed below under the heading of Vajrayana (also commonly referred to as
"Northern Buddhism". There are a variety of strands in Eastern Buddhism, of which "the Pure
Land school of Mahayana is the most widely practised today.".[222] In most of this area
however, they are fused into a single unified form of Buddhism. In Japan in particular, they
form separate denominations with the five major ones being: Nichiren, peculiar to Japan;
Pure Land; Shingon, a form of Vajrayana; Tendai, and Zen. In Korea, nearly all Buddhists
belong to the Chogye school, which is officially Son (Zen), but with substantial elements
from other traditions.[223]

Vajrayana traditions

Main article: Vajrayana

Bodhnath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

The Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism spread to China, Mongolia, and Tibet. In Tibet,
Vajrayana has always been a main component of Tibetan Buddhism, while in China it formed
a separate sect. However, Vajrayana Buddhism became extinct in China but survived in
elements of Japan's Shingon and Tendai sects.

There are differing views as to just when Vajrayāna and its tantric practice started. In the
Tibetan tradition, it is claimed that the historical Śākyamuni Buddha taught tantra, but as
these are esoteric teachings, they were passed on orally first and only written down long after
the Buddha's other teachings. Nālandā University became a center for the development of
Vajrayāna theory and continued as the source of leading-edge Vajrayāna practices up through
the 11th century. These practices, scriptures and theories were transmitted to China, Tibet,
Indochina and Southeast Asia. China generally received Indian transmission up to the 11th
century including tantric practice, while a vast amount of what is considered Tibetan
Buddhism (Vajrayāna) stems from the late (9th–12th century) Nālandā tradition.

In one of the first major contemporary academic treatises on the subject, Fairfield University
professor Ronald M. Davidson argues that the rise of Vajrayana was in part a reaction to the
changing political climate in India at the time. With the fall of the Gupta dynasty, in an
increasingly fractious political environment, institutional Buddhism had difficulty attracting
patronage, and the folk movement led by siddhas became more prominent. After perhaps two
hundred years, it had begun to get integrated into the monastic establishment.[224][page  needed]

Vajrayana combined and developed a variety of elements, a number of which had already
existed for centuries.[225] In addition to the Mahāyāna scriptures, Vajrayāna Buddhists
recognise a large body of Buddhist Tantras, some of which are also included in Chinese and
Japanese collections of Buddhist literature, and versions of a few even in the Pali Canon.

Buddhist texts

Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock copy
of the Tibetan Kanjur.
Main article: Buddhist texts

Buddhist scriptures and other texts exist in great variety. Different schools of Buddhism place
varying levels of value on learning the various texts. Some schools venerate certain texts as
religious objects in themselves, while others take a more scholastic approach. Buddhist
scriptures are mainly written in Pāli, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese. Some texts still exist
in Sanskrit and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.

Unlike many religions, Buddhism has no single central text that is universally referred to by
all traditions. However, some scholars have referred to the Vinaya Pitaka and the first four
Nikayas of the Sutta Pitaka as the common core of all Buddhist traditions.[226] This could be
considered misleading, as Mahāyāna considers these merely a preliminary, and not a core,
teaching. The Tibetan Buddhists have not even translated most of the āgamas (though
theoretically they recognize them) and they play no part in the religious life of either clergy
or laity in China and Japan.[227] Other scholars say there is no universally accepted common
core.[228] The size and complexity of the Buddhist canons have been seen by some (including
Buddhist social reformer Babasaheb Ambedkar) as presenting barriers to the wider
understanding of Buddhist philosophy.

The followers of Theravāda Buddhism take the scriptures known as the Pāli Canon as
definitive and authoritative, while the followers of Mahāyāna Buddhism base their faith and
philosophy primarily on the Mahāyāna sūtras and their own vinaya. The Pāli sutras, along
with other, closely related scriptures, are known to the other schools as the āgamas.

Over the years, various attempts have been made to synthesize a single Buddhist text that can
encompass all of the major principles of Buddhism. In the Theravada tradition, condensed
'study texts' were created that combined popular or influential scriptures into single volumes
that could be studied by novice monks. Later in Sri Lanka, the Dhammapada was
championed as a unifying scripture.

Dwight Goddard collected a sample of Buddhist scriptures, with the emphasis on Zen, along
with other classics of Eastern philosophy, such as the Tao Te Ching, into his 'Buddhist Bible'
in the 1920s. More recently, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar attempted to create a single, combined
document of Buddhist principles in "The Buddha and His Dhamma". Other such efforts have
persisted to present day, but currently there is no single text that represents all Buddhist
traditions.

Pāli Tipitaka

Main article: Pāli Canon

Pali Canon

Vinaya Pitaka

 Suttavibhanga
 Khandhaka
 Parivara

Sutta Pitaka
 Digha Nikaya
 Majjhima Nikaya
 Samyutta Nikaya
 Anguttara Nikaya
 Khuddaka Nikaya

Abhidhamma Pitaka
  Dhammasangani
 Vibhanga
 Dhatukatha and Puggalapannatti
 Kathavatthu
 Yamaka
 Patthana

 v
 t
 e

The Pāli Tipitaka, which means "three baskets", refers to the Vinaya Pitaka, the Sutta Pitaka,
and the Abhidhamma Pitaka. The Vinaya Pitaka contains disciplinary rules for the Buddhist
monks and nuns, as well as explanations of why and how these rules were instituted,
supporting material, and doctrinal clarification. The Sutta Pitaka contains discourses ascribed
to Gautama Buddha. The Abhidhamma Pitaka contains material often described as systematic
expositions of the Gautama Buddha's teachings.

The Pāli Tipitaka is the only early Tipitaka (Sanskrit: Tripiṭaka) to survive intact in its
original language, but a number of early schools had their own recensions of the Tipitaka
featuring much of the same material. We have portions of the Tipitakas of the Sārvāstivāda,
Dharmaguptaka, Sammitya, Mahāsaṅghika, Kāśyapīya, and Mahīśāsaka schools, most of
which survive in Chinese translation only. According to some sources, some early schools of
Buddhism had five or seven pitakas.[229]

According to the scriptures, soon after the death of the Buddha, the first Buddhist council was
held; a monk named Mahākāśyapa (Pāli: Mahākassapa) presided. The goal of the council was
to record the Buddha's teachings. Upāli recited the vinaya. Ānanda, the Buddha's personal
attendant, was called upon to recite the dhamma. These became the basis of the Tripitaka.
However, this record was initially transmitted orally in form of chanting, and was committed
to text in the last century BCE. Both the sūtras and the vinaya of every Buddhist school
contain a wide variety of elements including discourses on the Dharma, commentaries on
other teachings, cosmological and cosmogonical texts, stories of the Gautama Buddha's
previous lives, and various other subjects.

Much of the material in the Canon is not specifically "Theravadin", but is instead the
collection of teachings that this school preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of
teachings. According to Peter Harvey, it contains material at odds with later Theravadin
orthodoxy. He states: "The Theravadins, then, may have added texts to the Canon for some
time, but they do not appear to have tampered with what they already had from an earlier
period."[230]

Mahayana sutras

Main article: Mahayana sutras

The Tripiṭaka Koreana in South Korea, an edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon carved and
preserved in over 81,000 wood printing blocks.

The Mahayana sutras are a very broad genre of Buddhist scriptures that the Mahayana
Buddhist tradition holds are original teachings of the Buddha. Some adherents of Mahayana
accept both the early teachings (including in this the Sarvastivada Abhidharma, which was
criticized by Nagarjuna and is in fact opposed to early Buddhist thought[231]) and the
Mahayana sutras as authentic teachings of Gautama Buddha, and claim they were designed
for different types of persons and different levels of spiritual understanding.

The Mahayana sutras often claim to articulate the Buddha's deeper, more advanced doctrines,
reserved for those who follow the bodhisattva path. That path is explained as being built upon
the motivation to liberate all living beings from unhappiness. Hence the name Mahāyāna (lit.,
the Great Vehicle).

According to Mahayana tradition, the Mahayana sutras were transmitted in secret, came from
other Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, or were preserved in non-human worlds because human
beings at the time could not understand them:[232]

Some of our sources maintain the authenticity of certain other texts not found in the canons of
these schools (the early schools). These texts are those held genuine by the later school, not
one of the eighteen, which arrogated to itself the title of Mahayana, 'Great Vehicle'.
According to the Mahayana historians these texts were admittedly unknown to the early
schools of Buddhists. However, they had all been promulgated by the Buddha. [The
Buddha's] followers on earth, the sravakas ('pupils'), had not been sufficiently advanced to
understand them, and hence were not given them to remember, but they were taught to
various supernatural beings and then preserved in such places as the Dragon World.

Approximately six hundred Mahayana sutras have survived in Sanskrit or in Chinese or

Tibetan translations. In addition, East Asian Buddhism recognizes some sutras regarded by
scholars as of Chinese rather than Indian origin.

Generally, scholars conclude that the Mahayana scriptures were composed from the 1st
century CE onwards: "Large numbers of Mahayana sutras were being composed in the period
between the beginning of the common era and the fifth century",[233] five centuries after the
historical Gautama Buddha. Some of these had their roots in other scriptures composed in the
1st century BCE. It was not until after the 5th century CE that the Mahayana sutras started to
influence the behavior of mainstream Buddhists in India: "But outside of texts, at least in
India, at exactly the same period, very different—in fact seemingly older—ideas and
aspirations appear to be motivating actual behavior, and old and established Hinnayana
groups appear to be the only ones that are patronized and supported."[233] These texts were
apparently not universally accepted among Indian Buddhists when they appeared; the
pejorative label hinayana was applied by Mahayana supporters to those who rejected the
Mahayana sutras.

Only the Theravada school does not include the Mahayana scriptures in its canon. As the
modern Theravada school is descended from a branch of Buddhism that diverged and
established itself in Sri Lanka prior to the emergence of the Mahayana texts, debate exists as
to whether the Theravada were historically included in the hinayana designation; in the
modern era, this label is seen as derogatory, and is generally avoided.

Scholar Isabelle Onians asserts that although "the Mahāyāna ... very occasionally referred
contemptuously to earlier Buddhism as the Hinayāna, the Inferior Way," "the preponderance
of this name in the secondary literature is far out of proportion to occurrences in the Indian
texts." She notes that the term Śrāvakayāna was "the more politically correct and much more
usual" term used by Mahāyānists.[234] Jonathan Silk has argued that the term "Hinayana" was
used to refer to whomever one wanted to criticize on any given occasion, and did not refer to
any definite grouping of Buddhists.[235]

Comparative studies
Buddhism provides many opportunities for comparative study with a diverse range of
subjects. For example, Buddhism's emphasis on the Middle way not only provides a unique
guideline for ethics but has also allowed Buddhism to peacefully coexist with various
differing beliefs, customs and institutions in countries where it has resided throughout its
history. Also, its moral and spiritual parallels with other systems of thought—for example,
with various tenets of Christianity—have been subjects of close study. In addition, the
Buddhist concept of dependent origination has been compared to modern scientific thought,
as well as Western metaphysics.

Is Buddhism a religion?

There are differences of opinion on the question of whether or not Buddhism should be
considered a religion. Many sources commonly refer to Buddhism as a religion. For example:

 Peter Harvey states: "The English term 'Buddhism' correctly indicates that the religion
is characterized by devotion to 'the Buddha', 'Buddhas', or 'buddhahood'."[236]
 Joseph Goldstein states: "Although there are many difference among the various
religions of the world, and among the various schools of Buddhism itself, there is also
a great deal in common..."[237]

Other sources note that the answer to this question depends upon how religion is defined. For
example:

 Surya Das states: "For Buddhism is less a theology or religion than a promise that
certain meditative practices and mind trainings can effectively show us how to
awaken our Buddha-nature and liberate us from suffering and confusion."[238]
 B. Alan Wallace states: "When we in the West first engage with Buddhism, it is
almost inevitable that we bring out one of our familiar stereotypes and apply it to
 Buddhism, calling it simply a 'religion.'... But Buddhism has never been simply a
religion as we define it in the West. From the very beginning it has also had
philosophical elements, as well as empirical and rational elements that may invite the
term 'science.'"[239]
 Rupert Gethin states: "I am not concerned here to pronounce on a question that is
sometimes asked of Buddhism: is it a religion? Obviously it depends on how one
defines ‘a religion’. What is certain, however, is that Buddhism does not involve
belief in a creator God who has control over human destiny, nor does it seek to define
itself by reference to a creed; as Edward Conze has pointed out, it took over 2,000
years and a couple of Western converts to Buddhism to provide it with a creed.12 On
the other hand, Buddhism views activities that would be generally understood as
religious—such as devotional practices and rituals—as a legitimate, useful, and even
essential part of the practice and training that leads to the cessation of suffering.[240]
Gethin points out that some key differences between Buddhism and conventionally
considered Western religions are that Buddhism does not assert a belief in a creator
god, nor does it define itself by a particular creed. On the other hand, Gethin notes,
Buddhist practice often includes devotional practices and ritual, which are typically
associated with religious belief.[240]
 Damien Keown states: "Problems [...] confront us as soon as we try to define what
Buddhism is. Is it a religion? A philosophy? A way of life? A code of ethics? It is not
easy to classify Buddhism as any of these things, and it challenges us to rethink some
of these categories. What, for example, do we mean by ‘religion’? Most people would
say that religion has something to do with belief in God. [...] If belief in God in this
sense is the essence of religion, then Buddhism cannot be a religion. [...] Some have
suggested that a new category – that of the ‘non-theistic’ religion – is needed to
encompass Buddhism. Another possibility is that our original definition is simply too
narrow.[241]
 The Dalai Lama states: "From one viewpoint, Buddhism is a religion, from another
viewpoint Buddhism is a science of mind and not a religion. Buddhism can be a
bridge between these two sides. Therefore, with this conviction I try to have closer
ties with scientists, mainly in the fields of cosmology, psychology, neurobiology and
physics. In these fields there are insights to share, and to a certain extent we can work
together."[242]
 Walpola Rahula states: "The question has often been asked: Is Buddhism a religion or
a philosophy? It does not matter what you call it. Buddhism remains what it is
whatever label you may put on it. The label is immaterial. Even the label 'Buddhism'
which we give to the teaching of the Buddha is of little importance. The name one
gives it is inessential.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose,

By any other name would smell as sweet.
In the same way Truth needs no label: it is neither Buddhist, Christian, Hindu nor
Moslem. It is not the monopoly of anybody. Sectarian labels are a hindrance to the
independent understanding of Truth, and they produce harmful prejudices in men's
minds."[243]

See also
  Book: Buddhism

Buddhism portal

 Outline of Buddhism
 Buddhism by country
 Criticism of Buddhism
 Index of Buddhism-related articles
 List of books related to Buddhism
 List of Buddhist temples
 Dharma Drum Retreat Center
 Nonviolence
 Indian religions
 Easily confused Buddhist representations
 Chinese folk religion
 Iconography of Gautama Buddha in Laos and Thailand

Notes
1. ^ a b See the article Four Noble Truths for further details and citations. In
particular, the section "The four truths" within that article provides a footnote
showing variety of translations of these four statements.
2. ^ See the article Dukkha for further details and citations.

References
1. ^ "Buddhism". (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 26,
2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition.
2. ^ Gethin (1998), Foundations, pp. 27-28, pp. 73-74
3. ^ Major Religions Ranked by Size; U.S. State Department's International
Religious Freedom Report 2004. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/ Accessed 20
September 2008; Garfinkel, Perry. "Buddha Rising", National Geographic Dec. 2005:
88–109; CIA - The World Factbook
4. ^ a b Lopez, Story of Buddhism. p. 239
5. ^ a b Lopez, Buddhism. p. 248
6. ^ Robinson et al., Buddhist Religions, page xx; Philosophy East and West, vol
54, ps 269f; Williams, Mahayana Buddhism, Routledge, 1st ed., 1989, pp. 275f (2nd
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7. ^ Padmasambhava, Jamgon Kongtrul, Erik Pema Kunsang (2004). Light of
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8. ^ Swearer, Donald. Becoming the Buddha. 2004. p. 177
9. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism Vol. 1, p. 352
10. ^ Lopez (1995). Buddhism in Practice. Princeton University Press. p. 16.
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11. ^ Carrithers, Michael. "The Buddha", in the Oxford University paperback
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12. ^ Armstrong, Karen (September 28, 2004). Buddha. Penguin Press. p. xii.
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13. ^ a b Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient
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14. ^ UNESCO, Lumbini is the birthplace of the Lord Buddha, Gethin
Foundations, p. 19, which states that in the mid-3rd century BCE the Emperor
Ashoka determined that Lumbini was Gautama's birthplace and thus installed a pillar
there with the inscription: "... this is where the Buddha, sage of the Śākyas
(Śākyamuni), was born."
15. ^ For instance, Gethin Foundations, p. 14, states: "The earliest Buddhist
sources state that the future Buddha was born Siddhārtha Gautama (Pali Siddhattha
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what is now the Indian–Nepalese border." However, Professor Gombrich (Theravāda
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16. ^ Kohn, Michael (1991). The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen.
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20. ^ Skilton, Concise, p. 25
21. ^ Smith, Huston & Novak, Philip, Buddhism: A Concise
Introduction,HarperCollins 2003, p.116
22. ^ Journal of Buddhist Ethics: "Zen as a Social Ethics of Responsiveness"
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23. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 40
24. ^ Dr. Richard K. Payne (ed.), Tantric Buddhism in East Asia, Wisdom
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25. ^ Keown, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 107
26. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 34
27. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume Two), p. 711
28. ^ The 31 Planes of Existence (PDF), Ven. Suvanno Mahathera
29. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 33
30. ^ André Bareau, Les Sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule, École Française
d'Extrême-Orient, Saigon, 1955, pp. 212–223: the top of p. 212 says: "Here are the
theses of the Theravadins of the Mahavihara"; then begins a numbered list of
doctrines over the following pages, including on p. 223: "There are only five destinies
... the kalakanjika asuras have the same colour, same nourishment, same foods, same
lifespan as the petas, with whom ... they marry. As for the Vepacittiparisa, they have
the same colour, same nourishment, same foods, same lifespan as the gods, with
whom they marry."(Translated from the French)
31. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. 1, p. 377
32. ^ The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Samyutta
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33. ^ a b Ajahn Sucitto 2010, p. 87-88.
34. ^ Gethin 1998, p. 82.
35. ^ a b Armstrong, p. 77.
36. ^ Nhat Hahn, Thich, p. 36.
37. ^ a b Roth, Beth. "Family Dharma: A Bedtime Ritual". Tricycle (Tricycle
Foundation). Retrieved January 11, 2011.
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39. ^ "Unit Six: The Four Immeasurables". Buddha Dharma Education
Association & Buddhanet. and "Unit Six: Loving-Kindness". Buddha Dharma
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40. ^ "A View on Buddhism: The Four Immeasurables". Rudy Harderwijk
(viewonbuddhism.org). Retrieved January 11, 2011.
41. ^ Kohn, Shambhala, pp. 131, 143
42. ^ Jeffrey Po, "Is Buddhism a Pessimistic Way of Life?"
43. ^ Rahula, Walpola (1959). "Chapter 2". What the Buddha Taught. Grove
Press. ISBN 0-8021-3031-3.
44. ^ Prebish, Charles (1993). Historical Dictionary of Buddhism. The Scarecrow
Press. ISBN 0-8108-2698-4.
45. ^ Keown, Damien (2003). Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-860560-9.
46. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, The Not-Self Strategy, See Point 3 – The Canon quote
Thanissaro Bhikkhu draws attention to is the Sabbasava Sutta.
47. ^ This twelve nidana scheme can be found, for instance, in multiple discourses
in chapter 12 of the Samyutta Nikaya—Nidana Vagga (e.g., see SN 12.2, Thanissaro,
1997a). Other "applications" of what might be termed "mundane dependent
origination" include the nine-nidana scheme of Digha Nikaya 15 (e.g., Thanissaro,
1997b) and the ten-nidana scheme of Samyutta Nikaya 12.65 (e.g., Thanissaro,
1997c). So-called "transcendental dependent origination" (also involving twelve
nidanas) is described in Samyutta Nikaya 12.23 (e.g., see Bodhi, 1995). In addition,
Digha Nikaya 15 describes an eleven-nidana scheme (starting with "feeling") that
leads to interpersonal suffering ("the taking up of sticks and knives; conflicts,
quarrels, and disputes; accusations, divisive speech, and lies").
48. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, page 56
49. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 57
50. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 58
51. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 59
52. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 60
53. ^ Christian Lindtner, Master of Wisdom. Dharma Publishing 1997, p. 324.
54. ^ Dan Lusthaus, "What is and isn't Yogacara"
55. ^ Williams, Paul. Buddhist Thought. Routledge 2000, page 161.
56. ^ raga, Pali-English Dictionary, The Pali Text Society
57. ^ dosa, Pali-English Dictionary, The Pali Text Society
58. ^ moha, Pali-English Dictionary, The Pali Text Society
59. ^ a b Richard F. Gombrich, How Buddhism Began, Munshiram Manoharlal,
1997, p. 67
60. ^ Hawkins, pp. 40, 46.
61. ^ "''Access to Insight'', a Theravada Buddhist website, discusses Buddha
Eras". Accesstoinsight.org. 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
62. ^ "Gautama Buddha discusses the Maitreya Buddha in the Tipitaka".
Accesstoinsight.org. 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
63. ^ Kogen Mizuno, Essentials of Buddhism, Shunju-sha, 1972, English
translation, Kosei, Tokyo, 1996, p. 57
64. ^ Dispeller of Delusion. Vol. II. Pali Text Society, p. 184
65. ^ The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others, page 1, Tharpa
Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-50-0
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67. ^ Nattier, Jan (2003), A few good men: the Bodhisattva path according to the
Inquiry of Ugra: p. 174
68. ^ Mall, Linnart. Studies in the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita and Other
Essays. Motilal Banarsidass. 2005. pp. 53-54.
69. ^ Hirakawa, Akira. A History of Indian Buddhism: from Śākyamuni to Early
Mahāyāna. Motilal Banarsidass. 2007. p. 297.
70. ^ Conze, Edward. The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and its
Verse Summary. Grey Fox Press. 2001. p. 89.
71. ^ The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others, pages 4-12,
Tharpa Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-50-0
72. ^ Harvey, p. 170
73. ^ Zen Buddhism: A History (India and China) by Heinrich Dumoulin, James
W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter (page 22)
74. ^ Barbara Stoler Miller, Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: the Yoga Sutra
Attributed to Patanjali; a Translation of the Text, with Commentary, Introduction,
and Glossary of Keywords. University of California Press, 1996, page 8.
75. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge, 2007,
page 73.
76. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge, 2007,
page 105.
77. ^ Michael Carrithers, The Buddha. Taken from Founders of Faith, published
by Oxford University Press, 1986, page 30.
78. ^ Alexander Wynne, The origin of Buddhist meditation. Routledge, 2007, p.
72.
79. ^ a b Dharmacarini Manishini, Western Buddhist Review. Accessed at
http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol4/kamma_in_context.html
80. ^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient
Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, page 44.
81. ^ Johannes Bronkhorst, The Two Traditions of Mediation in Ancient India.
Franz Steiner Verlag Weisbaden GmbH, pages 1-17.
82. ^ Randall Collins, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of
Intellectual Change. Harvard University Press, 2000, page 199.
83. ^ a b Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007,
page 51.
84. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007,
page 56.
85. ^ Bhikku, Thanissaro (2001). "Refuge". An Introduction to the Buddha,
Dhamma, & Sangha. Access to Insight.
86. ^ Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha, tr. Nanamoli, rev. Bodhi, Wisdom
Publications, 1995, pp. 708f
87. ^ Professor C.D. Sebastian, Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana
Buddhism, Sri Satguru Publications, Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series No. 238,
Delhi, 2005, p. 83
88. ^ Professor C.D. Sebastian, Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana
Buddhism, Delhi, 2005, p. 82
89. ^ Hiroshi Kanno, Huisi's Perspective on the Lotus Sutra as Seen Through the
Meaning of the Course of Ease and Bliss in the Lotus Sutra, p. 147,
http://www.iop.or.jp/0414/kanno2.pdf, consulted 5 February 2010
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187.
91. ^ Stewart McFarlane in Peter Harvey, ed., Buddhism. Continuum, 2001, pages
195-196.
92. ^ Morgan, Peggy; Lawton, Clive A., eds. (2007). Ethical Issues in Six
Religious Traditions (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 62–63.
ISBN 978-0-7486-2330-3.
93. ^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient
Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, page 89. He is
quoting Carrithers.
94. ^ B. Alan Wallace, Contemplative Science. Columbia University Press, 2007,
p. 81.
95. ^ Welch, Practice of Chinese Buddhism, Harvard, 1967, p. 396
96. ^ Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge University Press,
1990, page 144.
97. ^ Damien Keown, Charles S Prebish, editors, Encyclopedia of Buddhism.
Routledge, 2007. p. 502
98. ^ Sarah Shaw, Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from the Pāli
Canon. Routledge, 2006, page 13. Shaw also notes that discourses on meditation are
addressed to "bhikkhave", but that in this context the terms is more generic than
simply (male) "monks" and refers to all practitioners, and that this is confirmed by
Buddhaghosa.
99. ^ According to Charles S. Prebish (in his Historical Dictionary of Buddhism,
Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi, 1993, p. 287): "Although a variety of Zen 'schools'
developed in Japan, they all emphasize Zen as a teaching that does not depend on
sacred texts, that provides the potential for direct realization, that the realization
attained is none other than the Buddha nature possessed by each sentient being ...".
100. ^ Prebish comments (op. cit., p. 244): "It presumes that sitting in meditation
itself (i.e. zazen) is an expression of Buddha nature." The method is to detach the
mind from conceptual modes of thinking and perceive Reality directly. Speaking of
Zen in general, Buddhist scholar Stephen Hodge writes (Zen Masterclass, Godsfield
Press, 2002, pp. 12–13): "... practitioners of Zen believe that Enlightenment, the
awakening of the Buddha-mind or Buddha-nature, is our natural state, but has been
covered over by layers of negative emotions and distorted thoughts. According to this
view, Enlightenment is not something that we must acquire a bit at a time, but a state
that can occur instantly when we cut through the dense veil of mental and emotional
obscurations."
101. ^ (Critical Sermons on the Zen Tradition, Hisamatsu Shin'ichi, Palgrave
Macmillan, New York, 2002, passim) Commenting on Rinzai Zen and its Chinese
founder, Linji, Hisamatsu states: "Linji indicates our true way of being in such direct
expressions as 'True Person' and 'True Self'. It is independent of words or letters and
transmitted apart from scriptural teaching. Buddhism doesn't really need scriptures. It
is just our direct awakening to Self ..." (Hisamatsu, op. cit., p. 46).
102. ^ Kosho Uchiyama, Opening the Hand of Thought: Approach to Zen, Penguin
Books, New York, 1993, p. 98
103. ^ Harvey, Introduction, pp. 165f
104. ^ Williams, Mahayana Buddhism, Routledge, 1st ed., 1989, p. 185
105. ^ Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism, p. 781 .
106. ^ Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. xv
107. ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Buddhism: The foundations of
Buddhism: The cultural context. Retrieved 19-07-2009.
108. ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Hinduism: History of Hinduism: The
Vedic period (2nd millennium - 7th century BCE); Challenges to Brahmanism (6th -
2nd century BCE); Early Hinduism (2nd century BCE - 4th century CE). Retrieved
19-07-2009.
109. ^ Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.32
110. ^ Y. Masih (2000) In : A Comparative Study of Religions, Motilal
Banarsidass Publ : Delhi, ISBN 81-208-0815-0 Page 18. "There is no evidence to
show that Jainism and Buddhism ever subscribed to vedic sacrifices, vedic deities or
caste. They are parallel or native religions of India and have contributed to much to
the growth of even classical Hinduism of the present times."
111. ^ S. Cromwell Crawford, review of L. M. Joshi, Brahmanism, Buddhism and
Hinduism, Philosophy East and West (1972): "Alongside Brahmanism was the non-
Aryan Shramanic culture with its roots going back to prehistoric times."
112. ^ "This confirms that the doctrine of transmigration is non-aryan and was
accepted by non-vedics like Ajivikism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Indo-aryans have
borrowed the theory of re-birth after coming in contact with the aboriginal inhabitants
of India. Certainly Jainism and non-vedics [..] accepted the doctrine of rebirth as
supreme postulate or article of faith." Masih, page 37.
113. ^ Karel Werner, The Longhaired Sage in The Yogi and the Mystic. Karel
Werner, ed., Curzon Press, 1989, page 34. "Rahurkar speaks of them as belonging to
two distinct 'cultural strands' ... Wayman also found evidence for two distinct
approaches to the spiritual dimension in ancient India and calls them the traditions of
'truth and silence.' He traces them particularly in the older Upanishads, in early
Buddhism, and in some later literature."
114. ^ Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge
University — Press : UK ISBN 0-521-43878-0 - "The origin and doctrine of Karma
and Samsara are obscure. These concepts were certainly circulating amongst
sramanas, and Jainism and Buddhism developed specific and sophisticated ideas
about the process of transmigration. It is very possible that the karmas and
reincarnation entered the mainstream brahaminical thought from the sramana or the
renouncer traditions." Page 86.
115. ^ Padmanabh S. Jaini 2001 "Collected Paper on Buddhist Studies" Motilal
Banarsidass Publ 576 pages ISBN 81-208-1776-1: "Yajnavalkya's reluctance and
manner in expounding the doctrine of karma in the assembly of Janaka (a reluctance
not shown on any other occasion) can perhaps be explained by the assumption that it
was, like that of the transmigration of soul, of non-brahmanical origin. In view of the
fact that this doctrine is emblazoned on almost every page of sramana scriptures, it is
highly probable that it was derived from them." Page 51.
116. ^ Govind Chandra Pande, (1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya, Motilal
Banarsidass ISBN 81-208-1104-6 : Early Upanishad thinkers like Yajnavalkya were
acquainted with the sramanic thinking and tried to incorporate these ideals of Karma,
Samsara and Moksa into the vedic thought implying a disparagement of the vedic
ritualism and recognising the mendicancy as an ideal. Page 135.
117. ^ "The sudden appearance of this theory [of karma] in a full-fledged form is
likely due, as already pointed out, to an impact of the wandering muni-and-shramana-
cult, coming down from the pre-Vedic non-Aryan time." Kashi Nath Upadhyaya,
Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998, page 76.
118. ^ Satapatha Brahmana 13.8.1.5
119. ^ Oldenburg, Hermann, The Doctrine of the Upanishads and Early Buddhism,
1915, reprinted 1991 by Shridhar B. Shrotri, Delhi, Motilalal Banardass
120. ^ Greater Magadha, Studies the Culture of Early India, Bronkhorst, Johannes,
Brill Academic Publishers Inc, 2007, Series: Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section 2
South Asia Series, ISBN 978-90-04-11519-4
121. ^ Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.30-32
122. ^ Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.39
123. ^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. P.33
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125. ^ "The brahmin by caste alone, the teacher of the Veda, is (jokingly)
etymologized as the 'non-meditator' (ajhāyaka). Brahmins who have memorized the
three Vedas (tevijja) really know nothing: it is the process of achieving Enlightenment
— what the Buddha is said to have achieved in the three watches of that night—which
constitutes the true 'three knowledges.'" R.F. Gombrich in Paul Williams, ed.,
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126. ^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient
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133. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007,
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134. ^ "Even so have I, monks, seen an ancient way, an ancient road followed by
the wholly awakened ones of olden time....Along that have I done, and the matters
that I have come to know fully as I was going along it, I have told to the monks, nuns,
men and women lay-followers, even monks, this Brahma-faring brahmacharya that is
prosperous and flourishing, widespread and widely known become popular in short,
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136. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Vedic religion. Retrieved 19-07-2009.
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Early Mahayana: p. 271
151. ^ "One of the most frequent assertions about the Mahayana ... is that it was a
lay-influenced, or even lay-inspired and dominated, movement that arose in response
to the increasingly closed, cold, and scholastic character of monastic Buddhism. This,
however, now appears to be wrong on all counts." Macmillan Encyclopedia of
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156. ^ "The most important evidence — in fact the only evidence — for situating
the emergence of the Mahayana around the beginning of the common era was not
Indian evidence at all, but came from China. Already by the last quarter of the 2nd
century CE, there was a small, seemingly idiosyncratic collection of substantial
Mahayana sutras translated into what Erik Zürcher calls 'broken Chinese' by an
Indoscythian, whose Indian name has been reconstructed as Lokaksema." Macmillan
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also sometimes referred to as 'southern' Buddhism"; (2) "The East Asian tradition of
China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, also sometimes referred to as 'eastern' Buddhism";
and, (3) "The Tibetan tradition, also sometimes referred to as 'northern' Buddhism.";
Robinson & Johnson (1982) divide their book into two parts: Part One is entitled "The
Buddhism of South Asia" (which pertains to Early Buddhism in India); and, Part Two
is entitled "The Development of Buddhism Outside of India" with chapters on "The
Buddhism of Southeast Asia", "Buddhism in the Tibetan Culture Area", "East Asian
Buddhism" and "Buddhism Comes West; Penguin handbook of Living Religions,
1984, page 279; Prebish & Keown, Introducing Buddhism, ebook, Journal of
Buddhist Ethics, 2005, printed ed, Harper, 2006
216. ^ See e.g. the multi-dimensional classification in Encyclopedia of Religion,
Macmillan, New York, 1987, volume 2, pages 440ff
217. ^ A Comparative Study of the Schools, Tan Swee Eng
218. ^ Cousins, L.S. (1996); Buswell (2003), Vol. I, p. 82; and, Keown & Prebish
(2004), p. 107. See also, Gombrich (1988/2002), p. 32: “…[T]he best we can say is
that [the Buddha] was probably Enlightened between 550 and 450, more likely later
rather than earlier."
219. ^ Williams (2000, pp. 6-7) writes: "As a matter of fact Buddhism in mainland
India itself had all but ceased to exist by the thirteenth century CE, although by that
time it had spread to Tibet, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia." Embree et al.
(1958/1988), "Chronology," p. xxix: "c. 1000-1200: Buddhism disappears as [an]
 organized religious force in India." See also, Robinson & Johnson (1970/1982), pp.
100-1, 108 Fig. 1; and, Harvey (1990/2007), pp. 139-40.
220. ^ Gethin, Foundations, page 1
221. ^ Hawkins, p. 88.
222. ^ Clarke & Beyer, The World's Religions, Routledge, 2009, page 86
223. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume One), pages 430, 435
224. ^ Davidson, Ronald M. (2003). Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History
of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12619-
0.
225. ^ Prebish & Keown, Introducing Buddhism, page 89
226. ^ A.K. Warder, Indian Buddhism, 3rd edition (2000)
227. ^ Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, Edward Arnold, London, 1935, page 16
228. ^ Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha, Oxford University Press, 2008, page xiv
229. ^ Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume XVI, page 114
230. ^ Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press, 1995, page 9.
231. ^ David Kalupahana, "Sarvastivada and its theory of sarvam asti." University
of Ceylon Review 24 1966, 94-105.
232. ^ Indian Buddhism, 3rd edition, page 4
233. ^ a b MacMillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 494
234. ^ Isabelle Onians, "Tantric Buddhist Apologetics, or Antinomianism as a
Norm," D.Phil. dissertation, Oxford, Trinity Term 2001 pg 72
235. ^ Jonathan A Silk. What, if anything, is Mahayana Buddhism? Numen 49:4
(2002):335-405. Article reprinted in Williams, Buddhism, Vol III, Routledge, 2005
236. ^ Harvey 1990, p. 1.
237. ^ Goldstein 2011, p. 27.
238. ^ Lama Surya Das 1997, p. 16.
239. ^ Goleman 2008, Kindle Locations 1301-1305.
240. ^ a b Gethin 1998, p. 65-66.
241. ^ Keown 2000, Kindle Locations 361-372.
242. ^ Pinburn 1990, p. 101.
243. ^ Walpola Rahula 2007, Kindle Locations 316-323.

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External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Buddhism

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Buddhism.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buddhism

Wikiversity has learning materials about Buddha oracle# Buddhism

 Frequently Asked Questions About Buddhism

 Orange Tip Editions Buddhism in everyday life
 Religion and Spirituality: Buddhism at Open Directory Project
 "Buddhism — objects, art and history". Asia. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved
2007-12-06.
 Buddhist texts at Sacred Texts.com
 Buddhism in various languages
 The Future of Buddhism series, from Patheos
 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. "Emptiness". A Theravada Library. Retrieved 2012-12-19.

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বৌদ্ধ ধর্ম
উইকিপিডিয়া, মুক্ত বিশ্বকোষ থেকে
ঝাঁপ দাও: পরিভ্রমণ, অনুসন্ধান

গৌতম বুদ্ধের মূর্তি , বোধগয়া, ভারত। কথিত আছে, বোধগয়াতেই বুদ্ধ বোধিলাভ করেছিলেন।[১]
[আড়াল করো]
বৌদ্ধধর্ম
 ইতিহাস
বৌদ্ধধর্ম সম্মেলন
মুখ্য চরিত্রাবলি
শাক্যমুনি বুদ্ধ
শিষ্যগণ
বিশ্বাস ও অনুশীলন
চতু রার্থ সত্য
অষ্টাঙ্গিক মার্গ
প্রতীত্যসমুৎপাদ
সংসার • পরিনির্বাণ
স্কন্ধ
কর্ম • জন্মান্তর
ধর্মচর্চ া এবং বোধিলাভ
দেশানুসারে বৌদ্ধধর্ম এবং অঞ্চলসমূহ
বৌদ্ধধর্মের শাখাসমূহ
থেরবাদ • মহাযান
বজ্রযান
ধর্মগ্রন্থ
ত্রিপিটক • জাতক
অন্যান্য বিষয়সমূহ
তু লনামূলক পাঠ
সাংস্কৃ তিক উপাদান
এই বাক্স:

 দেখাও
 আলাপ
 সম্পাদনা

বৌদ্ধ ধর্ম বা ধর্ম (পালি ভাষায় ধম্ম) গৌতম বুদ্ধ কর্তৃ ক প্রচারিত একটি ধর্ম বিশ্বাস এবং জীবন দর্শন।
আনুমানিক খ্রিস্টপূর্ব ষষ্ঠ শতাব্দিতে গৌতম বুদ্ধের জন্ম। বুদ্বের পরিনির্বাণের পরে ভারতীয় উপমহাদেশ সহ
এশিয়ার বিভিন্ন অঞ্চলে বৌদ্ধ ধর্মের প্রসার হয়। বর্ত মানে বৌদ্ধ ধর্ম দুটি প্রধান মতবাদে বিভক্ত। প্রধান
অংশটি হচ্ছে হীনযান বা থেরবাদ (সংস্কৃত: স্থবিরবাদ)। দ্বিতীয়টি মহাযান নামে পরিচিত। বজ্রযান বা
তান্ত্রিক মতবাদটি মহাযানের একটি অংশ। বাংলাদেশ, ভারত, শ্রীলংকা, মায়ানমার, চীন, জাপান, থাইল্যান্ড,
ভিয়েতনাম, ও কোরিয়াসহ পূর্ব ও দক্ষিণ-পূর্ব এশিয়ার অনেক দেশে এই ধর্মবিশ্বাসের অনুসারী রয়েছে।

পরিচ্ছেদসমূহ
 ১ ব্যুৎপত্তি
 ২ গৌতম বুদ্ধের জীবনী
 ৩ বুদ্ধের দর্শন
o ৩.১ পরকাল
  ৪ বৌদ্ধধর্মের মূলনীতি
o ৪.১ চতু রার্য সত্য
o ৪.২ অষ্টাঙ্গিক মার্গ
o ৪.৩ ত্রিশরণ মন্ত্র
o ৪.৪ দুঃখ
 ৫ ধর্মগ্রন্থ
 ৬ তথ্যসূত্র

ব্যুৎপত্তি
আক্ষরিক অর্থে "বুদ্ধ" বলতে একজন জ্ঞানপ্রাপ্ত, উদ্বোধিত, জ্ঞানী, জাগরিত মানুষকে বোঝায়। উপাসনার
মাধ্যমে উদ্ভাসিত আধ্যাত্মিক উপলব্ধি এবং পরম জ্ঞানকে বোধি বলা হয় (যে অশ্বত্থ গাছের নীচে তপস্যা
করতে করতে বুদ্ধদেব বুদ্ধত্ব লাভ করেছিলেন তার নাম এখন বোধি বৃক্ষ)। সেই অর্থে যে কোনও মানুষই
বোধপ্রাপ্ত, উদ্বোধিত এবং জাগরিত হতে পারে। সিদ্ধার্থ গৌতম এইকালের এমনই একজন "বুদ্ধ"। আর যে
ব্যক্তি এই বোধি জ্ঞান লাভ বা ধারন করেন তাকে বলা হয় বোধিসত্ত্ব। বোধিসত্ত্ব জন্মের সর্বশেষ জন্ম হল
বুদ্ধত্ব লাভের জন্য জন্ম। জাতকে, বুদ্ধ বোধিসত্ত্ব হিসেবে ৫৪৮ (মতান্তরে ৫৪৯) বার বিভিন্ন কূলে (বংশে)
জন্ম নেবার আগে উল্লেখ আছে।[২] তিনি তার আগের জন্মগুলোতে প্রচু র ভালো বা পুণ্যের কাজ করেছিলেন
বিধায় সর্বশেষ জন্মে বুদ্ধ হবার জন্য জন্ম গ্রহণ করেন। বুদ্ধত্ব লাভের ফলে তিনি এই দুঃখময় পৃথিবীতে আর
জন্ম নেবেন না, এটাই ছিলো তাঁর শেষ জন্ম। পরবর্তী বুদ্ধ জন্ম না নেওয়া পর্যন্ত পৃথিবীতে তাঁর শাসন চলবে।

গৌতম বুদ্ধের জীবনী

উত্তর-পূর্ব ভারতের কপিলাবাস্তু নগরীর রাজা শুদ্ধোধন এর পুত্র ছিলেন সিদ্ধার্থ(গৌতম বুদ্ধ)। খ্রিস্টপূর্ব ৫৬৩
অব্দে এক শুভ বৈশাখী পূর্ণিমা তিথিতে লুম্বিনি কাননে (নেপাল) জন্ম নেন সিদ্ধার্থ(গৌতম বুদ্ধ)। তাঁর জন্মের
৭ দিন পর তাঁর মা, রানি মহামায়া মারা যান। তাঁর জন্মের অব্যাবহিতকাল পর জনৈক কপিল নামক সন্ন্যাসী
কপিলাবাস্তু নগরীতে আসেন। তিনি সিদ্ধার্থকে দেখে ভবিষ্যৎবানী করেন যে, সিদ্ধার্থ ভবিষ্যতে হয়
চারদিকজয়ী রাজা হবেন, নয়ত একজন মহান মানব হবেন। মা মারা যাবার পর সৎ মা মহাপ্রজাপতি
গৌতমী তাকে লালন পালন করেন, তাই তার অপর নাম গৌতম। ছোটোবেলা থেকেই সিদ্ধার্থ সব বিষয়ে
পারদর্শী ছিলেন। কিন্তু সিদ্ধার্থ সংসারের প্রতি উদাসীন ছিলেন বলে তাঁকে সংসারী করানোর লক্ষ্যে ১৬ বছর
বয়সে রাজা শুদ্ধোধন যশোধরা মতান্তরে যশোধা বা গোপা দেবী নামক এক সুন্দরী রাজকন্যার সাথে তার
বিয়ে দেন। রাহুল নামে তাদের একটি ছেলে হয়। ছেলের সুখের জন্য রাজা শুদ্ধোধন চার ঋতু র জন্য চারটি
প্রাসাদ তৈরি করে দেন। কিন্তু উচুঁ দেয়ালের বাইরের জীবন কেমন তা জানতে তিনি খুবই ইচ্ছুক ছিলেন।
একদিন রথে চড়ে নগরী ঘোরার অনুমতি দেন তার পিতা। নগরীর সকল অংশে আনন্দ করার নির্দে শ দেন
তিনি, কিন্তু সিদ্ধার্থের মন ভরল না। প্রথম দিন নগরী ঘুরতে গিয়ে একজন বৃদ্ধ ব্যক্তি, দ্বিতীয় দিন একজন
অসুস্থ মানুষ, তৃ তীয় দিন একজন মৃত ব্যক্তি এবং চতু র্থ দিন একজন সন্ন্যাসী দেখে তিনি সারথি ছন্দককে প্রশ্ন
করে জানতে পারেন জগত দুঃখময়। তিনি বুঝতে পারেন সংসারের মায়া, রাজ্য, ধন-সম্পদ কিছু ই স্থায়ী নয়।
তাই দুঃখের কারণ খুঁজতে গিয়ে ২৯ বছর বয়সে গৃহ্ত্যাগ করেন। দীর্ঘ ৬ বছর কঠোর সাধনার পর তিনি
বুদ্ধগয়া নামক স্থানে একটি বোধিবৃক্ষের নিচে বোধিজ্ঞান লাভ করেন। সবার আগে বুদ্ধ তাঁর ধর্ম প্রচার
করেন পঞ্চ বর্গীয় শিষ্যের কাছে; তাঁরা হলেন কৌন্ডিন্য, বপ্প, ভদ্দিয়, মহানাম এবং অশ্বজিত। এরপর দীর্ঘ ৪৫
বছর বুদ্ধ ভারতের বিভিন্ন স্থানে তার বৌদ্ধ ধর্মের বানী প্রচার করেন। এবং তাঁর প্রচারিত বানী ভারত
ছাড়াও অন্যান্য দেশে ও দিকে দিকে ছড়িয়ে পড়ে। অবশেষে খ্রিস্টপূ ৪৬৩ অব্দে তিনি কুশীনগর নামক স্থানে
৮০ বছর বয়সে মৃত্যু বরন করেন। গৌতম বুদ্ধের প্রচারিত বানীর মূল অর্থ হল অহিংসা।

বুদ্ধের দর্শন
বুদ্ধের দর্শনের প্রধান অংশ হচ্ছে দুঃখের কারণ ও তা নিরসনের উপায়। বাসনা হল সর্ব দুঃখের মূল।
বৌদ্ধমতে সর্বপ্রকার বন্ধন থেকে মুক্তিই হচ্ছে প্রধান লক্ষ্য- এটাকে নির্বাণ বলা হয়। নির্বাণ শব্দের আক্ষরিক
অর্থ নিভে যাওয়া (দীপনির্বাণ, নির্বাণোন্মুখ প্রদীপ), বিলুপ্তি, বিলয়, অবসান। কিন্তু বৌদ্ধ মতে নির্বাণ হল
সকল প্রকার দুঃখ থেকে মুক্তি লাভ। এই সম্বন্ধে বুদ্ধদেবের চারটি উপদেশ যা চারি আর্য সত্য (পালিঃ চত্বারি
আর্য্য সত্যানি) নামে পরিচিত। তিনি অষ্টবিধ উপায়ের মাধ্যমে মধ্যপন্থা অবলম্বনের উপর বিশেষ জোর
দিয়েছেন।

পরকাল

বুদ্ধ পরকাল সম্বন্ধে অনেক কিছু ই বলে গেছেন, পরকাল নির্ভ র করে মানুষের ইহ জন্মের কর্মের উপর ।
মৃত্যুর পর মানুষ ৩১ লোকভু মির যে কোনো একটিতে গমন করে। এই ৩১ লোকভু মি হছে ৪ প্রকার অপায়  :
তীর্যক (পশু-পাখি কুল), প্রেতলোক (প্রেত-পেত্নী), অসুর (অনাচারী দেবকুল), নরক (নিরয়)। ৭ প্রকার স্বর্গ :
মনুষ্যলোক, চতু র্মহারাজিক স্বর্গ, তাবতিংশ স্বর্গ, যাম স্বর্গ, তু ষিত স্বর্গ, নির্মানরতি স্বর্গ, পরনির্মিত বসবতি
স্বর্গ। রুপব্রম্মভূ মি (১৬ প্রকার) = ১৬ প্রকার রুপব্রম্মভূ মি । অরুপব্রম্মভূ মি ( ৪ প্রকার) = ৪ প্রকার
অরুপব্রম্মভূ মি । মোট ৩১ প্রকার । এই ৩১ প্রকার লোকভু মির উপরে সর্বশেষ স্তর হচ্ছে নির্বাণ ( পরম মুক্তি
) [৩] যেমন : ইহজন্মে মানুষ যদি মাতৃ হত্যা , পিতৃ হত্যা , গুরুজনের রক্তপাত ঘটায় তাহলে মৃত্যুর পর সেই
মানুষ চতু র অপায়ে ( তীর্যক, প্রেতলোক, অসুর, নরক) জন্মগ্রহণ করে, আর ইহজন্মে মানুষ যদি ভালো কাজ
করে তাহলে মৃত্যুর পর সেই মানুষ বাকি ২৮ লোকভু মিতে গমন করে।

বৌদ্ধধর্মের মূলনীতি
চতু রার্য সত্য

 যথা দুঃখ
 দুঃখ সমুদয়: দুঃখের কারণ
 দুঃখ নিরোধ: দুঃখ নিরোধের সত্য
 দুঃখ নিরোধ মার্গ: দুঃখ নিরোধের পথ

অষ্টাঙ্গিক মার্গ

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এই আটটি উপায়কে একত্রে বলা হয় আয্য অষ্টাঙ্গিক মার্গ, যার দ্বারা জীবন থেকে দুঃখ দূর করা সম্ভব।

ত্রিশরণ মন্ত্র

আর্যসত্য এবং অষ্টবিধ উপায় অবলম্বনের পূর্বে ত্রিশরণ মন্ত্র গ্রহণ করতে হয়। এই মন্ত্রের তাৎপর্য:

 বুদ্ধং শরণং গচ্ছামি - আমি বুদ্ধের শরণ নিলাম। বোধি লাভ জীবনের মূখ্য উদ্দেশ্য। বুদ্ধত্ব মানে পূর্ণ
সত্য, পবিত্রতা, চরম আধাত্মিক জ্ঞান।
 ধম্মং শরণং গচ্ছামি - আমি ধর্মের শরণ নিলাম। যে সাধনা অভ্যাস দ্বারা সত্য লাভ হয়,
আধ্যাত্মিকতার পূর্ণ বিকাশ হয় তাই ধর্ম।
 সঙ্ঘং শরণং গচ্ছামি - আমি সঙ্ঘের শরণ নিলাম। যেখানে পূর্ণ জ্ঞান লাভের জন্য ধর্মের সাধনা
সম্যক্ ভাবে করা যায় তাই সঙ্ঘ।

দুঃখ

বুদ্ধ দুঃখ কি, দুঃখের কারণ, দুঃখ দূর করার উপায় সম্বন্ধে উপদেশ দিয়েছেন। তাঁর মতে জীবন দুঃখপূর্ণ।
দুঃখের হাত থেকে কারও নিস্তার নেই। জন্ম, জরা, রোগ, মৃত্যু সবই দুঃখজনক। মানুষের কামনা-বাসনা
সবই দুঃখের মূল। মাঝে মাঝে যে সুখ আসে তাও দুঃখ মিশ্রিত এবং অস্থায়ী। অবিমিশ্র সুখ বলে কিছু নেই।
নিবার্ণ লাভে এই দুঃখের অবসান ঘটে। কামনা-বাসনার নিস্তারের মাঝে অজ্ঞানের অবসান ঘটে। এতেই পূর্ণ
শান্তি অর্জি ত হয়।

ধর্মগ্রন্থ
"ত্রিপিটক" বৌদ্ধদের ধর্মীয় গ্রন্থের নাম যা পালি ভাষায় লিখিত। এটি মূলত বুদ্ধের দর্শন এবং উপদেশের
সংকলন। পালি তি-পিটক হতে বাংলায় ত্রিপিটক শব্দের প্রচলন। তিন পিটকের সমন্বিত সমাহারকে ত্রিপিটক
বোঝানো হয়েছে। এই তিনটি পিটক হলো বিনয় পিটক , সূত্র পিটক ও অভিধর্ম পিটক। পিটক শব্দটি পালি ।
এর অর্থ - ঝু ড়ি, পাত্র , বক্স ইত্যাদি। অর্থাৎ যেখানে কোনো কিছু সংরক্ষন করা হয়।[৪] বৌদ্ধদের মূল ধর্মীয়
গ্রন্থ । খ্রীষ্ট পূর্ব ৩য় শতকে সম্রাট অশোকের রাজত্বকালে ত্রিপিটক পূর্ণ গ্রন্থ হিসাবে গৃহীত হয়। এই গ্রন্থের
গ্রন্থনের কাজ শুরু হয়েছিল গৌতম বুদ্ধ এর মহাপরিনির্বানের তিন মাস পর অর্থাৎ খ্রীষ্ট পূর্ব ৫৪৩ অব্ধে এবং
সমাপ্তি ঘটে খ্রীষ্ট পূর্ব প্রায় ২৩৬ অব্ধে । প্রায় তিনশ বছরে তিনটি সঙ্ঘায়নের মধ্যে এর গ্রন্থায়নের কাজ শেষ
হয়। ]][৫]

তথ্যসূত্র
 1. ↑ Info on Bodhgaya. প্রকাশক: Buddhanet.net। সংগৃহীত হয়েছে: 2010-08-25.
2. ↑ tr. Robert Chalmers ed. E. B. Cowell [1895, “The Jataka”; Volume 1-6]। সংগৃহীত
হয়েছে: 19 July 2012.
3. ↑ স্বধর্ম রত্ন চৈত্য , জিনবংশ মহাস্থবির - বুদ্ধ এডু কেশনাল ফাউন্ডেশন তাইওয়ান হতে প্রকাশিত ।
প্রকাশকাল : ২৫৩ বুদ্ধাব্দ/১৩৬৬ বঙ্গাব্দ , পৃষ্টা নং: ২১৪ , অধ্যায় : লোকপর্ব Shaddarma Rotno
Choitto by Ven.Jinobongsho Mohasthobir , Pulished: Buddha Educational Foundation
,Taiwan . Page No : 214 , Chapter Name : Lokoporbo. -
4. ↑ DR. Shukomal Barua and Suman Kanti Barua - ত্রিপিটক পরিচিতি , Page 1-3, Bangla
Academy December 2000
5. ↑ DR. Shukomal Barua and Suman Kanti Barua - ত্রিপিটক পরিচিতি , Page 14, Chapter -
Tripitok History. Bangla Academy December 2000

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बौद्ध साम्प्रदाय
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· वज्रयान
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· विनय
· पाऴि सूत्र · महायान सूत्र
· अभिधर्म · बौद्ध तंत्र

बौद्ध धर्म भारत की श्रमण परम्परा से निकला धर्म और दर्शन है । इसके प्रस्थापक महात्मा बद्ध
ु
शाक्यमनि
ु (गौतम बद्ध
ु ) थे । वे छठवीं से पाँचवीं शताब्दी ईसा पर्व
ू तक जीवित थे । उनके गज़
ु रने के
अगले पाँच शताब्दियों में , बौद्ध धर्म परू े भारतीय उपमहाद्वीप में फ़ैला, और अगले दो हज़ार सालों में
मध्य, पूर्वी और दक्षिण-पूर्वी जम्बू महाद्वीप में भी फ़ैल गया । आज, बौद्ध धर्म में तीन मुख्य सम्प्रदाय
हैं: थेरवाद, महायान और वज्रयान । बौद्ध धर्म को पैंतीस करोड़ से अधिक लोग मानते हैं और यह
दनि
ु या का चौथा सबसे बड़ा धर्म है ।

"बुद्ध" वे कहलाते हैं, जिन्होने सालों के ध्यान के बाद यथार्थता का सत्य भाव पहचाना हो । इस पहचान
को बोधि नाम दिया गया है । जो भी "अज्ञानता की नींद" से जागते हैं, वे "बुद्ध" कहलाते हैं । कहा जाता
है कि बुद्ध शाक्यमुनि केवल एक बुद्ध हैं - उनके पहले बहुत सारे थे और भविष्य में और होंगे । उनका
कहना था कि कोई भी बुद्ध बन सकता है अगर वह उनके "धर्म" के अनुसार एक धार्मिक जीवन जीए
और अपनी बद्धि
ु को शद्ध
ु करे । बौद्ध धर्म का अन्तिम लक्ष्य है इस दःु ख भरी स्थिति का अंत । "मैं केवल
एक ही पदार्थ सिखाता हूँ - दःु ख और दःु ख निरोध" (बद्ध
ु ) । बौद्ध धर्म के अनय
ु ायी आर्य अष्टांग मार्ग के
अनस
ु ार जीकर अज्ञानता और दःु ख से मक्ति
ु और निर्वाण पाने की कोशिश करते हैं ।

अनक्र
ु म
 1 गौतम बुद्ध
 2 पालि साहित्य
 3 सिद्धांत
o 3.1 प्रतीत्यसमत्ु पाद
o 3.2 चार आर्य सत्य
 o 3.3 आर्य अष्टांग मार्ग
o 3.4 बोधि
 4 दर्शन
o 4.1 क्षणिकवाद
o 4.2 अनात्मवाद
o 4.3 अनीश्वरवाद
o 4.4 शून्यतावाद
 5 साम्प्रदाय
o 5.1 थेरवाद
o 5.2 महायान
 6 संदर्भ
 7 इन्हें भी दे खें
 8 बाहरी कड़ियाँ

गौतम बुद्ध

बद्ध
ु की पत्थर की मर्ति
ू
मख्
ु य लेख : गौतम बद्ध
ु

बुद्ध शाक्य गोत्र के थे और उनका वास्तविक नाम सिद्धार्थ था । उनका जन्म लुंबिनी, कपिलवस्तु
(शाक्य महाजनपद की राजधानी) के पास की जगह, में हुआ था । लुंबिनी के ठीक स्थान पर, जो दक्षिण
मध्य नेपाल में है , महाराज अशोक ने तीसरी शताब्दी ईसा पूर्व में एक स्तम्भ बनाया था, बुद्ध के जन्म
के गण
ु गान में ।

सिद्धार्थ के पिता शुद्धोदन थे, शाक्यों के राजा । परं परागत कथा के अनुसार, सिद्धार्थ की माता उनके
जन्म के कुछ दे र बाद मर गयी थी । कहा जाता है कि जब उनका नाम रख्नने के लिये ८ ऋषियो को
आमन्त्रित किया सबने २ सम्भावानाये जताई १ या तो वो महान राजा बनेगे या फिर एक महान साधु
पर उन्मे से एक ऋषि ने सिद्धार्थ से मिलकर कहा कि वो एक महान साधु होगे। इस भविष्य वाणी को
सुनकर राजा शुद्धोदान ने अपनी योग्यता की हद तक सिद्धार्थ को दःु ख से दरू रखने की कोशिश की ।
फ़िर भी, २९ वर्ष की उम्र पर, उनकी दृष्टि चार दृश्यों पर पड़ी (संस्कृत चतुर निमित्त) - एक बूढ़े
अपाहिज आदमी, एक बीमार आदमी, एक मुरझाती हुई लाश, और एक साधु । इन चार दृश्यों को
दे खकर सिद्धार्थ समझ गये कि सब का जन्म होता है , सब का बुढ़ापा आता है , सब को बीमारी होती है ,
और एक दिन, सब की मौत होती है । उन्होने अपना धनवान जीवन, अपनी जाति, अपनी पत्नी, अपने
बच्चे, सब को छोड़कर साधु का जीवन अपना लिया ताकि वे जन्म, बुढ़ापे, दर्द, बीमारी, और मौत के
बारे में कोई उत्तर खोज पाएं ।

सिद्धार्थ ने पाँच ब्राह्मणों के साथ अपने प्रश्नों के उत्तर ढूंढने शुरू किये । वे उचित ध्यान पा पएं, परं तु
उन्हे उत्तर नहीं मिले । फ़िर उन्होने तपस्या करने की कोशिश की । वे इस कार्य में भी प्रवीण निकले,
अपने गुरुओं से भी ज़्यादा, परं तु उन्हे अपने प्रश्नों के उत्तर फ़िर भी नहीं मिले । फ़िर उन्होने कुछ
साथी इकठ्ठे किये और चल दिये अधिक कठोर तपस्या करने । ऐसे करते करते छः वर्ष बाद, भूख के
कारण मरने के करीब-करीब से गुज़रकर, बिना अपने प्रश्नों के उत्तर पाएं, वे फ़िर कुछ और करने के
बारे में सोचने लगे । इस समय, उन्हे अपने बचपन का एक पल याद आया जब उनके पिता खेत तयार
करना शुरू कर रहे थे । उस समय वे एक आनंद भरे ध्यान में पड़ गये थे और उन्हे ऐसा महसूस हुआ
कि समय स्थित हो गया है ।

कठोर तपस्या छोड़कर उन्होने आर्य अष्टांग मार्ग ढूंढ निकाला, जो बीच का मार्ग भी कहलाता जाता है
क्योंकि यह मार्ग दोनो तपस्या और असंयम की पाराकाष्टाओं के बीच में है । अपने बदन में कुछ
शक्ति डालने के लिये, उन्होने एक बकरी-वाले से कुछ दध
ू ले लिया । वे एक पीपल के पेड़ (जो अब
बोधि पेड़ कहलाता है ) के नीचे बैठ गये प्रतिज्ञा करके कि वे सत्य जाने बिना उठें गे नहीं । ३५ की उम्र
पर, उन्होने बोधि पाई और वे बुद्ध बन गये । उनका पहिला धर्मोपदे श वाराणसी के पास सारनाथ मे था
।

अपने बाकी के ४५ वर्ष के लिये, गौतम बद्ध

ु ने गंगा नदी के आस-पास अपना धर्मोपदे श दिया, धनवान
और कंगाल लोगों दोनो को । उन्होने दो सन्यासियों के संघ की भी स्थापना जिन्होने बद्ध
ु के धर्मोपदे श
को फ़ैलाना जारी रखा ।
इंद्र और ब्रह्मा गौतम बुद्ध को पूजते हुए, १२७ ई.प, ब्रिटिश म्यज़ि
ू यम

पालि साहित्य

मख्
ु य लेख : पालि साहित्य

सिद्धांत

गौतम बुद्ध के गुज़रने के बाद, बौद्ध धर्म के अलग-अलग संप्रदाय उपस्थित हो गये हैं, परं तु इन सब के
कुछ सिद्धांत मिलते हैं ।

प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद

प्रतीत्यसमत्ु पाद का सिद्धांत कहता है कि कोई भी घटना केवल दस

ू री घटनाओं के कारण ही एक जटिल
कारण-परिणाम के जाल में विद्यमान होती है । प्राणियों के लिये, इसका अर्थ है कर्म और विपाक (कर्म
के परिणाम) के अनुसार अनंत संसार का चक्र । क्योंकि सब कुछ अनित्य और अनात्मं (बिना आत्मा
के) होता है , कुछ भी सच में विद्यमान नहीं है । हर घटना मूलतः शन्
ु य होती है । परं तु, मानव, जिनके
पास ज्ञान की शक्ति है , तष्ृ णा को, जो दःु ख का कारण है , त्यागकर, तष्ृ णा में नष्ट की हुई शक्ति को
ज्ञान और ध्यान में बदलकर, निर्वाण पा सकते हैं ।

चार आर्य सत्य

१. दःु ख : इस दनि

ु या में सब कुछ दःु ख है । जन्म में , बूढे होने में , बीमारी में , मौत में , प्रियतम से दरू
होने में , नापसंद चीज़ों के साथ में , चाहत को न पाने में , सब में दःु ख है ।
२. दःु ख प्रारं भ : तष्ृ णा, या चाहत, दःु ख का कारण है और फ़िर से सशरीर करके संसार को जारी रखती है
।
३. दःु ख निरोध : तष्ृ णा से मुक्ति पाई जा सकती है ।
४. दःु ख निरोध का मार्ग : तष्ृ णा से मक्ति
ु आर्य अष्टांग मार्ग के अनस
ु ार जीने से पाई जा सकती है ।

बुद्ध का पहला धर्मोपदे श, जो उन्होने अपने साथ के कुछ साधुओं को दिया था, इन चार आर्य सत्यों के
बारे में था ।

आर्य अष्टांग मार्ग

बौद्ध धर्म के अनुसार, चौथे आर्य स्त्य का आर्य अष्टाण्ग मार्ग है दःु ख निरोध पाने का रास्ता । गौतम
बुद्ध कहते थे कि चार आर्य सत्य की सत्यता का निश्चय करने के लिए इस मार्ग का अनुसरण करना
चाहिए :

१. सम्यक दृष्टि : चार आर्य सत्य में विश्वास करना

२. सम्यक संकल्प : मानसिक और नैतिक विकास की प्रतिज्ञा करना
३. सम्यक वाक : हानिकारक बातें और झट
ू न बोलना
४. सम्यक कर्म : हानिकारक कर्में न करना
५. सम्यक जीविका : कोई भी स्पष्टतः या अस्पष्टतः हानिकारक व्यापार न करना
६. सम्यक प्रयास : अपने आप सध
ु ारने की कोशिश करना
७. सम्यक स्मति
ृ  : स्पष्ट ज्ञान से दे खने की मानसिक योग्यता पाने की कोशिश करना
८. सम्यक समाधि : निर्वाण पाना और स्वयं का गायब होना

कुछ लोग आर्य अष्टांग मार्ग को पथ की तरह समझते है , जिसमें आगे बढ़ने के लिए, पिछले के स्तर
को पाना आवश्यक है । और लोगों को लगता है कि इस मार्ग के स्तर सब साथ-साथ पाए जाते है । मार्ग
को तीन हिस्सों में वर्गीकृत किया जाता है  : प्रज्ञा, शील, और समाधि ।

बोधि

गौतम बुद्ध से पाई गई ज्ञानता को बोधि कहलाते है । माना जाता है कि बोधि पाने के बाद ही संसार से
छुटकारा पाया जा सकता है । सारी पारमिताओं (पूर्णताओं) की निष्पत्ति, चार आर्य सत्यों की पूरी
समझ, और कर्म के निरोध से ही बोधि पाई जा सकती है । इस समय, लोभ, दोष, मोह, अविद्या,
तष्ृ णा, और आत्मां में विश्वास सब गायब हो जाते है । बोधि के तीन स्तर होते है ः श्रावकबोधि,
प्रत्येकबोधि, और सम्यकसंबोधि । सम्यकसंबोधि बौध धर्म की सबसे उन्नत आदर्श मानी जाती है ।

दर्शन

तीर्थ यात्रा
 बौद्ध
धार्मिक स्थल

चार मुख्य स्थल

लुम्बिनी · बोध गया
सारनाथ · कुशीनगर
चार अन्य स्थल
श्रावस्ती · राजगीर
सनकिस्सा · वैशाली
अन्य स्थल
पटना · गया
  कौशाम्बी · मथुरा
कपिलवस्तु · दे वदह
ा
केसरिया · पावा
नालंदा · वाराणसी
बाद के स्थल
साँची · रत्नागिरी
एल्लोरा · अजंता
भारहट
दे खें • संवाद • सम्पाद
न

मुख्य लेख : बौद्ध दर्शन

क्षणिकवाद

इस दनि
ु या में सब कुछ क्षणिक है और नश्वर है । कुछ भी स्थायी नहीं । परन्तु वेदिक मत से विरोध है ।

अनात्मवाद

आत्मा नाम की कोई स्थायी चीज़ नहीं । जिसे लोग आत्मा समझते हैं, वो चेतना का अविच्छिन्न
प्रवाह है ।

अनीश्वरवाद
बुद्ध ईश्वर की सत्ता नहीं मानते क्योंकि दनि
ु या प्रतीत्यसमत्ु पाद के नियम पर चलती है । पर अन्य
जगह बद्ध
ु ने सर्वोच्च सत्य को अवर्णनीय कहा है ।

शन्
ू यतावाद

शन्
ू यता महायान बौद्ध संप्रदाय का प्रधान दर्शन है ।

साम्प्रदाय

बौद्ध धर्म में दो मुख्य साम्प्रदाय हैं:

थेरवाद

थेरवाद या हीनयान बद्ध

ु के मौलिक उपदे श ही मानता है ।

महायान

महायान बुद्ध की पूजा करता है । ये थेरावादियों को "हीनयान" (छोटी गाड़ी ) कहते हैं ।[1]

संदर्भ
1. ↑ mahayaana pMqaIya baaOdQa QamaI-yaaoMnao baudQa ko ivacaaraoM tqaa ]
nako mauit-yaaoM kI pujaa krnaI Sau$ kI.baaOdQa Qama- ko p`saar ka kaya- krnao
ka baDa yaaogadana mahayaana pMqaIyaaoMnao ikyaa.

इन्हें भी दे खें

 बौद्ध धर्म का इतिहास

 पालि भाषा का साहित्य
 बौद्ध शब्दावली

बाहरी कड़ियाँ

 जानें बौद्ध धर्म को... - अनिरुद्ध जोशी 'शतायु'

 मानव कल्याण पर आधारित हिंद-ू बौद्ध धर्म
 बौद्धधर्म तथा हिन्दध
ू र्म का परस्पर सम्बन्ध : लेखक - डा० अमित कुमार शर्मा; समाजशास्त्र
विभाग, जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय
  भारतीय दर्शन
 बौद्ध धर्म दर्शन (गग
ू ल पस्
ु तक ; लेखक - आचार्य नरे न्द्र दे व)
 बौद्ध शब्दावली (अंग्रेजी में )

[छुपाएँ]
दे खें • चर्चा • बदलें
भारत के धर्म

हिन्द ू  · बौद्ध  · सिख  · जैन  · इस्लाम  · अन्य

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ू
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मैं इस विषय (वैकल्पिक) के बारे में अत्यधिक जानकारी रखता हूँ।
श्रेणियाँ:

 भारत के धर्म
 धर्म
 दर्शन
 बौद्ध धर्म

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 लेख
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  पढ़ें
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 इतिहास दे खें

 मुखपष्ृ ठ
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 अन्तिम परिवर्तन 06:51, 24 दिसम्बर 2012।

 यह सामग्री क्रियेटिव कॉमन्स ऍट्रीब्यूशन/शेयर-अलाइक लाइसेंस के तहत उपलब्ध है ; अन्य
शर्ते लागू हो सकती हैं। विस्तार से जानकारी हे तु दे खें उपयोग की शर्तें

 गोपनीयता नीति
 विकिपीडिया के बारे में
 अस्वीकरण
 मोबाइल दृश्य