Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

The Buddha and India's Buddhist Empire

OBJECTIVES:


1.  Be able to discuss the major events in the life of the Buddha.



2.  Be able to discuss the major tenets of Buddhism and to compare

it with Hinduism.



3.  Be able to discuss the Mauryans and their major contributions

to world politics and social philosophy.





FOOD FOR THOUGHT:



Why do statues of the Buddha always have a smile?





     On the Night of the Great Renunciation, Prince Siddhartha

Gautama renounced his past and entered a new stage of life.  After

49 days under a tree, he became the enlightened one, or the Buddha. 

Buddhism later inspired one of the most human governments in human

history, the Mauryan empire under Ashoka.  Ashoka's conquest of

righteousness spread Buddhism from the land of its birth to Ceylon,

and later to the far east.  This great religion was extinguished in

the land of its birth by the Arabs, and today survives only in

Ceylon.  



                             OUTLINE



I.  The Axis Age in India: The Life of the Buddha



     A.  The life of Siddhartha Gautama -- 563 B.C.E. -485 B.C.E.

     B.  His childhood and conversion at 29:

          i. The Four Great Sights

          ii. The Night of the Great Renunciation

     C.  Asceticism

     D. Enlightenment 

          i. meditation under the pipal (bo) tree

          ii. the temptation of Mara

          iii. meaning of the word "Buddha"

          IV. The Sermon at Benares

               a) directed toward ascetics

     

II.  The Four Noble Truths



     A.  Life is filled with pain and suffering

          i. the story of the woman and the mustard seed



     B.  Suffering is caused by desire for objects of the senses

     C.  Suffering will end when one has been released from desire

          i. Nirvana

     D.  Release from desire can be achieved through the Middle Path:

          i.   The Eightfold Path of Right Conduct

               a)         nonviolence

               b)         no enemies

               c) kindness to all living things

     E.  The Differences Between Buddhism and Hinduism

          i.   no castes: people are only born with the 
               propensity to do good or evil

          ii.  no sacrifices to the gods

          iii. Buddha not to be worshipped

          iv. rejection of the atman



     F. The Buddha and Women



III.  India in the Mauryan Age:  India's Buddhist Empire

          A.  The Ganges Valley

          B.  Chandragupta Maurya -- 322 B.C.E.

               i.  The Arthashastra:

               "The king's good is not what pleases him, but 
               that which pleases his subjects"

          C.  Ashoka --  269 B.C.E.

               i. The Battle of Kalinka

               ii. The Conquest of Righteousness

               iii. The Rock Pillar Edicts

                    a) Buddhist inspiration of The Rock Pillar Edicts

                    b) laws do not mandate Buddhism, but foster 
                       its tenets

               iv. Erection of Buddhist Monuments

                    a) the stupa



IV.  The Evolution of 

Buddhism

     A.  Therevada Buddhism:

          i. Good Works

          ii. SE Asia  (Vietnam and Laos)

          iii. Religion is for monks

     B.  Mahayana Buddhism:

          i.   Religion is for everyone

          ii.  Boddhisattvas:

               a) The cult of saints

               b) Buddha treated as a god

               c) bodily heaven and hell

     C. Tibetan Buddhism (Llamaism)

               i. Mandala sand art           

     D.  The Spread of Buddhism

          i. Buddhist cave art in China

          ii. Zen Buddhism