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standing Buddha statue with draped garmet and halo






Life of the Buddha

Buddha in Sarnath Museum (Dhammajak Mutra).jpg
Buddha in Sarnath Museum (Dhammajak Mutra)



stone relief sculpture of horse and men





The problems of life: dukkha and saṃsāra

Four Noble Truths – dukkha and its ending


The Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism: we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, "incapable of satisfying" and painful. [47] [48] This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the endless cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha and dying again. [note 7] But there is a way to liberation from this endless cycle [54] to the state of nirvana, namely following the Noble Eightfold Path. [note 8]

The truth of dukkha is the basic insight that life in this mundane world, with its clinging and craving to impermanent states and things [47] is dukkha, and unsatisfactory. [49] [60] [web 2] Dukkha can be translated as "incapable of satisfying," [web 6] "the unsatisfactory nature and the general insecurity of all conditioned phenomena"; or "painful." [47] [48] Dukkha is most commonly translated as "suffering," but this is inaccurate, since it refers not to episodic suffering, but to the intrinsically unsatisfactory nature of temporary states and things, including pleasant but temporary experiences. [note 9] We expect happiness from states and things which are impermanent, and therefore cannot attain real happiness.

In Buddhism, dukkha is one of the three marks of existence, along with impermanence and anattā (non-self). [66] Buddhism, like other major Indian religions, asserts that everything is impermanent (anicca), but, unlike them, also asserts that there is no permanent self or soul in living beings (anattā). [67] [68] [69] The ignorance or misperception ( avijjā) that anything is permanent or that there is self in any being is considered a wrong understanding, and the primary source of clinging and dukkha. [70] [71] [72]

Dukkha arises when we crave (Pali: tanha) and cling to these changing phenomena. The clinging and craving produces karma, which ties us to samsara, the round of death and rebirth. [73] [web 7] [note 10] Craving includes kama-tanha, craving for sense-pleasures; bhava-tanha, craving to continue the cycle of life and death, including rebirth; and vibhava-tanha, craving to not experience the world and painful feelings. [73] [74] [75]

Dukkha ceases, or can be confined, [76] when craving and clinging cease or are confined. This also means that no more karma is being produced, and rebirth ends. [note 11] Cessation is nirvana, "blowing out," and peace of mind. [78] [79]

By following the Buddhist path to moksha, liberation, [56] one starts to disengage from craving and clinging to impermanent states and things. The term "path" is usually taken to mean the Noble Eightfold Path, but other versions of "the path" can also be found in the Nikayas. [80] The Theravada tradition regards insight into the four truths as liberating in itself. [62]

The cycle of rebirth

Traditional Tibetan Buddhist Thangka depicting the Wheel of Life


Saṃsāra means "wandering" or "world", with the connotation of cyclic, circuitous change. [81] [82] It refers to the theory of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a fundamental assumption of Buddhism, as with all major Indian religions. [82] [83] Samsara in Buddhism is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful, [84] perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma. [82] [85] [86]

The theory of rebirths, and realms in which these rebirths can occur, is extensively developed in Buddhism, in particular Tibetan Buddhism with its wheel of existence (Bhavacakra) doctrine. [84] Liberation from this cycle of existence, nirvana, has been the foundation and the most important historical justification of Buddhism. [87] [88]




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 to death. [93] In Buddhist thought, this rebirth does not involve any soul, because of its doctrine of anattā (Sanskrit: anātman, no-self doctrine) which rejects the concepts of a permanent self or an unchanging, eternal soul, as it is called in Hinduism and Christianity. [94] According to Buddhism there ultimately is no such thing as a self in any being or any essence in any thing. [95]

The Buddhist traditions have traditionally disagreed on what it is in a person that is reborn, as well as how quickly the rebirth occurs after each death. [96] [97] Some Buddhist traditions assert that "no self" doctrine means that there is no perduring self, but there is avacya (inexpressible) self which migrates from one life to another. [96] The majority of Buddhist traditions, in contrast, assert that vijñāna (a person's consciousness) though evolving, exists as a continuum and is the mechanistic basis of what undergoes rebirth, rebecoming and redeath. [49] [96] The rebirth depends on the merit or demerit gained by one's karma, as well as that accrued on one's behalf by a family member. [note 13]

Each rebirth takes place within one of five realms according to Theravadins, or six according to other schools – heavenly, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and hellish. [99] [100] [note 14]

In East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, rebirth is not instantaneous, and there is an intermediate state (Tibetan " bardo") between one life and the next. [110] [111] The orthodox Theravada position rejects the wait, and asserts that rebirth of a being is immediate. [110] However there are passages in the Samyutta Nikaya of the Pali Canon that seem to lend support to the idea that the Buddha taught about an intermediate stage between one life and the next. [112] [113][ page needed]


In Buddhism, karma (from Sanskrit: "action, work") drives saṃsāra – the endless cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. Good, skilful deeds (Pāli: kusala) and bad, unskilful deeds (Pāli: akusala) produce "seeds" in the unconscious receptacle (ālaya) that mature later either in this life or in a subsequent rebirth. [114] [115] The existence of karma is a core belief in Buddhism, as with all major Indian religions, it implies neither fatalism nor that everything that happens to a person is caused by karma. [116] [note 15]

A central aspect of Buddhist theory of karma is that intent ( cetanā) matters and is essential to bring about a consequence or phala "fruit" or vipāka "result". [117] [note 16] However, good or bad karma accumulates even if there is no physical action, and just having ill or good thoughts creates karmic seeds; thus, actions of body, speech or mind all lead to karmic seeds. [116] In the Buddhist traditions, life aspects affected by the law of karma in past and current births of a being include the form of rebirth, realm of rebirth, social class, character and major circumstances of a lifetime. [116] [121] [122] It operates like the laws of physics, without external intervention, on every being in all six realms of existence including human beings and gods. [116] [123]

A notable aspect of the karma theory in Buddhism is merit transfer. [124] [125] A person accumulates merit not only through intentions and ethical living, but also is able to gain merit from others by exchanging goods and services, such as through dāna (charity to monks or nuns). [126] Further, a person can transfer one's own good karma to living family members and ancestors. [125] [note 17]




Nirvana literally means "blowing out, quenching, becoming extinguished". [133] [134] In early Buddhist texts, it is the state of restraint and self-control that leads to the "blowing out" and the ending of the cycles of sufferings associated with rebirths and redeaths. [135] [136] [137] Many later Buddhist texts describe nirvana as identical with anatta with complete "emptiness, nothingness". [138] [139] [140] [note 19] In some texts, the state is described with greater detail, such as passing through the gate of emptiness (sunyata) – realizing that there is no soul or self in any living being, then passing through the gate of signlessness (animitta) – realizing that nirvana cannot be perceived, and finally passing through the gate of wishlessness (apranihita) – realizing that nirvana is the state of not even wishing for nirvana. [129] [142] [note 20]

The nirvana state has been described in Buddhist texts partly in a manner similar to other Indian religions, as the state of complete liberation, enlightenment, highest happiness, bliss, fearlessness, freedom, permanence, non-dependent origination, unfathomable, and indescribable. [144] [145] It has also been described in part differently, as a state of spiritual release marked by "emptiness" and realization of non-self. [146] [147] [148] [note 21]


The path to liberation: Bhavana (practice, cultivation)


Refuge in the Three Jewels

stone footprint Gautama Buddha with Dharmachakra and Three Jewels

Traditionally, the first step in most Buddhist schools requires taking Three Refuges, also called the Three Jewels ( Sanskrit: triratna, Pali: tiratana) as the foundation of one's religious practice. [152] Pali texts employ the Brahmanical motif of the triple refuge, found in the Rigveda 9.97.47, Rigveda 6.46.9 and Chandogya Upanishad 2.22.3–4. [153] Tibetan Buddhism sometimes adds a fourth refuge, in the lama. The three refuges are believed by Buddhists to be protective and a form of reverence. [152]

The Three Jewels are: [154]



The Buddhist path

Theravada – Noble Eightfold Path

ship's wheel with eight spokes represents the Noble Eightfold Path
The Dharmachakra represents the Noble Eightfold Path.


In the Theravada canon, the Pali-suttas, various often irreconcilable sequences can be found. According to Carol Anderson, the Theravada canon lacks "an overriding and comprehensive structure of the path to nibbana." [159] Nevertheless, the Noble Eightfold Path, or "Eightfold Path of the Noble Ones", has become an important description of the Buddhist path. It consists of a set of eight interconnected factors or conditions, that when developed together, lead to the cessation of dukkha. [160] 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.

This Eightfold Path is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths, and asserts the path to the cessation of dukkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness). [161] [162] The path teaches that the way of the enlightened ones stopped their craving, clinging and karmic accumulations, and thus ended their endless cycles of rebirth and suffering. [163] [164] [165]

The Noble Eightfold Path is grouped into three basic divisions, as follows: [166] [167] [168]

Division Eightfold factor Sanskrit, Pali Description
(Sanskrit: prajñā,
Pāli: paññā)
1. Right view samyag dṛṣṭi,
sammā ditthi
The belief that there is an afterlife and not everything ends with death, that Buddha taught and followed a successful path to nirvana; [166] according to Peter Harvey, the right view is held in Buddhism as a belief in the Buddhist principles of karma and rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble Truths and the True Realities. [169]
2. Right intention samyag saṃkalpa,
sammā saṅkappa
Giving up home and adopting the life of a religious mendicant in order to follow the path; [166] this concept, states Harvey, aims at peaceful renunciation, into an environment of non-sensuality, non-ill-will (to lovingkindness), away from cruelty (to compassion). [169]
Moral virtues [167]
(Sanskrit: śīla,
Pāli: sīla)
3. Right speech samyag vāc,
sammā vāca
4. Right action samyag karman,
sammā kammanta
No killing or injuring, no taking what is not given; no sexual acts in monastic pursuit, [166] for lay Buddhists no sensual misconduct such as sexual involvement with someone married, or with an unmarried woman protected by her parents or relatives. [170] [171] [172]
5. Right livelihood samyag ājīvana,
sammā ājīva
For monks, beg to feed, only possessing what is essential to sustain life. [173] For lay Buddhists, the canonical texts state right livelihood as abstaining from wrong livelihood, explained as not becoming a source or means of suffering to sentient beings by cheating them, or harming or killing them in any way. [174] [175]
Meditation [167]
(Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi)
6. Right effort samyag vyāyāma,
sammā vāyāma
7. Right mindfulness samyag smṛti,
sammā sati
8. Right concentration samyag samādhi,
sammā samādhi
Correct meditation or concentration (dhyana), explained as the four jhānas. [166] [177]

Mahayana – Bodhisattva-path and the six paramitas


Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a Bodhisattva. [179] A Bodhisattva refers to one who is on the path to buddhahood. [180] The term Mahāyāna was originally a synonym for Bodhisattvayāna or "Bodhisattva Vehicle." [181] [182] [183]

In the earliest texts of Mahayana Buddhism, the path of a bodhisattva was to awaken the bodhicitta. [184] Between the 1st and 3rd century CE, this tradition introduced the Ten Bhumi doctrine, which means ten levels or stages of awakening. [184] This development was followed by the acceptance that it is impossible to achieve Buddhahood in one (current) lifetime, and the best goal is not nirvana for oneself, but Buddhahood after climbing through the ten levels during multiple rebirths. [185] Mahayana scholars then outlined an elaborate path, for monks and laypeople, and the path includes the vow to help teach Buddhist knowledge to other beings, so as to help them cross samsara and liberate themselves, once one reaches the Buddhahood in a future rebirth. [179] One part of this path are the Pāramitā (perfections, to cross over), derived from the Jatakas tales of Buddha's numerous rebirths. [186] [187]

The Mahayana texts are inconsistent in their discussion of the Paramitas, and some texts include lists of two, others four, six, ten and fifty-two. [188] [189] [190] The six paramitas have been most studied, and these are: [186] [190] [191]

  1. Dāna pāramitā: perfection of giving; primarily to monks, nuns and the Buddhist monastic establishment dependent on the alms and gifts of the lay householders, in return for generating religious merit; [192] some texts recommend ritually transferring the merit so accumulated for better rebirth to someone else
  4. Vīrya pāramitā: perfection of vigour; this is similar to Right Effort in the Eightfold Path [193]
  6. Prajñā pāramitā: perfection of insight (wisdom), awakening to the characteristics of existence such as karma, rebirths, impermanence, no-self, dependent origination and emptiness; [190] [194] this is complete acceptance of the Buddha teaching, then conviction, followed by ultimate realization that "dharmas are non-arising". [186]

In Mahayana Sutras that include ten Paramitas, the additional four perfections are "skillful means, vow, power and knowledge". [189] The most discussed Paramita and the highest rated perfection in Mahayana texts is the "Prajna-paramita", or the "perfection of insight". [189] This insight in the Mahayana tradition, states Shōhei Ichimura, has been the "insight of non-duality or the absence of reality in all things". [195] [196]

Śīla – Buddhist ethics

stone statue of Gautama Buddha, 1st century CE, Gandhara

Śīla (Sanskrit) or sīla (Pāli) is the concept of "moral virtues", that is the second group and an integral part of the Noble Eightfold Path. [169] It consists of right speech, right action and right livelihood. [169]



Buddhist scriptures explain the five precepts ( Pali: pañcasīla; Sanskrit: pañcaśīla) as the minimal standard of Buddhist morality. [199] It is the most important system of morality in Buddhism, together with the monastic rules. [200] The five precepts apply to both male and female devotees, and these are: [197] [201]

  1. Abstain from killing ( Ahimsa);
  2. Abstain from stealing;
  3. Abstain from sensual (including sexual) misconduct;
  4. Abstain from lying;
  5. Abstain from intoxicants.

Undertaking and upholding the five precepts is based on the principle of non-harming ( Pāli and Sanskrit: ahiṃsa). [202] The Pali Canon recommends one to compare oneself with others, and on the basis of that, not to hurt others. [203] Compassion and a belief in karmic retribution form the foundation of the precepts. [204] [205] Undertaking the five precepts is part of regular lay devotional practice, both at home and at the local temple. [206] [207] However, the extent to which people keep them differs per region and time. [208] [207] They are sometimes referred to as the śrāvakayāna precepts in the Mahāyāna tradition, contrasting them with the bodhisattva precepts. [209]

The five precepts are not commandments and transgressions do not invite religious sanctions, but their power has been based on the Buddhist belief in karmic consequences and their impact in the afterlife. Killing in Buddhist belief leads to rebirth in the hell realms, and for a longer time in more severe conditions if the murder victim was a monk. Adultery, similarly, invites a rebirth as prostitute or in hell, depending on whether the partner was unmarried or married. [210] These moral precepts have been voluntarily self-enforced in lay Buddhist culture through the associated belief in karma and rebirth. [211] Within the Buddhist doctrine, the precepts are meant to develop mind and character to make progress on the path to enlightenment. [212]

The monastic life in Buddhism has additional precepts as part of patimokkha, and unlike lay people, transgressions by monks do invite sanctions. Full expulsion from sangha follows any instance of killing, engaging in sexual intercourse, theft or false claims about one's knowledge. Temporary expulsion follows a lesser offence. [213] The sanctions vary per monastic fraternity (nikaya). [214]

Lay people and novices in many Buddhist fraternities also uphold eight (asta shila) or ten (das shila) from time to time. Four of these are same as for the lay devotee: no killing, no stealing, no lying, and no intoxicants. [215] The other four precepts are: [216] [215]

  1. No sexual activity;
  3. Abstain from jewellery, perfume, adornment, entertainment;

All eight precepts are sometimes observed by lay people on uposatha days: full moon, new moon , the first and last quarter following the lunar calendar. [215] The ten precepts also include to abstain from accepting money. [215]

In addition to these precepts, Buddhist monasteries have hundreds of rules of conduct, which are a part of its patimokkha. [217] [note 23]


Monks performing a ceremony in Hangzhou, China

Vinaya is the specific code of conduct for a sangha of monks or nuns. It includes the Patimokkha, a set of 227 offences including 75 rules of decorum for monks, along with penalties for transgression, in the Theravadin tradition. [219] The precise content of the Vinaya Pitaka (scriptures on the Vinaya) differs in different schools and tradition, and different monasteries set their own standards on its implementation. The list of pattimokkha is recited every fortnight in a ritual gathering of all monks. [219] Buddhist text with vinaya rules for monasteries have been traced in all Buddhist traditions, with the oldest surviving being the ancient Chinese translations. [220]

Monastic communities in the Buddhist tradition cut normal social ties to family and community, and live as "islands unto themselves". [221] Within a monastic fraternity, a sangha has its own rules. [221] A monk abides by these institutionalized rules, and living life as the vinaya prescribes it is not merely a means, but very nearly the end in itself. [221] Transgressions by a monk on Sangha vinaya rules invites enforcement, which can include temporary or permanent expulsion. [222]

Samadhi (dhyana) – meditation

Bhikkhus in saffron robes kneeling in Thailand
Bhikkhus in Thailand



The earliest evidence of yogis and their meditative tradition, states Karel Werner, is found in the Keśin hymn 10.136 of the Rigveda. [225] While evidence suggests meditation was practised in the centuries preceding the Buddha, [226] the meditative methodologies described in the Buddhist texts are some of the earliest among texts that have survived into the modern era. [227] [228] These methodologies likely incorporate what existed before the Buddha as well as those first developed within Buddhism. [229] [note 25]

According to Bronkhorst, the Four Dhyanas was a Buddhist invention. [233] Bronkhorst notes that the Buddhist canon has a mass of contradictory statements, little is known about their relative chronology, and "there can be no doubt that the canon – including the older parts, the Sutra and Vinaya Pitaka – was composed over a long period of time". [234] Meditative practices were incorporated from other sramanic movements; [235] the Buddhist texts describe how Buddha learnt the practice of the formless dhyana from Brahmanical practices, in the Nikayas ascribed to Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta. [236] [237] The Buddhist canon also describes and criticizes alternative dhyana practices, which likely mean the pre-existing mainstream meditation practices of Jainism and Hinduism. [238]

Buddha added a new focus and interpretation, particularly through the Four Dhyanas methodology, [239] in which mindfulness is maintained. [240] [223] Further, the focus of meditation and the underlying theory of liberation guiding the meditation has been different in Buddhism. [226] [241] [242] For example, states Bronkhorst, the verse 4.4.23 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad with its "become calm, subdued, quiet, patiently enduring, concentrated, one sees soul in oneself" is most probably a meditative state. [243] The Buddhist discussion of meditation is without the concept of soul and the discussion criticizes both the ascetic meditation of Jainism and the "real self, soul" meditation of Hinduism. [244]

Four rupa-jhāna and four arupa-jhāna

Buddhist monuments in the Horyu-ji Area

For Nirvana, Buddhist texts teach various meditation methodologies, of which rupa-jhana (four meditations in the realm of form) and arupa-jhana (four meditations in the formless realm) have been the most studied. [245] These are described in the Pali Canon as trance-like states in the world of desirelessness. [246] The four dhyanas under rupa-jhanas are: [246]

  2. Second dhyana: cease deliberation and all discursive thoughts. [246] Success leads to one-pointed thinking, serenity, pleasure and rapture. [245]

The arupa-jhanas (formless realm meditation) are also four, which are entered by those who have mastered the rupa-jhanas ( Arhats). [246] [247] The first formless dhyana gets to infinite space without form or colour or shape, the second to infinity of perception base of the infinite space, the third formless dhyana transcends object-subject perception base, while the fourth is where he dwells in nothing-at-all where there are no feelings, no ideas, nor are there non-ideas, unto total cessation. [247] The four rupa-dhyanas in Buddhist practice lead to rebirth in successfully better rupa Brahma heavenly realms, while arupa-dhyanas lead into arupa heavens. [248] [249]

Richard Gombrich notes that the sequence of the four rupa-jhanas describes two different cognitive states. The first two describe a narrowing of attention, while in the third and fourth jhana attention is expanded again. [250] [note 27] [251] Alexander Wynne further explains that the dhyana-scheme is poorly understood. [252] According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as sati, sampajāno, and upekkhā, are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states, [252] whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects. [252] [note 28] [note 29]

Meditation and insight


The Buddhist tradition has incorporated two traditions regarding the use of dhyāna (meditation, Pali jhāna). [235] There is a tradition that stresses attaining prajñā (insight, bodhi, kenshō, vipassana) as the means to awakening and liberation. But it has also incorporated the yogic tradition, as reflected in the use of jhana, which is rejected in other sutras as not resulting in the final result of liberation. [135] [235] [254] [note 30] Lambert Schmithausen, a professor of Buddhist Studies, discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas, [note 31] to which Vetter adds the sole practice of dhyana itself. [257] [note 32] According to Vetter and Bronkhorst, the earliest Buddhist path consisted of a set of practices which culminate in the practice of dhyana, leading to a calm of mind which according to Vetter is the liberation which is being sought. [257] [258] Frauwallner notes that the Buddha regarded tanha, "thirst," craving, to be the cause of suffering, not ignorance. But this was in contradiction to the Indian traditions of the time, and posed a problem, which was then also incorporated into the Buddhis teachings. [259] Later on, "liberating insight" came to be regarded as equally liberating. [260] [258] This "liberating insight" came to be exemplified by prajna, or the insight in the "four truths," [260] [258] but also by other elements of the Buddhist teachings. [257] [261]

The Brahma-vihara

gilded statue of Buddha in Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat, Thailand

The four immeasurables or four abodes, also called Brahma-viharas, are virtues or directions for meditation in Buddhist traditions, which helps a person be reborn in the heavenly (Brahma) realm. [262] [263] [264] These are traditionally believed to be a characteristic of the deity Brahma and the heavenly abode he resides in. [265]

The four Brahma-vihara are:

  1. Loving-kindness (Pāli: mettā, Sanskrit: maitrī) is active good will towards all; [263] [266]
  2. Compassion (Pāli and Sanskrit: karuṇā) results from metta; it is identifying the suffering of others as one's own; [263] [266]
  4. Equanimity (Pāli: upekkhā, Sanskrit: upekṣā): is even-mindedness and serenity, treating everyone impartially. [263] [266]

According to Peter Harvey, the Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that the four Brahmavihara meditation practices "did not originate within the Buddhist tradition". [267] [note 33] The Brahmavihara (sometimes as Brahmaloka), along with the tradition of meditation and the above four immeasurables are found in pre-Buddha and post-Buddha Vedic and Sramanic literature. [269] [270] Aspects of the Brahmavihara practice for rebirths into the heavenly realm have been an important part of Buddhist meditation tradition. [271] [272]


Visualizations: deities, mandalas

Mandala are used in Buddhism for initiation ceremonies and visualization. [275]

Idols of deity and icons have been a part of the historic practice, and in Buddhist texts such as the 11th-century Sadanamala, a devotee visualizes and identifies himself or herself with the imagined deity as part of meditation. [276] [277] This has been particularly popular in Vajrayana meditative traditions, but also found in Mahayana and Theravada traditions, particularly in temples and with Buddha images. [278]

In Tibetan Buddhism tradition, mandala are mystical maps for the visualization process with cosmic symbolism. [275] There are numerous deities, each with a mandala, and they are used during initiation ceremonies and meditation. [275] The mandalas are concentric geometric shapes symbolizing layers of the external world, gates and sacred space. The meditation deity is in the centre, sometimes surrounded by protective gods and goddesses. [275] Visualizations with deities and mandalas in Buddhism is a tradition traceable to ancient times, and likely well established by the time the 5th-century text Visuddhimagga was composed. [275] [279]

Practice: monks, laity

According to Peter Harvey, whenever Buddhism has been healthy, not only ordained but also more committed lay people have practised formal meditation. [280] Loud devotional chanting however, adds Harvey, has been the most prevalent Buddhist practice and considered a form of meditation that produces "energy, joy, lovingkindness and calm", purifies mind and benefits the chanter. [281]

Throughout most of Buddhist history, meditation has been primarily practised in Buddhist monastic tradition, and historical evidence suggests that serious meditation by lay people has been an exception. [282] [283] [284] In recent history, sustained meditation has been pursued by a minority of monks in Buddhist monasteries. [285] Western interest in meditation has led to a revival where ancient Buddhist ideas and precepts are adapted to Western mores and interpreted liberally, presenting Buddhism as a meditation-based form of spirituality. [285]

Prajñā – insight

monks wearing crimson robes debating at Sera Monastery, Tibet
Monks debating at Sera Monastery, Tibet

Prajñā (Sanskrit) or paññā (Pāli) is insight or knowledge of the true nature of existence. The Buddhist tradition regards ignorance ( avidyā), a fundamental ignorance, misunderstanding or mis-perception of the nature of reality, as one of the basic causes of dukkha and samsara. By overcoming ignorance or misunderstanding one is enlightened and liberated. This overcoming includes awakening to impermanence and the non-self nature of reality, [286] [287] and this develops dispassion for the objects of clinging, and liberates a being from dukkha and saṃsāra. [288] [289] [290] Prajñā is important in all Buddhist traditions, and is the wisdom about the dharmas, functioning of karma and rebirths, realms of samsara, impermanence of everything, no-self in anyone or anything, and dependent origination. [291]


The origins of "liberating insight" are unclear. Buddhist texts, states Bronkhorst, do not describe it explicitly, and the content of "liberating insight" is likely not original to Buddhism. [292] According to Vetter and Bronkhorst, this growing importance of "liberating insight" was a response to other religious groups in India, which held that a liberating insight was indispensable for moksha, liberation from rebirth. [293] [294] [note 34]



— Lambert Schmithausen [297]

In the Pali Canon liberating insight is attained in the fourth dhyana. [298] However, states Vetter, modern scholarship on the Pali Canon has uncovered a "whole series of inconsistencies in the transmission of the Buddha's word", and there are many conflicting versions of what constitutes higher knowledge and samadhi that leads to the liberation from rebirth and suffering. [299] Even within the Four Dhyana methodology of meditation, Vetter notes that "penetrating abstract truths and penetrating them successively does not seem possible in a state of mind which is without contemplation and reflection." [300] According to Vetter, dhyāna itself constituted the original "liberating practice". [257] [note 32]



Temple of Tooth, Kandy, Sri Lanka




Dependent arising

Pratityasamutpada, also called "dependent arising, or dependent origination", is the Buddhist theory to explain the nature and relations of being, becoming, existence and ultimate reality. Buddhism asserts that there is nothing independent, except the state of nirvana. [308] All physical and mental states depend on and arise from other pre-existing states, and in turn from them arise other dependent states while they cease. [309]

The 'dependent arisings' have a causal conditioning, and thus Pratityasamutpada is the Buddhist belief that causality is the basis of ontology, not a creator God nor the ontological Vedic concept called universal Self ( Brahman) nor any other 'transcendent creative principle'. [310] [311] However, the Buddhist thought does not understand causality in terms of Newtonian mechanics, rather it understands it as conditioned arising. [312] [313] In Buddhism, dependent arising is referring to conditions created by a plurality of causes that necessarily co-originate a phenomenon within and across lifetimes, such as karma in one life creating conditions that lead to rebirth in one of the realms of existence for another lifetime. [314] [315] [316]




bronze Great Statue of Amitābha in Kamakura, Japan
The Great Statue of Amitābha in Kamakura, Japan


Representation-ony c.q. mind-only

Sarvastivada teachings, which were criticized by Nāgārjuna, were reformulated by scholars such as Vasubandhu and Asanga and were adapted into the Yogachara school. One of the main features of Yogācāra philosophy is the concept of vijñapti-mātra. It is often used interchangeably with the term citta-mātra, but they have different meanings. The standard translation of both terms is "consciousness-only" or "mind-only." Several modern researchers object to this translation, and the accompanying label of "absolute idealism" or "idealistic monism". [321] A better translation for vijñapti-mātra is representation-only, [322] while an alternative translation for citta (mind, thought) mātra (only, exclusively) has not been proposed.




Buddha-nature is a concept found in some 1st-millennium CE Buddhist texts, such as the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras. This concept has been controversial in Buddhism, but has a following in East Asian Buddhism. [323] [324] These Sutras suggest, states Paul Williams, that 'all sentient beings contain a Tathagata' as their 'essence, core inner nature, Self'. [325] [note 35] The Tathagatagarbha doctrine, at its earliest probably appeared about the later part of the 3rd century CE, and it contradicts the Anatta doctrine (non-Self) in a vast majority of Buddhist texts, leading scholars to posit that the Tathagatagarbha Sutras were written to promote Buddhism to non-Buddhists. [327] [328] However, the Buddhist text Ratnagotravibhāga states that the "Self" implied in Tathagatagarbha doctrine is actually "not-Self". [329] [330]



Devotion is an important part of the practice of most Buddhists. [331] Devotional practices include ritual prayer, prostration, offerings, pilgrimage, and chanting. [332] 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. Bhakti (called Bhatti in Pali) has been a common practice in Theravada Buddhism, where offerings and group prayers are made to deities and particularly images of Buddha. [333] According to Karel Werner and other scholars, devotional worship has been a significant practice in Theravada Buddhism, and deep devotion is part of Buddhist traditions starting from the earliest days. [334] [335]

Guru devotion is a central practice of Tibetan Buddhism. [336] [337] The guru is considered essential and to the Buddhist devotee, the guru is the "enlightened teacher and ritual master" in Vajrayana spiritual pursuits. [336] [338]

For someone seeking Buddhahood, the guru is the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, wrote the 12th-century Buddhist scholar Sadhanamala. [338] The veneration of and obedience to teachers is also important in Theravada and Zen Buddhism. [339]

Buddhist texts


Buddhism, like all Indian religions, was an oral tradition in ancient times. [340] The Buddha's words, the early doctrines and concepts, and the interpretations were transmitted from one generation to the next by the word of mouth in monasteries, and not through written texts. The first Buddhist canonical texts were likely written down in Sri Lanka, about 400 years after the Buddha died. [340] The texts were part of the Tripitakas, and many versions appeared thereafter claiming to be the words of the Buddha. Scholarly Buddhist commentary texts, with named authors, appeared in India, around the 2nd century CE. [340] These texts were written in Pali or Sanskrit, sometimes regional languages, as palm-leaf manuscripts, birch bark, painted scrolls, carved into temple walls, and later on paper. [340]

Unlike what the Bible is to Christianity and the Quran is to Islam, but like all major ancient Indian religions, there is no consensus among the different Buddhist traditions as to what constitutes the scriptures or a common canon in Buddhism. [340] The general belief among Buddhists is that the canonical corpus is vast. [341] [342] [343] This corpus includes the ancient Sutras organized into Nikayas, itself the part of three basket of texts called the Tripitakas. [344] Each Buddhist tradition has its own collection of texts, much of which is translation of ancient Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist texts of India. The Chinese Buddhist canon, for example, includes 2184 texts in 55 volumes, while the Tibetan canon comprises 1108 texts — all claimed to have been spoken by the Buddha — and another 3461 texts composed by Indian scholars revered in the Tibetan tradition. [345] The Buddhist textual history is vast; over 40,000 manuscripts — mostly Buddhist, some non-Buddhist — were discovered in 1900 in the Dunhuang Chinese cave alone. [345]

Pāli Tipitaka



Theravada texts


Mahayana sutras





Śālistamba Sutra

Many ancient Indian texts have not survived into the modern era, creating a challenge in establishing the historic commonalities between Theravada and Mahayana. The texts preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, with parallel Chinese translations, have provided a breakthrough. Among these is the Mahayana text Śālistamba Sutra which no longer exists in a Sanskrit version, but does in Tibetan and Chinese versions. This Mahayana text contains numerous sections which are remarkably the same as the Theravada Pali Canon and Nikaya Buddhism. [350] [353] The Śālistamba Sutra was cited by Mahayana scholars such as the 8th-century Yasomitra to be authoritative. [354] This suggests that Buddhist literature of different traditions shared a common core of Buddhist texts in the early centuries of its history, until Mahayana literature diverged about and after the 1st century CE. [350]


Historical roots

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

Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religious thought of Iron Age India around the middle of the first millennium BCE. [355] This was a period of great intellectual ferment and socio-cultural change known as the "Second urbanisation", marked by the composition of the Upanishads and the historical emergence of the Sramanic traditions. [356] [357] [note 36]

New ideas developed both in the Vedic tradition in the form of the Upanishads, and outside of the Vedic tradition through the Śramaṇa movements. [360] [361] [362] The term Śramaṇa refers to several Indian religious movements parallel to but separate from the historical Vedic religion, including Buddhism, Jainism and others such as Ājīvika. [363]

Several Śramaṇa movements are known to have existed in India before the 6th century BCE (pre-Buddha, pre- Mahavira), and these influenced both the āstika and nāstika traditions of Indian philosophy. [364] According to Martin Wilshire, the Śramaṇa tradition evolved in India over two phases, namely Paccekabuddha and Savaka phases, the former being the tradition of individual ascetic and the latter of disciples, and that Buddhism and Jainism ultimately emerged from these. [365] Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical ascetic groups shared and used several similar ideas, [366] but the Śramaṇa traditions also drew upon already established Brahmanical concepts and philosophical roots, states Wiltshire, to formulate their own doctrines. [364] [367] Brahmanical motifs can be found in the oldest Buddhist texts, using them to introduce and explain Buddhist ideas. [368] For example, prior to Buddhist developments, the Brahmanical tradition internalized and variously reinterpreted the three Vedic sacrificial fires as concepts such as Truth, Rite, Tranquility or Restraint. [369] Buddhist texts also refer to the three Vedic sacrificial fires, reinterpreting and explaining them as ethical conduct. [370]

The Śramaṇa religions challenged and broke with the Brahmanic tradition on core assumptions such as Atman (soul, self), Brahman, the nature of afterlife, and they rejected the authority of the Vedas and Upanishads. [371] [372] [373] Buddhism was one among several Indian religions that did so. [373]

Rock-cut Lord Buddha statue at Bojjanakonda near Anakapalle India

Indian Buddhism

The history of Indian Buddhism may be divided into five periods: [374] 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 Vajrayana Buddhism.

Sanchi Stupa

Pre-sectarian Buddhism


The early Buddhist Texts include the four principal Nikāyas [note 37] (and their parallel Agamas) together with the main body of monastic rules, which survive in the various versions of the patimokkha. [376] [377] [378] However, these texts were revised over time, and it is unclear what constitutes the earliest layer of Buddhist teachings. One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pāli Canon and other texts. [note 38] The reliability of the early sources, and the possibility to draw out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute. [257] According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies. [379] [note 39]

According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished: [383]

  2. "Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;" [note 41]
  3. "Cautious optimism in this respect." [note 42]
Core teachings
Buddhist Chakras at ASI Museum, Amaravathi

According to Mitchell, certain basic teachings appear in many places throughout the early texts, which has led most scholars to conclude that Gautama Buddha must have taught something similar to the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, Nirvana, the three marks of existence, the five aggregates, dependent origination, karma and rebirth. [390] Yet critical analysis reveals discrepancies, which point to alternative possibilities. [391] [392] [393]

Bruce Matthews notes that there is no cohesive presentation of karma in the Sutta Pitaka, [394] which may mean that the doctrine was incidental to the main perspective of early Buddhist soteriology. [394] Schmithausen has questioned whether karma already played a role in the theory of rebirth of earliest Buddhism. [395][ page needed] [396] [note 43] According to Vetter, "the Buddha at first sought "the deathless" (amata/amrta), which is concerned with the here and now. Only later did he become acquainted with the doctrine of rebirth." [398] Bronkhorst disagrees, and concludes that the Buddha "introduced a concept of karma that differed considerably from the commonly held views of his time." [399] According to Bronkhorst, not physical and mental activities as such were seen as responsible for rebirth, but intentions and desire. [400]

Another core problem in the study of early Buddhism is the relation between dhyana and insight. [135] [235] [254] Schmithausen states that the four noble truths as "liberating insight", may be a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36. [256][ page needed] [401] [402]

According to both Bronkhorst and Anderson, the Four Noble Truths became a substitution for prajna, or "liberating insight", in the suttas [403] [404] in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhānas. [405] The four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight". [406] Gotama's teachings may have been personal, "adjusted to the need of each person." [405]

The three marks of existence – Dukkha, Annica, Anatta – may reflect Upanishadic or other influences. K.R. Norman supposes that these terms were already in use at the Buddha's time, and were familiar to his hearers. [407] According to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way". [135] In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path. [135] Similarly nibbāna is the common term for the desired goal of this practice, yet many other terms can be found throughout the Nikāyas, which are not specified. [408] [note 44]

Early Buddhist schools

Buddha at Xumishan Grottoes, ca. 6th century CE [409]


The Second Buddhist council resulted in the first schism in the Sangha, probably caused by a group of reformists called Sthaviras who split from the conservative majority Mahāsāṃghikas. [411] After unsuccessfully trying to modify the Vinaya, a small group of "elderly members", i.e. sthaviras, broke away from the majority Mahāsāṃghika during the Second Buddhist council, giving rise to the Sthavira Nikaya. [412]

The Sthaviras gave rise to several schools, one of which was the Theravada school. Originally, these schisms were caused by disputes over monastic disciplinary codes of various fraternities, but eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schisms were being caused by doctrinal disagreements too. [413] Buddhist monks of different fraternities became distinct schools and stopped doing official Sangha business together, but continued to study each other's doctrines. [413]

Following (or leading up to) the schisms, each Saṅgha started to accumulate their own version of Tripiṭaka (Pali Canons, triple basket of texts). [42] [414] In their Tripiṭaka, each school included the Suttas of the Buddha, a Vinaya basket (disciplinary code) and added an Abhidharma basket which were texts on detailed scholastic classification, summary and interpretation of the Suttas. [42] [415] The doctrine details in the Abhidharmas of various Buddhist schools differ significantly, and these were composed starting about the third century BCE and through the 1st millennium CE. [416] [417] [418] Eighteen early Buddhist schools are known, each with its own Tripitaka, but only one collection from Sri Lanka has survived, in a nearly complete state, into the modern era. [419]

Early Mahayana Buddhism


Several scholars have suggested that the Mahayana Buddhist tradition started in south India (modern Andhra Pradesh), and it is there that Prajnaparamita sutras, among the earliest Mahayana sutras, [420] [421] developed among the Mahāsāṃghika along the Kṛṣṇa River region about the 1st century BCE. [422] [423] [424] [note 45]

There is no evidence that Mahayana 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. [427] Initially it was known as Bodhisattvayāna (the "Vehicle of the Bodhisattvas"). [428] Paul Williams states that the Mahāyāna never had nor ever attempted to have a separate Vinaya or ordination codes from the early schools of Buddhism. [429] Records written by Chinese monks visiting India indicate that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks could be found in the same monasteries, with the difference that Mahayana monks worshipped figures of Bodhisattvas, while non-Mahayana monks did not. [430]


Late Mahayana Buddhism

During the period of Late Mahāyāna, four major types of thought developed: Madhyamaka, Yogachara, Tathagatagarbha, and Buddhist logic as the last and most recent. [434] In India, the two main philosophical schools of the Mahayana were the Madhyamaka and the later Yogachara. [435] According to Dan Lusthaus, Madhyamaka and Yogachara have a great deal in common, and the commonality stems from early Buddhism. [436] There were no great Indian teachers associated with tathagatagarbha thought. [437]

Vajrayana (Esoteric Buddhism)



Spread of Buddhism

The spread of Buddhism within South Asia and beyond.

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 its spread throughout the Maurya empire and into neighbouring lands such as Central Asia and to the island of Sri Lanka. These two missions, in opposite directions, would ultimately lead, in the first case to the spread of Buddhism into China, Korea and Japan, and in the second case, to the emergence of Sinhalese Theravāda Buddhism and its spread from Sri Lanka to much of Southeast Asia.


Coin depicting Indo-Greek king Menander facing right with headband


The Kushans (mid 1st–3rd century CE) came to control the Silk Road trade through Central and South Asia, which brought them to interact with ancient Buddhist monasteries and societies involved in trade in these regions. They patronized Buddhist institutions, and Buddhist monastery influence, in turn, expanded into a world religion, according to Xinru Liu. [443] Buddhism spread to Khotan and China, eventually to other parts of the far east. [444]



To East and Southeast Asia

White Horse Temple (est. 68 CE), traditionally held to be at the origin of Chinese Buddhism.
Angkor Thom build by Khmer King Jayavarman VII (c.1120-1218).

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. [449] [note 48] 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. [451]

The first documented Buddhist texts translated into Chinese are those of the Parthian An Shigao (148-180 CE). [452] The first known Mahāyāna scriptural texts are translations into Chinese by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema in Luoyang, between 178 and 189 CE. [453] From China, Buddhism was introduced into its neighbors Korea (4th century), Japan (6th-7th centuries), and Vietnam (c. 1st-2nd centuries). [454] [455] [454]

During the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618–907), Chinese Esoteric Buddhism was introduced from India and Chan Buddhism (Zen) became a major religion. [456] [457] Chan continued to grow in the Song Dynasty (960–1279) and it was during this era that it strongly influenced Korean Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism. [458] Pure Land Buddhism also became popular during this period and was often practiced together with Chan. [459] It was also during the Song that the entire Chinese canon was printed using over 130,000 wooden printing blocks. [460]

During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism (from the 8th century onwards), Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia. Johannes Bronkhorst states that the esoteric form was attractive because it allowed both a secluded monastic community as well as the social rites and rituals important to laypersons and to kings for the maintenance of a political state during succession and wars to resist invasion. [461] During the Middle Ages, Buddhism slowly declined in India, [462] while it vanished from Persia and Central Asia as Islam became the state religion. [463] [464]

The Theravada school arrived in Sri Lanka sometime in the 3rd century BCE. Sri Lanka became a base for its later spread to southeast Asia after the 5th century CE ( Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and coastal Vietnam). [465] [466] Theravada Buddhism was the dominant religion in Burma during the Mon Hanthawaddy Kingdom (1287–1552). [467] It also became dominant in the Khmer Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries and in the Thai Sukhothai Kingdom during the reign of Ram Khamhaeng (1237/1247 - 1298). [468] [469]

Schools and traditions

color map showing Buddhism is a major religion worldwide
Distribution of major Buddhist traditions

Buddhists generally classify themselves as either Theravada or Mahayana. [470] This classification is also used by some scholars [471] and is the one ordinarily used in the English language. [web 10] An alternative scheme used by some scholars [note 49] divides Buddhism into the following three traditions or geographical or cultural areas: Theravada, East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism.

monks in orange robes on stone steps in Cambodia
Young monks in Cambodia














Early Buddhist schools Mahāyāna Vajrayāna






Sri Lanka &
Southeast Asia










Tibetan Buddhism








East Asia


Early Buddhist schools
and Mahāyāna
(via the silk road
to China, and ocean
contact from India to Vietnam)


Nara (Rokushū)




Thiền, Seon
Tiantai / Jìngtǔ









Central Asia & Tarim Basin





Silk Road Buddhism


  Legend:   = Theravada   = Mahayana   = Vajrayana   = Various / syncretic

Theravada school

A young monk in saffron robes standing in Sri Lanka temple
A young bhikkhu in Sri Lanka

The Theravada tradition traces its roots to the words of the Buddha preserved in the Pali Canon, and considers itself to be the more orthodox form of Buddhism. [479] [480]

Theravada flourished in south India and Sri Lanka in ancient times; from there it spread for the first time into mainland southeast Asia about the 11th century into its elite urban centres. [481] By the 13th century, Theravada had spread widely into the rural areas of mainland southeast Asia, [481] displacing Mahayana Buddhism and some traditions of Hinduism which had arrived in places such as Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia around the mid-1st millennium CE. The later traditions were well established in south Thailand and Java by the 7th century, under the sponsorship of the Srivijaya dynasty. [482] [483] The political separation between Khmer and Sukhothai led the Sukhothai king to welcome Sri Lankan emissaries, helping them establish the first Theravada Buddhist sangha in the 13th century, in contrast to the Mahayana tradition of Khmer earlier. [484]



Mahayana traditions

Nagarjuna, a Mahayana scholar

Mahayana schools consider the Mahayana Sutras as authoritative scriptures and accurate rendering of Buddha's words. [350] These traditions have been the more liberal form of Buddhism allowing different and new interpretations that emerged over time. [486]

Mahayana flourished in India from the time of Ashoka, [350] through to the dynasty of the Guptas (4th to 6th-century). Mahāyāna monastic foundations and centres of learning were established by the Buddhist kings, and the Hindu kings of the Gupta dynasty as evidenced by records left by three Chinese visitors to India. [487] [488] The Gupta dynasty, for example, helped establish the famed Nālandā University in Bihar. [487] [489] These monasteries and foundations helped Buddhist scholarship, as well as studies into non-Buddhist traditions and secular subjects such as medicine, host visitors and spread Buddhism into East and Central Asia. [487] [490]


Vajrayana traditions

7th century Buddhist monastery
7th-century Potala Palace in Lhasa valley symbolizes Tibetan Buddhism and is a UNESCO world heritage site. [493]

The goal and philosophy of the Vajrayāna remains Mahāyānist, but its methods are seen by its followers as far more powerful, so as to lead to Buddhahood in just one lifetime. [494] The practice of using mantras was adopted from Hinduism, where they were first used in the Vedas. [495]

Various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism. [496] The Mañjusrimulakalpa, which later came to classified under Kriyatantra, states that mantras taught in the Saiva, Garuda and Vaisnava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Manjushri. [497] The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, prescribes acting as a Saiva guru and initiating members into Saiva Siddhanta scriptures and mandalas. [498] The Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Saiva text Tantrasadbhava, introducing a copying error where a deity was mistaken for a place. [499]

Tibetan Buddhism preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth-century India. [11] Tantric Buddhism is largely concerned with ritual and meditative practices. [500] A central feature of Buddhist Tantra is deity yoga which includes visualization and identification with an enlightened yidam or meditation deity and its associated mandala. Another element of Tantra is the need for ritual initiation or empowerment (abhiṣeka) by a Guru or Lama. [501] Some Tantras like the Guhyasamāja Tantra features new forms of antinomian ritual practice such as the use taboo substances like alcohol, sexual yoga, and charnel ground practices which evoke wrathful deities. [502] [503]


Ginkaku-ji, a Zen temple in Kyoto, Japan




Buddhism in the modern era

Buddhist monk in Siberia in robes leaning on railing looking at temple
Buryat Buddhist monk in Siberia

Colonial era


East Asian Buddhism meanwhile suffered under various wars which ravaged China during the modern era, such as the Taiping rebellion and the Second World War (which also affected Korean Buddhism). During the Republican period (1912–49), a new movement called Humanistic Buddhism was developed by figures such as Taixu (1899–1947), and though Buddhist institutions were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), there has been a revival of the religion in China after 1977. [508] Japanese Buddhism also went through a period of modernization during the Meiji Era. [509] In Central Asia meanwhile, the arrival of Communist repression to Tibet (1966-1980) and Mongolia (between 1924-1990) had a strong negative impact on Buddhist institutions, though the situation has improved somewhat since the 80s and 90s. [510]

Buddhism in the West

While there were some encounters of Western travelers or missionaries such as St. Francis Xavier and Ippolito Desideri with Buddhist cultures, it was not until the 19th century that Buddhism began to be studied by Western scholars. It was the work of pioneering scholars such as Eugène Burnouf, Max Müller, Hermann Oldenberg and Thomas William Rhys Davids that paved the way for modern Buddhist studies in the West. The English words such as Buddhism, "Boudhist", "Bauddhist" and Buddhist were coined in the early 19th-century in the West, [511] while in 1881, Rhys Davids founded the Pali Text Society – an influential Western resource of Buddhist literature in the Pali language and one of the earliest publisher of a journal on Buddhist studies. [512] It was also during the 19th century that Asian Buddhist immigrants (mainly from China and Japan) began to arrive in Western countries such as the United States and Canada, bringing with them their Buddhist religion. This period also saw the first Westerners to formally convert to Buddhism, such as Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott. [513] An important event in the introduction of Buddhism to the West was the 1893 World Parliament of Religions, which for the first time saw well-publicized speeches by major Buddhist leaders alongside other religious leaders.

The 20th century saw a prolific growth of new Buddhist institutions in Western countries, including the Buddhist Society, London (1924), Das Buddhistische Haus (1924) and Datsan Gunzechoinei in St Petersburg. The publication and translations of Buddhist literature in Western languages thereafter accelerated. After the second world war, further immigration from Asia, globalization, the secularization on Western Culture as well a renewed interest in Buddhism among the 60s counterculture led to further growth in Buddhist institutions. [514] Influential figures on post-war Western Buddhism include Shunryu Suzuki, Jack Kerouac, Alan Watts, Thích Nhất Hạnh, and the 14th Dalai Lama. While Buddhist institutions have grown, some of the central premises of Buddhism such as the cycles of rebirth and Four Noble Truths have been problematic in the West. [515] [516] [517] In contrast, states Christopher Gowans, for "most ordinary [Asian] Buddhists, today as well as in the past, their basic moral orientation is governed by belief in karma and rebirth". [518] Most Asian Buddhist laypersons, states Kevin Trainor, have historically pursued Buddhist rituals and practices seeking better rebirth, [519] not nirvana or freedom from rebirth. [520]

Buddha statue in 1896, Bamiyan
After statue destroyed by Islamist Taliban in 2001

Buddhism has spread across the world, [522] [523] and Buddhist texts are increasingly translated into local languages. While Buddhism in the West is often seen as exotic and progressive, in the East it is regarded as familiar and traditional. In countries such as Cambodia and Bhutan, it is recognized as the state religion and receives government support.

In certain regions such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, militants have targeted violence and destruction of historic Buddhist monuments. [524] [525]

Neo-Buddhism movements

A number of modern movements in Buddhism emerged during the second half of the 20th century. [526] [527] These new forms of Buddhism are diverse and significantly depart from traditional beliefs and practices. [528]

In India, B.R. Ambedkar launched the Navayana tradition – literally, "new vehicle". Ambedkar's Buddhism rejects the foundational doctrines and historic practices of traditional Theravada and Mahayana traditions, such as monk lifestyle after renunciation, karma, rebirth, samsara, meditation, nirvana, Four Noble Truths and others. [529] [530] [531] Ambedkar's Navayana Buddhism considers these as superstitions and re-interprets the original Buddha as someone who taught about class struggle and social equality. [532] [533] Ambedkar urged low caste Indian Dalits to convert to his Marxism-inspired [531] reinterpretation called the Navayana Buddhism, also known as Bhimayana Buddhism. Ambedkar's effort led to the expansion of Navayana Buddhism in India. [534] [535]

The Thai King Mongkut (r. 1851–68), and his son King Chulalongkorn (r. 1868–1910), were responsible for modern reforms of Thai Buddhism. [536] Modern Buddhist movements include Secular Buddhism in many countries, Won Buddhism in Korea, the Dhammakaya movement in Thailand and several Japanese organizations, such as Shinnyo-en, Risshō Kōsei Kai or Soka Gakkai.



Buddhism is practised by an estimated 488 million, [web 1] 495 million, [540] or 535 million [541] people as of the 2010s, representing 7% to 8% of the world's total population.



According to a demographic analysis reported by Peter Harvey (2013): [541] Mahayana has 360 million adherents; Theravada has 150 million adherents; and Vajrayana has 18.2 million adherents.

According to Johnson and Grim (2013), Buddhism has grown from a total of 138 million adherents in 1910, of which 137 million were in Asia, to 495 million in 2010, of which 487 million are in Asia. [540] Over 98% of all Buddhists live in the Asia-Pacific and South Asia region. [543] North America had about 3.9 million Buddhists, Europe 1.3 million, while South America, Africa and the Middle East had an estimated combined total of about 1 million Buddhists in 2010. [543]

Buddhism is the dominant religion in Bhutan, [544] Burma, [544] Cambodia, [544] Tibet, [544] Laos, [544] Mongolia, [544] Sri Lanka [544] and Thailand. [544] [545] Large Buddhist populations live in China (18%), [544] Japan (36%), [544] Taiwan (35%), [544] Macau (17%), [544] North Korea (14%), [544] Nepal (11%), [544] Vietnam (10%), [544] Singapore (33%), [544] Hong Kong (15%) [544] and South Korea (23%). [544]

Buddhism is also growing by conversion.In United states, only about a third (32%) of Buddhists in the United States are Asian; a majority (53%) are white. Buddhism in the America is primarily made up of native-born adherents, whites and converts. [546] In New Zealand, about 25% [547]-35% [548] of the total Buddhists are converts to Buddhism.


Buddhism by percentage as of 2010 [543]
Country Estimated Buddhist population Buddhists as % of total population
  Cambodia 13,701,660 96.9%
  Thailand 64,419,840 93.2%
  Burma 38,415,960 80.1%
  Bhutan 563,000 74.7%
  Sri Lanka 14,455,980 69.3%
  Laos 4,092,000 66.0%
  Mongolia 1,520,760 55.1%
  Japan 45,807,480
or 84,653,000
36.2% or 67% [549]
  Singapore 1,725,510 33.9%
  Taiwan 4,945,600
or 8,000,000
21.1% or 35% [550]
  China 185,000,000+ 15.9%

See also


  7. ^ On samsara, rebirth and redeath:

    See also Perry Schmidt-Leukel (2006) pp. 32–34, [51] John J. Makransky (1997) p. 27. [52] for the use of the term "redeath." The term Agatigati or Agati gati (plus a few other terms) is generally translated as 'rebirth, redeath'; see any Pali-English dictionary; e.g. pp. 94–95 of Rhys Davids & William Stede, where they list five Sutta examples with rebirth and re-death sense. [53]
  8. ^ Graham Harvey: "Siddhartha Gautama found an end to rebirth in this world of suffering. His teachings, known as the dharma in Buddhism, can be summarized in the Four Noble truths." [55] Geoffrey Samuel (2008): "The Four Noble Truths [...] describe the knowledge needed to set out on the path to liberation from rebirth." [56] See also [57] [58] [59] [49] [60] [55] [61] [web 2] [web 3]

    The Theravada tradition holds that insight into these four truths is liberating in itself. [62] This is reflected in the Pali canon. [63] According to Donald Lopez, "The Buddha stated in his first sermon that when he gained absolute and intuitive knowledge of the four truths, he achieved complete enlightenment and freedom from future rebirth." [web 2]

    The Maha-parinibbana Sutta also refers to this liberation. [web 4] Carol Anderson: "The second passage where the four truths appear in the Vinaya-pitaka is also found in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (D II 90–91). Here, the Buddha explains that it is by not understanding the four truths that rebirth continues." [64]

    On the meaning of moksha as liberation from rebirth, see Patrick Olivelle in the Encyclopædia Britannica. [web 5]
  11. ^ Ending rebirth:
  13. ^ This merit gaining may be on the behalf of one's family members. [96] [97] [98]
  14. ^ The realms in which a being is reborn are: [101] [102] [subnote 1]
    6. Devas including Brahmās: variously translated as gods, deities, angels, or heavenly beings. The vast majority of Buddhist lay people have historically pursued Buddhist rituals and practices motivated by rebirth into the Deva realm. [105] [108] [109]
  16. ^ The emphasis on intent in Buddhism marks its difference from the karma theory of Jainism where karma accumulates with or without intent. [118] [119] The emphasis on intent is also found in Hinduism, and Buddhism may have influenced karma theories of Hinduism. [120]
  17. ^ This Buddhist idea may have roots in the quid-pro-quo exchange beliefs of the Hindu Vedic rituals. [127] The "karma merit transfer" concept has been controversial, not accepted in later Jainism and Hinduism traditions, unlike Buddhism where it was adopted in ancient times and remains a common practice. [124] According to Bruce Reichenbach, the "merit transfer" idea was generally absent in early Buddhism and may have emerged with the rise of Mahayana Buddhism; he adds that while major Hindu schools such as Yoga, Advaita Vedanta and others do not believe in merit transfer, some bhakti Hindu traditions later adopted the idea just like Buddhism. [128]
  22. ^ Scholars [108] [109] note that better rebirth, not nirvana, has been the primary focus of a vast majority of lay Buddhists. This they attempt through merit accumulation and good kamma.
  24. ^ Williams refers to Frauwallner (1973) p.155
  25. ^ Many ancient Upanishads of Hinduism describe yoga and meditation as a means to liberation. [230] [231] [232]
  30. ^ The problem was famously voiced in 1936 by Louis de La Vallee Poussin, in his text Musila et Narada: Le Chemin de Nirvana. [255] See Louis de La Vallée Poussin, Musial and Narad. Translated from the French by Gelongma Migme Chödrön and Gelong Lodrö Sangpo.
  31. ^ Schmithausen: [256]
  33. ^ The Buddha never claimed that the "four immeasurables" were his unique ideas, in a manner similar to "cessation, quieting, nirvana". [268] The Buddhist scripture Digha Nikaya II.251 asserts the Buddha to be calling the Brahmavihara as "that practice", and he then contrasts it with "my practice". [268]

  36. ^ While some interpretations state that Buddhism may have originated as a social reform, other scholars state that it is incorrect and anachronistic to regard the Buddha as a social reformer. [358] Buddha's concern was "to reform individuals, help them to leave society forever, not to reform the world... he never preached against social inequality". Richard Gombrich, quoted by Christopher Queen. [358] [359]
  37. ^ The Digha Nikaya, Majjhima Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya and Anguttara Nikaya
  38. ^ The surviving portions of the scriptures of Sarvastivada, Mulasarvastivada, Mahīśāsaka, Dharmaguptaka and other schools. [379] [380]
  39. ^ Exemplary studies are the study on descriptions of "liberating insight" by Lambert Schmithausen, [256] the overview of early Buddhism by Tilmann Vetter, [135] the philological work on the four truths by K.R. Norman, [381] the textual studies by Richard Gombrich, [254] and the research on early meditation methods by Johannes Bronkhorst. [382]
  40. ^ Well-known proponents of the first position are A. K. Warder [subnote 2] and Richard Gombrich. [385] [subnote 3]
  41. ^ A proponent of the second position is Ronald Davidson. [subnote 4]
  42. ^ Well-known proponents of the third position are J.W. de Jong, [387] [subnote 5] Johannes Bronkhorst [subnote 6] and Donald Lopez. [subnote 7]
  43. ^ According to Schmithausen, "the karma doctrine may have been incidental to early Buddhist soteriology." [397]
  47. ^ "The south (of India) was then vigorously creative in producing Mahayana Sutras" Warder [433]
  50. ^ See e.g. the multi-dimensional classification in Encyclopedia of Religion [472]
  53. ^ According to Charles S. Prebish: [504] "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 ..."




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Printed sources

Online sources

  2. ^ a b c Donald Lopez, Four Noble Truths, Encyclopædia Britannica.
  3. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, The Truth of Rebirth And Why it Matters for Buddhist Practice
  7. ^ The Four Noble Truths – By Bhikkhu Bodhi

External links