Did The Buddha Invent Asia?

[camerata]

Did the Buddha invent Asia?

At its height Buddhism flourished across most of Asia. Leading Buddhism scholar Peter Skilling explains how Buddhist monks and nuns established networks of intellectual exchange that for centuries linked Asian societies, inspiring literature and philosophy, art and architecture, and social and ritual practice and affecting conceptions of time, cosmology, and governance. How did the teachings of one man influenced Asia so profoundly? What was the role of Buddhism in the geography of ideas in the pre-modern period? What were the unifying principles or ideologies that brought distant cultures into close relation? Was Buddhism in Asia the vanguard of globalisation? Peter Skilling addresses all of these questions.

Part 1: http://www.themonthly.com.au/did-buddha-in...r-skilling-1586

Part 2: http://www.themonthly.com.au/did-buddha-in...killing-p2-1585

[Datsun240Z]

It's interesting. Looking at this map:

I can say, that Christianity in not found in Asia, but mainly in the West.

Actually only some parts of Asia tend to be "Buddhism"

Edited August 26, 2009 by Datsun240Z

[camerata]

Maps of the "original extent" of Buddhism are a bit more impressive:

[fabianfred]

It's interesting. Looking at this map:

I can say, that Christianity in not found in Asia, but mainly in the West.

Actually only some parts of Asia tend to be "Buddhism"

not very accurate.... it has SriLankha, Laos & North thailand as not Buddhist

[Datsun240Z]

It's interesting. Looking at this map:

I can say, that Christianity in not found in Asia, but mainly in the West.

Actually only some parts of Asia tend to be "Buddhism"

not very accurate.... it has SriLankha, Laos & North thailand as not Buddhist

If you read it says for Laos: "traditonal and tribal " Same for China: " Chinese religions". Because China has many, not only Buddhism. Thailand in " General " can be seen as a buddhist country as a whole. Only in the northern and southern part it's mixed.

[IMA_FARANG]

Did the Buddha invent Asia?

At its height Buddhism flourished across most of Asia. Leading Buddhism scholar Peter Skilling explains how Buddhist monks and nuns established networks of intellectual exchange that for centuries linked Asian societies, inspiring literature and philosophy, art and architecture, and social and ritual practice and affecting conceptions of time, cosmology, and governance. How did the teachings of one man influenced Asia so profoundly? What was the role of Buddhism in the geography of ideas in the pre-modern period? What were the unifying principles or ideologies that brought distant cultures into close relation? Was Buddhism in Asia the vanguard of globalisation? Peter Skilling addresses all of these questions.

Part 1: http://www.themonthly.com.au/did-buddha-in...r-skilling-1586

Part 2: http://www.themonthly.com.au/did-buddha-in...killing-p2-1585

In my non-expert opinion,I would say that Buddhisim was one of the main influences in Asian society and it's development, but I wouldn't overlook the pre-buddhist influences of Hinduism and Indian philosophy. Those ideas were drifiting eastward to Southeast Asia before Buddhisim came. And from the north Chinese influence came southward into Vietnam. So, while Buddisim was a major contributor, we don't want to foget that there was a "culture" in Southeast Asia before Buddhisim showed itself.

Edited August 27, 2009 by IMA_FARANG

[tonytigerbkk]

I can say, that Christianity in not found in Asia, but mainly in the West.

Actually only some parts of Asia tend to be "Buddhism"

The Philippines is over 90% Christian and is definitely in Asia.

So Christianity is found in Asia.

Attached picture shows the dominance of Christianity in The Philippines.

Christianity - blue

Islam - Green

Regards,

Tiger

[Xangsamhua]

Perhaps the Buddha invented Asia in the following ways:

1. His teachings transcended the local - they had universal application and excluded no one (unlike caste-based Hinduism).

2. Missionaries travelled abroad to disseminate his dhamma.

So, his teachings and his followers connected parts of Asia with each other and with a common source.

I suppose the Mongols can also be said to have "created Asia" in that they got around and established dynasties under people like Kublai Khan, Genghiz Khan, Timur and their Turkic-Persian descendants, the Mughals. Of course, their influence didn't extend to Japan or Southeast Asia (except through slash-and burn peripatetic farmers like the Hmong).

A very interesting instance of how Buddhist monks got around was that of Xuanzang, the seventh century Chinese monk who travelled for 16 years among the people of Southwestern China, Central Asia and India as far south as Tamil Nadu. In a quixotic fashion he started out from Chang'an with a sick horse and a crazed guide. The horse died and the guide tried to murder him, but 16 years later, having influenced and won the friendship of many princes and khans along the way, he returned to Chang'an with 100 monks and a caravan laden with 500 trunks of Buddhist statuary and texts, which he then spent the rest of his life translating in addition to writing over 1000 scrolls of Buddhist logic, epistemology, etc. He also wrote a treatise on yogic practices. However, he is only remembered in China in connection with the novel The Journey to the West, also known as Monkey Kingdom or Monkey, which, in a highly mythologized form, is based on Xuanzang's adventures. (My children were devotees of Monkey Magic when it was on TV in the 80s, and it's still on TV here in Thailand today.)