Lausanne World Pulse – A Focus on South Asia: 340 Least-Reached Buddhist/Other People Groups Remain
After his death, his closest disciples held a council (traditionally thought to have taken place between 500 BC and 400 BC) to codify the teaching of their leader. This Buddhist council produced two oral records—the “Dharma,” which consisted of the spiritual teachings of the Buddha, and the “Vinya,” which consisted of the rules for organizing a Buddhist monastery. Over the years, sects developed among the followers of Buddha. The key doctrinal issue was the importance of monastic life in achieving enlightenment. Some Buddhists believed it was almost impossible to be enlightened without being a monk.
The Spread of Buddhism in South Asia
Buddhism spread widely in India only after Ashoka the Great, who ruled the Mauryan Empire from 273 to 232 BC, came to power. He converted from Hinduism to Buddhism after being horrified by his own bloody conquest of the kingdom of Kalinga, in what is now the Indian state of Orissa. In Buddhism, Ashoka found a religion that taught peace and tranquility and he soon sent missionaries around the world to spread this religion. We know from historical records that some of these missionaries went as far as Afghanistan, Egypt and Greece, although most traveled to other parts of South Asia. By the end of Askoka’s reign, Buddhism was practiced in all parts of India.
Around 100 BC a Buddhist council was called. A dispute had arisen because some Buddhist sects had accepted doctrinal texts written after a previous Buddhist council. This council was given the task of deciding which texts were orthodox and which were heretical. The council majority voted to translate all Buddhist texts into Sanskrit from the original Pali language. A minority faction argued that the Buddha had forbidden the translation of his teachings into non-Pali languages. The anti-translation faction walked out of the council and later formed the Theravada sect of Buddhism. The majority would later form the Mahayana sect of Buddhism.
After the council, the Theravada sect sought refuge in Sri Lanka, fearing persecution from the Mahayana sect. Missionaries sent out by King Ashoka had converted Sri Lanka to Buddhism 150 years earlier. From Sri Lanka, Theravada Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia in the years to come. Mahayana missionaries took their brand of Buddhism to China, where, after a couple of setbacks, it became widely accepted. The first big wave of Chinese conversions to Buddhism happened around the time of the birth of Christ. Chinese Buddhist missionaries eventually spread the Mahayana sect of their faith to Korea in 372 AD and Japan in 500 AD.
Buddhism Becomes an East Asian Religion As Buddhism took root in the Far East, it was slowly dying in India. By 1000 AD, an emphasis on monasticism had turned Buddhism into an elitist religion, cut off from the masses. A new form of Hinduism was also spreading across India, one that accepted Buddha as a reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.
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