Talk:History of Buddhism

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Contents 1 Councils 2 Maps on the Spread Of Buddhism 3 Schools 4 Ashoka Column picture removed 5 religious implication

[edit] Councils

The current descriptions of the Councils are highly inadequate, characterized by a biassed Theravadin POV. It is rather a shame that my previous articles have been removed and replaced by what, in the case of the Second Council in particular, is sheer fantasy almost completely devoid of any historical content. The scholarly standards are typified by the fact that the good writer, though of 100% Theravadin affiliation, is unable to even spell Theravada correctly. All the articles on the Councils need to be completely re-written to accord with Wikepedia's neutral POV policy. Sujato.

I'll try to help, but can you point to the articles in question that were removed and replaced?—Nat Krause^(Talk!) 06:05, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Maps on the Spread Of Buddhism

The maps on the spread of Buddhism are rather hard to read, pixelated, and in general not as helpful as they could be. A great map of the spread by Houghton Mifflin Compnay (the textbook people) is here. http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/mpratt/1110Tele/MapAsiaBuddhism.htm The problem is it's copyrigted. Could we claim fair use or could someone with graphics knowledge take a map of asia and draw in the cities and arrows. If we did the latter, we could seek to illustrate the information in the article better instead of just emulating the textbook map. For example, we could have some sort of color coded timeline.

I would do this but am not good with graphics.

Ed-it 19:53, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Schools

In time, up to 18 schools of the traditional Buddhist thought arose, the only remaining one today being the Eastern Theravada school. I don't understand this: what about the Mahayana school? Are these 18 schools confined to an earlier period? Markalexander100 05:02, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Yes, Mahayana is typically seen as a later development ... at least Mahayana as a school is. The wording "in time," should still be more specific. Personally, I think the idea of "the 18 schools" seems like an anachronistic oversimplification, but I don't know enough about it to speak authoritatively. - Nat Krause 05:17, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Introduced the following paragraph at the end of the life of the Buddha: "The Buddha's reluctance to name a successor or to formalize his doctrine led to the emergence of many mouvements during the next 400 years: first the schools of Nikaya Buddhism, of which only Theravada remains today, and then the formation of Mahayana, a pan-Buddhist mouvement based on the acceptance of new scriptures.". Indeed clearer I hope. PHG 12:54, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Several kingdoms competed for influence in the region, the Cambodian Funan, then the Theravada Buddhist Burmese Mon kingdoms. What does this have to do with the history of Buddhism? Markalexander100 05:06, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Dropped the phrase PHG 12:54, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

The Buddhist faith was probably introduced from Central Asia: the first translators of Buddhists scripture were either Parthian like An Shigao (c. 148 CE), or Kushan. Translators into Chinese, or some other language? Markalexander100 05:31, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Into Chinese. Added in the text. PHG 12:54, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

He ... forced the faith to go underground, therefore affecting the ulterior development of the religion and its arts in China. This is very cryptic. What was this effect? Markalexander100 05:34, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Modified for "Throughout his territory, he confiscated Buddhist possessions, destroyed monateries and temples, and executed Buddhist monks, ending Buddhism's cultural and intellectual dominance." PHG 12:54, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Pure Land and Chan Buddhism however, at the origin of Japanese Zen, Were they both sources of Zen? Or just Chan? Markalexander100 05:36, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Addressed this point. Pure Land influence on Zen is minimal, except in the Obaku sect. - Nat Krause 06:45, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Thanks both of you! Markalexander100 00:47, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Is Buddhism a religion? My understanding was that it was not a religion.

It is, depeding on POV.

A bit could be said on the interaction of Sri Lankan, Myanmar en Thai Theravada over the last 500 centuries. Several times these countries relied on each oether to revive the lokal Sangha. 81.155.112.208 10:46, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ashoka Column picture removed

This picture was removed because of possible copyright violation. The copyright notice on Wikipedia incorrectly stated that the picture is from buddha101.com and used with the permission of the author of that site. The picture is not on buddha101.com and no permission was given.

[edit] religious implication