The main ideas and directions of Buddhism

Buddha statue (India)

The teachings of Buddhism are presented in the form of special collections. The central place is occupied by the canon, written in the Pali language (therefore also called Pali) - "Tipitaka" (which means "Three baskets"):

Vinaya Pitaka (Basket of Discipline)

"Sutra Pitaka" ("Basket of Conversations")

"Abhidhamma Pitaka" ("Basket" containing the foundations of the teachings mentioned in the second "basket")

The doctrine is based on the "four great truths":

1. Life is suffering.

2. The cause of all suffering is desire.

3. Suffering can be stopped by giving up all desires.

4. To do this, you need to lead a virtuous life according to the laws of “correct behavior” and correct knowledge ”(do not kill or harm anyone, do not steal, do not lie, do not commit adultery and do not use mind-intoxicating drinks, engage in inner contemplation (meditate)).

Buddhism belongs to polytheistic religions, in which there is no single creator god. Buddhists believe that there are many worlds and spaces in which life develops from birth to death and new rebirth.

By the beginning of our era, two directions were formed in Buddhism:

"Narrow" path of salvation (Hinayana) - only monks can be saved (ie, attain nirvana);

"Wide" path of salvation (Mahayana) - all believers can be saved. In the III - I centuries. BC. Buddhism spread south and southeast of India in the form of the Hinayana. From the beginning of our era, Buddhism began to advance to the north and northeast in the form of the Mahayana.

In India itself at the beginning of the second millennium A.D. Buddhism practically disappeared, the surviving monks settled in Nepal and Tibet.

Buddhism in Russia

Historical reference

The first evidence of the existence of Buddhism on the territory of modern Russia dates back to the 8th century A.D. and are associated with the state of Bohai, which in 698-926. occupied part of today's Primorye and Amur region. The Bohai people, whose culture was greatly influenced by neighboring China, Korea and Manchuria, practiced Buddhism of one of the Mahayana directions.

The second penetration of Buddhism into Russia took place in the 16th – 17th centuries, when nomadic tribes from western Mongolia - who called themselves Oirats, and others known as Kalmyks - came to the Volga region through Siberia. The Oirats adopted Tibetan Buddhism as early as the 13th century, and they received their initial initiations from the lamas of the "red-cap" schools of Sakya and Kagyu. By the time they came to the Volga region, due to the peculiarities of the political situation in Tibet, they mostly moved to Gelug, the school of the Dalai Lamas.

Since the 17th century, Tibetan Buddhism also spread to Buryatia - it came here thanks to local ascetics who studied in Tibet, mainly in Gelug monasteries, and then brought the Buddha's Teachings to their country.

In 1741, by the decree of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, Buddhism was recognized as one of the Russian religions.

For centuries, Buddhist culture has developed on the territory of Russia. The presence of two Buddhist regions within the empire and the close proximity of other countries with Buddhist culture largely contributed to the fact that in the 19th - early 20th centuries, one of the most powerful oriental schools in the world was formed in Russia. At the universities of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Kharkov, as well as other large scientific centers, departments of Sanskritology, Tibetology, Sinology were opened, the most important Buddhist treatises were translated, expeditions to Asia were equipped. V.P. Vasiliev (1818-1900), F.I. Shcherbatsky (1866-1942), E.E. Obermiller (1901–1935) and other prominent Russian orientalists serve as a model for scientists all over the world. With the active assistance of leading Buddhists and the support of the tsarist government, the Buryat lama Aghvan Dordzhiev in 1915 built a datsan (Buddhist temple) in St. Petersburg.

In the difficult 30s of the XX century, a period of persecution of Buddhism and Buddhology as a science began. Many lamas and monks died in the camps, most temples and monasteries were closed or destroyed. For almost two decades in Russia, any Buddhological research has completely ceased.

A partial revival of Buddhism and the Buddhist tradition began in the 1950s and 1960s, but they were officially rehabilitated only at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. In 1989, a Buddhology group of the St. Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences was created under the leadership of V.I. Rudogo is the first officially formalized Buddhist direction since the time of Shcherbatsky. Since then, other branches and departments of Buddhology have also appeared in several universities, and the process of restoration of Oriental studies in general is progressing more and more rapidly. At the same time, surviving Buddhist temples are being restored and new ones are being opened in Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva, educational institutions are being created at monasteries, and Tibetan teachers are invited. Currently, many Buddhist schools are represented in Russia: Theravada, Japanese and Korean Zen, several directions of the Mahayana and practically all schools of Tibetan Buddhism that exist in the world. According to the latest census, about 900,000 Russians call themselves Buddhists.

Today the Russian Association of Diamond Way Buddhists of the Karma Kagyu Tradition is the largest Buddhist organization in the Russian Federation in terms of representation in the subjects of the Federation.

Modern Buddhism

Modern Buddhism: Main Features

At the moment, Buddhism, despite the upheavals that it suffered in the 20th century, is one of the three world religions, numbering about 800 million followers, most of whom live in East and Southeast Asia. The end of the existence of an independent Buddhist state came in 1959, when China captured Lhasa, after which the XIV Dalai Lama was forced to leave the Holy City and continue his missionary work to spread the Buddhist doctrine outside his homeland. Currently, the conflict between the Chinese government and the Buddhist hierarchs headed by the Dalai Lama remains unresolved, therefore, numerous Buddhists living in China are forced to do without the spiritual guidance of their mentor and leader, although a separate Buddhist Church of China was organized at the suggestion of the Chinese Communist Party having its own chapter. The XIV Dalai Lama is active in educational activities, visiting with official or unofficial visits almost all countries of the world where Buddhist communities exist (in 2004 he visited Russia).

German religious scholar G. Rothermundt identifies the following directions of the activation of Buddhism in the XX century.

1. Strengthening the role of Buddhism in both a purely religious and political aspect in Southeast Asia. Already in 1950, the World Brotherhood of Buddhists was organized in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), the seat of which was moved to Thailand a few years later. The manifestations of this Buddhist "renaissance" became especially noticeable in the 1960s, which was served by the active protests of Buddhist monks against the use of napalm by the United States during the war with Vietnam. Several monks in 1963 and 1970 staged a public self-immolation in protest against such an inhuman method of warfare.

2. The emergence of new religious trends and sects, in the creed of which the principles of the Buddhist religion dominate. This process is especially active in Japan, where there is a reorientation of traditional Buddhist views in the light of modern problems and questions to which ordinary people demand answers from religion. So, by the mid-1960s. the number of Buddhist sects in Japan has exceeded 165, although this number does not mean the quality assimilation of Buddhist teachings. Most of these sects focus their attention not on questions of dogma, but, interpreting the basic provisions of the Buddhist religion in a simplified manner, address pressing social issues, for example, they try to solve the issue of justifying the widespread use of technical innovations from a religious standpoint.

3. Revival of the Buddhist movement in India. Almost disappearing on the Indian subcontinent in the Middle Ages under pressure from orthodox Hindus and Muslims, Buddhism is gradually returning to its homeland. This is evidently explained by the change in Indian society itself, which is gradually being freed from the caste and varna enslavement, which requires corresponding changes in the religious system. Buddhism turns out to be more convenient and in demand by wide sections of the population. The first steps towards the return of Buddhism were associated with the decision of the Indian government to allocate territory in the north of the country for the location of the residence of the Dalai Lama, expelled from Tibet in 1959. It was on the territory of this residence that the First World Council of Buddhists was held in 1976, with delegates from almost all over the world.

4. Striving for the gradual unification of various Buddhist sects. This process goes parallel to the formation of new sects, but it is aimed at reaching an agreement between the traditional directions of Buddhism, primarily between representatives of the Mahayana and Hinayana. Despite the differences that exist between representatives of different directions of Buddhist teachings, the Dalai Lama in recent years has been trying to intensify the process of centralization of various sects and schools under the auspices of Tibetan Buddhism.

5. Intensification of missionary activity and penetration of Buddhism into the countries of Western Europe and the USA. A special role in this process should be recognized for Dr. Suzuki (1870-1960), a representative of Japanese Zen Buddhism. Numerous books and brochures written by him in a popular science style, which in a simple and accessible form set out the postulates of Zen Buddhist teachings, became especially popular in the second half of the 20th century. Of course, such an interpretation of the Buddhist canon leads to an almost complete rejection of rituals and ceremonies, but much attention is paid to koans - riddles that cannot be solved with the help of logic, but can push a person to instant insight. The confession of Buddhism in such a simplified form led to a fashion for other oriental teachings - feng shui, fortune telling from the book of the I Ching, etc.

To these five directions of activating Buddhism, we can add a sixth - the restoration and rapid development of Buddhism on the territory of Russia. The history of Russian Buddhism dates back to the 18th century, when peoples traditionally professing the Buddhist religion - Kalmyks and Buryats - joined the Russian Empire (at the beginning of the 20th century, they were joined by Tuvans). Before the revolution of 1917, Buddhism was under the patronage of the Russian government: under the datsans, according to the decree of Empress Elizabeth I of 1741, schools were opened in which the indigenous population studied. One of the mentors of the future Dalai Lama XIII was the Buryat lama Aghvan Dorzhiev.

After the October Revolution in Russia, a struggle began both against shamanists and against Buddhists. In 1931, the Mongolian and Kalmyk-Oirat types of writing were replaced by the Latin alphabet, in 1939 - by the Cyrillic alphabet. From 1927 to 1938, all 47 datsans and dugans that previously existed in the Baikal region and Buryatia were closed and destroyed. From 1938 to 1946, not a single datsan operated, only in 1947 two monasteries - Ivolginsky and Aginsky - resumed their work. The next increase in the number of datsans occurred only in 1991, but it was significant - by 10 at once. At present, it is in the Ivolginsky datsan that the residence of the head of Russian Buddhists and the governor of the Dalai Lama of KSU, who bears the title of Bandido Hambo Lama, is located.

During its existence, Buddhism has taken deep roots in Asian countries, where it continues to exert a strong influence on public and state life. In many of these, Buddhism is the state religion, and in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, heads of state lead the Buddhist church.

In countries where the influence of Buddhism is strong, there are many monks: suffice it to say that in Cambodia one in twenty men is a monk. In Burma. There are monasteries in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand in almost every village. Temples are being built both with money collected by monks and believers, and with funds allocated by the state. Often the population participates in construction by their own labor. The life of the countryside is closely connected with the monastery. On holidays, the monastery becomes the center of festive ceremonies. On weekdays, he is a village school, where monks are teachers, and Buddhist books are textbooks. A Buddhist monk, until he has taken off his toga, cannot be arrested, he cannot be a witness in a secular court, and he himself cannot apply to a secular court. He cannot be drafted into the army, he cannot participate in elections to government bodies, in politics in general. While not officially participating in political life, monasticism actually exerts a very serious influence on it. Monasteries often enjoy more prestige than government offices.

A number of Buddhist authors advocate the spread of Buddhism throughout the world, believing that the "great revolution of social thought" can only be achieved by "displacing Western materialistic social and individual spiritual values \u200b\u200band affirming true values \u200b\u200bbased on the teachings of the Buddha." Entire programs of Buddhist propaganda outside Asia are being drawn up and widely disseminated by a number of international Buddhist organizations. Zen Buddhism has some success in European countries and the USA. Her teaching that through contemplation and self-contemplation can be achieved enlightenment, comprehending the true essence of the world is in tune with the moods of some of the youth and the intelligentsia. Zen Buddhism is attractive to them because it promises people to achieve complete inner independence from society without leaving for a hermit, without taking on any strict vows that could in any way disrupt the ordinary way of life for those who have accepted this faith. According to this teaching, a person can achieve inner independence from society, "complete serenity of the spirit" without much effort, without transforming this society, while maintaining its foundations.

Interest in Buddhism on the part of the world community has sharply raised in our time the question of the synthesis of Western (rationalistic, objective) culture and Eastern (contemplative, non-rationalistic) Indo-Buddhist psychoculture. As is known, the selfless activity of the great Russian intellectuals N.K. and E.I. Roerichs. They believed that the synthesis (interaction) of two cultures is capable of spiritually enriching the modern culture of mankind, freeing it from both the extremes of Western rationalism and the extremes of Eastern mysticism and psychologism.

To date, the followers of Buddhism in the world according to various sources, there are from 400 to 700 million people. This discrepancy in figures is due to the fact that the censuses of Buddhists have never been conducted, and certain religious trends, schools and organizations tend to overestimate the number of their adherents. The number of followers of Buddhism in the CIS countries (there are more of them in Russia) is approaching 1 million.

Being a world religion, Buddhism, as it integrated into the culture of the countries of its spread, itself became a part of this culture, national psychology, the way of life of the peoples professing it. All this allows us to consider Buddhism as a religious-philosophical and historical-cultural complex, which makes it possible to approach it both as a religion (of a particular confession), and as a philosophy, and as a psychology (Buddhism is primarily focused on changing consciousness), and as an ideology, and as a cultural phenomenon.

Buddhism is practiced by a significant part of the population of such states as Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Kampuchea, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Korea, Japan, and to a lesser extent in Nepal and Indonesia. The overwhelming majority in Mongolia and Bhutan are Lamaists. In our country, most of the followers of Buddhism live in Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia.

A feature of the second half of the 20th century is the fact of the unification of Buddhist organizations into international associations of Buddhists, which set themselves the task of solving urgent problems of the era, primarily the preservation of peace. The first such large organization was established in 1950, in Colombo, the World Buddhist Brotherhood (WBB). Later - in June 1970. - a new organization, the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABKM), was created. It currently has 17 national centers in 13 Asian countries and Russia. The IX General Conference of the "Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace" peacekeeping organization was held in July 1983. in Buryatia and was held under the motto "Spiritual development makes the world sustainable."

Buddhism was officially recognized in Russia in 1741. by the decree of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Buddhism, inextricably linked with the more ancient traditions of the peoples of Buryatia, Tuva, Kalmykia, and became part of their national culture. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 46 monasteries and 15 thousand lamas (monks) in Buryatia, 105 small temples and 5 thousand lamas in Kalmykia, 33 temples and about 4 thousand lamas in Tuva. The first Tibetan-Russian dictionary was published in St. Petersburg, prepared by a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yakov Schmidt. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the famous Buddhist figure Aghvan Dorzhiev initiated the creation of a Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg and on August 10, 1915. the temple was consecrated and opened. It was called "the source of the Holy Teachings (Buddhism) of the Hermit-Lord (Buddha), compassionate for everyone", and more briefly - "The Source of the Teachings of the Buddha, compassion for all living things." The temple was dedicated to Kalachakra ("Wheel of Time"). The abbot of the temple was the Buryat lama Ganzhirva Gegen (from the Dutsal monastery), there were 20 lamas in the staff. The history of the temple in the future is very sad: it was plundered in 1919, and in 1932. although the temple was not officially closed, in fact it no longer functioned. In 1937. all lamas were repressed, including 90-year-old Aghvan Dorzhiev. In 1938. the temple with the adjacent territory was transferred to the state. All ritual items, except for the altar statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, thrown into the Malaya Nevka River, were transferred to the Museum of History and Atheism (Kazan Cathedral). Much later, the temple was taken under state protection.

The decree on the separation of church from state and school from church of January 23, 1918, due to the later establishment of Soviet power in the Far East, Transbaikalia and Kalmykia, compared to the central regions, remained unrealized for a long time. In the 1930s, the political struggle was directed against both conservatives and supporters of the renewal of Buddhism. As a result, almost all Buddhist temples were closed or destroyed, and thousands of monks were destroyed. In 1931. old Mongolian writing was replaced by Latin, and in 1939. - Russian.

During the Great Patriotic War, a movement began among the Buddhist clergy of our country for the restoration of confessional organizations. In 1946. A meeting of Buddhist leaders was held, at which the Statute on Buddhist Clergy in the USSR was adopted, containing the basic principles of cooperation between the Buddhist community and the Soviet state, and loyalty to the socialist system was emphasized. In 1947. Ivolginsky Datsan was built 40 km south of Ulan-Ude. Soon the Aginsky Datsan resumed its work.

Currently in our country there is a process of religious revival, including Buddhism. June 28, 1989 the Buddhist Society was officially registered in Leningrad (Petersburg). If in 1989. 2 religious associations of Buddhists were officially registered, then in 1991. - already 16, in 1993 - 52, in 1996. - 124 religious organizations. More than 20 datsans operate in Buryatia, 10 Buddhist communities are registered in Tuva. Currently Buddhism in Russia is professed by about 1 million. person.

Buddhism in Russia is quite diverse, its ideas are popular among young people and intellectuals who do not belong to any specific Buddhist community.

At present, Buddhism, as we already know, has spread throughout the world. Buddhists can be found everywhere: in Europe, America, Asia, Africa.

It should be said that until 1959 there was a country whose head was the supreme servant of one of the Buddhist movements - Lamaism. We are talking about Tibet, which was a theocratic state, and its official ruler, the Dalai Lama. In 1959, Tibet was invaded by China.

At the time of the arrival of the Chinese, Tibet was a feudal society. Half of the six million people of Tibet led a nomadic lifestyle, a third of the adult population was engaged in agriculture; 15% of the population of Tibet were monks, in other words - beggars who led a certain, long-established way of life. Since in Buddhist countries it has been the duty of believers to give alms from time immemorial, begging there does not meet with such disapproval as in the countries of the West. Nevertheless, this state of affairs influenced life in the region as a whole. Although hardly anyone will disagree with the fact that a beggar monk is different from a beggar who hunts in megacities, who seeks to profit at someone else's expense.

In addition to the role of guardians of spiritual traditions, monks in Tibet performed other activities, sometimes extremely unpleasant. For example, some of the monks were preparing the corpses for cremation. Traditional caring for their neighbors ordered them to separate meat from bones, cremate the meat, and grind bones into flour so that birds and animals could eat them. The corpses of the poor were simply let down the river so that the fish could eat them.

The villages provided themselves with everything they needed themselves. The surplus went to donations to churches, monasteries and the poor. There was no unemployment in Tibet, social development was not a dominant idea. Tibet lived on its own and had no desire to change anything. The head of state and church in Tibet, as we have said, was the Dalai Lama, who was considered the embodiment of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

After the Chinese invasion, many monasteries were destroyed. But the worst thing for the Tibetans was that the Dalai Lama was forced to leave the country. One hundred thousand Tibetans chose to go into exile after their leader. They still regard Buddhism as their religion and the core of their national culture.

In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, the Dalai Lama approached the United Nations with a question about the fate of Tibet. The General Assembly adopted three resolutions, however, China was in no hurry to respond positively to any of them. Meanwhile, Tibet was shaken by social, economic, political and military changes. Outbreaks of resistance by local residents were systematically suppressed.

It would seem that in the years since the Chinese invasion, the situation in Tibet should have changed for the better. Yes, I would very much like to end the story about Tibet on this optimistic note, but alas ... And if things in other Buddhist countries of the world are proceeding with varying success (as, indeed, in the non-Buddhist world), life for Tibetans has not improved at all. Anti-government protests have become commonplace. Tibetans today live in the People's Republic of China in a complete absence of political rights, unable to communicate with their government, which is still in exile. For many indigenous people, there was a real threat of resettlement to ghettos, arranged in a remote part of the mountains. The Chinese government in Beijing made it absolutely clear that after the death of the current fourteenth Dalai Lama, it will be China that will look for his new incarnation ...

Desperate monks commit public acts of suicide by self-immolation near government offices, but this is unlikely to improve the situation in any way.

It got to the point that the Dalai Lama in exile, who heads there a tiny - in the planetary sense - community, which today is about one hundred and fifty thousand people and to whose opinion the world does not particularly listen, announced that he was leaving his post of head of state ... A man known for his enlightenment, an unyielding supporter of the idea of \u200b\u200bworld peace, a Nobel laureate and a person who enjoys incredible prestige both among the Tibetans and, incidentally, among the Chinese (which, however, did not prevent the capture of his homeland by this country), the current Dalai -Lama has always taken an active life position. And since the Chinese invasion of Tibet, it has fought tirelessly to restore peace and tranquility there. Now the seventy-six-year-old Dalai Lama has come up with the idea of \u200b\u200bfree democratic elections (the very possibility of which, in principle, is provided by his own new constitution, issued for Tibetans after the Chinese invasion) of government and separation of the state from religion. Despite the fact that the Dalai Lama cannot refuse the role of spiritual leader with all his will (perhaps he does not have such an intention), millions of his compatriots, for whom the word of the Dalai Lama has always been an immutable truth, beg him to change his mind.

It is unlikely that China will be greatly concerned about such a step by the Tibetan leader, who is in distant emigration, to whom he, apparently, is trying to convey to the Beijing government the idea that neither with his departure, nor with death, the problem of Tibet will not disappear anywhere and, sooner or later, but it will have to be reconciled.

It is bitter to realize that even the seemingly benevolent and humane world of Buddhism is unable to avoid tragic cataclysms. Well, samsara is samsara, here no one is immune from anything.

Nevertheless, as we have already understood, Buddhism is one of the most striking and original phenomena, thanks to the existence of which high human ideals will never lose their value even in such a complex, unstable and contradictory place as our material world.

Buddhism left to descendants an incredible number of monuments of culture, art, architecture and continues to create new ones that our children and grandchildren will be able to see.

Statues of Buddha, like the figures of Jesus Christ in churches, are always present in every Buddhist temple. And many of them have their own history. But among them there are certainly unique statues, and one of them is the Golden Buddha from Wat Traimit in Bangkok.

Take, for example, its size: this huge statue is almost three meters high and weighs five and a half tons! The eyes of the Golden Buddha are made of black Thai sapphires and the whites of the eyes are made of pearls.

For a long time, this miracle of the Buddhist tradition was hidden from human eyes. While the figure was in one of the temples of the former capital of Thailand, it was believed that it was cast from plaster. The thing is that during the war with Burma, many precious statues were covered with cement or plaster, so that they would not be damaged during the bombing or from looters. And, as we can see, the idea was a success!

The story of the new discovery of the Golden Buddha is full of mystical coincidences. For example, when a new temple was built in Bangkok, they decided not to cast a new sculpture for it, but to take one of the existing ones. It was then, during the loading, that the precious statue was dropped. Gold shone from the hole in the plaster! The huge sculpture, washed and cleaned, turned out to be completely gold!

Besides the fact that the statue of the Golden Buddha is one of the largest - it is also very ancient! It is believed that it was cast 700 years ago, during the reign of King Ramkamhen, who not only sought to impress the viewer's imagination with a majestic work of art, but also pursued a different goal: it is believed that he invested all the gold of the country in the Golden Buddha, and thus it served spiritual purposes rather than being wasted on luxury goods.

In addition to Buddha statues, monasteries and temples are constant companions of the Buddhist tradition, which amaze with their original beauty. For example, the Dambulla Golden Temple, the largest Buddhist cave complex in South Asia, is widely known. It was carved in the 1st century BC. e. in the rocks. It was presented as a gift to Buddhist monks by the ruler of Sri Lanka. It houses the most famous 14-meter statue of the reclining Buddha with his devoted disciple Ananda at his feet. It recreates the moment the Buddha enters nirvana. The largest cave houses the Temple of the Great Rulers, featuring 16 standing Buddha statues and 40 Buddha statues in meditation.

The temple complex was built in a picturesque mountainous area and includes several caves located at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level. In addition, there are many niches in it, the surface of which is painted with amazing Buddhist wall paintings. The temple has 5 main caves and 25 rock cells, or rather what is left of them. In different caves there are 153 Buddha figures, three statues of the rulers of Sri Lanka, several statues of gods and goddesses; the walls are covered with Buddhist paintings (total area 2100 m 2). It is believed that this temple houses the largest collection of Buddha statues, many of which are truly ancient - over two thousand years old.

Dambulla received its name - "golden" - due to the fact that seventy-three of its statues are covered with real gold. This temple is located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, near the city of Matale, and has been a place of pilgrimage for many centuries. Today, the Dambulla Golden Temple is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and is protected by law.

Another famous temple, which cannot be ignored, is the White Horse Temple, 13 km east of the Chinese city of Luoyang, built during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is the most revered Buddhist temple in China (after Tibetan). The history of the founding of the temple is interesting: in 67 AD. e. The second emperor of the Han Dynasty sent two envoys to India to collect Buddhist scriptures. When the ambassadors reached Afghanistan, they met with two Indian monks who gave them Buddhist sutras and statues and agreed to go to China, to Luoyang, where the country's first Buddhist temple was founded. Since the statues and scriptures were transported on the back of a white horse, the temple was named so - the Temple of the White Horse. In front of him, during the Song Dynasty, were installed two stone statues depicting horses. To the east there is a 13-storey pagoda built in the 10th-11th centuries.

Another example is the amazing Mogao Cave, which means "a cave not for tall ones" - the largest cave of the early Buddhist cave complex of Qianfodong, erected in 353–366. n. e. 25 km from the Dunhuang oasis in China. This temple complex will not be able to leave indifferent any connoisseur of beauty. Qianfodong, which is more often called Mogao (after the name of the main cave), unites 492 sanctuaries, which were decorated with frescoes and sculptures for a whole millennium (IV-XIV centuries)!

Mogao is one of the earliest Buddhist temples in China. Its appearance on the very border of the Takla-Makan desert is not accidental: it was here that caravans of silk once passed, along with which Buddhist teachings infiltrated into China. Unlike the later cave temples - Longmen and Yungang - in Mogao, it is not sculpture that dominates, but fresco painting, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich is equal to 42,000 m 2!

At the very beginning of the 20th century, in one of the caves of the complex, a huge warehouse of manuscripts was discovered, consisting of about 20,000 objects! Scholars suggest that they were folded here in the 11th century, when the manuscripts began to be replaced by printed books.

The Mogao manuscript fund is diverse in content and dating: these are Buddhist, Taoist and other texts, treatises on philosophy, mathematics, medicine, dictionaries, classical Chinese poetry, and official documents. Among the manuscript monuments of Mogao there is the "Book of Fortune-telling" - a unique text written in the Turkic runic script and, in addition, the first printed "Diamond Sutra" dated about 868.

Most of the frescoes in Mogao are dedicated to the Buddha and his sermons, as well as bodhisattvas, apsara fairies, monks and believers. Many of the paintings reproduce authentic events from the history of the spread of Buddhism.

Almost in all caves there are images of flying apsaras, which have long colorful ribbons instead of wings. Other murals are dedicated to the events of everyday life. Here you can see scenes of hunting, fishing, agricultural work, there are also images of soldiers, musicians, wedding ceremonies, and the frescoes depict people of different nationalities and social strata.

The next cave complex related to Buddhism that needs to be mentioned is Longmen.

Longmen Cave Temples (literally: "Stone Caves at the Dragon Gate") are located 12 km south of Luoyang City. Along with Mogao and Yungang, they are considered one of the three most significant cave temple complexes in China. The caves stretch south of Luoyang for a kilometer along the slopes of the Xianshan (Eastern Mountains) and Longmenshan (Western Mountains) mountains, between which the Yi River flows. They got their name Longmen (Dragon Gate) due to the fact that two mountains through which the river And passes, like a gate.

Longmen Caves are the pinnacle of Buddhist cave temple art in China. According to official estimates, there are 1,352 caves, 2,345 grottoes and hollows with 43 temples, which contain about 2,800 inscriptions, 785 icon cases, 97 thousand statues of Buddhas and more than 3,680 monuments and sculptures with calligraphic inscriptions, in total about 100 thousand images of a religious nature. The total length of rocks with artificial caves is 1 km. The bas-reliefs traditionally depict Buddha surrounded by bodhisattvas, sometimes - Buddha in the company of his first disciples, Ananda and Kashyapa.

Longmen Caves have gone through two stages of development. The creation of temples began in 493 during the Northern Wei Dynasty, but almost 60% of the statues date back to the Tang Dynasty (7th – 10th centuries), when a large number of caves were created, which contain true masterpieces of Buddhist art. Thus, the Longmen Caves have a history of over 400 years.

Unfortunately, many sculptures were stolen by foreigners in the 19th - early 20th centuries and settled in state museums and private collections in the West. Thus, two large murals are in the Metropolitan Museums in New York and Atkinson in Kansas City. It is surprising that the Red Guards brigades during the "Cultural Revolution" did not touch the caves at all, although they stood without any protection.

Guyang-tung Cave is one of the oldest caves in Long-Men, created between 428 and 488. The cave is covered with randomly located niches, which are carved with the names of the craftsmen, the time and reason for the creation of each cave room. It also features images of members of the imperial family and aristocrats from the Northern Wei Dynasty. Three rows of Buddha statues of different sizes are carved into the north and south walls.

Most of the cave temples are located on the west bank of the river and are called Bingyang Caves. They stretch along the cliff face along the north-south axis.

The Three Bingyang Caves were created by order of the Xuanwu Emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty in memory of his parents, and later himself. However, only in one cave - the middle one - the work was completed. It took 802 326 workers and 24 years of hard work to build this cave. Inside the entrance, on two walls, there are two large sculptural images "The Emperor and Empress Presenting a Gift to Buddha."

In Fengtian-si Cave, which is the largest of the Longmen Caves, there is a sculptural complex of the Ancestral Memorial Temple, created by order of Empress Wu Zetian, the first and only woman who formally and solely ruled China in all its history.

The complex consists of a central statue - Lusheng Buddha, 17.14 m high; statues of the disciples of Lusheng, Tianwan (God of Heaven), paired statues of heroes and donors for the temple. The Buddha statue is considered the pinnacle of Chinese Buddhist art.

A short walk south of Bingyang is another famous complex - the Cave of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Thousands of Buddhas are actually small bas-reliefs on the walls of the cave. There is also a large and beautiful statue of Buddha and images of apsaras - heavenly liberated creatures, and musicians. The Ten Thousand Buddha Cave in Longmen is another masterpiece of the Tang era. It was created in 680 AD. e. in honor of Emperor Gao-tsung and Empress Wu

In 2000, it was decided to inscribe the Longmen Caves in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List.

It is also impossible not to mention Tanzhe - a large Buddhist temple complex, one of the most famous temples in China. It is located west of Beijing, in the Xishan Mountains. It was built in the Jin era (2nd half of the 3rd - the beginning of the 5th century AD). The name of the complex comes from the name of the Tanzheshan Mountain, which, in turn, owes it to the nearby Dragon Pond (Longtan) and the zhe trees growing on its banks.

Interestingly, according to legend, the daughter of Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, Princess Miaoyang, who once became a Buddhist nun, was once buried on the territory of Tanzhe.

And, of course, we cannot but tell about the Potala. The Potala Palace, located in the city of Lhasa in Tibet, is not only the ruler's courtyard, but also the Buddhist temple complex, which was the main residence of the Dalai Lama, until the time when the XIV Dalai Lama was forced to seek political asylum in India after the Chinese invasion to Tibet. The complex is located on a high hill near the city, its total area is 360 thousand m 2!

It is known that in 637 the ruler of Tibet erected the first building of the future complex in the place where he used to meditate. When he made Lhasa his capital, he built a palace, which was later expanded to 999 rooms. In addition, defensive walls and towers were erected here, and a bypass channel was dug.

A sad fate befell the palace in the second half of the 8th century: lightning hit it and the wooden buildings burned down. And even later, due to internecine wars, the palace was completely destroyed. Only Fa-Wana Cave and Pabalakan Hall have survived to this day.

The palace in its present form began to be built in 1645 at the initiative of the Dalai Lama V. In 1648, the White Palace (Potrang Karpo) was rebuilt, and the Potala began to be used as the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas. The Red Palace (Potrang Marpo) was completed four decades later. It is known that the best craftsmen from Tibet, Nepal and China took part in this grandiose construction.

Researchers suggest that the name of the palace comes from the name of the legendary Mount Potala, on which, according to legend, lives the great bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, whose embodiment on Earth is the Dalai Lama.

The palace is located at an altitude of 3700 m on Red Hill (Marpo Ri) in the middle of the Lhasa Valley. Numerous pilgrims walk around the hill, making a bark - a ritual tour of the holy place. Along the crust are numerous prayer drums and stalls.

The White Palace consists of the Great East Pavilion, the Sun Pavilion, the quarters of the regent and mentor of the Dalai Lama, and government offices. The Great East Pavilion was used for official ceremonies, while the Sun Pavilion was where the Dalai Lama actually lived and worked.

The Red Palace served as a place of prayers and religious rituals, in which eight memorial stupas are of great importance, including the fifth and thirteenth Dalai Lamas. In addition to stupas, the palace includes large and small halls - temples dedicated to Buddhas, bodhisattvas, Dalai Lamas, as well as rooms for audiences and ceremonies. Various jewels and relics are on display in the halls: mandalas, memorial stupas, statues of deities, Dalai Lamas and gurus, books, ritual objects. The walls of the palace are covered with magnificent paintings. In the Great West Hall, religious ceremonies, sacrifices and receptions were usually held.

Of particular importance in the history of the palace is the Fa-Wana cave, which we mentioned above; even before the construction began, the ruler of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, the founder of the complex, read sacred texts.

Today, the Potala Palace is a museum actively visited by tourists, while remaining a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. Buddhist rituals continue to be performed there. Due to its enormous cultural, religious, artistic and historical value, in 1994 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

However, not only temples, palaces and monasteries remind us of the Buddhist tradition, there are even entire Buddhist islands! For example, the Chinese island of Putoshan, located southeast of Shanghai.

This island is known in Chinese Buddhism as Bodhimanda, or the place of enlightenment of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, revered in the Chinese tradition as the goddess of mercy Kuan Yin. In addition, Putuoshan is one of the four sacred mountains in China (together with Wutaishan, Jiuhuashan and Emeishan). The name Puto comes from Potalaka, the mountain abode of Kuan Yin, mentioned in the Avatamsaka Sutra, as well as the name of the Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lamas.

The island is home to many Buddhist temples, pagodas and incredible natural beauty. This is the 33-meter statue of the goddess of mercy Kuan Yin herself, holding in her left hand the Wheel of Dharma - a symbol of Buddhist teachings; and Puji - the largest temple complex, built in 1080, during the Song dynasty, with subsequent later additions. The main hall of the complex contains a large statue of Kuan Yin and 32 small statues depicting her incarnations. The All Treasure Pagoda is also very interesting - the oldest pagoda on the island, erected next to the Puji Temple in 1334, during the Yuan Dynasty. Currently, the island, like the monuments mentioned above, is a protected tourist site.

In addition, speaking about Buddhism, it is necessary to pay special attention to such a concept as holy, or pilgrimage, places. Pilgrimage sites are associated with the stages of the life of the Buddha. There are eight centers of worship for the Buddha, four of which are the main ones for believers. It is not surprising that the bulk of the pilgrimage sites are located in India - after all, it is exactly where, as we already know, Gautama Buddha was born and preached.

The first worship center is located in the modern town of Lumbini (Nepal). Here, as we remember, in 543 BC. e. Siddhartha Gautama is born. Nearby are the ruins of the palace where he lived until the age of 29. There are over 20 monasteries in Lumbini today!

The second center is Bodhgaya (India). It was here that enlightenment was sent down to Buddha. The center of the pilgrimage is the Mahabodhi Mandir, a temple located at the place where Buddha attained enlightenment.

The third center - Sarnath (India) is located near the city of Varanasi. Here the Buddha read his first sermon on the four noble truths.

The fourth center - Kushinagara (India) is located near the town of Gorakhpur. At this point the Buddha left his body.

Other centers of worship of the Buddha are located in the cities of Rajgar (India), where the Buddha taught the world his teachings about emptiness; there is a cave in which the first Buddhist cathedral was held; Vaishali (India) - here Buddha read his sermons and predicted his imminent departure from the earthly world; as well as in the state of Maharashtra, where the cave temples of Ajanta and Ellora are located. There are 29 temples in total, they were built in the rocks of the gorge overhanging the river.

The main pilgrimage center of Tibet is its capital, the city of Lhasa with the Potala Palace, which were already mentioned above. In addition, the most important pilgrimage site in Tibet is the sacred Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, located nearby. Interestingly, Mount Kailash is a sacred mountain for representatives of four religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and the ancient Tibetan religion Bon. Around Mount Kailash, pilgrims follow the outer and inner circle. It is customary to enter the inner circle if the pilgrim has walked the outer circle at least 12 times. Pilgrims go around Mount Kailash in an outer circle in about 30 hours (the length of the circle is 55 km, it is located at an altitude of 4800-5600 m above sea level). It is also practiced to walk around Mount Kailash with prostrations (pilgrims lie on the ground in an act of worship), but then this process takes one to two weeks. On the outer circle there are four Tibetan monasteries, on the inner circle there are two.

The second largest city in Tibet, Shigatse, is also a center of worship. It is located on the Kathmandu-Lhasa highway. Here tourists visit Tashilungpo Monastery, the residence of the Panchen Lama.

In Japan, one of the most revered places by Buddhists is the city of Nara. At one time it was the capital of the Japanese state. Nowadays, Nara is visited annually by about 3 million pilgrims! There are several Buddhist and Shinto temples and idols in the city. The most famous Buddhist temple Todaizi, which houses one of the largest Buddha statues in the world and the largest in Japan. The height of this statue is 22 meters.

On the territory of Sri Lanka, the centers of worship are primarily the royal city of Kandy, where the temple of the Sacred Tooth of Buddha stands on the shore of an artificial lake.

The city of Anuradhapura also attracts thousands of pilgrims every year. There are eight holy places, among which is the place where a sapling of the Bodhi tree grows, under which, according to legend, Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment. In addition - Tupa-rama, the first religious building and stupa, where a particle of Buddha's collarbone is kept. In the city of Polonaruwa there is a second temple of the Sacred Tooth of Buddha, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha and the famous Stone Temple, where four colossal statues of Buddha are carved into granite rock.

There are more than 18 thousand Buddhist temples and monasteries in Thailand! More than 400 of them are in the City of Angels - Bangkok. The most famous is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which is located on the territory of the royal palace. On the way from Bangkok to the city of Kanchanaburi, you can see the tallest Buddhist monument in the world - Phre-Pakhtom Chedi.

In Cambodia, a place of pilgrimage is the famous Angkor Wat temple complex, its area is 260 km 2 and includes about 200 different places of worship.

In Indonesia, on the island of Java, the world famous Borobudur temple complex is located.

So, we see that history has presented us with an innumerable number of wonderful cultural monuments, one way or another connected with Buddhism. However, in the modern world this tradition is not interrupted. For example, in Kalmykia, in 1996, the construction of the Buddhist complex Gedden Sheddup Choikorming was completed, the largest temple in Europe, which houses a gilded statue of Buddha.

In the Urals, a Buddhist monastery and a place of meditative retreat on Mount Kachkanar are currently under construction. The monastery already has a name - Shad Tchup Ling, which in Tibetan means "place of practice and realization." It is being built among the rocks on the northeastern slope of Kachkanar Mountain, at an altitude of 843 meters above sea level. Construction according to the ancient Tibetan and Mongolian canons of monastic architecture allows preserving the ecosystem of the area and harmoniously fitting the complex into the picturesque local landscape.

Unfortunately, beautiful monuments of history and culture in our cruel world sometimes serve far from peaceful purposes. An example was the infamous Shiva Hindu temple of Preah Vihea. Built in the 11th century and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the temple has already suffered serious damage during the re-flared border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. For more than half a century, these two Buddhist (!) States have been fighting for a temple, which neither one nor the other needs for religious purposes. The conflict that broke out for the first time in 1904 with varying success and intervals continues to this day. Everything is involved in battles, even heavy artillery. Blood is shed, people are dying, thousands of refugees are trying to hide from bullets, going deep into their countries.

Thailand and Cambodia alternately try to gain a foothold in the disputed territory of the Hindu temple; the question of the ownership of the land on which it was erected has not yet been clarified.

In 2009, the conflict between the two states escalated to the point that the sides mutually recalled ambassadors. However, in August 2010, Thailand and Cambodia restored diplomatic relations, which, however, did not help solve the problem.

Not many Hindus live in the territories of both states to suggest that their interests were the cause of the conflict. What then? Experts believe that there is a banal struggle between the two states for a "client", which in this case is a tourist. Whether it is true or not, in any case the war is going on and there is no end in sight. And, as usual in such cases, innocent people suffer, and it is very sad to admit that the leaders of states find a common language the peaceful teachings of Gautama Buddha, as in the case of the conflict between China and Tibet, did not help at all ...

Epilogue

The greatest difficulty in accepting any teaching, including Buddha's, is the constant need of the human mind to find evidence of its validity. And although Buddhism is an exclusively practical teaching, Buddha never urged anyone to take his word for it, nevertheless, until we are enlightened, we are unlikely to receive satisfactory confirmation of the ideas of Buddhism.

It cannot be said that today the entire human race, without exception, considers Buddha a prophet. But the same cannot be said about Jesus Christ or Muhammad. Doubters were and always will be, and this is a common occurrence in a world where no one can be sure of anything. The main thing here, probably, is not the title, but the fact that the teachings of Buddha, like Christ, Muhammad and other prophets, have helped and to this day helps hundreds, thousands, even millions of people to survive in difficult life situations, to maintain faith in goodness, justice and into lofty human ideals, without which this world would turn into nothing but a place of massacre and chaos, and much earlier than the predicted by many Armageddon.

In this regard, I would like to note the following. In fact, all world religions, regardless of what they are called, when they arose and by what prophets or teachers were brought to the broad masses, in general, call for the same thing: do not harm living beings, lead a highly moral lifestyle and tune your mind (whether with mantras or prayers) to some higher, bright and good authority, in the hope that it will accept us after our death and define us in a world cleansed of any manifestations of suffering. To a world where “death will no longer be; there will be no more crying, no outcry, no sickness; for the former things have passed away ... ”(Revelation of St. John the Theologian: 21,4).

Therefore, even the most ardent atheist, after a cursory examination of the relevant research, sooner or later asks the question: “Isn't there too many coincidences? Maybe there is something in this after all? " Something that, perhaps, at one time, a very long time ago, was twisted, turned upside down and (either intentionally, or by mistake) conveyed in the form in which little remains of the true truth.

The truth also lies in the fact that many people on Earth consider hope for afterlife retribution to be the result of the life of a loser who no longer has anything to hope for except for the joy in another world (incarnation). Or, on the contrary, the result of absolute satiety with today's abundance, when nothing of what is “here” is no longer interesting, therefore, for a change, the question begins to worry: “And what there ?.." AND there like here , I want, of course, everything and a lot. Moreover, such a philosophy completely excludes disinterested, pure and noble impulses of the human soul.

What can I say? This dispute, most likely, will be judged only by the very last line that everyone will ever have to cross.

Another important, but rather sad moment is as follows. Probably, none of the existing and / or existing religions and beliefs (except, perhaps, the philosophy of scientific communism, the fate of which is not a secret to anyone) claims that in our world the forces of the planet's population itself, that is, without the intervention of some higher forces, you can build an ideal society in which all people without exception will be happy even during this life. And apparently not without reason. In addition to insurmountable external obstacles, this is hindered, unfortunately, by too different ideas about the happiness of each individual set of five elements, in other words, a representative of the human race. In connection with this state of affairs, the dream of the common good began to be called utopian, that is, unrealizable. It's a pity…

Reincarnation - the theory corresponding to Hinduism and some other currents that after death a person is born again in the image of a human, animal, mortal deity, and so on until, with the help of working off past sins and committing new ones, he is freed from rebirth and leaves forever to a happy spirit world. The Buddhist theory of reincarnation is essentially different from the above (see text).

Sadhu - a holy man who has taken a vow to renounce the world.

Guru - a spiritual teacher in India.

Samsara - a material world full of illusion (delusion), in which immortality does not exist, consisting of three planetary levels (heavenly, hellish and middle worlds; the Earth belongs to the latter).

Meditation (in a broad sense) - calming the mind by eliminating the thought flow through concentration and concentration of consciousness; in the narrow one - a certain transcendental state into which the meditator enters. It is believed that a spiritually advanced yogi in a state of meditation can see extraordinary things, travel to other worlds, create planets, and so on.

Mayan - an illusion, a philosophical category in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is believed that the entire material world, including the world of people, is an illusion. One who can get rid of the illusion of maya begins to see the true essence of things. Seeing the essence of things is the most important stage to liberation from the cycle of samsara.

Dharma (Skt. "truth, law, teaching") is the general name for Buddhist practice.

Brahma - The Lord is the Creator in Hinduism.

Mile - about 1.61 km.

Nirvana - not similar to anything known in the material world, a transcendental state in which there is no physical or mental pain. Although Buddha did not give a concrete - but only poetic - definition of nirvana; it is believed that any creature who enters into it acquires (after death) - or experiences - the most beautiful state of all possible.

Since morning (Skt. "thread") - collections of texts of the spiritual canon.

Dukkha, duhkha (Skt. "soreness, trouble, suffering, pain"). In the Four Noble Truths of Gautama Buddha, the term "dukkha" can hardly be translated as "suffering" proper. Dukkha means impatience, impermanence, intolerance. Some researchers suggest translating this word as "anxiety", "excitement" or as "restless dissatisfaction".

The meaning of the words "compassion", "sympathize" and the like in modern society is often distorted. In fact, compassion, condolence is not to feel sad in passing over someone's misfortune, not to express your pity about what happened, but to have the ability feel someone else's pain the same way as your own. The ability to feel someone else's pain is developed, in fact, only in very few, and the development of this ability is considered the most important step on the path of spiritual growth.

Sangha, samgha, (Skt. “assembly, multitude”) is the name of the Buddhist community. This term can be used to refer to religious brotherhood in general. In a narrower sense - a host of beings who have reached a certain degree of enlightenment.

In a broad sense, the term "fourfold sangha" is used: a community of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen. It is important to note that laymen and laywomen do not make up a sangha separately, but monks and nuns can be called a sangha without regard to laymen.

Ajiviki - Followers of the philosophical and ascetic teaching in Ancient India, which preceded Buddhism. They were wandering wanderers who believed that human destiny does not depend on man, but is determined by a harsh impersonal cosmic law.

Jains - (from Sanskrit "gina" - winner) - followers of a large, extremely mystical religious community in India. The direction is close to Buddhism, but arose many centuries earlier. Jainism argued that in fact Gautam Buddha was only a disciple of one of their saints. Jainism does not recognize the authority of the Vedas, they believe in the eternity of matter, the cyclical nature of the Universe and the immortality of the minds of people and animals.

Buddha Amitabha (from Sanskrit literally - "unlimited light") - one of the main Buddhas in the Mahayana and Vajrayana, the most revered figure in the Buddhist school of the Pure Land. It is believed that he has many worthy qualities: he explains the universal law of being in the Western Paradise and accepts under his protection all who sincerely called to him, regardless of their origin, position or virtues.

Bodhisattva (Skt. "bodhi" - awakening, enlightenment; "sattva" - being) - one of the most important concepts of Buddhism.

Bodhichitta - since Skt. “Chitta” is the content of the mind that needs to be controlled, then the word “bodhicitta” can be translated as “enlightened mind”, “mind properly taken under control”.

Metaphysics (from the Greek. "what is after physics") - a branch of philosophy that deals with the study of the initial nature of things, being and the world as such.

Taoism - Traditional Chinese teaching, which includes elements of mysticism, shamanism, religion, meditation practices, science and philosophy.

Vinay School (Skt. "rules, discipline"), otherwise the Lü school is one of the varieties of Far Eastern Buddhism. The main thing in this school was the observance of certain rules and norms by the monks. Vinaya in a broad sense is a set of rules for the Buddhist monastic community, recorded in canonical literature. As new directions in Buddhism emerged, new variants of Vinaya arose.

Bhagavan - Sanskrit term used in Hinduism in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead or the Absolute Truth (approximately the same as God in the Christian sense). In Buddhism, this title is also called Gautam Buddha, other Buddhas and bodhisattvas. In the modern world, the term is often used when referring to spiritual teachers in India.

Mantra (Sanskrit "instrument for the implementation of a mental act") - combinations of sounds and / or words in Sanskrit that have a deep sacred meaning, requiring accurate reproduction. The mantras are of Vedic Hindu origin; were later adapted by Buddhism and Jainism. For a better understanding, mantras can be compared to prayers and incantations.

Pratyekabuddha - a being that becomes a person who has attained enlightenment, but prefers not to preach the dharma to other people.

In its modern sense, the term "kung-fu" ("gong-fu") is often used to refer to the Chinese martial arts, but its original meaning is not necessarily related to the martial arts. The term consists of two hieroglyphs - "kung", or "gun" ("work", "mastery", "achievement"), and "fu" ("man") - and literally means "work on oneself", as well as results any activity. These hieroglyphs are combined to describe any acquired skill, achievements obtained in the process of long hard work, including in the art of mastering your body, mind, energy. It is believed that the term "kungfu" in its modern meaning (in the sense of "Chinese martial art") was first used in the West and was not used in China until the 20th century, and in this sense it is not found in ancient texts. In Chinese texts, martial arts are referred to as "wu-shu" or (more often) "wu-i".

Today this country is called Myanmar.

Armageddon in Christianity is the last, decisive battle between Good and Evil, when the legendary “end of the world” is to take place. It is perceived both in a negative (like any war, it is associated with fear, pain, death and destruction) and in a positive (the end of the world ruled by Evil, the beginning of the world of Good and justice) meaning.

Buddhism in the modern world

buddhism india ethical

In recent years, Buddhism has become known to the general public, and those interested can study various Buddhist schools and traditions. An outside observer may be confused by the multitude of currents and the external difference in the forms in which Buddhism manifests itself. Some are unable to see the Dharma behind these currents. They may be put off by the fact that they were looking for unity in the world, divided by sects and confessions. Misled by the assertion of some sect like "my school is better and higher than your school", they may not notice the value of the Dharma. Buddha teaches different paths leading to enlightenment (bodhi), and each of them is equal, otherwise Buddha would not teach them. We can call it the Buddha Chariot (Buddhayana). The important qualities in the Teaching are Loving Kindness (metta), Compassion (karuna), and Wisdom (panya). They are central to any school of Buddhism.

Since the time of the First Teachings of Buddha, which is about 26 centuries, Buddhism has spread throughout Asia. Before the victory of communism in China, about a third of the world's population professed Buddhism. Each country has developed its own particular shape. The main Buddhist countries are Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Tibet. There are also Buddhists in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam.

Among the many different schools we can distinguish the following: Theravada: Early Buddhism, mainly practiced in Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka and Thailand - this school uses early Pali texts. The emphasis is on the Arhat-Buddha path, but the Samma-Sambuddha path is also practiced. There are far fewer rituals here than in most other schools.

Mahayana: New Schools Called:

Tibetan Buddhism: In Tibetan Buddhism, the emphasis is on the Samma-Sambuddha path. They divide their system into Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle), Mahayana (Great Vehicle) and Vajrayana (Diamond or Supreme Vehicle). The Buddha's teachings are in Tibetan. Although the Dalai Lama is sometimes regarded as the head of all Buddhists, he is exclusively only the head of Tibetan Buddhism.

Zen: This form of Buddhism has developed Samadhi meditation aimed at attaining dhyan (in Chinese Ch'an) and is especially popular in Japan. The teachings of Zen Masters play an important role. The teachings of the Buddha himself play, as a rule, a secondary role.

Chinese Buddhism: Along with the texts (in Chinese and Sanskrit), the sayings of the Patriarchs play an important role. As in other schools of the Mahayana, there is a strong connection with the ideal of the Bodhisattva, i.e. working for the benefit of all sentient beings and postponing one's own enlightenment until all beings can achieve the same enlightenment. The main role is played by Kuan Ying (in Tibetan Buddhism Chenresig or Avalokiteshvara).

Each country has its own Buddhist culture, but the essence of the Buddha's Teachings is the same everywhere.

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