Flow of
Buddhism
After
Shakyamuni Buddha's passing (around 500-600 B.C.E.), Buddhism
developed along two main divisions called Theravada and Mahayana.
Theravada Buddhism that emphasizes monastic practices, spread
southward from India to Sri-Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and
Laos. Mahayana Buddhism that emphasizes the wide popular practice
of Buddhism among laity spread northward to China, Korea and
Japan.
Mahayana Buddhism spread to China through Central Asia along the
Silk Road, between the first century B.C.E and first century C.E.
In this process of propagation, while the philosophical core of
Buddhism remained consistent, various adaptations to the cultures
and customs, and various shifts in doctrinal emphasis took place in
the new environments. In time, a distinctive form of Chinese
Buddhism evolved, and various schools of Chinese Buddhism came to
be established. One such major school was the T'ien-t'ai
School.
From China, through Korea, Buddhism found its way to Japan, at
about the middle of the sixth century. Despite her native faith in
Shinto, government officials and the upper classes soon patronised
this new religion for what they believed it could ensure --
personal safety and well-being of the state. Among the Buddhist
schools introduced to Japan, the people found a strong appeal in
the belief in Amida Buddha or the Pure Land Sect.
The social and political climate, coupled with the frequent
occurrences of natural disasters such as famines and epidemics, in
Japan at the time created an environment of pessimism, fear,
insecurity and desperation. The people found their source of hope
in the promise of an after-world paradise of the Pure Land.
While Pure Land Sect took a stronghold among the populace, Zen
Buddhism that teaches the way of meditation to reach enlightenment
appealed to the warrior class of samurais, the class that rose to
power with the decline of the imperial court.
