Buddhism in Indonesia
The Buddhist religion was founded in India by Gautama, an Indian prince who lived from 563-483 BC. Shocked as a young man by the inevitability of sickness, old age, and death, he renounced his family life in order to wander as a shramana, or ascetic, in search of religious understanding and a way of release from the human condition. Discarding the teachings of his contemporaries, through meditation he achieved enlightenment, or ultimate understanding. Thereafter, the Buddha instructed his followers (the sangha) in the dharma (Pali dhamma, "truth") and the Middle Way a path between a worldly life and extremes of self-denial. Subsequently he became known as Siddharta ("He who has reached his goal").
Gautama had passed through a series of incarnations, even as an animal, but he was always a wise and sensible creature. In his early incarnations, before he obtained divinity, he was called Bodhisattwa, Buddha of the future. The stories about his early incarnations are called Jataka, complied in Jatakamala by Aryacura. Gautama's biography is contained in the Buddhacarita by Acwagosa, and the Lalitawistara.
Buddha means the 'Enlightened one'
As a religion, Buddhism teaches man how to liberate himself from the cycle of life and death. After the death of the Buddha a number of councils were held in an effort to consolidate the teachings of the Buddha. These councils led to the founding of two distinct schools, Theravada - the Path of the Elders and the Mahayana or Greater Vehicle. Theravada Buddhism is also known as Hinayana - the Lesser Vehicle. The Theravada school teaches that salvation is available to those who renounced the material world to pursue of life of monastic dedication. By contrast, Mahayana teaches that salvation is available to all.
Buddhism was the dominant religion in India through the 12th C after the decline of the Pala dynasty when it was superseded by Hinduism. From India Buddhism spread to East and South East Asia. Theravada Buddhism became prominent in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia, and Mahayana beliefs spread to North Asia. There was an active trade between India and Indonesia, and through these trade routes both Buddhism and Hinduism were brought to Indonesia. On Java, Hinduism and Buddhism coexisted in the Sanjaya and the (Mahayanist) Çailendra Dynasties. Buddhism dominated for a period of around 100 years in the 9th C, followed shortly after by the decline of Central Java as the centre of power. Hinduism and Buddhism merged into a unique Javanese Hindu Buddhist culture that equated Çiva and Buddha.
Java and Sumatra continued to maintain contact with Nalanda in NE India, and thus had an active Mahayana presence. further relationships with the Pala empire gave a route of entry for the Vajrayana schools, first known on Java at the end of the 8th C.
Buddhism first came to Sumatra in in the 6th C and was the official religion of the Kingdom of Criwijaya. Palembang became an important centre of Buddhist studies. By the 11th C, the Kingdom had declined and with it the adherence to Buddhism.
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