Buddhism - briefly about religion. Buddhism - basic philosophy and basic ideas in brief

Buddhism, along with Islam and Christianity, is considered a world religion. This means that it is not defined by the ethnicity of its followers. It can be confessed to any person, regardless of his race, nationality and place of residence. In this article we will briefly look at the main ideas of Buddhism.

A summary of the ideas and philosophy of Buddhism

Briefly about the history of Buddhism

Buddhism is one of the most ancient religions in the world. Its origins occurred in contrast to the then dominant Brahmanism in the middle of the first millennium BC in the northern part of India. In philosophy Ancient India Buddhism occupied and occupies a key place, closely intertwined with it.

If we briefly consider the emergence of Buddhism, then, according to a certain category of scientists, this phenomenon was facilitated by certain changes in the life of the Indian people. Around the middle of the 6th century BC. Indian society was overtaken by cultural and economic crisis. Those tribal and traditional ties that existed before this time began to gradually undergo changes. It is very important that it was during that period that the formation of class relations took place. Many ascetics appeared, wandering across the expanses of India, who formed their own vision of the world, which they shared with other people. Thus, in the confrontation with the foundations of that time, Buddhism also appeared, earning recognition among the people.

A large number of scientists believe that the founder of Buddhism was real person by name Siddhartha Gautama , known as Buddha Shakyamuni . He was born in 560 BC. in the wealthy family of the king of the Shakya tribe. Since childhood, he knew neither disappointment nor need, and was surrounded by limitless luxury. And so Siddhartha lived through his youth, ignorant of the existence of illness, old age and death. The real shock for him was that he encountered one day, while walking outside the palace, an old man, a sick man and funeral procession. This influenced him so much that at the age of 29 he joins a group of wandering hermits. So he begins the search for the truth of existence. Gautama tries to understand the nature of human troubles and tries to find ways to eliminate them. Realizing that an endless series of reincarnations was inevitable if he did not get rid of suffering, he tried to find answers to his questions from the sages.

After spending 6 years wandering, he experienced different techniques, practiced yoga, but came to the conclusion that enlightenment could not be achieved using these methods. Effective methods he considered reflections and prayers. It was while he was spending time meditating under the Bodhi tree that he experienced enlightenment, through which he found the answer to his question. After his discovery, he spent a few more days at the site of the sudden insight, and then went to the valley. And they began to call him Buddha (“enlightened one”). There he began to preach the doctrine to people. The very first sermon took place in Benares.

Basic concepts and ideas of Buddhism

One of the main goals of Buddhism is the path to Nirvana. Nirvana is a state of awareness of one’s soul, achieved through self-denial, rejection of comfortable conditions external environment. Buddha holding for a long time in meditation and deep reflection, he mastered the method of controlling his own consciousness. In the process, he came to the conclusion that people are very attached to worldly goods and are overly concerned about the opinions of other people. Because of this human soul Not only does it not develop, but it also degrades. Having achieved nirvana, you can lose this addiction.

The essential four truths that underlie Buddhism:

There is the concept of dukkha (suffering, anger, fear, self-flagellation and other negatively colored experiences). Every person is influenced by dukkha to a greater or lesser extent.
Dukkha always has a reason that contributes to the emergence of addiction - greed, vanity, lust, etc.
You can get rid of addiction and suffering.
You can completely free yourself from dukkha thanks to the path leading to nirvana.

Buddha was of the opinion that it is necessary to adhere to the “middle path,” that is, every person must find the “golden” mean between a wealthy, satiated with luxury, and an ascetic way of life, devoid of all the benefits of humanity.

There are three main treasures in Buddhism:

Buddha - this can be either the creator of the teaching himself or his follower who has achieved enlightenment.
Dharma is the teaching itself, its foundations and principles, and what it can give to its followers.
Sangha is a community of Buddhists who adhere to the laws of this religious teaching.

To achieve all three jewels, Buddhists resort to fighting three poisons:

detachment from the truth of being and ignorance;
desires and passions that contribute to suffering;
incontinence, anger, inability to accept anything here and now.

According to the ideas of Buddhism, every person experiences both physical and mental suffering. Illness, death and even birth are suffering. But this state is unnatural, so you need to get rid of it.

Briefly about the philosophy of Buddhism

This teaching cannot be called only a religion, at the center of which is God, who created the world. Buddhism is a philosophy, the principles of which we will briefly consider below. The teaching involves helping to direct a person on the path of self-development and self-awareness.

In Buddhism there is no idea that there is an eternal soul that atones for sins. However, everything a person does and in what way will find its imprint - it will definitely return to him. This is not divine punishment. These are the consequences of all actions and thoughts that leave traces on your own karma.

Buddhism has the basic truths revealed by Buddha:

Human life is suffering. All things are impermanent and transitory. Having arisen, everything must be destroyed. Existence itself is symbolized in Buddhism as a flame consuming itself, but fire can only bring suffering.
Suffering arises from desires. Man is so attached to the material aspects of existence that he craves for life. The greater this desire, the more he will suffer.
Getting rid of suffering is possible only through getting rid of desires. Nirvana is a state, having reached which a person experiences the extinction of passions and thirst. Thanks to nirvana, a feeling of bliss arises, freedom from the transmigration of souls.
To achieve the goal of getting rid of desire, one must resort to the eightfold path of salvation. It is this path that is called the “middle”, which allows one to get rid of suffering by rejecting extremes, which consists of something in between the torture of the flesh and the indulgence of physical pleasures.

The Eightfold Path of Salvation includes:

correct understanding - the most important thing to do is to realize that the world is full of suffering and sorrow;
correct intentions - you need to take the path of limiting your passions and aspirations, the fundamental basis of which is human egoism;
correct speech - it should bring good, so you should watch your words (so that they do not exude evil);
right actions - one should do good deeds, refrain from unvirtuous actions;
the right way of life - only a decent way of life that does not harm all living things can bring a person closer to getting rid of suffering;
correct efforts - you need to tune in to goodness, drive away all evil from yourself, carefully monitoring the course of your thoughts;
correct thoughts - the most important evil comes from our own flesh, by getting rid of the desires of which we can get rid of suffering;
correct concentration - the eightfold path requires constant training and concentration.

The first two stages are called prajna and involve the stage of achieving wisdom. The next three are the regulation of morality and correct behavior (sila). The remaining three steps represent mental discipline (samadha).

Directions of Buddhism

The very first who supported the teachings of the Buddha began to gather in a secluded place while the rains were falling. Since they refused any property, they were called bhikshas - “beggars.” They shaved their heads bald, dressed in rags (mostly yellow) and moved from place to place. Their life was unusually ascetic. When it rained, they hid in caves. They were usually buried where they lived, and a stupa (domed-shaped crypt building) was built on the site of their graves. Their entrances were made tightly walled up and buildings for various purposes were built around the stupas.

After the death of the Buddha, a convocation of his followers took place, who canonized the teaching. But the period of greatest flowering of Buddhism can be considered the reign of Emperor Ashoka - the 3rd century. BC

You can select three main philosophical schools of Buddhism , formed in different periods existence of the doctrine:

Hinayana. The main ideal of the direction is considered to be a monk - only he can get rid of reincarnation. There is no pantheon of saints who could intercede for a person, there are no rituals, the concept of hell and heaven, cult sculptures, icons. Everything that happens to a person is the result of his actions, thoughts and lifestyle.
Mahayana. Even a layman (if he is pious, of course), can achieve salvation just like a monk. The institution of bodhisattvas appears, who are saints who help people on the path of their salvation. The concept of heaven, a pantheon of saints, images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas also appear.
Vajrayana. It is a tantric teaching based on the principles of self-control and meditation.

So, the main idea of Buddhism is that human life is suffering and one must strive to get rid of it. This teaching continues to confidently spread across the planet, winning more and more supporters.

The article is about Buddhism - a philosophical teaching that is often mistaken for a religion. This is probably not a coincidence. After reading a short article about Buddhism, you will decide for yourself to what extent Buddhism can be classified as a religious teaching, or rather, it is a philosophical concept.

Buddhism: briefly about religion

First of all, let's state from the outset that while Buddhism is a religion for most people, including its followers, Buddhism has never actually been a religion and it never should be. Why? Because one of the first enlightened ones, Buddha Shakyamuni, despite the fact that Brahma himself charged him with the responsibility of transmitting the teaching to others (which Buddhists prefer to remain silent about for obvious reasons), never wanted to make a cult, much less a cult of worship, out of the fact of his enlightenment, which nevertheless subsequently led to the fact that Buddhism began to be understood more and more as one of the religions, and yet Buddhism is not one.

Buddhism is, first of all, a philosophical teaching, the purpose of which is to direct a person to search for truth, a way out of samsara, awareness and vision of things as they are (one of the key aspects of Buddhism). Also, in Buddhism there is no concept of God, i.e. it is atheism, but in the sense of “non-theism”, therefore, if Buddhism is classified as a religion, then it is a non-theistic religion, just like Jainism.

Another concept that testifies in favor of Buddhism as a philosophical school is the absence of any attempts to “link” man and the Absolute, while the very concept of religion (“linking”) is an attempt to “link” man with God .

As a counter-argument, defenders of the concept of Buddhism as a religion present that in modern societies people professing Buddhism worship Buddha and make offerings, and also read prayers, etc. To this, we can say that the trends followed by the majority in no way reflect the essence of Buddhism, but only show how much modern Buddhism and its understanding have deviated from the original Buddhism concepts.

Thus, having understood for ourselves that Buddhism is not a religion, we can finally begin to describe the main ideas and concepts on which this school of philosophical thought is based.

Briefly about Buddhism

If we talk about Buddhism briefly and clearly, then it could be characterized in two words - “deafening silence” - because the concept of shunyata, or emptiness, is fundamental to all schools and branches of Buddhism.

We know that, firstly, during the entire existence of Buddhism as a philosophical school, many of its branches have been formed, the largest of which are considered to be the Buddhism of the “great vehicle” (Mahayana) and the “small vehicle” (Hinayana), as well as the Buddhism of “diamond paths" (Vajrayana). Also great value acquired Zen Buddhism and the teachings of Advaita. Tibetan Buddhism is much more distinct from the main branches than other schools, and is considered by some to be the only true path.

However, in our time it is quite difficult to say which of the many schools is really closest to the original teachings of the Buddha about the dharma, because, for example, in modern Korea even newer approaches to the interpretation of Buddhism have appeared, and, of course, each of them claims to be the right truth.

The Mahayana and Hinayana schools rely mainly on the Pali canon, and in the Mahayana they also add the Mahayana sutras. But we must always remember that Shakyamuni Buddha himself did not write anything down and transmitted his knowledge exclusively orally, and sometimes simply through “noble silence.” Only much later did the Buddha's disciples begin to write down this knowledge, and thus it has come down to us in the form of a canon in the Pali language and Mahayana sutras.

Secondly, due to man’s pathological craving for worship, temples, schools, centers for the study of Buddhism, etc. were built, which naturally deprives Buddhism of its pristine purity, and each time innovations and new formations again and again alienate us from the fundamental concepts. People, obviously, much prefer the concept of not cutting off the unnecessary in order to see “what is”, but, on the contrary, endowing what already exists with new qualities, embellishment, which only leads away from the original truth to new interpretations and unjustified hobbies ritualism and, as a result, to the oblivion of the origins under the weight of external decor.

This fate is not only one of Buddhism, but rather a general tendency that is characteristic of people: instead of understanding simplicity, we burden it with more and more new conclusions, while it was necessary to do the opposite and get rid of them. This is what Buddha spoke about, this is what his teaching is about, and the ultimate goal of Buddhism is precisely for a person to realize himself, his Self, the emptiness and non-duality of existence, in order to ultimately understand that even the “I” is not really exists, and it is nothing more than a construct of the mind.

This is the essence of the concept of shunyata (emptiness). To make it easier for a person to realize the “deafening simplicity” of Buddhist teachings, Shakyamuni Buddha taught how to properly perform meditation. The ordinary mind accesses knowledge through the process of logical discourse, or rather, it reasons and draws conclusions, thereby arriving at new knowledge. But how new they are can be understood from the very prerequisites for their appearance. Such knowledge can never be truly new if a person came to it by a logical path from point A to point B. It is clear that he used starting and passing points in order to come to a “new” conclusion.

Conventional thinking does not see any obstacles in this; in general, this is a generally accepted method of obtaining knowledge. However, it is not the only one, not the most faithful and far from the most effective. The revelations through which the knowledge of the Vedas was obtained are different and fundamentally great way access to knowledge, when knowledge itself reveals itself to a person.

Features of Buddhism in brief: meditation and 4 types of emptiness

It was not by chance that we drew a parallel between two opposite ways of accessing knowledge, since meditation is the method that allows, over time, to obtain knowledge directly in the form of revelations, direct vision and knowledge, which is fundamentally impossible to do using this method. called scientific methods.

Of course, Buddha would not give meditation so that a person learns to relax. Relaxation is one of the conditions for entering a state of meditation, so it would be wrong to say that meditation itself promotes relaxation, but this is how the meditation process is often presented to ignorant people, beginners, which is why they get the wrong first impression, with which people continue live.

Meditation is the key that reveals to a person the greatness of emptiness, that same shunyata that we talked about above. Meditation is a central component of the teachings of Buddhism, because only through it can we experience emptiness. Again, we are talking about philosophical concepts, not physical-spatial characteristics.

Meditation in the broad sense of the word, including meditation-reflection, also bears fruit, because a person already in the process of meditative reflection understands that life and everything that exists is conditioned - this is the first emptiness, Sanskrit shunyata - the emptiness of the conditioned, which means that the conditioned lacks the qualities of the unconditioned: happiness, constancy (regardless of duration) and truth.

The second emptiness, asanskrita shunyata, or the emptiness of the unconditioned, can also be understood through meditation-reflection. The emptiness of the unconditioned is free from everything conditioned. Thanks to Asanskrit shunyata, vision becomes available to us - seeing things as they really are. They cease to be things, and we observe only their dharmas (in this sense, dharma is understood as a kind of flow, not in the generally accepted sense of the word “dharma”). However, the path does not end here either, because Mahayana believes that the dharmas themselves have a certain substance, and therefore emptiness must be found in them.

From here we come to the third type of emptiness - Mahashunyata. In it, as well as in the following form the emptiness of shunyate shunyata, lies the difference between the Buddhism of the Mahayana tradition and the Hinayana. In the two previous types of emptiness, we still recognize the duality of all things, duality (this is what our civilization is based on, the confrontation of two principles - bad and good, evil and good, small and great, etc.). But this is where the error is rooted, because you need to free yourself from accepting the differences between the conditioned and unconditioned existence, and even more - you need to come to understand that emptiness and non-emptiness are just another creation of the mind.

These are speculative concepts. Of course, they help us better understand the concept of Buddhism, but the longer we cling to the dual nature of existence, the further we are from the truth. In this case, truth again does not mean some idea, because it would also be material and belong, like any other idea, to the world of the conditioned, and therefore could not be true. By truth we should understand the very emptiness of mahashunyata, which brings us closer to true vision. Vision does not judge, does not divide, that is why it is called vision, this is its fundamental difference and an advantage over thinking, because seeing makes it possible to see what is.

But mahashunyata itself is another concept, and therefore cannot be complete emptiness, therefore the fourth emptiness, or shunyata, is called freedom from any concepts. Freedom from thought, but pure vision. Freedom from theories themselves. Only a mind free of theories can see the truth, the emptiness of emptiness, the great silence.

This is the greatness of Buddhism as a philosophy and its inaccessibility compared to other concepts. Buddhism is great because it does not try to prove or convince anything. There are no authorities in it. If they tell you that there is, don’t believe it. Bodhisattvas do not come to force anything on you. Always remember the Buddha's saying that if you meet Buddha, kill Buddha. You need to open up to the emptiness, hear the silence - this is the truth of Buddhism. His appeal is solely to personal experience, the discovery of a vision of the essence of things, and subsequently of their emptiness: this briefly contains the concept of Buddhism.

The wisdom of Buddhism and the teaching of the “Four Noble Truths”

Here we deliberately did not mention the “Four noble truths”, which talk about dukkha, suffering, one of the cornerstones of the Buddha’s teachings. If you learn to observe yourself and the world, you yourself will come to this conclusion, and also to how you can get rid of suffering - the same way you discovered it: you need to continue to observe, to see things without “slipping.” into judgment. Only then can they be seen as they are. The philosophical concept of Buddhism, incredible in its simplicity, is nevertheless accessible for its practical applicability in life. She doesn't set conditions or make promises.

The doctrine of reincarnation is also not the essence of this philosophy. The explanation of the process of rebirth is perhaps what makes it suitable for use as a religion. By this she explains why a person appears in our world over and over again, and it also acts as a reconciliation of a person with reality, with the life and embodiment that he lives at this moment. But this is only an explanation already given to us.

The pearl of wisdom in the philosophy of Buddhism lies precisely in the ability and possibility of a person to see what is, and to penetrate behind the veil of secrecy, into the void, without any outside intervention, in the absence of an intermediary. This is exactly what makes Buddhism a much more religious philosophical teaching than all other theistic religions, since Buddhism provides a person with the opportunity to find what is, and not what is needed or someone has prescribed to look for. There is no goal in it, and therefore, it gives a chance for a real search, or, more correctly, for a vision, a discovery, because, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, you cannot find what you are striving for, what you are looking for, what you are expecting, i.e. Because what you are looking for becomes just a goal, and it is planned. You can truly find only that which you do not expect and do not look for - only then does it become a real discovery.

Hello, dear readers – seekers of knowledge and truth!

Buddhism is so widespread in our time that, probably, in any corner of our planet there is a person who, if not professing it, is at least clearly interested in it. This article will tell you in which countries Buddhism is practiced, and will also tell you about its features depending on its location on the map and national mentality.

Buddhism on the world map

The oldest of the world's religions appeared in the middle of the first millennium BC. During this time, it managed to take root at its origins - in India, weaken due to the emergence of Hinduism there, “spread” throughout Asia and convey its knowledge, like streams, to many states in the world.

Back in the 4th century it reached Korea. By the 6th century it had reached Japan, and in the 7th century it broke into Tibet, where it developed into a special direction of philosophical thought. Islands Southeast Asia Buddhism conquered gradually - from about the 2nd century, and by the beginning of the second millennium it became widespread.

The “taking” of Mongolia by this religion lasted for many centuries - from the 8th to the 16th centuries, and from there to XVIII century it reached the Russian border in the form of Buryatia and Tuva. In the last two centuries, Buddhist teachings have traveled tens of thousands of kilometers and attracted the interest of people in Europe and America.

Today Buddhism has become the state religion of Thailand, Cambodia, Bhutan and Laos. It touched the lives of people from most Asian countries in many ways. Based on the number of followers, you can rank countries:

China
Thailand
Vietnam
Myanmar
Tibet
Sri Lanka
South Korea
Taiwan
Cambodia
Japan
India

In addition, there are many followers of Buddha in Bhutan, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia.

What is curious is that in each country Buddhism took on its own shape, unlike others, and new forms of this philosophy and directions of thought appeared. This was explained folk characteristics, religions and cultural traditions that previously existed there.

In Europe, Buddhism spread to the largest and most powerful countries. Here at the beginning of the 20th century. The first Buddhist organizations appeared: Germany (1903), Great Britain (1907), France (1929). And today in the United States, in terms of the number of followers, Buddhism can boast of an honorable fourth place, following Christianity, Judaism and atheism.

There is a World Fellowship of Buddhists whose purpose is to spread and support Buddhist thought in the world. It includes 98 centers from 37 countries. Thailand has been chosen as the location for the headquarters of this organization.

Top Buddhist Countries

It is difficult even for scientists to say how many Buddhists live on the planet. Some call “modest” figures of 500 million, while others say that their number ranges from 600 million to 1.3 billion. All these people come from dozens of different countries. It was difficult, but we have compiled a list of the most interesting “Buddhist” countries.

India

India tops this list thanks to its status as the birthplace of Buddhism. Two and a half millennia ago, Prince Siddhartha Gautama appeared in the northeast of this country, and now these places are shrines in themselves. Many Buddhists make pilgrimages here and feel as if they are returning to the past.

Here, in a place called Bodh Gaya with its Mahabodhi Temple, Siddhartha understood what enlightenment was. Here is the city of Sarnath - Buddha preached his first sermon. Further - Kushinagar - and the saint achieved complete nirvana. However, today among the believing population of India the share of Buddhists is less than one percent.

Thailand

Anyone who has been to Thailand knows which religion is most widespread in the country and how much the Thais love it. Buddhist statues and other paraphernalia in this exotic country can't be counted.

Buddhism is accepted as the state religion here. According to the Constitution, the king must be a Buddhist.

The Thai direction of this philosophical thought is also called “Southern Buddhism”. The way of life of people is greatly influenced by a strong belief in the laws of karma. Men are required to go through monasticism. Special Buddhist universities have been established in the capital, Bangkok.

Sri Lanka

Legends say that Buddha personally sailed to the former Ceylon to drive out evil spirits. So he gave birth to a new religion here, which is now professed by more than 60% of the population. Even current attractions and cultural monuments have religious overtones.

Vietnam

Vietnam is ruled by socialism, and formally the main religion in the country is considered to be its absence - atheism. But among religions, Buddhism comes first: approximately one tenth of the 94 million population one way or another recognizes the Mahayana teachings. Supporters are found in the south and number in the tens of thousands.

Taiwan

The main religion of Taiwan is Buddhism, which is practiced by about 90% of the island's population. But this teaching is more like a symbiosis with Taoism. If we talk about strict Buddhism, then 7-15% of people adhere to it. The most interesting feature Taiwanese school of thought is an attitude towards nutrition, namely vegetarianism.

Cambodia

The history of Buddhism in Cambodia can be called truly tragic. But, looking ahead, we can say that everything ended well.

There were more than three thousand Buddhist temples in the country until he came to power politician Pol Pot did not organize a “cultural revolution”. Its result was the inclusion of monks among lower class and their subsequent repression and destruction. Few of them were destined to escape.

After the Republic of Kampuchea was created, all the forces of the authorities were devoted to restoring Buddhist religious thought among the population. In 1989 it was recognized as the state religion.

China

In China, it is one of the components, along with Confucianism and Taoism, of the so-called San Jiao - “three religions” - on which the religious views of the Chinese are based.

In the early 90s of the last century, there was a conflict between the authorities and Tibetan Buddhism, which they wanted to suppress by taking up the “patriotic education” of the monks. Today government agencies China's activities are tightly controlled religious organizations, including Buddhist ones.

Myanmar

The absolute majority, namely 90% of Myanmar residents, consider themselves Buddhists. These are peoples such as the Burmese, Mons, Arakanese, and they can be classified as several Theravada schools.

The Buddhist ideas of the Burmese - followers of these schools - are mixed with the previously existing cult of spirits. Mahayana is supported mainly by the Chinese living in Myanmar.

Tibet

Buddhism came to Tibet from India, and, having absorbed the ideas and traditions of the ancient Tibetan Bon religion, firmly took root here, becoming the main religion of the country. Three main schools - Gelug, Kagyu and Nyingma - are considered the most influential.

In the middle of the 20th century, the country was captured by China, persecution of monks began, many temples and monasteries were destroyed by the occupiers, and the 14th Dalai Lama and his supporters were forced to flee to India.

Nevertheless, Tibetans, both living at home and those who fled from the Chinese authorities abroad, carefully preserve and support Buddhist traditions and way of life.

Japan

Japanese Buddhism covers most of the population, but it is divided into a huge number of directions and movements. Some of them took Buddhist philosophy as a basis, others - reading mantras, and others - meditative practices.

Intertwined with each other, they formed more and more new schools, which are popular among different layers population. They can all be divided into two groups: classical schools and neo-Buddhism.

It is Japanese preachers who study Buddhist teachings who most actively bring this knowledge to the “non-Buddhist” world, primarily to Europe and America.

Russia

Even in Russia, the ideas of Buddhism are well known, and in such national republics as Kalmykia, Buryatia, and Tuva they have almost completely captured the minds of people.

Most belong to the Tibetan Gelug and Karma Kagyu schools. In the most major cities– in Moscow, St. Petersburg – Buddhist communities have existed for a long time.

Conclusion

Over the long centuries of its existence, Buddhist teachings have completely changed the consciousness of Eurasian society. And every day this philosophy expands its boundaries, first of all, in the minds of people.

Thank you very much for your attention, dear readers! Join us on social networks, let's search for the truth together.

The American research center Pew Research conducted social research on the topic of the population’s belonging to a particular religion. It turned out that 8 out of 10 respondents identify themselves with one religion or another. One of the oldest and most mysterious religions in the world is Buddhism.

Statistics show the following figures about how many Buddhists there are in the world in 2017: more than 500 million people officially profess Buddhism. This represents about 7% of the world's population. It's not very much. But it should be noted that it is Buddhists who most clearly follow the canons and have always been an example of humility and adherence to religious tradition.

Religious map of the Earth. What percentage of Buddhists in the world

The majority of the world's believers are Christians. As of 2016, their number amounted to 32% of the Earth's population (about 2.2 billion inhabitants). Muslims - 23% (1.6 billion people). However, according to forecasts, Islam may soon become the largest religion. There are 15% (1 billion) Hindus in the world, 7% (500 million) Buddhists and 0.2% (14 million) Jews.

It should be noted that only official figures are presented above. In fact, it is impossible to say exactly how many Buddhists there are in the world. The population sometimes ignores the census and does not participate in the compilation of statistics. Following fashionable trends, many carry out various Buddhist practices and share Buddhist ideology.

About 400 million people profess relatively young faiths, such as Shintoism, Sikhism and others. 16% of the population does not belong to any religion, that’s 1.1 billion people.

Buddhism is one of the oldest religions

Today, Eastern religions are gaining more and more followers. For some it is a tribute to fashion, for others - life path. How many Buddhists are there in the world? This is a pressing question related to the popularity of Sidhartha's teachings.

Buddhism is called "Bodhi", which means "the teaching of awakening." It arose back in the 1st millennium BC. e. In essence, Buddhism is a complex religious and philosophical teaching. Followers call it “Dharma”, which means “Law”, or “Buddadharma”, referring to the founder - Prince Sidhartha Gautama, later and to this day called Buddha Shakyamuni.

How many Buddhists are there in the world? How many branches and schools of Buddhism are there? There are 3 main directions: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana.

Theravada

The most ancient school, has been preserved in its original form since the beginning of Buddha’s preaching. Initially, Buddhism was not a religion, but a philosophical teaching.

Main feature Theravada - the absence of an object of universal worship, with the exception of the Buddha. This determines the simplicity of rituals and external attributes of religion. Primordial Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophical and ethical teaching. The Buddha taught that this amounts to denying one's own responsibility for one's actions. According to Theravada adherents, a person should be independently responsible for his actions, and therefore does not need a large number of controlling laws.

For the same reason, Theravada does not presuppose its own pantheon of gods, therefore, in places where it spreads, the religion exists in symbiosis with local faith, turning to local gods for help in case of need.

Followers of Theravada live in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

Mahayana

The largest branch of all Buddhists in the world. No matter how many Buddhist schools there are, Mahayana remains the main one to this day. The teachings of the Great Vehicle can be called a full-fledged religion. Its adherents live in Vietnam, Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. How many Buddhists there are in the world can be judged by the population of these countries.

The Buddha is perceived by Mahayana followers as a divine figure and master teacher, capable of taking on various forms.

One of the main tenets of the Mahayana is the doctrine of bodhisattvas. This is the name given to saints who preferred endless rebirths in the form of divine personalities or missions to Nirvana. For example, everyone is considered a bodhisattva. Catherine II patronized the Buddhists of Buryatia, for which she was ranked among the bodhisattvas.

The Mahayana pantheon includes many deities and entities. A large number of fairy tales and myths have been written about them.

Vajrayana or Tantrayana

The teaching called the Diamond Chariot arose in Tibet under the influence of Mahayana and Indian Tantrism. In fact, it is an independent religion. The direction contains complex tantric practices that can lead to enlightenment in one earthly life. Fertility cults and erotic practices are revered. Vajrayana has a close connection with esotericism. The basics of the teaching are transmitted from the teacher - Lama to the student.

Tantrayana is practiced in Mongolia, Bhutan and eastern Russia.

Buddhism in Russia

Traditional adherents live today in the eastern regions of the country, such as the Republic of Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva. In addition, Buddhist associations can be found in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities. The percentage of Buddhists living in Russia is approximately 1% of the total population of Buddhists in the world. It is impossible to say exactly how many followers of Sidhartha’s teachings live in Russia. This is because Buddhism is not an official religion, and many of its adherents have not officially declared their religious affiliation.

Buddhism is one of the most peaceful religions. Followers of "Bodhi" call for peace and love. Lately the number of adherents is slowly but surely growing. Statistics on how many Buddhists there are in the world for 2017 indicate that every year their number increases by about 1.5%.

When Buddhism appeared is of interest to everyone who begins to get involved in this world religion. It is noteworthy that if previously it was mainly developed in Asian countries, in recent decades it has found more and more followers in the West and in Russia. In this article we will tell you how religion arose, what the reasons were, and we will learn about the basics of this teaching.

Prerequisites

Before we figure out when Buddhism appeared, let's look at the background that actually led to its emergence. It is worth noting that this is a nastic teaching, which had predecessors - Lokayata and Jainism. The first movement existed in Ancient India. Today his supporters are mistakenly considered atheists. The second is that which originated in India, the practice and philosophy of which are based on the self-improvement of the soul to achieve omnipotence, omniscience and eternal bliss.

It is quite clear where Buddhism came from. This happened in northeast India. At that time, the ancient states of Lichchhavi, Koshala and Magadha were located there.

If very little is known about the first, then about Koshal we can say that it was a slave state on the territory of southwestern Nepal and modern Indian state Uttar Pradesh.

Magadha is an ancient historical region in India that was ruled by Buddhist kings. It is believed that it was here that King Bimbisara lived, a contemporary of Buddha, who contributed to the development of this religion and had a good attitude towards Jainism. This is where Buddhism came into being.

Reasons

The world religion today originated in the middle of the first millennium BC. Very scarce and fragmentary information has been preserved about those times, which does not allow us to answer many important questions. For example, it is not known in what year Buddhism appeared. But we can speculate with a certain degree of confidence what became the reasons for its development and consolidation in the consciousness of Hindus.

Firstly, in the middle of the first millennium BC, the Vedic religion found itself in a deep crisis, which led to the emergence large quantity alternative and unorthodox teachings. In most cases, they were created by ascetics, wandering philosophers and shamans. One of them was Siddhartha Gautama, the historical founder of this world religion.

Secondly, at that time active processes of strengthening began state power. This required maximizing the authority of warriors and kings as opposed to the brahmanas. The existence of such a conflict between castes can be judged from the pranic late Vedic literature. Buddhism became an alternative to Brahmanism, the teaching was in opposition, and therefore was chosen to strengthen the power of the kshatriyas.

There is concrete evidence that when Buddhism appeared, it was a royal religion. For example, in the 7th-13th centuries, when the kings of individual Indian states stopped supporting him, he quickly disappeared from there. But in the countries in which the rulers provided him with patronage, he continued to flourish.

Siddhartha Gautama

The founder of the religion was born in 623 or 563 BC in the royal Indian Iron Age family Shakya. This happened in the south of modern Nepal.

After spending his youth in his father's luxurious palace, Siddhartha accidentally encountered the cruel reality of the world around him, coming to the conclusion that life is based on grief and suffering. After this, he refused to live in the palace, settling in the forest as a hermit and ascetic. In particular, he followed the practices of killing and torturing his body.

He then decided that extreme forms of asceticism would not lead a person to liberation from the suffering associated with death and birth. Therefore, he began to look for an intermediate path between the desire for self-mortification and sensual pleasures.

During his meditations, Siddhartha decided to do everything to find the truth, achieving Enlightenment at the age of 35. After this, he began to call himself Buddha Gautama or simply Buddha, which literally meant “awakened one.”

He spent the remaining 45 years of his life traveling around Central India, in particular in the Ganges Valley. He gained many students and followers. Over the next four centuries they formed all kinds of schools and teachings.

First Buddhist Council

With a high degree of confidence, we can say that Buddhism appeared in the world when the first Buddhist Council took place. This happened in the 6th century BC.

According to legend, it took place after Buddha achieved nirvana. Then his disciples gathered and reproduced from memory everything he had taught them. These were the rules and norms of the monastic community, the so-called disciplinary charter, teachings, sermons and philosophy. Now everyone understands in what century Buddhism appeared.

Split

The Second Buddhist Council was held in 383 BC. It was held by King Kalasoka due to a conflict that arose between different Buddhist schools.

Traditionalists believed Buddha an ordinary person who managed to achieve enlightenment. They believed that any monk could repeat this experience, for which they should strictly follow the rituals and rules.

Supporters of liberal interpretations considered this approach to be too selfish, and the goal of achieving arhatship was completely unimportant. In their opinion, the truth must be the desire to achieve full condition Buddha. When Buddhism appeared, this position was very common. Over time, this teaching developed into Mahayana. Its supporters preached a lighter monastic rule, and therefore received support from the majority of supporters and monks even in places where Buddhism originally appeared.

The council ended with the condemnation of the latter, who left the meeting in protest. After this they settled in Central Asia and in the northwest of modern India.

This was not the last division of this religion. A total of 18 schools were allocated. Knowing where Buddhism originated, many followers of this belief strive to end up in these places.

Buddhism and Christianity

There are four major religions in the world today that have the most supporters and followers. These are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. When someone asks the question which came first, Buddhism or Christianity, the answer in this case is obvious to anyone familiar with world history.

The countdown begins with Christianity new era when Jesus Christ was born. When Buddhism appeared as a religion is known to everyone who deals with this issue. This happened in the 6th century BC.

World religions

It is more difficult to decide which religion is the most ancient, to figure out when Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam appeared. Historians claim that of these four, Judaism will still be the most ancient. It is believed that the ancient Hebrew religion originally existed, which appeared in the 11th century BC, simultaneously with the emergence of the state Jewish people and its division into classes.

Judaism replaced it only in the 7th century BC, appearing about a hundred years earlier than Buddhism. In this case, even the year is known. In 621 BC, King Josiah of Judah issued a decree prohibiting the worship of all gods except one. After this, the authorities began to actively fight polytheism, their images were destroyed, sanctuaries were destroyed, Jews who continued to make sacrifices to other gods were subjected to cruel punishments, including the death penalty.

Islam is actually the youngest of these four religions. It originated in the 7th century AD in the west Arabian Peninsula.

Differences from other popular beliefs

When discussing the differences between Buddhism and other religions, the main ones highlight its incredible diversity and flexibility. At a time when most world religions always strived to at least formally adhere to orthodoxy, Buddhism easily adapted any belief system without exception to its needs.

He easily adjusted to animism, polytheism, shamanism, and esoteric teachings. It belongs to the religions of natural law. Buddhism does not deny the existence of gods. The main feature of this is that higher power considered an inviolable law of nature. According to him, absolutely everything exists in the world, including gods.

This higher power depersonalized, she does not have her own interests, like, for example, the gods of polytheistic and monotheistic religions. She has no opponents, there is no point in trying to negotiate with her or trying to appease her.

Already a consequence of this is the absence of the concept of missionary, denial of science, other religions, the impossibility religious wars.

Buddhism in Russia

The first evidence of the existence of this religion in our country dates back to the 8th century AD. They are associated with a state called Bohai, which was located on the site of modern Amur and Primorye. That's when Buddhism appeared in Russia.

It finally took hold in our culture in the 17th century, when some Kalmyk tribes received Russian citizenship. Soon this religion spread to the territory of Buryatia. Tibetan and Mongolian lamas settled here, apparently fleeing persecution in their homeland. In 1764, Empress Catherine II even approved the post of head of the Buddhists of Transbaikalia and Eastern Siberia. It is believed that it was then that Buddhism became one of the state religions in the country.

In the 20th century

In the 30s of the 20th century, after several uprisings in Buddhist monasteries against Soviet power, the government decided to start a fight against Buddhists. To the beginning of the Great Patriotic War Most of the clergy were repressed, not a single monastery remained. In many ways, this had to be done due to the extensive intelligence work the Japanese, who declared support for their co-religionists, proposing to create a puppet pan-Mongol state of Buddhists within the USSR.

Many monks who were unhappy Soviet power, were willing to cooperate. Only after the defeat of Japan in World War II did a partial revival of this religion begin on the territory of the Soviet Union.

Currently, there are several Buddhist regions in Russia; departments of Sinology and Sanskritology have been opened in some large universities; the most important Buddhist treatises are being translated into Russian. Traditionally, this religion is practiced in the Trans-Baikal Territory, Buryatia, Tuva, Kalmykia, and Altai. The total number of ethnic Buddhists is about 900 thousand people.

Doctrines

Despite the different schools, all Buddhist teachings are based on four doctrines.

There is dukkha, that is, an analogue of suffering, worry, dissatisfaction, concern, anxiety, fear.
The cause of dukkha is the desire for sensual pleasures, desires based on a person’s wrong idea of the baseness and insignificance of his own “I”.
You can free yourself from dukkha; to do this, you must stop the action of its causes.
There is a path that leads to deliverance from dukkha. Through it, a Buddhist achieves nirvana.

Middle way

The Buddha's teaching is based on the existence of a middle path, which must be completed anew in each situation. According to him, Buddha does not accept either hedonism or asceticism.

It is also important to remember the three turns of the wheel of Dharma. First the Buddha preaches about the four noble truths, then about emptiness, and finally about the nature of his teaching.

Jewels of Buddhism

It is noteworthy that one cannot become a Buddhist at birth. This must be a conscious decision of an adult who understands the three main jewels.

These include the Buddha, the dharma (the teaching itself) and the sangha, that is, the community, which refers to both all Buddhists in the world in general, and a small group of those close to the faith.