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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Teena@" data-source="post: 10260011" data-attributes="member: 266388">BUDDHISM AND GOD Lord Buddha denied the existence of both the Dynamic God as well as the Atman as the Individualized Soul, which were respectively, the concepts of Truth in Hinduism and Jainism. This is also known as the Sunyavaada. His thinking is quite clear in his last words to Ananda where he mentions that the germs of disintegration are existent in our bodies and that Ananda should take refuge in `truth' only, knowing it is an island whereby completely contradicting the infinite nature of God in Hinduism. He was against animal sacrifice and untouchability practised by the Hindus. He took the middle path between Hinduism and Jainism. The Jains saw life in practically everything, so they practised extreme form of non-violence, on the other hand the Hindus used animal sacrifice and were quite violent in relative terms. Lord Buddha did eat meat but only if the animal was not killed for him. He did emphasize non-violence, but not to the extent done in Jainism. <img src="http://www.engr.mun.ca/%7Easharan/bihar/pictures/kush11.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.engr.mun.ca/%7Easharan/bihar/pictures/kush13.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> KING ASHOKA AND BUDDHISM King Ashoka belonged to the Mauryan Dynasty of the rulers of Magadha. In the Buddhist literature, he is referred to as a very cruel king in the beginning and there is some truth to it because he acceded to the throne in the year 269 B.C., approximately three years after his father's death. It is quite possible that there might have been struggle between him and his brothers for the throne. He had inherited a vast empire and he attacked Kalinga (Orrisa) shortly after becoming the king. This event was a turning point in his life and one of the most important events in the World History. More than one hundred thousand people were killed in the battle and many hundreds of thousands were injured. There was blood and suffering everywhere. This bloodshed, changed his heart, and he adopted Buddhism. He sent monks including his son, Mahendra, and his daughter, Sanghmitra, to spread the message of peace preached by Lord Buddha, all over the known world at that time, which included Tibet, China, etc. in the north; Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia in the east; Sri Lanka in the south; and Iran, Syria, Egypt, Greece, Macedonia, etc. in the west. This message of peace was well received in all the countries and thus Buddhism, spread beyond the boundaries of India, unlike Jainism or Hinduism where such missions were never undertaken. It was his missionary zeal that Buddhism is one of the major religions of the world. Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam are mainly Buddhist countries. Even though there is communism in China, it is believed the people are still Buddhists. It was due to Ashoka's zeal for spreading the message of peace that made this religion much better organized than Hinduism or Jainism. After Lord Buddha's death, the first Buddhist Conference was held at Vaishali in year 383 B.C. and the second one took place at the Ashoka's capital, Pataliputra, in the year 247 B.C. He erected several pillars, with edits at several places within his kingdom. He built monasteries and stupas (topes) because idols of Lord Buddha were not worshipped during his time. He abolished animal sacrifices. He instituted medical treatment of two kinds - one for human beings and the other for the lower creations. He did these not only within his kingdom but also in the other countries such as Sri Lanka, Syria, Iran, Macedonia, Egypt etc..His system of medical treatment is famous in the history of the world and that too, for the animals. <img src="http://www.engr.mun.ca/%7Easharan/bihar/pictures/rpage80.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> BUDDHISM IN BIHAR IN POST-ASHOKA PERIOD Buddhism was practised in India until the eighth century but was on the decline after the death of King Harshvardhana of Thaneshvar in the seventh century. Bihar was the last strong hold of Shankaracharya's and Kumarilla Bhatt's opposition to Buddhism. The Pala kings supported Buddhism by including their generous grants to Vikramshila and Nalanda Universities which were one of the most ancient universities in the world. The students and scholars from all over the world came to study there. The Nalanda University had its beginning from the time of Ashoka but the remains show its prominence starting from the Gupta period. It is worth mentioning here that (a) the rise of Mahayana sect in this religion started in the second century B.C.. Before this, there was only Hinayana sect, and no image of Lord Buddha was used for worshipping during those years. THE DALAI LAMA AND BUDDHISM OF TIBET The Dalai Lama was the head of the state of Tibet and also its spiritual leader who practised Lord Buddha's teachings and can be considered as a symbol of Buddhism. He believes in extreme form of non-violence. His people have suffered immensely but he has never preached violence. He is the living symbol of Lord's Christ, Mahavira, and Buddha, in this sense. For his faith and courage, he <img src="http://www.engr.mun.ca/%7Easharan/bihar/pictures/rpage82.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Source.. <a href="http://www.engr.mun.ca/%7Easharan/bihar/buddhism.html" target="_blank">http://www.engr.mun.ca/~asharan/bihar/buddhism.html</a></blockquote>

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