East-Religions.4.1: Charles Ess (cmess) Mon, 27 Oct 1997 15:20:29 CST (16 lines)
This group will explore
(b) the further developments in Theravadan tradition as it is exported outside of India into new and distinctive social and political contexts.
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From kkoenig@lib.drury.edu Wed Oct 29 02:13:04 1997
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Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 02:12:52 -0600 (CST)
From: Kurt Koenig <kkoenig@lib.drury.edu>
To: Amber Campbell <acampbel@lib.drury.edu>, Charles Ess <cmess@lib.drury.edu>,
Carrie Blehm <cblehm@lib.drury.edu>,
Kurt Koenig <kkoenig@lib.drury.edu>
Subject: Theravada
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Hey, here is the scoop. Due once again to my procrastination I have encountered a server failure. My part of our effort will follow.... Theravada: Historical developement.
Between 200b.c.e and 500 c.e. Buddhism began to really take hold. this time is referred to as the post-Asokan period. India was economicaly and politicaly stable during this time. Two streams emerged from this stability: Mahayana and Theravada. This conservative Buddhism, preserved in Pali, stretched into most of South and southeast Asia. Theravada focused on a religious elite. By the end of the post-Asokan period(550c.e.) both streams had taken hold in India. Theravada had the majority of followers.
In the next period(600c.e.-1100c.e.), the medievil period, Buddhism began to decline in India. Although the rest Asia would survive as buddhists, the religion's survival in India deteriorated. However in the northeast of India Buddhism would flourish for about 500 more years. Theravada, during this period necesitating adaptations, remaine dthe majority but did little to ajust to the changing times. About two hundred yaers later the northeast of India began to lose buddhism and the religion deminished completely. Fenton gives four speculative reasons for this decline. the first is that Buddhism failed to penetrate into the "grassroots" of the Indians due to its hierarchical structure. Secondly, was a increase in the seperation between monks and laity. Thirdly, many other traditions, including Hinduism, began appropriating their tradition to incorporate Buddhist beliefs. Thus, these religions became more desirable to the laity and "grassroots" Indians. The invasion of foreign forces is Fenton's fourth cause. Hinduism nad Islam absorbed early all of the remaining Buddhists in India.
Before the death of Buddhism in India it took a srtong hold in other areas of the world. In Sri Lanka and in Manland southeast Asia the Buddhists reacted to the fall in India with a reform movement. These began in the 11th and 12th centuries. these reforms were focused on Theravada and they quikly spread throughout southeast Asia and eventually mingled with Burma's reform movements. By the end of the 15th century Thai people, Cambodians, and Loatians accepted theravada Buddhism as their main religion.
As Buddhism began to spread further north and east into central Asia and China it began to merge with many existing religions including Zen , Toaism, and Confucianism. As buddism in these areas evolved it lost the original Indian distictions of Theravada and Mahayana. New distinctions were developed and new ideas were incorporated.
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East-Religions.4.2: Amber Campbell (acampbel) Tue, 28 Oct 1997 23:06:31 CST
(67 lines)
Hi everyone!!! I believe that I was supposed to write on the section of political and social development during the time of expansion for Theravadan. Correct?
As the rest of the Theravadans already know, the Theravadan religion focused around Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. This occurred during the early second millenium when Buddhism was declining in India (Fenton, 136). In Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, however the decline caused powerful reform movements to occur establishing Theravadan as the prominent religion in this area, according to Fenton.
The first reform occurred in the eleventh century,when kings in northern Burma and Sri Lanka used the Theravadan ways of lower Burma Mon people (Fenton, 136). According to Fenton(136), the most important reform occurred in 12th century in Sri Lanka by Sinhalese king Parakkambahu. They raised the Theravadan religion to be the primary religion of the area.
Due to all these reformations occurring, literature was created promoting Theravadan Buddhism(Fenton, 136). Monks composed this literature and allowed this religion to become available to everyone. Sri Lankans came up with their own religious worship sites, festivals and calandars. Soon Theravadan Buddhism spread from here to Southeast Asia(Fenton, 136).
Southeast Asia had previous reform influences from Burma as well as Sri Lanka (Fenton, 136). By the end of the fifteenth century, Fenton states that even Burma had been overtaken by Sri Lankan Theravadan reforms. To the east, Theravadan was adopted by Thailand and even Ankor,Cambodia which had been previously a Hindu-Mahayana empire(Fenton, 136). The "reformed" buddhists in Southeast Asia carried Theravadan religion beyond just the elite, but to the laity as well.
"By the time the first Europeans arrived in the area in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Theravada had become the dominant and pervasive religious force in the central rice-growing areas of Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia,"(Fenton, 137).
The reformed Theravadan Buddhism melded with local customs in these areas including the agricultural rites. The ideals of community had been established for the elite and laity in these Theravadan worshipping areas.
Okay now as I understand it the community life in Sri Lanka had a king or bodhisattva, who headed up the society while the monks were in charge of the religion. The "monastic order" had its own "king" who was appointed by the social king-talk about confusing! So in other words, church and state each had a separate king, each with separate powers. (Separation of church and state?)
According to Fenton(138), this Sri Lankan idea of reformed Theravadan was adopted in areas in Southeast Asia by the social and religious elite. It was most successful in areas with strong centralized power and long periods of political stability, but Theravada wasn't as successful in places of political and social disruption (Fenton,138). An example was Sri Lanka in the 17th and early 18th centuries.
As seen in the video we watched in class, Theravadan monks provided the religious contributions like religious services,education,and guidance while the laity provided material support like food, shelter, clothing,ect... According to Fenton(138), this relationship was greatly affected by local customs.
"In Sri Lanka,the degree of mutual involvement was somewhat limited by the fact that entrance into the Sangha generally implied lifetime committment to the monastic way,"(Fenton,138). In contrast,Burma had every young boy spend time as novices,while in Thailand temporary ordination with every young man spending at least one to three month rainy seasons as ordained monks(Fenton,138).
I don't know if this was what you wanted Carrie and Kurt, but feel free to comment on what I have quickly written thus far. I hope I'm on the right track. See ya tomorrow!
Amber Campbell
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East-Religions.4.3: Carrie Blehm (cblehm) Wed, 29 Oct 1997 11:37:19 CST (39 lines)
Well it looks as if Amber and i did very similar things. But I think what I have worked on may be slightly different so I will give it a shot. I am working on how Buddism changed as it left India.
From the 8th century onward Sri Lanka was a major center of Vajrayana learning and practice. p133 This fact shows how there is a influence of Vajrayana into the Theravadan tradition. As the Theravadan tradtion moved out of India, it soaked up the culture of the area and adapted to it. This is evident during the reforms of the 12th century. The "new flurry of vernacular writing was part of a general movement whereby Theravada Buddist penetrated into virtually every area of Sinhalese life and culture" (136). As Theravada Buddism spread and adapted to the local culture, the culture also formed around trhe tradition. "Theravada rituals had become embedded in the cycle of agricultural rites performed at the royal courts and in the villages. Theravada ideals of community life, both monastic and lay, had become firmly established among both the elite and the populace as a whole" (137).
As Theravada moved to different cultures it took with it focus object of it's tradition, the Gautama Budda. As the tradtion reached different cultures, it would "correlate with local traditions"(137). "Wherever Theravada prevailed, alongside or below Gautama Budda came Hindu related or indigenous deities,. . .In Sri Lanka, the Buddha himself headed a pantheon of deities, each associated with certain sacred sites" (137).
In all countries where Theravadan was an influence, the ancient forest monk tradition continued. "The forest monks were most active in promoting the Vajrayana in ...peripheral areas"(138). In these areas the laiy and monks had become quite close. Each providing the other with services. "The closeness of the relationships that actually developed between the monks and the laity was, however, deeply affected by differences in local customs"(138). by changing with the local customs the monks did not step on anyone's toes thereby not causing much friction. By doing this "Such practices inevitably strenghened the bonds between lay people and monks" (138).
I hope this is what was wanted. I have initiation between 12-1 today so I will try to get to class as close to on time as I can. See yall then. Carrie B.
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East-Religions.4.4: Kurt Koenig (kkoenig) Thu, 30 Oct 1997 21:06:23 CST (1 line)
MY posting was sent through e-mail. Hope you all liked it.
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