Buddhism and its basic concepts

Buddhism is one of the world’s oldest religions and has been around for over 2,500 years. It is widespread mainly in Central, Eastern and Western Asia (Vietnam, India, China, Korea, Mongolia, Japan and others) and its followers are about 300 million people. During its existence, Buddhism has been deeply rooted in Asian countries and now has a significant impact on various aspects of social and state life, defines the cultural identity of the peoples of Asia, has become a certain way of life of the people.

Buddhism emerged in the 6th century B.C. In India in the conditions of the formation of the great slave-holding states, disintegration of tribal relations, strengthening of social oppression, the decline of the authority of the priestly caste of Brahmans and the transition of power to the caste of kshatras, which consisted mainly of the military bureaucracy and the great slave-holders.

Reflecting the interests of the latter in their struggle against the Brahmani caste, Buddhism initially acted as an opponent of the castes in general and as an equalizer of the people. Buddhism privatizes the masses by the illusory equality of the people and the promise of deliverance from earthly suffering in the posthumous world.

In the 3rd century B.C. Tsar Aipoka, who consolidated most of India under his rule, granted Buddhism a state religion and actively promoted its expansion both in the country and beyond its borders. For more than a thousand years the most widespread religion, Buddhism lost some of its influence in the 10th century AD. It was replaced by Hinduism that asymmeted the ideas of Brahmanism and Buddhism.

Buddhism spread in many Asian countries. In the second century A.D. it gained popularity in China, where it played an important role before the emergence of Confucianism. Buddhism reached Japan from China and Korea in the 6th century, in the 7th century it was rooted in Tibet. In Mongolia, Buddhism in the form of Lamaism spread in the XVI-XVII centuries, in Buryatia (Russia) – in the XVII-XVIII centuries.

The spread of Buddhism was fostered by its ability to adapt to local conditions and the beliefs of different countries. This also led to the growth of its strains, currents and sects, which, although they were aligned with the canonical postulates, but differed in their pantheon and rituals. There are two strains of Buddhism: Hinayana (small village or narrow way of salvation), which extends to the east of Asia, and Mahayana (large village or broad way of salvation), whose followers live in the middle of the world. Organizationally, the Buddhist churches in each country are autonomous, Buddhism has no unified center.