Where is buddhism no longer influential

In the so-called classical period of Buddhism in China Tang dynasty, — CE , there were a number of schools of Buddhism that taught and promoted their own philosophies and meditation practices. The Huayen and Tiantai schools, for instance, varied in philosophy, location, and political influence. The teachings of various schools influenced and were adapted by Korea and Japan.

One of the most popular figures in Chinese Buddhism is the Bodhisattva Guanyin the one who perceives the laments of the world—Guanshiyin. Having originated from Indian Buddhism as a superior being who aids the suffering of the world, Guanyin has become a key figure in the devotional practices of Chinese Buddhists and Daoists alike. Author: Geoff Foy. The names of those whose contributions amounted to several hundred yuan or more were engraved on a plaque, while the names of those who gave more than 1, yuan were engraved on the back of a statue of the Buddha.

Buddhists flock to the temples in order to satisfy their need for symbolic solace. It helps to give meaning to their experience of life, to lessen their suffering or to make their dreams come true. Thus, if a monastery wishes to attract believers, it has to consolidate its cultural authority and strengthen its capacity to manage its symbolic capital. In the eyes of the lay community, the monastery must appear profoundly religious and sacred. Temporal business does nothing for sacredness; and today, if a temple devotes itself too much to non-religious activity, it risks the disapproval of lay Buddhists and the loss of a more profitable source of income than any other.

These days it is essential for them to piece together their own histories, to celebrate the anniversaries of their foundation or those of their great Masters of past years.

Here we may cite two examples. In , the Hanshan Temple, in Jiangsu, celebrating its 1,th anniversary, published several volumes dedicated to its own history and to that of the great Masters who had once lived there. In , the monks of the Nanhua Temple in Guangdong, also celebrating the anniversary of the founding of their temple, organised a series of activities including, in particular, a concert of Buddhist music.

In this way, these monasteries and their monks lay claim to a religious prestige that they negotiate in a sort of symbolic marketplace. Being famed across the world for its martial arts tradition, this temple had to confront a hundred or so fake versions of its brand in 11 countries. In , it decided to react.

It brought a successful lawsuit against a food factory using Shaolin as its own brand name. In subsequent years, it emerged victorious in other lawsuits in China and abroad.

Today the Shaolin Temple owns the registered trademark for 48 types of products and services in China. Its applications to register the trademark have been made in 68 foreign countries. Shaolin is not an isolated case. Since , the Hanshan Temple has registered its own trading name as well as those of the great Masters from its history, and even one line dating from the Tang Dynasty describing the Temple. In addition to the monks, the state must now face up to the lay believers whose interest in Buddhism is more and more intense.

The Chinese government, and in particular the local authorities who are anxious to favour economic development, can no longer neglect the existence and the needs of lay Buddhists who are at the same time investors and consumers. At the present time, Hong Kong and Taiwan are an important source of capital 24 , and numerous investors are Buddhist. The latter are attentive not only to the communications network and to natural and human resources but also to the religious environment.

Moreover, their decisions in the economic field are often influenced by Buddhist masters whom they trust. Thus, the government sees itself forced into seeking co-operation with the monasteries. According to a report published by the Buddhist Association of China, the Guangjiao Temple, in Jiangsu, has several times joined forces with the local authorities to persuade business folk in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan to open up enterprises in Nantong Mr Yang, a Hong Kong retailer, has since given several million yuan to Temple B in Hebei, where I carried out part of my field study.

The local authority quickly understood that, Yang being Buddhist, his attachment to the regional temple might ensure that he would follow up his investments. So a top provincial official brought Temple B to his attention, a strategy that turned out effective. The production of, and trade in, religious artefacts statues of the Buddha, strings of beads, good-luck charms, incense, candles, printed icons, and so on are a considerable source of income for the local people.

Accordingly, the local authorities often look positively on the building of monasteries and Buddhist monuments. Each year, Temple B opens its doors to a large number of visitors, as many as ten thousand a day at the time of the biggest ceremonies.

In a district with few attractions, such crowds are extraordinary. The local authority was encouraged to lend support to almost all the projects undertaken by the temple and especially to its purchase of land for large-scale construction projects. On its own initiative, in , a market for religious objects was installed in front of the temple, in a space measuring 24, square metres.

In the city of Nanking, in Jiangsu, the departments responsible for construction and gardens in the Xuanwu district have spent five million yuan on building a museum dedicated to Xuanzang ? In the same city, two local administrations had plans to rebuild the Pagoda of the Dabaoen Temple that was destroyed in during the Taiping Rebellion. The city government finally decided to rebuild it on its former site In Shaanxi, every year since , the authorities in the city of Baoji have been organising a tourism festival at the Famen Temple.

In , the Xinzhou city government in Shanxi decided to sponsor a "Festival of Buddhist Culture" on Mount Wutai, with the participation of monasteries in the region. The monks are enabled in effect to put Buddhism in contact with the public, in a society where religion is often officially excluded from public life, to build monasteries and to organise religious activities quite lawfully.

Today, the state and the monasteries are committed to a relationship of co-operation that is working out profitably for both sides. The government continues to seize many monasteries, especially those that have a significant religious and cultural heritage. While recent changes should not mask the continuance of such behaviour, it is possible to assert that the one-sided relationship that formerly existed between the state and the monasteries has developed into a more complex relationship.

The contrast between his life and this human suffering made him realize that all the pleasures on earth where in fact transitory, and could only mask human suffering. Leaving his wife—and new son "Rahula"—fetter he took on several teachers and tried severe renunciation in the forest until the point of near-starvation.

Finally, realizing that this too was only adding more suffering, he ate food and sat down beneath a tree to meditate. By morning or some say six months later!

Now the Buddha "the Enlightened or Awakened One" began to teach others these truths out of compassion for their suffering. His first Noble Truth is that life is suffering dukkha. Life as we normally live it is full of the pleasures and pains of the body and mind; pleasures, he said, do not represent lasting happiness. They are inevitably tied in with suffering since we suffer from wanting them, wanting them to continue, and wanting pain to go so pleasure can come.

The second Noble Truth is that suffering is caused by craving—for sense pleasures and for things to be as they are not. We refuse to accept life as it is. The third Noble Truth, however, states that suffering has an end, and the fourth offers the means to that end: the Eight-Fold Path and the Middle Way.

If one follows this combined path he or she will attain Nirvana, an indescribable state of all-knowing lucid awareness in which there is only peace and joy. The Middle Way represents a rejection of all extremes of thought, emotion, action, and lifestyle.

Rather than either severe mortification of the body or a life of indulgence insense pleasures the Buddha advocated a moderate or "balanced" wandering life-style and the cultivation of mental and emotional equanimity through meditation and morality.

After the Buddha's death, his celibate wandering followers gradually settled down into monasteries that were provided by the married laityas merit-producing gifts. The laity were in turn taught by the monks some of the Buddha's teachings. They also engaged in such practices as visiting the Buddha's birthplace; and worshipping the tree under which he became enlightened bodhi tree , Buddha images in temples, and the relics of his body housed in various stupas or funeral mounds.

The Noble Eightfold Path: Tricycle. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

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