An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism: The Essentials of Buddhist Spirituality Read Online Free PDF Page A

the greater part of the Indian sub-continent, he
    became one of the greatest and most saintly rulers in Indian history;
    his avowed intention was to establish a “reign of dharma ”.He was the
    most benevolent of monarchs, watching careful y over the well-being
    of his subjects, and maintaining friendly relations with neighboring
    states. His son Mahinda was instrumental in taking Buddhism to Cey-
    lon (now Sri Lanka), and under Ashoka’s influence Buddhism also
    spread in Burma. His famous “edicts” enshrine the precepts that he
    propagated. For example: “Never think or say that your own religion is
    best; never denounce the religion of others. He who does reverence to
    his own sect, while disparaging the sects of others . . . and with intent
    to enhance the glory of his own sect, in reality by such conduct inflicts
    the severest injury on his own sect.”
    Milinda (c. first century B.C.-first century A.D.)
    Milinda is usual y identified with the Greco-Indian King Menander,
    who, around the turn of the millennium, conquered a large tract of
    Northern India. Milinda posed a number of questions regarding Bud-
    dhism to the monk Nāgasena, and the latter’s answers are said not only
    to have converted Milinda to Buddhism, but henceforth, in the form of
    the treatise Milindapañha (“The Milinda Questions”) became an im-
    portant source of Theravāda perspectives on some of the central theses
    of Buddhism, such as karma and anātmā .

    Some Early Buddhist Figures
    21
    Ashvaghosha (first-second centuries A.D.)
    Ashvaghosha was born into a brahmin family, but was converted to
    Buddhism by a Buddhist monk. He wrote in Sanskrit, and was a poet,
    dramatist, and musician. He was revered as a “sun that il uminates the
    world”. Original y from Eastern India, he settled in Benares. He was
    the earliest and greatest philosopher of the Northern School of Bud-
    dhism, and reputedly the author of the classic work “A Treatise on the
    Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna ” ( Mahāyāna-Shraddhotpāda-
    Shāstra ).This was translated into Chinese in the sixth century, and is
    renowned in China and Japan. He wrote in verse a life of the Buddha
    ( Buddha-charita )from his birth to his Parinirvāna (“final expiration”).
    He was the 12th Indian patriarch of Dhyāna Buddhism, and probably
    the guru of Nāgārjuna, the 14th patriarch.
    Nāgārjuna (second-third centuries A.D.)
    Nāgārjuna was one of the most celebrated of Buddhist scholars and
    teachers. He was born of a brahmin family in South India, and early
    in life acquired great learning. He converted to Buddhism, took mo-
    nastic vows, and mastered the Hīnayāna canon. Later he went to the
    Himalayas, where he assimilated the Mahāyāna sūtras. He thus en-
    compassed in his person both the Hīnayāna and the Mahāyāna teach-
    ings. He was outstanding as a philosopher, and the doctors of the Bud-
    dhist university of Nālandā in Bihar claim him as their forefather. He
    was a prolific author, much of his work interpreting and expounding
    the Prajñā-Pāramitā-Sūtra .He was the founder of the Mādhyamika
    (“Middle Way”) school of Mahāyāna Buddhism and also the 14th In-
    dian patriarch of Dhyāna or Zen.
    Vasubandhu (fourth-fifth centuries A.D.)
    Vasubandhu was born in Purushapura (now Peshāwar) in the ancient
    north-west Indian province of Gandhāra. He lived for some years in
    Kashmir and died in Ayodhyā in what is now Uttar Pradesh. He and
    his brother Asanga, along with Maitreyanātha, were the founders of
    the Yogāchāra (or Vijñānavāda )school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, for which one of the most important scriptures is the Lankāvatāra-Sūtra .
    ( Yogāchāra = “Teaching of Union”; Vijñānavāda = “The Way of Dis-
    crimination”.) Vasubandhu was the 21st Indian patriarch of Dhyāna .

    22
    An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism
    Buddhaghosha (fourth-fifth centuries A.D.)
    Buddhaghosha was born into a brahmin family who lived near Bodh-
    Gayā. He