After the Final Extinction (Parinirvana) of the Buddha, and the cremation of his body, the community of monks chose five hundred Arahants ('worthy ones', 'perfected ones') to work together to compile the doctrine and the discipline, in order to prevent the true doctrine from bei

OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM into Persia is still at a primarily speculative stage. This said, a summary of current views is relevant to any account of the history of Buddhism. There has been little archaeological

The sphere of influence of the early Indian civilisations extended well beyond the sub-continent to include most of what is now called South East Asia. That trade was the motivating force in this is clear from the Sanskrit names given to South East Asian ports such as Takkolo

This booklet is intended to offer a short history of Buddhism in Myanmar from its origins through the country's loss of independence to Great Britain in the late nineteenth century. I have not dealt with more recent history as this has already been well documented.

It is not known precisely when Buddhism first came to Australia. Professor A.P.Elkin has argued that there may have been contact between the Aboriginal people of northern Australia and the early Kindu-Buddhist civilisations of Indonesia.

Blind is this world; here only a few possess insight. Only a few, like birds escaping from a net, go to the realms of bliss. ~ Dhammapada 174. Although the island of Java in Indonesia is the home of the magnificent Borobudur cetiya, Buddhism as a religion had been supplanted by Hinduism and then Islam for several centuries.

Theravada (Pali: thera "elders" + vada "word, doctrine"), the "Doctrine of the Elders," is the name for the school of Buddhism that draws its scriptural inspiration from the Pali Canon, or Tipitaka, which scholars generally accept as the oldest record of the Buddha's teachings.

Accroding to China Tibet Information Center report, Chinese archaeologists have found Buddhist relics belonging to the early Guge Kingdom of the 11th century in the Cazi Valley on the Chinese side along the Sino-India border.

National festivals–Festivals in honour of celestial beings–In honour of the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas–In honour of characters in Chinese Buddhist history–Supplemental anniversaries–Singhalese Buddhists keep a different day for Buddha's birthday–In the T‘ang dynasty Hindoo astronomers reformed the calendar–Gaudamsiddha–The week of India and Babylon known to the Chinese–Word mit for Sunday–Peacock Sutra–The Hindoo Rahu and Ketu.