Buddhism Course

• #1.  I think Buddhism resonated so deeply with so many kings and rules, as well as individuals in different times and places worldwide, because there was a degree of readiness to realize there is a "better way."  Brutality and wars were a way of life.  Emperor Ashoka was one example of a king who saw the devastation caused by his ruthlessness and war against a neighboring state, and became transformed.  He practiced compassion and kindness, and helped spread Buddhism by sending missionaries to other countries.  He is an example of a ruler who "woke up" to a better way.  As Buddhism spread, other rulers saw the "sense of it."  Japan, for example, adopted Buddhism as the state religion.

Karen Armstrong wrote an interesting book called The Great Transformation in which she describes an Axial Age where Axial Sages (Buddha was one of them) ushered a new way of living, ruling and thinking.  To these Axial Sages, what mattered most was the welfare of the people, kindness and compassion, here and now.  The time was "right" as it may have been for all who change their way of life, thinking and behavior and start on the Buddha trail.

Another factor may have been fear of negative karma.  Rulers who led armies to war, who treated their people harshly, and who were motivated by nothing more than greed, may have begun to realize they were probably in for a bad rebirth if they did not change.

#2.  Primary factors in the spread of Buddhism were the missionaries who went to foreign countries to teach.  Emperor Ashoka, for example, was a strong proponent of sending missionaries to other countries.  In addition, the trade routes, such as the Silk Road, were used to carry Buddhism to other lands.  Written scriptures were easy to carry, as well, replacing oral transmission.  Another factor is no doubt "readiness," as in #1.  The students in other lands were "ready," and the teachers appeared.

#3.  Our world as we know it would be totally different if rulers were guided by the dharma.  There would be cooperation, not war; compassion, not exploitation; there would be truth, not falsehood.  If all rulers followed the Eightfold Path and the Ten Precepts we would live in a world we would hardly recognize by today's standards.  It would be fun, however, to live in such a world.  Perhaps that is our job -- bit by bit, piece by piece, truth by truth -- to anchor the dharma on planet Earth.

Nancy Anderson

aka "Lotus"

 Lesson 4

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