Thursday 5 December 2013

NOTES ON BUDDHA AND HIS DHAMMA (PART - 3)


Reasons for early decline of Buddhism

Buddhism’s decline was as fast as its rise. My view is that Buddhism’s decline cannot be attributed to any failings in the teachings but because of wrong interpretation of the teachings. We have seen how materialism pervaded the society at the time of Buddha. In the initial years of his life, Siddharth Gautama (or Buddha) fought all the materialistic forces while living within the society itself. So much so that he was made to live in a harem where all the female inhabitants had been instructed to seduce him with their charm. This was a clear example of material beckoning at its extreme. Likewise, he was the son of a king and had all the chances to exploit the wealth of his father. Yet he was fighting these evils while living in the society itself.

Later, when the Sakya Sangh ruled a war against Koliyas, he was seen to be against the decision of the majority. This angered the Sangh and the consequences of this led to Siddharth Gautama opting for Parivraja but only as a way out when compelled, as he wanted to adhere to his ideals and also save his family from confiscation of property or expulsion. Siddharth Gautama was a man of great principles and could not have comprised on truth.

Unfortunately, Siddharth Gautama’s compulsion to take Parivraja or sanyas was accepted as part of the Buddhist teachings. This was perhaps because renunciation by going to the forests or high altitude caves had remained a part of the believes of the people for a long time, even though Krishna had criticized such renunciation in Gita and said that true renunciation was to keep firm control over organs of action and senses and perform all acts for God, seeking nothing in return. Gita is replete with such teachings.

The followers of Buddha didn’t understand this at least initially. This led to hoards and hoards of new recruits to Buddhism starting to live in caves and hermitages, resulting in situation where all good teachings and knowledge got confined to these secluded hermitages and the common man continued to live in ignorance. Slowly, when these hermitages collapsed, the only link of the common men to the true teachings collapsed and Buddhism declined as quickly as it had emerged.

Why did the system of hermitages collapse? This happened because the way of life that these hermits had adapted was not the desired way of life as per Buddhism. Universality of religion lies in the ability of the entire society to accept and live that religion. Clearly, it was not possible for the entire society to start living in caves and hermitages. The initial zeal and enthusiasm made the adherents live a harsh life in such places. But when this died slowly or materialism started brewing inside those very monasteries, the entire structure started to crumble like a pack of cards.

They were doing all this in remembrance of Buddha whom people had seen passing from amongst themselves, with a shaven head, and clothes of a hermit and begging for food in a bowl. They didn’t realize that this was a life that Buddha was forced to live due to certain compulsions which were the consequence of his promise made to the Sangh.

One may ask at this juncture the reason for materialism making inroads into the Buddhist hermitages. The reason is simple. Buddha’s overzealous followers had tried to see his teachings as a new religion when in truth there were not. All Buddha had done was to remove the evils that had permeated in the society that believed in the Vedas. Several of those who accepted his teachings were Brahmins. But portraying Buddha’s teachings as a religion had a negative effect as several ardent believers of Vedas rejected the teachings. Therefore, a lot many serious people who would have otherwise contributed to development of Buddha’s teachings did not came under its fold. After Asoka’s conversion, the new recruits were mainly those who converted due to compulsion. A lot many of these entered the caves and hermitages and thereafter corrupted the entire system. Infighting, fight for supremacy, ego tussles and all other evils of a materialistic society entered these hermitages. This led to the entire system collapsing once Hindu kings replaced Asoka.

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