DOMAIN 11
Buddhist History & Traditions
Buddhism as history — from the world the Buddha lived in, across its journey through Asia, to the schools and traditions that took root in different lands.
7 topics · 25 insights
Key questions
- How did Buddhism travel from India to China and Japan?
- What does the historical record say that the scriptures do not?
Every topic in this domain
7
The Buddha's World & Early Buddhism
India in the Buddha's lifetime had rival schools, a caste order and the politics of competing kingdoms — a background that gives many of the teachings a weight they lose when read out of context.
The Buddha's Life, His Disciples & the Early Sangha
The episodes of the Buddha's life and the accounts of individual disciples, read as history with a traceable provenance rather than as devotional storytelling.
Buddhism on the Silk Road
Buddhism in China, Japan, Iran & Central Asia
Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Siam & Southeast Asia
Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna, Zen & Pure Land
Relics, Buddha Images, Scriptures & Buddhist Tradition
Accounts of relics and objects of veneration can be checked against the historical record — who wrote them down, when, and where — which is a separate matter from whether one believes them.
19:41
Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Siam & Southeast Asia
Before Sukhothai this land was Mahāyāna for centuries — the history school leaves out
19:59
Relics, Buddha Images, Scriptures & Buddhist Tradition
Did the Buddha image begin with the Greeks? The evidence for the first face
19:07
Buddhism in China, Japan, Iran & Central Asia
ตั๊กม้อเป็นชาวเปอร์เซีย อิหร่าน เคยเป็นพุทธ? และพระอิหร่านผู้นำพุทธศาสนาเข้าแผ่นดินจีนยุคสามก๊ก
20:36
Relics, Buddha Images, Scriptures & Buddhist Tradition
Relic miracles — a Thai invention? Opening the historical records of Japan, China, Sri Lanka and Burma
13:51
The Buddha's Life, His Disciples & the Early Sangha
Did the Buddha have a “daughter”? The woman who declared before him: “I am your daughter”
18:37
The Buddha's World & Early Buddhism
อินเดียเคยรวยที่สุดในโลก ความจริงเรื่องบ้านเกิดพระพุทธเจ้า ที่หลายคนเข้าใจผิด
20:41
Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna, Zen & Pure Land
อมิตาพุทธ: ท่องคำเดียว ไปสุขาวดี และบรรลุเป็นพระพุทธเจ้า?
20:52
The Buddha's Life, His Disciples & the Early Sangha