Koyasan Shingon Buddhism
This is the beginning of the text
The Origin of Buddhism
Buddhism was founded and recognized by Gautama Shiddhartha (the historical Buddha) who lived in India about twenty-five hundred years ago. The word “Buddha” literally means “one who has awakened to the truth” as well as the doctrines that are based on the teaching of one who had attained enlightenment. The basic doctrine of Buddhism describes how to be awakened to the truth of the universe and how to attain perfect enlightenment. The content of this doctrine makes some religious experts say that Buddhism is not just a religion but also a philosophy. Others have also characterized Buddhism as a set of spiritual teachings and practices.
The basic doctrine of Buddhism characteristically describes the importance of practices and experiences. The three guiding principals of this doctrine are the observance of the precepts, sitting in meditation and obtaining wisdom. In order to help people attain enlightenment (to become a Buddha), many scriptures were produced. The “Twelve Causes”, “Four Noble Truths” and “Eightfold Path” are the some of the fundamental scriptures. More philosophical doctrines were added around the 1st century when Mahayana Buddhism was created.
Buddhism, like many other religions, began to evolve over time and developed into many district groups. These different groups came from the same original doctrine of Buddhism but differ in teachings and the philosophy of how to become enlightened to the truth. Buddhism was divided into two main branches as it began spread worldwide. One stream (Mahayana) made its way from India to China, Mongolia, Central Asia, and then came to Japan via the Korean Peninsula during the 6th century. The other branch (Vajrayana/Theravada) took course to the south as it moved from Burma to Thailand via Sri Lanka in the 11th century.
Koyasan was founded by Kobo Daishi as his ascetic sanctuary in the 9th century. His teaching is called “Mikkyo” or “Esoteric Buddhism” which emerged during the middle and the last period of the development of Buddhism in India.
This is the end of this page