Why did Buddhism (and not Jainism etc) die out in India?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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Dhammanando
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Re: Why did Buddhism (and not Jainism etc) die out in India?

Post by Dhammanando »

In my first post I limited myself to the issue of how Jainism survived Islam. How it survived absorption into Hinduism and why Indian Buddhism failed to do so is another question. The attached article by the prakritist and Jain scholar P.S. Jaini proposes four reasons:

1. The Buddhist sangha, unlike Jain monastics, were neglectful of the laity.

2. Buddhist polemicists, unlike those of Jainism, responded ineffectually to the rise of the Hindu devotional movements and so failed to prevent desertion of the laity into the bhakti fold.

3. On account of its anattā doctrine Buddhism elicited greater hostility from proponents of Hindu orthodoxy than did Jainism (which had a soul theory of its own).

4. The eclipsing of the Buddha’s importance subsequent to the rise of the Mahāyāna’s cult of mythical Bodhisattvas, and the absence of any analogous degeneration in Jainism.


P.S. Jaini, The disappearance of Buddhism and the survival of Jainism: a study in contrast
Jaini 1.pdf
(303.62 KiB) Downloaded 140 times
I have had to split the file into three because of its size. This is the first part.
Last edited by Dhammanando on Sun Dec 01, 2013 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
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Dhammanando
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Re: Why did Buddhism (and not Jainism etc) die out in India?

Post by Dhammanando »

Second part.
Jaini 2.pdf
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Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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Dhammanando
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Re: Why did Buddhism (and not Jainism etc) die out in India?

Post by Dhammanando »

Third part.
Jaini 3.pdf
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Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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greenjuice
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Re: Why did Buddhism (and not Jainism etc) die out in India?

Post by greenjuice »

I don't know which one, but I think I remember reading that only in the one of the two Jain denominations those professions are barred. The other one has 6 permitted professions- asi (sword) soldiers, police, security; masi (ink) communications, administration; krsi agriculture; vanijya trade; silpa (manual labor) medicine, carpentry, construction, artisanship in general and similar; vidya teaching- and they are restricted only by other precepts, e.g. trading in slaves or animals for food, or working as a soldier-mercenary in conquering armies- is not allowed because it breaks the ahimsa vow, trade in indoxicants is not allowed because it breaks the bhogaopabhoga vow, etc.

As far as aparigraha and wealth is concerned, aparigraha means primarily non-possivness of the fourteen moods (mithyatva- false belief, krodha- anger, mana- pride, selfishness, maya- deceitfulness, lobha- greed, hasya- laugful contempt, rati- pleasure, arat- suffering, bhaya- fear, soka- sorrow, jugupsa- disgust, pumveda- male sex-urge, striveda- female sex-urge, napumsakaveda- effeminate sex-urge) ,and secondary, for a layperson, to set a limits to possession of Kshetra-Vastu Land and Houses, Hiranya-Suvarna Silver and Gold, Dhana-Dhanya Cattle and Corn, Dasi-Dasa Female and Male servants, and Kupya-Bhanda Clothes and Furniture.

Also, concerning Jain laypeople and moksha, Jainism has somemething similar to the Hindu ashrama progression, only with 14 stages, and the idea is that a layperson should progressively become more and more like a monk as he grows older.
mahat
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Re: Why did Buddhism (and not Jainism etc) die out in India?

Post by mahat »

That pretty much means people who had no knowledge of the Dhamma were becoming monks and didn't really care about the Dhamma nor did they fully understand the unique qualities of the Buddha's teachings. Lay people completely stopped identifying with Buddhism and were told that Buddhism doesn't believe in self defense or working -- there were no lay disciples left.
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Anagarika
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Re: Why did Buddhism (and not Jainism etc) die out in India?

Post by Anagarika »

Dhammanando wrote:Third part.
Jaini 3.pdf
Interesting article, Bhante, thank you for posting.

Some interesting parallels with what is occurring in Asian Buddhism and what is developing currently in the west. The author Jaini mentions the emergence of debased practices such as fortune telling by the monks ( seen in modern Thailand at times) as well as "the development of the heavenly bodhisattvas theory, and indeed that of the entire Mahayana in Buddhism, can perhaps be ultimately traced back to the celebrated "silence (avyiikrta) of the Buddha." The idea that the Buddha's Dhamma was 'usurped' by the Mahayana rendering the Buddha silent and forgotten, seems a tragic quality of Buddhism in the west, in some areas. How often do we now see mindfulness being reduced to a corporate practice to enhance productivity, stripped of its ethical foundations (see http://www.mcmindfulness.com , for example) as well as the sheer lack of focus on the Buddhadhamma in favor of practices and sutras that emerged in medieval Japan. Is the Buddha being forgotten as we move forward with "Buddhism" in the west? Instead of Hinduism absorbing Buddhism, will corporatism, monetization, and new agey sentiment dilute the Dhamma into anonymity?

Prof. Jaini's article is an excellent explanation of why Buddhism failed to survive intact in India, and the same causes and conditions that lead to this erosion are arguably emerging today.
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