Libmonster ID: IN-1487
Author(s) of the publication: V. I. KORNEV

In Ceylon and in the countries of Southeast Asia, by the beginning of our era, there were numerous colonies of Indian settlers and traders. In this region, Buddhism was confronted with Brahministic religious ideas, cults and rituals, also borrowed from India. Partly this, and to a large extent the fact that Brahmanism had already become a class ideology and had not only its adherents, but also opponents, can explain the relatively rapid spread of Buddhism in Ceylon, Burma, Malaya, Indonesia, Laos, and South Vietnam. Tibet and China at that time were another matter. Tibet was still dominated by primitive mystical beliefs that were hostile to the spirit and teachings of Buddhism. The traditions that existed in China had different historical and cultural roots. So in these regions, Buddhism had to fight a long struggle for its existence.

5. Buddhism in Ceylon

At the end of the first millennium BC, Buddhism took a dominant position among the numerous religions of Ceylon .1 Buddhist monks tried to convince the population that performing religious ceremonies and worshipping local gods and spirits were of secondary importance, because these actions were nothing more than a manifestation of respect for the Buddha, who, they say, is personified in local deities, and the main goal of the believer is to follow the path "indicated" by the Buddha. Thus, Buddhism, without coming into open conflict with local religions, tried to give them a new content. In places where Buddhist monks did not meet with strong opposition from priests of other religions, they established monasteries, and then gradually replaced the cults of local gods with the cult of Buddhas. The Buddhist monastery became the center of the social and spiritual life of the local population, exerting an increasing influence on the life and thoughts of the people.

The rulers of the Ceylon states tried to surpass each other in patronizing monasteries, giving them jewelry, land, villages, buildings, etc. The Sangha (Buddhist community), for its part, sanctified and blessed kings who were crowned king. By the fifth century, the Sangha had become one of the island's largest landowners. The influence and wealth of the monasteries allowed them to interfere in the social and political affairs of the state, sometimes decisively influencing the course of events in the country. Often the heads of the largest monasteries became the closest advisers of the kings, who in the ancient and medieval periods of Ceylon's history played a significant role in the life of the Buddhist community, being its patrons. Some events in the history of Ceylon Buddhism are of interest. Thus, at the end of the first millennium BC, followers of various schools and trends of Buddhism appeared there, and competition began between them for influence, on the one hand, on the broad strata of the population, and on the other - on the royal power. This rivalry led to serious strife. An example is the history of the conflict between the two largest monasteries - Mahavihara and Abhayagiri. Established much later than Mahavihara, Abhayagiri Monastery became an independent religious center in the first century BC. Both monasteries enjoyed the patronage of Sinhalese monarchs, despite the differences between the members of these monasteries: the inhabitants of Mahavihara preached Theravada Buddhism and considered only Pali sources to be true, and the Abhayagiri monks studied Buddhist canonical literature in both Pali and San-

Ending. For the beginning, see Voprosy Istorii, 1970, No. 12.

1 For more information, see E. S. Semek. History of Buddhism in Ceylon, Moscow, 1969.

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hide it. In the third century, the latter declared the Mahayana Vaitulya Pitaka to be the true teaching of the Buddha. In turn, the Mahavihara monks declared that this text is a heresy directed against the dharma. The king supported the Mahavihara monks and ordered the Vaitulya Pitaka to be burned and the monks who preached its doctrines to be expelled from the monastery. However, later on, a Sanghamita monk from Abhayagiri monastery, being the tutor of the king's sons, managed to persuade him to allow the Abhayagiri monks to interpret the dharma in accordance with the canonical Sanskrit texts .2
Conflicts between adherents of Theravada Buddhism and adherents of various Mahayana schools occurred in all major monasteries of Ceylon. They resulted in the emergence of new schools, the departure of a group of monks from large monasteries, and the creation of new communities. This rivalry, now subsiding, then flaring up, lasted for more than one and a half thousand years and ended in favor of Theravada Buddhism, which, however, in the course of a long struggle adapted many elements of Mahayanism to its religious practice. The influence of the latter on Sinhalese Buddhism is still noticeable today: it is the cult of Bodhisattvas in the Valigama temple, the devela (temple) buildings for the worship of nagas (snakes), ritual processions associated with the "Buddha's tooth", numerous festive processions accompanying the transfer of this Buddhist relic from one temple to another, ceremonies to protect against " evil forces", reading mantras, etc.

The fate of one of the main Buddhist shrines, the so-called "Buddha's tooth", is curious.3 The "Buddha's Tooth" was brought to Ceylon from India in the early fourth century. According to legend, this relic was kept by the king of the Kalinga state, who, after being defeated in one of the battles, gave it to his daughter Hemamala. She and her husband managed to make their way to Ceylon, where they presented the relic to Anuradhapura's king Sirimeghavanna. The king ordered the construction of a special shrine for the tooth, known as Dantadhatughara, and announced that every year in the middle of the third month (approximately July), the "tooth of the Buddha" should be transferred from Dantadhatughara to the Abhayagiri monastery. Ten days before the ceremony, a special representative of the king rode a huge decorated elephant through the streets of the city and along the roads of the country, while drums were beating to inform the residents of the approaching day of the relic's transfer. Wooden platforms were erected along the road that the procession usually followed. They were equipped with shields depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha, his reincarnations, for example, in the image of a king, deer, elephant, etc. The procession moved slowly along a road lined with thousands of people. They showered flowers and offered various religious offerings to the Buddha tooth. Upon arrival in Abhayagiri, the relic was placed in the Buddha Hall, where thousands of monks and worshippers gathered. Candles were lit, incense was smoked, and religious rites dedicated to the "tooth of the Buddha"followed day and night without interruption. After 90 days, the relic was moved back to city 4 .

The "Buddha's Tooth" is considered a national treasure in Ceylon. It is also revered by Buddhists in other countries. According to beliefs, the "tooth of the Buddha" brings happiness and good luck to the one who has it. Therefore, the Sinhalese kings literally hunted for this relic. The "tooth" passed from one ruler to another during internecine wars. Numerous copies of this "tooth" appeared, which were kept in special monasteries and transported to another place in case of danger. It is interesting that when the Burmese king Aniruda, in response to the request of King Vijayabahu (1059-1114) for military assistance (and in the XI - XIII centuries there were close friendly ties between Ceylon and Burma), demanded the "tooth of the Buddha", the Ceylonians sent him a copy of this relic. Legends tell us that the" tooth " was repeatedly tried to break with a hammer, burn in a fire, destroy, but each time it was miraculously revived.

2 E. W. Adikaram. Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon. Colombo. 1953, pp. 90, 91.

3 "Buddha's tooth" is a yellowish bone the size of a person's index finger, which is considered by believers to be the left wisdom tooth of Gautama (see A. N. Matyushin. On the land of Lanka, Moscow, 1966, p. 42).

4 S. Beal. Travels of Buddhist Pilgrims. L. 1869, p. 155.

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In 1560, this "tooth" was captured by the Portuguese, who, wanting to dispel the myth of the divine relic, ground it into powder, loaded a cannon with it and shot it into the sea. There were many similar stories about the "tooth", but, as Buddhists say, it always remained unharmed .5
At the beginning of the XI century. Ceylon was subjected to devastating raids by numerous armies from Southern India. The northern part of the island was captured, and the monasteries were looted and destroyed. For about a century it was under the rule of the South Indian Chola Empire. When the Sinhalese king Vijayabahu I managed to defeat the invading armies in 1070, it turned out that the city of Anuradhapura was completely destroyed and abandoned by the inhabitants, huge dagobas (shrines) were covered with grass, the jungle swallowed up this Buddhist center. Therefore, the king moved his residence to Polonnaruwa, which he made the capital of the state. At the end of the 12th century, reservoirs were created in the Polonnaruwa area, parks were laid out, palaces, numerous religious buildings, and huge statues of Buddha were erected. A new invasion by Indian armies in the early 13th century interrupted the development of this Sinhalese state. In Polonnaruwa, almost everything was destroyed. But even now, looking at the remains of palace ensembles, monumental complexes of temple structures, majestic sculptures carved into the rocks, you can understand why the Sinhalese call Polonnaruwa "a poem in stone" 6 .

The history of Ceylon, its literature, painting, architecture, and the development of science are closely connected with Buddhism. Magnificent architectural ensembles of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kotte, huge white and darkened dagobas, dilapidated reservoirs of Nuvaraveva, Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Kaleveva, traces of a developed network of irrigation structures-all this testifies to the richness and high level of development of the ancient Sinhalese civilization. In 1517, the Portuguese arrived in Ceylon. They plundered and killed the inhabitants, converting them to Christianity with fire and sword. The preacher of Buddhism, the Ceylon monk Anagarika Dharmapala, referring to the works of Western researchers, repeatedly said that in the history of European colonization there were no pages more dark and disgusting than those that tell about the affairs of the Portuguese in Ceylon .7 The Portuguese were replaced by the Dutch, who acted "more humanely": they simply declared that unbaptized children were considered illegitimate and had no inheritance rights.

Since 1796, the Dutch began to be replaced by the British, who, not content with the coastal strip, captured the entire island. The resistance of the recalcitrant inhabitants of the island forced the British to remember Buddhism in order to strengthen their position in the conquered country. According to decrees signed in 1815 and 1818, the Buddha religion was declared inviolable, and the property of monasteries was exempt from taxes. The colonial authorities acted as patrons of the Buddhist Church, which since ancient times was financially and administratively dependent on the rulers of the island. However, already in 1819, English administrators began to register monastic lands. Later, subsidies for the maintenance of monks, the repair of monasteries and the organization of religious holidays were cut, and then annual monetary donations to the Buddhist church were finally canceled. Special officials began to describe the monastery lands, and the maintenance of these officials was entrusted to the monastery treasury. Small monasteries were not able to bear such expenses and refused to give up their previously owned land. The latter were then sold to English planters. Undermining the material foundations of the Sangha, eliminating the feudal system that was the mainstay of Buddhism, introducing the English language in schools and government institutions, which effectively isolated monks from the population, controlling the activities and revenues of Buddhist monasteries by the English administration, the privileged position of the Christian Church, and some other factors led to the decline of Buddhism in the country8.

5 Currently, the "tooth of the Buddha" is kept in the Dalada Maligawa Temple in Kandy.

6 For more information, see A. N. Matyushin. Op. ed., pp. 45-48.

7 См. "Return to Righteousness. A Collection of Speeches, Essays and Letters of the Anagarika Dharmapala". Colombo. 1965, pp. 502, 693.

8 For the events in Ceylon after the Second World War, see, in particular, K. Vladimirov. Uprising in the monastery. "Asia and Africa today", 1966, N 8.

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6. Buddhism in China

Buddhist missionaries began to enter China in the third century BC9 . They were coming here via two caravan trade routes. One ran along the spurs of the Tien Shan, the other passed through Kashgar, the valley of the Tarim River. The two roads connected at Dunhuang. These roads, known as the Silk Road, have been used for centuries by Buddhist preachers from Central Asia and Northern India to China.

In China, during the Han era (III century BC - III century AD), the Confucian ideology prevailed, considering the "Middle Empire" as the center of the universe and the peak of world civilization. The rest of the world was treated as "barbaric" and "living in darkness and ignorance." 10 Parallel to this state religion in China, there was another one - Taoism, the central point of which was the idea of "tao" (the way). According to Taoism, a person should not interfere in the affairs of nature and in the social structure, so as not to disrupt the harmony of the universe.

Foreign missionaries, after learning Chinese, began zealously translating a huge amount of Buddhist literature. The Chinese did not seek to know foreign languages, including Sanskrit and Pali. Therefore, the doctrines of Buddhism reached the Chinese monks through inaccurate, often free translations and retellings, in which it was difficult to grasp the essence of the teachings. Some Chinese terms, which had certain philosophical meanings and evoked Confucian and Taoist associations rather than Buddhist ones, also led to erroneous understanding of Buddhism. Beginning in the fourth century, Chinese monks began to completely ignore the Indian origin of Buddhism, interpreting it from the point of view of Chinese culture and traditions and saturating Buddhism with Chinese terms, thoughts and ideas. The Confucian did not want to see anything new in Buddhism. Nor did he seek to understand this "barbaric" teaching. Brought up in the spirit of the primacy of the local culture, he could not allow the prophet to appear not in his homeland; he could not even think that "sheng ren" ("perfectly wise") was replaced by some Buddha who knew nothing about "ren and wen"! 11 . Confucianism categorically rejected Buddhism as a philosophical and religious teaching, although it later borrowed something from it. This Confucian disdain for Buddhist literature has endured for centuries.

Lacking the support of the Han officials and rulers, Buddhism, true to its tactics of adapting to local religions and social conditions, began to look for a vacuum in the spiritual life of the people that could be filled. Small monasteries were created, where Buddhists and their Chinese associates led a secluded lifestyle, gradually gaining the trust of the surrounding population due to the fact that together with the Taoist priests they fulfilled the prescriptions of local cults and rituals.

Since the third century, numerous works of various Mahayana sects have appeared in China. If early Buddhism paid relatively little attention to philosophy, then acquaintance with the concepts of various schools and trends of Mahayana Buddhism revealed to the Taoists a peculiar harmony of this teaching, In Buddhism the Taoists found answers to some questions that interested them. The convergence of Taoism and Buddhism begins. Taoism assimilates the Buddhist concepts of emptiness, relativity, "illusory existence", adopts the organization of the Buddhist cult. Thus, Lao Tzu became "taishan" (supreme supreme). There were a number of gods with magnificent titles, a liturgy, a Taoist canon (daozang). Already at the beginning of the fourth century, Taoism began to adopt Buddhist monastic rituals. In turn, Buddhism readily accepted the deities Confucius and Lao Tzu into its pantheon, and philosophically developed popular ideas about the salvation of the soul.

9 K.K.S. Ch'en. Buddhism in China. Princeton. 1964, p. 28.

10 For more information about Confucianism, see L. S. Vasiliev. Confucianism in China. Voprosy Istorii, 1968, no. 10; izd. Cults, Religions, traditions in China, Moscow, 1970.

11 See V. M. Alekseev. Chinese Folk Painting, Moscow, 1966, p. 135. " Ren " and " wen " are the starting elements of Confucian teaching. "Ren" - the zenith of human insight into the good, the totality of perfections to strive for, the hard - to-reach ideal of man; "wen" - the revelations of perfect people, especially those who lived in ancient times and created the immutable principles of Chinese culture (see ibid., p. 74).

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By preaching an aversion to the flesh, Buddhism took into account the desire of the Chinese to have offspring and began to support the cult of procreation. The" transfer " of believers to the realm of "eternal bliss "(nirvana) has become a "transfer" of the body of a rich sinner for money to paradise to the Buddha, etc .12.

After the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220, China experienced a long period of civil strife and disunity that lasted until the end of the sixth century. China was divided into two parts: the north, where foreign emperors ruled, and the southeast, which was under the rule of the Chinese imperial court. These areas differed from each other not only in the social conditions of development, but also in the nature of relations with the outside world. North China maintained intensive trade and diplomatic relations with Central Asian countries and India; the rulers of Southeast China pursued a policy of isolationism. But when many scholars, educated officials and monks began to leave Northern China and move to areas of Southeastern China, the center of cultural life gradually shifted to the south, where a significant layer of educated Chinese, the so-called Shenshi class, was formed, supporting and strengthening the traditional Chinese way of life. Naturally, the development of Buddhism in Northern and Southeastern China took different directions. Needing educated people, the foreign rulers of Northern China began to attract Buddhist monks to serve in the state apparatus and the army, where they performed the functions of advisers, fortune tellers, and conjurers. As early as the end of the Han Dynasty, two main trends emerged in Chinese Buddhism: one focused mainly on the practical side of Buddhism, that is, it sought to achieve moral perfection by suppressing desires and meditation; the supporters of the other direction were more interested in the ontological and Gnostic problems of Buddhism. The specifics of social relations led to a gradual concentration of supporters of the first direction in the northern regions of China; in Southeastern China, a number of schools of Buddhism emerged, whose doctrines were based on the ideas of Taoism and Mahayana philosophical concepts.

In the late third and early fourth centuries, a new type of Chinese intellectual elite emerged in eastern China, consisting of Buddhist monks and scholars. They were educated people who, for whatever reason, refused to pursue a bureaucratic career or were forced to resign from their posts. Buddhism brought to China a new form of social organization, the sangha, in which strict Confucian norms of behavior did not apply and in which people of various backgrounds could engage in intellectual activities - a fact of great importance for medieval China. An ordained monk became an "ascetic belonging to the son of Sakya", a member of an autonomous religious organization. In China at that time, as Buddhist monasteries became centers of learning and culture, people from all walks of life came to visit them. Since the fourth century, Buddhist communities have also been joined by representatives of prominent families who had access to the aristocratic strata of society. They formed a learned circle of monks and acted as intermediaries between the Sangha and the Shenshi class, entering into disputes with famous Chinese scholars and preaching Buddhism. Thus, the spread of Buddhism among the Shenshi became an exclusively Chinese affair, in which foreign missionaries took almost no part. Through its clergy, Buddhism had a huge impact on the development of Chinese thought and culture, and penetrated into high society and the imperial families of China.

Already in the Han period, Confucianism, strictly defending the" immutability " of certain principles of life once and for all, actually monopolized control over the spiritual life of the people. Buddhism, without coming into direct conflict with Confucianism, introduced a different emotional attitude to the dry rationalism of the Confucian way of life, preaching the illusory nature of fear and trouble in this world, the idea of compassion and salvation through ecstatic dissolution in some powerful substance and leaving hope for a higher mission in subsequent rebirths. Buddhism began to be recognized not only as a religious and philosophical teaching, but also became a refuge for many rebellious Chinese.

12 Ibid., pp. 136, 137, 140-143.

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Throughout the later history of China, adherents of various Buddhist schools repeatedly took part in peasant movements and uprisings against the reigning dynasties.

By the fourth century, Buddhism was able to enter the Chinese religion both in the north and in the south of the country, to adapt to local and national cults. Gradually, three religions emerged in China: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Buddhism has grown into Chinese religious life, has penetrated into every Chinese home. Although a Buddhist monk dressed in a special way and shaved his head, he became one of the necessary elements of Chinese life. The image of heshan (the Chinese name for a monk) entered popular literature 13 . Since the fourth century, Chinese Buddhism has become such a significant ideological force that Confucians could no longer ignore this teaching and were forced to enter into a discussion with Buddhists on questions of philosophy. This controversy often turned into an open political clash between the Confucian bureaucracy and the followers of Buddhism, in alliance with which the Taoists often acted. The Confucianists ' accusations were mainly based on the argument that the activities of the Buddhist church in some aspects oppose the authority, stability and prosperity of the state (the autonomy of the organization, the alienation of a part of the population from social activities, the parasitic lifestyle of monks) and, therefore, this teaching is immoral and antisocial. Defenders of Buddhism, in turn, argued that the sangha helps to strengthen peace and promote the prosperity of the state, and the church as a whole cannot be judged because monks are outside the sphere of social activity .14 Despite the fact that some emperors patronized Buddhism, the relationship between the Buddhist community and the Confucian state was complex, resulting in frequent persecution of the Buddhist clergy. Under these conditions, the doctrines of Buddhism adapted to Chinese reality penetrated deeper and deeper into various strata of Chinese society, gradually expanding their sphere of influence both geographically and ideologically.

By the end of the fourth century, the outlines of the main directions of Chinese Buddhism are revealed. Some disillusioned representatives of the educated strata of the population of Southeast China began to cultivate "naturalness" of behavior, thereby violating the traditional norms of Confucianism. Some of them went to remote mountain monasteries. Being relatively isolated and unable to get enough food, the inhabitants of the monasteries were forced to independently engage in agriculture and crafts, catch fish and shrimp, cut down the forest, mow the grass, and make the necessary household items and clothing. Gradually, a peculiar culture and lifestyle developed in these secluded monasteries, which led to the formation of a rather specific direction-chan, which was a combination of Buddhist philosophy (in particular, the Madhyamik doctrine of emptiness and the relativity of the dharmas of being and the practice of meditation) and separate forms of Chinese culture (the tendency of some educated Chinese to symbolism, wordplay, rebuses). In Japan, this trend was finally formed and later became known as Zen Buddhism.

Based on the position of the Madhyamik doctrine that any logical reasoning and constructions lose their meaning in relation to the concepts of nirvana, the absolute, and emptiness, the followers of Chan built their practice of learning and meditation on this philosophical basis. The idea behind this training is as follows: since "truth cannot be expressed in words or in text" and "enlightenment" is beyond the limits of logical knowledge, it is necessary to destroy the usual forms of thinking and reasoning that bind thought and prevent it from realizing the ultimate truth .15 At the same time, the followers of Chan refer to the fact that the Buddha and his disciples did not see the difference between the personality of the Buddha and his teachings, that is, the existence and spirit of the dharma were, they say, nothing but the life and essence of the Buddha himself. According to

13 Ibid., p. 148.

14 E. Zurcher. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Vol. 1. Leiden. 1959, p. 255.

15 The Japanese philosopher D. T. Suzuki (1870 - 1966) believed that the irrational essence of Zen (chan) can be expressed as follows: A is A and not A; in this case, the satori (enlightenment) result means that A is A because A is not A (see Ch. Humphreys. The Buddhist Way of Life. L. 1969, p. 20). "

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In the Ch'an tradition, the Buddha told his disciples that "he who sees the dharma sees me, he who sees me sees the dharma." 16 Hence, the Chan followers concluded that there was a direct path to "enlightenment" that was distorted by other schools of Buddhism. They believed that it was necessary to cultivate moral indifference. The conventions of everyday life, traditions, and upbringing are ridiculed by them. Their main aphorism: "Do not think, try!". Supporters of Chan reject written traditions and oppose the study of sacred texts. Discussing the commentaries, pondering the meaning of the ancient scriptures, in their opinion, is like exploring the sand at the bottom of the sea. Chan teachers often flaunted their rejection of the old traditions: they lit fireplaces with wooden statues of the Buddha, killed animals. They taught their students not so much with wise instructions as with direct actions: they suddenly grabbed them by the nose, hit them with a stick, suddenly shouted at them, tried to overwhelm the interlocutor with irrational answers (the question - " What is a Buddha?", the answer - " Three pounds of flax "or"Cat on a pole").

Chan teaching methods aim to exhaust logical forms of thinking to such an extent that a person experiences complete mental" prostration." Some Chan teachers even looked at works of art as objects of contemplation that could cause a person to experience a trance. Such are, for example, the "plum blossom branch" in the Sung landscape, the carefully designed monotonous ritual of the tea ceremony, or the three lines of the Japanese poet Basho (1644-1694).:

On a bare branch
Raven sits alone.
Autumn evening...
It was assumed that in this three-line text, the very specific image of the raven should fill the imagination of a person to such an extent that he experienced a feeling of "great emptiness". The same goal is pursued by various paradoxes (koans) that have no solution (there are about 2 thousand of them), the irrationality of which involves the exhaustion of thought and, as a result, a feeling of "emptiness". For example :" What does the clap of one hand sound like","Without denying or affirming, tell me the truth of Zen" 17 . An important place in Chan's life was occupied by the arts of 18 : poetry, painting, and applied arts, which often became objects of religious contemplation.

In the IV - VI centuries, many Mahayana schools appeared in China: the Vinaya school, whose adherents wore black clothes as a panacea for all ills and misfortunes; the tantric school, which adhered to yogic and magical practices; the "School of the three treasures of the Madhyamiks", which preserved the traditions of the Madhyamiks, and others. Of these many areas, the most popular were chan, the Sukhavati school, or "Pure Land", which is now preserved in Japan and China, and the Tiantai School [19]. The Chistaya Zemlya school was established at the beginning of the IV century . The theoretical basis of this school is based on the Sukhavati Sutra, which describes Amitabha's paradise, its origin and structure. According to the teaching of this direction, all people are equally sinful, regardless of whether they are honest or criminals, observe the norms of morality or not. Amitabha, the god of compassion and limitless light, is not a judge of people. Blind, unwavering faith in Amitabha's compassion and love is the only condition for admission to paradise. Moral virtues are nothing compared to faith in Amitabha.

16 Bhikkhu Ananda. Theravada and Zen. Colombo. 1962, p. 15.

17 D. T. Suzuki's writings suggest that all koans are expressions of satori (enlightenment) beyond intellectual reflection (D. T. Suzuki. Living by Zen. L. 1950, pp. 132-180).

18 See V. M. Alekseev. Op. ed., p. 136; S. A. Arutyunov. Modern life of the Japanese, Moscow, 1968; S. A. Arutyunov, G. E. Svetlov. Old and New Gods of Japan, Moscow, 1968, pp. 59-68; D. T. Suzuki. Essays in Zen Buddhism. Vol. I - III. L. 1927 - 1953.

19 For Chinese Buddhism, the division into schools and directions is rather conditional, since most Chinese monks consider many doctrines of different sects to be true, and their religious practices are useful for the individual at different stages of his spiritual development.

20 E. Zurcher. Op. cit., p. 219.

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Blind faith in rebirth in the "Pure Land" led some followers of this school to achieve the logical goal of physical self-destruction. Throughout the history of Buddhist China, there is a chain of suicides of monks, whose biographies are devoted to a whole section of Buddhist literature.21 For a Chinese monk, it was considered valor, a sign of unshakable faith, to burn the thumb, all the fingers, or his body as a sign of supreme self-sacrifice. The aforementioned "Those who Gave Their Lives" section contains stories of many hundreds of suicides and self-immolations. The monk was obliged to commit such acts not in a state of passion, but consciously, having previously announced the date of his self-destruction. On the appointed day, the monk put on clothes soaked in oil, went up to a pre-built bonfire with a burning candle in his hand. This spectacle attracted thousands of worshippers, who watched the suicide's actions in awed silence. The monk, chanting the sacred titles of the Buddhas, lit himself with a candle and stood muttering incantations continuously until he was completely hidden in the flames. The mournful chanting of the crowd accompanied this act of self-destruction. The practice was later revived in South Vietnam to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the Catholic government of Ngo Dinh Diem. In 1963, several monks committed acts of self-immolation in the presence of thousands of exalted believers. These acts caused a huge political resonance in the country. Similar acts were committed in protest against the American occupation of South Vietnam (1966). The doctrines of the Pure Land school were finally completed in Japan, and in China its adherents were preserved only in some monasteries.

The Tiantai school originated around the sixth century. One of its founders is considered to be the monk Zhi-i (631 - 597), who, based on Nagarjuna's philosophy, created a comprehensive system of three methods: the method of " emptiness "(kung), which destroys sensory delusions and constructs "higher knowledge" (prajna); the "hypothetical" method of purifying this world of defilement, "ridding" the world of all evils; the "middle" method, which destroys hallucinations that arise from ignorance, and leads to enlightenment of consciousness 22 . The preachers of this school tolerated all the teachings of Buddhism, considering that each doctrine contains a certain amount of truth and is, as it were, a part of the dharma. They accepted all Buddhist doctrines, seeing them as stages in the development of various aspects of the teaching, gradually revealed by the Buddha as he found that the believer was intellectually ripe for further revelations. 23
There was a continuous struggle between the three religions, but the struggle was not so much for the minds of believers, but ultimately for economic and political reasons: for profitable jobs, for influence on state life. The rise of Buddhism, which assimilated with the traditions and culture of China, begins with the Sui Dynasty (581-618). At the end of the VI century, Emperor Wen-di decided to strengthen his empire with the help of the Buddhist church. Government officials were ordered to promote the development of Buddhist communities in every possible way. In four years (601 - 604), 3792 monasteries were built in the country, 106580 statues and images of the Buddha were made, 1508940 old statues and images were restored, 132086 Buddhist texts were published. The number of monks and nuns exceeded 230 thousand people.

After the violent overthrow of Emperor Wen, a wave of repression against the Buddhist Church began, which, either subsiding or intensifying, continued until the illegal accession to the throne of the Tang Empress Wu Hou (684-705). In order to prove the legality of her actions, Wu Hou turned to Buddhist monks for help. The monks found the text Da-yun-ching (the Great Cloud Sutra), in the fourth chapter of which the Buddha tells a goddess named Ching-kuang that she is to be reborn as the ruler of the universe. When this text was shown to the Empress, she immediately ordered it to be considered an official document and distributed throughout the country. Wu Hou declared herself the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha on Earth and became the first empress of the new dynasty. Under her patronage-

21 H. Nakamura. A History of the Development of Japanese Thought. Vol. I. Tokyo. 1957, p. 65.

22 "2500 Years of Buddhism". Delhi. 1957, p. 129.

23 H. Nakamura. Op. cit., p. 64.

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Jem Buddhism has reached its apogee. The Buddhist church was enriching itself at lightning speed. The monasteries accumulated fabulous wealth. They received vast tracts of land, slaves, and monetary offerings. According to Confucian sources, the Buddhist church held 70-80% of the country's wealth and owned most of the cultivated land in China .24 This situation caused open hatred of the Buddhist church from government officials and the military, both Confucian and Taoist.

This anti-Buddhist campaign ended in 845, when Emperor Wu-tsung issued a decree stripping Buddhist monasteries of all their privileges. Wu-tsung ordered the destruction of one of the richest monasteries in each prefecture and allowed no more than 30 monks to live in one monastery. The gold and jewels of Buddhist monasteries were confiscated and transferred to the imperial treasury. The extent of the wealth that was concentrated in the hands of the leaders of the Buddhist church can be seen from the diary of a Japanese monk Yennin, who traveled to China at that time. He wrote that a huge amount of ivory, pearls, gold, silver, money, silk, and various goods were found in the estate of an official who was in charge of the property of Buddhist monasteries in the capital. "Every day, thirty carts transported these riches to the palace warehouses, but they couldn't transport them for just a month. The remaining treasures and antiques could not even be counted. " 25 In the history of many countries where Buddhism existed, similar periods of Buddhism flourishing have often been observed, leading to the material and spiritual exhaustion of nations: for example, the Anuradhapura period in Ceylon, the reign of King Ashoka in India, the Pagan period in Burma, the era of the Dalai Lamas in Tibet, etc. However, the conflict between the church and the material and spiritual forces of the state ended with structural changes in the state system and discrediting the prestige of the Sangha. A similar process took place during the Tang Dynasty in China. After the events of 845, the influence of the Buddhist Church on the ruling classes has steadily declined. In the eighteenth century, there were about 80,000 monasteries in China, but only 120,000 members of the sangha .26 The number of lay Buddhists is virtually impossible to determine, as farmers visit temples and monasteries of all cults and religions, and their answer to the question of what religion they adhere to often does not determine their religious outlook. In China, in 1953, the Chinese Association of Buddhists was organized, which announced that in China - 500 thousand monks and 100 million followers of Buddhism. But these figures are clearly overstated.

7. Buddhism in Tibet

Buddhism penetrated medieval Tibet in the seventh century AD, serving to strengthen the feudal power of princes. The ruler of Sron-tsang-gumbo tried to unite the country under his own aegis and sought to ideologically consolidate this unification with the help of Buddhism. A century later, Buddhism became a state religion. This happened during the reign of King Tisrong-dezang, who invited the learned monk Santarakshita from Nalanda University to convert Tibetans to Buddhism .27 However, Santarakshita's sermons were not successful, and the local clergy, taking advantage of the outbreak of epidemics of disease and famine among the population, announced that adversity had befallen the country as a result of propaganda of false teachings. The king suggested that Santarakshita leave Tibet, otherwise the angry population could kill him. Realizing that people who believe in witchcraft, magic, and shamanism will not accept the doctrines of early Buddhism, Santarak-

24 K. K. S. Ch'en. Op. cit, pp. 199, 201, 221, 269. In 845, China had 4,600 monasteries, 40,000 shrines, and 260,000 monks and nuns, employing hundreds of thousands of peasants and 150,000 slaves (ibid., pp. 230, 270).

25 "Ennin's Diary. The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law". N. Y. 1955, p. 350.

26 K.K.S. Ch'en. Op. cit., p. 452.

27" 2500 Years of Buddhism", p. 75. Nalanda Monastery (near Rajagriha, Eastern India) was a center of Mahayana Buddhist study from the sixth to the ninth century. For more information on the spread of Buddhism in Tibet, see J. N. Roerich. The Introduction of Buddhism into Tibet. "Stepping Stones". Vol. 2. Kalimpong. 1951, NN 4, 5; Yu. N. Roerich. Izbrannye trudy [Selected Works], Moscow, 1967.

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Before leaving, shita advised the king to invite the Tantric preacher Padmasambhava from Bengal, who was soon to arrive in Tibet.

Padmasambhava and his disciples introduced Buddhism, adapted it to local conditions, and widely practiced magical rites and incantations. They convinced the population that Tantric Buddhism is the ancient Tibetan Bon religion, and gave local deities the names of saints from the tantric pantheon. There were about 100 gods who were in some cases quiet and peaceful, and in others-bloodthirsty and vengeful, requiring sacrifices and performing magical rites. Monastic communities appeared in the country, whose members declared themselves followers of the teachings of Padmasambhava. Later, this trend was called Nyingmapa ("Ancient Sect"). The monks of this sect were allowed to marry. A number of the sect's doctrines were directly opposed to those of early Buddhism. For example, the followers of this sect claimed that achieving "enlightenment" is possible in a state of intense anger or passion. The belief in reincarnation has taken on particularly extreme forms in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan monks (lamas) considered it possible to determine in advance what kind of living being and where the deceased person will be reborn again. Such searches for reincarnation, carried out at the personal request of the dying person or at the request of his relatives, students and admirers, served as a very profitable item for the Tibetan clergy. The emergence of Buddhism in Tibet took place in the context of a fierce struggle between Buddhist monks, who, as a rule, were patronized by monarchs and some dignitaries, and the Tibetan feudal nobility, who acted in alliance with the local clergy.

In 901, as a result of another palace coup, King Landarma came to power, who, contrary to established tradition, began to persecute supporters of Buddhism .28 Buddhist statues were buried everywhere, monasteries were closed, religious ceremonies were forbidden, and monks were forced to return to worldly life under pain of punishment. But the Buddhist clergy had already felt their power, and a few years later Landarma was killed by a Buddhist monk. This was an open challenge to the royal house by the Buddhist clergy, who were gaining more and more weight in the life of the country. After the death of Landarma, the Tibetan kingdom split into many small principalities, divided between the numerous heirs of the murdered king and members of the royal family.

As the secular power weakened, the abbot of a Buddhist monastery became the spiritual ruler of the surrounding population and, if necessary, could call on the help of the local prince or the squads of neighboring princes. Tibetan tradition considers the founder of Lamaism to be Atisha (his real name is Dipankara Srijanana, 980-1053), who came to Tibet from the Vikram monastery (Bengal) and preached in this country for 13 years. Subsequently, he was deified and enrolled in the Lamaist pantheon. It was in the tenth century that the fourfold formula of worship began in Tibet, beginning with the words: "I seek refuge in the Lama, I seek refuge in the Buddha ..." 29 . Tibetan lamas also propagated their teachings among the population of Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, and Mongolia. In the 13th century, a lama named Chogyal-Pak-ba became the spiritual teacher of the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan. Under his influence, Kublai issued the "Decree on Two Principles", which stated that " the lama is the source of high religion and the defender of doctrine; the emperor is the head of the empire and the lord of secular power. The laws of true teaching, like a sacred silk cord, cannot be weakened; the laws of the great emperor, like a golden yoke, are indestructible. " 30
In 1253, Chogyal-Pak-ba, having won over the Mongol khan, returned to Tibet, where, supported by the clergy, he became the first Lamaist ruler of Tibet. From that time until 1435, the power belonged to the representatives of the" red-capped " Nyingmapa31 sect . Throughout her reign, there was constant strife among the clergy over power, wealth, and land, which ultimately led to a decline in discipline in the monasteries. The local population began to condemn the behavior of llamas, who

28 Dalai Lama of Tibet. My Land and My People. N. Y. 1962, p. 71.

29 N. Ch. Sinha. The Lama. "Man in India". Vol. 46, 1966, N 4, p. 347.

30 Ibid.

31 Dalai Lama of Tibet. Op. cit., p. 72.

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they robbed the country by force and deception. Therefore, when the preacher Tsongkawa (1358-1419) appeared, calling for the purification of Buddhism from many mystical shamanic rites and a return to some of the provisions of early Buddhism, that is, to strict monastic discipline and celibacy, he had many followers, including some local feudal lords. In 1408, Tsongkawa supporters founded the Ganden Monastery near Lhasa and formed a new sect called Gelug-pa ("School of Virtue"), but better known as the yellow-cap sect (its members wore yellow hats and yellow clothing).32 who maintained strict discipline among the monks. Solemn services were held there, and lavish religious holidays were planned. In the Buddhist church organization, a strict hierarchy was established: all power was concentrated in the hands of two hierarchs-the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama; the former was higher in rank and was considered the spiritual father of the Dalai Lama, but secular real power belonged to the Dalai Lama.

At the end of the 15th century, the yellow-cap sect owned the largest monasteries in Tibet: Ganden, Brabun, Sera near Lhasa and Dashilhumbo Monastery in Tsang Province, which became the residence of the Panchen Lama. By that time, secular power had passed to the Tibetan princes, who supported the Nyingmapa sect, being closely connected with it by spiritual and economic ties. Preachers of the Gelug-pa sect managed to impose their worldview on the Mongolian khans, who became the patrons of the"yellow caps". There was a long period of bloody clashes between the Mongol feudal lords, who were on the side of the "yellow caps", and the Tibetan princes, who supported the monasteries of the"red caps". Tibet in the XV-XVII centuries was a time of conflagrations, battles, epidemics, famine. Mongol detachments, plundering the local population on their way, attacked the monasteries of the "krasnoshapochniki" and the castles of Tibetan feudal lords, destroying and burning them. The Tibetan princely squads did the same.

In 1637, the armies of the Mongol ruler Gushi Khan invaded Tibet. He managed to defeat the army of the most powerful prince, Garma-danzhong, who was considered the ruler of Tibet. After capturing Tibet, Gushi Khan transferred power over the country to the Dalai Lama. True, this power was nominal, since he himself remained the de facto ruler of Tibet. The introduction of the title " Dalai Lama "is associated with the name of the abbot of the" yellow-capped " Brabun monastery Sodnamjamtso, who, at the invitation of Altan Khan, arrived in Mongolia, where he delivered several religious sermons. Admiring the monk's learning, Altan Khan gave him the title of "Dalai Lama "(in Mongolian,"ocean lama"). This title is usually mentioned on official occasions, and Tibetans themselves refer to the Dalai Lamas as "omniscient saviors." 33
In 1652, the Qing Emperor (the Manchu dynasty in China) recognized the Dalai Lama as the spiritual and secular ruler of Tibet, but sent two Chinese officials to Lhasa to monitor the Dalai Lama's activities and report to Beijing .34 The new ruler of Tibet declared himself the divine ruler, the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara. He performed a "miracle" by "discovering" a hidden book supposedly written by King Srontsang-gumbo himself, in which the king "predicted" this line of reincarnations, and ordered that Lama Gendun-dubh (1391 - 1474), a disciple of Tsongkawa and abbot of Dashilhumbo Monastery, be considered the first reborn. . Anyone who refused to accept this concept was mercilessly killed 35 . Since the time of the fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682), the theocratic rule of the "yellow caps" was established in Tibet (in form, not in content), which actually lasted until 1959, when the XIV Dalai Lama left Tibet after a reactionary revolt against the government of the PRC raised by large feudal lords and lamas.

After the establishment of the cult of the Dalai Lamas, Tibet becomes a spiritual and religious center for some peoples of Central Asia. The Tibetan literary language acquired almost the same importance among the Mongols, Oirats, Tanguts and, of course, the Tibetans themselves as Latin in medieval Europe, becoming the dominant language of the world.-

32 "2500 Years of Buddhism", p. 81.

33 G. Ts. Tsybikov. Buddhist pilgrim at the shrines of Tibet. Ptgr. 1918, p. 160, 257.

34 Dalai Lama of Tibet. Op. cit., p. 72.

35 S. Nanayakkara. The Dalai Lama. "Buddhist Annual". Colombo. 1965, p. 59.

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the Buddhist church is an obligatory and necessary condition for feudal scholastic education, recognized as the language of religion, philosophy and science 36 . However, the influence of Lamaism on the peoples of Central Asia was by no means evidence of the monolithic nature of the Buddhist church in Tibet itself. There were still clashes between various Buddhist sects, local feudal lords, Mongols and Tibetans, Tibetans and Manchus, and Mongols and Manchus. The Dalai Lamas were only nominally considered secular rulers, and the real power was on the side of the most powerful princes, khans, or Manchu generals. Taking advantage of the fact that the Dalai Lamas as "reborn" were enthroned in infancy, regents who represented the interests of certain groups of the aristocracy and the highest clergy ruled on their behalf. Thus, the seventh and Eighth Dalai Lamas were essentially hostages or captives of rival ruling groups. Therefore, they lived relatively long (50 and 46 years, respectively). The rest of the Dalai Lamas died violently between the ages of 9 and 23.

The history of the search for the XIV Dalai Lama is interesting. In accordance with tradition, state oracles and learned lamas, guided by "elusive" signs, determined in which area to look for the reborn. In 1936, a delegation consisting of well-born nobles and high-ranking lamas went to this area, which was under the control of the Chinese government and located in the north-eastern part of Tibet. Only the head of the delegation knew the" secret " signs of the reborn. A suitable boy was found in the village of Taktser, in a large peasant family. Hiding their true goals, the delegation members asked the Chinese governor to send the child to a monastery in Lhasa. The governor, who knew the customs of "yellow caps" to look for "rebirths" for their monasteries, asked for 100 thousand Chinese dollars for the child. The money was immediately paid. Surprised by the complaisance of the Tibetans and suspecting that the boy was destined for a higher position than the abbot of the monastery, the governor demanded to pay him another 300 thousand dollars. Without such a sum in hand, the delegation members said that it was still unknown whether the boy was a "reborn" and that they would try to find a similar reborn in other parts of Tibet. After much discussion and negotiation with the central Lhasa government, the delegation paid the required amount in 1939 and took the boy and his family to Lhasa. The fact that this boy was the "reincarnation" of the XIII Dalai Lama was announced only after the caravan left the zone of Chinese control and entered the territory of Tibet. He was crowned the 14th Dalai Lama at the age of five .

As a result of the policy of isolationism pursued by the former ruling circles of Tibet, the feudal system of land ownership remained in the country until the 60s of the XX century. Although land was legally considered the property of the State, in reality land plots were inherited. They could be mortgaged, rented out, sold. Large monasteries and Tibetan aristocratic families had vast land holdings given to them by the government in perpetuity and tax-exempt. In Tibet, the open sale of posts and titles was legalized. Religious, social, and judicial cases were resolved only for bribes. The amazing poverty of the common people was combined with the enormous wealth of monasteries and large landowners-aristocrats. A Russian citizen, G. Ts. Tsybikov, who visited Tibet in 1899-1902, noted that there is a cult of money, which is a measure of virtue, holiness, and nobility .38 The 14th Dalai Lama confirms the utter ignorance of prominent Tibetans in matters of technology, science and culture of other peoples. Only in the face of widespread ignorance could the belief in "reborn people" have taken such deep roots. Many Tibetans sincerely believe in their lucky stars in the future life. A Tibetan brings the last few pennies to a monastery or collects a lifetime of money to see the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, which, according to tradition, brings a lot of merit to the pilgrim.

36 A. I. Vostrikov. Tibetskaya istoricheskaya literatura [Tibetan Historical Literature], Moscow, 1962, p. 11.

37 This story is described by the 14th Dalai Lama himself in the above-mentioned book "My Land and My People", pp. 21-30.

38 G. Ts. Tsybikov. Op. ed., pp. 175-176.

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The average believer should: make offerings to the monastery, listen to the lamas ' instructions, worship sacred objects, and walk in a clockwise direction. One turn of the prayer wheel means one prayer; I went through the rosary - one more prayer; I went around the monastery, mountain, temple, house clockwise-one more prayer; I fell flat on the ground - one more prayer, and such prayers are ordered by Buddhist teachers to perform hundreds of thousands... Buddhism absorbed the spiritual and physical energy of the people. This is not surprising if there were about a million lamas per 10 million inhabitants. In Tibetan monasteries, there is a special position of overseers, who are required to keep order during religious rites, ceremonies, and holidays. They do not hesitate to kick and beat with sticks anyone who comes to hand. If the overseer killed a monk with a club, then a fine of only 10-20 kopecks was imposed on him .39 No less cruel morals existed in public life. For the slightest offense or slander, they beat people with whips, cut off their fingers, blinded them, and put wooden stocks and iron chains around their necks or legs for life. Those sentenced to death were displayed in cages to the public, and then drowned in the river or walled up alive in the walls. Torture was widely used. The most severe test was cauterization of the body with molten sealing wax. The Church disfigured the lives of women who did the hardest work. In Lhasa, women could only show themselves in public by covering their faces with black ointment, so as not to tempt Buddhist monks.

And above all this material and spiritual poverty rises the monumental Potala Palace - the residence of the Dalai Lamas, one of the largest buildings in the world. In the central, thirteen-story part, there are halls for ceremonies and meditation, decorated with rich carvings and paintings, and the mausoleum of the seven Dalai Lamas. Some tombs in which the bodies of the Dalai Lamas are immured reach almost 10 meters in height. They are covered with gold leaf and studded with precious stones. In front of the tombs are huge lamps made of gold. Gold products, placers of precious and semiprecious stones, regalia, treasures of the Dalai Lamas-all this adorns the palace. Its library contains 7,000 volumes, some of which weigh up to 40 kilograms. The manuscripts are made on palm leaves. There are books-scrolls from a thousand years ago, 2 thousand richly decorated volumes of manuscripts written in ink made from powdered gold, silver, iron, copper, shells, corals, jasper and other minerals, and each line is written in a different ink. In the lower part of the building, there are innumerable storerooms for butter and tea, as well as clothes that were distributed to monasteries, the army, and the government apparatus .40. The palace rises above the city like an unbreakable monument to the hypocrisy of the church, its brutal authoritarian rule, and its powerlessness to bring people happiness. The entire Potala opens up at once. It seems light, looking up. The Dalai Lama's abode aroused religious awe among the faithful. That is why the road leading to the Potala, despite the constant crowds, was always dead silent .41
The history of Buddhism in Tibet clearly reflects the exploitative nature of this religion. "The idea of God," wrote V. I. Lenin, " has always lulled and dulled the "social feelings", replacing the living with the dead, always being the idea of slavery (the worst, hopeless slavery). The idea of God has never "bound the individual to society," but has always bound the oppressed classes to the belief in the divinity of the oppressors."42
8. The modern role of Buddhism (on the example of Thailand)

Thailand is now a classic example of cooperation between the Buddhist church and the state. Buddhism is the state religion of the country. The official head of the sangha is the King of Thailand. 94% of its population is Buddhist. There are about 230,000 monks and 23,500 monasteries in the country. In 1967, a monk

39 Ibid., pp. 208-209.

40 Dalai Lama of Tibet. Op. cit., pp. 53 - 54. Currently, most of the treasures of the Potala are located in other parts of the PRC.

41 V. Ovchinnikov. Journey to Tibet, Moscow, 1957, p. 64.

42 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 48. p. 232.

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it accounted for about 130 people of the population. Monks are allowed to live comfortably: they can have electric lights, electric fans, artificial climate installations, transistors, radios in their homes; they can use microphones, amplifiers, and tape recorders during sermons. However, according to religious rules, they are required to sleep on boards covered with a mattress no more than three centimeters thick. Each monk and novice is assigned to a particular monastery and is not allowed to leave the monastery during the rainy season. But they are given the opportunity to travel free of charge on public transport.

There are two sects in Thailand: Mahanikai and Thamuthitnikai. The quantitative ratio between these sects is approximately 16:1. Until the mid-19th century, there was no division of monks into sects in Thailand. The reform was carried out by King Mongkut, who wanted monks to follow more strictly the teachings set out in the Pali canon Tipitaka, and sought to isolate Buddhism from various influences, such as: Brahmin rites and ceremonies, animistic cults, Mahayana legends. The reform of King Mongkut was of great importance for further strengthening the role of Buddhism as a state religion. After his death, the supporters of the above-mentioned reform formed a group of "dedicated to the dhamma "(thamuthit), and in 1894 they created an organization that became known as thamuthitnikai. Despite its small population, the Thamuthit sect has a great influence in the Sangha, as it owns the largest monasteries, and some of its members are related to many aristocratic families in Thailand and to the royal house .43
The administrative structure of the Thai Sangha is identical to the State administrative structure. For the sake of effective administration of the Sangha, the country is divided into 18 ecclesiastical districts. Mahathera watches over each district. Each district has provincial and district sangha organizations. The 18 district organizations are grouped geographically: Central, Northern, Eastern, and Southern districts. The district chief is a Mahathera from the central Sangha Administration based in Bangkok. In addition, the church administration is divided into the administration of the city, small district and tambol. Tambol usually consists of 10 to 20 villages and has at least five monasteries. More than 50 thousand villages in Thailand are combined into 3300 tambols. Finally, the smallest administrative division is the monastery. The abbot appointed by the head of the ecclesiastical committee of the district or province is responsible for the monastery. In every province (there are 71 of them) and in every district (there are 447), there is a church committee that oversees the affairs of church administration, issues of church education, monitors the promotion of Buddhism, and organizes public works for the construction or repair of monasteries.

There is also a government system for overseeing the activities of the Buddhist church in the form of the Department of Religious Affairs, which, like the Sangha, has committees in districts, provinces, cities, districts and an official in each tambol. According to a government decree, any property that is donated to the monastery must be transferred in the presence of a district official. Local authorities make sure that monasteries do not accumulate too much wealth and land. Thanks to the centralized control of the Buddhist church's property, monasteries are not distinguished by their wealth and own a relatively small land fund, approximately 0.7% of all cultivated land. However, the abbots of monasteries and monks manage to hide a certain part of the monastery's profits, which are very significant, judging by the fact that the population of the country, according to official data, from-

43 The role of thamuthitnikai is shown by the following facts: in 1959, it included 15,391 monks and novices out of a total of 249,555 monks and novices; it owned 819 monasteries out of 21,380. Despite its small size, in 1959 this sect had five representatives in the council of the Sangha (out of ten), 22 representatives in the assembly (45 members), and 57 representatives in the ecclesiastical court (136 members). In addition, members of this sect serve as inspectors and perform administrative duties in all ecclesiastical districts and provinces, as well as in many areas of the country (K. E. Wells. Thai Buddhism. Its Rites and Activities. Bangkok. 1960, pp. 11, 14).

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gives the church 7-8% of its annual income. Thailand is the only Buddhist country where some categories of monks officially receive a salary, although this is prohibited by religion.

The Buddhist Church in Thailand, unlike Buddhist communities in other countries, is a centralized organization. It would seem that such a powerful organization should play a prominent role in the country's political affairs. Nevertheless, Thailand's military and bureaucratic elite in power closely monitors the activities of the Sangha and does not allow monks to directly engage in politics. The Government uses the Buddhist Church only as an ideological tool to strengthen its power and as a "university of national morals" in the field of public education and social activities .44 In 1960, monks were officially allowed to teach in public schools. The main efforts of ideological propaganda are aimed at educating every citizen as a Buddhist from early childhood. A search is underway for the most effective method of teaching Buddhist ethics. Every day, special programs for schoolchildren are broadcast on radio and television, which explain the main tenets of Buddhism and give their interpretation from the point of view of the ruling classes. The purpose of religious propaganda is to reinforce the basic tenets of Buddhist morality, which directly or indirectly deify the oppressors and justify their power to such an extent that they become, as it were, reflex norms of human behavior.

Recent socio-psychological studies show that Buddhist morals and teaching methods of self-coercion and self-restraint to some extent weaken the desire of rural youth for material benefits or urban careers. This is also facilitated by the Buddhist economic concept, which preaches a rational way of life and abstinence in material goods. Buddhism does not openly oppose material well-being, and teaches that it is not wealth that hinders "enlightenment", but the pursuit of wealth; not the possession of beautiful and fashionable things, but the desire to acquire them. Hence the Buddhist slogan that the goal is achieved by maximizing the individual's well-being with minimal consumption. Its practical implementation: it is necessary to change only those clothes that have fallen into disrepair; the less effort is spent in the material sphere, the more time and opportunities remain for self-improvement. In this way, instead of the ideas of the class struggle and the movement for the betterment of the working people, a passive attitude towards oppression and social inequality is artificially put in place. Buddhism, through its preaching of non-resistance to evil, has helped and continues to help the rulers keep the people in check. The ruling classes of Thailand are trying to replace the complete lack of democratic freedoms in the country with Buddhist concepts of "democracy", which they interpret as a loyal attitude of the people towards the government. The Buddhist worldview is being forcibly introduced into all sectors of society. In religious education, much attention is paid to the observance of traditional relations between senior and junior, boss and subordinate; the development of self-discipline; planting cults of the Buddha, the king, and the"strong man".

At the present time, when the Thai government has almost openly taken the path of aggression against the peoples of South Vietnam and is strengthening police measures against the local population of the north-eastern provinces of the country, the Sangha is tasked with ideologically justifying the participation of the Thai armed forces in the fight against the national liberation movement both in the country and abroad. The main focus of indoctrination of the population is on anti-communism. For the first time in the history of the Thai Sangha, church leaders do not discourage members of the Buddhist Sangha.

44 For example, in May 1966, the Department of Religious Affairs prohibited South Vietnamese monks who came to Thailand to enlist the support of the Thai Sangha in their fight against the Saigon puppet Government from engaging in political discussions with members of the Thai Sangha. On June 19, 1966, the Bangkok-based World Buddhist Brotherhood committee adopted an amendment to its charter prohibiting Buddhist organizations from engaging directly or indirectly in politics. This decision, made under pressure from the United States and Thailand, was primarily directed against the Buddhists of South Vietnam, who asked Thai Buddhist organizations and Buddhist organizations of all countries to support them in the fight against the "generals of the Saigon regime and the United States" (Bangkok Post, 25. V; 20. VI. 1966).

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communities will get acquainted with technical achievements in agriculture and industry, as well as with social programs. This indicates that the leaders of the Sangha and the government organizations cooperating with them have taken a course to train such personnel who could actively interfere in the public life of the country in the interests of the ruling circles.

Thus, Buddhism has manifested itself and still manifests itself in various spheres of the social and spiritual life of Eastern societies. This peculiar versatility of its impact refutes the unambiguity of assessments of Buddhism. The most complex economic, political, social and ideological problems of the twentieth century are reflected in the speculations of adherents of this religion. The main issue for them, as for the majority of the world's population, is the problem of choosing between capitalist and communist social formations. Bourgeois leaders, while promoting and propagating their way of life in Buddhist countries in every possible way, do not stop at falsifying Communist ideas and socialist reality and try to use such new Buddhist organizations as Soka Gakkai in Japan, Viet Hoa Dao in South Vietnam, and the World Brotherhood of Buddhists for their own selfish purposes, drawing them into the World Community of Buddhists. reactionary campaigns. However, the American aggression against the peoples of Indochina also exposes the true goals of imperialism in the eyes of Buddhists. A growing number of leaders and members of Buddhist organizations are now becoming active fighters for peace and disarmament. This was clearly demonstrated, in particular, at the conference of Asian Buddhists held in June 1970 in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the Mongolian People's Republic. Its participants, along with other decisions, unanimously adopted a resolution sharply condemning the anti-people actions of American imperialism.

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Ostrovskaya E. A. Buddhist communities of St. Petersburg
Catalog: Theology Sociology History 
41 days ago · From Kamal Malhotra

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