Attachment is the root of suffering

Siddartha Gautama
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15/02/2016 16:40

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41
Stone reliefs depicting the life of 
Buddha decorate gateways of The Great 
Stupa at Sanchi, commissioned by the 
emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century 
bce
. 
See also: The conquests of Alexander the Great 52–53
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The Indus Valley Civilization collapses
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The construction of Angkor Wat 108–09
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The conquests of Akbar the Great 170–71
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
For the next two to three centuries, 
Buddhism remained one among 
several minor sects but, under the 
Mauryan emperor Ashoka the Great 
(304–232 
bce
), it became India’s 
state religion. Ashoka’s reign had 
proceeded initially through bloody 
conquest, but in around 261 
bce
he 
had a change of heart. From then he 
embraced a new model of kingship 
and religious philosophy based on a 
creed of tolerance and non-violence. 
He extended Mauryan control and, 
his Buddhism proving a powerful 
unifying force, succeeded in joining 
all of India, except the southern tip, 
into an empire of 30 million people.
A world religion
Having established Buddhism as 
the state religion, Ashoka founded 
monasteries, and sponsored 
scholarship. He sent Buddhist 
missionaries to every corner of the 
subcontinent and abroad as far as 
Greece, Syria, and Egypt. His 
missions established Buddhism 
initially as an elite pursuit, but the 
religion went on to take root at all 
levels of society in Sri Lanka, 
Southeast Asia, along the Silk Road 
in the Indo–Greek kingdoms (in 
modern-day Pakistan and 
Afghanistan), and later in China, 
Japan, and Tibet. In India—its 
birthplace—Buddhism started to 
decline after Ashoka’s death in 232 
bce
, affected by a resurgence of 
Hinduism and then the arrival of 
Islam. Outside India, however, its 
tradition and scholarship flourished, 
evolving into multiple strands 
including Zen Buddhism, Theravada 
or Hinayana Buddhism, Mahayana 
Buddhism, and Varayana Buddhism.
The first religion to have spread 
widely beyond the society in which 
it originated—so the first “world 
religion”—Buddhism is also one of 
the oldest, having been practiced 
since the 6th century 
bce
. 
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