History of Buddhism

First Contacts with Buddhism After the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE, Buddhism became strong in northern China, which was fragmented and ruled by a succession of non-Han Chinese people and states. The greatest patron of Buddhism among them was the Toba Northern Wei Dynasty...

Day One: Opening Addresses Welcoming Speeches by the Host Institution Prof. Dr. Ing. Habil. Monika Auweter-Kurtz, President of the University of Hamburg Prof. Dr. Ludwig Paul, Dean of the Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg Rinchen Khandro Chogyal,...

Introduction to Tuva From the sixteenth to the nineteenth of April 1990, together with Russian Buddhist scholar Andrey Terentyev, I visited the Tuva Autonomous Republic. Tuva is north of Western Mongolia, bordering the western Altai Region. It is at the southernmost reaches of...

The Initial Choice of Buddhism The Uighurs used the same criterion for adapting foreign religions as did the Eastern Turks. They first chose Buddhism as their state religion when the Chinese Sui forces had helped them conquer Turfan in 605. They were apparently as impressed as...

As Sogdia and Bactria were major areas to which the Arabs first spread Islam in Central Asia, let us look more closely at the religious background of their people. This will help us understand their initial response to the Muslim faith. Zoroastrian Relations with Buddhism The...

[Clarification of His Holiness' answers by Dr. Berzin are included within square brackets.] Kalachakra in the Four Tibetan Traditions Dr. Berzin: As Kalachakra is found in all four Tibetan traditions and, in the West, Kalu Rinpoche has given the Kalachakra initiation several...

Session Four, Day Two: History of the Vinaya Lineages Bhikkhu Sujato, Abbot of the Santi Forest Monastery, Sydney, Australia “The Origin of the Three Existing Vinaya Lineages: Theravada, Dharmaguptaka, and Mulasarvastivada” Indian ordination lineages did not develop...

Different Presentations of the Four Types of Seals The text continues now with the next point in the outline, the actual methods of mahamudra. Although mahamudra practice can be explained in many ways, it divides it into two: the sutra and tantra levels of mahamudra methods....

The Pre-Islamic Presence of Buddhism in North Africa and West Asia India and West Asia have a long history of land and sea trade between them. Commercial relations between India and Mesopotamia began as early as 3000 BCE and between India and Egypt, through the intermediary...

Morning Session, Day Three: Welcome and Keynote Speeches Welcoming Speech Dr. Roland Salchow, State Councilor of the Department of Science and Research, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany Bishop Maria Jepsen, First Female Bishop of the Lutheran Church, North...