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He was born a prince but after sneaking out of his palace to see the tragic situations of life, he decided he wanted to change. He submitted himself to ascetic practices, studying different methods of meditation with various religious teachers. One day, he realized that physical austerities were not the means to achieve liberation. That night, he sat under the Bodhi tree, and meditated until dawn. He purified his mind and attained enlightenment at 35, giving him the name Budha.
He died in 486. -
The Buddhist Canon as it still exists today was settled at this Council and preserved as an oral tradition.
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First schism of the Sangha occurs in which the Mahasanghika school parts ways with the Sthaviravadins and the Theravadins
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It is a form of Tantric Buddhism that arouse in India and neighbouring countries, largely Tibet.
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Emperor Asoka's (of India) son and missionary Mahinda established Buddhism in Sri Lanka
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Third Buddhist Council at Pataliputra under the patronage of Emperor Asoka about 200 years after the Parinirvana. (The modern Pali Tipitaka now complete)
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Mahayana Buddhism is the type that accepts all kinds of people into the religion. They spread to the far east and north of Asia
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Vietnam started as major regional Mahayana Buddhist center centering on Luy Lâu in modern Bắc Ninh Province, northeast of the present day capital city of Hanoi.
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In 372, Buddhism is introduced to the Goguryeo Kingdom.
In 374, the influential Chinese monk "Ado" arrived in the kingdom and inspired the King Sosurim to embrace the religion. A year later the first two temples Seongmunsa and Ilbullansa were built in 375 on the order of the king.
Buddhism soon became the national religion of the Goguryeo. -
Schools of Tiantai, Huayan, Chan, an Jingtu are founded
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Burma adopts Thervada Buddhism
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The First diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet. Life of Songtsen Gampo
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Zen Buddhism becomes state religion. Zen is the branch that spread to China, Japan and Korea. It is a mix of Mahayana and Taosim.
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The Great Samye Debate decides on Indian Mahayan Buddhism as the form for Tibet
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The King restores Theravadin monasticism. Mahayan Buddhism declines and by 1150 it is nearly extinct in India
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Buddhism in Korea flourishes under the Koryo dynasty.
"The Tripitaka Koreana", one of the most complete editions of the Buddhist canon, was published in the first part of the Koryŏ period. -
Nalanda University destroyed; demise of Buddhism in India
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During the Kamakura period, schools of Rinzai, Jodo Shu (Pure Land) and Nichiren. Nichiren is just like Mahayana Buddhism but specific to Japan.
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From 1231-39 The Mongols invaded Korea and destroyed all Buddhist scriptures. But in 1253, the Mongolian leader Kublai Khan accepted Tibetan Buddhism
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Theravada Buddhism adopted in Cambodia and Laos.
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Thervada Buddhism becomes the state religion in Thailand
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This was the beginning of Dalai Lama lineage in Tibetan Buddhism.
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5th Buddhist Council in Mandalay, Burma where the text of the Pali Canon was revised and inscribed on 729 marble slabs.
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Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved. The Pāli texts are the oldest collection of Buddhist scriptures preserved in the language in which they were originally written down. The society was founded in 1881 to translate the scripts for the religion to grow.
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From 1910-45 the reformations of Korean and Chinese Buddhism took place. Sadly, in 1949 the communist Chinese government repressed it.
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At the outset of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, fearing for their lives, the Dalai Lama and his retinue fled Tibet. The CIA's Special Activities Division helped them cross into India on March 30th 1959.
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The UK Association of Buddhist Studies is founded The association aims to act as a focus for Buddhist Studies in the UK. The "UKABS" is open to academics, post-graduates, and unaffiliated Buddhist scholars, as well as interested Buddhist practitioners.
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The Taliban destroys the Standing Buddha statues at Bamiyan
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The first major religious conference in China. Over 1,000 monks and expert from 37 countries attended. The point of the forum was to open dialgue about equality for those who love the world, care for living beings and respect & wish to protect Buddhism. The forum was open to all, meaning non-buddhists could attended.
