ABSTRACT
In the present chapter I shall endeavour to record in chronological order such facts and dates as we know concerning the development of Buddhism in India with special reference to its connection with the Far East, and in so doing I shall deal mainly with sects and schoolmen, reserving for the next chapter an account of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Maháyána. Since these new figures and doctrines are of such obvious importance in the history of religion, it may seem strange to give them the second place and to treat first of relatively obscure philosophers. But it is easier to find some sort of historical setting for the philosophers. The dates of such personages as Aávaghosha and Vasubandhu are disputable enough, but still tradition connects them with certain kings and cities and some of the works ascribed to them seem genuine. But in seeking for the
origins of the worship of Amitabha and Avalokite^vara we have not even this modest allowance of historical detail: all is as unearthly as their own radiant Paradises. We know the dates when the ^otus and the sutras about Amitabha are said to have been translated into Chinese, and the style of the Sanskrit original may afford a basis for plausible theories. But that is all. Regardless of probability the texts represent themselves as the utterances of Sakyamuni himself and no later authority is cited. Though we hear of many ancient sects distinguished by their rules of discipline and other minutiae and though later in China and Japan sects were numerous and clearly divided, it is curious that in ancient India the Mahayana did not give rise to similar bodies. The worshippers of Amitabha and Avalokite^vara are not spoken of as if they were a corporation of any kind. In Byzantine Christianity disputes about the nature of Christ led to the formation of parties-Nestorian, Monophysite, Orthodox, and so on-but though the Mahayanist sutras freely propound new views about the Buddha nature, these views remain singularly detached : they are not connected with the names of teachers or denominations. Hence the annals of Indian Buddhism seem peaceful. We hear less of quarrels and of persecution than in Europe, and that perhaps is creditable and civilized. But it makes it extremely difficult to trace the birth and growth of new ideas. I t may be well to state briefly what is known of the political history of India in this obscure period.
