Source: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42874000/jpg/_42874841_buddhist_220_afp.jpg
The way in which the Buddhism teachings were preserved I found to be very impressive. To preserve Buddha’s teachings, a variety of monks had to listen carefully to be able to memorize the preaching in their head. It wasn’t until four hundred years after Buddha dies that the teachings were written down in Sri Lanka. Even though the monks tried to memorize the teachings as best as they could, it was still not one hundred percent sure that all the words had come from Buddha.It is interesting to highlight the importance of the Mahayana because it was a social movement that created literature which challenged authority of the “institution”. In addition, many of the sutras were being used as scholastic reference. And it was significant to note that as the government in china was at its weakest; Buddhist institutions were at their strongest.
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