How did the spread of Buddhism in the East compare to the spread of Christianity in the West?

Answer 1

A:

Buddhism had its origins in India, but later Muslims and Hindus in India saw Buddhism as a mutual threat, and agreed to destroy the religion, thus few Buddhists can now be found in India or Pakistan. However, Buddhism was more successful elsewhere, spreading west through Afghanistan,east as far as Japan, and eventually into south-east Asia. By and large, both Buddhism and Nestorian Christianity spread peacefully as they moved through Asia, in stark contrast to Christianity in the West, once it became the religion of the Roman Empire. Both Christianity and Buddhism became established in China, but Christianity did not survive there, with Buddhism becoming the dominant religion, alongside Daoism and Confucianism.

Philip Jenkins (The Lost History of Christianity) reports that in 782, the Indian Buddhist missionary Prajna arrived in the Chinese imperial capital, Chang'an, but was unable to translate the Sanskrit sutras he had brought with him into either Chinese or any other familiar tongue. He duly consulted a Nestorian bishop, and Buddhist and Nestorian scholars worked amiably together for some years to translate seven copious volumes of Buddhist wisdom into the Chinese language.

Like all religions, Buddhism evolved over time, particularly under the influence of Tibetan and Chinese traditional beliefs.

In Vietnam, a curious syncretistic faith known as Caodaism, combining Catholic, Buddhist and Daoist beliefs, developed and won a following in the 1920s. It was granted legal recognition in 1997.