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563 - 483 BCE Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha Shakyamuni.
521 BCE Siddhartha Gautama begins his search for truth.
528 BCE Siddhartha Gautama achieves enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in
Northwestern India.
528 BCE The Four Noble Truths are revealed by Buddha Shakyamuni in
his first sermon after his enlightenment.
483 BCE First Council is held at Rajagaha immediately following Buddha's
Parinirvana. It results in the formation of four factions. Buddha's teachings
(Sutta Pitaka) and a text on monastic discipline (Vinaya Pitaka) are written.
469 BCE Now ten years after Buddha's passing, approximately 16 factions
exist.
400 BCE Buddhism comes to Nepal.
383 BCE At Vesali the Second Buddhist Council is held declaring a
minority orthodox (Theravada) and the majority heretic (Mahayana).
259 - 232 BCE King Asoka (273 - 232) converts to Buddhism and sends
out missionaries to other lands while actively promoting Buddhism in his
own lands.
251 BCE Mahinda, (c. 204) Asoka's son, introduces Buddhism to Ceylon
(present day Sri Lanka).
250 BCE Under the auspices of King Asoka the Buddhist canon (Tipitaka)
is completed during the Third Buddhist Council at Patna.
200 BCE Buddhism comes to central Asia.
24 BCE Founding of two important Buddhist monasteries in Ceylon: Mahaviranhara
(Theravadin monastery) and Abhayagiri (Mahayana monastery).
1st century CE As many as 500 Buddhist sects may exist by this time.
61 CE Mahayana Buddhism spreads to China.
100 CE Jalandhar, northern India hosts the Fourth Buddhist Council.
150 CE Nagarjuna founds the Madhyamika or Middle Way Mahayana school
which teaches that true salvation can only be achieved by shedding all knowledge
until only emptiness remains.
273 - 231 CE Rule of King Ashoka. Spread Buddhism throughout India
and Southeast Asia.
300 - 400 CE Yoga (Yogocara), the second major Mahayana school, is
founded brothers Vasubandhu and Asanga. According to their teaching absolute
reality is mind or consciousness therefore thought creates objects out of
itself.
320 - 600 CE Birth of Vajrayana Buddhism.
334 CE Interaction between Hellenism and Buddhism began when Alexander
the Great conquered Asia Minor and Central Asia, thus establishing direct
contact with India. The fusion of Greek and Buddhist cultures operated over
several centuries until the 5th century CE.
334 - 413 CE Life of Kumarajiva, who translated more than 100 Buddhist
texts from Sanskrit into Chinese. Fa Hsing of China, at the age of 64 travels
to India and studies Buddhism there for seven years. He brings back to China
many signifcant Vinaya scriptures. He is the first Chinese monk to write
a detailed account of his travels in India: "A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms
-- 399 - 414 CE."
372 CE Buddhism spreads from China to Korea.
400 CE Buddaghosa writes Visuddhimagga, a major work on Theravadin
philosophy.
480 CE Dhyana Buddhist missionary, Bodhidharma, arrives in China.
The Ch'an school of Buddhism eventually arises from his teachings.
6th century CE Buddhism spreads from China to Japan.
515 - 597 CE Life of Chih-i, who founded the T'ien-t'ai school in
China. According to his teachings, apparent contradictions in the Buddha's
teachings are actually different levels of the same truth.
549 - 623 CE Chi-tsang, founds the Madhyamika school in China.
596 - 664 CE Hsuan Tsang, founds the Yoga (Fa-hsiang) school in China.
He is the most influential pioneer in the translation of scriptures from
Sanskrit to Chinese. He traveled throughout the northern and central regions
of India, studied in monasteries for 17 years and finally brought 600 scrolls
of scriptures back to China. He established a translation academy of more
than 800 monks, responsible for translating a significant portion on Sanskrit
scriptures into Chinese.
600 - 800 CE Buddhism comes to Tibet. Development of Mantrayana Buddhism,
which uses sacred chants (mantras) to reach enlightenment.
613 - 681 CE Shan-tao founds the Pure Land sect (Ching-t'u) in China.
625 CE The Sanron, Middle Way school develops in Japan.
628 - 700 CE Dosho, founds the Yogacara (Hosso) school in Japan.
632 CE Tibet declares Tantric Buddhism as the state religion.
638 - 713 CE Hui-neng, founds the Ch'an sect in China in reaction
to scholastic trends of traditional Buddhism.
668 - 749 CE Korean Buddhist priest Gyogi, works to unite Buddhism
and Shintoism. Chinese monk Jian Zhen sails to Japan with a crew of monks
and a significant amount of Buddhist scriptures. He settles in Japan.
700 CE Buddhism begins to decline in India.
787 CE First Tibetan monastery, Samye, was constructed under the directions
by Guru Padmasambhava and Achaya Shantarakshita with the royal support from
King Trisong Detsun.
800 CE In Tibet local nature religion called Bonism claims the gods
are angry with the acceptance of the foreign religion, Buddhism. Buddhists
counter by installing local Tibetan dieties as guardians to Buddha and Bodhisattvas
and by accepting Bon rituals.
803 CE Saicho (767 - 822) founds the Japanese T'ien-t'ai sect (Tendai).
817 - 836 CE Buddhism reaches its height in Tibet with the Reign of
King Ralpa-can. Buddhists are persecuted under Ralpa-can's successors.
958 - 1055 CE Rin-chen bzang-po translates many Indian Buddhist texts
creating a second Buddhist revival in Tibet.
972 CE The Buddhist canon Tipitaka is first printed in China.
1030 CE Tantric master Atisa (982 - 1054) arrives in Tibet. He begins
the Tibetan Buddhist tradition headed by the Dalai Lama, which becomes the
dominant form of Buddhism.
1140 - 1390 CE Korean Buddhism reaches its highest point during the
the Koryo Dynasty.
1160 CE The long-standing conflict between the Mahavirahara and Abhayagiri
monasteries in Ceylon ends at the Council of Anuradhapura.
1200 CE The Jodo Shinshu, Pure Land sect is founded in Japan by Shinran
Shonin (1173 - 1261).
1200 CE Muslim Buddhism begins its decline in northern India as a
result of Muslim conquests.
1244 CE Dogen (1200 - 1253) founds the Soto Zen sect of Buddisim in
Japan.
1253 CE Nichiren (1222 - 1282) founds the Japanese Buddhist sect.
1260 CE Tibetan Buddhism is established as the national Mongol religion.
1400 CE Buddhism declines in southern India.
1500 CE Buddhism declines in Japan.
1731 CE The first section of Tibetan Buddhism's canonical sutras (Kanjur)
is printed.
1800 CE Buddhism experiences a revival in Ceylon. The Buddhist Theosophical
Society is born.
1875 CE New York, USA - Civil War veteran Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907)
and Russian Emigre Madame Helene Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) establish
the Theosophical Society.
1890 CE Buddhism experiences a revival in Japan.
1891 CE The Maha Bodhi Society is founded in Ceylon by D. H. Hewavitarne
(1865 - 1933) with a view of spreading Buddhism to other English speaking
lands.
1920's CE Soviet Communists attack Buddhism in Mongolia.
1929 CE T'ai-hsu (1889 - 1947) creates Chinese Buddhist Society. By
1947 the society claims 4.5 million members.
1939 CE D.T. Suzuki (1870-1966) introduces Japanese Rinzai Zen to
the West.
1950 CE Beginning of Chinese Communist attack on Buddhism.
1950 CE World Fellowship of Buddhists is formed in Ceylon.
1950s CE USA - The Beat movement picks up on Buddhism, bringing about
"Beat Buddhism," attracting the likes of William Burroughs (1914-1997), Alan
Watts (1915-1993), Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) and Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997).
This brings Buddhism to the mainstream in the West.
1952 CE The International Buddhist Flag was adopted by the World Buddhist
Congress.
1954 CE The Buddhist Council in Rangoon marks the 2,500th anniversary
of the Buddha's death (according to Theravadin teaching).
1959 CE His Holiness the Dalai Lama escapes persecution from the Chinese
Communists in Tibet by fleeing to Dharamsala, India, which later became the
seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile.
1960 CE Cambodia holds a Buddhist Congress to combat growing opposition
from Communists.
1964 CE Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga is translated into English.
1967 CE Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, is nominated for
the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr.
1989 CE His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, is awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize.
Mid 1990's CE Buddhist websites, chats and forums begin to appear
on the World Wide Web.
Based on
1) e-Sangha, Buddhism Forum
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