why was Buddhism split into two branches?
Answers
Explanation:
The split began due to translation of the Buddha’s teachings into two languages. For about 250 years after the Buddha, all teachings were oral. Then King Ashoka had the Buddha’s teachings written down in Pali, a simplified version of Sanskrit around 250 BCE. At the same time, the texts were also translated into Sanskrit for use in North India.
The Pali texts moved south and focused on keeping the teachings pure and precise. The Sanskrit texts were found to have included a lot of mystical Hindu ideas and were rejected by Ashoka’s scholars. But they were popular in the North, and formed the basis of the Mahayana tradition. This created a Buddhism with images of cosmic energies and vast universes.
The split furthered over the question of whether lay people should be supported in following the Buddha Way. The Therevadan tradition had dropped the idea of laypeople practicing the Way, which the Buddha did support. The Mahayana emphasized lay participation in the Buddha Way.
Centuries later, the Mahayana reached the Tibetan Plateau twice, forming a very different Buddhist path, the Vajrayana, as Buddhism mixed with the local Bon shamanic religion.