Buddhist mythology

The Buddhist traditions have created and maintained a vast body of mythological literature. The central myth of Buddhism is the life of the Buddha. This is told in relatively realistic terms in the earliest texts, and was soon elaborated into a complex literary mythology. The chief motif of this story, and the most distinctive feature of Buddhist myth, is the Buddha's renunciation: leaving his home and family for a spiritual quest. Alongside this central myth, the traditions contain large numbers of smaller stories, which are usually supposed to convey an ethical or Buddhist teaching. These include the popular Jātakas, folk tales or legends believed to be past lives of Gautama Buddha. Since these are regarded as episodes in the life of the Buddha, they are treated here as “myth”, rather than distinguishing between myth, legend, and folk-tale.^[1]

Buddhist mythology is maintained in texts, but these have always existed alongside oral traditions of storytelling, as well as creative retellings of myths as drama or artworks.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] This creative mythology continues to this day, and includes film, television, and musical adaptions of Buddhist myths.

Myth has always been an important part of the way Buddhists see themselves and form communities. Attitudes to myths vary, with some people seeing the stories as entirely factual, while others see them as symbolic. In this article, as in scholarly study of mythology generally, the use of the term “myth” does not imply a value or truth judgement. Rather, it refers to the study of sacred stories and their meaning within a community.

Scholars have long recognized that Buddhism contains one of the world's great mythologies. TW Rhys Davids said that the Jātakas are “the most reliable, the most complete, and the most ancient collection of folklore now extant in any literature in the world.”^[6] CAF Rhys Davids said that the Jātakas are “collectively the greatest epic, in literature, of the Ascent of Man”.^[7] Joseph Campbell discussed the life of the Buddha extensively in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces, relying on the later Buddha legends.^[8] However, modern examination of Buddhist mythology is rare, and critics have argued that the emphasis on rationality in Buddhist modernism has obscured the role of mythology in Buddhist communities both past and present.

^ Myths are "stories about divine beings, generally arranged in a coherent system; they are revered as true and sacred; they are endorsed by rulers and priests; and closely linked to religion. Once this link is broken, and the actors in the story are not regarded as gods but as human heroes, giants or fairies, it is no longer a myth but a folktale. Where the central actor is divine but the story is trivial … the result is religious legend, not myth." [J. Simpson & S. Roud, "Dictionary of English Folklore," Oxford, 2000, p.254]
^ Pia Brancaccioa1 and Xinru Liu, Dionysus and drama in the Buddhist art of Gandhara, Journal of Global History, vol. 4.2, July 2009, pp 219–244
^ Liu, Xinru; Brancaccio, Pia (2009). "Dionysus and drama in the Buddhist art of Gandhara*". Journal of Global History. 4 (2): 219–244. doi:10.1017/S1740022809003131. S2CID 162955653.
^ Professor Kulatilaka Kumarasinghe, Buddhism in Noh Drama, University of Kelaniya
^ "Publications - Prof. Kulatilaka Kumarasinghe". Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
^ "Buddhist India -- Chapter 11". Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
^ CAF Rhys Davids, Stories of the Buddha: being Selections from the Jataka, introduction, p. xix.
^ Jātaka Nidāna and Lalitavistara Sūtra. See Hero, prologue, note 38; chap 1, note 44, etc.

[1] Myths are "stories about divine beings, generally arranged in a coherent system; they are revered as true and sacred; they are endorsed by rulers and priests; and closely linked to religion. Once this link is broken, and the actors in the story are not regarded as gods but as human heroes, giants or fairies, it is no longer a myth but a folktale. Where the central actor is divine but the story is trivial … the result is religious legend, not myth." [J. Simpson & S. Roud, "Dictionary of English Folklore," Oxford, 2000, p.254]

[2] Pia Brancaccioa1 and Xinru Liu, Dionysus and drama in the Buddhist art of Gandhara, Journal of Global History, vol. 4.2, July 2009, pp 219–244

[3] Liu, Xinru; Brancaccio, Pia (2009). "Dionysus and drama in the Buddhist art of Gandhara*". Journal of Global History. 4 (2): 219–244. doi:10.1017/S1740022809003131. S2CID 162955653.

[4] Professor Kulatilaka Kumarasinghe, Buddhism in Noh Drama, University of Kelaniya

[5] "Publications - Prof. Kulatilaka Kumarasinghe". Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2018-12-07.

[6] "Buddhist India -- Chapter 11". Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2018-12-07.

[7] CAF Rhys Davids, Stories of the Buddha: being Selections from the Jataka, introduction, p. xix.

[8] Jātaka Nidāna and Lalitavistara Sūtra. See Hero, prologue, note 38; chap 1, note 44, etc.

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