When people move to a foreign land and continue practicing a religion they learned at home, they assist in cultural diffusion. Cultural diffusion occurs when religious beliefs, traditions, and cultural practices spread from one community to another. Sometimes one culture adopts another culture's religion completely. In other instances, the religion of the new culture is combined with the beliefs and traditions of the old one.
These tabs describe one example of cultural diffusion--the spread of Buddhism from India to Japan.
Buddhism in India
Shinto in Japan
Two Religions in One
Around 600 BCE, an Indian prince named Gautama Siddartha is said to have attained spiritual enlightenment and become a Buddha, or enlightened one. Siddartha was a real person, but after his death he was worshiped as a god whose teachings could help others achieve enlightenment. Buddhism traveled from today’s India along the Silk Road to the far east—China and Japan.
What would encourage people in China and Japan to adopt Buddhism? What would discourage them?
A religion that addresses people’s needs will always find converts. The existence of traditional religions in China and Japan that already met people’s needs would be a barrier to adopting Buddhism.
Shinto was the traditional religion of Japan. Japanese people looked to the kami (Shinto gods and spirits) for help in their lives. This image shows the kami Inari Ōkami with the foxes who serve as kami messengers. Shinto was a Japanese adaptation of an ancient Chinese religion. Would Japan accept Buddhism as well?
How was Buddhism different from Shintoism?
Shintoism was like other polytheistic religions, featuring many spirits who represented the natural world, ritual worship, and asking gods for help or protection. Buddhism asked people to seek and work for enlightenment, and to leave the desires of human life behind.
By 663highland (663highland) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
Buddhism appealed to many Japanese people, and was adopted by some members of the royal court, so the Japanese decided that the kami welcomed Buddha, and associated themselves with him. Buddhism became an official religion, and Buddhist temples appeared across Japan.
What helped average people accept Buddhism?
its adoption by aristocratic members of the royal court; When powerful people in society sanction something, others are usually eager to take part in it.
Question
How did Buddhism enter Japanese culture?
