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Jack Hardwick

Philosophy Essay for Thursday 30th January 2014



Part (a) - Explain the importance of Asoka for early Buddhism. (25 marks)

Many historians and scholars believe that the survival and spread of Buddhism was largely due to
Emperor Asoka, in no small part due to his efforts to spread Buddhism around his empire and far
outside its reaches. He ascended to the throne of an empire covering much of modern day India
in 268BCE. His is widely regarded as one of early Buddhisms key patrons.


In her book 2006 'Buddhism, Dominique Side wrote 'Asoka transformed Buddhism from one of
the many non-Vedic groups in India into the 'state religion' of one of the greatest empires on
earth.' Later she justifies this comment by saying that Asoka sent missionaries 'to Egypt, Syria and
Macedonia' and that the religion spread to the island of Sri Lanka. The Pali Cannon, one of the
key Buddhist texts, was first written down after the island's conversion, therefore it is questionable
if the religion would still be present today without Asoka's 'conquering according to the Dharma'
of Sri Lanka. Side also writes that 'it is often claimed that Asoka's missions to spread Buddhism
outside India effectively secured the survival of the religion until today, because in India it
disappeared in the twelfth century.' Similarly to my last point, it appears questionable if Buddhism
would still be present today without Asoka's influence. On a similar note, Asoka was also vitally
important to early Buddhism as he worked with other religions and in fact promoted their beliefs.
One could argue that this had some part to do with the spread of Buddhism outside the empire,
as rather than conflicting with those of other faiths, he chose to work with them, which may have
promoted cross-pollination of numerous religions, allowing aspects of the dharma to be spread
far and wide.

Asoka was also instrumental in the spread of Buddhist value of ahimsa or non-violence. He put
this teaching, which the Buddha taught throughout his life after he has achieved nibbana, into
practice through the banning of animal sacrifices and hunting. Hunting was considered the noble
sport of aristocracy, therefore by banning it he has making a great leap in the direction of
Buddhism. His forbidding of animal sacrifices could also be seen as very important, as this was a
key part of many of the other faith that existed around his empire, therefore he could easily have
angered many of his citizens. The emperor also upheld ahimsa through his request for the royal
family to convert to vegetarianism. This is considered a key belief of many Buddhists, therefore
one could argue it was a huge step in creating a Buddhist empire and spreading the belief system
that has survived thousands of years. Asoka also put preservation orders on many species to
prevent them from over-hunting or any other form of harm, a clear indication of ahimsa.

One could also argue that Asoka's many monuments throughout India help to sustain the appeal
of the religion for modern generations, as the stupas, or burial mounds that he erected provide
pilgrimage sites for many modern Buddhists, often to help cement the faith and bring them closer
to the Buddha and his dharma. These stupas also ensured the cultural legacy of Buddhism, such
as numerous carvings of the wheel of life, which is the modern-day symbol of India. They have
also left an artistic and architectural legacy, and influenced Greco-Buddhist architecture. The stupa
at Sanci is a prime example of this legacy. The Great Stupa at this site includes four large gateways
that depict important scenes from the life of the Buddha, and these provide some very well-
preserved evidence that help to make this a very popular site for visiting Buddhists from around
the globe throughout the centuries since its construction.

Asoka was also very important to the survival of early Buddhism in events such as the 'Third
Council' at Pataliputra, the capital. In this event, some monks at the Pataliputra monastery refused
to take part in the fortnightly uposatha festival with others they considered to be unorthodox. As a
result, the festival was not held there for five years. When this came to Asoka's attention, he sent
out an emissary to intervene, however due to a highly unfortunate misunderstanding, a number of
monks were executed. Hence Asoka formed the 'Third Council', in which all monks at the
monastery were questioned as to their beliefs and ideals, and they were forced to leave if their
answers deviated from the orthodox teachings which Asoka called 'Distinctionism'. These
teachings are thought by many, such as Charles Prebish and Damien Keown in their 2006 work,
'Introducing Buddhism', who wrote it may have been the Buddhas practice of making a
distinction between extremes [of asceticism and hedonism] and emphasizing the importance of
the Middle Way. This shows the Third Council was important to early Buddhism, as Asoka used
his power as emperor to prevent the creation of different sects within Buddhism, which could have
diluted the religion and diverted attention away from the Buddha's practices. It could also have
caused tension between the different groups, which could have had the potential to create conflict
and wipe out the religion. In this way, Asoka was vital to the survival of Buddhism in its infancy.

To bring this essay to a close, Asoka was vital to the survival and spread of Buddhism through his
missionaries, and the religion would not be the same today without his influence such as in the
creation of the Pali Cannon. He did all in his power to keep the purity and spirit of the religion,
and for these vitally important feats, he should be praised for his efforts.

Part (b) - 'Asoka was not a good Buddhist.' Discuss. (10 marks)

In order to evaluate this statement, one should first evaluate what is meant by good. If it is taken
to mean good in a moral sense, it could be argued that Asoka was a good Buddhist as he upheld
the religions key moral values such as ahimsa, metta and karuna. Many sources agree that he
donated generously to medical and vetinary centres, showing clear signs of karuna which means
generosity. The banning of animal sacrifices and the royal familys conversion to vegetarianism
also point towards ahimsa.

However, one could also argue that Asoka was not in fact good if one takes good to be referring
to how well he kept to the beliefs and practices of Buddhism. At no point in texts by any chronicler
is Asoka said to have spread ideas such as the Four Noble Truths or the Noble Eightfold Path. The
Buddha taught that these were the key to achieving nibbana as they allowed us to become free
from the Three Root Poisons and our tanha. One could therefore argue that Asoka was not only
not a good Buddhist, he was in fact hardly a Buddhist at all.

However, one could counter this criticism by arguing that one of the key aims of Buddhism is to
promote values such as those Asoka upheld in order to bring about less suffering, therefore he is
indeed a Buddhist, just not a very conventional one. For example, members of the Salvation Army
do not practice Holy Communion, a key teaching in many sects, yet just because they do not
follow all the teachings that most other groups do, this does not mean we refrain from calling
them Christians. On the contrary, they uphold similar values to most Christian sects, such as the
promotion of peace and kindness, so we consider them just as Christian as any other
denomination. This analogy can also be applied to Asokas Buddhism; just because he did not
uphold all Buddhist values, this does not mean he is not Buddhist, he just has different means to a
very similar end.

Some may also argue that Asoka was not a good Buddhist because, by some accounts at least,
Asoka may have had little to do with the enormous spread of his faith around and outside his
empire. In his 1988 book Theravada Buddhism, Richard Gombrich writes the Theravadin
chronicles do not credit Asoka directly with what we naturally think to be his most important
achievement, the dispatch of missions which established Buddhist over a wide area. He goes on
to explain that by some accounts it was in fact a monastic elder, Tissa Moggaliputta, who sent out
nine missions to the farthest reaches of Asokas territory. From this one could argue that Asoka
was not a good Buddhist because he was complacent in his religion and hence relied on others to
spread his beliefs. If this is indeed the case, it means that Asoka is not directly spreading the values
of ahimsa or metta. By not spreading them, he is not upholding them either, as through a wish for
non-violence one is morally obliged to spread this idea in order for it to become a universal
reality.

However, Gombrich goes on to counter his own argument with help of Erich Frauwallner.
Frauwallner argues that although it could appear that Asoka left the dirty work to others in his
empire, the spread of Buddhism comes from his embassies, therefore his is indirectly responsible
for the spread. He argues that missions were sent from Vidisa in central India, and the remains of
Buddhist missionaries have been unearthed at this location. This place is mentioned in Theravadin
texts and is found in inscriptions on edicts across the empire, suggesting that Asoka did indeed
order missionaries to spread his beliefs. This counters the idea that he was not a good Buddhist as
he did indeed uphold those values he is said to have done. Personally, I choose to side with
Frauwallner in this debate. I feel that the archaeological evidence strongly points towards a
conclusion that Asoka was ultimately responsible for the spread of Buddhism across the eastern
world.

To conclude, although it could be argued that Emperor Asoka was not a good Buddhist or indeed
a Buddhist at all, I think, on the whole, the evidence point to a conclusion that he was in fact a
good Buddhist, as he upheld many of the key views of the religion, even if his practices were
different from some more traditional ones such as practicing the Noble Eightfold Path.

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