Buddhist Diplomacy: History And Status Quo. - USC Center on ...

BUDDHIST DIPLOMACY: HISTORY AND STATUS QUO 19became important learning centers and propagation institutions ofBuddhism. As Buddhism became increasingly influential, someof the monasteries developed into large-scale monastic-universitycomplexes that attracted students from different parts of the world.For example, during the Pala Empire (750–1174 CE) some statefundedmonasteries in East India attracted monks, scholars, andstudents from such diverse locations as China, Tibet, Sri Lanka,Nepal, Korea, Greece, and Persia. It also attracted donations fromforeign kings. 70 These monastic universities taught different schoolsof <strong>Buddhist</strong> thought and other disciplines such as medicine, andtrained missionaries in the skills of transmitting Buddhism. 71 They areconsidered among the earliest universities in the world. The largestones included Nalanda, Odantapuri and Vikramasila. Historiansrecorded that Odantapuri permanently housed a thousand monks andsometimes “twelve thousand monks congregated there”. 72 ChineseMonk Xuan Zang recorded that the Nalanda University had morethan 1,500 teachers to look after and guide 10,000 students. 73 Thesemonasteries continued to train monks until they were destroyed byinvading Muslim troops in the 12th century.6. Influence of opinion leaders.The history of Buddhism’s transmission shows that opinionleaders in a society were usually the first influenced by the new faith.When kings, queens, princes, princesses, literati and artists became<strong>Buddhist</strong> followers, other members of society would more likely toaccept the new faith. This is particularly true in the ancient timeswhen a foreign idea could be easily perceived as a heresy and threatto the traditional beliefs. For example, when Buddhism was firstintroduced to China and Tibet, it was initially resisted by aboriginalfaiths. With the effort of leaders in the societies, it went through aprocess of localization and was eventually accepted.7. Translation of <strong>Buddhist</strong> texts and gifting in diplomacyPerhaps the most important means of <strong>Buddhist</strong> transmissionacross borders is the translation of <strong>Buddhist</strong> texts as the faith enteredinto different countries and cultures. The Buddha’s teachings were