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Born a Shinto, die a Buddhist, and in between eat KFC and Pizza Hut while celebrating Christmas

Fun fact: The real life monk Tang Sanzang heard about the legend of the Amazon(the Greek legend) while in India. This legend was then adapted into the Journey to the West as the Woman kingdom. This is also the inspiration for the Chinese Amazon village in Ranma 1/2

Buddhas of Bamiyan were definitely among the wonders of the world. What a shame we couldn't protect them.

For those curious, part of the reason Buddhism lost the rejection of hierarchy is because Confucianism believed in meritocracy. By material merit or divine right (Divine Mandate), you would go up or down the hierarchy. So Buddhism had to pull back on that element of it, and conform as a kind of "spiritual meritocracy."

Part of why the Japanese lean into Buddhism, let Buddhist clergy handle their death, and perhaps even why Shinto doesn't have a well defined afterlife, is due to a particular quirk of Shintoism: it's absolutely terrified of death and everything surrounding death. One of the core aspects of Shintoism is the concept of spiritual "purity," which often is also related to physical purity to a degree, and avoiding "impurity." In Shintoism their may be nothing more impure then death and everything surrounding it, a concept that became so ingrained the cultural psyche of Japan that people who had jobs dealing the death and filth, such as undertakers and garbage men, were part of a cast of untouchables. As a result Shintoism as a religion was horribly ineffective in dealing with those who have died or are nearing death, as well as helping those who are left through the morning process. Buddhism on the other hand was quite effective in that regard and even had a afterlife goal the squared quite nicely with Shintoism exaltation of purity.

Vajrayana is actually classified philosophically as Mahayana school. You should cover the fascinating conversation of the Tibetan Empire to Buddhism, including the famous debate of Samye!

Mentioning the Pure Land, I'm reminded of a quote by Nichiren Daishonin (13th century Japanese Buddhist priest and founder of my school of Buddhism:) "Neither the pure land nor hell exists outside oneself; both lie only within one’s own heart. Awakened to this, one is called a Buddha; deluded about it, one is called an ordinary person. The Lotus Sutra reveals this truth, and one who embraces the Lotus Sutra will realize that hell is itself the Land of Tranquil Light."

Please do the Greek war of independence of 1821 against the ottoman empire next I've been asking for this since the first episodes of the sengoku Jidai

On the three vehicles parable: it's from the Lotus Sutra, and the one vehicle is not Mahayana. In fact, Mahayana is one of the three lesser vehicles, alongside enlightenment without teachers/teachings and (roughly) Therevada. The one vehicle is literally the One Vehicle; meaning all Buddhist teachings lead to enlightenment, Mahayana or not.

My family are Chinese and Vietnamese, the religion of contradictions are pretty obvious because the altar in our house would have, besides the Buddha himself, the goddess of Mercy and Compassion Kuan-Yin on the left, and on the right the God of War Guan Yu. How everyone has worshiped both of them at the same time and not questioned this I'm not sure, but it's literally a Hawk and Dove situation lmao.

Some errors/clarification on Vietnam: 1, Buddhism came to Vietnam potentially around the 1st to 2nd century CE from China or through delegations from India in 2nd or 3rd century CE. 2,By the end of the 2nd century CE Vietnam has already become a major hub for Mahayana Buddhism not the 9th or 10th century CE. 3,Vietnam at that point was part of a province in China with Luy Lâu (in modern day Bắc Ninh province) being it’s capital, it was an extremely popular destination for Indian Buddhist monks en route to China. 4,Many Mahayana sutras were translated to chinese here and also the agamas including Sutra of forty two chapters,.. 5, Vietnam’s developing Buddhism can be said to reflect the formation of Chinese Buddhism after the Song dynasty and has existed long before Xuanzang return to China. 6,In this video he said that Vietnam was trading partners with China in the 8th to 10th but that isn’t true at all. We were part of China till the early to mid 10th century. 7,The map shown about spread of Mahayana Buddhism to Vietnam was inaccurate as Vietnam is literally in Laos and Cambodian territory which was not Vietnamese during the 8th to 10th century, same goes for Central and parts South Vietnam which wasn’t Vietnam at all but a different kingdom named Champa, the later part of South Vietnam was part of the Khmer Empire. 8,Champa did have a unique branch of Mahayana Buddhism combined with Hinduism that was there since the 9th century. But also follow the Theravada branch potentially as early as the 3rd century CE. Anyways these are just some of the errors/points that need further clarification that I found.

Small technicality: Vajrayana Buddhism explicitly appears in two schools in Japan - Shingon and Tendai (Re: Taimitsu). These lineages are unrelated to Tibetan Buddhism but have fully developed esoteric traditions via Indian tantric Buddhists in China. Small: technicality #2, bodhisattvas and past buddhas both exist in the Pāli Canon too, but the scope was much smaller than Mahayana.

Quick correction: Zen Buddhism comes from Chan Buddhism, which I definitely Mahayana, not Vajrayana

Beautiful job pulling together this religion in a basic sense. The world need more of this to foster understanding. I learned a LOT here! Thanks EH!

I'm still watching the intro but I'm getting Journey To The West vibes and I'm getting excited!

For all the Indian viewers, Xuanzang is Huien Tsang.

"You were supposed to destroy hierarchical systems, not join them!"

Your vids are brilliant. Short and nice . Love these vids. Your fan from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰🤝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿. We always appreciate your time and hard work to make these videos.

Dear Extra Credits Team, Zen Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana schools. Vajrayana evolve from Mahayana. Also, did you forgot that a version of dharmachakra that represents Mahayana Buddhism used to be depicted the Theravada Buddhism in episode 4 of this serie?

This is one of the best series that extra credits has done

I would love to see a vide or two covering Shintoism because there's not a lot of common knowledge of this fascinating belief system.

4:41 this parable is in the beginning of the Lotus Sutra. When I was still a kid, my grandmom would force me to memorize the whole Lotus Sutra as well as other mantras like Prajnacitta, Mahakaruna, etc. Later in life, I came across the Pali Canon, and this time I willingly memorize the suttas without anyone forcing me.

Finally the origin of kera sakti (journey to the west)

Some Errors: - The whole video speaks about Theravada and Mahayana as if there were a split between them in ancient times, but that wasn’t the case. Mahayana was a transectarian movement that spread across all of the 18 early schools, including the one that contemporary Theravada derives from. “Theravada” comes from a branch of the Vibhajyavada sect in Sri Lanka that came to reject all of Mahayana, but that sect did not categorically reject Mahayana. So Xuanzang certainly didn't witness a debate between “Theravada” and “Mahayana,” but debates between Mahayana Buddhists still within the ordination lineages of specific early schools and members of those early schools who didn't accept Mahayana and also argued between themselves. Better to just talk about the “early schools” and “Mahayana.” - An example of the last point is where they talk about the Mahayana sutras as ones that "Theravada didn't recognize in its canon," but the Vibhajyavada sect that would become what we know as the Theravada sect in Sri Lanka did not categorically reject Mahayana. There were Mahayana-Vibhajyavada Buddhists. The truth is simply that Theravada was the only lineage identifying with an early school that has survived to the present and it rejects Mahayana, so now there's the incorrect idea that Theravada was the ancient opponent of Mahayana, when that wasn't the situation. - Vajrayana is not the same as Tibetan Buddhism. There are more Vajrayana Buddhists in Japan than there are Tibetan people in the entire world. They say Shingon-shu is a "Vajrayana inspired" sect, but it is fully Vajrayana. - Theravada also believes there have been many past Buddhas, just not specific other ones in the present like Amitabha Buddha. - "Mahayana Buddhists believe there have been many Buddhas, many of them avatars or rebirths of a previous Buddha." That last clause is a very strange thing to say. While Mahayana Buddhists definitely believe Buddhas incarnate in countless bodies to aid beings, I'm not sure I've heard about them birthing themselves as different Buddhas except in the sense that all Buddhas are incarnations of Vairocana Buddha, which is a different concept. - In Mahayana, it is arhats that achieve enlightenment and abandon the world, not Buddhas. Buddhas are portrayed as being the exact opposite, compassionate beings who stick around. Bodhisattvas are just beings who want to become Buddhas, often with some lofty vows before they take the final step to Buddhahood, hence the simplified version that they reject enlightenment to help beings. - If it’s meant to be implied (which maybe it’s not), that the pantheon of Buddhas and bodhisattvas developed in China, then that is not true. It existed in India. - Pure Lands (plural). “The Pure Land” usually refers to Sukhavati, which is the Buddha-field of just one Buddha, Amitabha. Not all Buddhas and bodhisattvas dwell in "The Pure Land." - Written sutras were common in China for many centuries before Xuanzang went on his pilgrimage. They did not only become popular in the 6th century. - Guanyin (觀音) is a short form of Guanshiyin Pusa (觀世音菩薩) which is a literal translation of the name Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. “Guanyin” is not a term to denote the female depiction and is used to describe both male and female depictions of the bodhisattva in Chinese. - I'm almost certain that Budai was not a pre-Buddhist folk figure. I mean, he was literally a monk. - The idea that certain practices could make you wealthy, particularly in future lives, already existed in Indian Buddhism and was not invented in China. - The spelling on the caste pyramid is almost entirely wrong. It's brahmin, kshatriya, and vaishya, not bhramin, kshatryia, and viasya. I wish Extra History were more careful about consulting experts before making these Buddhism videos. It's very clear that there was not an adequate amount of research put into them to avoid some pretty misleading claims.

Will you guys cover Japanese Shinto-Buddhist warrior monks during Sengoku Jidai in Japan?

I'm sad you didn't really touch on my personal favorite: Mongolia. Otherwise fascinating summary! Thanks!

You didn't get into it, but I think that Chinese Mahayama needs to be understood within the context of the San Jiao or Three Teachings (RuShiDao). The development of various branches such as Pure Land, Chan, TanTai, and Huayan can be distinguished largely by what they absorbed from the existing teachings (not all of which can be considered religious). It's probably not a topic for Extra History but you could tackle it if you want to. There are other resources here on KZfaq, particularly in the (now defunct?) channel Cool History Bros.

Would love to hear more of the historical intertwinings of Buddhism in a future series or two or three.

I figure the main point of this series was to show how Buddhism spread to the regions where it's most commonly practiced today, but I still wish they could have spent more time talking about the Indo-Greek kingdoms in Bactria that converted to Buddhism. Not only is it a cool place and time in history, it was also crucial in spreading Buddhism along the Silk Road to places like China.

First off, fantastic series. Getting to the point, I commend that monk from the intro (I forgot his name lmao) for translating all those important texts in the two thousand or so years before Google Translate was invented

7:01 To be honesty，the formulation of Shinto theology is a product of Buddhist influence. But anyway the video is as amazing as usual.

Great stuff..... I would love for you guys to do an episode on the Shaolin Monks

Great series! Loved learning about it

Yoo a new vid 🎉🎉🎉

I really enjoyed this series, its something Ive really wanted to learn about because Buddhism is so widespread and important. I think this series would be worth seven episode

This has been one of the most fascinating stories you have told. Love this.

I imagine, instead of "Greater Vehicle," the English version might be "Big-Tent."

Huge shout out to the Extra History team for helping to outline some of the key characteristics of Mahayana Buddhism. 2 years ago when I was a seminary student I took an introductory class on Buddhism from an ordained Buddhist teacher who was also a professor at the seminary. Your lesson and hers are almost the same. 😊

Always love vids and publications studying how religions syncretize with other local religions and customs as they spread.

Awesome!

Love the Dàmíng palace and the historically accurate cloths and animation

props to this series for explaining this religion so well

5:23 that pronunciation was so smooth

Loved the series. Wish you had done a separate video analyzing Theravada schools as well.

Any thought's about doing a video/series on Shintoism?

Thank you so much for this series! I went into it thinking of Buddhism as a more selfish religion, but have now come to understand that I, at best, had a caricature of the faith in mind

It would be wonderful if your channel could create a series or perhaps a pair of episodes detailing the exploits of Bodhidharma, who according to legend founded the concept of martial arts as a means to strengthen one's body in order to practice deep meditations for extended periods of time. Trust me, you need to think about making this.

love the searies

We definitely need a follow-up series for this one! Focusing more specifically on the evolution and development of Buddhism in a specific area or period, like you did with early Christianity

From my room in Bangkok I can see a temple to Guan-Im which looks very much like the illustration at 6:45. Despite Thailand being Theravada Guan-Im is a commonly revered figure, and can be found in Theravada temples as well as Mahayana ones. Of course Thailand and China have had strong ties going back centuries and in particular in Late 18th and Eartly 19th Centuries Chinese commerce was vital to restoring the kingdom following the fall of Ayutthaya, and from gratitiude and admiration a lot of Chinese influence was incorporated. The pendulum later swung the other way with strong anti-Chinese sentiment, until King Ananda Mahidol began bringing the communities back together. As such the main road through Chinatown is Yaowarat "The Youthful King".

I must say there are some super cool stories from buddhism that it makes me more confused why no blickbuster movie has been made of it yet

Lu Zhishen my beloved 😍

You need another episode. One that explains how Buddhism spread to North America through anti-establishmentism and misunderstanding to the b point that karma is a byword sung on the radio and the Nirvana/rebirth cycles keep showing up in pop culture, particularly fantasy (like Branden Sanderson) and sci-fi (like Star Wars).

Great series

It's a common misconception that the monkey King is the main character of Journey to the West. Though he is the most famous, it's actually Xuanzang/ Tripitaka that is the "main character". People kind of just took to Monkey more because he was more fun to write about.

I still smile every time I hear the Act Raiser music in the intro. 🥰

I expected more you would speak of what happened to Buddhism in India after the first episodes.

Honestly, you guys should just start a new genre in the channel called "extra religion" where you talk about religious history. I'd be thrilled to learn more about christian, islamic and jewish history. I think jewish history would be especially interesting as it is truly mind boggling how an ethno-religious group could survive almost 2000 years of living without a proper homeland and constant persecution

Please. A series about the origin of the silk road. Specially the diplomat that made it possible

Please do a series on Jainism also.

Love you guys and your content but disappointed you didn't mention Bodhidharma, the prince monk from south India who literally laid the foundation of the Shaolin Kung Fu.

You should do another video about Bodhidharma and Buddhabhadra founding the Shaolin temple, its quite a fun piece of history. East Asian Mahayana is definitely where buddhism became very very different. As was mentioned previously too, one of the biggest ones being okay to consuming meat again, which is wild.

"Shinto marriages and Buddhist funerals" is how I always heard it. Having a rebirth at all, especially a Pure Land rebirth is a lot better than going to Yomi. Who wants to rot in the dark and have a body full of maggots and worms forever? Creepy stuff.

Having watched the osp videos on the journey to the west, I jumped when I saw Xuanxang

You guys always make my day with your videos! Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication! We truly appreciate it! Huge fan🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤😊😊😊😊

Kinda sad you guys didn't mention Avatar the last airbenders but the series was great

Nice Phurba from "The Shadow".

I have to make a correction: Prince Shōtoku was never a monarch - at the peak of his influence, he served as regent (sesshō) on behalf of his aunt, Empress Suiko, but he never actually reigned as emperor

You guys need to do more series on Imperial Japan! People dont know kuch about them, but they are EXTREMELY important to know about if you want to understand modern relations between Japan China and Korea

The greatest of all

0:22 I'm guessing those are the statues that used to be in Bamyan.

This just gets me thinking about how religions interact with one another. I wonder how Buddhism has interacted with the abrahamic faiths?

that bit about the japanese emperor and the smallpox is kinda hilarious when you think about it. piss off one god and try to appease them by pissing off another just to get double whammied

When I was watching the intro I suddenly thought 'hang on, that sounds very familiar'. Glad to hear i was right!

I feel like this channel gets a lot of crossover from OSP and I’m so here for it

2:57 very very very good visual gag!

Nice

Which of the schools do I join to learn the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique?

The full quote that you mentioned at the end is: "Born Shinto, married Christian, die Buddhist."

8:24 - There's an additional line to that phrase of "Born a Shinto, die a Buddhist" in Japan. That line is between the other two, "Married Christian." So that means that modern Japanese are born and live the Shinto lifestyle, marry in semi-traditional Christian weddings, and then die with Buddhist traditions.

Could we have a series about the third branch

Uh, Zen is just the Japanese version of Chinese Chan and is very much Mahayana. Shingon is Vajrayana.

That title makes it sound like a DLC... oh wait. Maybe it was! 😂

Two corrections for the Lies portion of this series. The robes on the Vajrayana monk are the wrong color. Also the phurba/kila is not a dagger, it's a nail/peg

I feel like the series ended quite abruptly, not sure about how others feel.

9:27 Vikings: *singing* SPAMMITY SPAM! WONDERFUL SPAM!!!!

PANR has tuned in.

cool

Fun Fact: Narrator Mat had to say that as many times as there are letters in the name to say: Avalokiteshvara

I just realized that this series is something I didn't know I needed 😮😮😮

Any suggested reading material for more on this topic? (Not too heavy)

In Japan 8:28 Born a Shinto, Marry as a Christianity, die a Buddhist.

Can you do a video on the 6 day war please?

...Where did Shikoku go on that map of Japan? (also I think "get married a Christian" ended up in the middle of that "Born Shinto, die Buddhist" saying at some point.)

Wow

I have this one problem wit Incogni (or any other company); to get them remove my personal data I have to give them _MY PERSONAL DATA._

I can understand why an afterlife would entice the Japanese. From what I know from a mix of College japanese, Japanese pop culture, and researching for fun during my free time, Shinto beliefs about what happens after death don't seem appealing. Granted I am no expert and only know the very basics of Shinto beliefs. So anyone who actually knows more about this is welcome to explain it to me further.

4:04 When are we going to see Journey to the West being covered?

You should try vaishnavism