Buddhism Influence

Through history, Buddhism has had an enormous influence on our history. The adoption and teaching of Buddhism played a dramatic role in Japan history. Buddhism have traveled a long way from India to China to Korea and finally to Japan in the sixth century C.E. Originally, Buddhism was introduced to Japan from the Korean and later on, Buddhism was introduced into Japan from China. Hence, Japan felt a strong impact from Chinese Buddhism, therefore most of the Buddhist’s main doctrines, practice, and teaching came from China. Traditionally, Japanese religions were based on Shinto, the way of the kami until Japan was exposed to Buddhism that influence Japan culturally. The religion of Japan changed as the country adopted and adapted to the new religious ideal of Buddhism. Buddhist practice was seen as directly related to cultivation, however, through the discourse of women in Buddhism has been viewed negatively during early Heian period. The women’s body were seen as impure entity to reach enlightenment due to the impurity of menstrual
Traditional Buddhism taught, among other things, that women were desirous and sinful by nature, incapable of attaining Enlightenment, and a distraction to man that prevent them from reaching enlightenment. Women in Buddhism were defined by their bodies and not by their sex. Women were seen as an influence because they arouse the desire in men, lack empathy, deceitful, sinful and only concerned with their appearance. Female bodies were seen as unclean due to month menstrual discharges of body fluid. Blood presumed as physical impurity of women bodies and especially during childbirth. . However, with the introduction of the Blood-bowl Sutra “depicts the presumed physical impurity of women” (Deal and Ruppert 163). Also, placed great significant implications on women’s spiritual practices because the Japanese religion emphasis on ritual