What Buddhism has to offer to the world

The History of Buddhism

In Union of Myanmar majority of the population are Buddhist, Theravada Buddhism is professed widely. Religious intolerance or discrimination on grounds of religion is non-existence in the Union of Myanmar throughout it's long history. The main religions of present day Myanmar are Buddhism (89.20%), Christianity (5.05%), Muslims (3.78%), Hindus (0.55%), and Animism (1.27%) and other faiths such as Bahai Sikhs, Lipian fujianhal, Chinese, etc.(0.61%). Theravada Buddhism flourishes in Myanmar .With reference to stone inscriptions, palm leaf inscriptions and court chronicles tell us that Buddhism arrived in Myanmar not once but many times. The first arrival of Buddha SasanaThe first arrival of Buddha Sasana was associated with the legend of the Shwedagon Pagoda. In accordance with this legend, Buddhism arrived in Myanmar in the lifetime of Buddha. In the Maha Sakarit year 103,while the Buddha. was in a phalasamm apatti meditation at the foot of Rajayatana Lin Lun tree in the Uruvela Forest near the Nerajara River, two merchant brothers Taphussa and Bhallika of Ukkalapa village of Ramannadesa came to worship the Buddha .The brothers offered the Buddha honey cakes and the Buddha preached the Dhamma to them. At their request the Buddha gave them eight sacred hairs of His Head as His relics to venerate. On their return home, they enshrined the Sacred Hairs in a ceti (pagoda) they built on the hill then called Tampaguta. That ceti was we now call Shwedagon Pagoda. This legend is mentioned in the Shwedagon stone inscription, set up by King Dhammazedi (AD 1472-1492) of Hanthawaddy Kingdom.

We have come a long way from the ancient world and the Dark Ages. We are now in the age of modern civilization when science and technology have aided human progress tremendously. An event that takes place at the present moment in one part of the world can be known to the rest of the world in a matter of a few seconds. Science and technology have developed to such and extent that they have contributed to making it possible for man to land on the moon. We marvel at how much man has achieved today. But we must not be carried away by the praise worthy achievements. These are only a part of today's developments in the world. They are creative efforts that are appreciated. There also other developments which are destructive such as the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima when the pillars of civilization trembled at their very foundation. The attack on the twin towers in New York also reminds us of how man's mind is capable of carrying out such destructive action.
The above developments clearly indicate that man is capable of creative as well as destructive actions. At present it appears that the destructive forces are prominently dominant. Nations are holding meetings to discuss and find ways to deal with terrorism. The United Nations is continuously striving for peace and a better world. It is quite an uphill task. I feel there is much need for peace and a better world today and I believe that Buddhism -the teachings of our Lord Buddha offer the ideal way to help us to achieve peace and a much better world with respect to dealing with the problem of suffering that we are undergoing today.
The aim of this paper will be to present what Buddhism has to offer to the world in dealing with the problem of suffering. I feel that it would be most proper to very briefly dwell on a short sketch of our Lord Buddha as a prelude to His teachings which will follow as the main subject of this paper.........