What if India was a Buddhist country?
>>214566567Look to Sri Lanka.
would be the most advanced civilization on earth today unironically.
>>214566623This
What if Indians stayed in India?
what if zambia was a christian country?
what if india was muslim
>>214566678Look at Pakistan
>>214566623Buddhism appears to be derived from the essence of ancient Indian cultural essence, but is there any reason why having Buddhism as the state religion would make India more 'civilized'?
>>214566699So nothing would change.
>>214566757>is there any reason why having Buddhism as the state religion would make India more 'civilized'?buddhism was the first real approach at an enlightenment-type social movement, which is what directly propelled Europe towards scientific thinking and development. Buddha was basically an atheist (or agnostic, possibly) that wanted ancient indian religion to stop sacrificing animals and doing strange blood rituals. At that time India was without a doubt the center of the world, there was a post here yesterday about how India was 50% of the world's population during the Buddha's time, how it was the scientific capital of the world, it was exporting culture across SEA and even as far as Greece, etc. I really do think that if buddhism had been embraced it could've fixed a lot of issues that india had, in history and honestly even today
>>214566757No Brahmins and no caste system, India instantly improves
>>214567160If Buddhism had remained in India for a longer time, would it have become centered around Mahayana Buddhism?
>>214567160The Buddha was more of a religious reformer than someone trying to start a new religion. He was anti-ritualism, in part due to the fact that he had mixed ancestry - he was part tribal - and hence not completely in the Vedic fold. He emphasized a focus on inner spirituality, which was talked about in earlier Vedic philosophical texts, but had grown to become less important over time. Buddhism did take off in India. But it didn't survive the Islamic invasions.
Or did the characteristics of Theravada remain strong, as in SEA?
>>214567321Buddhism, as a cultural force, is still incredibly strong in India. The Ashoka Chakra - the wheel on the Indian flag - was often used as a Buddhist symbol and Indian state seals use a lot of Buddhist iconography
