[ Global Citizens: World Religions ]
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Oddly enough, Buddhism didn’t remain a major religion in
India. Between the eighth and 10th centuries, it seemed to
disappear from the very nation where it had formed. Most
historians agree that religions such as Hinduism and Islam
ultimately overshadowed Buddhism in India.
Present Populations
Today, about 488 million people across the globe practice
Buddhism. According to recent studies, Buddhists represent
roughly 7 percent of the world’s population. Almost 99 percent of
The earliest collection of Buddhist scriptures, or holy writings,
are found within the Tripitaka. The Tripitaka is made up of three
groups of books. The first, the Vinaya Pitaka, contains laws for
Buddhist monks and nuns. The second, the Sutra Pitaka, features
accounts of the Buddha’s
sermons
and teachings. The third, the
Abhidharma Pitaka, is a series of songs, poems, and stories. The
Buddha’s disciples, or followers, recorded the Tripitaka during
the third century bce. They wrote it in Pali—an ancient Indian
language spoken between the sixth and second centuries bce.
Gathering and
Evaluating Sources
