introduction 13
Sagaster’s contribution, however, Buddhism was not only a matter for
the Mongolian leadership, but also entered the minds and habits of
the Mongolian people, as a religion conterminous with the traditional
shamanistic beliefs. When the Mongolians lost power in China halfway
through the fourteenth century, the strong link between Mongolia and
Tibet also weakened. It was revived by Altan Khan (1507–1582) who
conferred upon the head of the dGe-lugs-pa School the title of Dalai
Lama. More than ever before, Buddhism now became the dominant
religion in Mongolia.
* * *All developments considered so far cannot but force us to think over
again the main theme of the present work: “the spread of Buddhism”.
As pointed out by Grif th Foulk in his contribution on the spread of
Chan Buddhism, metaphors, although being unavoidable, can easily
deter our attention from the implication these metaphors have. What
do we have in mind when we speak of “the spread”, and how do we
conceive of “Buddhism”? As it is clear from all contributions in the
present work, “spread” seen as a metaphor for the distribution of an
homogeneous creed is not a very apt image, for the various forms of
Buddhism that existed in different parts around the world and in dif-
ferent periods, are not homogeneous at all, but differ both in character
and content. However, if we see “the spread” as a spread of re, the
metaphor becomes much more tting, for the process of combustion
greatly depends on the fuel and environmental factors. Also the term
“Buddhism” itself is not easily de ned. What do we call “Buddhism”?
What criteria do we use when we attach the label “Buddhism” to par-
ticular ideas, texts, images, institutions, or behaviours? It is clear that
there is in fact no uniform set of criteria, and that depending on the
region and on the period under discussion, we can only try to con-
sciously determine for ourselves what is understood when we want to
make use of the term “Buddhism”. “Buddhism” in the Egyptian city
of Alexandria, where no tangible proofs of any Buddhist institution
have actually been found, does not and cannot have the same implica-
tion as “Buddhism” in fth century China with its growing discussions
on the strict interpretation of monastic rules (although it seems that
some of Alexandria’s inhabitants may have been in uenced—perhaps
indirectly—by certain Buddhist traits, as is the case with the New
Testament periscope presenting Jesus as walking over the water and
rescuing his disciples in their boat which was informed by a similar yet