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ROBERTL. BROWN
SPACE, SACRED
One way to investigate the historical and geographical
spread of Buddhism in Asia is to focus on the creation,
uses, and transformations of sites that religion charac-
terized as sacred. Every Asian country where Buddhism
became a major cultural force was remarkably affected
by the production of its sacred spaces. While referring
to continental examples, this entry will focus on JAPAN,
where such creations and transformations occurred in
a massive and profound manner.
Indian Buddhism
The original sacred space acknowledged by all schools
of Buddhism is the actual site where the historical Bud-
dha is said to have to have achieved BODHI(AWAKEN-
ING), BODHGAYAin northeastern India, as is attested
by the fact that sculpted depictions of the site in ques-
tion were made before the Buddha himself was ever
represented. The symbolism attached to this site formed
a kind of anchor that most subsequent notions and
practices referred to, consciously or not. A secondary,
early form of sacred space involved PILGRIMAGESun-
dertaken by monastic or lay figures who wished to “fol-
low the footsteps” of the historical Buddha; many of
these footsteps are described in a vast number of sutras,
most of which begin with a statement identifying sites
where the Buddha would have given his teachings.
These sites are still visited by Buddhists from around
the world, which seems to indicate that sacred space is
not to be separated from practices and ideas linked to
salvation (SOTERIOLOGY). One can see throughout
Asia, for example, stones in which imprints of the soles
of the Buddha’s feet have been engraved with a vari-
ety of symbols. Borrowed from pre-Buddhist Indian
mythology, this feature of footprints left by divine en-
tities stands for the notion that each Buddhist school
is a “way” or “PATH” that is said to be a replica of the
process whereby the Buddha reached NIRVANA, or, as
became fairly common later, that the footprints in
question are “traces” that the post-nirvana Buddha
would have left on the ground wherever local tradi-
tions claimed he would have manifested himself,
preached, or performed supernatural deeds.
One of the earliest aspects of the production of
Buddhist sacred space in India was, perhaps, the con-
struction of STUPAS, stone monuments that were used
as reliquaries and soon became objects of veneration.
As time passed and the legend of the Buddha’s life
took shape, some of these stupas were adorned with
SPACE, SACRED