Epoch Lives

Epoch Lives · Relay Diary

Roads of Dharma

From Lumbini, one teaching branches across Asia into many forms — carried by ordinary people, not kings.

"I water the grove before sunup."

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Buddhism persisted when road and sea routes were matched by local patronage and translation labor. Without all three, branches faded instead of anchoring.

Lumbini origin Route + patronage + translation 17 steps First-person voices

Relay diary

Each step is voiced by a different narrator — not one protagonist, but a chain of ordinary witnesses across ~2,400 years. This reflects how Buddhism actually spread: person to person, not top-down.

Branching model

The map shows routes and forms as a branching tree, not a single path. Chronology is approximate; many transitions overlapped. Node activation marks the point a form became institutionally visible, not its first mention.

Limitations

This covers nine forms — not all. Tibetan sub-schools, Southeast Asian Theravada variations, and modern Western Buddhism are simplified or absent. Sources favor literate, urban centers over oral traditions.

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Sprouts 0
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Step 1 / 17 c. 5th century BCE Root Memory
Root Active route Current pulse
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Petals open as forms appear.

One root at Lumbini. Nine petals. Many roads.

Each voice carried the teaching a little further — not as doctrine, but as labor. An orchard keeper watered the grove. A deckhand lashed text bundles above the spray. A cook fed meditators rice. A bell caster inscribed patron names in bronze.

Buddhism did not spread because emperors decreed it. It spread because someone could carry the words to the next town, someone could house the monks who taught them, and someone could read or recite what was written down.

The map shows a branching tree — not a single river. Each branch adapted to local language, local patrons, and local need. Where all three held, the branch survived. Where any one failed, it faded.

"A teaching lasts when someone can carry it, house it, and read it."

Sources and further reading

  1. Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo (early sangha formation and Theravada institutions).
  2. Erik Zürcher, The Buddhist Conquest of China (translation bureaus, patronage networks, and Chinese adaptation).
  3. John S. Strong, The Legend of King Ashoka (Ashokan missions and early transmission routes).
  4. Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (pan-Asian overview of forms and branching).
  5. Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (reference for chronology and institutional development).
  6. Sam van Schaik, Tibet: A History (Vajrayana transmission to the Tibetan plateau).
  7. Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History, 2 vols. (Chan, Seon, and Zen lineage development).
  8. Eleanor Zelliot, From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement (Navayana and modern Buddhist revival).