his week we will discuss the events that followed the death of the Buddha – the formation of the early monastic communities and the series of transformations that led to the emergence of a new form of Buddhism – the Mahayana tradition.

please read pp. 120-177 in our main textbook (ch.5, and ch.6). No need to read pp. 123-149 in An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics，answer the question below.

The early monastic communities catered to a select few who aimed to drastically change their lives and devote themselves to the pursuit of enlightenment. How did Buddhism become a religion with a wider appeal? What was the role of figures such as Aśoka the Great in this process? Why was the construction of statues and temples so crucial for the spread of Buddhism? How is Mahayana Buddhism different from the classical Buddhism taught by the historical Buddha? What is the role of the Bodhisattva? How does the addition of the Celestial Buddhas And Bodhisattvas increase its appeal to a lay audience (people who wants to be Buddhists but don’t want to join a monastic community)?