Buddhism in the Philippines
Buddhism, specifically Vajrayana, gained a foothold in the Philippines with the rise of the Indianized Buddhist Srivijaya Empire centered in Sumatra in the 7th century. Archaeological finds in the Philippines include a number of Buddhist images common to Vajrayana iconography that dates back to this period. These include a number of Padmapani images and the Golden Tara found in 1917 at Esperanza, Agusan.[1]
History
Pre-Colonial Period
In the 9th century, Butuan (in Mindanao, southern Philippines) and Ma-i (Mindoro, central Philippines) began extensive trading with the kingdom of Champa (now southern Vietnam), an Indianized state then undergoing a period of strong Buddhist influence.
In 1001 AD, the Buddhist ruler of Bhutan (P’u-tuan in the Sung Dynasty records), Sari Bata Shaja, made the first tributary mission to China and this was followed by the rulers of Basilan (in southern Philippines) and the Luzon Empire more than two hundred years later, and by Mindoro, Sulu and Pangasinan (northern Philippines) four hundred years later. However, according to the Sung Shih (宋史), the official History of the Sung Dynasty, Butuan made regular tributary missions to China since 1001 AD, and that it rulers usually arrived at the same time as the rulers of Tibet, Champa (Southern Vietnam), and the Mongols.
Spanish colonial Period
The saniculas (Saint Nicholas) biscuit, a popular delicacy among Kapampangan Catholics, has its roots Buddhism.[citation needed]
With the advent of Spanish colonialism via Mexico in the 16th century, the Philippines became a closed colony and cultural contacts with other Southeast Asian countries were closed. In 1481, the Spanish Inquisition commenced with the permission of Pope Sixtus IV and all non-Catholics within the Spanish empire were to be expelled or to be “put to the question” (tortured until they renounced their previous faith). With the refounding of Manila in 1571, the Philippines became subject to Spanish law and the Archbishop of New Galicia (Mexico) became the Grand Inquisitor of the Faithful in Mexico and the Philippines. In 1595, the newly appointed Archbishop of Manila became the Inquisitor-General of the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines, Guam, and Micronesia) and until 1898, the Spanish Inquisition was active against Protestants, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. As was the case in Latin America and Africa, forced conversions were not uncommon and any attempt not to submit to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church was seen as both rebellion against the Pope and sedition against the Spanish King, which was punishable by death.
Buddhist practices, festivals and iconography had to be converted and adopted to Catholicism if they were to survive Spanish persecution. A good example of this was is the saniculas biscuit of Pampanga that has its roots in Buddhism. Syncretism (the blending indigenous religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholicism and indigenous folk religions) became necessary. This can be seen instantly with statues of the Virgin Mary, including the depiction of the halo, hand poses, and rainbow-arches, look almost identical to statues of Tara especially in Binondo and other areas. In time, Buddhism seemed to have virtually disappeared during the 400 years of Spanish rule.
American Colonial Period
With Revolution of 1896 against Spain and later with the coming of the American colonial regime in 1898, religious freedom was instituted. Mahayana and Zen Buddhist temples began to be built in the 1920s and 30s. Davao, due to the large number of Japanese residents, and Cebu, due to the large number of Chinese settlers had the largest Buddhist populations in the Philippines. After World War II, most Japanese were expatriated to Japan and the Chinese and Chinese-Filipinos became the predominant Buddhist ethnic group. In the 1960s, Vietnamese refugees arrived and established a temple in Palawan. At the same time, Japanese Buddhist temples and organizations began to re-emerge such as Sokka Gakkai International.
Buddhism Today
Today, Buddhists account for about 1-3% of the Philippine population. Currently, only the Mahayana and Zen are present in the Philippines. Theravada Buddhism is now only confined to nationals from Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar, as well as Cambodia and Laos.
Language
However, the linguistic influence left its most lasting marks on every Philippine language throughout the archipelago with the following Buddhist and Hindu concepts directly from the original Sanskrit. About 25% of the words in many Philippine languages are Sanskrit terms:
From Tagalog:
- budhi “conscience” from Sanskrit bodhi
- dukha “one who suffers” from Sanskrit dukkha
- guro “teacher” from Sanskrit guru
- sampalataya “faith” from Sanskrit sampratyaya
- mukha “face” from Sanskrit mukha
- laho “eclipse” from Sanskrit rahu
- maharlika “noble” from Sanskrit mahardikka
From Kapampangan:
- kalma “fate” from Sanskrit karma
- damla “divine law” from Sanskrit dharma
- mantala “magic formulas” from Sanskrit mantra
- upaya “power” from Sanskrit upaya
- lupa “face” from Sanskrit rupa
- sabla “every” from Sanskrit sarva
- lawu “eclipse” from Sanskrit rahu
- galura “giant eagle” (a surname) from Sanskrit garuda
- laksina “south (a surname)” from Sanskrit dakshin
- laksamana “admiral (a surname)” from Sanskrit lakshmana
From Tausug:
- suarga “heaven”
- neraka “hell”
- agama “religion”
Sanskrit and Sanskrit-derived words common to most Philippine languages:
- sutla “silk” from Sanskrit sutra
- kapas “cotton” from Sanskrit kerpas
- naga “dragon or serpent” from Sanskrit naga
Buddhism in the Philippines
