BUDDHISM PHILOSOPHY OF CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION

What was the cause of the rapid spread of Buddhism? On this point what Prof. Hopkins says:  The Aryan Community of his time was steeped in the worst kind of debauchery: social, religious and spiritual.

The Aryan society which we call ancient Indian society is highly filled with immorality such as gambling, consuming alcohol, sexual misconduct, polyandry, earning livelihood in wrong means,  in sacrificing the man for the blessings of the deity, etc,.

Bestiality was also prevalent among the Aryans.  Cohabitation is between men with female deer or mare etc.  But the most hideous instance is that of the woman having sexual intercourse with the horse.

The Lord Buddha proclaimed (i.e. the four noble TRUTHS) the highest standard for a moral life for an individual to follow.  Of these the most important one was the precept not to kill.  The Lord Buddha took care to make it clear that the precept did not merely mean abstention from taking life.  He insisted that the precept must be understood to mean positive sympathy, goodwill, and love for everything that breathes....  The Lord Buddha’s teachings were not merely negative.  They are positive and constructive

He wanted to mould the character of the ordinary men and women in society.  These precepts are known as Pancha Sila or the five precepts.  They are: (1) Not to kill. (2) Not to steal, (3) Not to lie, (4) Not to be unchaste, and (5) Not to consume intoxicants.