Document 7
. . the buddha is reported to have exhorted [urged] his monks to “go and travel around for the
welfare of the multitudes, for the happiness of the multitudes, out of sympathy for the world, for
the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans. no two should go in the same
direction.” although this last admonition [caution] seems not to have been heeded [obeyed], it
is true that buddhist “missions” were not large and well-organized movements, and instead often
took the form of itinerant monks (or groups of monks) traveling by land and sea in the company
of traders and royal emissaries. according to traditional accounts, the first foreign mission was to
the island of sri lanka, and was led by the son of asoka. .
source: donald s. lopez, jr., “buddhism in practice,” asian religions in practice, princeton university press, 1999
according to this excerpt from “buddhism in practice,” how did buddhism spread from its place of origin
in ancient india to other parts of asia?