Travel and Religion

After reading chapters one through four in Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim on the Silk Road, it can be concluded that travel is an important activity in terms of religion. These religious missions, that people like Xuanzang went on, had an impact on the religions they were trying to pursue. For example, as Xuanzang was traveling he encountered many kings with whom he formed relationships. Through these relationships, in this case a Buddhist monk and kings, the particular religion has a greater effect because it was supported by powerful rulers such as kings. Travel is extremely important and is a constant theme when speaking of religion. In chapter three, it states according to Xuanzang, two merchants, Trapusa and Bhallika brought Buddhism to Balkh. If not for these two merchants and their travels, who knows when Buddhism would have reached Balkh? Again, this reinforces the importance of travel in terms of religion. Buddhism is not the only religion to benefit from travel, Hinduism, Christianity, etc. have all benefited from travel, and the movement of people like Xuanzang. Travel adds and expands religions and all religions depend on it to spread that particular religion. Therefore using Xuanzang’s journey to India as an example, one can fully comprehend the importance of travel in terms of the spread of a religion and in terms of enhancing and learning more about a particular religion.