Most of the Buddhist Doctrines, customs and practices among the masses in India remained in a distorted from and are still seen in the various groups of people. The Buddhist places of worship, the temples, the mutthas, viharas and the shrines, which had been abandoned by bhikshu, degenerated into ruins. Most of the important ones were appropriated by the Brahmins and converted for Brahmanic use. Many scholars already show it that the Lord Jagannatha of Puri, Lord of Badrikeshvara, and Vithoba at Pandharpur in Maharashtra were once Buddhist.
Present day Buddhism mostly influences Hinduism. Let us see what the scholars have to say about the influence of Buddhism on Hinduism and its residual effects which are seen even now, L. M. Joshi, observes:
"In his speeches and writings Swami Vivekananda has often noted the diverse Buddhist influences on Hinduism. He had observed, "Modern Hinduism is largely Pauranika, that is, post-Buddhistic in origin." He pointed out that Buddhism was mainly responsible for stopping or lessening the customs of drinking wine and killing living animals for sacrifice or for food in India. He rightly traced the origin of Hindu images and temples to Buddhist models. About the relation of Vaishnavism to Buddhism, he was declared, "Buddhism and Vaishnavism are not two different things. During the decline of Buddhism in India, Hinduism took from her a few cardinal tenets of conduct and made them her own, and these have now come to be known as Vaishnavism."
It should be noted here that Vaishnavism does not consist mainly of a few cardinal tenets of conduct. The Swami is briefly referring to moral principles and practices, such as ahimsa, karuna, maitri, respect for the guru, control of the mind and the senses of yoga, etc. which Buddhism transmitted to Vaishnavism.
L.M.Joshi again, observes:
"Buddhism made.......
