The earliest texts of Buddhism suggest that Buddhism in the time of the Buddha had significant doctrinal differences from the Wisdom mode of Hinduism, but in practical terms it still embraced the ideal of the religious seeker living a solitary life of meditation in the wilderness. The only point of contact with corporate human life for the earliest Buddhist monk was for the limited time needed to beg for food and clothing. Yet only a few centuries later, Buddhism had taken on the institutional and corporate characteristics that we see today. What were the factors that may have contributed to this change?
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