History of Buddhism Buddhist Councils 1 The First

History of Buddhism (Buddhist Councils) 1

The First Buddhist Council (Pathama Saṅgāyanā) • Three months after the demise of the Buddha the First Buddhist Council was held in Sattapaṇṇi Cave Pavilion at Mount Vebhāra near the city of Rājagaha. • King Ajātasattu provided the congregation with food and other requisites. • The meeting actually took place in the second month of the rainy season. • The proceeding of the council began with Venerable Mahākassapa’s selection of 499 Arahats to participate in the meeting. 2

• The 500 th seat was finally filled by Venerable Ānanda who became an Arahat just on the eve of the meeting. • Venerable Mahākassapa acted as the president of the Council. • Venerable Upāli was selected to be the reciter of the Vinaya. • Venerable Ānanda was selected to be the reciter of the Dhamma. • Then with the permission of the Saṁgha, Venerable Mahākassapa asked questions on the Vinaya (disciplines) of the Venerable Upāli. • In this way all the Vinaya texts were agreed upon at the council. 3

• Then came the turn of Venerable Ānanda, the subject matter of the Sutta Piṭaka, in all the Five Nikāyas was formulated as questions for Ānanda who able gave appropriate answers. • The answers given by Ānanda settled the collection of the Sutta Piṭaka. In this way the texts belonging to the first two Piṭakas (baskets) were arranged and settle collectively by the whole assemble of 500 Arahats. • The council lasted seven months. 4

The Second Buddhist Council (Dutiya Saṅgāyanā) • The Second Buddhist Council was held at Vesālī a century after the passing of the Buddha. • It is recorded in the Cūḷavagga that the monks of the Vajjī country were in the habit of practicing the Ten Points (dasa vatthūni) which were regarded as unorthodox by Venerable Yasa. 5

• • • The ten points or indulgences at issue were as follows: 1. Storing salt in a horn. 2. Eating after midday. 3. Eating once and then going again to a village for alms. 4. The observance of the Uposatha in different places within the same Sīmā. • 5. Carrying out official acts when the assembly was incomplete. • 6. Following a certain practice because it was done by one's tutor or teacher. • 7. Eating sour milk after one had his midday meal. • 8. Consuming strong drink before it had been fermented. • 9. Using a borderless seat which was not the proper size. • 10. Using gold and silver. 6

• He declared these practices to be illegal and immoral in the extreme. • The Vajjī (Vajjian) monks, however, pronounced the penalty of Paṭisāraṇīya kamma upon him. • This necessitated the offenders apologizing to the laity who had been forbidden by Ven. Yasa to carry out the precepts of the Vajjī monks. • Ven. Yasa defended his own view before the laity and by his eloquent advocacy won them over to his side. • This increased the fury of the offending monks who pronounced the punishment of Ukkhepanīya kamma upon him, which meant his virtual expulsion from the Order. • Alone but determined, Ven. Yasa fought along battle. 7

• He first went to Kosambhī and sent messengers to the west and south, inviting Theravāda monks there to assemble and decide the question. • Consequently, he won over to his side such celebrities as Venerable Sambhūta and, later, Venerable Revata. • Finally, the ten points were brought to the notice of most celebrated Venerable Revata at Sahajāti who studied and clarified illegal each and every practice in the presence of some sixty Arahats from the west and some eighty – eight Arahats from Avanti and the South. 8

• At the suggestion of Venerable Revata, all the monks then proceeded to Vesālī to settle the dispute at the place of its origin. • The Vāḷukārāma was then chosen as the Venue were 700 monks met for eight months and King Kālāsoka patronized the council. • The Venerable Revata acted as president and asked the question. • The Venerable Sabbakāmi answered the Vinaya rules. • So this council was called Vinayasaṁgīti, in which Vinaya had been decided. 9

THE THIRD BUDDHIST COUNCIL (Tatiya Saṅgāyanā) • The Third Buddhist Council was held in the reign of King Asoka. • Emperor Asoka was crowned in the over two hundred years after the Buddha’s Mahāparinibbāna. • At first he paid only token homage to the Dhamma and the Saṁgha and also supported members of other religious sects as his father had done before him. • However, all this changed when he met the pious novice Nigrodha who preached him the Appamāda vagga. 10

• Thereafter he ceased supporting other religious groups and his interest in and devotion to the Dhamma deepened. • He used his enormous wealth in building, it is said, eighty-four thousand pagodas and vihāras were to lavishly support the bhikkhus with the four requisites. • Eventually, his generosity was to cause serious problems within the Saṁgha. • In time the Order was infiltrated by many unworthy men, holding heretical views and who were attracted to the Order because of the Emperor's generous support and costly offerings of food, clothing, shelter and medicine. • Large numbers of faithless, greedy men espousing wrong views tried to join the Order but were deemed unfit for 11 ordination.

• Despite this they seized the chance to exploit the Emperor's generosity for their own ends and donned robes and joined the Order without having been ordained properly. • Consequently, respect for the Saṁgha diminished. • When thus came to light some of the genuine monks refused to hold the prescribed purification or Uposatha ceremony in the company of the corrupt, heretical monks. • When the Emperor heard about this he sought to rectify the situation and dispatched one of his ministers to the monks with the command that they perform the ceremony. • However, the Emperor had given the minister no specific orders as to what means were to be used to carry out his command. • The monks refused to obey and hold the ceremony in the 12 company of their false and 'thieving' companions.

• In desperation the angry minister advanced down the line of seated monks and drawing his sword, beheaded all of them one after the other until he came to the King's brother, Tissa who had been ordained. • The horrified minister stopped the slaughter and fled the hall and reported back to the Emperor. • Asoka was deeply grieved and upset by what had happened and blamed him for the killings. • He sought Thera Moggaliputta Tissa's counsel. • He proposed that the heretical monks be expelled from the Order and a Third Buddhist Council be convened immediately. 13

• The Third Buddhist Council was held at Asokārāma monastery in the city of Pāṭaliputta in 235 B. E (308 B. C). • The reason for convening the Third Buddhist Council is reported to have been to rid the Saṁgha of corruption and bogus monks who held heretical views. • It was presided over by the Elder Moggaliputta Tissa and one thousand monks participated in the Council. • King Asoka gave the necessary support to the Council. It lasted nine months. • After the Third Buddhist Council, nine religious missions were sent to nine different places to propagate the Sāsanā. 14

The Fourth Buddhist Council (Catuttha Saṁgāyanā) • It is held by all the Buddhist sects, with the exception of the Ceylonese monks, that a Council was under the patronage of King Kanisaka at 1 st Century A. D. • According to Yuan Chwang, King Kanisaka became interested in the Buddhist scriptures and sent for a monk every day to give him instruction but, as the instruction differed and was often contradictory. • The king was perplexed and consulted the Venerable Pārsva about the true doctrine. • It was on his advice that he decided to convoke a Council 15 in which the various sects would be represented.

• It was on his advice that he decided to convoke a Council in which the various sects would be represented. • The king built a monastery for the accommodation of 500 monks who were called upon to write commentaries on the Pitakas. • All major Buddhist scholars in India thereafter wrote their commentaries and treatises in Sanskrit. These treatises were written out on copper plates. • Kaṇiska had enclosed these copper plates in the stone boxes and deposited them in a stupa specially erected for the purpose. • These were the start of the Mahāyāna scriptural canon: the collection of Mahāyāna teachings. Theravāda Buddhists, however, do not recognize this council. 16

• The Fourth Buddhist Council was held in Tambapaṇṇi (Srilanka) in 1 st Century B. C. under the patronage of King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi. • After the 5 th months of the King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi’s enthronement, the people of Srilanka suffered from rebels, hunger and starvation for twelve years. • So the Bhikkhus had to make strong efforts to maintain the Buddha’s Teachings. • The elder bhikkhus foresaw that if there would appear such danger in future, the bhikkhus able to memorize the discourses and disciplines by heart because of the declination of the power of mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. • Therefore, they held the Fourth Buddhist Council. 17

• King Vaṭṭagāmani supported the monks’ idea and a council was held specifically to reduce the Tipiṭaka in its entirety to writing. • Therefore, so that the genuine Dhamma might be lastingly preserved, the Venerable Mahārakkhita and five hundred monks recited the words of the Buddha and then wrote them down on palm leaves. • This remarkable project took place in a cave called, the Āloka Lena, situated in the cliff of an ancient landslip near what is now Matale. It lasted one year. • Thus the aim of the Council was achieved and the preservation in writing of the authentic Dhamma was ensured. • After the Council, palm leaves books appeared, and were taken to the other countries such as Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. 18

The Fifth Buddhist Council (Pañcama Saṁghāyanā) • The Fifth Buddhist Council took place in Mandalay, Myanmar in 1871 AD in the reign of King Mindon. • The chief objective of this meeting was to recite all the teachings of the Buddha according to the Theravada Pāḷi Canon and examine them in minute detail to see if any of them had been altered, distorted or dropped. • It was presided over by three Elders, the Venerable Mahāthera Jāgarabhivaṁsa, the Venerable Narindābhidhaja, and the Venerable Mahāthera Sumaṅgalasāmi in the company of 2, 400 monks. • Their joint Dhamma recitation lasted five months. • King Mindon was supported the Fifth Council to the end. 19

• So the Bhikkhus had to make strong efforts to maintain the Buddha’s Teachings. • The elder bhikkhus foresaw that if there would appear such danger in future, the bhikkhus able to memorize the discourses and disciplines by heart because of the declination of the power of mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. • Therefore, they held the Fourth Buddhist Council. • King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi supported this council. • It was held specifically to reduce the Tipiṭaka in its entirety to writing. • Therefore, so that the genuine Dhamma might be lastingly preserved, the Venerable Mahārakkhita and five hundred monks recited the words of the Buddha and then wrote them down on palm leaves. 20

• This remarkable project took place in a cave called, the Āloka Lena, situated in the cliff of an ancient landslip near what is now Matale. • It lasted one year. • After the Council, palm leaves books appeared, and were taken to the other countries such as Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. • The scriptures inscribed on palm leaves could not last for a long time. • Besides, there might be much variation in rewriting the scriptures from copy to copy. • Therefore, the scriptures were inscribed on marble slabs in order to dispel these advantages. 21

• The scriptures were first inscribed on 729 marble slabs in the precinct of Lokamārajina Pagoda at the foot of Mandalay Hill. • It took seven years to finish this work. Then the bhikkhus recited to approve the inscriptions for about five months. • Even though most other nations were not involved in the fifth council, the Pāḷi Texts were translated into Myanmar Language and the Doctrinal Order was promulgated to the whole country for purpose of purification and propagation of the Buddha’s Teachings. 22

The Sixth Buddhist Council (Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyanā) • The Sixth Buddhist Council was inaugurated in Mahāpāsāṇa Great Cave, Kabā- Aye, Yangon, Myanmar in May 1954, with the collaboration and participation of the learned bhikkhus of the various countries of the world, particularly India. • The Venerable Abhidhajamahāraṭṭhaguru Bhadanta Revata presided over it; the Mahasi Syadaw Venerable Sobhaṇa, Aggamahāpaṇḍita, and the Minkun Sayadaw, Venerable Vicittasārābhivaṁsa, Tipiṭakadhara Dhamma bhaṇḍāgārika 23 took the leading roles in that council.

• The Sixth Buddhist Council was held aiming at the purification and promotion of the Buddha Sāsana. 2500 bhikkhus from the five countries of Theravāda Buddhism participated in that council. • The doctrinal questions asked by the people of five Theravāda Buddhist countries: Myanmar, Srilanka, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia were solved magnanimously. • 25 other countries also gave much help to that council. • At that council, not only the canonical Pāḷi texts of the Buddha but also the commentaries and sub – commentaries were reexamined. 24

• In this way, Venerable Mahākassapa and custodians of the Dhamma held the great councils up to six times and approved the word of the Buddha without any change and modification. • The Teachings of the Buddha thus approved is called Theravāda Buddhism. • Dr. Ba Oo, President of Union of Myanmar, Prime Minister U Nu and members of the Government of Union of Myanmar were supported this Council. The Great Council that was started in 1954 was to go on till the completion of its task at full moon day of visākhā 1956 with five sannipātas. • In this council the three Piṭakas was re-examined and translated Pāḷi into Myanmar and printed on the papers. In this way, six versions of Pāḷi Aṭṭhakathā and ṭīkā appeared. 25

• At the end of this council, they re-examined of the six versions as Pāḷi Texts were 40 books, Aṭṭhakathās and ṭīkās were 79 books came out. Twenty books of Abhidhamma Piṭakas consist of 4950 pages. • Saṁghas of Theravāra Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism participated in this council. 26