Buddhist councils

The Buddhist councils were a series of six gatherings in which Buddhist monks tried to interpret the teachings (known as the Dhamma) and monastic rules (known as the Vinaya) of the Buddha (c. 563 BCE–c. 483 BCE according to Theravada tradition, and c. 480 BCE–c. 400 BCE according to Mahayana tradition) after his death. Four of the councils occurred in ancient times. In the First Council in the fifth century BCE, senior monks collected and edited the various discourses of the Buddha to compose the first Buddhist canonical texts shortly after his physical death. The next three councils reportedly occurred between the four and first centuries BCE and were used to further resolve certain doctrinal disagreements between the most prominent Buddhist scholars of their eras. Two later councils, in 1871 and 1954 respectively, were called to provide insight into the doctrinal texts of the Buddha in the contemporary eras. The Fifth Council sought to first preserve the known teachings of the Buddha into a single repository and then determine their authenticity. In the Sixth Council, monks from different nations gathered to again try to make corrections between the various translations of the Buddha’s teachings and edit them into a single authoritative text.

The historicity of the first four councils is uncertain as little evidence from this era of Buddhism remains; however, most Buddhists regard them as part of the canonical history of their faith. Regardless of their historicity, the first four councils—and in particular, the First Council—are credited with establishing the Tripiṭaka (meaning “three baskets” in Sanskrit), the three-part Buddhist scripture. Until the first century, these scriptures were recited orally, passed down through generations of monks so that they would be an authoritative documentation of the Buddha’s original teachings.

Brief History

During his lifetime, the Buddha left behind a collection of instructive oral teachings called sutras or suttas and a series of monastic rules called the Vinaya. These were memorized by his disciples and passed down to later students so that they would remain as accurate and vital as when the Buddha was still in the physical plane.

According to the traditions of the Theravada branch of Buddhism, the Buddha achieved in death an enlightened state of being called parinirvana. As the Buddha was the first individual to achieve this state, his words offer important clues to a clearer understanding of the human spirit. As a result, Buddhist tradition suggests that within three months after his death and parinirvana—the state of nirvana after death—senior monks gathered at the Sattapani Cave in Rājagṛha (modern Rājgīr, India) in order to preserve the Buddha’s teachings. Five hundred Arahants (people who have achieved nirvana in life) formed a council under the supervision of Mahākāśyapa, one of the foremost disciples of the Buddha during his earthly life. After the Buddha’s death, Mahākāśyapa became leader of the early Buddhist monastic community.

Reputedly, Mahākāśyapa’s choice to convene the assembly came after a newly ordained monk named Subhadda suggested the death of the Buddha was a chance for celebration as the Buddha would no longer be able to chastise his followers. Horrified at Subhadda’s disrespect and being aware of the growing fear and unhappiness of his other followers, Mahākāśyapa elected to gather the most senior Arahants so that the Buddha’s most devoted disciples might establish and memorize a doctrinal account of his words exactly as he had spoken them. According to an account of the council in the Vinaya Pitaka (meaning “Basket of Discipline”), the first of the three parts of the Tripiṭaka, the Buddha’s most devoted disciple, Ananda, recited his master’s sermons from memory. Upali, the leading scholar of the Vinaya, further recited the monastic rules in their entirety. After a period of questioning by Mahākāśyapa to ensure their respective accuracy, these accounts were memorized by all the attending monks, thus establishing the Tripiṭaka. The Vinaya Pitaka records the full council as lasting seven months before the monks returned to their respective homes.

The Second Council supposedly took place in 383 BCE in the city of Vaishālī, India, where it was overseen by a learned monk named Yasa. Also known as the Gathering of Seven Hundred Monks, the meeting marked the first schism in Buddhism, when two groups—the Sthaviras and Mahāsāṃghikas—disagreed over how to practice the Vinaya rules. In the Third Council at Pātaliputra in India in 250 BCE, more than one thousand monks gathered to discuss and correct potential misinterpretations of the Buddha’s sutras. Together, they are thought to have composed the abhidharma works, which consist of a series of commentaries on the Tripiṭaka. The final ancient council occurred in Kashmir in approximately 25 BCE. During this assembly, attendees committed the full scripture of Theravada Buddhism (called the Pāli Canon) to paper for the first time.

The fifth council was convened in Mandalay, Burma, in 1871. This council was tasked with reviewing the full teachings of the Buddha to undercover any potential errors. Ultimately, this council approved an authoritative contemporary version of the Tripiṭaka, which was inscribed on a series of marble slabs. The sixth council met in 1954 in in Yangoon, Burma. This council differed from the 1871 gathering in that it included monks from several different Buddhist nations. Like the Fifth Council, they sought to make a final, accurate determination of what comprised the true words of the Buddha, with differences between the various groups resolved.

Overview

The direct words of the Buddha are called the Buddhavacana, and among Buddhists, his words must be recited exactly as originally stated by the Buddha to fully understand their veracity and meaning. The sutras generally take the form of simple aphorisms that are intended to describe the petty sufferings of human existence that trap humankind into a repeating cycle of rebirth and death. These teachings form the core scriptures of Buddhism. They offer a means of breaking the patterns of life and death, guiding learned practitioners of Buddhism on a path away from suffering and earthly desire toward the internal peace of nirvana, or total enlightenment.

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