Development Of Buddhism? | THE GOTAMA BUDDHA SASANA NETWORK

DEVELOPMENT OF BUDDHISM

The 1st Buddhist Council

Three months after the Maha-Parinibbana of the Buddha, the Sangha congregated for the 1st Buddhist Council. The purpose of the Council was to preserve the teachings of the Buddha. The Council was presided by Ven. Maha-Kassapa, the most senior Arahant Disciple of the Buddha who was still alive at that time, whom the Buddha spoke highly of for his dedication to the dhutanga practices. Ven. Maha-Kassapa overheard some comments by a monk by the name of Subhadda, and was worried that there would be a scenario where there would be impure monks who do not follow the Vinaya, or were trying to teach their own versions of teachings. The Buddha did not choose a successor as the Dhamma and Vinaya will be the guide for the Sangha.

Among the 500 Arahant monks who attended the First Council, Ven. Upali recited the Vinaya - the Disciplinary Code of the Sangha, while Ven. Ananda (well-known for his photographic memory) recited the Sutta, as one of the conditions for him being the Buddha's personal attendant was that the Buddha would repeat to him whatever Sutta that was taught when he was not present. There was the Sutta-Vinaya, and the Sutta were known as Agama (meaning "scripture"), with the following categories: Digha Agama, Majjhima Agama, Samyutta Agama, Anguttara Agama, and Khuddaka Agama. (The Abhidhamma Pitaka did not exist at that time.)

The Sutta-Vinaya was originally an oral tradition. Some scholars had doubts on the accuracy & reliability of oral traditions, but it has been proven to be more accurate than written traditions. Think of the teachings like songs. If there are hundreds or thousands singing a song, and someone tries to change the lyrics, would the rest not notice it and correct them?

The 2nd Buddhist Council

The 2nd Buddhist Council happened around 304–232 BCE at Vaishali approximately one hundred years after the Buddha's Maha-Parinibbana. The 2nd Council was called due to some dispute over the Vinaya.

The dispute arose over the 'Ten Points.' This is a reference to claims of some monks breaking ten rules, some of which were considered major.
The 10 Points were:

Storing salt in a horn.
Eating after midday.
Eating once and then going again to a village for alms.
Holding the Uposatha Ceremony with monks dwelling in the same locality.
Carrying out official acts when the assembly was incomplete.
Following a certain practice because it was done by one's tutor or teacher.
Eating sour milk after one had his midday meal.
Consuming strong drink before it had been fermented.
Using a rug which was not the proper size.
Using gold and silver.

The main dispute was #10 - The use of money. The disobedient monks eventually lost the argument, and the 2nd Council was convened to recite the Vinaya. The monks who insisted not following the Vinaya later broke away, and convened their own Council.

These monks were known as the Maha-Sanghika (later leading to the development of the Mahayana). This was the first schism of the Sangha.

The 3rd Buddhist Council

The 3rd Buddhist Council happened at Pataliputta during the reign of Emperor (Dhamma)Ashoka, the great patron emperor of Buddhism, under the leadership of Ven. Moggaliputta Tissa. The 3rd Council was called due to the Sangha becoming corrupted with monks of impure intetions. Its objective was to purify the Sangha, particularly from opportunistic factions and heretics which had only joined because they were attracted by the royal patronage of the Sangha. These fake monks taught false teachings, had no intention of learning and practising the true Dhamma, and tarnished the reputation of the Sangha. Emperor Ashoka ordered an examination to weed out the fake monks, and those identified were forced to disrobe. Afterwhich the purified Sangha recited the Sutta-Vinaya.

After the 3rd Council, the Sutta-Vinaya were written onto palm leaves, and seperated into baskets, and thus the term Pitaka came into being, meaning "baskets". The Abhidhamma Pitaka also appeared only after the 3rd Council. And thus the term Tipitaka came into existance, meaning "3 Baskets". The Theravada started using the term "Nikaya" to differentiate from the "Agama" of the Maha-Sanghika/Mahayana school.

Rise Of The Mahayana

Around the same time Christianity came into being, the Mahayana school came into being as well. During that time, Theravada Buddhism has moved to Sri Lanka. The Mahayana school debased the other 18 schools that were still in Inda by calling them "Hinayana" meaning "Small Vehicle", while calling themselves "Mahayana" meaning "Great Vehicle". Ironically, much of the Mahayana Agama is cherry-picked from various "Hinayana" schools.

One distinctive feature of Mahayana is the advocate of the Bodhisattva (one who aspire to become a Sammasambuddha) ideal as opposed to the "Savaka" (one who listens to the Buddha) ideal. This is one of the reasons why Mahayanists consider themselves more superior and altruistic than those who follow the Savaka path, seeking enlightenment for themselves. (Interestingly, the Buddha taught that it is rare to be born human, and that one Sammasambuddha may appear after eons, and the next Sammasambuddha can only appear when the true Dhamma taught by the previous Buddha has disappeared from existance),

Besides many new concepts not taught by the Buddha, multiple "Mahayana" sutras came into light, with the Mahayana "founder" Nagarjuna claiming that the sutras were hidden in the abode of the Naga King as humans were not ready to understand them (This contradicts the Buddha who mentioned that there is no hidden teachings that he has withheld from the Sangha). With these new "sutras", new dharma concepts, and new "buddhas" & "bodhisattvas" also came into existance. Not to mention many contradictions to the original teachings of the Buddha.

One thing to note is that these Mahayana sutras also has the opening "thus I have heard" by Ananda, which is amusing as that would mean that these sutras would have been made know since the 1st Buddhist Council. It is thus obvious that these Mahayana sutras are fake sutras.

In a way, the Mahayana is more like a cult than a sect. It emphasized on personality worship, held certain sutras above the original teachings of the founder, and had teachings and practices that contradict the teachings of the founder.

When Mahayana spread to China, more schools were founded. One of the ruler at that time, Emperor Liang Wu Di, even issued an edict that Buddhists must be vegetarian. It is often misunderstood that Buddhists must be vegetarian, when it was the edict of an emperor, and not by the Buddha.

Rise Of Tibetan Buddhism

During the 3rd century CE, Buddhism began to spread into the Tibetan region, and its teachings influenced by the Bon religion in the Kingdom of Zhangzhung. In Chinese, the term used is Lamaism (literally, "doctrine of the lamas" (喇嘛教) to distinguish it from a then-traditional Chinese Buddhism(佛教). It can even be considered as a form of guru-worship, and has even more esoteric teachings and practices such as mantra, mudra, mandala and other Vajrayana rituals.

Tibetan Buddhism has four major schools, namely Nyingma (8th century), Kagyu (11th century), Sakya (1073), and Gelug (1409).

Sonam Gyatso, a lama of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) school of Tibetan Buddhism, was responsible for finding a foreign patron for Gelugpa institutions. He found this patron in the Altan Khan.

When he was summoned to meet the Khan in 1578, Sonam Gyatso publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of the Tibetan Sakya lama Drogon Chogyal Phagpa (1235–1280) who converted Kublai Khan, while Altan Khan was a reincarnation of Kublai Khan (1215–1294), the famous ruler of the Mongol Empire and Emperor of China, and that they had come together again to cooperate in propagating the Buddhist religion.

Altan Khan designated Sonam Gyatso as "Dalai" (a translation into Mongolian of the name Gyatso, meaning "ocean"). As a result, Sonam Gyatso became known as the Dalai Lama which, since then, has been used as a title – frequently translated into English as "Ocean of Wisdom". The title was also posthumously given to Gendun Drup and Gendun Gyatso, who were considered Sonam Gyatso's previous incarnations. Thus, Sonam Gyatso was recognized as being already the 3rd Dalai Lama. Do note that Dalai Lama is a political title, and not a religious title.