Buddhism

Introduction
• The historical records shows that in the 6th century BC Northern India
was consisting of many small states of which the most prominent
were Kosala and Magadha. A vassal state of Kosala was Kapilavastu,
which was ruled by Suddhadana. In May 563 BC, at Lumbini Garden
now in Nepal, the queen of Kapilavastu Maha Maya give birth to a
child Siddhartha from her right side. The new born was received by
the gods Brahma and Indra. The child took seven steps towards four
cardinal points and declared that he is supreme in the world and this
is his final birth. Seven days after his birth Maya was died and he was
grown up by Maya’s younger sister Mahaprajapati Gotami the new
consort of King Suddhadana.
• A Brahmin fortune-teller Asita Kaladevala predicted that in future, the
child must be a supreme religious leader, but his father want to make
him a great king. To change the prince mind his father provided him
all comforts of life and married him in the age of sixteen or nineteen
with Yashodhara a beautiful princess of the same age. She gave birth
to a son Rahula but in all these Siddhartha could not found his peace
of mind and left the palace in the middle of the night for search of
truth when he was only of 29 years.
• This departure is known as great renunciation. On the way the Prince met
with Arada Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra the famous philosophers of
the time, however their teachings did not satisfy him and went to Bodh
Gaya where he found the other five mendicants and started ascetic
practices. He gave up his food and became so weak like skeleton but soon
he understood that rigorous asceticism is not the way to find the truth.
• At that time he was accompanied by his favorite horse Kanthaka and
charioteer Channa.
• The five mendicants left Buddha when they saw that he abandoned
ascetic austerities.
• On the forty-ninth day of his fast, he accepted a bowl of milk-rice from
Sujata, daughter of a landowner Senani. Then he sat down in the
shadow of a tree with this strong determination “Let my skin, my
nerves and bones waste away, let my life blood dry up, I will not leave
this seat before attaining perfect enlightenment”. Many thoughts of
his wife and child and his luxurious life of home came to his mind to
distract him but he was not tempted and finally attained
enlightenment or Buddhahood at the age of thirty-five.
• To preach his doctrine, first the Buddha went towards his two
teachers Alara and Uddaka, but both were died up to that time. Next,
he thought about those five ascetics who Buddha left after
abandonment of painful austerities. In that, time they exercise their
practices at Benares in the Deer-park called Isipatana. All these five
men soon converted to Buddhism and were admitted in the order of
monks; including Buddha these six became the first members of
Sangha who were seeking release from the misery of existence
Buddha’s Doctrines
• The summery of the first sermon is that there are two extreme of life
ways first is to given up the world and live on self-mortification life
and the second is a life devoted to sensual pleasures. However, there
is a third or middle way avoiding both extremes, which leads you to
insight, wisdom, knowledge, enlightenment and extinction of desire
and sufferings. There are four noble truths;
• All existence involves in pain and suffering
• All suffering are caused by lust and desire (sensual pleasure, for wealth and for existence).
• Cessation of Suffering is connected with extinction of lust and desire
• All these goals can be accomplished by following the eightfold path;
• Right belief or views
• Right resolve
• Right speech
• Right work
• Right livehood
• Right exercise or training
• Right mindfulness
• Right mental concentration
• Buddha preached his Dharma for about forty-five years and was died
in the age of eighty in Kushinagara. During the time of his death,
Buddhism was only a small group of his followers but soon it was
spread towards south and west with the efforts of his disciples. In the
third century BC, when Aśoka converted to Buddhism, he
promulgated it throughout India as well as to neighbouring countries.
Councils and Composition of the
Scriptures
• The Buddhist sacred books are completely different from other religious texts, as they
have no claim to be supernatural. These are purely human production, which contain
the doctrines of Buddhism. They have no sacred script or language and no alphabet or
grammar come from heavens. It was composed in the local language of Pᾱli from
natural sayings of Buddha himself. He never composed a single book of his own
neither he wrote down any of his precepts from his disciples. Oral teachings,
itineration and recitation were the chief instruments for the propagation of Buddhism.
• There is no solid evidence to show that when actually the composition of these books
took place. Most probably all the scriptures were composed after the death of Buddha
and during the three gatherings or councils of his followers which were held for the
purpose to collect the master’s sayings.
• The four languages Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan are considers the most
important scriptural languages of present Buddhism.
• About 400 BC, King Ajᾱta-ṡatu convened the first Buddhist council soon
after the death of Buddha in the rainy season, which was attended by five
hundred monks (Mahᾱ-sthavirᾱh) or the great elders in the cave of
Sattapaṇṇi in Magadha. The purpose of the gathering was to put together
and arrange the teachings of their master. Kᾱṡyapa was chosen the leader
of all disciples and chanted the Thera-vᾱda (worlds of the elders) sayings
of the master which were preserved in the memory of the older men. The
rules of discipline (Vinaya) was recited by Upᾱli, and the ethical precepts
(Sūtra) was imparted by Ᾱnanda, while the philosophical doctrines were
communicated by Kᾱṡyapa. Thus in the first council two Pitaka, Vinaya and
Sūtra containing the Buddha’s original worlds were composed.
• With the passage of time, the community of monks divided in to two
sects, strict and lax. A group of monks belong to the Vaiṡᾱlῑ state were
more liberal and they often committed mistakes. Moreover they
adopted certain relaxations in the rules, of which the ten are more
important, such as reception of gifts in shape of money, eating a
second meal in the afternoon, use of comfortable seats, putting salt
aside for future use and drinking of stimulating beverages etc. such
relaxation whether allowed or not, arouse confusions and paved the
way for the second council.
• The second council was held in Vaiṡᾱlῑ in Patnᾱ in which seven
hundred monks assembled to discuss the above ten points. The
discussion were prolonged for eight months, but at last, all the ten
points were finally prohibited. The Vaishali monks were found guilty
and was expelled from the Sangha due to their liberal and progressive
nature. This group established their own sect known Mahasanghikas
and developed a new Vinaya which is less stringent. Mahasanghikas is
generally considers the forerunners of Mahayana Buddhism. The
second council made official the split of Sangha in to two schools the
Theravada (consisting orthodox monks) and Mahasanghika (the
progressive and worldlier monks).
• When Chandra-gupta Maurya (315 – 291 BC) established his rule over the
subcontinent he strongly favoured Buddhism although his own religion was
Brahmanism. He was succeeded by Vindusᾱra or Bindusᾱra (291-260 BC)
and then came the rule of Aṡoka, the greatest Hindu monarch of India and
the active propagator of Buddhism. This was the time when Buddhist
community began to develop their doctrines with some additions to the
Sūtra, known as Abhi-dharma (further Dharma). In the result of great
dissensions and different opinions of monks the Sangha was further divided
into eighteen different sects, eleven of Theravada and seven of
Mahasanghika. To discuss all these issues and to unite the Sangha as well as
to purge non-Buddhist elements from the Sangha and purify Buddha’s
Dharma, third council was arranged.
• The third Buddhist council was convinced at Patᾱliputra on the 16th or
17th year of Aṡoka’s reign who was its official sponsor. Almost one
thousands monks participated this council. It is said that about 80,000
heretics were expelled from the Sangha but the council was not
succeeded to unify it. The outcomes of the council was the
compilation of the third pitaka, Abhi-dharma to complete the
Tripitaka and missionaries that were sent outside India. In which a
group of monks headed by Madyantika or Majjhantika were also sent
to Gandhara.
• Kanishka arranged the fourth council at Jalandhara in Kashmir, which
was attended by five hundred monks. The progressive sect
Sarvastivada, a sub-branch of the orthodox Theravada, held this
council. The council was concluded with the compilation of the
Sarvastivadins own edition of the Tripitaka and arrangement of
missionaries for the propagation of Buddhism throughout Asia. The
Theravadians neither recognized this council nor the literature
compiled by them. Later on, these Sarvastivadins together with
Mahasanghika became the precursors of Mahayana and became
responsible for the creation of the first Buddha image.
 Buddhist Schools of Thoughts

• Sthaviravada or Theravada
• Mahasanghika
• Mahayanism
• Vajrayana (the thunderbolt or diamond vehicle)