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Buddhist Sutra Compilation
Shortly after the Buddha entered Nirvana, not a single word of his teaching was written down.
His disciples immediately were thinking about passing down the Dharma by compiling his
teachings.
At the time of the Buddha, dharma was taught by words of mouth; his disciples listened, recited
his teachings and committed to memory. Therefore, the initial attempt of compilation was also
only through recitation. Only 200 years after the Buddha entered Nirvana did the Dharma got
written down.
I. History of the compilations of the Buddha’s teachings
A. At the time of the Buddha
When the Buddha was still living with us, other than teaching Dharma to the public, he also
taught the Dharma to various people in different social standard. He taught to kings, princes,
Brahmins; He taught to the intellectuals, businessmen, commoners; He taught to the people who
had the same sufferings, the beggars. His teachings were based on each person's learning
capacity, ie, the same subject was taught but at the level of the learners. Depending on the level
of the disciples, the teachings were taught in great details or only at the surface. These teachings
were called "Dharma" and the rules to guide the monkhood community through the practices are
called "Vinaya". Together is known as sutra. The sutras were chanted daily from memorization
and were never written down.
B. Sutras compilation periods
1. The First Buddhist Council: Four months after the Buddha entered Nirvana, His
disciples convened in Rajgir to compile His teachings.
This council was lead by Mahakasyapa along with 500 great disciples of the Buddha.
Ananda recited the words of the Buddha (Dharma). Upali recited the rules that the
Buddha used to guide the practices of the monks (Vinaya). It was acknowledged that
those were the words of the Buddha. In this council, although many things were
discussed, it was settled with no changes. The council concluded with the Dharma and
the Vinaya written down.
2. The Second Buddhist Council: This council was convened 100 years after the Buddha
entered Nirvana. This Council was held due to disagreement with the Vinaya in the
Sangha community. The council was called upon by a monk named Yasa (165 years old)
with 12 thousands Sanghas in Vaisaly.
This council had many opinions; suggestions were made to change some of the rules to
have it more relevant to the time, culture and economy of the Indian's society. A number
of the conservative Sanghas held to the notion that there's nothing that needed to be
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changed. The Sanghas that wanted change left the council and re-convened at Vajji. The
gathering was presided by Vajjiputta and agreed to the suggested changes to the Vinaya.
The Dharma, on the other hand, was left unchanged. This assembly started the
Mahasanghikas. The remaining sanghas lead and preside by Revala, agreed to keep the
Vinaya as is, which was known as the Theravadins. So the second council managed to
only change a few things in the Vinaya of the Mahasanghikas and nothing in the Dharma.
100 years following the second council, the Mahasanghikas, because of not agreeing on
some ideas, branched off to form another 8 schools. Along with these schools (Nhất
Thuyết Bộ, Thuyết Xuất Bộ, Kê Dân Bộ, Đa Văn Bộ, Thuyết Giả Bộ, Chế Đa Bộ, Tây
Sơn Bộ, Bắc Sơn Bộ), the Mahasanghikas had a total of 9 schools. The early stage of the
Theravadata took some time to come to an agreement, but eventually branched out to 10
additional schools (Thuyết Nhất Thế Hữu Bộ, Độc Tử Bộ, Pháp Thượng Bộ, Hiển Vi Bộ,
Chánh Thượng Bộ, Mật Lâm Sơn Bộ, Hóa Địa Bộ, Pháp Tạng Bộ, Ấn Quang Bộ, Kinh
Lượng Bộ) totaled to be 11 schools. So between the two branches, a total of 20 schools
were established.
3. The Third Buddhist Council: The third council was convened 300 years after the
Buddha entered Nirvana (274 TTL) at the request of King Ashoka. It had a gathering of
1000 of the great elders at Pataliputra (which is Bihar and Patra present day) and presided
by Mogaliputtra Tissa. After a period of 9 months, the Kathavatthu (one of the books of
the Abhidhamma) was written. Only after this council, the complete "Sutra", "Vinaya",
"Abhidhamma" was formed. This council did not just have different opinions concerning
the "Vinaya" but also in "Sutra" from many different sects. However, the final product
did reject the views that are not in accordance with the words of the Buddha. It
harmonized many different views and established an agreement on one single doctrine
called "Theravada"). In addition, this council also adjusted the Vinaya, shunned the
Sanghas that violated the monastic rules, living without harmony.
After this council, Most Venerable Mahinda, the son of King Ashoka took the Tripataka
(Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidhamma) along with the commentary, brought over to Sri Lanka
(still being kept to present day).
4. The Fourth Buddhist Council: Convened 600 years after the Buddha entered Nirvana
(1st century TL) by King Kaniska. Similar to King Ashoka, he was a great contributor to
Buddhism. He gathered 500 Bodhisattvas, 500 monks, 500 laymen met at Kashmir and
presided by Hiếp Tôn Giả and Thế Hữu.
II. Northern Transmission and Southern Transmission
During the time the councils were convened, the first two were spoken through memorization
and nothing was written down. Only during the 3rd and 4th council was it committed into
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writings. The Sanghas from the north recorded using Sanskrit, while the southern Sanghas
recorded in Pali.
From there, regions that were spoken in Pali, the Pali record were introduced, while the Sanskrit
record was more easily transmitted through the regions that were spoken in Sanskrit. If using
Central India as the starting point, then Buddhism first went to Southern India, Sri Lanka,
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It was spread using the Pali canon, which
was also known as Southern or Theravada Buddhism/Southern migration. Northern India, Nepal,
Tibetan, China, Viet Nam, Korea, Japan were spread using the Sanskrit record of the Sutra,
known as Northern or Mahayana Buddhism/Northern migration (Buddhism introduced to
Vietnam through both routes, the Northern and Southern).
So whether from Northern or Southern route, the Dharma is still from the same origin, especially
from the 3rd and 4th councils. Because of the differences in society, culture, economy of each
nation of the northern and southern regions, there were differences on the way the Dharma was
taught and practice. The Northerners were more liberal, focus less on traditions, while
Southerners were more conservative, maintaining traditions, but regardless, Dharma is forever
the truth.
The Dharma only existed today because of the councils.
REFERENCES (TÀI LIỆU THAM KHẢO):
1. Phật Học Phổ Thông - Sa Môn Thích Thiện Hoa - Lịch Sử Truyền Bá Phật Giáo - 10
Tông Phái và Vũ Trụ Nhơn Sanh - Bài Thứ 1 - Lịch Sử Phật Giáo Ấn Ðộ, {Mục II, 1.d)}. http://www.tangthuphathoc.net/vn/phpt-5.1.htm
2. Mahayana và Theravada "Cùng Một Cỗ Xe"(PGVN) Bình Anson
Perth, Western Australia Tháng 04, 1996 - Hiệu đính: Tháng 10, 1999
http://phatgiao.org.vn/nghien-cuu/201307/Mahayana-va-Theravada-cung-mot-co-xe-11369/
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