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Sangha (I):
Theravāda Buddhism
Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
AST/REL 260
Buddhism
Berea College
Spring 2006
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF
BUDDHIST INSTITUTIONS
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1.
2.
3.
Early Indian Buddhism
tremendously diverse in
doctrines and practices
Oral canon of authoritative
teachings first compiled
within a few years of
Şakyamuni’s death, but not
recorded in writing until 1st
century BCE – Tripitaka
(“Three Baskets”):
Sūtra (discourses of the Buddha)
Vinaya (monastic regulations)
Abhidharma (philosophical and
psychological commentaries)
• Şakyamuni regarded as fully
human, non-divine, now absent
being
• At same time, relics of
Şakyamuni jealously guarded
and piously regarded among
early Buddhist communities
• Sangha (community of
Buddha’s disciples) develops
threefold division:
1. Bhikşu / bhikşuni (men and women
in settled monastic communities)
2. Forest monks and nuns (peripatetic)
3. Householders (lay followers)
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THERAVĀDA
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By 200 BCE, all early Indian
Buddhist sects disappear
except for one: Theravāda
(“Way of the Elders”)
Theravāda claims to be
custodian of authentic
teaching of Şakyamuni,
especially in terms of
anātman doctrine and vinaya
practice
Through Aśoka’s sponsorship,
Theravāda becomes
established throughout South
and Southeast Asia
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THERAVĀDA SOTERIOLOGY
• Emphasis on individual,
rational progress toward
nirvāna throughout multiple
rebirths:
1. Stream-winner (one who glimpses
nirvāna and thus will attain it
within seven rebirths)
2. Once-returner (one whose progress
merits only one more rebirth)
3. Never-returner (one who will attain
nirvāna in current rebirth)
4. Arhat (“worthy one” who attains
nirvāna at death)
• For laypersons, arhat = object
of veneration
• For monastics, arhat = model
for imitation
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THERAVĀDA LAITY
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Laypersons take “Five
Precepts”:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Not to kill
Not to steal
Not to commit sexual misconduct
Not to lie
Not to take intoxicants
•
Laypersons generally seen as
deferring nirvāna until future
lifetimes, while gaining
karmic merit by supporting
monastics and accepting their
instruction
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THERAVĀDA MONASTICS
• Monastics uphold Five Precepts
plus five others, for a total of
“Ten Precepts”:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Not eat after noon
Not to attend entertainments
Not to indulge in adornments
Not to use luxurious bedding
Not to accept money
• Monastics generally seen most
serious practitioners, who
instruct laypersons while
pursuing nirvāna as goal during
this lifetime
• Since 13th century CE, only
men have been accepted as
Theravāda monastics
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THERAVĀDA CHRONOLOGY
• 294 BCE: Pali canon (collection
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of Theravāda scriptures)
complete (oral)
250 BCE: Theravāda
introduced to Sri Lanka by
Aşokan missionaries
100 BCE: Pali canon
transcribed in written form
100 CE: Theravāda introduced
to Burma and central Thailand
600s CE: Theravāda begins to
disappear from India
• 1200s CE: Theravāda
introduced to Laos and
Cambodia
• 1279 CE: Last orthodox
Theravāda nuns (in Burma)
• 1498 CE: Portuguese invaders
attempt to replace Theravāda
with Christianity in Sri Lanka
• Late 1800s CE: Westerners help
revive Theravāda in Sri Lanka;
first Westerner ordained as
Theravāda monk
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