Buddhist Councils

Three months after the Buddha demised (entered mahaparinirvana) around c. 400 BCE, His disciples had a meeting to preserve His sayings, and the monastic disciplines or rules.  This was referred to as the first Buddhist Council under the patronage of King Ajatasatru and with Mahakasyapa presiding at Sattapanni caves, Rajgriha (now Rajgir).  The suttras were recited by Ananda, and the disciplines (Vinaya), by Upali.  The Sangha decided to keep all the rules of the Vinaya, even the lesser and minor rules.

The second Buddhist Council took place around 100 or 110 years after the Buddha’s demise (c. 4th century BCE).  It was initiated by a monk named Yasa, who found the lax practices of the Vesālī monks, known as Vajjiputtakas, unacceptable.  This time the Sangha decided on what was truly the Buddha’s authentic teachings, and what was not.  Basically, they pointed out ten points related to precepts, which they considered  as newly added to what the Buddha taught.  There were two groups: those who refused to accept the ten points (the Sthaviras), and those who wanted to keep them (Mahasamghikas).  These were the first two separate Buddhist schools.  According to the traditional Theravadin account, the dispute arose over the 'Ten Points.' The specific ten points were:

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

There are records of several possible Third Councils.  According to the Theravāda commentaries and chronicles, the Third Buddhist Council was convened some time around c. 247 BCE (some thought it was between 200 and 234 years after the Buddha’s demise) by Mauryan King Asoka with the monk Moggaliputta Tissa presiding at Pātaliputra (now Patna).  This time the focus was to authenticate Buddhist scriptures, and to discard all impurities that got mixed up with Buddhism.   The Council proceeded to recite the scriptures once more, adding to the canon Moggaliputta Tissa's own book, Kathavatthu, a discussion of various dissenting Buddhist views now contained in the Theravāda Abhidhamma Pitaka.  Emissaries were sent to various countries in order to spread Buddhism.  The first two separate schools now divided into about 20 sects.  The Sthaviras (Thượng tọa bộ) at that time was called Vibhajyavada (Phân biệt thuyết bộ), and received the King’s support.  Vibhajyavada was predecessor of Tamrasatiyah (Đồng diệp bộ).  It was the Tamrasatiyah that introduced the complete five Nikaya scriptures, which Prince Mahinda later brought to Sri Lanka, and which had been circulated widely there.  Another sect, the Sarvastivada (Nhất thiết hữu bộ), which did not receive the King’s support because it emphasized discourse analysis and debate rather than disciplines, also came from the Sthaviras (Thượng tọa bộ).  This sect spread to the northeast (Kasmira), and it gradually developed well in the northern regions of India.

As a result, the Buddha’s original teachings were interpreted in various ways by different sects.  The most famous of the missionaries, and the main focus of interest for these Theravada histories, was Mahinda, who travelled to Sri Lanka where he founded the school we now know as Theravada.   In addition, Hinduism gradually penetrated into Buddhism and caused many confusions.

The five Nikayas continued to be passed down orally in Sri Lanka until the fourth Council meeting was held at Aluvihata Village, Sri Lanka around 83 BC.  At this meeting for the first time three Nikayas were written down on palm leaves.

Another Fourth Buddhist Council was held in the Sarvastivada tradition, said to have been convened by the Kushan emperor Kanishka, in 78 AD at Jalandhar or in Kashmir. It is said that Kanishka gathered five hundred bhikkhus in Kashmir, headed by Vasumitra, to systematize the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma texts, which were translated form earlier Prakrit vernacular languages into the classical language of Sankrit. It is said that during the council three hundred thousand verses and over nine million statements were compiled, a process which took twelve years to complete. Although the Sarvastivada are no longer extant as an independent school, its traditions were inherited by the Mahayana tradition.

Under King Kaniskha, the Fifth Council Meeting was convened early in the second century AD.  The Mahayana school with its tripitakas (the Agamas scriptures, Vinayana, and Abhidharma) was said to have its origin in this Fifth Council Meeting.

The Fifth Theravada Buddhist Council of 1871 took place in Mandalay, Burma, in the reign of King Mindon.  The chief objective of this meeting was to recite all the teachings of the Buddha, and examine them in minute detail to see if any of them had been altered, distorted or dropped.  It was presided over by three Elders, the Venerable Mahathera Jagarabhivamsa, the Venerable Narindabhidhaja, and the Venerable Mahathera Sumangalasami in the company of some two thousand four hundred monks (2,400). Their joint Dharma recitation lasted for five months. It was also the work of this council to approve the entire Tripitaka inscribed for posterity on seven hundred and twenty-nine marble slabs in the Burmese script before its recitation. This monumental task was done by the monks and many skilled craftsmen who upon completion of each slab had them housed in beautiful miniature 'pitaka' pagodas on a special site in the grounds of King Mindon's Kuthodaw Pagoda at the foot of Mandalay Hill where it and the so called 'largest book in the world', stands to this day. This Council is not generally recognized outside Burma.

The Sixth Buddhist Council (the Theravada Buddhist Council of 1954) took place at Kaba Aye, Yangon (Rangoon), 83 years after the Fifth Buddhist Council.  It was sponsored by the Burmese Government led by the then Prime Minister, the Honourable U Nu.  He authorized the construction of the Maha Passana Guha, the "great cave", an artificial cave very much like India's Sattapanni Cave where the first Buddhist Council had been held. Upon its completion The Council met on 17 May 1954.  As in the case of the preceding councils, its first objective was to affirm and preserve the genuine Dhamma and Vinaya. However it was unique insofar as the monks who took part in it came from eight countries. These two thousand five hundred learned Theravada monks came from Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Germany.  The late Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw was appointed the noble task of asking the required questions about the Dhamma of the Venerable Bhadanta Vicittasarabhivamsa who answered all of them learnedly and satisfactorily. By the time this council met all the participating countries had had the Pali Tripiṭaka rendered into their native scripts, with the exception of India.  The traditional recitation of the Buddhist Scriptures took two years and the  Tripitaka and its allied literature in all the scripts were painstakingly examined and their differences noted down and the necessary corrections made and all the versions were then collated. It was found that there was not much difference in the content of any of the texts. Finally, after the Council had officially approved them, all of the books of the Tripitaka and their commentaries were prepared for printing on modern presses and published in the Burmese script. This notable achievement was made possible through the dedicated efforts of the two thousand five hundred monks and numerous lay people. Their work came to an end on the evening of Vasak, 24 May 1956, exactly two and a half millennia after Buddha's Parinibbana, according to the traditional Theravada dating.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org