Awakened One With Awareness Buddha’s Teachings in 4 Words
Do Good Be Mindful !
5 nikayas
Digha Nikaya
Majjhima Nikaya
Samyutta Nikaya
Anguttara Nikaya
To get an overview of what the Buddha
taught. Many of the lessons in the Tipitaka overlap between nikayas,
and a general understanding of Buddhism can be obtained by purchasing
just one of these books, or by getting an anthology like In the Buddha’s
Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
In the Buddha’s Words is, arguably, the
best anthology of the Tipitaka available. It features lucid translations
of the most important suttas needed for awakenment.
Read a nikaya from beginning
to end, with only some of the repetitions removed,
The Majjhima Nikaya
It’s the most balanced of the 5
nikayas. The suttas aren’t too short or too long, and most of the
Buddha’s principal teachings on loving-kindness, meditation, and nibanna
can be found here. The online audio series A Systematic Study of the
Majjhima Nikaya compliments
But be warned:
Nikayas aren’t easy to get through. If you’re new to the Tipitaka, I
suggest purchasing an anthology first, or reading through the suttas
that are freely available on Access to Insight.
There are three baskets, and a great deal has been translated into English.
If you start with the suttas ā when you get through all of those , the
second basket is the monastic code (the Vinaya) and it is already fully
translated into English, so you can work through that. Then at least the
major works of the third basket, the commentaries, have also been
translated so you can work on those. If you still want all the rest,
youāll be well-prepared to translate them yourself. But I suspect youāll
find most of what you need within the suttas.
There is a terrific free tool out
there ā the Digital Pali Reader (SourceForge has a copy) ā that has the
entire canon in Pali. Load it up, load up a sutta, click on a word, and
it will offer definitions and a tiny little ācā near the word will
provide conjugations. I recommend this more than I can express. If you
really want to dig into the Tipitaka, there is no better way than
comparing translations, and checking out the various meanings of the
words you question in the Pali.
One thing about the use of
language in the Buddhaās time (maybe it is even still true in India) is
that his culture accepted that any single word could have many meanings
and rather than doing as we do and confining meaning to one ā saying
ābut I only meant definition #3ā ā they tend to work with all the
meanings simultaneously. It provides quite a workout for the mind! This
is why looking up the words provides a richness youāll never get from
reading translations.
Pali Canon is huge. And since itās a language which has not been in
active use for centuries itās hard to determine the exact meaning of
some words. The interest of western academics in the Pali Canon is
relatively recent and does not date some 2000 years back to the times of
the much more investigated Greek scriptures. There are some places, suttacentral.net being one of them, which cover many suttas.
This is a common view from people coming from a background where belief
in a holy book is a huge part of the belief system. When you get a
little knowledgeable about the Buddhist suttas you find that Gautama
Buddha very often referred to common knowledge and the natural way of
things. Since we are born we are subject to illness, ageing, old age and
death. Thatās something we can all observe in our life.
Or he would
point to a fire and ask: where does the flame go when it goes out? Does
it go west, east, south, north? Or maybe up or down? With such a
statement he would indicate that a question with the wrong formulation
would not give the desired answer.
If you get to know Buddhist
culture and background you will find that there is not a single person
claiming enlightenment based only on reading the Pali Canon. Sometimes
insight might rise while reading in it, yet the core of Buddhism is
practice, doing. And this is a frequently recurring theme in the suttas.
We see Gautama Buddha stressing time after time to stop certain
lifestyles, to cultivate other lifestyles, to stop bad behaviour, to
start good behaviour. And once doing this results in a less stressful
life, he would provide basic instructions into meditation.
Yet
this meditation, often thought to be meditation on the breath, is
something which is less explained in the suttas. This is not because
itās very obvious, itās because there are several ways of meditating and
each has different benefits. The core meditation is body contemplation,
the instructions given to monks who are send of on their own: hair on
the head, hair on the body, teeth, nails and skin. Yet unfortunate
events showed that not all monks could handle the mental pressure thatās
involved in such meditation and to counter the disturbance it caused
instructions on meditation on the breath were given because of itās
calming effects.
In the end, all knowledge you need to acquire is
already inside you, in this body, in this mind, in the thoughts that
rise, in the feelings that keep appearing. Itās the same story over and
over: something starts and with that the process of ending starts. When
we breath in, we cannot breath out at the same time. The start of one
means that the other one has to end. And when we breath in, we know we
have to breath out at a certain point. Without the process of breathing
in followed by breathing out, over and over, we cannot survive. And we
can find this process all over in our body and mind.
The Pali Canon does not provide the answer, the answer is found in
practice and focus on the components of self. And you carry these along
your entire life.
The āopinionā of the Buddha is not important, one
of his close followers remarks in a sutta when asked about his viewpoint
that he knows that viewpoints are stressful and that this knowledge is
sufficient for him. We find something similar with certain teachings,
one person asking questions is not answered, another asking a slightly
different question receives a detailed explanation. The skill and
knowledge of the questioner is taken into consideration while answering.
Decades ago I learned something thatās still of great value to me: you
cannot trust a single translation of āholy scripturesā. Either you learn
the language yourself and dig in (I did that with biblical greek) or
you take several translations which will show you the similarities and
differences in the translation of the word, indicating that on some
words there is agreement and on other there is none. It will also show
you a bit of the dogmatic interpretations of some translators. Being
bi-langual is an even greater advantage, you can read the interpretation
in two languages which might reveal nuances not present in a single
language.
Doing this with the Pali Canon is almost madness. Remember, itās huge.
But itās not needed. Take one or two suttas, get to understand them in
any way and see if they point to the body or mind. If so, the sutta can
be used as a guide in practice, which has the highest priority.
As last remark: there is a firefox (browser) plugin that offers the Pali
canon with a huge dictionary. Youād have to translate yourself, yet
itās one of the closest ways you can get to the actual words in the Pali
Canon. Yet without understanding context on living conditions and
religious beliefs some 2500 years ago in Nepal and India you are bound
to make mistakes on interpretation.
Modern
Western culture’s interest in the Pali canon only goes back to the late
19th century. Recall that it took hundreds of years for the transmission
of Buddhism into China; consider Xuanzang’s efforts at translation - it
took him the rest of his life and continued on with his disciples. Good
translation requires a rare combination of rigorous scholarship, strong
grasp of Pali, ability to write well in English, and time.
Consider the size of of the Tipitaka - several bookshelves!!! Consider
the obstacles in publishing something that, especially before computers.
Less interested
in the Vinaya (rules for monastics) or the Abidharma (commentaries).
That leaves the Suttas (sutra). Various sutras, including multiple
English translations of the same text in Pali, are on Access to Insight.
For published books, I’d go with works by @Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Where
to start? I highly recommend Bhikkhu Bodhi’s anthology In the Buddha’s
Words, and then choose a translation of the Dhammapada. Once you’ve got a
good grasp on Buddhist concepts and terminology, get Bhikkhu Bodhi’s
other translations (with his associated lectures available online as
audio or video) or get another anthology, Handful of Leaves by
Thannisaro Bhikkhu.
So in this
case, Kalamas, don’t go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by
scripture, by logical deduction, by inference, by analogies, by
agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought,
‘This contemplative is our teacher.’
- from Kalama Sutta: To the Kalamas, with translator’s associated essay at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ā¦/thaniā¦/lostinquotation.html
First, if you are really seriously concerned with the quality of the
translations, you should learn Pali.
Seriously, without
the necessary cultural and historical context, it is a foolās errand to
think you can interpret the Pali Canon on your own.
living well, day to day, according to Buddhism, does not require
intimate knowledge of the Tipitaka. Follow the first five precepts, and
obey Jesusā second commandment (Love your neighbor as yourself.), and
you are covered from a behavioral standpoint.
All the rest isnāt
anything more than a dry intellectual exercise unless you meditate. And
there are online and remote resources available for training in
meditation.
There is a lot of repetition in the Pali
Canon. By the time you have exhausted the parts of the Canon that have
already been translated, if you are still into it, I expect you will be
good and ready to learn Pali for yourself.
Itās as simple as reading everything you can find. Apply analytical meditation and debate. Decide for yourself.
Translate this Google Translation in your mother tongue using
https://translate.google.com
That is your LESSON
Email:
buddhasaid2us@gmail.com
http://www.palicanon.org/
Pali Canon Online
The Original Words of the Buddha
The Origin of the Pali Canon
‘Suppose
a monk were to say: “Friends, I heard and received this from the Lord’s
own lips: this is the Dhamma, this is the discipline, this is the
Master’s teaching”, then, monks, you should neither approve nor
disapprove his words. Then, without approving or disapproving, his words
and exĀpressions should be carefully noted and compared with the Suttas
and reviewed in the light of the discipline. If they, on such
comparison and review, are found not to conform to the Suttas or the
discipline, the conclusion must be: “Assuredly this is not the word of
the Buddha, it has been wrongly unĀderstood by this monk”, and the
matter is to be rejected. But where on such comparison and review they
are found to conĀform to the Suttas or the discipline, the conclusion
must be: “Assuredly this is the word of the Buddha, it has been rightly
understood by this monk.”
- DN 16 MahÄparinibbÄna Sutta - The Great Passing, The Buddha’s Last Days
The
authentic teachings of Gotama the Buddha have been preserved and handed
down to us and are to be found in the Tipiį¹aka. The PÄli word,
‘Tipiį¹aka’, literally means ‘the three baskets’ (ti=three +
piį¹aka=collections of scriptures). All of the Buddha’s teachings were
divided into three parts.
1. The first part is known as the Vinaya Piį¹aka and it contains all the rules which Buddha laid down for monks and nuns.
2. The second part is called the Suttaį¹
ta Piį¹aka and it contains the Discourses.
3. The third part is known as the Abhidhamma Piį¹aka and comprises the psycho-ethical teachings of the Buddha.
It
is known, that whenever the Buddha gave a discourse to his ordained
disciples or lay-followers or prescribed a monastic rule in the course
of his forty-five year ministry, those of his devoted and learned monks,
then present would immediately commit his teachings word for word to
memory. Thus the Buddha’s words were preserved accurately and were in
due course passed down orally from teacher to pupil. Some of the monks
who had heard the Buddha preach in person were Arahants, and so by
definition, ‘pure ones’ free from passion, ill-will and delusion and
therefore, was without doubt capable of retaining, perfectly the
Buddha’s words. Thus they ensured that the Buddha’s teachings would be
preserved faithfully for posterity.
Even those devoted monks who
had not yet attained Arahantahood but had reached the first three stages
of sainthood and had powerful, retentive memories could also call to
mind word for word what the Buddha had preached and so could be worthy
custodians of the Buddha’s teachings. One such monk was Änanda, the
chosen attendant and constant companion of the Buddha during the last
twenty-five years of the his life. Änanda was highly intelligent and
gifted with the ability to remember whatever he had heard. Indeed, it
was his express wish that the Buddha always relate all of his discourses
to him and although he was not yet an Arahanta he deliberately
committed to memory word for word all the Buddha’s sermons with which he
exhorted monks, nuns and his lay followers. The combined efforts of
these gifted and devoted monks made it possible for the Dhamma and
Vinaya, as taught by the Buddha to be preserved in its original state.
The
PÄli Tipiį¹aka and its allied literature exists as a result of the
Buddha’s discovery of the noble and liberating path of the pure Dhamma.
This path enables all those who follow it to lead a peaceful and happy
life. Indeed, in this day and age we are fortunate to have the authentic
teachings of the Buddha preserved for future generations through the
conscientious and concerted efforts of his ordained disciples down
through the ages. The Buddha had said to his disciples that when he was
no longer amongst them, that it was essential that the Saį¹
gha should
come together for the purpose of collectively reciting the Dhamma,
precisely as he had taught it. In compliance with this instruction the
first Elders duly called a council and systematically ordered all the
Buddha’s discourses and monastic rules and then faithfully recited them
word for word in concert.
The First Council
King AjÄtasattu sponsored the
First Council. It was convened in 544 B.C. in the SattapaÄÄÄ« Cave
situated outside RÄjagaha three months after the Buddha had passed away.
A detailed account of this historic meeting can be found in the
CÅ«llavagga of the Vinaya Piį¹aka. According to this record the incident
which prompted the Elder MahÄkassapa to call this meeting was his
hearing a disparaging remark about the strict rule of life for monks.
This is what happened. The monk Subhadda, a former barber, who had
ordained late in life, upon hearing that the Buddha had expired, voiced
his resentment at having to abide by all the rules for monks laid down
by the Buddha. Many monks lamented the passing of the Buddha and were
deeply grieved. However, the Elder MahÄkassapa heard Subhadda say:
‘’Enough your Reverences, do not grieve, do not lament. We are well rid
of this great recluse (the Buddha). We were tormented when he said,
‘this is allowable to you, this is not allowable to you’ but now we will
be able to do as we like and we will not have to do what we do not
like'’. MahÄkassapa was alarmed by his remark and feared that the Dhamma
and the Vinaya might be corrupted and not survive intact if other monks
were to behave like Subhadda and interpret the Dhamma and the Vinaya
rules as they pleased. To avoid this he decided that the Dhamma must be
preserved and protected. To this end after gaining the Saį¹
gha’s approval
he called to council five hundred Arahants. Änanda was to be included
in this provided he attained Arahanthood by the time the council
convened. With the Elder MahÄkassapa presiding, the five-hundred Arahant
monks met in council during the rainy season. The first thing
MahÄkassapa did was to question the foremost expert on the Vinaya of the
day, Venerable UpÄli on particulars of the monastic rule. This monk was
well qualified for the task as the Buddha had taught him the whole of
the Vinaya himself. First of all the Elder MahÄkassapa asked him
specifically about the ruling on the first offense [pÄrÄjika], with
regard to the subject, the occasion, the individual introduced, the
proclamation, the repetition of the proclamation, the offense and the
case of non-offense. UpÄli gave knowledgeable and adequate answers and
his remarks met with the unanimous approval of the presiding Saį¹
gha.
Thus the Vinaya was formally approved.
The Elder MahÄkassapa then
turned his attention to Änanda in virtue of his reputable expertise in
all matters connected with the Dhamma. Happily, the night before the
Council was to meet, Änanda had attained Arahantship and joined the
Council. The Elder MahÄkassapa, therefore, was able to question him at
length with complete confidence about the Dhamma with specific reference
to the Buddha’s sermons. This interrogation on the Dhamma sought to
verify the place where all the discourses were first preached and the
person to whom they had been addressed. Änanda, aided by his
word-perfect memory was able to answer accurately and so the Discourses
met with the unanimous approval of the Saį¹
gha. The First Council also
gave its official seal of approval for the closure of the chapter on the
minor and lesser rules, and approval for their observance. It took the
monks seven months to recite the whole of the Vinaya and the Dhamma and
those monks sufficiently endowed with good memories retained all that
had been recited. This historic first council came to be known as the
PaÄcasatika because five-hundred fully enlightened Arahants had taken
part in it.
The
Second Council was called one hundred years after the Buddha’s
ParinibbÄį¹a in order to settle a serious dispute over the ‘ten points’.
This is a reference to some monks breaking of ten minor rules. they were
given to:
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.
Their
misdeeds became an issue and caused a major controversy as breaking
these rules was thought to contradict the Buddha’s original teachings.
King KÄįø·Äsoka was the Second Council’s patron and the meeting took place
at VesÄli due to the following circumstances. One day, whilst visiting
the MahÄvana Grove at VeÄsli, the Elder Yasa came to know that a large
group of monks known as the Vajjians were infringing the rule which
prohibited monk’s accepting gold and silver by openly asking for it from
their lay devotees. He immediately criticized their behavior and their
response was to offer him a share of their illegal gains in the hope
that he would be won over. The Elder Yasa, however declined and scorned
their behavior. The monks immediately sued him with a formal action of
reconciliation, accusing him of having blamed their lay devotees. The
Elder Yasa accordingly reconciled himself with the lay devotees, but at
the same time, convinced them that the Vijjian monks had done wrong by
quoting the Buddha’s pronouncement on the prohibition against accepting
or soliciting for gold and silver. The laymen immediately expressed
their support for the Elder Yasa and declared the Vajjian monks to the
wrong-doers and heretics, saying ‘’the Elder Yasa alone is the real monk
and SÄkyan son. All the others are not monks, not SÄkyan sons'’.
The
Stubborn and unrepentant Vajjian monks then moved to suspend the
Venerable Yasa Thera without the approval of the rest of the Saį¹
gha when
they came to know of the outcome of his meeting with their lay
devotees. The Elder Yasa, however escaped their censure and went in
search of support from monks elsewhere, who upheld his orthodox views on
the Vinaya. Sixty forest dwelling monks from PÄvÄ and eighty monks from
the southern regions of Avanti who were of the same view, offered to
help him to check the corruption of the Vinaya. Together they decided to
go to Soreyya to consult the Venerable Revata as he was a highly
revered monk and an expert in the Dhamma and the Vinaya. As soon as the
Vajjian monks came to know this they also sought the Venerable Revata’s
support by offering him the four requisites which he promptly refused.
These monks then sought to use the same means to win over the Venerable
Revata’s attendant, the Venerable Uttara. At first he too, rightly
declined their offer but they craftily persuaded him to accept their
offer, saying that when the requisites meant for the Buddha were not
accepted by him, Änanda would be asked to accept them and would often
agree to do so. Uttara changed his mind and accepted the requisites.
Urged on by them he then agreed to go and persuade the Venerable Revata
to declare that the Vajjian monks were indeed speakers of the Truth and
upholders of the Dhamma. The Venerable Revata saw through their ruse and
refused to support them. He then dismissed Uttara. In order to settle
the matter once and for all, the Venerable Revata advised that a council
should be called at VÄįø·ikÄrÄma with himself asking questions on the ten
offenses of the most senior of the Elders of the day, the Thera
SabbjakÄmi. Once his opinion was given it was to be heard by a committee
of eight monks, and its validity decided by their vote. The eight monks
called to judge the matter were the Venerables SabbakÄmi, saįø·ha,
Khujjasobhita and VÄsabhagÄmika, from the East and four monks from the
West, the Venerables Revata, Sambhuta-SÄį¹avÄsÄ«, Yasa and Sumana. They
thoroughly debated the matter with Revata as the questioner and
sabbakÄmÄ« answering his questions. After the debate was heard the eight
monks decided against the Vajjian monks and their verdict was announced
to the assembly. Afterwards seven-hundred monks recited the Dhamma and
Vinaya and this recital came to be known as the Sattasatī because
seven-hundred monks had taken part in it. This historic council is also
called, the Yasatthera Sangīti because of the major role the Elder Yasa
played in it and his zeal for safeguarding the Vinaya. The Vajjian monks
categorically refused to accept the Council’s decision and in defiance
called a council of there own which was called the MahÄsaį¹
giti.
The
Third Council was held primarily to rid the Saį¹
gha of corruption and
bogus monks who held heretical views. The Council was convened in 326
B.C. At AsokÄrÄma in Paį¹aliputta under the patronage of Emperor Asoka.
It was presided over by the Elder Moggaliputta Tissa and one thousand
monks participated in this Council. Tradition has it that Asoka had won
his throne through shedding the blood of all his father’s son’s save his
own brother, Tissa KumÄra who eventually got ordained and achieved
Arahantship.
Asoka was crowned in the two hundred and eighteenth
year after the Buddha’s MahaparinibbÄna. At first he paid only token
homage to the Dhamma and the Saį¹
gha and also supported members of other
religious sects as his father had done before him. However, all this
changed when he met the pious novice-monk Nigrodha who preached him the
AppamÄda-vagga. Thereafter he ceased supporting other religious groups
and his interest in and devotion to the Dhamma deepened. He used his
enormous wealth to build, it is said, eighty-four thousand pagodas and
vihÄras and to lavishly support the Bhikkhus with the four requisites.
His son Mahinda and his daughter Saį¹
ghamittÄ were ordained and admitted
to the Saį¹
gha. Eventually, his generosity was to cause serious problems
within the Saį¹
gha. In time the order was infiltrated by many unworthy
men, holding heretical views and who were attracted to the order because
of the Emperor’s generous support and costly offerings of food,
clothing, shelter and medicine. Large numbers of faithless, greedy men
espousing wrong views tried to join the order but were deemed unfit for
ordination. Despite this they seized the chance to exploit the Emperor’s
generosity for their own ends and donned robes and joined the order
without having been ordained properly. Consequently, respect for the
Saį¹
gha diminished. When this came to light some of the genuine monks
refused to hold the prescribed purification or Uposatha ceremony in the
company of the corrupt, heretical monks.
When the Emperor heard
about this he sought to rectify the situation and dispatched one of his
ministers to the monks with the command that they perform the ceremony.
However, the Emperor had given the minister no specific orders as to
what means were to be used to carry out his command. The monks refused
to obey and hold the ceremony in the company of their false and
‘thieving’ companions [theyyasinivÄsaka]. In desperation the angry
minister advanced down the line of seated monks and drawing his sword,
beheaded all of them one after the other until he came to the King’s
brother, Tissa who had been ordained. The horrified minister stopped the
slaughter and fled the hall and reported back to the Emperor Asoka was
deeply grieved and upset by what had happened and blamed himself for the
killings. He sought Thera Moggaliputta Tissa’s counsel. He proposed
that the heretical monks be expelled from the order and a third Council
be convened immediately. So it was that in the seventeenth year of the
Emperor’s reign the Third Council was called. Thera Moggaliputta Tissa
headed the proceedings and chose one thousand monks from the sixty
thousand participants for the traditional recitation of the Dhamma and
the Vinaya, which went on for nine months. The Emperor, himself
questioned monks from a number of monasteries about the teachings of the
Buddha. Those who held wrong views were exposed and expelled from the
Saį¹
gha immediately. In this way the Bhikkhu Saį¹
gha was purged of
heretics and bogus bhikkhus.
This council achieved a number of other
important things as well. The Elder Moggaliputta Tissa, in order to
refute a number of heresies and ensure the Dhamma was kept pure,
complied a book during the council called the KathÄvatthu. This book
consists of twenty-three chapters, and is a collection of discussion
(kathÄ) and refutations of the heretical views held by various sects on
matters philosophical. It is the fifth of the seven books of the
Abhidhamma Piį¹aka. The members of the Council also gave a royal seal of
approval to the doctrine of the Buddha, naming it the VibhajjavÄda, the
Doctrine of Analysis. It is identical with the approved TheravÄda
doctrine. One of the most significant achievements of this Dhamma
assembly and one which was to bear fruit for centuries to come, was the
Emperor’s sending forth of monks, well versed in the Buddha’s Dhamma and
Vinaya who could recite all of it by heart, to teach it in nine
different countries. These Dhammadūta monks included the Venerable
Majjhantika Thera who went to Kashmir and GandhÄra. He was asked to
preach the Dhamma and establish an order of monks there. The Venerable
MahÄdeva was sent to Mahinsakamaį¹įøaįø·a (modern Mysore) and the Venerable
Rakkhita Thera was dispatched to VanavÄsÄ« (northern Kanara in the south
of India.) The Venerable Yonaka Dhammarakkhita Thera was sent to Upper
Aparantaka (northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kutch and Sindh].
With
the spread of Dhamma through the words of the Buddha, in due course
India came to be known as Visvaguru, the teacher of the world.
The Fourth Council
The
Fourth Council was held in Tambapaį¹į¹i [Sri Lanka] in 29 B.C. under the
patronage of King Vaį¹į¹agÄmaį¹i. The main reason for its convening was the
realization that is was now not possible for the majority of monks to
retain the entire Tipiį¹aka in their memories as had been the case
formerly for the Venerable Mahinda and those who followed him soon
after. Therefore, as the art of writing had, by this time developed
substantially, it was thought expedient and necessary to have the entire
body of the Buddha’s teaching written down. King Vaį¹į¹agÄmaį¹i supported
the monk’s idea and a council was held specifically to reduce the
Tipiį¹aka in its entirety to writing. Therefore, so that the genuine
Dhamma might be lastingly preserved, the Venerable MahÄrakhita and five
hundred monks recited the words of the Buddha and then wrote them down
on palm leaves. This remarkable project took place in a cave called, the
Äloka lena, situated in the cleft of an ancient landslip near what is
now Matale. Thus the aim of the Council was achieved and the
preservation in writing of the authentic Dhamma was ensured. Later, in
the Eighteenth Century, King VijayarÄjasÄ«ha had images of the Buddha
created in this cave.
The Fifth Council
The Fifth Council
took place in MÄndalay, Burma now known as Myanmar in 1871 A.D. 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 MahÄthera JÄgarÄbhivaį¹sa, the
Venerable NarindÄbhidhaja, and the Venerable MahÄthera Sumaį¹
galasÄmi in
the company of some two thousand four hundred monks (2,400). Their joint
Dhamma recitation lasted for five months. It was also the work of this
council to cause the entire Tipiį¹aka to be inscribed for posterity on
seven hundred and twenty-nine marble slabs in the Myanmar script after
its recitation had been completed and unanimously approved. This
monumental task was done by some two thousand four hundred erudite monks
and many skilled craftsmen who upon completion of each slab had them
housed in beautiful miniature ‘piį¹aka’ pagodas on a special site in the
grounds of King Mindon’s Kuthodaw Pagoda at the foot of MÄndalay Hill
where this so called ‘largest book in the world’, stands to this day.
With
the spread of Dhamma through the words of the Buddha, in due course
India came to be known as Visvaguru, the teacher of the world.
The Fourth Council
The
Fourth Council was held in Tambapaį¹į¹i [Sri Lanka] in 29 B.C. under the
patronage of King Vaį¹į¹agÄmaį¹i. The main reason for its convening was the
realization that is was now not possible for the majority of monks to
retain the entire Tipiį¹aka in their memories as had been the case
formerly for the Venerable Mahinda and those who followed him soon
after. Therefore, as the art of writing had, by this time developed
substantially, it was thought expedient and necessary to have the entire
body of the Buddha’s teaching written down. King Vaį¹į¹agÄmaį¹i supported
the monk’s idea and a council was held specifically to reduce the
Tipiį¹aka in its entirety to writing. Therefore, so that the genuine
Dhamma might be lastingly preserved, the Venerable MahÄrakhita and five
hundred monks recited the words of the Buddha and then wrote them down
on palm leaves. This remarkable project took place in a cave called, the
Äloka lena, situated in the cleft of an ancient landslip near what is
now Matale. Thus the aim of the Council was achieved and the
preservation in writing of the authentic Dhamma was ensured. Later, in
the Eighteenth Century, King VijayarÄjasÄ«ha had images of the Buddha
created in this cave.
The Fifth Council
The Fifth Council
took place in MÄndalay, Burma now known as Myanmar in 1871 A.D. 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 MahÄthera JÄgarÄbhivaį¹sa, the
Venerable NarindÄbhidhaja, and the Venerable MahÄthera Sumaį¹
galasÄmi in
the company of some two thousand four hundred monks (2,400). Their joint
Dhamma recitation lasted for five months. It was also the work of this
council to cause the entire Tipiį¹aka to be inscribed for posterity on
seven hundred and twenty-nine marble slabs in the Myanmar script after
its recitation had been completed and unanimously approved. This
monumental task was done by some two thousand four hundred erudite monks
and many skilled craftsmen who upon completion of each slab had them
housed in beautiful miniature ‘piį¹aka’ pagodas on a special site in the
grounds of King Mindon’s Kuthodaw Pagoda at the foot of MÄndalay Hill
where this so called ‘largest book in the world’, stands to this day.
