Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Chancellor Ashin Nanissara, S.I.B.A., Burma
(Bemineto99) Looking down from the Tusita world, the Bodhisat decides to take rebirth on Earth, strive for enlightenment, and establish the Dharma to relieve beings of suffering.
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| Burmese monastic (Perakman) |
Siddhattha Gotama (Sanskrit, Siddhartha Gautama) was born in approximately 623 B.C.E. He achieved buddhahood (maha bodhi) at the age of 35. He freed himself from all rebirth and suffering by attaining final nirvana in 543
B.C.E. at the age of 80.
During the intervening 45
years he taught, toured the “Middle
Land” (Northeastern
India) -- expounding the Dharma (Doctrine, sutras, Conventional Teachings), Abhidharma
(Ultimate Teachings), and Vinaya (Disciplinary Code) for the benefit of all humans and devas.
Dharma forms the guiding light of daily practice. The Abhidharma is the systematic treatment of Buddhist psychology and physics in language more precise than the discourses. The Monastic Disciplinary Code is a collection of rules, their origin and explanations,
etiquette guidelines, and disciplinary (parliamentary, democratic) procedures for monastic living.
Long after the Buddha made an end of suffering, the Dharma,
Abhidharma, and Vinaya live on to guide others wishing to also make an end of all suffering. As long as they remain in practice, we to that extent a supremely wise teacher with us. The
Buddha taught by extraordinary perception, revealing what he directly
saw as helpful and harmful on the path to enlightenment (awakening from delusion) and liberation (nirvana).
This is of great benefit to all humankind and to beings on adjacent superior and inferior planes of existence. To promote the quality of conceptual understanding of sometimes very subtle teachings, he and later commentators taught the Abhidharma, which are the Ultimate Teachings abstracted and systematized from the conventional language of the discourses (sutras).
To
help all who would help themselves overcome disappointment and misery
and gain satisfaction and peace, the Buddha taught a path-and-practice we now call the Dharma [always capitalized to distinguish it from the multivalent Sanskrit term dharma]. Most of what we know about what the Buddha taught comes
from ordinary
discourses -- surviving in standardized form appropriate to oral
transmission and memorization rather than writing and reading.
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| BotanischerGarten Hamburg, Germany, KleinFlottbek Buddha (JinxHH/flickr) |
These sutras -- recorded in Pali, Sanskrit, and Prakrit (Magadhi) -- often appear to us as stilted, artificial, and redundant tautologies more than actual instructions or natural threads (sutras, sutures, i.e., strings of related ideas).
This is because they were never meant to stand alone the way a book
might today. They were chanted, explained, and studied; they make sense as shorthand reminders of the teachings, which are much broader and detailed
instructions the Buddha and early disciples provided.
The Nuns' Teachings
Most of what the nuns taught does not seem to have survived or been preserved following the lapse of their Monastic Order. (Or it is only temporarily lost to most scholars, hidden away in the origin stories accompanying the Bhikkhuni Vinaya, where few male scholar-monks seem intent to search. Or it may be found in Central Asian storehouses (and treasure troves in and around Afghanistan, formerly Gandhara, Greater India) where Buddhism flourished before moving north and east to China). But there are a few scraps to be found in the Bhikkhuni Samyutta and inspired utterances (Therigatha).
This is a tragedy because the Buddha designated two chief female
disciples, Khema Theri and Uppalavana Theri, who must have taught just as his chief male disciples Sariputra Thera
and Maha Moggallana Thera did.
- The Buddha brought
people to the Path, then newly ordained monks were brought to stream
entry by Sariputra and arhatship by Maha Moggallana. It then makes sense that
the wise nuns Khema and Uppalavana served these functions for female disciples.
The Vinaya, or Monastic Code of Conduct, was taught for self-discipline and the
peaceful coexistence of intensive practitioners on the Path.
These three major collections are known as the “Three Baskets” (Tri-Pitaka). These divisions
have, in the absence of the Buddha, been rightly viewed and regarded as teacher,
trainer, mentor, and guide to enlightenment (bodhi) and the final end of suffering (nirvana). They may be likened to the invisible presence of the Buddha as a
universal teacher existing wherever these three are preserved and put into practice.
Those who esteem the Buddha are therefore well versed in these three main divisions of the teaching.
The Six Buddhist Councils
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| Studying monk (ChristyB30/flickr) |
Three months after the Buddha's final nirvana,
the First Buddhist Council was convened in Rajagaha (Rajgir, India). The congress was attended by a large number
of monastics, all fully enlightened (arhats) with the additional
analytical knowledges (patisambhida). Maha Kassapa led this Council of Elders (theras and theris). He offered three major points:
1) Teachings
(Doctrine or Discipline) the Buddha not taught should not be offered
by monastics. 2) Those teachings
taught by the Buddha should neither be deleted, augmented, nor edited by
monastics. 3) Those teachings
the Buddha taught should be followed by monastics.
Therefore, the knowledge, belief, and practice of
strictly following the historical Buddha's Doctrine and Discipline became known as
Theravada (“Teaching or School of the Elders,” the “Elders” being the
enlightened monastics of the time. The Noble Sangha
is, of course, composed of many accomplished laypeople as well, but
these are not considered elders since they have not gone forth into
monasticism).
The Second Council was held in 100 B.C.E. in Vesali
and was attended by 700 monastics. It was co-led by Sabbakami Thera and Yasa Thera.
The Third Council took place in 236 B.C.E. in
Pataliputra (which Dr. Ranajit Pal places much farther to the west) and was attended by 1,000 monastics. It was led by Tissa Thera.
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| The Buddha, Indonesia (Luxquarta/flickr) |
The
first, second, and third of these councils
were held in greater India
and were attended exclusively by enlightened "Indian" monastics. (How
far did Greater India extend, did it encompass modern Iran or only come
up to its eastern border?)
The Fourth Council was held in Sri Lanka in 540 B.C.E. and was
attended by 500 monastics. It was
led by Dhammarakkhita Thera. Another
significant difference between the previous councils and the fourth one was
that up until this time, the monastics had put the Tripitaka (Three Baskets) down in
writing on bundled ola palm leaves.
In 240 B.C.E., the Fifth Council was held in Mandalay (Burma)
and was attended by 2,400 monastics. It was
led by Jagara Thera. The outstanding
fact was that there was no Sangayana for 2,000 years between the Fourth and Fifth Councils. During the Fifth
Council the three divisions of the Dharma were carved on giant marble slabs, filling
729 of them, each measuring six feet by four feet.
The Fourth Council had been attended only by Sri
Lankan monastics. The Fifth was attended
only by Burmese monastics.
Most of the modern literature that attempts to
explain the Buddha’s teachings is merely the interpretation and inference of respective a author(s). This is a great
loss for those who have never tasted the “authentic” teaching.
Consequently, Sitagu International
Buddhist Academy
(S.I.B.A.) has Romanized and translated the authentic Three Baskets of the Sixth Council,
in which learned monastics from five Theravada countries participated along with monastics from some Mahayana countries. This
has been done for worldwide dissemination for the benefit of those interested
in tasting the essence of the Dharma.
Sabbadanam Dhammdanam Jinati
"May knowledge, belief, and practice of the truth
shine forth in every corner of the world!"
S.I.B.A. - Sitagu International Buddhist
Academy
S.I.B.A.
formed a governing board, a Board of
Admonishing Masters, consisting of 15 Burmese monks to provide
spiritual guidance: U Sobhita, U Kumara, U Vimalabhivamsa, U Supannindabhivamsa, U Pandita, U Vimalacara, U Acinna (the most venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw), U Janinda, U Agghiya, U Sumangala, U
Sajjanabhivamsa, U Samvarabhivamsa, U Narada, U
Jotikabhivamsa, and U Kavisara.
