The Sangha and the first councils
After the Buddha's death, by tradition, his disciples gather to recite his teachings and rules, and the community slowly divides into the first schools.
- The Foundations of Buddhism — Rupert Gethin, Oxford University Press (1998)
- An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (2nd ed.) — Peter Harvey, Cambridge University Press (2013)
- Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo — Richard Gombrich, Routledge (1988)
- The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism — Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., Princeton University Press (2014)
Buddhist tradition says that soon after the Buddha’s death, 500 enlightened monks met at Rajagriha (Rajgir). Ananda, the Buddha’s attendant, recited his discourses (sutta), and Upali recited the monastic rules (vinaya). These recitations, passed down orally in chanted form, became the core of the scriptures.
- The Foundations of Buddhism — Rupert Gethin, Oxford University Press (1998)
- The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism — Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., Princeton University Press (2014)
About a century later, a second council at Vaishali argued over monastic discipline, such as whether monks could accept money. Soon afterwards the Sangha split into the Sthaviras (“Elders”) and the Mahasanghikas (“Great Community”), the first of many early schools. Theravada tradition adds a third council under Ashoka at Pataliputra, around 250 BCE, which it credits with sending missionaries abroad.
- The Foundations of Buddhism — Rupert Gethin, Oxford University Press (1998)
- An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (2nd ed.) — Peter Harvey, Cambridge University Press (2013)
- Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo — Richard Gombrich, Routledge (1988)
Historians question many details, but the pattern is clear: a wandering community became settled monasteries supported by lay donors, preserving the teaching by memory and recitation. Councils continued into modern times; the “Sixth Council” in Yangon (1954–56) produced a new edition of the Pali canon.
- The Foundations of Buddhism — Rupert Gethin, Oxford University Press (1998)
- Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo — Richard Gombrich, Routledge (1988)
Why it matters today
The Sangha is the oldest continuously existing monastic order in the world. Monks and nuns still recite the rules settled at these councils every fortnight, and Theravada Buddhists trace their canon, the Pali Tipitaka, back to the first recitation.