The Buddhist Councils

Buddhist Councils: 

In The history of Buddhism the councils are recorded to have been held only after the demise of the Buddha. During the life times of the Buddha no any council were held. In other worlds the Buddhist councils were convened without the participation of the Buddha. Yet, there are many instructions given by the Buddha encouraging monks to meet and solve the problem in collective effort.

The councils were held after passing away of the Lord Buddha. Those councils have briefly explained below:-

The First Council: 

The first council was held after three months of the passing away of the Buddha. The president ship of the council was taken by elder Mhāhassapa and was sponsored by King Ajātasattu in the Satiapanni Cave situated outside Rājagaha. Five hundred Arahats participated in the Council. Ven. Upāli recited the Vinaya afterwords Ven. Ānanda recited the Dhamma. The duration for this council was seven months.

Due to these words of Subbadha, the first council was held. These words were taken very seriously by the Mahākassapa who was keenly interested about the protection of the teaching and dispensation. And also this was understood as a repetition of ideas held by a bigger number of monks. They decided immediately to call for a council in which necessary activities could be taken to protect the words of the Buddha. Great disciples thought if these kinds of thought and similar practices are allowed it would be great danger regarding the future of Buddhism. If there were encourage adhamma instead dhamma and avinaya instead of vinaya could have become prominent in the time to come.As result of this historical meeting the following benefits were recorded to have made.

The Second Council: 

The second Council was held one hundred years after the demise of the Buddha. Seven hundred monks participated in that meeting. The president ship of the Elders Ven. KākandakaputtaYasa, Ven Revata and Ven. Sabbhakami in the reign of King Kālāsoka, resolved that the ten points raised by Vajjī bhikkhus were against the Vinaya. Those bhikkus who disagreed with the resolution of this Council held a separate Council of their own, broke away from the sect of the Elders and founded a sect named Mahāsanghika. The duration for this council was eight months.

The Third Council: 

The third Council was held in 326 B.C. at Asokarama in Pātaliputta. The main sponsor was Emperor Asoka and president was Ven. Moggaliputta Tissa. The main purpose of the council was to send away miscomputing pseudo monks. Therefore the council was held after the reformation of the order of monks. One of the significant contribution of the council is the composition of Kathāvatthuppakarana by Moggaliputtatissa Thera established 500 correct views and dispelling 500 wrong views. The following the councils another historical incident to place making Buddhism spreading further. Emperor Asoka sponsored Buddhist missionaries manly to nine areas inside and outside of India and subsequently to other place also. This is first time in which it went outside the boundary of Jumbudipa the birth place of Buddha. One thousand Arahats participated in the Council. The duration for this council was ten months.

The Fourth Council: 

The fourth Council was held in 643 B.E. in Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) under the patronage of King Vattagamani. The main reason for its convening was the realization that it was now not possible for the majority of monks to retain the entire Tipitaka 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 Vattagamani supported the monk's idea and a council was held specifically to reduce the Tipitaka in its entirety to writing. Therefore, so that the genuine Dhamma might be lastingly preserved, the Venerable Maharakkhita 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 Aloka 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. In the Eighteenth Century, King Vijayarajasiha had images of the Buddha created in this cave.

The Fifth Council: 

The fifth Council took place in Mandalay 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 Mahathera Jagarabhivamsa, the Venerable Narindabhidhaja, and the Venerable Mahathera Sumangalasami 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 Tipitaka 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 (2,400) erudite 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.

The Sixth Council: 

The sixth Council was called at Kaba Aye in Yangon, formerly Rangoon in 1954, eighty-three years after the fifth one was held in Mandalay. 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 like India's Sattapanni Cave where the first Buddhist Council had been held. Upon its completion The Council met on the 17th of May, 1954. As in the case of the preceding councils, its aim first objective was to affirm and preserve the genuine Dhamma and Vinaya. However it was unique in so far 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 Vietnam. 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 Tipitaka rendered into their native scripts, with the exception of India.

The traditional recitation of the Buddhist Scriptures took two years and the Tipitaka 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. Happily, 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 Tipitaka and their Commentaries were prepared for printing on modern presses and published in the Myanmar (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 in May, 1956, two and a half millennia after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbana. This council's work was the unique achievement of representatives from the entire Buddhist world. The version of the Tipitaka which it undertook to produce has been recognized as being true to the pristine teachings of the Buddha Gotama and the most authoritative rendering of them to date.

The Seventh Council: 

The seventh Council was held in the royal palace in Sri Lanka in 1587 B.E. The president ship of the council was taken by Ven. Mahakasapa and was sponsored by King Parakramabahu. The seven council is said to have revised only commentaries of the Tipitaka of the Mahaheras and finally these were recited at the Council.

The Eighth Council: 

The Eighth Council took place in Thailand at Mahabodhi Arama between 2000 and 2026 B.C. and continued for year. The Assembly was organized by King Sridharmackravarti Tilaka Rajadhiraja, the ruler of Northern Thailand .All the learned monks in Thailand took part in this Council.

The Ninth Council: 

This Council was held at Bangkok in B.E. 2331, after a war between Thailand and a neghbouring kingdom. The old capital Ayuthia, was destroyed by the fire and many books and manuscripts of the Tripitaka were to ashes. King Rama I and his brother I were perturbed at the moral laxity of the Sangha.(Community of The Monks). They consulted the learned brethren in order to convene a Council so that the faith might be restored. Under the royal patronage 218 Elders and 32 lay scholars assembled together and continued the recitation of Thipitaka for about a year. During that time after this Council, the revival of Buddhism was full swing in Thailand.

The Buddhist Councils mentioned about contributed in different ways to protect, faster and propagate. If they were not held, Buddhism would have faced a short living fate as in the case of some Indian religions contemporary to the Buddha. Council protected dhamma and vinaya in original core. For that contribution made by participation elders at councils are so important that otherwise they could have been polluted very soon.

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