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By Jayaram V
Soon after the Buddha's death, the monks gave
up the practice of
begging for alms and wandering from place and place. They
settled down for a sedentary life in monasteries, built by kings
and wealthy merchants who were inspired by the teachings and the events of
the Buddha's life and became his ardent followers. With generous
donations and material contributions from these patrons, the monasteries thrived
as Buddhism took deep roots in the subcontinent, despite stiff competition
from sectarian movements within the Vedic religion and other religious
movements such as Jainism.
During his life time on earth, the Buddha attracted the attention
of many people. His exemplary life, the fact that he descended from a
princely family, the simplicity of his teachings and his opposition to
ritualism and casteism, drew the attention of many from all ranks and
contributed to the immense popularity of Buddhism. The Buddha was
aware of the problems of monastic life that could surface within the
monastic order over a period of time. He therefore established well
defined code of conduct for the monks to ensure that they followed the
right way of life during their practice of the Dhamma in general and
the eightfold path in particular.
His parinirvana must have left a big vacuum in the
Order. None of his followers had his great stature and his personal appeal, though they had an
infinite capacity to remain loyal to his teachings and the discipline he established.
They were incapable of filling the void he left behind and needed a leading
and guiding source of inspiration that would keep them firmly abide by the
Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, the three cardinal principles of Buddhism.
The best that they could do in such
circumstances was to preserve the teachings of the Buddha in a systematic
manner and use them as points of reference in times of doubt and confusion. This would
help them preserve his teachings for the future generations, strengthen
the roots of Buddhism and create a universal code of conduct that could be
implemented uniformly in all the monasteries that were know during that
period.
And this was probably one of the objectives of the First Buddhist
Council which was convened by the early followers of the
Buddha after the Buddha's parinirvana. We understand that soon after the
Buddha's parinirvana, his chief disciples, Ananda and Upali recited
his teachings to the gathered assembly and thus laid the foundation
stone for the Buddhist
Canon, that was to emerge later in the form of three Pitikas - Vinaya, Sutta
and Abhidhamma.
The Buddha admitted all types of people into
the Order, irrespective of their social and religious backgrounds. This
practice contributed greatly to the popularity of the religion. But in many
respects it also proved to be its weakness, for it admitted into the Order
many who were ill qualified for a strict monastic discipline. It helped the Order
to grow into an organized body of huge proportions. But at the same time it
sowed the seeds of internal dissension and divisions, that finally led to the
break up of the Order into various sects and sub-sects.
It is difficult to say how far the
immediate disciples and followers of the Buddha succeeded in their efforts to
preserve his teachings. The early history of Buddhism does not offer
many clues. It is possible that during the life time of the Buddha, his followers
might have done some ground work to organize his teachings and
preserve them for posterity. True to the ancient Indian tradition,
some of the teachings might have been preserved through the oral
tradition and in the form of descriptive fables and parables.
We do not know much about the relationship the followers of Buddhism
and the Buddha himself maintained during the early days of Buddhism
with other
religions and faiths. We know that there were occasions in the life of the Buddha when he
personally engaged himself in religious debates and discussions with other
sects such as the Jainas and the Ajivakas to disprove their theories and
beliefs. It is hard to attribute any reason for such debates and discussions
on the part of the Buddha, other than unbound compassion the Buddha
had towards others and his attempts to bring them to the Dhamma and
Sangha in order to help them in their salvation.
The fledgling new faith needed immunity from the corruption of
teachings, a strong leadership and a distinct identity of its own to distinguish itself from
other religions, gain a strong foothold in the subcontinent, keep the Dhamma
and Sangha intact and attract new followers and converts to the faith.
As a scion of a ruling family, and having been tutored in the early
part of his life, the Buddha was familiar with the art of leadership,
organization and administration. He was also aware of the implications
of creating a large body of Buddhist monks who would have to stay
together and practice Dhamma under the most challenging circumstances.
We know that at times he was disappointed with the behavior and insincerity of some of
his followers. He knew the evils of decay and disintegration inherent in all
component things, which he reminded his followers to remember even from his
death bed.
He therefore organized the Buddhist Monastic Order on the basis of
an established code of conduct, a hierarchy with in the Order and a
daily and seasonal routine for the community of the monks within the
Order. He also maintained a rigid stance when it came to admitting
women who he believed would disturb the Order with their very presence
and created a procedure to admit them. He exhorted his followers to be
wary of the temptations of samsara by remaining focused on the
Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold path. He did not designate a
successor as he truly believed his followers to be lamps unto
themselves and follow the Dhamma as it was taught to them.
One of the new practices that began after his passing away was the veneration of the
chaityas or the sacred spots. This practice was already prevalent in ancient
India in some rudimentary form and the Buddhists adopted it as
their own. Another new practice adopted by The Buddhists was
the building of the stupas. Originally stupas were built to designate the
places where the ashes of the Buddha were buried as a mark of honor
and symbols of veneration. In course of time stupas were being built
for other reasons as well such as to express devotion or to honor the
relics of a Buddhist monk.The third development was the development of
sacred places and objects like the Bodhi tree, the Deer Park etc., which were associated with
the Buddha's life and activities. These places became sacred places of
pilgrimage and veneration for the followers of Buddhism.
These new developments contributed to the popularity of Buddhism
outside the monastic order. But rituals were still looked with disfavor and
the worship of the Buddha or his images, perhaps, did not yet begin.
These changes gradually led to the emergence of
a new schools of Buddhism that were radically different in several respects
from the original teachings of the Buddha. The changes helped the new
religion adapt itself to the growing demands of a wider population and helped
it emerge as a major world religion.
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