The Sangha
The sangha came into existence when the Buddha
moved to Benares (aka. Varanasi where Sārnāth is
located), where he preached his first sermon to five
ascetic friends, who then requested his permission to
go forth and be ordained
The monastic order was born and this monastic
community continuously expanded
Chinese translation of Sangha is seng 僧 or
sengqie 僧伽, which represented Sangha in the
time of the Buddha
– Bhikşu-sangha (community of monks)
– Bhikşuņī-sangha (community of nuns)
– They are known as the “twofold community”
Therefore, “Sangha” is defined as the
community of ordained monks and nuns
• where the Buddha’s teachings were taught and
spread
• where Buddhist scriptures were compiled
• where the clergy and laypersons congregated
• where monks and nuns practiced meditation
• To be ordained into
monkhood, one had to
undergo a “Threefold
Recitation” of this formula:
•I go to the Buddha for
refuge,
•I go to the Dharma for
refuge
•I go to the Sangha for
refuge
• In time, Sangha developed
into monasteries that served
as festival and pilgrimage sites
Sangha and Laity
•
•
Laypersons accepted by Sangha as
upāsakas (male disciples) and upāsikās
(female disciples)
Sangha and laity formed a symbiotic
monastic-lay relationship
•
laity provided material support for monks and
nuns to establish “field of merit”
 monks and nuns provided a locus for
laypersons’ worship, wise counsel, and
Dharma instruction
•What were the sources of
“dharma instruction”,or
“teachings” ?
• Buddhist scriptures
• The Buddha’s words
• disciples’ oral
transmission-->oral
literature
• oral literature-->1st
representation of the
dharma
Five Precepts (Five “not to” vows)

Five precepts (vows) governed laypersons’
ethical conduct
• Not to kill (or to abstain from taking life,killing)
• Not to steal (or to abstain from that which is not
given/stealing)
• Not to commit sexual misconduct (to abstain
from sexual misconduct)
• Not to lie and deceive (to abstain from false
speech)
• Not to use intoxicants (abstain from intoxicating
substances)
Buddhism after the Death the Buddha

No Successor, authority, or absence of central
authority led to-• Formation of variant traditions, which differed in
• interpretations of the teachings in general
• interpretations of specific ideas
• interpretations of monastic rules

Elder monks led monastic life
• Textual
• concerned with the study of the theory as
preserved in Buddhist writing
• Practice
• concerned with putting the system of training into
practice
The Schism

Tensions rose
• among “textual studies” people,
• “textual studies” and “practice” groups

Elders and Universal (or Great) Assembly
• both fragmented into sub-schools
• most of these groups died out
• Theravada among Nikaya survived

What disputes?
• Doctrinal dispute: to be Arhat or Buddha?
• New monastic rules needed?
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Questions regarding teaching:
•
•
•
•
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authority
authenticity
reliability
credibility
Questions regarding learning
• method of teaching
• method of memorizing

Questions regarding curriculum:
• nirvana or vinaya?
• Five “not to” vows
Mahāyāna Buddhism
Greater Vehicle, Bodhisattva-yāna (the vehicle of
Bodhisattvas
– The concept of saviors and compassion
– Multiple Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
– elevation of the Buddha and creation of new Buddhology
The “three bodies” theory
– Dhamakāya: symbol of ultimate truth, transcendent
– Sambhogakāya: heavenly body, rewarded body, Buddha land
– Nirmanakāya: earthly body, physical body, historical Buddha
Practice of Mahāyāna Buddhism
– follow Bodhisattva path, beginning with “bodhicitta”
(thought/mind of enlightenment; awakening mind; Bodhi
mind 菩提心)
– One who has spontaneous wish and compassion to
realize or motivate bodhicitta can become Bodhisattva.
– Six pāramitās (Six Perfections)
generosity (giving),
morality,
patience,
courage (vigor)
meditation,
Wisdom
The Bodhisattva Ideal :
– Bodhicitta, Six perfections
Ten Bodhisattva stages (bhūmi) leading to nirvana
– The path of accumulation
aspiration
– The path of preparation
meditation
– The path of vision
Eradication of old karma
– The path of development
New wisdom
– The path beyond learning
purification
Three most important bodhisattvas
– Maitreya, “Benevolent One,”—epitomizes power
& Skillful means
– Avalokiteśvara, “The Lord who looks down (in
compassion)”-->epitomizes compassion
– Maňjuśrī, “Gentle Glory”--epitomizes wisdom
Mahāyana vs. Hīnayāna
Mahāyāna
Hīnayāna
– Universal salvation
– Individual salvation
– Bodhisattva ideal
– Arhat
– Universal Buddhahood
– Buddhahood found in
chosen few
Multiple Buddha lands and
multiple Buddhas
– Existence of celestial
Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas
– Bodhicitta and
Bodhisattva ideal
Seven Buddhas
– Eightfold path focusing
on “Three Learnings”:
wisdom, morality, and
meditation
The Clergy’s Life
Uphold Vinaya:
– The foremost of them: five precepts
Lay people have to take vow to uphold them
– Additional five precepts for monks and nuns:
Not to eat after the noon meal
Not to handle gold and silver
Not to adorn their bodies
Not to sleep in high beds
Not to attend musical performances
– Ordained monks (Bhikşu) and nuns (Bhikşuņīsangha ) took many more vows
Seniority was given to monks. Senior nuns have to
pay respect to junior monks
Mahāyāna Sutras

Major Mahāyāna Sutras
• The Lotus Sutra (Sutra of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma)
• One vehicle
• Skillful means
• the parable of the Burning House
• The Vimalakīrti Sutra (Teachings of Vimalakīrti)
• Layman Vimalakīrti
– outwitted all Bodhisattvas
– revealed the true meaning of the Mahāyāna
• The Three Pure Land Sutras
• Buddha Amitābha and His Pure Land
• [Re]birth into the Pure Land
Central Philosophy

Middle Way (Madhyamaka)
• Nāgārjuna (c. 150 - c. 250 CE) 龍樹
• the doctrine of emptiness (Śūnyatā)
• associated with the concepts of impermanence and
no-self
• meditation helps see true reality
• dependent-origination (dependent arising)
• the principle of causality ( the twelve-linked chain
of causation)
Dependent Origination:
Twelve-Linked Chain of
Causation
The Three
Poisons:
•Desire (pig)
•Hatred
(snake)
•Ignorance
(rooster)
Dependent Origination: The Twelve-linked
Chain of Causation
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1. Blind man
2. stumbles
3. falls
4. a swelling develops
5. an abscess forms and
weeps
6. abscess gets knocked and
bruised
7. terrible pains
8. long to remove the pains
9. seizes on something that
cures
10. applies medicine to cure
11. condition getting worse
12. the swelling bursts
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1. Ignorance
2.disposition
3.consciousness
4.mind and body
5.six senses
6.contact
7.feeling
8.craving
9.grasping
10.becoming
11. birth
12. old age and death