ME06

Origins of Mahāyāna and the Earliest Mahāyāna Sūtras

ME06  07-03-2011      (2:00 to 3:00)

(Class Notes Only)

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The Suṭṭa-Nipāta contains some of the oldest discourses in the Pāli Canon. It is a rich source of texts offering guidance to lay Buddhists and also abounds in suṭṭas that extol the contemplative ideals of early Buddhism. Though the Suṭṭa-Nipāta as a collection exists only in the Theravada tradition, some of the individual suṭṭas are found in other traditions. The Suṭṭa Piṭaka is the second of the three divisions of the Pāli Canon, the great Pāli collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism.

The First Sangḥa Council was extremely successful in the preservation of “The Word of the Buddha”. This method, the introduction of which resulted in Mahā Kassapa being called “the Father of the Dhamma” was used in subsequent years as and when required. It also led to the use of the term “Theravada” or recitation of the elders (500 of Araḥanths) being used for the Word of the Buddha. The Suṭṭa Piṭaka contains more than 10,000 suṭṭas (teachings) attributed to the Buddha or his close companions.

The First Council collected only short prose passages or verses expressing important doctrines, and that these were expanded into full length suṭṭas over the next century. This is a heterogeneous mix of sermons, doctrines, and poetry attributed to the Buddha and his disciples.

The contents vary somewhat between editions. There; “Mahāparinibbāna Suṭṭa, Mahapādāna Suṭṭa, Lakkhana Suṭṭa, Suttanipāta, Pabbajja Suṭṭa, Theragāthā, Therigāthā, Jātaka, Cariyapiṭaka and Majjhimanikāya Ariyapriyesana Suṭṭa” are various legendary Suṭṭas.

In Theravada Buddhism, the Jātakas are a textual division of the Pāli Canon, included in the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Suṭṭa Pitaka. The Jātakas are the precursors to the various legendary biographies of the Buddha, which were composed at later dates. Although many Jātakas were written from an early period, which describe previous lives of the Buddha, very little biographical material about Gautama's own life has been recorded. The Buddha and Bodhisattva concepts have been developed for the first time by the early Buddhists or Theravadins. The Buddha was a historical personality who lived in India, in the sixth century B.C.

The Jātakas were originally amongst the earliest Buddhist literature, with metrical analysis methods dating their average contents to around the 4th century BC. As we saw, there is no complete biography of the Buddha in early sources. In the fifth century A.D. Buddhaghosa has presented the Theravada Biography in his commentary on Jātaka Pāli. The Mahāsāṃghika Caitika sects from the Āndhra region took the Jātakas as canonical literature, and are known to have rejected some of the Theravada Jātakas which dated past the time of King Ᾱshoka.

The Mahāsāṃghika, literally the "Great Saṃgha", was one of the early Buddhist schools in ancient India. The Mahāsāṃghikas advocated the transcendental and super-mundane nature of the Buddha and bodhisattva, and the fallibility of arhats. The Trikāya doctrine is an important Mahāyāna Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of a Buddha.

Briefly, the doctrine says that a Buddha has three kāyas or bodies: the nirmānakāya or created body which manifests in time and space; the saṃbhogakāya or body of mutual enjoyment which is a body of bliss or clear light manifestation; and the Dharmakāya or Truth body which embodies the very principle of enlightenment and knows no limits or boundaries.

There are also fewer stories in general in the Vīnaya of the subsidiary school, the Mahāsāṃghika- Lokottaravada. In the formulations of some of the pātimokha rules also, the phrasing often appears to represent a clearer but less streamlined version, which suggests it might be older. This is particularly noticeable in the Bhiksuni-Vinaya, which has not been as well preserved as the Bhiksu-Vinaya in general in all the recessions. The Mahāvastu is a biography of the Buddha which attributes itself to the Lokottaravādins. The Mahāyāna tradition holds that pursuing only the release from suffering and attainment of Nirvāṇa is too narrow an aspiration. Mahāyāna Buddhism takes the basic teachings of the Buddha as recorded in early scriptures as the starting point of its teachings, such as those concerning karma and rebirth, anāṭman, emptiness, dependent origination, and the Four Noble Truths.

In the Ariyapariyesana Suṭṭa, the bodhisatta Siddhartḥa Gotama is described thus: “before my Awakening, when I was an un-awakened bodhisatta, being subject myself to birth, sought what was likewise subject to birth. Being subject myself to aging... illness... death... sorrow... defilement, I sought [happiness in] what was likewise subject to illness... death... sorrow... defilement.” The Mahaparinibbana Suṭṭa is a Theravada Buddhist suṭṭa. It concerns the end of Gautama Buddha's life and is the longest suṭṭa of the Pāli Canon. Because of its attention to detail, it has been resorted to as the principal source of reference in most standard accounts of the Buddha's passing.

The cariyāpiṭaka is a short verse work that includes thirty-five accounts of the Buddha's former lives when he as a bodhisattva exhibited behaviors known as "perfections," prerequisites to buddhahood, the Lakkhana suṭṭa of Diganikāya mentions thirty two special marks on the Buddha’s body, and Mahāpadāna suṭṭa presents the time, clan, Family, etc, and birth place of seven Buddhas namely Vipassi, Sikhi, Vessabhū, Kakusandha, Konāgamana, Kassapa and Gotama. Then, the Hemāvata sutta is as the former two discourses. Hemāvata and Sātāgiri describing the admirable attributes of the Buddha.

In which the early monks (bhikkhus) recount their struggles and accomplishments along the road to Araḥantship, in the Theragāthā of the Khuddaka Nikāya. The Therigātha of the Khuddaka Nikāya, in which the early nuns (bhikkhunis) recount their struggles and accomplishments along the road to Araḥantship. An excellent print translation of the Therigāthā is Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns. The contents of the Suṭṭa Piṭaka are attributed, with few exceptions, to the Gautama Buddha himself. Roughly comparable collections, called Nikāyas, comprise the Pāli.

By Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)