Saptparm Cave and the First Buddhist Council

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Georgei
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Saptparm Cave and the First Buddhist Council

Post by Georgei »

Just wanted to share this ... Thought it was pretty cool..

Saptparni Cave-where the first Buddhist council was held after Buddha died (paranirvana).

Saptparni Cave, also referred to as Saptaparni Cave or Sattapani Cave, is a Buddhist cave site about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) southwest from Rajgir, Bihar, India.

It is embedded in a hill. The Saptaparni Cave is important in the Buddhist tradition, because many believe it to be the site in which Buddha spent some time before his death, and where the first Buddhist council was held after Buddha died (paranirvana). It is here that a council of few hundred monks decided to appoint Ananda (Buddha's cousin) and Upali, believed to have a good memory and who had accompanied the Buddha when he gave sermons in north India, to compose Buddha's teachings for the future generations. The Buddha never wrote down his teachings. After the Saptaparni Caves meeting, Ananda created an oral tradition of Buddha's teaching from his memory, prefacing it with "Thus have I heard on one occasion". Upali is credited with reciting the Nikaya discipline or "rules for the Bhikshus". This tradition is found in Vinaya Pitaka II.284 through II.287 and Digha Nikaya II.154.

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Fortyeightvows
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Re: Saptparm Cave and the First Buddhist Council

Post by Fortyeightvows »

:good:
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Saptparm Cave and the First Buddhist Council

Post by Fortyeightvows »

How different do you think things would be if Sariputra and Moggallana would have been at the first council?
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Aemilius
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Re: Saptparm Cave and the First Buddhist Council

Post by Aemilius »

I have some doubts about that there ever was a "one" Sangha, one Community, even during the life of Shakyamuni. Although it must have been politically necessary to create the image of there having been a one unified Sangha (of Arhats, Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Bodhisattvas, Laymen and Laywomen). And why do I believe this? Because there where the Sixteen Mahajanapadas (Great countries) where the Dharma had spread and where it existed. There were at least 16 different national Sanghas, with their own dialects and own languages, their own customs, and their own local traditions that had developed.

How did the local Sanghas communicate in those days, among their members? How did the Sanghas of great countries communicate with each other? Or the Sanghas existing in the different regions of one country? Compare it to the situation of today, with the ease of travelling and the means of communication that we now have. And still we have hundreds of local Sanghas or Communities!

Etienne Lamotte has a good account of the spread of Dharma in his book History of Indian Buddhism. In this view there most likely were several different languages in which the early oral teaching existed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahajanapada
svaha
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Queequeg
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Re: Saptparm Cave and the First Buddhist Council

Post by Queequeg »

Fortyeightvows wrote: Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:45 am How different do you think things would be if Sariputra and Moggallana would have been at the first council?
I hope it wouldn't have made a difference.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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