Early Buddhism

Early Buddhism

Scriptures

Pali Canon Āgamas Gandharan texts

Councils

1st Council 2nd Council 3rd Council 4th Council

Schools

First Sangha └ Mahāsāṃghika     ├ Ekavyahāraka     ├ Lokottaravāda     ├ Bahuśrutīya     ├ Prajñaptivāda     └ Caitika └ Sthaviravāda     ├ Mahīśāsaka     ├ Dharmaguptaka     ├ Kāśyapīya     ├ Sarvāstivāda     └ Vibhajyavāda         └ Theravāda

The term Early Buddhism can refer to:

• Pre-sectarian Buddhism, which refers to the Teachings and monastic organization and structure, founded by Gautama Buddha.
• The Early Buddhist schools, into which pre-sectarian Buddhism split (without formal schisms, in the sense of Vinaya).

The period of Pre-sectarian Buddhism lasted until about 100 years after the death of Gautama Buddha. The various splits within the monastic organization went together with the introduction and emphasis on Abhidhammic literature by some schools. This literature was specific to each school, and arguments and disputes between the schools were often based on these Abhidhammic writings. However, actual splits were originally based on disagreements on vinaya (monastic discipline), though later on, by about 100 CE or earlier, they could be based on doctrinal disagreement. Pre-sectarian Buddhism, however, did not have Abhidhammic scriptures, except perhaps for a basic framework, and not all of the early schools developed an Abhidhamma literature.

Several hundreds of years after the advent of Mahayana Buddhism (in the fifth century CE), the early Buddhist schools entered a period of decline in India, while Mahayana Buddhism became stronger. The seventh century Chinese pilgirm Xuanzang reports, however, that non-Mahayana Buddhists continued to comprise a substantial majority of Buddhists in India at that time, and it is likely that this was the case right up to the end of Buddhism in India altogether.

Timeline: Development and propagation of Buddhist traditions (ca. 450 BCE – ca. 1300 CE)
	450 BCE		250 BCE	100 CE		500 CE		700 CE	800 CE		1200 CE
India	Early Sangha
		Early Buddhist schools				Mahayana		Vajrayana
Sri Lanka & Southeast Asia			Theravada Buddhism
Central Asia			Greco-Buddhism					Tibetan Buddhism
			Silk Road Buddhism
East Asia				Chán, Tiantai, Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren					Shingon
	450 BCE		250 BCE	100 CE		500 CE		700 CE	800 CE		1200 CE
Legend:   = Theravada tradition   = Mahayana traditions   = Vajrayana traditions

Sources

• Buswell, Jr., Robert E. (ed.) (2003). Encyclopedia of Buddhism (MacMillan). ISBN 0-028-65718-7.
• Cousins, L.S. (1996). "The Dating of the Historical Buddha: A Review Article" in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, 6.1 (1996): 57-63. Retrieved 29 Nov 2008 from "Indology" at http://indology.info/papers/cousins/.
• Embree, Ainslie T. (ed.), Stephen N. Hay (ed.), Wm. Theodore de Bary (ed.), A.L. Bashram, R.N. Dandekar, Peter Hardy, J.B. Harrison, V. Raghavan, Royal Weiler, and Andrew Yarrow (1958; 2nd ed. 1988). Sources of Indian Tradition: From the Beginning to 1800 (vol. 1). NY: Columbia U. Press. ISBN 0-231-06651-1.
• Gombrich, Richard F. (1988; 6th reprint, 2002). Theravāda Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo (London: Routledge). ISBN 0-415-07585-8.
• Harvey, Peter (1990; 15th printing, 2007). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). ISBN 0-521-31333-3.
• Keown, Damien and Charles S Prebish (eds.) (2004). Encyclopedia of Buddhism (London: Routledge). ISBN 978-0-415-31414-5.
• Robinson, Richard H. and Willard L. Johnson (1970; 3rd ed., 1982). The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing). ISBN 0-534-01027-X.
• Williams, Paul with Anthony Tribe (2000). Buddhist Thought (London: Routledge). ISBN 0-415-20701-0. Retrieved 29 Nov 2008 from "Google Books" at http://books.google.com/books?id=v0Rpvycf1t0C.