Buddhist Council, Symbols For Buddhism

Buddhist Council and Reforms:

Buddhist Council placed remarkable place in Buddhism. Every Buddhist follow the traditions and cultural according to their principles directed from Buddhist councils. From time to time, there were four different councils conducted to discuss the important events and the policy matters of Buddhism. Since then four councils conducted in different times.

Buddhist Council the First One:

Therefore the first council conducted in about 487 B.C on the occasion of Buddha’s death at Magadha capital Rajagriha. Nearly five hundred Buddhist monks and believers came to attend the first Buddhist council. The attendants collected the teachings of Buddha and add some elaborated explanations to the teachings and complied them into three books called Tripitaka. They are Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, and Abhidhamma Pitaka. All these three Pitakas Wrote in Pali language.

Buddhist Council the Second One:

Since the second Buddhist council held at Vaishali in 387 B.C. which held after one hundred years of First Buddhist council. Generally, the Buddhist brought some reforms and changes in the monastic life and changed the old scriptures.

Buddhist Council the Third One:

The third councils held in Pataliputra in 251 B.C. During the third Buddhist council Ashoka was ruling Pataliputra. He personally looks after the celebrations and summit of the council. TTissa Moggaliputhra, the renowned Buddhist presided the council and introduced many reforms in the monastic life. The chief aim of the council is to bring purity to the monastic life. In the third council, some internal differences of the Monks were patched up.

The Fourth One:

The fourth and the last council held in the first century A.D. at Kundalvana in Kashmir. The last and fourth council held during the reign of Kanishka, also a great devotee of Buddha. The fourth council presided over by Asvaghosa. In this council, the eminent monks made every effort to patch up the differences among the Buddhist monks on rituals of Buddhism. Due to these causes the ideas of the council too widely different to patch up and hence Buddhists divided into two sects. Finally they became as the Hinayana and Mahayana. In this council only the sacred scriptures of the Buddhists brought into two elaborate commentaries, they are Upasesa and the Vibhasha.