Buddhist councils

Common card · No. 291359

Since the death of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, Buddhist monastic communities, the "sangha", have periodically convened for doctrinal and disciplinary reasons and to revise and correct the contents of the Buddhist canons. Although sometimes referred to as Buddhist "councils" (Pāli and Sanskrit: saṅgīti, literally meaning "reciting together" or "joint rehearsal"), Tilakaratne explains that the term saṅgīti stands above all for a group or communal recitation that functions as an expression of communal harmony and unity. This is the key element of the first saṅgīti, for example, for which various prior deliberations formed but a preparation. What the term saṅgīti conveys in this way differs to some extent from what the term “council” designates in its standard English usage. The famous First Buddhist Council or Communal Recitation is recorded in Buddhist texts as being held soon after the Buddha's passing, when Ananda recited all of the spoken sutras, which were recorded in Rajagriha...

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