Organization of Buddhism Structures and Sects Essay

The Shangha also one of the earliest organized group in Buddhism made up of a community of Nuns and monks and was one member of another group known as samanas. The group stopped their wandering life for quite some time during the rainy seasons and the time was allocated for religious practice. They tended to assemble at vassa (place of worship) and these places were donated by wealthy patrons. The making of these community was fashioned to help create an ideal community centered on spiritual foundations and the Buddha would arrange for frequent meetings with the community members with the main agenda being arriving at a consensus on different matters of concern to the community at large. Just after the death of Buddha, the followers met in a common place for the recitation of sutta which were sections of the scriptures. Later on, some other communal gathering would be held to censure some monks whose conduct was questionable and in contradiction to Buddha teachings (Harvey p. 88).

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Among the members of different monastic fraternities, the divergence of thought was common where the particular interpretation of a doctrine was unique among some members. Perhaps that was the origin of schism as a show of disagreement within the shangha community. In the third century BCE, the Abhidhamma also known as schools emerged with the main aim of teaching suttas systematically. Although these schools were different they had a common religious goal of presenting the spiritual teachings as well as the implications of not following the canonical treaties. There were also religious documents published to help break down the religious facts in a more understandable content

Three systematic schools of thought emerged namely the pudglavada, vibhajyavada and the savastivada each with its versions of teachings and a certain emphasis on particular values. The Savastinadin (pan realist) became more dominant in north India under one rule of their Kaniska 1. Their influence would later spread to central Asia. They became well known for their religious thought and belief that the past present and future Dharmas exist. The past ones exist to help explain why karma (good or bad luck arising from one's actions) arising from the past affect the present life. The vibhajyavada also was known as the 'distinctionists' had also a strong following in south India. They also spread in the southeast and central Asia and their four fraternities were active the Dharmaguptakas, the kasyapiyas, mahisasakasand finally the Pali tambapanniyas. The vibhajyavada argued against the five points of mahadeva (Harvey p. 92).

There was three kind of aspirations taught among the early schools in Buddhism and were clearly elaborated by few dedicated practitioners of faith. The first aspiration is also known as "awakened disciple" or one liberated by the fact that he has practiced under the strict guidance of Buddha either in the present life or in future. The second form of aspiration is that of "solitary awakened one" meaning that the awakening of the individual is derived from practicing religious values in solitary places such as in the forests and also through their own efforts. When the teachings of perfect Buddha are unavailable and their insights were believed to be stronger than those of the first aspiration. Then there is the third Kind also known as the Buddha or perfect Buddha these are individuals who have the divine skills to teach others about dhamma even when it is lost in human society. They usually teach through several approaches so as to be beneficial to several other people (Harvey 99).

The first aspiration was the most common in Buddhism the few who aspired to attain one of the three aspirations were required to develop particular spiritual and moral perfections to higher levels. The perfections were associated with divine inspiration to enable one to become a perfect Buddha. The perfection stories were well captured in Jataka also known as the birth stories that told the past historical figures who inspired others through their great deeds of wisdom, kindness, and generosity. The key figures in the stories were identified with perfect Buddha relatives or disciples at the end. The stories of actions were also told to inspire people to devote their life to Buddha. The stories emphasized the past success of Buddha and the Arahats with great emphasis on the benefits of having done good service to others. Such devotion would generate by good Karma connection to Buddha was seen as requisite for future awakening.

Buddhism ideals continued to spread under the leadership of Emperor Asoka and became influential in most parts of the Indian continent and beyond. He adopted social life in accordance with Buddhist teachings as a guiding principle to his leadership until British conquest. He believed he was ordained to preserve social harmony among his followers and great concern for Dhamma in sense of social justice and morality. The emperor believed it was his responsibility to improve the lives of his subject. Just like the Roman Empire, Asoka gave total support to Buddhism in his territories. He supported the religious traditions, the Nuns, Jain wanderers and also the Brahmins (Harvey p. 101).

The culmination of different earlier developments gave rise to the Mahayana movement which drew inspirations from earlier fraternities such as the Sarvastivadin and mahasamghika philosophical ideas. There are sources that indicate it originated from forest meditators but this movement was not associated with an individual. It critiqued the earlier fraternities such as savastivada abhidharma and instead focused on three important ingredients that emphasized on wisdom, compassion, and faith. The movement would soon bring novel ideas into the early Buddhist teachings and resulted into the establishment of the Mahayana as a distinct identity. The movement incorporated new literature and teachings into the Sutras and anyone who accepted their new literature and teachings was accepted into the movement. They were not required to abandon their old fraternities including the monks and the nuns (Harvey p.109).

The new movement, however, remained the minority among the Buddhists in Indian territories and the traditionalists rejected the inclusion of the new literature claiming that it was not the word of Buddha. The new literature by the adopted by the movement, however, was deemed to be the word of Buddha since they were drawn from inspirations of Buddha word and through vivid dreams and meditation. Each explanation in the new literature of sutra was arising both directly and indirectly through meditative experiences. The new literature was regarded as a renewed and deeper teachings of the earlier fraternities' version. In India, the Mahayana movement developed Yogacara and madhyamika as the two philosophical schools. The madhyamika also was known as the emptiness teaching the resolve that emptiness is central to the perfection of wisdom. The, on the other hand, means the practice of Yoga and refers to the path of meditation. Both the Yogacara and the Madhyamika perceived each other as the middle way between substantialism and nihilism (Harvey 130).

Work cited

Harvey, Peter. An introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, history and practices. Cambridge University Press, 2012.