Buddhist Councils in a Time of Transition: Globalism, Modernity and the Preservation of Textual Traditions

Abstract

This article looks at what is genuinely new in the Buddhist transnationalism of the modern period. It examines the history of Buddhist councils and synods from the early gatherings after the demise of the Buddha to the Buddhist World Council in the twentieth century. These often international events followed a role-model, defined by the first three councils, of creating and handing down an authoritative version of the Buddha's teachings (dhamma) while they could also lead to a ‘purification’ of the monks' order (sangha) if monks sticking to divergent textual traditions were expelled from the sangha. Despite their importance, however, councils have received rather little attention in scholarly literature. This article takes a fresh look at Buddhist synods with a focus on those convened since the mid-nineteenth century. It explores how the latter sought to comply with inherited forms and functions, while at the same time becoming innovative in order to adapt Buddhism to its modern environment.

Acknowledgements

This paper emerged from the conference: Southeast Asia as a Crossroads for Buddhist Exchange, sponsored by the Dhammakaya International Society, UK, and University College Cork, Republic of Ireland. The author is grateful to acknowledge the support he received from these institutions to attend the conference.

Notes

 1. Although the term ‘council’ appears to be more common, ‘synod’ will be used here to denote the meetings as, later on, permanent boards of monks also came to be called councils. The Pali equivalent of a synod would be sanghayana or sangiti.

 2. Frauwallner (1952); Bareau (1955); Alsdorf (1959); Bechert (1961); Hallisey (1991). For an overview of the discussions, see Prebish (1974).

 3. Alsdorf (1959); Bechert (1961); Norman (1983).

 4. Frasch (1998a, 2000). For a general history of Theravada Buddhism, see Gombrich (2006).

 5. Frasch (2000, 2011).

 6. For the context of this synod, see Norman (1983, 10–11) and Bechert (1992). For the role of the canon, see Collins (1990).

 7. In his Samantapasadika (Jayawickrama 1962, 91–93), Buddhaghosa stops with the rehearsal of the Vinaya in the first century BCE, emphasizing the role of lineage and knowledge of the Vinaya over the role of synods. In the Saddhammasangaha, a work representing the Thai tradition, this council is seen as the fifth (Law 1952, 61–69).

 8. Frasch (2000, 2013).

 9. Frasch (1998b).

10. Frasch (2013).

11. For the various Southeast Asian traditions relating to this synod and its outreach see Frasch (2011, 387–389).

12. Nyanasamvara (1992). Thai tradition recognizes the three Indian councils detailed above and four Sri Lankan synods at Anuradhapura (third century BCE), Alokalena (first century BCE), Anuradhapura under Buddhaghosa (fifth century CE) and the attempt by King Parakkama Bahu I of Polonnaruwa to reunite the three Sinhalese nikayas in the middle of the twelfth century CE.

13. Blackburn (2001, 2010); Malalgoda (1976, 87–100, 161–172).

14. For the modernization of Burma after 1853, see U Myint Thant-U (2001, 104–129).

15. Dates follow U Than Tun (1977) and are based on the official history of Burma's last dynasty, the Konbaungzet Mahayazawin-daw-gyi.

16. U Than Tun (1977, 130).

17. U Than Tun (ed., 1988), July 10, 1870. The recitation of the texts was presided over by the Royal Preceptor or Thathanabaing.

18. U Maung Maung Tin (1968, 382–385). The account of the chronicle begins with a recapitulation of the previous four synods, listing the kings who sponsored them, the number of monks participating, the name of the leading monk and the subject of the synod, which was a recitation of the complete canon in every case. The account of the Mandalay synod is, for the most part, an eulogy of the king.

19. U Than Tun (ed., 1988), September 10, 1871.

20. Major works containing that mistake include Smith (1965, 26, 157); Bechert ([1966–1967]1988–2000, 2); Keyes (1977, 267); Devendra (1977, 524); U Tin Maung Maung Than (1993, 11); Bečka (1995, 84). But see Quigly (1956) and Bollée (1968), the latter being the first scholar to point out this mistake and actually assess the value of the stone library.

21. Malalgoda (1976, 161–172).

22. Bechert ([1966–1967]1988–2000, 22–23). For the factions within the sangha see also Ferguson (1978) and Charney (2006, 209–215).

23. Nyanasamvara (1992, 60); Saddhatissa (1974, 219). The ninth synod had been held in 1788 as part of the reorganization of the Siamese kingdom after the Burmese conquest of Ayutthya in 1767.

24. Chalmers (1898).

25. Chalmers (1898, 2–3).

26. Chalmers (1898, 8). For traditional forms of Thai Buddhist scholarship see Veidlinger (2006); for the adaption of Western scholarship see Jory (2002).

27. Grönbold (1984, 57).

28. Frasch (2013); Tinker (1957).

29. Tinker (1957, 174). The total expenses equated to c. £2 million. In addition to the financial contributions, numerous government officials were given paid leave to work as volunteers for the synod.

30. For the tasks given to the synod and its proceedings see Bechert ([1966–1967]1988–2000, 104–106) and Tinker (1957, 172–175). A first assessment of the printed texts is Hamm (1962).

31. See Grönbold (1984) for further details.

32. The compilation of the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, begun in 1955 and concluded in 2011, was the major state-sponsored project on the island. The impetus of the Buddhist revival there was quickly hijacked by the two major political parties and became a crucial factor in the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict that paralysed the country for the rest of the twentieth century.

33. For Ambedkar's conversion (and, more generally, a history of Buddhism from the perspective of the Navayana), see Omvedt (2003, 243–265). Nehru and the Government of India welcomed the Buddhist revival in India as part of India's own nation-building project. The Indian government sponsored a volume in felicitation of the anniversary of 2500 years (Bapat 1956).

34. For Nepal, see Levine and Gellner (2005); for Indonesia, see Bechert (1988).