Theravada Buddhism
A
Chronology
Edited by John Bullitt
This
timeline chronicles some of the significant events and personalities in the evolution
of Theravada Buddhism that, in one way or another, figure prominently in the readings
found elsewhere on this website. This is not meant to be a comprehensive chronology.
Because the sources I used in constructing this timeline (indicated by braces
{} and listed at the end of this document) often assumed different dates for the
Buddha's nativity, I have occasionally had to interpolate in order to fit events
(particularly the early ones) onto a reasonably consistent timeline. Nevertheless,
this chronology should provide a fairly clear picture of the relative sequence
of events, if not the absolute dates on which they occurred.
For a general
introduction to Theravada Buddhism, please see "What is Theravada Buddhism?".
BE[1] CE[2]
-80 -624/-560
The Bodhisatta (Sanskrit: Bodhisattva), or Buddha-to-be, is born in Lumbini
(in present-day Nepal) as Siddhattha (Skt: Siddhartha) Gotama, a prince of the
Sakya clan. {1,2}
-51 -595/-531
The Bodhisatta renounces the householder
life (age 29)
-45 -589/-525
While meditating under the Bo tree in the
forest at Gaya (now Bodhgaya, India) during the full-moon night of May, the Bodhisatta
becomes the Buddha (age 36).
During the full-moon night of July, the Buddha
delivers his first discourse near Varanasi, introducing the world to the Four
Noble Truths and commencing a 45-year career of teaching the religion he called
"Dhamma-vinaya".
1 -544/-480
Parinibbana (Skt: Parinirvana;
death and final release) of the Buddha, at Kusinara (now Kusinagar, India) (age
80). {1,3}
During the rains retreat following the Buddha's Parinibbana, the
First Council convenes at Rajagaha, India, during which 500 arahant bhikkhus,
led by Ven. Mahakassapa, gather to recite the entire body of the Buddha's teachings.
The recitation of the Vinaya by Ven. Upali becomes accepted as the Vinaya Pitaka;
the recitation of the Dhamma by Ven. Ananda becomes established as the Sutta Pitaka.
{1,4}
100 -444/-380
100 years after the Buddha's Parinibbana the Second
Council convenes in Vesali to discuss controversial points of Vinaya. The first
schism of the Sangha occurs, in which the Mahasanghika school parts ways with
the traditionalist Sthaviravadins. At issue is the Mahasanghika's reluctance to
accept the Suttas and the Vinaya as the final authority on the Buddha's teachings.
This schism marks the first beginnings of what would later evolve into Mahayana
Buddhism, which would come to dominate Buddhism in northern Asia (China, Tibet,
Japan, Korea). {1}
294 -250
Third Council is convened by King Asoka at
Pataliputra (India). Disputes on points of doctrine lead to further schisms, spawning
the Sarvastivadin and Vibhajjavadin sects. The Abhidhamma Pitaka is recited at
the Council, along with additional sections of the Khuddaka Nikaya. The modern
Pali Tipitaka is now essentially complete, although some scholars have suggested
that at least two parts of the extant Canon -- the Parivara in the Vinaya, and
the Apadana in the Sutta -- may date from a later period. {1, 4}
297 -247
King Asoka sends his son, Ven. Mahinda, on a mission to bring Buddhism to
Sri Lanka. King Devanampiya Tissa of Sri Lanka is converted. {5}
304 -240
Ven. Mahinda establishes the Mahavihara (Great Monastery) of Anuradhapura,
Sri Lanka. The Vibhajjavadin community living there becomes known as the Theravadins.
Mahinda compiles the first of the Tipitaka commentaries, in the Sinhala language.
Mahinda's sister, Ven. Sanghamitta, arrives in Sri Lanka with a cutting from the
original Bo tree, and establishes the bhikkhuni-sangha in Sri Lanka.{1, 5}
444
-100
Famine and schisms in Sri Lanka point out the need for a written record
of the Tipitaka to preserve the Buddhist religion. King Vattagamani convenes a
Fourth Council, in which 500 reciters and scribes from the Mahavihara write down
the Pali Tipitaka for the first time, on palm leaves. {4, 5, 6}
544 1
Common
Era (CE) begins; Year 1 AD.
644 100
Theravada Buddhism first appears in
Burma and Central Thailand. {1}
744 200
Buddhist monastic university at
Nalanda, India flourishes; remains a world center of Buddhist study for over 1,000
years. {1}
ca. 1000 5th c.
Ven. Buddhaghosa collates the various Sinhala
commentaries on the Canon -- drawing primarily on the Maha Atthakatha (Great Commentary)
preserved at the Mahavihara -- and translates them into Pali. This makes Sinhala
Buddhist scholarship available for the first time to the entire Theravadin world
and marks the beginning of what will become, in the centuries to follow, a vast
body of post-canonical Pali literature. Buddhaghosa also composes his encyclopedic,
though controversial, meditation manual Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification).
Vens. Buddhadatta and Dhammapala write additional commentaries and sub-commentaries.
{7}
ca. 1100 600's
Buddhism in India begins a long, slow decline from
which it would never fully recover. {1}
ca. 1100? 1400? 6th c.? 9th c.?
Dhammapala
composes commentaries on parts of the Canon missed by Buddhaghosa (such as the
Udana, Itivuttaka, Theragatha, and Therigatha), along with extensive sub-commentaries
on Buddhaghosa's work. {7}
1594 1050
The bhikkhu and bhikkhuni communities
at Anuradhapura die out following invasions from South India.{1, 5}
1614 1070
Bhikkhus from Pagan arrive in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka to reinstate the obliterated
Theravada ordination line on the island. {5}
1708 1164
Polonnaruwa destroyed
by foreign invasion. With the guidance of two monks from a forest branch of the
Mahavihara sect -- Vens. Mahakassapa and Sariputta -- King Parakramabahu reunites
all bhikkhus in Sri Lanka into the Mahavihara sect. {1, 8}
1780 1236
Bhikkhus
from Kañcipuram, India arrive in Sri Lanka to revive the Theravada ordination
line. {1}
1823 1279
Last inscriptional evidence of a Theravada Bhikkhuni
nunnery (in Burma). {8}
1831 1287
Pagan looted by Mongol invaders; its
decline begins. {1}
ca. 1900 13th c.
A forest-based Sri Lankan ordination
line arrives in Burma and Thailand. Theravada spreads to Laos. Thai Theravada
monasteries first appear in Cambodia shortly before the Thais win their independence
from the Khmers. {1}
ca. 2000 1400's
Another forest lineage is imported
from Sri Lanka to Ayudhaya, the Thai capital. A new ordination line is also imported
into Burma. {1}
2297 1753
King Kirti Sri Rajasinha obtains bhikkhus from
the Thai court to reinstate the bhikkhu ordination line, which had died out in
Sri Lanka. This is the origin of the Siyam Nikaya. {8}
2312 1768
Burmese
destroy Ayudhaya (Thai capital).
2321 1777
King Rama I, founder of the
current dynasty in Thailand, obtains copies of the Tipitaka from Sri Lanka and
sponsors a Council to standardize the Thai version of the Tipitaka, copies of
which are then donated to temples throughout the country. {1}
2347 1803
Sri
Lankans ordained in the Burmese city of Amarapura found the Amarapura Nikaya in
Sri Lanka to supplement the Siyam Nikaya, which admitted only brahmans from the
Up Country highlands around Kandy. {9}
2372 1828
Thailand's Prince Mongkut
(later King Rama IV) founds the Dhammayut movement, which would later become the
Dhammayut Sect. {1}
ca. 2400 1800's
Sri Lankan Sangha deteriorates under
pressure from two centuries of European colonial rule (Portuguese, Dutch, British).
{5}
2406 1862
Forest monks headed by Ven. Paññananda go
to Burma for reordination, returning to Sri Lanka the following year to found
the Ramañña Nikaya. {9} First translation of the Dhammapada into
a Western language (German). {2}
2412 1868
Fifth Council is held at Mandalay,
Burma; Pali Canon is inscribed on 729 marble slabs. {2}
2417 1873
Ven.
Mohottivatte Gunananda defeats Christian missionaries in a public debate, sparking
a nationwide revival of Sri Lankan pride in its Buddhist traditions. {8}
2423
1879
Sir Edwin Arnold publishes his epic poem Light of Asia, which becomes
a best-seller in England and the USA, stimulating popular Western interest in
Buddhism.
2424 1880
Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, founders
of the Theosophical Society, arrive in Sri Lanka from the USA, embrace Buddhism,
and begin a campaign to restore Buddhism on the island by encouraging the establishment
of Buddhist schools. {1}
2425 1881
Pali Text Society is founded in England
by T.W. Rhys Davids; most of the Tipitaka is published in roman script and, over
the next 100 years, in English translation.
2435 1891
Maha Bodhi Society
founded in India by the Sri Lankan lay follower Anagarika Dharmapala, in an effort
to reintroduce Buddhism to India. {1}
2443 1899
First Western Theravada
monk (Gordon Douglas) ordains, in Burma. {2}
ca. 2444 ca. 1900
Ven. Ajaan
Mun and Ven. Ajaan Sao revive the forest meditation tradition in Thailand. {1}
2445 1902
King Rama V of Thailand institutes a Sangha Act that formally
marks the beginnings of the Mahanikaya and Dhammayut sects. Sangha government,
which up to that time had been in the hands of a lay official appointed by the
king, is handed over to the bhikkhus themselves.
2493 1949
Mahasi Sayadaw
becomes head teacher at a government-sponsored meditation center in Rangoon, Burma.
{10}
2498 1954
Burmese government sponsors a Sixth Council in Rangoon.
2500 1956
Buddha Jayanti Year, commemorating 2,500 years of Buddhism.
2502 1958
Ven. Nyanaponika Thera establishes the Buddhist Publication
Society in Sri Lanka to publish English-language books on Theravada Buddhism.
Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement is founded in Sri Lanka to bring Buddhist ideals
to bear in solving pressing social problems. Two Germans ordain at the Royal Thai
Embassy in London, becoming the first to take full Theravada ordination in the
West. {1, 2}
ca. 2504 1960's [3]
Washington (D.C.) Buddhist Vihara founded
-- first Theravada monastic community in the USA. {11; and Bhavana Society Brochure}
ca. 2514 1970's
Refugees from war in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos settle
in USA and Europe, establishing many tight-knit Buddhist communities in the West.
Ven. Taungpulu Sayadaw and Dr. Rina Sircar, from Burma, establish the Taungpulu
Kaba-Aye Monastery in Northern California, USA. Ven. Ajaan Chah establishes Wat
Pah Nanachat, a forest monastery in Thailand for training Western monks. Insight
Meditation Society, a lay meditation center, is founded in Massachusetts, USA.
Ven. Ajaan Chah travels to England to establish a small community of monks at
the Hamsptead Vihara, which later moves to Sussex, England, to become Wat Pah
Cittaviveka (Chithurst Forest Monastery).
ca. 2524 1980's
Lay meditation
centers grow in popularity in USA and Europe. First Theravada forest monastery
in the USA (Bhavana Society) is established in West Virginia. Amaravati Buddhist
Monastery established in England by Ven. Ajaan Sumedho (student of Ven. Ajaan
Chah).
ca. 2534 1990's
Continued western expansion of the Theravada Sangha:
monasteries from the Thai forest traditions established in California, USA (Metta
Forest Monastery, founded by Ven. Ajaan Suwat; Abhayagiri Monastery, founded by
Ven. Ajaans Amaro and Pasanno). Buddhism meets cyberspace: Buddhist computer networks
emerge; several editions of the Pali Tipitaka become available online.
Notes
1.
BE = Buddhist Era. Year 1 of the Buddhist Era calendar is the year of the Buddha's
Parinibbana (death and final release), which occurred in the Buddha's eightieth
year (480 BCE according to the "historical" timeline; 544 BCE by tradition).
The actual date of the Buddha's birth is unknown. According to Buddhist tradition,
the Buddha's birth took place in 624 BCE, although some recent estimates place
the Buddha's birth much later -- perhaps as late as 448 BCE {1}. 560 BCE is one
commonly accepted date for the Buddha's birth, and the "historical"
date for that event that I adopt here.
Events in the timeline prior to -250
CE are shown with two CE dates: the date based on the "traditional"
nativity of 624 BCE, followed by the date based on the "historical"
date of 560 BCE. After -250 CE the "historical" date is dropped, since
these dates are more appropriate only in discussions of earlier events.
To
calculate the CE date corresponding to an event in the Buddhist traditional calendar,
subtract 544 years from the BE date. The BE dates of well-documented historical
events (particularly those in the twentieth century) may be off by one year, since
the CE and BE calendars start their years on different months (January and May,
respectively).
2. CE = Common Era. Year 1 of the Common Era corresponds with the year 1 AD (Anno Domini) in the Christian calendar. -1 CE (or 1 BCE -- "Before the Common Era") corresponds with the year 1 BC ("Before Christ"). By convention there is no year zero; the year 1 BCE is followed by 1 CE.
3.
Events of the last few decades are still much too fresh in our collective experience
to argue intelligently for or against their historical significance.
Sources
{1}
The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction (fourth edition) by R.H. Robinson
& W.L. Johnson (Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 1996)
{2} The Buddha's
Way by H. Saddhatissa (London: Allen & Unwin, 1971)
{3} Pali Literature
and Language by Wilhelm Geiger (New Delhi: Oriental Books, 1978)
{4} Beginnings:
the Pali Suttas by Samanera Bodhesako (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1984)
{5} Buddhism in Sri Lanka by H.R. Perera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society,
1966)
{6} The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga) (Introduction) by Ven.
Bhikkhu Ñanamoli (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1975)
{7} Indian
Buddhism (second edition) by A.K. Warder (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980)
{8}
Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo by
Richard Gombrich (London and New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988)
{9}
The Forest Monks of Sri Lanka: An Anthropological and Historical Study by Michael
Carrithers (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983)
{10} The Progress of Insight
by Mahasi Sayadaw (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1994)
{11} World Buddhist
Directory by The Buddhist Information Centre (Colombo, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Information
Centre, 1984)