Tagged: Theravāda Buddhism
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Collins - On The Very Idea Of The Pali Canon (1990)
1Steven Collins argues that the Pali Canon should not be seen as the pre-existing foundation of Theravāda Buddhism, but rather as a product created by the Mahāvihāra monastic lineage in Ceylon during the first millennium A.D. as a strategy for legitimation. This development was driven by a rivalry with the competing Abhayagiri monastery, which accepted a wider range of scriptures. The Mahāvihāra monks established their authority by creating a closed, exclusive list of texts defined as the historical "Buddha's Word" (`buddhavacana`), committing these texts and their commentaries to writing, standardizing their interpretation through figures like Buddhaghosa, and authoring historical chronicles (`vamsa`) to construct a singular, legitimate line of succession. Collins concludes that while the *idea* of a fixed canon was ideologically crucial for establishing this orthodoxy, in practice, the religious life of Theravāda cultures has always drawn from a much broader selection of canonical and non-canonical works, making the concept of the canon more significant than its specific textual contents.
Makcharoen - Why Women Cannot Be Buddha? (2018)
2According to the text, the assertion that only men can be enlightened as a Buddha is not based on spiritual inferiority but on practical and contextual factors. The path to Buddhahood requires fulfilling the eight qualifications of Dhammasamothan, one of which is masculinity. This requirement stems from four main considerations - the physically demanding duties and missions of a Buddha, which involve constant travel and teaching; the natural sufferings and physical nature of women, such as menstruation and pregnancy, which are seen as obstacles; the social and cultural conditions of ancient India, where a female leader would not have been accepted, thus hindering the religion's propagation; and the need to support male followers by avoiding the potential for infatuation. Therefore, while women and men have equal potential to perform meritorious acts, the specific role of a Buddha is considered suitable only for a man, and a woman aspiring to this path must first be reborn in a male form.
Norman - Aspects of Early Buddhism (1990)
3In early Buddhism, the denial of a permanent self (attā) raises the question of what transmigrates through saṃsāra, with the Buddha refuting the idea of a permanent consciousness (viññāṇa) and instead proposing the doctrine of dependent origination (paṭicca-samuppāda). This causal chain explains how suffering arises from conditions like ignorance (avijjā) and craving (taṇhā), and liberation (nibbāna) is achieved by breaking this chain. The Pāli canon presents multiple, sometimes conflicting, paths to this goal, including the Buddha's own attainment of bodhi through meditative states (jhānas) and the destruction of the āsavas ("afflictions"), and the more widely taught Eight-Fold Path which leads to the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha). Ultimately, nibbāna is not a state of being for a soul but is described as the uncompounded (asaṅkhata) and indescribable reality that remains when the conditioned elements (khandhas) that constitute an individual cease, thus ending the cycle of rebirth.
Sharma - Rune E. A. Johansson's Analysis of Citta (2018)
4In his critique of Rune E. A. Johansson's analysis, Arvind Sharma examines and refutes the theory that *citta* (mind) exists as a core personality factor separate from the five *skandhas* and survives death. Johansson argues that *citta* is an enduring element, distinct from *viññāna* (consciousness), which attains *nibbāna* and continues in a diluted, impersonal state after an *arahant's* death, citing as evidence the ability of *arahants* to recognize one another and scriptural accounts like the story of Vakkali. Sharma contends that this evidence is insufficient to challenge the standard Theravāda position that an *arahant's* post-mortem state is unpredictable. He counters that Johansson relies on a weak "argument from silence" and offers an alternative interpretation wherein an *arahant's* enlightenment is recognized precisely through the *non-recognizability* of their consciousness, rather than through an identifiable, surviving *citta*.
Skilling - The Advent of Theravāda Buddhism to Mainland South-east Asia (1997)
5Based on Pāli inscriptions from the 5th to 8th centuries CE found in the Pyu kingdom of Śrikṣetra (Burma) and the Mon kingdom of Dvāravatī (Siam), this paper argues for the predominance of Theravāda Buddhism in mainland Southeast Asia during the first millennium. The evidence lies in both the Pāli language of the epigraphs—a strong indicator of the Theravādin school—and their content, which includes specifically Theravādin recensions of canonical texts, Abhidhamma fragments, and non-canonical works like the Visuddhimagga. While establishing a Theravādin presence, the author finds it futile to trace its origins directly to either the Mahāvihāra or Abhayagiri schools of Ceylon due to a lack of conclusive evidence. Instead, the paper posits that this Buddhism evolved independently, influenced by various regions of India and developing a unique "local genius" seen in distinctive art and architecture. This flourishing Buddhist culture was not replicated in early Cambodia, where Brahmanism remained dominant and similar epigraphic and archaeological evidence is absent.
Gombrich, Richard F. - How Buddhism Began (2006)
6Richard F. Gombrich's *How Buddhism Began* argues that the Buddha's original teachings must be understood within their historical context, primarily as a debate with and reaction to contemporary religious ideas, especially those of Brahminism. Gombrich posits that the Buddha was not an essentialist philosopher concerned with 'what' things are, but a pragmatic teacher focused on 'how' they function, notably by reinterpreting concepts like *kamma* from ritual action to intention. The book's other central theme is that subsequent generations of disciples, by taking the Buddha's metaphors and allegories literally, created new doctrines and scholastic distinctions that went far beyond his original, often context-dependent, message. This process is illustrated through analyses of key texts and concepts, such as the development of 'release by insight' as an alternative to meditation and a reinterpretation of the Aṅgulimāla story, suggesting that many apparent inconsistencies in the Pali Canon arose from a failure to appreciate the Buddha's use of skillful means and the specific debates he was engaged in.
Gombrich, Richard F. - Theravāda Buddhism (2006)
7Richard Gombrich's *Theravāda Buddhism* provides a social history of this conservative branch of Buddhism, which originated with the Buddha's teachings in 5th-century BCE India on achieving salvation (*nibbāna*) from suffering through a "Middle Way" of morality, meditation, and wisdom. Central to this path was the redefinition of *kamma* as intention and the denial of an eternal soul (*anattā*), doctrines preserved and spread by a monastic Order (the Sangha) governed by a detailed disciplinary code (*vinaya*). With the patronage of Emperor Asoka, Theravāda was established in Sri Lanka around 250 BCE, where it became fused with Sinhalese national identity and developed a devotional culture of pilgrimage and relic worship, while the Sangha adapted to its role as a land-owning elite, undergoing cycles of decline and revival. The 19th century brought a major transformation with the rise of "Protestant Buddhism," a lay-led movement reacting to Christian missionaries and colonial rule, which reinterpreted Buddhism as a rational, scientific philosophy and promoted lay activism. In the contemporary era, this legacy has been shaped by civil war and globalization, fostering a more intense nationalism and new forms of lay religiosity, from ecstatic god-worship to the re-establishment of the nuns' order, presenting new challenges and adaptations for the ancient tradition.
Norman - Pāli Literature - A History Of Indian Literature (1983)
8K.R. Norman's *Pāli Literature* provides a comprehensive overview of the literary tradition of Theravāda Buddhism, also encompassing the canonical works of other Hīnayāna schools in Prakrit and Sanskrit. The literature is centered on the Pāli Canon or Tipiṭaka, which is divided into the Vinaya-piṭaka (monastic rules), the Sutta-piṭaka (discourses of the Buddha, organized into five nikāyas), and the Abhidhamma-piṭaka (systematic philosophical analysis). The text details the history of the Pāli language as a standardized Middle Indo-Aryan dialect, its transmission through oral reciters (bhānakas) and councils, and its eventual commitment to writing in Ceylon in the first century B.C. Beyond the canon, a vast post-canonical literature developed, including foundational commentaries (aṭṭhakathās) by figures like Buddhaghosa, sub-commentaries (ṭīkās), historical chronicles (vaṃsas) like the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, hermeneutical guides, poetry (kāvya), and grammatical works, which flourished not only in India and Ceylon but also in Burma and Thailand.