Rethinking Buddhism: Text, Context, Contestation

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Rethinking Buddhism: Text, Context, Contestation deals with textual traditions, contextualization, and contestation in Indian Buddhism. The essays in this volume envision, explore, and challenge some of the well-established views to investigate Buddhist sources and contemplate alternative theories on origin, development of early Schools, and other fundamentals. On the one hand, there are reassessments and reinterpretations of the established hypotheses; on the other, new voices are raised to re-examine the traditional opinions on narratives of understanding the philosophical and literary approaches. This volume examines real historical contexts and finds whether any kind of contestations occurred in different sects of Buddhism and with other existing religions.

Anand Singh is Professor at the School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy, and Comparative Religion at Nalanda University. He was formerly Dean of the School of Buddhist Studies and Civilization at Gautam Buddha University. He is the author of over thirty scholarly articles. His monographs and edited volumes include Planet, Plants and Animals: Ecological Paradigms in Buddhism (2019); Dana: Reciprocity & Patronage in Buddhism (2017); Buddhist at Sarnath (2014); and Tourism in Ancient India (2006).

AFTER THE MAHAPARINIBBANA of the Buddha, Buddhist texts dealing with doctrines and rules were compiled in the fifth century BCE in the sacred land of Magadha. Many scholars opine that the teachings of the Buddha had endured mostly in the form of legends and oral traditions for several centuries before they were dedicated to writing in Sri Lanka. The biographical sketches of the Buddha and some other prominent monks are not found in an organized manner in the early Buddhist scriptures but were later on included in the Vamsa, Atthakathas and sub-commentaries. The notion of a sacred text and its noble presence in the concerned community is intricately connected to the development of the canonization process and the endeavours of the monks who were involved in that process. The compilation and evolution of Pali literature appear to be more complex and multifaceted. But it is indisputable that Buddhism has substantiated a rich heritage of history, archaeological artefacts, and living traditions which are preserved and carried forward by the Buddhist communities across the world through their affiliation to different schools since the hoary past.
Buddhism began with a mission of Bahujan hitae and the doctrines were developed to sustain that mission. When the eighteen Buddhist schools were established, the scope and nature of the Buddhist scriptures was gradually modified and extended. Later on, Buddhist canons were copied and translated into different languages such as Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan. In the process, the ethical values, practices and doctrines also got transformed.

WHEN A NEW RELIGION takes shape in any sacred space of the world, the founder derives its social and ethical context from existing local traditions with the endorsement of some kind of repudiation, reformation, modification, adjustment and innovation. The Buddha did the same by countering some of the existing dogmatic practices and embracing an egalitarian and reformative outlook. His approach was reformative, accommodative and progressive. In case of any issue or dispute, he adopted a modest approach and, without any hesitation, borrowed some of the best practices followed by other contemporary religions/sects. After the mahaparinibbana of the Buddha, there was an urgent need to compile his teachings (sutta) and rules (vinaya) to save the religion from any kind of interpolation or deterioration. In the absence of the Buddha, the sutta and zinaya were considered the sole authority to regulate everyday life of the sangha and to expand the social and ethical base of Buddhism. This kind of textual tradition in Buddhism began when, after distribution of the relics of the Buddha at Kusinagara, some of the imminent monks assembled at the Saptaparni cave in Rajgriha under the patronage of Ajatsatru to compile the first two great literatures of Buddhism, i.c. the Vinaya and Sutta Pitaka. It also developed the samgiti (council) tradition in Buddhism; in the coming centuries, these councils were instrumental towards the writing of extensive literature on Dhamma, Vinaya, Abhidhamma (metaphysics, epistemology, and logic) and medicine. This kind of pluralistic research and brainstorming, thoughts, and values have been used in diverse manuscript cultures, emanating in multiple volume of texts on Buddhist critical thinking and knowledge traditions.