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Living Tradition of Zen Practice P G 13
The Buddha was born in 560 BC and entered nirvana in 480 BC. About 140 years later, the Sangha divided into the Mahāsāṃghika and the Sthavira schools; another 200 years after that, the Ekavyāvahārika school appeared, advocating the doctrine of “self” as a reaction to the mechanical understanding of non-self. In the 3rd century BC, King Ashoka unified India, erected Pali pillars inscribed with the Dharma, and sent missionary delegations in all directions—among them, his son Mahinda went to Sri Lanka—expanding the Dharma from the Ganges basin to Gandhara, Kashmir, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Burma.
During Ashoka’s time, the Sthavira tradition was divided into:
- The Vibhajyavāda school, which analyzed each dharma in detail.
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The Sarvāstivāda school, which upheld the doctrine of “all exists.”
From these arose the Theravāda school, which was transmitted to Sri Lanka, and the Chinese translations of the Sarvāstivāda texts, including the Madhyama Āgama (222 sūtras), Saṃyukta Āgama, Ekottara Āgama, and Dīrgha Āgama. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Four-Part Vinaya) is widely used today, whereas previously the Sarvāstivāda’s Ten-Recitation Vinaya was prevalent.
Buddhism entered Vietnam by sea in the 1st century CE, with Indian merchants settling in Luy Lâu, bringing relics, chanting texts, and Indian knowledge such as calendars, medicine, and astronomy. In Luy Lâu, there were about 500 monastics, both local and foreign. Mouzi composed the Mouzi Lihuolun in Chinese; Zen Master Tang Hoi (the son of the merchant Khương Cư), who grew up in Giao Chỉ, translated Sanskrit texts into Chinese, compiled the Lục Độ Tập Kinh and the preface to the Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra, and then went to Eastern Wu to establish Kiến Sơ Temple, thus initiating Buddhism in the Jiangnan region.
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The Living Tradition of Zen Practice