2.1.11

Lesson 2.1.11 Paṭhamabrahmaññasuttaṃ & Dutiyabrahmaññasuttaṃ – About Being a Brahmañña and the Fruits Thereof & the Purpose of Being a Brahmañña

Paṭhamabrahmaññasutta & Dutiyabrahmaññasutta, two more short suttas, are presented for the purpose of memorisation and recitation by filling in the missing terms. The continuance of the history, presented in the Introduction, now moves on to the time when Chinese travellers visited India and described the situation of the Dhamma during the 4th to 7th century CE. They were confronted with a vast array of spiritual divergences and variances of groups that presented themselves with a wide spectrum of names. A differentiation between Hinayāna and Mahāyāna had occurred, along with more yanas (once a description of the vehicle of Dhamma) that followed different practises. While the Buddha’s teaching seems to have disappeared from India (the country of its origin), due to the missionary efforts of King Asoka, the Dhamma was sustained in some of the neighbouring countries. It was in 1871 CE in Myanmar when a Fifth Council was arranged in Māndalay under the reign of King Mindon. This was soon followed by the last council to date, the Sixth Council or Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana, which then printed the complete Tipiṭaka. With gratitude, the reader of these collections will remember all the dedicated efforts that made the suttas so easily available today for the benefit of all.