Over the next few weeks, we’ll read and discuss suttas connected with the last years of the Buddha’s life, and the period of transition after his parinibbana, when the sangha had to find their own way without their founder. We’ll explore the Buddha’s preparations for the time after his passing and the preservation of his dhamma, and trace the developments and struggles the early sangha faced on their own. We’ll see that, just as in modern times, the early sangha already debated issues like gender discrimination, or ascetic recluseship vs. social engagement.
I’m going to need a couple of days just to catch up on all your fantastic courses! Well done Ayya, so wonderful to have your knowledge and wisdom out in the online world! Sadhu sadhu sadhu!
Given the conditions that unfolded during the Buddha’s last years and in the next decades, it is all the more amazing and quite extraordinary that we still have this Dhamma today!
Thanks Bhante!
These are the suttas I’m planning to go through:
Sāmagāma Sutta MN 104
Mahāparinibbāna Sutta DN 16
2 Suttas from the Kassapa Saṃyutta: SN 16.10 / 16.11
First Council KD 21
Gopakamoggallāna Sutta MN 108
Bakkula Sutta MN 124
Do you have any thoughts? Anything that’s missing?
I had the idea for this course when I prepared for “The Foremost Theris Of Old”. I think it’s really difficult to understand how our texts relate to women, and all the controversies, contradictions and misogyny, without understanding the dynamics in the early sangha and the circumstances in which the texts evolved.
That’s why I decided to have both courses at the same time, because they complement each other.
