Sixth Buddhist council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sixth Buddhist Council (Pali: Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana; Burmese:
ဆဋ္ဌမသံဃာရတနာတင်ပွဲ or ဆဋ္ဌသင်္ဂါယနာ) was a general council of
Theravada Buddhism, held in a specially built cave and pagoda complex
at Kaba Aye Pagoda in Yangon, Burma. The council was attended by 2,500
monastics from eight Theravada Buddhist countries. The Council lasted
from Vesak 1954 to Vesak 1956, its completion coinciding with the
traditional 2,500th anniversary the Buddha's Parinibbāna. In the
tradition of past Buddhist councils, a major purpose of the Sixth
Council was to preserve the Buddha's teachings and practices as
understood in the Theravada tradition.

Over the two-year period, monks (sangīti-kāraka) from different
countries recited from their existing redaction of the Pali Canon and
the associated post-canonical literature. As a result, the Council
synthesized a new redaction of the Pali texts ultimately transcribed
into several native scripts.
Contents

1 Timing and participants
2 Resultant texts
2.1 Dhamma Society Fund 6th Buddhist Council Tipitaka Edition
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

Timing and participants
Convening of the Sixth Buddhist council at the Great Cave.

The Council was convened 83 years after the Burmese Fifth Buddhist
council was held in Mandalay. The Council commenced proceedings on
Vesak, 17 May 1954, in order to allow sufficient time to conclude its
work on Vesak, 24 May 1956, the day marking the 2,500-year Jayanti
celebration of the Lord Buddha's Parinibbāna, according to the
traditional Theravada dating.

The Sixth Council was sponsored by the Burmese Government led by the
Prime Minister, the Honorable U Nu. He authorized the construction of
the Kaba Aye Pagoda and the Maha Passana Guha, or "Great Cave", in
which the work of the council took place. This venue was designed to
be like the cave in which the First Buddhist Council was held.

As in the preceding councils, the Sixth Council's aim was to affirm
and preserve the genuine Dhamma and Vinaya. The 2,500 participating
Theravadan Elders came from eight different countries, being Myanmar,
Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Pakistan and
Vietnam. A temple in Japan also sent delegates. The only Western monks
to participate were German-born, Sri-Lanka-residing Ven. Nyanatiloka
and Ven. Nyanaponika.[1]

The late Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw was appointed to ask the required
questions about the Dhamma to the Ven. Bhadanta Vicittasarabhivamsa,
who answered them.
Resultant texts

By the time this council met all the participating countries had had
the Pali Tipitaka rendered into their native scripts, with the
exception of India. During the two years that the Council met, the
Tipitaka and its allied literature in all scripts were painstakingly
examined with their differences noted down, the necessary corrections
made, and collated. Not much difference was found in the content of
any of the texts. Finally, after the Council had officially approved
the texts, all of the books of the Tipitaka and their commentaries
were prepared for printing on modern presses. This notable achievement
was made possible through the dedicated efforts of the 2,500 monks and
numerous lay people. Their work came to an end with the rise of the
full moon on the evening of 24 May 1956, the 2,500th anniversary of
the Buddha's Parinibbāna, according to the traditional Theravada
dating.

This Council's work was a unique achievement in Buddhist history.
After the scriptures had been examined thoroughly several times, they
were put into print, covering 52 treatises in 40 volumes. At the end
of this Council, all the participating countries had the Pali Tipitaka
rendered into their native scripts, with the exception of India.
Dhamma Society Fund 6th Buddhist Council Tipitaka Edition

Since the year 1999, the Dhamma Society Fund in Thailand has been
revising the 1958 Sixth Council Edition with other editions to remove
all printing and editorial errors. [1] [2] This romanized version in
40 volumes, known as the World Tipitaka Edition, was completed in
2005. The 40-volume Tipitaka Studies Reference appeared in 2007.

The Dhamma Society Fund is currently printing the World Tipitaka
Edition in Roman Script based on the B.E. 2500 Great International
Tipitaka Council Resolution (1958 Sixth Buddhist Council) with
sponsorship from the Royal Matriarch of Thailand, Tipitaka patrons and
leaders of business community, for distribution as a gift of Dhamma
worldwide, with a priority for the libraries and institutes around the
world which had received the Siam-script Tipitaka as a royal gift from
King Chulalongkorn Chulachomklao of Siam over a century ago.
References

^ http://www.pariyatti.org/ResourcesProjects/Treasures/ChatthaSangayana/tabid/78/Default.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Buddhist_council