Mainstream Weeklyby Mandeep Lama *
(A) The Setting
Although Buddhism spread among the Asian countries in a peaceful manner, which is remarkable when we remember the devastating Crusades and Jihads of The European Middle Ages, it cannot lay claim to ideological harmony among its various schools. In fact doctrinal differences, two of which had surfaced even during the life of the Buddha, were responsible for the rise of various schools of Buddhism.[[ The first of the two dissensions that arose during the lifetime of the Buddha consists of an animosity between the two teachers, their students, and the lay followers of the Dhammadhara and the Vinayadhara sects active in Kosambi. It so happened that one day the Dhammadhara teacher inadvertently committed a very light offence and, when it was pointed out to him, he immediately expressed his regret. However, the Vinayadhara teacher talked about it with his students and the lay devotees. The Dhammadhara group was offended by the insensitivity of the Vinayadhara group, which they took as a provocative act. This incidence created a deep cleavage between the two groups. The Buddha intervened but, when both the groups refused to yield, he retired to the nearby forest in sheer disgust. This action by the Buddha brought the two dissenting groups to their senses and, eventually, settled their dispute. This episode cannot strictly be called a sanghabheda (fissure in the Sangha) but it showed possibility of discord in the Sangha.
The second dissension was initiated by Devadatta who was in disagreement with the manner in which the Middle Path Doctrine of the Buddha was practiced. He insisted that Buddhist monks should revert to the tougher ideals of the more traditional ascetics. He proposed five new rules to be appropriated in the vinaya, viz., 1) monks should live in the forests rather than in the vih