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Divisions among the early Buddhist schools came about due to doctrinal or practical differences in the views of the Buddhist Sangha following the death of the Buddha .


THE FIRST DIVISION

See Also: The Second Buddhist Council


The first division occurred around 100 years after the death of the Buddha, and resulted in the Sthaviravādin and Mahāsanghaka schools. Opinions differ on the cause of the split with the Sthaviravādins recording that the other party were lax monks who had ceased to follow all the Vinaya rules. The Mahāsanghikas, however, pointed to the Sthaviravādin wishing to add more rules to the Vinaya. In Mahayana record, the dispute was about the nature of enlightenment of Arahants .


FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Following the first division, both the Mahāsanghikas dSthaviravada split into several sub-schools of minor importance. According to Southern Theravada transmission, there were 18 Nikaya (sects). According to Northern Mahayana transmission there are 20 Hinayana (lesser vehicle) sects.

The '' Sthaviravādin '' School had, by the time of King Ashoka divided into three sub-schools. It was regrouped during the Third Council under the name of '' Vibhajjavdins '', but later it reverted back to its old name in the Pali language as '' Theravada ''. The ''Sammitīya'' School later became known as the ''Pudgalavādin'' but died out around the 9th or 10th century CE . The ''Sarvāstivādin'' school was most prominent in the northwest of India and provided some of the doctrines that would later be adopted by the Mahāyana . It split into two major sub-sects, the ''Vaibhāsika'' and ''Sautrāntika'' Schools.

By the time the Chinese Pilgrims Xuanzang and Yi Jing visited India in the medieval period there were five that they mention far more frequently than others.


Nikaya Eighteens sects





Hinayana Twenty sects

Sthaviravada (上座部) was split into 11 sects. These were:

:説一切有部( Sarvastivadin )、雪山部( Haimavata )、犢子部( Vatsiputriya )、法上部 ( Dharmottara )、賢冑部( Bhadrayaniya )、正量部( Sammitiya )、密林山部( Channagirika )、化地部 ( Mahisasaka )、法蔵部( Dharmaguptaka )、飲光部( Kasyapiya )、経量部( Sautrantika ).

Sthaviravada ─┬─ Haimavata ────────────────────────────────────────────
└─ Sarvastivadin ─┬───────────────────────────────────
Vatsiputriya ─┬────────────────────
│ ├ Dharmottara ───────
│ ├ Bhadrayaniya ─────
│ ├ Sammitiya ────────
│ └ Channagirika ─────
Mahisasaka ─┬─────────────────────
│ └ Dharmaguptaka ──────
Kasyapiya ────────────────────────
Sautrantika ──────────────────────

Mahasanghika (大衆部) was split into 9 sects. There were:
:一説部( Ekavyaharaka )、説出世部( Lokottaravadin )、鶏胤部 ( Kaukkutika )、多聞部( Bahussrutiya )、説仮部( Prajnaptivada )、制多山部( Caitika )、西山住部 ( Aparasaila )、北山住部( Uttarasaila ).

Mahasanghika ─┬──────────────────────┬─────
EkavyaharakaCaitika
LokottaravadinAparasaila
KaukkutikaUttarasaila
Bahussrutiya
Prajnaptivada


LEGACY

The Theravāda School of Sri Lanka , Burma , and Thailand is descended from the ''Sthaviravādin'' School.

Some remnants of other early schools do still exist: the schools of Tibetan Buddhism still use a Sarvāstivāda Vinaya , and Chinese Schools use one from the Dharmagupta school. Fragments of the canon of texts from these schools also survive such as the Mahavastu of the Mahāsānghika School.


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