The Sixth Buddhist Council
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.
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 Pagodaand 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, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal. 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.
[edit]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'sParinibbāna,
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.
