History of Buddhism and Councils in India

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Buddhism, which is the fourth Largest Religion in the entire world, which just comes after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism as according to the rank, is the religion, which a new way of living in the most happy way. This Global Religion is the one, which has its origins in India and is entirely based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. The Buddha is the whole focus of the world's fourth largest religion. The Buddhism is considered as the oldest religions in the world.

Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha was a born prince, who was a Kshatriya warrior Prince. Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini. However, the actual date of the birth is still unknown and among the dates 563 BC or 480 BC, it is the one, which may be correct. At the age of 29, he left the Palace and the entire comforts and began the search of the real happiness and other factors, which makes the people sad. After struggling for a long time, the Buddha was able to achieve enlightenment under a Pipal Tree at BodhGaya. From then onwards, he began preaching the right path of the happiness.

Buddhist councils being held

There are in fact two councils being held as per records. These can be classified into the 1st Buddhist Council, 2nd Buddhist Council and 3rd Buddhist Council.

1st Buddhist Council

The 1st Buddhist Council was held just after the death of Buddha, which can even be called as just after the Buddha's Parinirvana. With the objective to record all of the teachings of Buddha into Sutra and Abhidhamma, the 1st Buddhist Council was held.

2nd Buddhist Council

The 2nd Buddhist Council was held to solve the dispute, which aroused in the Buddhist Monks over the relaxations. The original Vinaya texts were being cited in order to show that the relaxations which were being offered were in fact against the original teachings and Preaching of the Buddha.

3rd Buddhist Council

The Buddhist Council was being held by King Asokha. The main objective of the 3rd council was to purify the Sa?gha,in particular from non-Buddhist ascetics who were highly attracted by the royal patronage.  Just after the Council, the Buddhist Missionaries were being sent to the various parts of the world to spread the teachings and Preaching of Buddha and to make the Buddhism, a popular one.

There are even talks of the 4th Buddhist Council, which was being held by the Emperor Kanishka.  However, some sections consider it as fictitious. It is believed to have been a council of the Sarvastivada School.

The history of Buddhism is not such a small one, which can be included into the small article. To know the various aspects of Buddhism, one needs to have a physical visit to all the Places, which are historically important related to Buddhism. The Places like BodhGaya, Rajgir, Sarnath, Lumbini and Kushinagar are some of the most notable among the various Places, which can throw huge lights on the history of Buddhism. To book your tour to these places, kindly visit http://www.ambikatours.com/holiday-packages/mahaparinirvan-express-train-tour-2014-2015/424/
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