| As the Sa?gha gradually grew over the next | | | | of which was the Theravada school. |
| century a dispute arose regarding ten points | | | | |
| of discipline. A Second Buddhist Council | | | | Following (or leading up to) the schisms, |
| (said in the scriptures to have taken place | | | | each Sa?gha started to accumulate an |
| 100 years after the Buddha's death) was held | | | | Abhidharma, a collection of philosophical |
| to resolve the points at dispute. The result | | | | texts. Early sources for these probably |
| was that all the monks agreed that those 10 | | | | existed in the time of the Buddha as simple |
| practices were unallowed according to Vinaya. | | | | lists. However, as time went on and Buddhism |
| | | | spread further, the (perceived) teachings of |
| At some period after the Second Council | | | | the Buddha were formalized in a more |
| however, the Sangha began to break into | | | | systematic manner in a new Pitaka: the |
| separate factions. The various accounts | | | | Abhidhamma Pitaka. Some modern academics |
| differ as to when the actual schisms | | | | refer to it as Abhidhamma Buddhism. |
| occurred: according to the Dipavamsa of the | | | | Interestingly, in the opinion of some |
| Pali tradition, they started immediately | | | | scholars, the Mahasanghika school did not |
| after the Second Council; the Puggalavada | | | | have an Abhidhamma Pitaka, which agrees with |
| tradition places it in 137 AN; the | | | | their statement that they did not want to add |
| Sarvastivada tradition of Vasumitra says it | | | | to the Buddha's teachings. But according to |
| was in the time of Asoka; and the | | | | Chinese pilgrims Fa Xian (5th century CE) and |
| Mahasanghika tradition places it much later, | | | | Yuan Chwang (7th century CE), they had |
| nearly 100 BCE. | | | | procured a copy of Abhidhamma which belonged |
| | | | to the Mahasanghika School. |
| The Asokan edicts, our only contemporary | | | | |
| sources, state that 'the Sangha has been made | | | | Buddhism may have spread only slowly in India |
| unified'. This apparently refers to a dispute | | | | until the time of the Mauryan emperor |
| such as that described in the account of the | | | | Aśoka the Great, who was a public |
| Third Buddhist Council at Pataliputta. This | | | | supporter of the religion. The support of |
| concerns the expulsion of non-Buddhist | | | | Aśoka and his descendants led to the |
| heretics from the Sangha, and does not speak | | | | construction of more Buddhist religious |
| of a schism. | | | | memorials (stupas) and to efforts to spread |
| | | | Buddhism throughout the enlarged Maurya |
| These schisms occurred within the traditions | | | | empire and even into neighboring lands |
| of Early Buddhism, at a time when the | | | | – particularly to the Iranian-speaking |
| Mahayana movement either did not exist at | | | | regions of Afghanistan and Central Asia, |
| all, or only existed as a current of thought | | | | beyond the Mauryas' northwest border, and to |
| not yet identified with a separate school. | | | | the island of Sri Lanka south of India. These |
| | | | two missions, in opposite directions, would |
| The root schism was between the Sthaviras and | | | | ultimately lead, in the first case to the |
| the Mahasa?ghikas. The fortunate survival of | | | | spread of Buddhism into China, and in the |
| accounts from both sides of the dispute | | | | second case, to the emergence of Theravada |
| reveals disparate traditions. The Sthavira | | | | Buddhism and its spread from Sri Lanka to the |
| group offers two quite distinct reasons for | | | | coastal lands of Southeast Asia. |
| the schism. The Dipavamsa of the Theravada | | | | |
| says that the losing party in the Second | | | | This period marks the first known spread of |
| Council dispute broke away in protest and | | | | Buddhism beyond India. According to the |
| formed the Mahasanghika. This contradicts the | | | | edicts of Aśoka, emissaries were sent to |
| Mahasanghikas' own vinaya, which shows them | | | | various countries west of India in order to |
| as on the same, winning side. On the other | | | | spread "Dhamma", particularly in eastern |
| hand, the northern lineages, including the | | | | provinces of the neighboring Seleucid Empire, |
| Sarvastivada and Puggalavada (both branches | | | | and even farther to Hellenistic kingdoms of |
| of the ancient Sthaviras) attribute the | | | | the Mediterranean. This led, a century later, |
| Mahasa?ghika schism to the '5 points' that | | | | to the emergence of Greek-speaking Buddhist |
| erode the status of the arahant. For their | | | | monarchs in the Indo-Greek Kingdom, and to |
| part, the Mahasa?ghikas argued that the | | | | the development of the Greco-Buddhist art of |
| Sthaviras were trying to expand the Vinaya; | | | | Gandhara. During this period Buddhism was |
| they may also have challenged what they | | | | exposed to a variety of influences, from |
| perceived to be excessive claims or inhumanly | | | | Persian and Greek civilization, and from |
| high criteria for Arhatship. Both parties, | | | | changing trends in non-Buddhist Indian |
| therefore, appealed to tradition. The | | | | religions – themselves influenced by |
| Sthaviras gave rise to several schools, one | | | | Buddhism. |