Origins
The Buddhist Sangha was established by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, following his enlightenment around 528 BCE (traditional dating; scholarly estimates range from 563-483 BCE to 480-400 BCE). After achieving awakening under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, the Buddha traveled to Sarnath near Varanasi, where he delivered his first sermon, the “Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma,” to five ascetics who became his first disciples. This event marked the founding of the Sangha—the community of those who have gone forth from household life to follow the Buddha’s path.
The Sangha emerged within the broader Indian tradition of śramaṇa movements—renunciants who left society to pursue spiritual liberation. The Buddha’s innovation was organizing these wandering seekers into a community with shared practices, rules, and identity. Early followers lived as homeless wanderers, subsisting on alms, gathering periodically to hear the Buddha’s teachings. As the community grew, lay supporters donated parks and buildings (viharas) where monks could reside during the rainy season, eventually becoming permanent monasteries.
The Sangha grew rapidly during the Buddha’s lifetime, attracting followers from all castes and social backgrounds—a radical departure from Brahmanical tradition. The establishment of the Bhikkhuni Sangha (order of nuns) by the Buddha’s aunt Mahapajapati Gotami, reportedly after initial hesitation, created parallel male and female monastic communities. By the Buddha’s death around 483 BCE, the Sangha had spread throughout the Gangetic plain and established the institutional framework that would carry Buddhism across Asia.
Structure & Function
The Sangha is governed by the Vinaya—the monastic code traditionally attributed to the Buddha himself, developed through rulings on specific cases as they arose. The Vinaya prescribes rules for ordination, daily conduct, communal procedures, and the handling of offenses. The Patimokkha lists the core rules: 227 for monks (bhikkhus) in the Theravada tradition, varying numbers in other schools. These cover everything from major offenses requiring expulsion (sexual intercourse, theft, murder, false claims of spiritual attainment) to minor matters of deportment and dress.
Monastic life centers on the Three Trainings: ethical conduct (sila), meditation (samadhi), and wisdom (panna). Monks and nuns renounce household life, shave their heads, wear simple robes, own minimal possessions, and depend on lay supporters for food and material needs. In exchange, the Sangha teaches the Dharma and provides a “field of merit” through which laypeople can generate positive karma by supporting the monastic community. This reciprocal relationship between monastics and laity has sustained Buddhism for millennia.
The Sangha’s organizational structure emphasizes community decision-making and local autonomy. Major decisions require the consensus of assembled monastics; the fortnightly Uposatha ceremony includes recitation of the Patimokkha and confession of any violations. No centralized hierarchy governs all Buddhists—unlike the Catholic Church, Buddhism developed through dispersed monastic communities following shared but not identical rules. Different ordination lineages and Vinaya interpretations produced the major Buddhist schools: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, each with distinct monastic traditions.
Historical Significance
The Buddhist Sangha is history’s oldest continuously existing institution, predating universities, corporations, and most states. For over 2,500 years, the Sangha has preserved and transmitted the Buddha’s teachings through oral and written traditions, adapting to radically different cultures from Sri Lanka to Japan while maintaining core monastic principles. This longevity reflects the Sangha’s remarkable institutional resilience—its ability to survive the fall of kingdoms, the rise and decline of dynasties, and the challenges of modernity.
The Sangha served as a vector for spreading Indian civilization across Asia. Buddhist monks carried not only the Dharma but also writing systems, medical knowledge, artistic traditions, and philosophical concepts. The monastic university at Nalanda (founded c. 427 CE, destroyed 1193) trained monks from across Asia and developed sophisticated philosophical and logical traditions. Chinese pilgrims like Faxian and Xuanzang traveled to India seeking scriptures; their monastic networks created connections spanning the continent. Wherever Buddhism spread, monasteries became centers of literacy, education, and cultural preservation.
The Sangha also pioneered institutional innovations that influenced secular institutions. Monastic rules governing communal property, collective decision-making, and organizational discipline informed later developments in universities, hospitals, and other organizations. The Buddhist emphasis on textual preservation and systematic education created models for scholarly institutions. The Vinaya’s detailed provisions for managing community life represent one of history’s earliest attempts to codify organizational governance—a legacy that extends far beyond Buddhism itself.
Key Developments
- c. 528 BCE: Buddha delivers first sermon at Sarnath; Sangha founded
- c. 528 BCE: Bhikkhuni Sangha established for women
- c. 483 BCE: First Buddhist Council at Rajagaha after Buddha’s death
- c. 383 BCE: Second Council at Vaishali; first schism
- c. 250 BCE: Third Council at Pataliputra; Emperor Ashoka sponsors missions
- c. 250 BCE: Mahinda brings Buddhism to Sri Lanka
- c. 100 BCE-100 CE: Mahayana traditions emerge
- 68 CE: Buddhism officially introduced to China
- 372 CE: Buddhism reaches Korea
- 538 CE: Buddhism reaches Japan (traditional date)
- c. 750 CE: Buddhism spreads to Tibet
- 1193 CE: Nalanda destroyed; Buddhism declines in India
- 1881 CE: Pali Text Society founded; Western Buddhist scholarship begins
- 1893 CE: World Parliament of Religions; Buddhism introduced to Western public
- 1966 CE: Bhikkhuni ordination revived in Theravada tradition (controversial)