How Could the Buddha’s Teachings Be Transmitted After His Passing?

Jan 29, 2026- Day 6 of the India Pilgrimage, Rajgir

Hello. The sixth day of the India pilgrimage has dawned. Today is the day to visit the sacred sites of Rajgir.

Rajgir was the capital of the ancient Magadha Kingdom, called ‘Rājagṛha’ at that time and written as Wangsaseong (王舍城) in Chinese characters. After attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, the Buddha traveled to Sarnath to deliver his first sermon, and then came to Rajgir. It was here that his teachings spread widely.

Rajgir is home to several important Buddhist sacred sites. Today, the pilgrimage visited Jethian, where King Bimbisara came out to greet the Buddha when he first arrived in Rajgir after his enlightenment; Vulture Peak, where numerous Mahayana sutras including the Lotus Sutra, Heart Sutra, and Nirvana Sutra were taught; Bamboo Grove, the first monastery; and Saptaparni Cave, where the Buddha’s teachings were compiled after his passing.

Sunim and the pilgrimage group woke up at 3:40 AM and began loading luggage at 4:10 AM. The buses departed for Rajgir one by one as loading was completed. The day began with morning practice and meditation on the moving buses.

After about an hour and a half of travel, the buses arrived at 6:20 AM near Jethian, approximately 14 km west of Rajgir. Parking the buses in a wide open area, Sunim and the pilgrimage group walked through the dark village streets toward Jethian. Since the villagers were still sound asleep at this hour, the group moved quietly.

As they arrived at Jethian, the eastern sky finally began to brighten. The pilgrimage group positioned themselves on a road that curved widely like the handle of a walking stick, while Sunim climbed up the hill where the ruins of the Jethian stupa stood.

Sunim and the pilgrimage group stood in place for a moment of meditation.

After meditation, Sunim shared the story of the historic meeting between King Bimbisara and the Buddha at Jethian.

“It is said that King Bimbisara of Magadha, upon hearing news of the Buddha’s arrival, waited here at Jethian, about 14 km from the western gate of the city. While the scriptures record that King Bimbisara waited for the Buddha, considering that the Buddha was not yet widely known to the world at that time, it is more likely that he actually came out to greet Uruvela Kassapa, who held a position close to that of a national teacher.

This Person Is My Teacher, and I Am His Disciple

At that time, Uruvela Kassapa was a leader of 1,000 practitioners and a very influential religious leader even in the Magadha Kingdom. When Uruvela Kassapa came to Rajgir leading 1,000 followers, King Bimbisara also came out to greet him according to protocol, accompanied by 1,000 ministers. When the two groups met and settled here, a question arose in the minds of the king and his ministers.

‘Can it really be that the young ascetic Gotama is the teacher of the eighty-year-old monk Uruvela Kassapa?’

As this doubt would not easily subside, King Bimbisara asked Uruvela Kassapa directly.

‘Great Ascetic, according to rumors, you have taken a young practitioner as your teacher. Is this true? It seems as difficult to believe as a three-year-old child pointing to an eighty-year-old man and saying, “This is my grandson.”‘

Then Uruvela Kassapa rose from his seat, circumambulated the Buddha three times in reverence, prostrated with his forehead touching the Buddha’s feet, and said:

‘This person is my teacher, and I am his disciple. Before I met him, I was planting seeds of rebirth, but after meeting him, I abandoned those seeds and attained liberation.’

The moment they heard this confession, all doubts among the assembly vanished.

‘Indeed, as rumored, this person is Uruvela Kassapa’s teacher.’

King Bimbisara requested the Dharma from the Buddha and listened to his teaching, and right there he opened the eye of wisdom. The king’s mind became clear and light. He then confessed his wishes:

‘When I was a prince, I made five wishes. First was to become king, second was for a Buddha to appear in my country. Third was that I would meet the Buddha in person, fourth was to hear the Buddha’s teaching. Fifth was to attain realization upon hearing that teaching. Today, all five of these wishes have been fulfilled. So please, come to the palace and accept my offering.’

However, the Buddha quietly declined the king’s invitation. The king pondered where would be an appropriate place for the Buddha and his assembly to stay, and recalled a bamboo grove outside the city that he cherished. It was not too close to the capital to be noisy, yet not too far for alms rounds. The king made another request to the Buddha:

‘There is a bamboo grove outside the north gate. How about staying there?’
The Buddha accepted with his silence. From then on, the Buddha and his assembly stayed at the bamboo grove outside the north gate of Rajgir, Venuvana Vihara. This is what is known today as the Bamboo Grove, Buddhism’s first monastery.”

After the Dharma talk ended, Sunim and the pilgrimage group meditated briefly and chanted the Heart Sutra.

As they descended from the Jetavana and reached the parking lot, the darkness had completely lifted and the sky was bright. At 7:30 AM, they left Jetavana and headed for Vulture Peak. When the Buddha stayed in Rajgir, the capital of Magadha, he primarily resided at Vulture Peak. Therefore, Vulture Peak is where many important teachings were delivered and is a place deeply connected with Mahayana Buddhism.

The pilgrimage group took buses to the southern gate of Rajgir. Passing by the site with chariot wheel tracks and the mango grove of Jivaka, the Buddha’s physician, they arrived at the entrance to Vulture Peak at 8:30 AM.

Sunim got off the bus and slowly began climbing the mountain path. The pilgrimage group followed behind.

As they approached the summit, the caves of Venerable Ananda and Venerable Sariputta appeared in succession.

They finally arrived below the summit of Vulture Peak. This place is usually crowded with pilgrims, but today it was relatively quiet due to the early hour. Before paying respects at the summit, Sunim gave instructions to the pilgrimage group.

“Vulture Peak is a sacred site visited by many Buddhists from around the world. The place where the Buddha taught is up there, but it’s a very small space. We tend to stay for a long time once we settle in a place (laughter). If 500 people go up at once, we might inconvenience other pilgrims. Let’s maintain order by going up in a single line, offering three bows, and coming right back down.”

The pilgrimage group orderly paid their respects at the summit and came down to settle in an area below where the Buddha had taught.

After a brief meditation, Sunim explained what had happened here at Vulture Peak during the Buddha’s time.

“The Mahaparinirvana Sutra is a scripture that records day by day the Buddha’s last year before entering parinirvana. According to these records, the starting point of the Buddha’s journey to parinirvana was right here at Vulture Peak.

When the Buddha was staying at Vulture Peak, King Bimbisara of Magadha had died and his son Ajatasattu became king. Ajatasattu was someone who overthrew his father and seized power through a coup. After imprisoning King Bimbisara and starving him to death, he became king himself. At first, he did not view the Buddha favorably, but over time he deeply repented his actions and became an ardent supporter of the Buddha.

Seven Principles That Prevent a Nation from Falling

One day, King Ajatasattu planned to invade the Vajji people of Vaishali and sent a minister to ask the Buddha whether there was a chance of victory in the war. Since the Buddha was wise, he wanted to hear his judgment. The minister paid respects to the Buddha, conveyed the king’s greetings, and explained the invasion plan. However, the Buddha did not answer the minister’s question but instead called Ananda and asked him.

‘Ananda, when I visited the territory of the Vajji people before, I heard that they frequently gather to discuss matters. Is this still the case?’

Ananda replied.

‘They still frequently gather to discuss matters.’

The Buddha asked again.

‘I heard that when the Vajji people reach a conclusion through discussion, they all unite in agreement. Is this still the case?’

Ananda said.

‘It is still so, I hear.’

The Vajjis did not make decisions arbitrarily but reached conclusions through collective discussion. While the weakness of democratic methods is that divisions can arise when opinions differ, the Vajjis united their efforts to implement decisions once they were made.

The Buddha asked Ananda seven questions in this manner, and received answers that the Vajjis were faithfully observing all seven principles. For each question and answer, He said this:

‘As long as they maintain these principles, they will prosper and not decline.’

The minister, who had been listening to this conversation, came to a judgment. Even maintaining just one principle would be difficult, but if they were observing all seven, then despite being a small nation, it would be difficult to conquer them through military force. The minister told the Buddha that it would be difficult to subdue the Vajjis by force and that he would seek other methods, then departed.

This episode contains the ‘Seven Principles for a Nation Not to Perish.’ These teachings remain valid even today. Rather than directly resolving social conflicts, the Buddha’s teachings guided people to realize for themselves the futility of conflict. The fact that King Ajatasattu abandoned his plans for war after hearing this sermon shows that these were teachings with the power to preserve peace. According to the sutras, the Buddha then said to Ananda:

‘Ananda, gather the assembly at the Bamboo Grove.’

The Buddha went to the Bamboo Grove and taught the disciples the ‘Seven Principles for the Sangha Not to Perish.’ Following His teaching on the conditions for a nation not to fall, He presented principles for the practice community not to collapse.

In this way, the Buddha traveled from place to place teaching the Dharma, starting from Vulture Peak. The first location on the journey described in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra is right here at Gridhrakuta, or Vulture Peak. This is why many Buddhists still visit this place today.”

After completing the explanation of the sacred site, the pilgrimage group proceeded with sutra recitation, Buddhist service, Heart Sutra chanting, and offered prayers.

After finishing the prayers, they meditated briefly.

After completing the visit to Vulture Peak, the pilgrimage group headed to Veluvana (Bamboo Grove Monastery). Veluvana was the first monastery where the Sangha community stayed during the Buddha’s time. At 11:30 AM, they arrived at Veluvana. Everyone was hungry after the schedule that had started at 4 AM. First, they had breakfast and lunch combined with packed meals.

After finishing the meal and meditating briefly, Sunim explained the events that occurred at Veluvana during the Buddha’s time.

“This happened when the Buddha was staying here at Veluvana with about 1,000 followers. With so many people, they had to go into the city every morning for alms rounds.

At that time, among the six non-Buddhist schools, there was a skeptical school led by Sanjaya. These people never gave definitive answers to any questions, always saying ‘It cannot be known’ or ‘It cannot be determined.’ While their non-dogmatic approach had merit, they also had limitations in viewing everything skeptically, saying it was neither this nor that.

Sanjaya had two outstanding senior disciples, who were none other than Sariputta and Moggallana. Both were from the Nalanda area not far from here and were born into Brahmin families. After becoming Sanjaya’s disciples and practicing for a long time, each had become a great teacher with about 100 disciples. The two had been close friends who grew up together in the same village since childhood, and they had promised each other that if either found good news of enlightenment, they would not keep it to themselves but would definitely share it with the other.

Hearing the Law of Dependent Origination and Opening the Eye of Dharma

One day, as Sariputta was walking along the road, he saw Bhikkhu Assaji walking quietly with his alms bowl. Without looking around or being distracted, walking while looking only at the ground ahead, his deportment appeared very proper. Deeply impressed by this sight, Sariputta approached Bhikkhu Assaji and asked:

‘Who are you, and what do you teach?’

Bhikkhu Assaji replied:

‘I am a disciple of Gautama Buddha.’

Sariputta had regarded him as an excellent teacher and asked, but Bhikkhu Assaji humbly answered by revealing that he was the Buddha’s disciple. Sariputta asked again:

‘Then what does your teacher, the Buddha, teach?’

Bhikkhu Assaji said:

‘It would be proper for you to go directly to the Buddha and ask him rather than me.’

Then Sariputta pleaded:

‘Then please share with me just one thing from what you have heard from your teacher.’

At that moment, Bhikkhu Assaji said:

‘My teacher teaches thus: Because this exists, that exists; if this does not exist, that also does not exist. Through the arising of this, that arises; through the cessation of this, that also ceases. It is like two bundles of reeds standing by leaning against each other.’

Thus Bhikkhu Assaji conveyed the law of dependent origination. The law of dependent origination was a new teaching that did not exist in India’s existing philosophies. Sariputta had been taking a position of denying all philosophies. While he did not make definitive judgments, he felt frustrated that nothing was clearly grasped in his mind. But the moment he heard this law of dependent origination, he felt his mind becoming brilliantly bright. He had the conviction that ‘This is it.’

Although Sariputta knew that the Buddha was staying at the Bamboo Grove outside the north gate, he did not go to visit him alone immediately. This was because he had promised to share any good news with his friend Moggallana. He first returned to his own practice center. When Sariputta returned, Moggallana looked at his face and immediately said:

‘Something good must have happened. Your face is radiant.’

Sariputta replied:

‘On my way here, I met someone and heard truly great teachings. Let’s go together.’

The moment Moggallana heard the content of the teaching from Sariputta, his mind also became bright and clear. The two decided to take their disciples with them, and thought it would be good to bring their teacher Sanjaya along as well. So they went to Sanjaya and said:

‘A great teacher has appeared. Let’s go together and listen to his words.’

However, Sanjaya showed a skeptical attitude, saying, ‘There is no one in this world who can be trusted. Those are just words to deceive people.’ The two disciples bid farewell and left their teacher’s side. It is said that Sanjaya later vomited blood and died, which can be seen as a symbolic expression of the psychological shock he received from his top disciples becoming the Buddha’s disciples.

Sariputta and Moggallana, each leading 100 disciples, approached the Buddha and requested the Dharma. After hearing the Dharma and having their Dharma eyes opened, they became ordained and finally became the Buddha’s disciples. Thus, with these additions to the existing community of about 1,000 people, the ordained community totaled 1,250 members. What is important here is not the number, but the fact that these were the Buddha’s early core disciples who would later be called ‘great bhikkhus’ and become the great elders.”

After finishing the explanation, Sunim chanted sutras and offered prayers.

After completing the prayers, Sunim’s Dharma talk continued.

“Today, I will speak not only about the great Buddha but also about the Buddha’s great disciples.

Venerable Moggallana was already known as a person with exceptional supernatural powers even before taking refuge in the Buddha. He was considered one of the most accomplished practitioners with supernatural powers in the Indian religious community at that time, and it is said that even those who tried to harm the Buddhist community feared Moggallana and dared not harm him. His supernatural powers were that widely known.

Moggallana, the Disciple Who Renounced Supernatural Powers

One year, there was a severe drought and everyone in the community was starving. Even when the bhikkhus went out for alms, they could not obtain food, and the entire practice community faced great hardship. Feeling compassion for this situation, Moggallana said to the Buddha:

‘I will use my supernatural powers to fly north to where wild rice grows and bring back food.’

Then the Buddha said:

‘Moggallana, if you do that now, it may seem good for the moment. However, when other bhikkhus face starvation, people will say that Moggallana solved everything with his supernatural powers because his practice was excellent, while those bhikkhus are starving because their practice is lacking. Then practice will be misunderstood as supernatural powers. Think of the other bhikkhus.’

Moggallana said again:

‘Then I will take the other bhikkhus with me.’

The Buddha then asked, ‘Then what about future bhikkhus?’ and did not permit the use of supernatural powers. The Buddha’s teaching aims to awaken ignorant beings and make them wise, but supernatural powers can actually delude people and make them more ignorant. Therefore, he saw relying on supernatural powers as contrary to the Buddha’s teaching.

This episode clearly shows how faithfully Moggallana followed the Buddha’s teachings. As time passed, non-Buddhists learned that Moggallana no longer used supernatural powers, and eventually they harmed him. In today’s terms, he was terrorized. However, it is said that Moggallana did not use his supernatural powers even until the moment of his death. This shows how thoroughly the Buddha’s disciples kept his teachings.

In later times, ‘Maudgalyayana,’ borrowing the name of Venerable Moggallana, appears in Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. This figure is reinterpreted as someone who freely uses all kinds of supernatural powers and appears in various forms throughout Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. The story of saving his mother who had fallen into hell is one of them. However, Moggallana as a historical figure, that is, Venerable Maudgalyayana, was a practitioner who did not use supernatural powers.

How Buddha’s Single Remark Changed Mahakasyapa’s Life

Venerable Mahakasyapa was born into the highest caste, in a family wealthier than royalty. Moreover, as the only son born late to his parents, one can imagine how preciously he was raised. When such a person became a monk, did the habits ingrained in him from before his ordination disappear at once? Probably not. There is an anecdote that illustrates this well.

One day, after Buddha returned from alms rounds and was having his meal, he saw Venerable Mahakasyapa, touched the hem of his robe, and said:

‘Venerable, what a fine robe you have.’

Hearing this, Venerable Mahakasyapa looked at his own clothing and realized he was wearing a silk robe worth a thousand pieces of gold. At that time, there were no prescribed robes for practitioners. While those who had been practicing asceticism in the forest wore rag robes, people like Mahakasyapa who had directly left home to become monks were still wearing the clothes they had worn when they left. Perhaps Venerable Mahakasyapa thought he had worn what he considered to be modest clothing. However, since it was clothing prepared by his wealthy family, it turned out to be extremely expensive.

Upon hearing Buddha’s words, Venerable Mahakasyapa immediately stood up, removed his robe and offered it to Buddha, and instead put on the rag robe that Buddha had been wearing. This incident completely transformed Venerable Mahakasyapa’s way of life. He ate only the coarsest food in small amounts, wore only rag robes, and strictly adhered to the ascetic principles of sleeping under trees or in caves. As a result, he was said to appear the most shabby and unkempt even within the community of practitioners.

Because of this, Venerable Mahakasyapa came to be called ‘Dhuta,’ the epitome of a practitioner living the most frugal and ascetic life, earning him the title ‘Mahakasyapa, Foremost in Ascetic Practices.’ After hearing Buddha’s words just once, his karma was completely transformed.

Here, the ‘robe’ symbolizes more than just clothing. It represents the attitudes and lifestyle habits ingrained from growing up in a noble family. While he had already become a practitioner in thought, the way of life embedded in his body had not easily changed. Buddha awakened him to precisely this point through the ‘robe.’

Making the Buddha’s Single Word a Lifelong Vow

There was another disciple similar to this. It was Venerable Aniruddha. In Chinese, he is called Analü (阿那律), and he was from the Sakya clan, the Buddha’s cousin.

One day, Venerable Aniruddha was nodding off while listening to a Dharma talk. Seeing this, the Buddha said a word.

‘You lack sleep.’

Hearing these words, Venerable Aniruddha made a great resolution. From that day on, he practiced with fearless determination without sleeping, and eventually developed an eye disease. After examining him, the physician Jivaka said:

‘This disease cannot be cured by any medicine. You must sleep.’

Hearing this, the Buddha called Aniruddha and admonished him.

‘I meant don’t doze off, not that you shouldn’t sleep.’

However, Venerable Aniruddha did not stop his practice, and eventually lost his sight. Though he lost his physical eyes, he gained the heavenly eye instead, and Venerable Aniruddha came to be called ‘Foremost in Divine Vision (天眼第一).’

This anecdote shows that when the Buddha’s disciples were pointed out their shortcomings, they didn’t let the words pass by but used them as an opportunity to transform their entire lives. They accepted a single teaching as a lifelong practice guideline.”

After finishing the Dharma talk, Sunim looked at the assembly and said with a smile.

“If you perform prostrations without understanding the meaning of the prostration verses, it’s like only your body is lying on the ground.”

Sunim then explained the meaning of the prostration verses one by one. After finishing the explanation, he departed for Saptaparni Cave at 2:50 PM.

At 3:30 PM, the pilgrimage group arrived at the entrance to Saptaparni Cave. Just as they were about to go up, the police guarding the entrance blocked the way.

“If you go up now, it will be too late. Entry to Saptaparni Cave is not allowed after 3 PM, and everyone must come down by 5 PM.”

“I’ve come with pilgrims. We’ll go up now and definitely come down before 5 PM. I’ll guide the people and be the last one to come down.”

The police hesitated for a moment, then allowed entry on the condition that they arrive below Saptaparni Cave before 5 PM.

The path up to Saptaparni Cave was steeper than expected. Sunim caught his breath and slowly moved forward. As he got closer to the top, his breathing became increasingly labored. Sunim had to stop and rest seven times.

Although Sunim had started before the pilgrimage group, one by one they began to pass him going up. Those who arrived first began to sit at the top. Leaving a passage for other pilgrims to pass through, the 500 pilgrims arrived in turn and sat densely in front of Saptaparni Cave.

Sunim also arrived at Saptaparni Cave, caught his breath, and explained about the First Council that took place at this location.

“This is Saptaparni Cave, where it is said that the Buddha’s words were first compiled after his parinirvana. Right now, 500 pilgrims are gathered here, but the bhikkhus who practiced alms rounds at that time would have been much smaller in stature than us. So this space would have been large enough for 500 people to sit with room to spare.

After the Buddha Passed Away, How Could His Teachings Be Transmitted?

After the Buddha entered parinirvana, the assembly was all immersed in the sorrow of losing their great teacher. However, it is said that among some young monks, words emerged saying, ‘Now that the old man is gone, we won’t have to listen to his nagging anymore.’ Hearing this story, Venerable Mahakassapa was greatly concerned. If such words were being said not long after the Buddha’s parinirvana, he thought there was no telling what might happen as more time passed.

Therefore, Venerable Mahakassapa decided to gather the disciples who had directly heard the Dharma from the Buddha to organize the Buddha’s words. This was the First Council.

The question was ‘who would participate in the council?’ At that time, the Buddha’s disciples numbered in the tens of thousands, but the number who could gather in one place was at most about 500. Therefore, it was decided that only those recognized as having attained arahantship could participate in the First Council. The number gathered in this way was 500.

However, Venerable Ananda, who had heard the Buddha’s words most closely and most frequently, had not yet attained arahantship at that time and initially did not qualify to participate in the council. It is said that Venerable Ananda attained arahantship after seven days of fearless practice and was able to participate the day before the council began.

At the First Council, it was decided that Venerable Ananda, who had heard the Buddha’s teachings most closely and frequently, would be responsible for the initial draft of the sutras (經), the Buddha’s words. It was also decided that Upali would be appropriate to handle the initial draft of the vinaya (律), the rules that the Sangha should observe. Venerable Mahakassapa took charge of leading the entire council.

The initial draft of the sutras recited by Venerable Ananda begins with ‘Thus have I heard’ (如是我聞 in Chinese). It means ‘I have heard thus.’ Since people understand the same Dharma talk differently, it is more accurate to express it as ‘I heard thus’ rather than asserting ‘The Buddha said this.’

Venerable Ananda clearly stated when, where, to whom, what, and how the Buddha spoke, following the principle of the five W’s and one H. Even looking at the Diamond Sutra transmitted today, it follows the format: ‘When the Buddha was at Jetavana, he was with 1,250 bhikkhus. At that time, Subhuti rose from his seat and asked a question, and the Buddha answered thus.’

It is said that the Dharma talks recited by Ananda at that time were almost no different from the Buddha’s actual teachings in voice, rhythm, and content. Therefore, it is said that the assembly who heard this had three thoughts: ‘Has Ananda attained Buddhahood?’, ‘Has the Buddha come back to life?’, or ‘Has a Buddha from another place come to this gathering?’

The 500 members of the Sangha all listened to Ananda’s recitation together, and if there were no objections to the content, it was confirmed as scripture. If any parts were deemed missing or if content heard elsewhere was thought to be mixed in, the assembly raised objections, and only when everyone agreed was it confirmed as a sutra.

This method of compilation was quite rigorous compared to the formation of scriptures in other religions. For example, the Bible was written about 100 years after Jesus’ death, based on what each Gospel author had heard. In contrast, Buddhist scriptures were confirmed immediately after the Buddha’s parinirvana, with 500 people who had directly heard the teachings gathering in one place and reaching unanimous agreement on the content. At that time, rather than recording in writing, the sutras were created through collective recitation by the assembly.

The council continued for three months, and since the monks could not go on alms rounds during this period, it is said that King Ajatashatru provided offerings. In this way, the Sutra Pitaka and the Vinaya Pitaka were compiled. The Abhidhamma Pitaka began to appear about 200 years later.

For this reason, it can be said that Saptaparni Cave is where Buddhism truly began after the Buddha’s parinirvana.”

After finishing the explanation of the sacred site, Sunim gave instructions to the pilgrimage group.

“We’ll conclude the explanation of Saptaparni Cave here. I promised the police officer guarding the entrance at the bottom of the mountain that I would bring everyone down before 5 PM. (laughter) Let’s organize our things and prepare to go down.”

Finally, Sunim walked around inside and outside the cave to check if anyone was still there.