The Path of Compassion: A Biography of Hor shul Khenpo Gelek Palsang Rinpoche — Part One: An Introduction to the Lineage of the Nyingma Tradition — Compilation of the Sutric and Tantric Scriptures

One year after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, while the monastic community observed the summer retreat at Pippala Cave in Rājagṛha, the great aspirant Ajātaśatru made offerings of bedding and resided together with five hundred arhats. The great śrāvaka Upāli then compiled the Vinaya Piṭaka, Ānanda compiled the Sūtra Piṭaka, and Mahākāśyapa compiled the Abhidharma Piṭaka. In this way the three baskets were compiled. This was the first compilation of the Buddhist scriptures.

The second compilation took place 110 years after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, in the Gemaburi Temple at Vaiśālī, for the purpose of adjudicating the dispute over the ten points of discipline. Zhaba, a disciple of Sarvagāmin, who was himself a disciple of Ānanda, assembled with seven hundred arhats. King Aśoka made the offerings, and the questions and answers concerning the ten points were explained at length. The three baskets were recited again, with primary emphasis on the discipline. At this time Buddhism divided into the two major schools of the Mahāsāṃghikas and the Sthaviras.

The third compilation took place more than three hundred years after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. King Kaniṣka served as patron. Five hundred arhats headed by Zhilu and Vasumitra assembled together with five thousand great bhikṣus who upheld the three baskets. All eighteen schools into which Buddhism had divided were determined to be Buddhist. At that time the Vinaya Piṭaka had already been committed to writing, and those portions of the Sūtra Piṭaka and Abhidharma Piṭaka that had not yet been written down were also put into writing.

The Mahāyāna teachings were compiled on the seventh day after the Buddha manifested parinirvāṇa, when one million bodhisattvas gathered on Pure Birth Mountain south of Rājagṛha. Mañjuśrī recited the Abhidharma Piṭaka, Maitreya recited the Vinaya Piṭaka, and Vajrapāṇi recited the Sūtra Piṭaka, while scribes put them into writing. The noble ācārya Nāgārjuna and Bodhisattva Asaṅga composed many treatises refuting the Lesser Vehicle and propagating the Mahāyāna, as well as the mantra divisions of the Vajrayana—the three outer tantras of Kriyā, Caryā, and Yoga.

The teachings of the Vajrayana were compiled in the celestial realms, the nāga realms, and among the yakṣas. The three protectors—Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara, and Vajrapāṇi—composed and transmitted the three most secret inner tantras, thereby compiling the uncommon three inner vehicles. In the human world, King Ja, Garab Dorje, Vimalamitra, and others successively propagated the exceptional, uncommon three inner tantras: the father tantra of Mahāyoga, the mother tantra of Anuyoga, and the unsurpassed tantra of Atiyoga. The eight great accomplished masters transmitted the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings, while the eighty great accomplished masters, the twelve vajra gurus, the ninety-six great learned ones, and other Indian adepts also bestowed empowerments and Dharma transmissions. In this way, the sutric and tantric Buddhadharma spread widely throughout India.