Early Buddhism

Holy City in Bihar, India

collection of traditional narratives of the previous lives of Buddha before his last life as Gautama

Sarnath (also known as Deer Park, Sarangnath, Isipatana Deer Park, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a town northeast of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India. As the Lalitavistara sutra states, the Gautama Buddha chose "Deer Park by the Hill of the Fallen Sages, outside of Varanasi" for his first teaching after he attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya. The teaching is entitled Dhammacakkappavattana sutra. Sarnath is one of the eight most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, and has been nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (, lit. Commentary on the Treasury of Abhidharma), Abhidharmakośa () for short (or just Kośa or AKB), is a key text on the Abhidharma written in Sanskrit by the Indian Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu in the 4th or 5th century CE. The Kośa summarizes the Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma in eight chapters with a total of around 600 verses and then comments on (and often criticizes) it. This text was widely respected and used by schools of Buddhism in India, Tibet and East Asia. Over time, the Abhidharmakośa became the main source of Abhidharma and Sravakayana Buddhism for later Mahā

historical Buddhist education centres

teacher of yogic meditation and second teacher of Gautama Buddha

phase of Buddhism before the development of Early Buddhist schools around 250 CE

teacher of yogic meditation and first teacher of Gautama Buddha

Bhāṇaka (Pali: reciter) were Buddhist monks who specialized in the memorization and recitation of a specific collection of texts within the Buddhist canon. Lineages of bhāṇakas were responsible for preserving and transmitting the teachings of the Buddha until the canon was committed to writing in the 1st century BC, and declined as the oral transmission of early Buddhism was replaced by writing.

thumb|Hanging scroll of an Indian Buddhist [[arhat by Japanese painter Shiba Kōkan]]

Pratyekabuddhayāna (Sanskrit: प्रत्येकबुद्धयान; ) is a Buddhist term for the mode or vehicle of enlightenment of a pratyekabuddha or paccekabuddha (Sanskrit and Pali respectively), a term which literally means "solitary buddha" or "a buddha on their own" (prati- each, eka-one). The pratyekabuddha is an individual who independently achieves liberation without the aid of teachers or guides and who does not teach others. Pratyekabuddhas may give moral teachings but do not bring others to enlightenment. They leave no sangha (i.e. community) as a legacy to carry on the Dhamma (e.g. Buddha's teachin

thumb|Śāṇavāsa statue, Tây Phương Temple, Vietnam, 1794 AD Śāṇavāsa (Śānakavāsin, Sambhūta Śāṇavāsi or Sanakavasa) was a disciple of Ananda, and is considered the fourth Indian Patriarch in Chan/Zen Buddhism after Shakyamuni, Mahakashyapa and Ananda.

first two lay disciples of the Buddha