Chapter 7: Theravada Sects
Sects of the Pagan Period
Just as Buddhist monastic sects arose in India and Sri Lanka, monastic sects also arose in Myanmar. However, the schisms in the Indian sects were very pronounced, differing in dress, practice, and scripture.
In Myanmar, the schisms were not so pronounced. The divisions occurred within the shade of Theravada. When studying the schisms of the Myanmar Sāsana, some were based on pride, while others were based on minor differences in opinion.
Some were based on minor differences in practice. Some schisms occurred with the backing of the ruling king. Some were based on devotion to a teacher and ego. In the Pagan period, initially, there was only one Sangha community, which was established and led by the venerable Shin Arahan who came from Thaton. During the reign of King Narapatisithu, the Sangha community that returned from Sihala (Sri Lanka), based on devotion to their teacher, performed their own Sangha acts separately, and from this, another sect emerged.
From that time, two Sangha sects appeared in the land of Pagan. They were:
- The Purima Saṅgha sect,
- The Pacchima Saṅgha sect.
- The Purima Saṅgha sect was the original Sangha sect founded by the venerable Shin Arahan.
- The Pacchima Saṅgha sect was the sect founded by the venerable Chapada Mahathera.
Chapada went to Sihala and, after studying the scriptures, invited the venerable Sīvali, the venerable Tāmalinda, the venerable Ānanda, and the venerable Rāhula on his return. When they arrived in Burma, they performed their own Sangha acts. King Narapatisithu also supported that group of monks. Because that sect arose later, it was called the “Pacchima Saṅgha sect” (the later Sangha).
From that sect, the venerable Rāhula disrobed and went to Malayu. Soon after, the venerable Chapada also passed away. Only three leading Mahatheras remained.
Those three Mahatheras also later disagreed and split over matters related to gains and offerings. They each founded their own sect. At that time, in the land of Pagan:
- The Purima Saṅgha sect, …and from the Pacchima Saṅgha sect:
- The lineage sect of the venerable Sīvali,
- The lineage sect of the venerable Tāmalinda,
- The Ānanda sect.
- Thus, four sects emerged.
The Ramanya Sangha Sects
In the later Pagan period, in the lower country, Sangha sects called the Ramanya sects also emerged. Some of these sects were offshoots that spread from the Pagan monastic schisms.
During the reign of King Dhammazedi, who ruled over Hanthawaddy in the Ramanya country, there were as many as six major Sangha sects.
- The Kamboja sect: This was the lineage sect descended from the venerable Soṇa and the venerable Uttara from the time of King Asoka. This sect was also called the “Ariya Saṅgha sect.” A venerable monk from this sect was prominent because he was well-versed in the scriptures (pariyatti). That venerable monk resided near the Pinga stream in the city of Lakkhīya. There was also a large market near that monastery. In the vicinity of that market, tailors from the Kamboja country were made to live. That market was also called the Kamboja market. Later, the monastery was also called the Kamboja market monastery.
One day, a donor named Sirisīdhaja from the city of Dala built a large monastery and offered it in worship to the venerable monk of the Kamboja market monastery. The Sangha that descended from that venerable monk were called the “Kamboja sect” Sangha.
- The Shin Sīvali sect: This sect was an offshoot that spread from the venerable Sīvali Mahathera’s sect in Pagan.
- The Shin Tāmalinda sect: It also came from Pagan.
- The Shin Ānanda sect: It also came from Pagan.
- The Shin Buddhavaṃsa sect: The venerable Buddhavaṃsa, a native of the city of Muttama (Martaban), went to Sihala, received higher ordination, and returned. Because the queen worshipped him, he was called the queen’s teacher. That teacher also founded a sect and performed Sangha acts separately.
- The Shin Mahānāga sect: That venerable one was also a native of the city of Muttama. He went to Sihala and received higher ordination. Upon his return, he performed Sangha acts separately and founded a sect.
The six major sects mentioned above did not associate with each other. They performed Sangha acts only among their own sect members. They conducted and practiced in this manner until the time King Dhammazedi ascended the throne.
King Dhammazedi was particularly dedicated to promoting the flourishing and spread of the Sāsana. He built many religious structures. He supported the Sangha with the four requisites. However, because the Sangha did not associate with each other sect-wise, he did not seem satisfied. He wanted the Sangha to be united. However, because they had been divided since ancient times, it was not easy to unite them.
Purification of the Sāsana
King Dhammazedi, unable to unite the monastic sects, decided to establish a separate Sāsana. He used the issue of the validity of ordination halls (sima) as a pretext.
King Dhammazedi, claiming that the existing ordination halls were of doubtful validity, sent monks to Sihala (Sri Lanka) to receive new ordination. Upon their return, he consecrated the great Kalyani Sima with the monks who had returned from Sihala. He had a large number of new ordinations conducted in that great ordination hall. He also had other monks receive new ordination. King Dhammazedi gave preference to monks ordained at the Kalyani Sima. He no longer paid much attention to those ordained in other ordination halls.
King Dhammazedi’s actions can be said to have been successful. Later, monks from the six sects mentioned above also received new ordination at the Kalyani Sima. They became united.
After the time of Dhammazedi, the monastic schisms also faded. They disappeared. King Dhammazedi’s efforts to unify the sects are worthy of praise.
King Dhammazedi also paid attention to and carried out the purification of the Sāsana. In that era, there were those who practiced things that were not in accordance with the Sāsana.
He requested the senior monks to effectively prohibit such monks. From the king’s requests for the purification of the Sāsana, one can see the impurities of that era from the following points:
- Monks who practice medicine.
- Monks who practice the arts of numerology (astrology), carpentry, and ivory carving.
- Monks who serve by carrying and tending to the children of kings, ministers, and others.
- Monks who preach with long, song-like tones in the cotton, paddy, millet, and chili fields, and upon receiving cotton, paddy, millet, chili, etc., engage in trade.
- Monks who live intermingled with unsuitable lay people.
All those monks are base monks. May the venerable sirs not give permission for those base monks to live permanently in your presence.
King Dhammazedi was a king who gave priority to and acted for the purification of the Sāsana and the correctness of views.
The Araññika Sect
From the later Pagan period onwards, two major sects flourished throughout Burma. These two major sects were the “Araññika sect” and the “Pwe Kyaung sect.”
The Araññika sect to be described now is not the Araññika sect that existed before Anawrahta. The Araññika sect before Anawrahta was a splinter group from the Mahayana sect called the Tantra sect. That sect was suppressed by King Anawrahta and disappeared from the 11th century. That sect can be called the first Araññika sect.
The Araññika sect to be described now is a sect that emerged from the time of King Narapatisithu. This sect is not included in the lineage of teachers in the history of the Sāsana. It is a sect that has been discovered by researchers through reference to stone inscriptions.
The word “Araññika” is the nominal form of the Pali word “arañña.” In Burmese, it means “forest monastery sect.”
Although the members of the forest monastery sect, the Araññikas, lived in forest monasteries, they were not people who practiced meditation. They pursued worldly ideologies. They inherited and practiced the activities of the Tantra sect. They engaged in activities for attaining occult powers and magical abilities.
It is found in old stone inscriptions that the members of the Araññika sect ate meat, drank intoxicating liquor, and accepted donations of meat and liquor at night and consumed them.
The founder of that sect was Shin Kassapa. Shin Kassapa lived in a forest monastery and widely propagated the activities of the Tantra sect. He himself had received ordination as a Theravada Buddhist monk. He took refuge under the shade of Theravada and diligently carried out worldly Tantric activities.
In the biography of that Shin Kassapa, he is described in a wondrous way with fantastic stories such as traveling by riding a tiger and crossing the ocean by riding a crocodile. People with weak intellect believed him to be a person of great power, magical ability, and great psychic powers.
That Shin Kassapa expanded and propagated his sect from a place called the lower forest monastery. In ancient times, it was called Kyantū (Kantū). Now it is near the Chindwin River bridge in Yesagyo, on the east bank. The old site of Shin Kassapa’s forest monastery can still be seen today.
That venerable one went to Pagan during the reign of King Narapatisithu. The people of Pagan revered the great venerable one. They liked and were pleased with his Tantra-like activities. People from the circle of royal ministers built monasteries in Pagan for the venerable one. They donated much land.
The people of Pagan became interested in the activities of the Araññikas, which were Tantra-like. They came to hope for the attainment of supernatural powers and the help of gods and goddesses. They came to accept and hope for the doctrine of “relying on others” rather than the doctrine of “relying on oneself.”
In the 13th century CE, the Mongols invaded and attacked. At that time, the Burmese, who were obsessed with escapist ideologies and supernatural objects, had to face defeat. Was not this reason a major factor, although not the main one, in the military defeat? It cannot be denied that it was one of the reasons.
In India too, due to such escapist ideologies, did not the country easily fall into the hands of foreigners? Did not Buddhism also disappear?
Towards the end of the Pagan period, the great forest monastery sect reached its peak. Even after the death of Shin Kassapa, his disciples continued the activities of the Araññika sect.
At that time, the traditional city-dwelling (gāmavāsī) sects that had been propagating the Sāsana and teaching the scriptures did not seem to be as popular with the people as the Araññika sect. Some of the city-dwelling teachers realized that if they followed this fanciful path, the Sāsana would decline, and the country would suffer.
When the Pinya period arrived, the gāmavāsī monks who were spreading the Pariyatti Sāsana (the study of scriptures) founded the “Pwe Kyaung sect,” which was based on practical skills. When the Pwe Kyaung sect became prominent and developed, the Araññika sect gradually weakened. Historians estimate that the forest monastery sect called the Araññika sect disappeared around the 15th century.
Although the great Araññika sect disappeared, Theravada-named monks who continued to inherit and practice the activities of the Araññikas are still found.
Figures such as the Bame Sayadaw, the Bantamo Sayadaw, and the Ngane Sayadaw were figures who became famous in later periods by inheriting the activities of the Araññikas.
The Chittaja-vedanā (mind-based alchemy/magic) activities diligently pursued by the Araññikas are not easily eradicated from among the Sangha. Based on human escapist thoughts and intense escapist greed, they will surely exist. Even up to the present day, near the end of the 20th century, they intermittently appear throughout Myanmar and remain powerful.
The Pwe Kyaung Sect
The source of the Pwe Kyaung sect was the seven monasteries of Sagaing. King Uzzana ascended the throne in Pinya in the year 684 of the Burmese Era (1322 CE). King Uzzana built seven new large monasteries in the Pinya area of Sagaing. In the year 702 BE (1340 CE), he offered the great monasteries to the venerable monks from the gāmavāsī sect who had been prominent in the Pagan period.
King Uzzana offered his great monasteries to venerable monks from the two major gāmavāsī sects. In the Pagan period, the gāmavāsī Sangha were divided into two sects: the Purima Saṅgha sect of the lineage of Shin Arahan, and the Pacchima Saṅgha sect of the lineage of Shin Chapada.
King Uzzana offered the great monasteries jointly to the venerable monks from both sects. It seems that his intention was to make the sects associate and be harmonious with each other.
If he had such an intention, it can be said that King Uzzana’s wish was fulfilled. This is because the schisms between the gāmavāsī sects disappeared.
The Sangha who received the donation of the seven Sagaing monasteries abolished the sectarian mentality that had existed in the Pagan period and fostered a spirit of unity. They jointly taught practical skills for the future of the kingdom.
The worldly skills taught by the Sagaing monasteries were subjects such as swordsmanship, spearmanship, horsemanship, elephantry, warfare, mechanical spear-throwing, and boxing.
In that era, the people entrusted their children to the gāmavāsī monasteries, where a wide range of worldly and spiritual subjects were taught, to have them learn the skills. Therefore, the gāmavāsī monasteries became great centers where many children and adults came and went.
Because of this large congregation of people, the gāmavāsī monasteries came to be called “Pwe Kyaung” (festival/assembly monasteries). In later times, as the Pwe Kyaungs increased, the Sangha members of the Pwe Kyaung also increased. As this Sangha force grew, it became prominently known as the “Pwe Kyaung sect.”
As the Pwe Kyaung sect grew in strength, the land and property donated to the Pwe Kyaungs also became immense. The Pwe Kyaung Sangha had to perform duties such as assigning tenants to the land, collecting taxes, making public announcements, and measuring and collecting paddy. They had to find cattle for the tenants and resolve the disputes of the tenants.
Because the Pwe Kyaung Sangha were busy with matters such as land disputes, they could not properly perform the work of studying and practicing the scriptures (pariyatti and paṭipatti). In some cases, the leading senior monks themselves had to resolve legal cases related to the Sāsana. Since some senior monks had to rule and resolve legal cases concerning the Sāsana like a king, these chief monks came to be called “Saṅgharāja” (king of the Sangha).
The Burmese kings also studied literature in the Pwe Kyaungs in their childhood. They had to acquire worldly knowledge. Therefore, when they became kings, they donated the four requisites to and worshipped their teacher, the Saṅgharāja.
King Thadominbya, who founded Ava in the year 726 BE (1364 CE), took the great Saṅgharāja of Patu as his teacher and worshipped and revered him.
During the reign of King Mingyiswa-Swa-ke, who ascended the throne in 730 BE (1368 CE), he conferred the title of Saṅgharāja on the Arakanese Sayadaw and worshipped and revered him.
During the reign of King Minkhaung I, who ascended the throne in 763 BE (1401 CE), he also worshipped and revered the Saṅgharāja Sayadaws of the Pwe Kyaung sect. The famous boxer Aung Si Khon Saṅgharāja emerged during the reign of that king.
The great Pwe Kyaung sect, having prospered through the ages, began to weaken in the late Nyaungyan period. This was partly because new sects arose in Burma.
When the Konbaung period arrived during the reign of King Bodawpaya, the Pwe Kyaung Sayadaws were no longer worshipped. Later, the Pwe Kyaung sect was banned by royal decree. Bodawpaya abolished it on the grounds that the kingdom could be rebelled against with the knowledge taught by the Pwe Kyaung sect.
Then, the people and the Sangha were dissatisfied because the Pwe Kyaungs were abolished. Under these circumstances, Bodawpaya again gave permission for the Pwe Kyaungs to be reopened. However, since many of the Pwe Kyaungs had been destroyed, they could not prosper and flourish again. Only a few Pwe Kyaungs could be reopened.
While the Pwe Kyaungs were trying to regain their strength, King Mindon ascended the throne. King Mindon completely closed down the gāmavāsī Pwe Kyaungs in the year 1217 BE (1855 CE). From that time, the Pwe Kyaung sect also completely disappeared.
The great Pwe Kyaung sect was founded from the year 702 BE (1340 CE). It was completely abolished by King Mindon in the year 1217 BE (1855 CE). Therefore, it can be said that the great Pwe Kyaung sect had a long lifespan of 515 years.
The Atin Sect and the Ayon Sect
The Atin sect and the Ayon sect are prominent sects in the history of the Sāsana. They have also been written about extensively.
The Atin sect is said to have emerged during the reign of the prince of Yamethin, King Sanay, who ascended the throne in the year 1060 BE (1698 CE). In that king’s reign, the venerable Guṇābhilaṅkāra Mahathera, who lived in the monastery of Ton village, on the west bank of the Chindwin River in the Salavati region, is said to be the founder of the Atin sect.
The Sayadaw did not have novices wear their robes fully when entering and leaving the village, but had them enter with the robe placed only over the left shoulder. He had them carry a fan. Because one had to enter with the robe placed on one shoulder, it was called the “Atin sect” (placing-on sect). Since it was the sect founded by the Ton village Sayadaw, it was also called the “Ton sect.”
At that time, the venerable Buddhankura, who lived in the city of Taungoo, the venerable Citta, who lived in the rural areas of Debayin city, and the venerable Sunanda and Kalyāṇa, who lived in the Ngayant-O village of Tabayin, however, had novices wear their robes fully and carry their fans when entering the village. Because they had to wear the robe fully when entering and leaving the village, it was called the “Ayon sect” (wearing-fully sect).
Based on the issue of placing on or wearing the robe fully, the two great sects split. Later, these great sects grew. A conflict arose based on a minor difference of opinion. The sects were not in harmony with each other.
The members of the Ayon sect, during the reign of King Tanin-ganway and the reign of the King who reached Hanthawaddy, proposed that their Ayon doctrine was the correct one, and they had to debate the Atin-Ayon issue. However, the problem could not be resolved.
Later, when King Singu ascended the throne, the members of the Ayon sect again proposed that their Ayon doctrine was the correct one. Therefore, a final decision had to be made on the Atin-Ayon issue. At that time, the Ayon sect won, and the great Atin sect declined.
During the reign of King Bodawpaya, the Atin-Ayon issue arose again. However, the matter did not escalate. Later, only the Ayon sect grew in strength, and the Atin sect gradually declined and faded away.
Today’s Sects
In the present day, there are nine major Theravada sects recognized in Myanmar. They are:
- The Sudhamma sect,
- The Shwegyin sect,
- The Mahadwara sect,
- The Muladwara sect,
- The Anaukchaungdwara sect,
- The Veluvana sect,
- The Hnget-twin sect,
- The Ganavimutti sect,
- The Mahayin sect.
Among these great sects, the Sudhamma sect is the oldest sect, as well as the largest in terms of membership.
All nine of the currently existing sects are sects that have separated from within the Theravada framework. They are not sects that reject the Theravada Piṭaka and rebel like the Mahayana sect. They are separated based on minor, insignificant differences of opinion.
The government of Myanmar, with the desire to unite the separated great sects, met with the senior Sayadaws of the sects and discussed the matter. They requested that there be unity among the Theravada sects.
Then, a joint assembly of all sects was successfully held in the Mahāpāsāṇa Cave on Kaba Aye Hill in the year 1980 CE, 1342 BE, in the month of Nayon. From that joint assembly of all sects, the State Saṅgha Mahā Nāyaka Committee, composed of members from all sects, was formed at various levels, and they have been carrying out the duties of the Sāsana.
Comparative Population of Religions
Myanmar, through successive ages, has passed down and worshipped only Theravada Buddhism. As the population increased, the number of Buddhists also increased.
Although the statistics of Buddhists during the reigns of the Burmese kings are not found, the religious population statistics during the colonial period ruled by the British are known precisely. During the colonial period, around 1920, the population of Myanmar was only about 13 million. At that time, the statistics of the members of each religion were found as follows:
…Religion: Male + Female, Total Population
Buddhism… Male: [not provided], Total: 5,676,784
Nat Worshippers… Male: 369,188, Female: 222,200
Hinduism… Male: 378,177, Female: 106,255
[The numbers for women in the original OCR seem to be for a different category or misaligned.]
Christianity… Male: 132,499, Female: 124,608
Aryan Religion… Male: 190, Female: 90
Brahmo Samaj… Male: 299, Female: 92
Confucianism… Male: 9,964, Female: 4,067
Judaism… Male: 866, Female: [not provided]
Shintoism… Male: 20, Female: 14
Sikhism… Male: 2,704, Female: 1,139
Zoroastrianism… Male: 228, Female: 151
Theosophy… Male: 40, Female: 11
Non-religious… Male: 21,453, Female: [not provided]
At that time, the total population of Myanmar was 13,169,099. Among that population, there were 106,429 monks and 47,342 nuns. (From “Political Dhamma Sermon Naya Dīpanī”)
By the year 1986, the population of Myanmar had reached 33 million. At that time, the number of Buddhists had increased. The number of followers of other religions had also increased, as can be seen.
Buddhists: over 30,000,000
Christians: over 1,600,000
Muslims: over 1,300,000
Nat Worshippers: 290,000
Hindus: 170,000
Others: 52,000
In the year 1356 of the Burmese Era (1994/95 CE), the population of Myanmar was known to be over 40 million. Among them:
Monks: 162,098
Novices: 233,840
Nuns: 20,28- [number incomplete]
were present.
