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FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 47

Sangha Central Failities (SCF) and Sangha Classroom The farm house quest lodge

View of Agga kuti, Appamada Vihara and Main Office Building Female Garava Lodge

The Agamas are regarded as scriptures of Likewise, when comparing the Vinaya texts of different
Early Buddhism. How similar are they to the schools one cannot fail to notice how surprisingly
Pali scriptures, like the Nikayas, in Theravada similar to each other they are e.g. when comparing the
Buddhism? Pāli version to the Dharmaguptaka version of the same

text. However, while the Pātimokkha rules are almost
The Chinese Āgamas and the Pāli Nikāyas are exactly the same it is often in the origin stories leading
astonishingly similar to each other. So much so that it is up to the formulation of the rules where considerable
not really possible to make generalizations about which variation among the parallels can be discerned.
of them is more authentic. It is only by putting individual
texts side-by-side, that smaller corruptions that very This indicates that the origin stories found in the
likely occurred during the course of oral transmission in Vibhaṅgas were added/finalized during a period
the early stages of the Sāsana can be identified. when different schools had already been formed and
had separated from each other. However, it needs to
Sometimes the Pāli version maintains the more correct be emphasized that just like the suttas, the canonical
reading of a passage, sometimes the Chinese Āgama Vinaya texts from different schools are nonetheless
version. Usually, the differences are of very minor nature, largely consistent with each other.
such as the sequence of items in lists; what is at position
3 out of 5 items of a list in one version may be at position An entirely different picture emerges when comparing
4 in another version. the Abhidhammas of different traditions e.g. Theravāda
vs. Sarvāstivāda. Here the differences are plentiful, and