Presectarian Buddhism

Pre-sectarian Buddhism, also called early Buddhism,the earliest Buddhism, and original Buddhism, is the Buddhism that existed before the various subsects of Buddhism came into being.

Some of the contents and teachings of this pre-sectarian Buddhism may be deduced from the earliest Buddhist texts, which by themselves are already sectarian.

Various terms are being used to refer to the earliest period of Buddhism:

Some Japanese scholars refer to the subsequent period of the early Buddhist schools as sectarian Buddhism.

Pre-sectarian Buddhism may refer to the earliest Buddhism, the ideas and practices of Gautama Buddha himself. It may also refer to early Buddhism as existing until about one hundred years after the Parinirvana of the Buddha, until the first documented split in the Sangha.

Contrary to the claim of doctrinal stability, early Buddhism was a dynamic movement. Pre-sectarian Buddhism may have included or incorporated other Śramaṇic schools of thought, as well as Vedic and Jain ideas and practices.

The first documented split occurred, according to most scholars, between the second Buddhist council and the third Buddhist council. The first post-schismatic groups are often stated to be the Sthaviravada and the Mahasanghika. Eventually, eighteen different schools came into existence. The later Mahayana schools may have preserved ideas which were abandoned by the "orthodox" Theravada, such as the Three Bodies doctrine, the idea of consciousness (vijnana) as a continuum, and devotional elements such as the worship of saints.

Pre-sectarian Buddhism was originally one of the śramaṇic movements. The time of the Buddha was a time of urbanisation in India, and saw the growth of the śramaṇas, wandering philosophers that had rejected the authority of Vedas and Brahmanic priesthood, intent on escaping saṃsāra through various means, which involved the study of natural laws, ascetic practices, and ethical behavior.

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