The First Buddhists
The First Buddhist Monks
The Buddha and his first disciples had no fixed place to call home. They slept under trees and begged for all of their food. Their only clothes were robes they patched together from cloth taken from rubbish heaps.
The First Buddhist Women
The historical Buddha’s most famous statements on women came about when his stepmother and aunt, Maha Pajapati Gotami, asked to join the Sangha and become a nun. The Buddha initially refused her request. Eventually he relented, but in doing so he made conditions and a prediction that remain controversial to this day.
The Buddha's Robe
Although the robes of Buddhist monks and nuns come in many colors and styles, they are all part of a tradition going back to the time of the historical Buddha, 26 centuries ago.
The Buddha's Robe: A Photo Gallery
The distinctive style of Buddhist monks' robes originated 25 centuries ago among the historical Buddha's disciples. This image gallery illustrates the original robe today in southeast Asia and shows how it evolved as Buddhism spread north through China, Tibet, Japan and Korea.
Kathina
Kathina is an ancient ceremony for giving Buddhist monks and nuns gifts of cloth to make robes.
Development and Spread of the Sangha
How Buddhism developed after the death of the historical Buddha; the first monks.
Early History of Buddhism
A history of the first monastic order of Buddhism.
The First Buddhist Council
The First Buddhist Council met shortly after the historical Buddha's death. The disciples recited their teacher's words from memory and began the tradition of oral recitation that preserved the teachings until they were written down centuries later.