Moggaliputta-Tissa

Moggaliputtatissa (ca. 327–247 BCE), was a Buddhist monk and scholar who was born in Pataliputra, Magadha (now Patna, India) and lived in the 3rd century BCE. He is associated with the Third Buddhist council, the Mauryan emperor Ashoka and the Buddhist missionary activities which took place during his reign.^[1]

Moggaliputtatissa is seen by the Theravada Buddhist tradition as the founder of "Vibhajjavāda", the tradition of which Theravada is a part as well as the author of the Kathāvatthu.^[2]^[3] He is seen as the defender of the true teaching or Dhamma against corruption, during a time where many kinds of wrong view had arisen and as the force behind the Ashokan era Buddhist missionary efforts.^[4]^[5]

The Sri Lankan Buddhist philosopher David Kalupahana sees him as a predecessor of Nagarjuna in being a champion of the Middle Way and a reviver of the original philosophical ideals of the Buddha.^[6]

^ Sujato, Bhante (2007), Sects and Sectarianism: The origins of Buddhist schools, Santipada, p. 13, ISBN 9781921842085
^ Sujato, Bhante (2007), Sects and Sectarianism: The origins of Buddhist schools, Santipada, p. 104, ISBN 9781921842085
^ Karl H. Potter, Robert E. Buswell, Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 A.D., Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1970, chapter 8.
^ Sujato, Bhante (2007), Sects and Sectarianism: The origins of Buddhist schools, Santipada, pp. 27–29, ISBN 9781921842085
^ Gethin, Rupert, Was Buddhaghosa a Theravādin? Buddhist Identity in the Pali Commentaries and Chronicles, in "How Theravāda is Theravāda? Exploring Buddhist Identities", ed. by Peter Skilling and others, pp. 1–63, 2012.
^ David Kalupahana, Mulamadhyamakakarika of Nagarjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way. Motilal Banarsidass, 2005, pages 2,5.

[1] Sujato, Bhante (2007), Sects and Sectarianism: The origins of Buddhist schools, Santipada, p. 13, ISBN 9781921842085

[2] Sujato, Bhante (2007), Sects and Sectarianism: The origins of Buddhist schools, Santipada, p. 104, ISBN 9781921842085

[3] Karl H. Potter, Robert E. Buswell, Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 A.D., Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1970, chapter 8.

[4] Sujato, Bhante (2007), Sects and Sectarianism: The origins of Buddhist schools, Santipada, pp. 27–29, ISBN 9781921842085

[:1-5] Gethin, Rupert, Was Buddhaghosa a Theravādin? Buddhist Identity in the Pali Commentaries and Chronicles, in "How Theravāda is Theravāda? Exploring Buddhist Identities", ed. by Peter Skilling and others, pp. 1–63, 2012.

[6] David Kalupahana, Mulamadhyamakakarika of Nagarjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way. Motilal Banarsidass, 2005, pages 2,5.

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