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Pre-sectarian Buddhism,[1] also called early Buddhism,[2][3] the earliest Buddhism,[4][5] original Buddhism,[6] and primitive Buddhism,[7] is Buddhism as theorized to have existed before the various Early Buddhist schools developed, around 250 BCE (followed by later subsects of Buddhism).[8][9]
The contents and teachings of this pre-sectarian Buddhism must be deduced or re-constructed from the earliest Buddhist texts, which by themselves are already sectarian.[quote 1][quote 2][note 1] The whole subject remains intensely debated by scholars, not all of whom believe a meaningful reconstruction is possible.
"Early Buddhism" may also be used for considerably later periods.
- ^ Hurvitz 1976.
- ^ Nakamura 1989.
- ^ Hirakawa 1990.
- ^ Gombrich 1997, p. 11-12.
- ^ Jong 1993, p. 25.
- ^ Warder 1999.
- ^ Mizuno Kogen 1982, p. 16.
- ^ Sujato 2012, p. [page needed].
- ^ Sujato 2012, pp. 81–82.
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