ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the Buddhist transnationalism of the modern period. It examines the history of Buddhist councils and synods from the early gatherings after the demise of the Buddha to the Buddhist World Council in the twentieth century. These often international events follow a role-model, of creating and handing down an authoritative version of the Buddha's teachings. They lead to a purification, of the monks' order if monks sticking to divergent textual traditions were expelled from the sangha. The chapter looks at Buddhist synods with a focus on those convened since the mid-nineteenth century. After 1200 CE, Pagan in central Burma replaced Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa as a centre of Theravada Buddhism, both in the magnificence of its monuments and as a refuge for Buddhists from all over Asia. The fundamental change taking place during the nineteenth century, which can be succinctly described by the terms modernization' and globalization', did not leave the Buddhist communities of Asia untouched.
