How were the Buddha’s teachings preserved before they were written down?

Before the Buddha’s teachings were recorded in writing, they were preserved through an extensive oral tradition maintained by his disciples. These discourses were typically prefaced with the phrase "evam me sutam," meaning "thus have I heard," to signify their transmission from the Buddha to his followers.21

To ensure the authenticity and consistency of these teachings, the early Buddhist community convened Buddhist councils in the centuries following the Buddha’s death. During these assemblies, monks recited and verified the approved scriptures, including the rules of monastic discipline (vinaya) and instructive aphorisms (sutras).32

For example, the first council is said to have involved the collective recitation of these texts by 500 monks to establish a standardized record. This oral transmission remained the primary method of preservation until the teachings were eventually committed to writing, such as in the Pali canon, which was first recorded in Sri Lanka around the 1st century BCE.34