Moggaliputtatissa

Moggaliputtatissa, president of the third Buddhist council (c. 250 bce) and author of the Kathāvatthu (“Points of Controversy”). Included among the Pāli Abhidamma Piṭaka, the Kathāvatthu is a series of questions from a non-Theravāda point of view, with their implications refuted in the answers; the long first chapter debates the existence of a soul. Moggaliputtatissa is credited with ordaining Aśoka’s son Mahinda into the sangha (community of believers) and with bringing some organization to Buddhist...