"There are two crucial factors mitigating against the
streamlining of "Buddhism" that many readers presumably desire.
First, contrary to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, Buddhism is
not a "Religion of the book." There is no single volume that
contains the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha, in fact, wrote
nothing at all. He wandered around a four-hundred-square-mile area
of eastern India for forty-five years, verbally clarifying for
others the nature of what he referred to as his "awakening" -- this
liberating insight into the nature of human existence. Eventually
codified by the community of his followers in India and committed
to writing in Sri Lanka, China, and beyond (this process is
explained later), this nearly half century of teaching amounts to a
virtual library of books. The second factor working against an easy
solution to the present-day multiplicity of Buddhisms is the fact
that although the Buddha became a renowned teacher with a
substantial following during his lifetime, he never centralized his
authority. Scholars speculate that the Buddha modeled his
practitioner community on the power-sharing republican political
structure of his own people, the Sakyas of northeastern India (see
"Pronunciation of Sanskrit and Pali Words"). In any case, shortly
before he died, the Buddha insisted that no one assume the role of
authority when he was gone. Hence, without a popelike figure to lay
down the law, two predictable results manifested: the community
splitered into numerous divergent sects and schools, and doctrinal
disputes and variations in practice proliferated. The result of
twenty-five hundred years of such diffusion is precisely the
confusing cacophony of Buddhist voices beckoning us today from
bookshelves and practice centers."
~ Glen Wallis, "Basic Teachings of the Buddha"
