The author sets a problem of the searches for some credible sources for the life history of Buddha, because the incredible legends cover the real historical figure. The author tried to clear the sources from their ‘fantastic’ layer, compiling the image of the real Indian religious thinker and ascetic-sadhu. So, he argued that the interpretation of legends should be started with the historical analysis of the sources, and textual criticism.
To study the Buddhist teaching after the death of the Teacher demands investigation of councils of the spiritual leaders, and the history of the division of the whole movement into schools and sects. The author tries to establish possible reasons of historical deformation of the sources. He was sure that tales on the councils had been based on historical events, which were reworked in the frames of later Buddhist dogmas – so, there are reasons to suppose the existence of the Pali canon at that early time, in spite of declarations of later sources. On the author’s opinion, the history of the canon could be reconstructed through studying monuments of Buddhist sects, and it would be necessary to refuse from the idea of its ancient origin.