Nikaya schools

Theravāda is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins (anglicized from Pali theravādī), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or Dhamma in the Pāli Canon for over two millennia. As of 2010, Theravada is the second largest branch of Buddhism with 36% Buddhists belonging to Theravada, compared to 53% to Mahayana.

thumb|Seated Buddha from the Sarvāstivādin monastery of Tapa Shotor, 2nd century CE

The Sautrāntika or Sūtravāda (, Suttavāda in Pali; ; ; ) was an early Buddhist school generally believed to be descended from the Sthavira Nikāya by way of their immediate parent school, the Sarvāstivādins. While they are identified as a unique doctrinal tendency, they were part of the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya lineage of monastic ordination.

The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha", ) was a major division (Nikāya) of the early Buddhist schools in India. They were one of the two original communities that emerged from the first schism of the original pre-sectarian Buddhist tradition (the other being the Sthavira Nikāya). This schism is traditionally held to have occurred after the Second Buddhist council, which occurred at some point during or after the reign of Ashoka Maurya. The Mahāsāṃghika Nikāya developed into numerous sects which spread throughout ancient India.

thumb|right|250px|Central Asian bhikkhu|Buddhist monk teaching a Chinese monk. [[Bezeklik Caves, 9th–10th century; although Albert von Le Coq (1913) assumed the blue-eyed, red-haired monk was a Tocharian, modern scholarship has identified similar Caucasoid figures of the same cave temple (No. 9) as ethnic Sogdians, an Eastern Iranian people who inhabited Turfan as an ethnic minority community during the phases of Tang Chinese (7th–8th century) and Uyghur rule (9th–13th century).]]

historical Buddhist education centres

early Buddhist school

Vibhajyavāda (Sanskrit; Pali: Vibhajjavāda; ) is a term applied generally to groups of early Buddhists belonging to the Sthavira Nikāya, which split from the Mahāsāṃghika (due either to the former attempting to make the Vinaya stricter, or the latter wishing to reform it; see: Sthavira Nikāya main article) into two main groups: the Sarvāstivāda and the Vibhajyavāda, of which the latter are known to have rejected both Sarvāstivāda doctrines (especially the doctrine of "all exists") and the doctrine of Pudgalavāda (personalism). During the reign of Ashoka, these groups possibly took part in miss

thumb|right|upright|Gandhara|Gandhāran Mahīśāsakas are associated with the Pure Land teachings of [[Amitābha Buddha.]]

Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika () or simply Vaibhāṣika () was an ancient Buddhist tradition of Abhidharma (scholastic Buddhist philosophy), which was very influential in North India, especially Kashmir. In various texts, they referred to their tradition as Yuktavāda (the doctrine of logic), and another name for them was Hetuvāda (the doctrine of causes). The Vaibhāṣika school was an influential subgroup of the larger Sarvāstivāda school. They were distinguished from other Sarvāstivāda sub-schools like the Sautrāntika and the "Western Masters" of Gandhara and Bactria by their orthodox adherence to the

The Pudgalavāda (Sanskrit: "Personalism"; Pali: Puggalavāda; ; ) was a Buddhist philosophical view and also refers to a group of Nikāya Buddhist schools (mainly known as Vātsīputrīyas) that arose from the Sthavira Nikāya. The school is believed to have been founded by the elder Vātsīputra in the third century BCE. They were a widely influential school in India and became particularly popular during the reign of emperor Harshavadana (606–647 CE). Harsha's sister Rajyasri was said to have joined the school as a nun. According to Dan Lusthaus, they were "one of the most popular mainstream Buddhis

thumb|right|upright|The Lokottaravāda held there were innumerable Pure Land|Pure Lands of buddhas and [[bodhisattvas.]]

thumb|right|Cave temple associated with the Mahāsāṃghika sect. Ajaṇṭā Caves, Mahārāṣtra, [[India.]]

The Prajñaptivāda (Sanskrit; ) was a branch of the Mahāsāṃghika, one of the early Buddhist schools in India. The Prajñaptivādins were also known as the Bahuśrutīya-Vibhajyavādins.

The Kukkuṭika (Sanskrit; ) were an early Buddhist school which descended from the Mahāsāṃghika.

thumb|right|Cave temple associated with the Mahāsāṃghika sect. Ajaṇṭā Caves, Mahārāṣtra, India

thumb|upright|Statue of the Buddha at Bojjannakonda, [[Andhra Pradesh]]

The Tāmraśāṭīya (Sanskrit: ताम्रशाटीय, ), also called Tāmraparṇīya (Sanskrit; Pali: Tambapaṇṇiya) or Theriya Nikāya (Pali), was one of the early schools of Buddhism and a Sri Lankan branch of the Vibhajyavāda (ancestor of the Theravāda) school based in Sri Lanka.

group of early Buddhist schools