Theravāda
Sign in to saveTheravāda 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.
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Theravāda is the oldest existing school of Buddhism, whose followers have preserved the Buddha's teachings in a collection of texts called the Pāli Canon for over two thousand years. As of 2010, it is the second-largest branch of Buddhism, representing about 36% of the world's Buddhist population.
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Article
40 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Pre-modern
- Modern history
- Texts
- Pāli Tipiṭaka
- Non-canonical literature
- Other Buddhist texts
- Doctrine (''pariyatti'')
- Core teachings
- Main doctrinal differences with other Buddhist traditions
- Abhidhamma philosophy
- Cosmology
- Soteriology and Buddhology
- Modern developments
- Practice (''paṭipatti'')
- Textual basis
- Moral conduct
- Meditation
- Forms
- Aims of meditation
- Historical development and sources
- Other practices
- Lay and monastic life
- Distinction between lay and monastic life
- Lay devotee
- Monastic vocation
- Ordination
- Monastic practices
- Bhikkhunis
- Monastic orders
- Impact on modern society
- Demographics
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- Printed sources
- Web sources
- External links
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.
The Pāli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, Pāli, which serves as the school's sacred language and lingua franca. In contrast to Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, Theravāda tends to be conservative in matters of the theoretical study (pariyatti) of the doctrine (Dhamma) and monastic discipline (Vinaya). One element of this conservatism is the fact that Theravāda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared onwards). Consequently, Theravāda generally does not recognize the existence of many Buddhas and bodhisattvas believed by the Mahāyāna school, such as Amitābha and Vairocana, because they are not found in their scriptures.