You yourself must strive.The Buddhas only point the way. ~ Shakyamuni Buddha

If you are exploring Buddhism, or a beginner, you are probably utterly confused about why there are different branches of Buddhism and which one you should pick (or if it really matters).

For someone just starting out on the path (exploring or practicing Buddhism), this is by far your most difficult decision as you dont want to feel like you wasted your time.

Rest assured, there cannot be a wrong choice for youinpicking a branch or school, but each one has its ownadvantages and disadvantages based on what path you wish to follow. Before I get any further, its worth mentioning that when I describe both branches they are broad strokes, because schools within each branch can practice differently.

Lets startwith the basics. There are two main branches (sometimesreferred to asschools) of Buddhism:

What about Tibetan? Vajrayanaor Tibetan is sometimes calledits ownbranch but incorporates the Mahynatradition, and forms 6% of all Buddhists.

At itscore, all Buddhism is exactly the same, but have some fundamental differences on how it is practicedand what the laity (thats you and me) can hope to get out of it.

All branches of Buddhism believe in:

As you can already tell, both branches of Buddhism pretty much believe in the samethings! So you are probably scratching your head right about now because you believe (or were told) that they are wildly different. So lets get right into the differences.

The historical Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, teaching the four noble truths.

Go here to read the rest:
Schools In: Comparing Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism