Theravda (Pali, literally "school of the elder monks") is a branch of Buddhism that uses the teaching of the Pli Canon, a collection of the oldest recorded Buddhist texts, as its doctrinal core, but also includes a rich diversity of traditions and practices that have developed over its long history of interactions with various cultures and communities. It is the dominant form of religion in Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma, and is practiced by minority groups in Vietnam, Bangladesh, and China. In addition, the diaspora of all of these groups as well as converts around the world practice Theravda Buddhism.

Theravda Buddhism is followed by various countries and people around the globe, and are:

Today, Theravda Buddhists, otherwise known as Theravadins, number over 150 million worldwide, and during the past few decades Theravda Buddhism has begun to take root in the West[a] and in the Buddhist revival in India.[web 2]

The name Theravda comes from the ancestral Sthvirya, one of the early Buddhist schools, from which the Theravadins claim descent. After unsuccessfully trying to modify the Vinaya, a small group of "elderly members," i.e. sthaviras, broke away from the majority Mahsghika during the Second Buddhist council, giving rise to the Sthavira sect.[1] According to its own accounts, the Theravda school is fundamentally derived from the Vibhajjavda "doctrine of analysis" grouping,[2] which was a division of the Sthvirya.

Theravadin accounts of its own origins mention that it received the teachings that were agreed upon during the putative Third Buddhist council under the patronage of the Indian Emperor Ashoka around 250 BCE. These teachings were known as the Vibhajjavada.[3] Emperor Ashoka is supposed to have assisted in purifying the sangha by expelling monks who failed to agree to the terms of Third Council.[4] Later, the Vibhajjavdins in turn is said to have split into four groups: the Mahsaka, Kyapya, Dharmaguptaka, and the Tmraparya.

The Theravda is said to be descended from the Tmraparya sect, which means "the Sri Lankan lineage." Missionaries sent abroad from India are said to have included Ashoka's son Mahinda and his daughter Sanghamitta, and they were the mythical founders of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, a story which scholars suggest helps to legitimize Theravda's claims of being the oldest and most authentic school.[4] Sanghamitta is said to have founded the Mahavihara "Great Monastery" of Anuradhapura. In the 7th century CE, the Chinese pilgrim monks Xuanzang and Yijing refer to the Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka as Shngzub (Chinese: ), corresponding to the Sanskrit "Sthavira Nikya" and the Pali "Thera Nikya."[b][c] The school has been using the name Theravda for itself in a written form since at least the 4th century, about one thousand years after the Buddha's death, when the term appears in the Dpavasa.[d]

According to Buddhist scholar A. K. Warder, the Theravda

... spread rapidly south from Avanti into Maharastra and Andhra and down to the Chola country (Kanchi), as well as Sri Lanka. For some time they maintained themselves in Avanti as well as in their new territories, but gradually they tended to regroup themselves in the south, the Great Vihara (Mahavihara) in Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Sri Lanka, becoming the main centre of their tradition, Kanchi a secondary center and the northern regions apparently relinquished to other schools.

Over much of the early history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, three subdivisions of Theravda existed in Sri Lanka, consisting of the monks of the Mahvihra, Abhayagiri vihra and Jetavana.[8] The Mahvihra was the first tradition to be established, while Abhayagiri Vihra and Jetavana Vihra were established by monks who had broken away from the Mahvihra tradition.[8] According to A.K. Warder, the Indian Mahsaka sect also established itself in Sri Lanka alongside the Theravda, into which they were later absorbed.[8] Northern regions of Sri Lanka also seem to have been ceded to sects from India at certain times.[8]

When the Chinese monk Faxian visited the island in the early 5th century CE, he noted 5000 monks at Abhayagiri, 3000 monks at the Mahvihra, and 2000 monks at the Cetiyapabbatavihra.[10]

Original post:
Theravada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia