Theravada
TheravÄda (/ËŒtÉ›rəˈvÉ‘ËdÉ™/;[a] lit. 'School of the Elders')[1][2] is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school.[1][2] The school's adherents, termed TheravÄdins, have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha's teaching or dhamma in the PÄli Canon for over two millennia.[1][2][web 1]
The PÄli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, PÄli, which serves as the school's sacred language[2] and lingua franca.[3] In contrast to MahÄyÄna and VajrayÄna, TheravÄda tends to be conservative in matters of doctrine (pariyatti) and monastic discipline (vinaya).[4] One element of this conservatism is the fact that TheravÄda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared c. 1st century BCE onwards).[5][6]
Modern TheravÄda derives from the MahÄvihÄra order, a Sri Lankan branch of the VibhajjavÄda tradition, which is, in turn, a sect of the Indian Sthavira Nikaya. This tradition began to establish itself in Sri Lanka from the 3rd century BCE onwards. It was in Sri Lanka that the PÄli Canon was written down and the school's commentary literature developed. From Sri Lanka, the TheravÄda MahÄvihÄra tradition subsequently spread to Southeast Asia.[7] TheravÄda is the official religion of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Cambodia, and the main dominant Buddhist variant found in Laos and Thailand. It is practiced by minorities in India, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, North Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The diaspora of all of these groups, as well as converts around the world, also embrace and practice TheravÄda Buddhism.
During the modern era, new developments have included Buddhist modernism, the Vipassana movement which reinvigorated TheravÄda meditation practice,[web 1] the growth of the Thai Forest Tradition which reemphasized forest monasticism and the spread of TheravÄda westward to places such as India and Nepal, along with Buddhist immigrants and converts in the European Union and in the United States.
TheravÄda Buddhism is practiced in the following countries and by people worldwide:
Today, TheravÄdins number over 150 million worldwide, and during the past few decades TheravÄda Buddhism has begun to take root in the West[b] and in the Buddhist revival in India.[web 20]