~ About Buddhism ~
(Excerpt from
Wikipedia.org)
Theravada (Pali;
Sanskrit: Sthaviravada) is one of the eighteen (or twenty)
Nikāya schools that formed early in the history of
Buddhism.
These developed in
India during the century subsequent to the death of the
Buddha.
The name of the school means "Teachings of the Elders" which implies that
this was the most conservative school of Buddhism, in the sense that it
has attempted to conserve the original teachings of the Buddha. Adherents
trace their lineage back to the Sthaviras (Pali: Theras; "Elders") of the
First
Buddhist Council when 500
arahants,
including
Mahakasyapa chose a position of orthodoxy to keep all the "lesser and
minor" rules set by Gautama Buddha.
Theravada is the longest surviving of the
twenty schools, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion
of Sri
Lanka and continental
Southeast Asia (parts of southwest
China,
Cambodia,
Laos,
Myanmar,
and
Thailand). It is also gaining popularity in
Singapore and
Australia.
It is sometimes spuriously labeled as
Hinayana
("Inferior Vehicle") in opposition to the
Mahayana
("Greater Vehicle"), but this term is now widely seen as either inaccurate
or derogatory.
Theravada is sometimes referred to as
Southern Buddhism. The oldest surviving use of the term
Theravada in writing appears in the 7th century
CE
in that school's own manuscripts.
In that document, according to
Andre Bareau (Les sectes bouddhique du Petit Vehicule, p. 205),
Theravada defines itself as a separate school, in distinction to the
Mahasanghika, the
Sarvastivada, and the
Sammatiya. Today Theravada Buddhists number over 100 million
worldwide, and in recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in the
West.
History
During the reign of Emperor
Asoka in
India, the
third Council was held in
Pataliputra (250
BCE). The President of the Council, Moggaliputta Tissa, compiled a
book called the
Kathavatthu attempting to refute what he saw as the heretical, false
views and theories held by some sects. The teaching approved and accepted
by this Council was known as Theravada. The
Abhidhamma Pitaka was included at this Council. Thus the modern Pali
Canon was now essentially completed. It was brought by Venerable
Mahinda
to Sri Lanka in 246 CE and was committed to writing in 110 CE. It is still
in use today by Theravadins.
Philosophy
Theravada promote the concept of
Vibhajjavada (Pali),
literally "Teaching of Analysis" which uses critical methods of
investigation as opposed to blind faith. With this method the answer has
to be discovered by the aspirant, after being convinced by valid thought
and experience, in order to reach the first glimpse of the goal.
The Theravadins goal is the achievement of
the state of
Arahant (lit. "worthy one", "winner of
Nibbana"),
a life where all (future) birth is at an end, where the holy life is fully
achieved, where all that has to be done has been done, and whereupon there
is no more returning to the worldly life. In the Theravadin view, the
attainment of arahatship is equal in every way to the realization attained
by the Buddha himself. The Buddha remains a figure of reverence even for
arahats because he was able to attain nibbana without the aid of
any teacher or outside instruction—he is said to be 'fully
self-enlightened' in many Pali verses of praise. Only after the
development of the
Mahayana
did the insight or knowledge attained by an arhat come to be seen as a
lesser form of that attained by the Buddha himself.
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