what is Theravada Buddhist?

Theravada (pronounced — a lot of or less — "terra-VAH-dah"), the "Doctrine of the Elders," is the school of Buddhism that pulls its scriptural inspiration from the Tipitaka, or Pali canon, which students usually agree contains the earliest living record of the Buddha's teachings.[1] For many centuries, Theravada has been the predominant faith of continental Southeast Asia (cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Burm, and Laos) and Sri Lanka. Today Buddhism Buddhists range well over one hundred million worldwide.[2] In recent decades Theravada has begun to take root within the West.

which semiconductor diode to schisms at intervals the Sangha and the emergence of as several as eighteen distinct sects of Buddhism.[3] One of these faculties eventually gave rise to a front that referred to as itself Mahayana the Greater Vehicle . the terms mahayana and hinayana, it is common today to use a lot of neutral language to differentiate between these 2 main branches of Buddhism. Because Buddhism traditionally dominated southern Asia.

Unlike the scriptures of several of the world's nice religions, the Tipitaka is not thought to be gospel, as an unassailable statement of on religion. Instead, its teachings are meant to be assessed primary, to be put into observe in one's life therefore that one will ascertain for oneself if they are doing, in fact, yield the promised results. It is the reality towards which the words within the Tipitaka purpose that ultimately matters, not the words themselves. Although students can continue to discussion the authorship of passages from the Tipitaka for years to come back (and so miss the purpose of those teachings entirely).