Following Buddha’s death in 483 BC, his closest followers (his disciple monks) took time off their preaching to write down his sermons (sutras) and his rules (vinayas) and thus began the three chief Buddhist sects. In the old convention of Buddha, monks initially walked the countryside preaching and teaching for nine months of the year and went to sit out the monsoon period in a retreat for three months.
These retreats became monasteries and temples. The retreat into monasteries was important in the development of different interpretations of Buddha’s teachings and in due course led to the formation of various sects which gained popularity in various regions of Asia.
There are three main Buddhist sects: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana or Tantric Buddism.
Theravada Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism is the principal sect in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand and is the sect that remains most loyal to Buddha’s original doctrines. Theravada Buddhism teaches that the path to the achievement of personal Nirvana is the objective of life. It is a very personal religion in that everybody is alone on their own path to enlightenment.
Mahayana Buddism
Mahayana Buddism became the largest sect and spread along the Silk Road from India through China to east Asia starting in around 200 BC. Mahayana Buddhists worship Buddha and the Buddhist saints (bodhisattvas – literally ‘wisdom beings’).
Bodhisattvas are beings that restrain themselves from attaining Nirvana (and therefore leaving the wheel of life or cycle of birth, death and reincarnation) so that they may help others accomplish Nirvana, which is a major difference between it and Theravada Buddhism.
Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism is more readily absorbed by different cultures than the other kinds which accounts for it having spread so far. The Buddhist emperor Ashoka (272-232 BC) gave Mahayana a colossal boost in popularity by dispatching missionaries to Sri Lanka, south-east Asia and China from where it was taken to Korea and Japan in the Sixth Century anno domini.
Zen Buddhism grew in popularity in Japan and China in the Seventh Century. Zen Buddhism is a variation of Mahayana Buddhism and teaches that Nirvana can be gained through mental conditioning and meditation.
Tantric Buddhism
Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism arose in the Seventh Century as well and is most common in Tibet and Mongolia. Vajrayana Buddhism attempts to identify the initiate with a visualized deity. Tantric cannon includes esoteric writings, teaching that meditation can engage the mind by the use of mantras (chants), mudras (hand gestures) and mandalas (visible icons). The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and temporal head of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhists.
Buddhism reached its height of popularity in China during the T’ang dynasty in the Ninth Century, when it was partially suppressed by royal command. Likewise Zen attained its height of popularity in the Nineteen Century when the Japanese royal family switched to Shintoism taking many of the royal hangers-on with it. Buddhism declined in India as well in the Eighth Century because lots of its concepts were absorbed into Hinduism. Buddism was to all intents and purposes extinct in India by the Thirteenth Century.
Buddhism And The Three Chief Buddhist Sects. About the author: Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on many topics but is currently involved with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our web site entitled Celebrating Easter
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