Representatives from the three major modern Buddhist traditions, at the World Fellowship of Buddhists, 27th General Conference, 2014.
The schools of Buddhism are the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism that have existed from ancient times up to the present. The classification and nature of various doctrinal, philosophical or cultural facets of the schools of Buddhism is vague and has been interpreted in many different ways, often due to the sheer number (perhaps thousands) of different sects, subsects, movements, etc. that have made up or currently make up the whole of Buddhist traditions. The sectarian and conceptual divisions of Buddhist thought are part of the modern framework of Buddhist studies, as well as comparative religion in Asia.
From a largely English-language standpoint, and to some extent in most of Western academia, Buddhism is separated into two groups: Theravāda (lit. 'the Teaching of the Elders' or 'the Ancient Teaching'), and Mahāyāna (lit. 'the Great Vehicle'). The most common classification among scholars is threefold: Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna.
and 27 Related for: Schools of Buddhism information
The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history ofBuddhism. The divisions were originally...
Tibetan Buddhism is a form ofBuddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the...
Nichiren Buddhism (Japanese: 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū (Japanese: 法華宗, meaning Lotus Sect), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the...
Buddhism in Japan (日本の仏教, Nihon no Bukkyō) was first established in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schoolsof Buddhism...
East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schoolsof Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the...
Buddhism (/ˈbʊdɪzəm/ BUUD-ih-zəm, US also /ˈbuːd-/ BOOD-), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition...
"assemblage", referring to the collection of early Buddhist schools or non-Mahayana schools. Early Buddhism in India is generally divided into various...
influenced most of Asia. The history ofBuddhism is also characterized by the development of numerous movements, schisms, and philosophical schools, among them...
Word / Mantra School") is one of the major schoolsofBuddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asian Buddhism. It is sometimes...
beginning of the day or of a practice session. Since the period of Early Buddhism all Theravada and mainstream Mahayana schools only take refuge in the...
endless cycle of rebirth. The understanding of the concept has changed over the centuries, and varies between different schoolsofBuddhism and different...
substratum of Pali Buddhism) probably came from the Mahasanghika, Sammitiya and the Sarvastivada schools. The Makhyamaka and Yogacara schools were thought...
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Esoteric Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people. The Tantric masters Śubhakarasiṃha...
Institutions of Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism (simplified Chinese: 汉传佛教; traditional Chinese: 漢傳佛教; pinyin: Hànchuán Fójiào; Jyutping:...
abbr. of Chinese: 禪那; pinyin: chánnà), from Sanskrit dhyāna (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese schoolof Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed...
Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms ofBuddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the...
Secular Buddhism—sometimes also referred to as agnostic Buddhism, Buddhist agnosticism, ignostic Buddhism, atheistic Buddhism, pragmatic Buddhism, Buddhist...
Won Buddhism (Korean: 원불교; Hanja: 圓佛敎) is a modern Buddhist religion originating in Korea. The name "Won Buddhism" comes from the Korean words 원/圓 won ("circle")...
American practitioners of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism, it does not espouse any particular school or schoolsofBuddhism. It respects all Buddhist...
holidays Creator in Buddhism Dzogchen Early Buddhist schools Faith in Buddhism Golden Light Sutra History ofBuddhism Index ofBuddhism-related articles...
of the body-mind. In later Buddhism, insight (prajñā) became the central soteriological instrument, leading to a different concept and structure of the...
Pure Land Buddhism or Pure Land School (Chinese: 淨土宗; pinyin: Jìngtǔzōng; Japanese: 浄土仏教, romanized: Jōdo bukkyō; Korean: 정토종; RR: Jeongto-jong; Vietnamese:...
Buddhism in the West (or more narrowly Western Buddhism) broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice ofBuddhism outside of Asia in the Western world...
tradition ofBuddhism. It comprises all the philosophical investigations and systems of rational inquiry that developed among various schoolsofBuddhism in...
Gandhāran Buddhism refers to the Buddhist culture of ancient Gandhāra which was a major center ofBuddhism in the northwestern Indian subcontinent from...
Global Information
