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What is Theravada Buddhism?

© 2005
See also Theravada Buddhism: A Chronology

Theravada (pronounced — more or less — "terra-VAH-dah"), the "Doctrine of the Elders," is the school
of Buddhism that draws its scriptural inspiration from the Tipitaka, or Pali canon, which scholars
generally agree contains the earliest surviving record of the Buddha's teachings. [1] For many centuries,
Theravada has been the predominant religion of continental Southeast Asia (Thailand, Myanmar/Burma,
Cambodia, and Laos) and Sri Lanka. Today Theravada Buddhists number well over 100 million
worldwide.[2] In recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in the West.

Many Buddhisms, One Dhamma-vinaya

The Buddha — the "Awakened One" — called the religion he founded Dhamma-vinaya — "the doctrine
and discipline." To provide a social structure supportive of the practice of Dhamma-vinaya
(or Dhamma for short [Sanskrit: Dharma]), and to preserve these teachings for posterity, the Buddha
established the order of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns) — the Sangha — which continues to
this day to pass his teachings on to subsequent generations of laypeople and monastics, alike.
As the Dhamma continued its spread across India after the Buddha's passing, differing interpretations of
the original teachings arose, which led to schisms within the Sangha and the emergence of as many as
eighteen distinct sects of Buddhism.[3] One of these schools eventually gave rise to a reform movement
that called itself Mahayana (the "Greater Vehicle")[4] and that referred to the other schools disparagingly
as Hinayana (the "Lesser Vehicle"). What we call Theravada today is the sole survivor of those early non-
Mahayana schools.[5] To avoid the pejorative tone implied by the terms Hinayana and Mahayana, it is
common today to use more neutral language to distinguish between these two main branches of
Buddhism. Because Theravada historically dominated southern Asia, it is sometimes called "Southern"
Buddhism, while Mahayana, which migrated northwards from India into China, Tibet, Japan, and Korea,
is known as "Northern" Buddhism.[6]

Pali: The Language of Theravada Buddhism

The language of the Theravada canonical texts is Pali (lit., "text"), which is based on a dialect of Middle
Indo-Aryan that was probably spoken in central India during the Buddha's time. [7] Ven. Ananda, the
Buddha's cousin and close personal attendant, committed the Buddha's sermons (suttas) to memory and
thus became a living repository of these teachings. [8] Shortly after the Buddha's death (ca. 480 BCE), five
hundred of the most senior monks — including Ananda — convened to recite and verify all the sermons
they had heard during the Buddha's forty-five year teaching career. [9] Most of these sermons therefore
begin with the disclaimer, "Evam me sutam" — "Thus have I heard."
After the Buddha's death the teachings continued to be passed down orally within the monastic
community, in keeping with an Indian oral tradition that long predated the Buddha. [10] By 250 BCE the
Sangha had systematically arranged and compiled these teachings into three divisions: the Vinaya
Pitaka (the "basket of discipline" — the texts concerning the rules and customs of the Sangha), the Sutta
Pitaka (the "basket of discourses" — the sermons and utterances by the Buddha and his close disciples),
and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (the "basket of special/higher doctrine" — a detailed psycho-philosophical
analysis of the Dhamma). Together these three are known as the Tipitaka, the "three baskets." In the third
century BCE Sri Lankan monks began compiling a series of exhaustive commentaries to the Tipitaka;
these were subsequently collated and translated into Pali beginning in the fifth century CE. The Tipitaka
plus the post-canonical texts (commentaries, chronicles, etc.) together constitute the complete body of
classical Theravada literature.
Pali was originally a spoken language with no alphabet of its own. It wasn't until about 100 BCE that the
Tipitaka was first fixed in writing, by Sri Lankan scribe-monks, [11] who wrote the Pali phonetically in a
form of early Brahmi script.[12] Since then the Tipitaka has been transliterated into many different scripts
(Devanagari, Thai, Burmese, Roman, Cyrillic, to name a few). Although English translations of the most
popular Tipitaka texts abound, many students of Theravada find that learning the Pali language — even
just a little bit here and there — greatly deepens their understanding and appreciation of the Buddha's
teachings.

No one can prove that the Tipitaka contains any of the words actually uttered by the historical Buddha.
Practicing Buddhists have never found this problematic. Unlike the scriptures of many of the world's
great religions, the Tipitaka is not regarded as gospel, as an unassailable statement of divine truth,
revealed by a prophet, to be accepted purely on faith. Instead, its teachings are meant to be assessed
firsthand, to be put into practice in one's life so that one can find out for oneself if they do, in fact, yield
the promised results. It is the truth towards which the words in the Tipitaka point that ultimately matters,
not the words themselves. Although scholars will continue to debate the authorship of passages from the
Tipitaka for years to come (and thus miss the point of these teachings entirely), the Tipitaka will quietly
continue to serve — as it has for centuries — as an indispensable guide for millions of followers in their
quest for Awakening.

A Brief Summary of the Buddha's Teachings

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

Shortly after his Awakening, the Buddha delivered his first sermon, in which he laid out the essential
framework upon which all his later teachings were based. This framework consists of the Four Noble
Truths, four fundamental principles of nature (Dhamma) that emerged from the Buddha's radically honest
and penetrating assessment of the human condition. He taught these truths not as metaphysical theories or
as articles of faith, but as categories by which we should frame our direct experience in a way that
conduces to Awakening:
1. Dukkha: suffering, unsatisfactoriness, discontent, stress;
2. The cause of  dukkha: the cause of this dissatisfaction is craving  (tanha) for sensuality, for states
of becoming, and states of no becoming;
 3. The cessation of  dukkha: the relinquishment of that craving;
4. The path of practice leading to the cessation of  dukkha: the Noble Eightfold Path of right
view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness,
and right concentration.
Because of our ignorance  (avijja) of these Noble Truths, because of our inexperience in framing the
world in their terms, we remain bound to samsara, the wearisome cycle of birth, aging, illness, death, and
rebirth. Craving propels this process onward, from one moment to the next and over the course of
countless lifetimes, in accordance with kamma(Skt. karma), the universal law of cause and effect.
According to this immutable law, every action that one performs in the present moment — whether by
body, speech, or mind itself — eventually bears fruit according to its skillfulness: act in unskillful and
harmful ways and unhappiness is bound to follow; act skillfully and happiness will ultimately ensue.
[13] As long as one remains ignorant of this principle, one is doomed to an aimless existence: happy one
moment, in despair the next; enjoying one lifetime in heaven, the next in hell.
The Buddha discovered that gaining release from samsara requires assigning to each of the Noble Truths
a specific task: the first Noble Truth is to be comprehended; the second, abandoned; the third, realized;
the fourth, developed. The full realization of the third Noble Truth paves the way for Awakening: the end
of ignorance, craving, suffering, and kamma itself; the direct penetration to the transcendent freedom and
supreme happiness that stands as the final goal of all the Buddha's teachings; the Unconditioned, the
Deathless, Unbinding — Nibbana (Skt. Nirvana).

THE EIGHTFOLD PATH AND THE PRACTICE OF DHAMMA

Because the roots of ignorance are so intimately entwined with the fabric of the psyche, the unawakened
mind is capable of deceiving itself with breathtaking ingenuity. The solution therefore requires more than
simply being kind, loving, and mindful in the present moment. The practitioner must equip him- or
herself with the expertise to use a range of tools to outwit, outlast, and eventually uproot the mind's
unskillful tendencies. For example, the practice of generosity  (dana) erodes the heart's habitual
tendencies towards craving and teaches valuable lessons about the motivations behind, and the results of,
skillful action. The practice of virtue  (sila) guards one against straying wildly off-course and into harm's
way. The cultivation of goodwill  (metta) helps to undermine anger's seductive grasp. The ten
recollections offer ways to alleviate doubt, bear physical pain with composure, maintain a healthy sense
of self-respect, overcome laziness and complacency, and restrain oneself from unbridled lust. And there
are many more skills to learn.

The good qualities that emerge and mature from these practices not only smooth the way for the journey
to Nibbana; over time they have the effect of transforming the practitioner into a more generous, loving,
compassionate, peaceful, and clear-headed member of society. The individual's sincere pursuit of
Awakening is thus a priceless and timely gift to a world in desperate need of help.

D i s c er nm en t   ( pa ññ a )

The Eightfold Path is best understood as a collection of personal qualities to be developed, rather than as
a sequence of steps along a linear path. The development of right view and right resolve (the factors
classically identified with wisdom and discernment) facilitates the development of right speech, action,
and livelihood (the factors identified with virtue). As virtue develops so do the factors identified with
concentration (right effort, mindfulness, and concentration). Likewise, as concentration matures,
discernment evolves to a still deeper level. And so the process unfolds: development of one factor fosters
development of the next, lifting the practitioner in an upward spiral of spiritual maturity that eventually
culminates in Awakening.

The long journey to Awakening begins in earnest with the first tentative stirrings of right view — the
discernment by which one recognizes the validity of the four Noble Truths and the principle of kamma.
One begins to see that one's future well-being is neither predestined by fate, nor left to the whims of a
divine being or random chance. The responsibility for one's happiness rests squarely on one's own
shoulders. Seeing this, one's spiritual aims become suddenly clear: to relinquish the habitual unskillful
tendencies of the mind in favor of skillful ones. As this right resolve grows stronger, so does the heartfelt
desire to live a morally upright life, to choose one's actions with care.

At this point many followers make the inward commitment to take the Buddha's teachings to heart, to
become "Buddhist" through the act of taking refuge in the Triple Gem: the Buddha (both the historical
Buddha and one's own innate potential for Awakening), the Dhamma (both the Buddha's teachings and
the ultimate Truth towards which they point), and the Sangha (both the unbroken monastic lineage that
has preserved the teachings since the Buddha's day, and all those who have achieved at least some degree
of Awakening). With one's feet thus planted on solid ground, and with the help of an admirable friend or
teacher  (kalyanamitta) to guide the way, one is now well-equipped to proceed down the Path, following
in the footsteps left by the Buddha himself.

Vi r t ue   ( si l a )
Right view and right resolve continue to mature through the development of the path factors associated
with sila, or virtue — namely, right speech, right action, and right livelihood. These are condensed into a
very practical form in the five precepts, the basic code of ethical conduct to which every practicing
Buddhist subscribes: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and using intoxicants.
Even the monks' complex code of 227 rules and the nuns' 311 ultimately have these five basic precepts at
their core.

C o nc e nt r a ti o n   ( sa ma dh i )
Having gained a foothold in the purification of one's outward behavior through the practice of sila, the
essential groundwork has been laid for delving into the most subtle and transformative aspect of the path:
meditation and the development of samadhi, or concentration. This is spelled out in detail in the final
three path factors: right effort, by which one learns how to favor skillful qualities of mind over unskillful
ones; right mindfulness, by which one learns to keep one's attention continually grounded in the present
moment of experience; and right concentration, by which one learns to immerse the mind so thoroughly
and unwaveringly in its meditation object that it enters jhana, a series of progressively deeper states of
mental and physical tranquillity.
Right mindfulness and right concentration are developed in tandem through satipatthana("frames of
reference" or "foundations of mindfulness"), a systematic approach to meditation practice that embraces a
wide range of skills and techniques. Of these practices, mindfulness of the body (especially mindfulness
of breathing) is particularly effective at bringing into balance the twin qualities of
tranquillity (samatha) and insight (vipassana), or clear-seeing. Through persistent practice, the meditator
becomes more adept at bringing the combined powers of samatha-vipassana to bear in an exploration of
the fundamental nature of mind and body.[14] As the meditator masters the ability to frame his immediate
experience in terms of anicca (inconstancy), dukkha, and anatta(not-self), even the subtlest
manifestations of these three characteristics of experience are brought into exquisitely sharp focus. At the
same time, the root cause of dukkha — craving — is relentlessly exposed to the light of awareness.
Eventually craving is left with no place to hide, the entire karmic process that fabricates dukkha unravels,
the eightfold path reaches its noble climax, and the meditator gains, at long last, his or her first
unmistakable glimpse of the Unconditioned — Nibbana.

A w a k e ni ng
This first enlightenment experience, known as stream-entry (sotapatti), is the first of four progressive
stages of Awakening, each of which entails the irreversible shedding or weakening of
several fetters (samyojana), the manifestations of ignorance that bind a person to the cycle of birth and
death. Stream-entry marks an unprecedented and radical turning point both in the practitioner's current
life and in the entirety of his or her long journey in samsara. For it is at this point that any lingering
doubts about the truth of the Buddha's teachings disappear; it is at this point that any belief in the
purifying efficacy of rites and rituals evaporates; and it is at this point that the long-cherished notion of an
abiding personal "self" falls away. The stream-enterer is said to be assured of no more than seven future
rebirths (all of them favorable) before eventually attaining full Awakening.

But full Awakening is still a long way off. As the practitioner presses on with renewed diligence, he or
she passes through two more significant landmarks: once-returning (sakadagati), which is accompanied
by the weakening of the fetters of sensual desire and ill-will, and non-returning (agati), in which these
two fetters are uprooted altogether. The final stage of Awakening — arahatta — occurs when even the
most refined and subtle levels of craving and conceit are irrevocably extinguished. At this point the
practitioner — now an arahant, or "worthy one" — arrives at the end-point of the Buddha's teaching.
With ignorance, suffering, stress, and rebirth having all come to their end, the arahant at last can utter the
victory cry first proclaimed by the Buddha upon his Awakening:

"Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done! There is nothing further for the sake of this world."

— MN 36

The arahant lives out the remainder of his or her life inwardly enjoying the bliss of Nibbana, secure at last
from the possibility of any future rebirth. When the arahant's aeons-long trail of past kamma eventually
unwinds to its end, the arahant dies and he or she enters into parinibbana — total Unbinding. Although
language utterly fails at describing this extraordinary event, the Buddha likened it to what happens when a
fire finally burns up all its fuel.

"The serious pursuit of happiness"

Buddhism is sometimes naïvely criticized as a "negative" or "pessimistic" religion and philosophy. Surely
life is not all misery and disappointment: it offers many kinds of happiness and sublime joy. Why then
this dreary Buddhist obsession with unsatisfactoriness and suffering?

The Buddha based his teachings on a frank assessment of our plight as humans: there is unsatisfactoriness
and suffering in the world. No one can argue this fact. Dukkha lurks behind even the highest forms of
worldly pleasure and joy, for, sooner or later, as surely as night follows day, that happiness must come to
an end. Were the Buddha's teachings to stop there, we might indeed regard them as pessimistic and life as
utterly hopeless. But, like a doctor who prescribes a remedy for an illness, the Buddha offers both a hope
(the third Noble Truth) and a cure (the fourth). The Buddha's teachings thus give cause for unparalleled
optimism and joy. The teachings offer as their reward the noblest, truest kind of happiness, and give
profound value and meaning to an otherwise grim existence. One modern teacher summed it up well:
"Buddhism is the serious pursuit of happiness."

Theravada Comes West

Until the late 19th century, the teachings of Theravada were little known outside of southern Asia, where
they had flourished for some two and one-half millennia. In the past century, however, the West has
begun to take notice of Theravada's unique spiritual legacy in its teachings of Awakening. In recent
decades this interest has swelled, with the monastic Sangha from various schools within Theravada
establishing dozens of monasteries across Europe and North America. Increasing numbers of lay
meditation centers, founded and operated independently of the monastic Sangha, strain to meet the
demands of lay men and women — Buddhist and otherwise — seeking to learn selected aspects of the
Buddha's teachings.
The turn of the 21st century presents both opportunities and dangers for Theravada in the West: Will the
Buddha's teachings be patiently studied and put into practice, and allowed to establish deep roots in
Western soil, for the benefit of many generations to come? Will the current popular Western climate of
"openness" and cross-fertilization between spiritual traditions lead to the emergence of a strong new form
of Buddhist practice unique to the modern era, or will it simply lead to confusion and the dilution of these
priceless teachings? These are open questions; only time will tell.

Spiritual teachings of every description inundate the media and the marketplace today. Many of today's
popular spiritual teachings borrow liberally from the Buddha, though only rarely do they place the
Buddha's words in their true context. Earnest seekers of truth are therefore often faced with the unsavory
task of wading through fragmentary teachings of dubious accuracy. How are we to make sense of it all?

Fortunately the Buddha left us with some simple guidelines to help us navigate through this bewildering
flood. Whenever you find yourself questioning the authenticity of a particular teaching, heed well the
Buddha's advice to his stepmother:

[The teachings that promote] the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to passion, not to
dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to accumulating, not to shedding; to self-
aggrandizement, not to modesty; to discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to seclusion; to
laziness, not to aroused persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome': You may
categorically hold, 'This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher's instruction.'

[As for the teachings that promote] the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to
dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to
modesty, not to self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to seclusion, not to entanglement;
to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome': You may
categorically hold, 'This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction.'
 — AN 8.53

The truest test of these teachings, of course, is whether they yield the promised results in the crucible of
your own heart. The Buddha presents the challenge; the rest is up to you.

Notes
1.
Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction (fifth edition) by R.H. Robinson, W.L. Johnson,
and Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 2005), p. 46.
2.
This estimate is based on data appearing in CIA World Factbook 2004. South Asia's largest
Theravada Buddhist populations are found in Thailand (61 million Theravadans), Myanmar
(38 million), Sri Lanka (13 million), and Cambodia (12 million).
3.
Buddhist Religions, p. 46.
4.
Mahayana today includes Zen, Ch'an, Nichiren, Tendai, and Pure Land Buddhism.
5.
Guide Through The Abhidhamma Pitaka by Nyanatiloka Mahathera (Kandy: Buddhist
Publication Society, 1971), pp. 60ff.
6.
A third major branch of Buddhism emerged much later (ca. 8th century CE) in
India:Vajrayana, the "Diamond Vehicle." Vajrayana's elaborate system of esoteric initiations,
tantric rituals, and mantra recitations eventually spread north into central and east Asia,
leaving a particularly strong imprint on Tibetan Buddhism. See Buddhist Religions, pp. 124ff.
and chapter 11.
7.
Modern scholarship suggests that Pali was probably never spoken by the Buddha himself. In
the centuries after the Buddha's death, as Buddhism spread across India into regions of
different dialects, Buddhist monks increasingly depended on a common tongue for their
Dhamma discussions and recitations of memorized texts. It was out of this necessity that the
language we now know as Pali emerged. See Bhikkhu Bodhi's Introduction in Numerical
Discourses of the Buddha (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 1999), pp. 1ff, and n. 1 (p.
275) and "The Pali Language and Literature" by the Pali Text Society
(http://www.palitext.com/subpages/lan_lite.htm; 15 April 2002).
8.
Great Disciples of the Buddha by Nyanaponika Thera and Hellmuth Hecker (Somerville:
Wisdom Publications, 1997), pp. 140, 150.
9.
Buddhist Religions, p. 48.
10.
The Hindu Vedas, for example, predate the Buddha by at least a millennium (Buddhist
Religions, p. 2).
11.
Buddhist Religions, p. 77.
12.
Anandajoti Bhikkhu, personal communication.
13.
See Dhp 1-2.
14.
This description of the unified role of samatha and vipassana is based upon the Buddha's
meditation teachings as presented in the suttas (see "One Tool Among Many" by Thanissaro
Bhikkhu). The Abhidhamma and the Commentaries, by contrast, state that samatha and
vipassana are two distinct meditation paths (see, for example, The Jhanas in Theravada
Buddhist Meditation by H. Gunaratana, ch. 5).
It is impossible to reconcile these divergent views from studying the texts alone; any doubts
about the roles of samatha and vipassana are best resolved through the actual practice of
meditation.

©2005 Anonymous.
 
The text of this page ("What is Theravada Buddhism?", by Anonymous) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to
other restrictions. Last revised for Access to Insight on 30 November 2013.
How to cite this document (a suggested style): "What is Theravada Buddhism?". Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November
2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/theravada.html .

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"The Teaching of the Elders"
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by Barbara O'Brien
Updated July 29, 2017

Theravada is the dominant form of Buddhism in most of southeast Asia,

including Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. It claims about
100 million adherents worldwide. Its doctrines are taken from the Pali Tipitaka or Pali
Canon and its basic teachings begin with the Four Noble Truths.
Theravada is also one of the two primary schools of Buddhism; the other is
called Mahayana. Some will tell you there are three primary schools, and the third
is Vajrayana. But all schools of Vajrayana are built upon Mahayana philosophy and call
themselves Mahayana, also.

Above all, Theravada emphasizes direct insight gained through critical analysis and
experience rather than blind faith. 

The Oldest School of Buddhism?

Theravada makes two historical claims for itself. One is that it is the oldest form of
Buddhism being practiced today and the other is that it is directly descended from the
original sangha -- the Buddha's own disciples -- and Mahayana is not.

The first claim probably is true. Sectarian differences began to develop within Buddhism
very early, probably within a few years of the historical Buddha's
death. Theravada developed from a sect called Vibhajjavada that was established in Sri
Lanka in the 3rd century BCE. Mahayana didn't emerge as a distinctive school until
early in the first millennium CE.

The other claim is harder to verify. Both Theravada and Mahayana emerged from the
sectarian divisions that occurred after the Buddha's passing. Whether one is closer to
"original" Buddhism is a matter of opinion.

Theravada is distinctive from the other major school of Buddhism, Mahayana, in several
ways.

Little Sectarian Division

For the most part, unlike Mahayana, there are no significant sectarian divisions within
Theravada. There are, of course, variations in practice from one temple to another, but
doctrines are not wildly different within Theravada.

Most Theravada temples and monasteries are administered by monastic organizations

within national boundaries. Often, Theravada Buddhist institutions and clergy in Asia
enjoy some government sponsorship but are also subject to some government
supervision.

Individual Enlightenment

Theravada emphasizes individual enlightenment; the ideal is to become

an arhat(sometimes arahant), which means "worthy one" in Pali. An arhat is a person
who has realized enlightenment and freed himself from the cycle of birth and death.

Beneath the arhat ideal is an understanding of the doctrine of anatman -- the nature of
the self -- that differs from that of the Mahayana. Very basically, Theravada considers
anatman to mean that an individual's ego or personality is a tether and delusion. Once
freed of this delusion, the individual may enjoy the bliss of Nirvana.

Mahayana, on the other hand, considers all physical forms to be void of intrinsic,
separate self.  Therefore, according to Mahayana, "individual enlightenment" is an
oxymoron. The ideal in Mahayana is to enable all beings to be enlightened together.

Self-Power

Theravada teaches that enlightenment comes entirely through one's own efforts, without
help from gods or other outside forces. Some Mahayana schools teach self-power as well
while others do not.

Literature

Theravada accepts only the Pali Tipitika as scripture. There are a large number of other
sutras that are venerated by Mahayana that Theravada does not accept as legitimate. 

Pali Versus Sanskrit

Theravada Buddhism uses the Pali rather than the Sanskrit form of common terms. For
example, sutta instead of sutra; dhamma instead of dharma.

Meditation

The primary means of realizing enlightenment in the Theravada tradition is through

Vipassana or "insight" meditation. Vipassana emphasizes disciplined self-observation of
body and thoughts and how they interconnect.

Some schools of Mahayana also emphasize meditation, but other schools of Mahayana
do not meditate.

What Is Mahayana Buddhism? How Does It Differ From Theravada Buddhism?

History of Early Buddhism - From the Death of the Buddha to 1 CE


 How Do Arhats Compare to Buddhas in Terms of Enlightenment?

Introduction to Basic Beliefs and Tenets of Buddhism

What Are the Major Types of Buddhism?

The Elusive Origins of Mahayana Buddhism: Converging Streams

Origins of Theravada, Possibly the the Oldest School of Buddhism

Ten Perfections (Paramis) of Theravada Buddhism

What Buddhists Mean by 'Enlightenment' Can Vary

Enlightened Beings: Are They Really Different From Us?

What Is a Buddha? And Is There Just One Buddha, or Many Buddhas?

 

Enlightenment and Nirvana: Can You Have One Without the Other?

An Overview of Nichiren Buddhism

Anatman or Anatta Is the Foundational Buddhist Teaching of No Self

Vesak Is the Observance of the Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment and Death

Vajrayana: The Esoteric Path or Diamond Vehicle of Buddhism

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