THERAVADA

BUDDHISM
Group 2
 INTRODUCTION TO THERAVADA BUDDHISM

Theravada Buddhism, the “Doctrine of the Elders,” is one of the three major
sects of Buddhism. It emerged out of a series of schisms that began in the 4the
century B.C.E. in the Buddhist communities of India and became prominent in
Sri Lanka and southeast Asia including Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and
Laos, which has led some to call it Southern Buddhism.
Theravada Buddhism is associated with South East Asia and
is perhaps closer to the original Indian form of Buddhism.
• In modern times, the Theravada school has expanded worldwide and it
seems likely to universalized rather than culturally specific. There are an
estimated 100 million Theravada Buddhist worldwide. One of the key
features of this Buddhist school is use of Pali as a sacred language and the
Pali Buddhist canon (also called Tipitaka) as the highest scriptural authority,
which was written around first century BCE.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE DHAMMA TEACHING
Tipitaka is strictly in Pali. Dharma teaching in Pali
Supplemented by local language.

Pali
Theravada Buddhism uses Pali as its main liturgical language,
and prefers its scriptures to be studied in the original Pali. In
Thailand, Pali is written using Thai alphabet, resulting in a Thai
pronunciation of the Pali language.
THREEFOLD TRAINING

The three types of learning required of those who seek to attain enlightenment.
The threefold training comprises all aspects of Buddhist practices. Arranged in
a progressive order, the three are: śīla (“moral conduct”), which makes one’s
body and mind fit for concentration, samadhi (“meditation”), concentration of
the mind being a prerequisite to attaining a clear vision of the truth, and prajna
(“wisdom”), understood not as a collection of empirical knowledge but as an
intuitive experience of ultimate reality, attained in a state of samadhi.
• Sila - percepts
• Sammathi – meditation
• Panna - wisdom
Theravada Buddhism is followed by various countries and people around the
globe, and are:

In South Asia:
1. Nepal (by 10% of the population)
2. Sri Lanka (by 70% of the population)
3. Bangladesh (by 0.7% of the population)
4. India (by 0.7% of the population)
 In Southeast Asia:
1. Cambodia (by 95% of the population)
2. Laos (by 67% of the population)
3. Myanmar (by 89% of the population)
4. Thailand (by 90% of the population, 94% of the population that practice
religion)
5. Vietnam (by the Khmer Krom).
In other parts of Asia:
6. China (mainly by the Shan and other Tai ethnic groups)
7. Malaysia
8. Indonesia
9. Singapore
Theravada has recently gained popularity on the Western world
Today, Theravada Buddhism, otherwise know as Theravadins, number over 150 million
worlwide, and during the past few decades Theravada Buddhism has begun to take root
in the West and in the Buddhist revival in india.
ORGANIZATION OF BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES

The Pali Canon is divided into 3 baskets (Tipitaka):

Vinaya Pitaka of 5 books.
Sutta Pi taka of 5 collections (many suttas)
Abhidhamma Pi taka of 7 books.
THREE STAGES IN THE COURSE OF BUDDHIST
EDUCATION

• Pariyatti – Learning
• Patipatti – Practicing
• Pativedha – Realization
THE SYMBOL OF THERAVADA BUDDHISM
That’s all thank you