Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Mahāyāna ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhism, Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BC ...

Vajrayāna Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

Pali literature Pali literature is concerned mainly with Theravada Buddhism, of which Pali is the traditional language. The earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pāli Canon, the authoritative scriptures of Theravada school. Pali literat ...

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

sacred language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Concept A sacre ...

Mahayana sutras The Mahāyāna sūtras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures (''sūtra'') that are accepted as canonical and as ''buddhavacana'' ("Buddha word") in Mahāyāna Buddhism. They are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Tibetan B ...

Early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographic ...

Sthavira Nikāya The Sthavira nikāya (Sanskrit "Sect of the Elders"; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools. They split from the majority Mahāsāṃghikas at the time of the Second Buddhist council. Scholarly views Origin The Sthavira nikāya was one of the e ...

Mahavihara Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar ...

Mahāyāna ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhism, Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BC ...

East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vi ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

Pure Land A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

Vajrayāna Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

Himalayan region The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Kalmykia he official languages of the Republic of Kalmykia are the Kalmyk and Russian languages./ref> , official_lang_list= Kalmyk , official_lang_ref=Steppe Code (Constitution) of the Republic of Kalmykia, Article 17: he official languages of the ...

Kanjur The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur ('Translation of the Word') and the Tengyur or Tanjur (Tengyur) ('Translation of Treat ...

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

Four Noble Truths In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones". "non-self" as flawed and pessimistic, re-interpreted these into what he called "new vehicle" of Buddhism. Ambedkar held a press conference on October 13, 1956, announcing his rejection of many traditional interpretations of practices and precepts of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, as well as of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. Thereafter, he left Hinduism and adopted Navayana, about six weeks before his death. In the Dalit Buddhist movement of India, Navayana is considered a new branch of Buddhism, different from the traditionally recognized branches of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Marathi Buddhists follow Navayana. Another way of classifying the different forms of Buddhism is through the different monastic ordination traditions. There are three main traditions of monastic law (''

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

'') each corresponding to the first three categories outlined above: * Theravāda ''Vinaya'' *

Dharmaguptaka The Dharmaguptaka (Sanskrit: धर्मगुप्तक; ) are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools, depending on the source. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas. The Dharmaguptakas had a p ...

''Vinaya'' ( East Asian Mahayana) *

Mūlasarvāstivāda The Mūlasarvāstivāda (Sanskrit: मूलसर्वास्तिवाद; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools of India. The origins of the Mūlasarvāstivāda and their relationship to the Sarvāstivāda sect still remain largely unk ...

''Vinaya'' (

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

)

Terminology

The terminology for the major divisions of Buddhism can be confusing, as Buddhism is variously divided by scholars and practitioners according to geographic, historical, and philosophical criteria, with different terms often being used in different contexts. The following terms may be encountered in descriptions of the major Buddhist divisions: ;''Conservative Buddhism'': an alternative name for the

early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographic ...

. ;''

Early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographic ...

'': the schools into which Buddhism became divided in its first few centuries; only one of these,

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

, survives as an independent school. ;''

East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vi ...

'': a term used by scholars to cover the Buddhist traditions of Japan, Korea, Vietnam and most of China and Southeast Asia ; ''Eastern Buddhism'': an alternative name used by some scholarsPenguin, Harvey for East Asian Buddhism; also sometimes used to refer to all traditional forms of Buddhism, as distinct from Western(ized) forms. ;'' Ekayāna'' (one yana): Mahayana texts such as the Lotus Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra sought to unite all the different teachings into a single great way. These texts serve as the inspiration for using the term Ekayāna in the sense of "one vehicle". This "one vehicle" became a key aspect of the doctrines and practices of Tiantai and Tendai Buddhist sects, which subsequently influenced Chán and Zen doctrines and practices. In Japan, the one-vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sutra also is also a main doctrine of Nichiren Buddhist sects. The ''Lotus Sutra'' has so much influence that meditation was replaced by chanting the Japanese words ''Namu Myoho Renge Kyo'' ("The Way of the Lotus Sutra") in religious practice. ;''Esoteric Buddhism'': usually considered synonymous with "Vajrayāna". Some scholars have applied the term to certain practices found within the Theravāda, particularly in Cambodia.no author cited (1997). ''Indian Insights''. London, UK: Luzac. ;''

Hīnayāna Hīnayāna (, ) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "small/deficient vehicle". Classical Chinese and Tibetan teachers translate it as "smaller vehicle". The term is applied collectively to the ''Śrāvakayāna'' and ''Pratyekabuddhayāna'' pa ...

'': literally meaning "lesser vehicle". It is considered a controversial term when applied by the Mahāyāna, to refer to the Theravāda school, and as such is widely viewed as condescending and pejorative. Moreover, Hīnayāna refers to the now non-extant schools with limited set of views, practices, and results, prior to the development of the Mahāyāna traditions. The term is currently most often used as a way of describing a stage on the path in Tibetan Buddhism, but is often mistakenly confused with the contemporary Theravāda tradition, which is far more complex, diversified, and profound, than the literal and limiting definition attributed to ''

Hīnayāna Hīnayāna (, ) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "small/deficient vehicle". Classical Chinese and Tibetan teachers translate it as "smaller vehicle". The term is applied collectively to the ''Śrāvakayāna'' and ''Pratyekabuddhayāna'' pa ...

''. Its use in scholarly publications is now also considered controversial. ;''Lamaism'': synonymous with ''Tibetan Buddhism''; an old term, sometimes still used, but widely considered derogatory. ;''

Mahāyāna ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhism, Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BC ...

'': a movement that emerged from

early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographic ...

, together with its later descendants, East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism. Vajrayāna traditions are sometimes listed separately. The main use of the term in East Asian and Tibetan traditions is in reference to spiritual levels,Penguin Handbook regardless of school. ;''Mainstream Buddhism'': a term used by some scholars for the

early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographic ...

. ;''Mantrayāna'': usually considered synonymous with ''

Vajrayāna Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

''.Harvey, pp. 153ff The

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

school in Japan has been described as influenced by Mantrayana. ; ''Navayāna'': ("new vehicle") refers to the re-interpretation of Buddhism by modern Indian jurist and social reformer

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

. ;'' Newar Buddhism'': a non-monastic, caste based Buddhism with patrilineal descent and Sanskrit texts. ; ''Nikāya Buddhism'': a non-derogatory substitute term for Hinayana or the early Buddhist schools. ;''Non-Mahāyāna'': an alternative term for the early Buddhist schools. ; ''Northern Buddhism'': an alternative term used by some scholars for Tibetan Buddhism. Also, an older term still sometimes used to encompass both East Asian and Tibetan traditions. It has even been used to refer to East Asian Buddhism alone, without Tibetan Buddhism. ;''Secret Mantra'': an alternative rendering of ''Mantrayāna'', a more literal translation of the term used by schools in Tibetan Buddhism when referring to themselves. ;''Sectarian Buddhism'': an alternative name for the early Buddhist schools. ; ''Southeast Asian Buddhism'': an alternative name used by some scholars for Theravāda. ; ''Southern Buddhism'': an alternative name used by some scholars for ''

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

''. ;'' Śrāvakayāna'': an alternative term sometimes used for the early Buddhist schools. ;''Tantrayāna'' or ''

Tantric Buddhism Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

'': usually considered synonymous with "Vajrayāna". However, one scholar describes the tantra divisions of some editions of the Tibetan scriptures as including Śravakayāna, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna texts (see

Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...

). Some scholars, particularly François Bizot, have used the term '' Tantric Theravada'' to refer to certain practices found particularly in Cambodia. ;''

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

'': the Buddhism of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

,

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

,

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

, and parts of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It is the only surviving representative of the historical ''

early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographic ...

''. The term ''Theravāda'' is also sometimes used to refer to ''all'' of the early Buddhist schools. ;''

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

'': usually understood as including the Buddhism of Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan, and parts of China, India, and Russia, which follow the Tibetan tradition. ;''

Vajrayāna Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

'': a movement that developed out of Indian ''

Mahāyāna ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhism, Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BC ...

'', together with its later descendants. There is some disagreement on exactly which traditions fall into this category. Tibetan Buddhism is universally recognized as falling under this heading; many also include the Japanese ''Shingon'' school. Some scholars also apply the term to the Korean ''milgyo tradition'', which is not a separate school. One scholar says, "Despite the efforts of generations of Buddhist thinkers, it remains exceedingly difficult to identify precisely what it is that sets the ''

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

'' apart." SectarianBuddhistschools

Early schools

The early Buddhist schools or mainstream sects refers to the sects into which the Indian Buddhist monastic

saṅgha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

split. They are also called the Nikaya Buddhist schools, Ezhuthupally, and in Mahayana Buddhism they are referred to either as the

Śrāvaka Śrāvaka (Sanskrit) or Sāvaka (Pali) means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple". This term is used in Buddhism and Jainism. In Jainism, a śrāvaka is any lay Jain so the term śrāvaka has been used for the Jain community itself (for example ...

(disciple) schools or

Hinayana Hīnayāna (, ) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "small/deficient vehicle". Classical Chinese and Tibetan teachers translate it as "smaller vehicle". The term is applied collectively to the ''Śrāvakayāna'' and ''Pratyekabuddhayāna'' pa ...

(inferior) schools. Most scholars now believe that the first schism was originally caused by differences in ''vinaya'' (monastic rule). Later splits were also due to doctrinal differences and geographical separation. The first schism separated the community into two groups, the Sthavira (Elders) Nikaya and the

Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha", ) was one of the early Buddhist schools. Interest in the origins of the Mahāsāṃghika school lies in the fact that their Vinaya recension appears in se ...

(Great Community). Most scholars hold that this probably occurred after the time of Ashoka. Out of these two main groups later arose many other sects or schools. From the Sthaviras arose the

Sarvāstivāda The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...

sects, the Vibhajyavādins, the Theravadins, the

Dharmaguptaka The Dharmaguptaka (Sanskrit: धर्मगुप्तक; ) are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools, depending on the source. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas. The Dharmaguptakas had a p ...

s and the Pudgalavāda sects. The Sarvāstivāda school, popular in northwest India and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, focused on

Abhidharma The Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist ''sutras''. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the f ...

teachings. Their name means "the theory that all exists" which refers to one of their main doctrines, the view that all dharmas exist in the past, present and in the future. This is an eternalist theory of time. Over time, the Sarvāstivādins became divided into various traditions, mainly the

Vaibhāṣika Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika ( sa, सर्वास्तिवाद-वैभाषिक) or simply Vaibhāṣika (), refers to an ancient Buddhist tradition of Abhidharma (scholastic Buddhist philosophy), which was very influential in north I ...

(who defended the orthodox "all exists" doctrine in their Abhidharma compendium called the '' Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra''), the

Sautrāntika The Sautrāntika or Sutravadin ( sa, सौत्रान्तिक, Suttavāda in Pali; ; ja, 経量部, Kyou Ryou Bu) were an early Buddhist school generally believed to be descended from the Sthavira nikāya by way of their immediate pare ...

(who rejected the Vaibhāṣika orthodoxy) and the

Mūlasarvāstivāda The Mūlasarvāstivāda (Sanskrit: मूलसर्वास्तिवाद; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools of India. The origins of the Mūlasarvāstivāda and their relationship to the Sarvāstivāda sect still remain largely unk ...

. The Pudgalavāda sects (also known as ''Vātsīputrīyas'') were another group of Sthaviras which were known for their unique doctrine of the ''pudgala'' (person). Their tradition was founded by the elder Vātsīputra circa 3rd century BCE. The Vibhajyavādins were conservative Sthaviras who did not accept the doctrines of either the Sarvāstivāda or the Pudgalavāda. In Sri Lanka, a group of them became known as Theravada, the only one of these sects that survives to the present day. Another sect which arose from the Vibhajyavādins were the Dharmaguptakas. This school was influential in spreading Buddhism to Central Asia and to China. Their Vinaya is still used in East Asian Buddhism. The Mahāsāṃghikas also split into various sub groups. One of these were the Lokottaravādins (Transcendentalists), so called because of their doctrine which saw every action of the Buddha, even mundane ones like eating, as being of a supramundane and transcendental nature. One of the few Mahāsāṃghika texts which survive, the '' Mahāvastu'', is from this school. Another sub-sect which emerged from the Mahāsāṃghika was called the Caitika. They were concentrated in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and in South India. Some scholars such as A.K. Warder hold that many important Mahayana sutras originated among these groups. Another Mahāsāṃghika sect was named

Prajñaptivāda The Prajñaptivāda (Sanskrit; ) was a branch of the Mahāsāṃghika, one of the early Buddhist schools in India. The Prajñaptivādins were also known as the ''Bahuśrutīya-Vibhajyavādins''. History According to Vasumitra, the Prajñaptivād ...

. They were known for the doctrine that viewed all conditioned phenomena as being mere concepts (Skt. ''prajñapti''). According to the Indian philosopher

Paramartha Paramārtha (Sanskrit, Devanagari: परमार्थ; ) (499-569 CE) was an Indian monk from Ujjain, who is best known for his prolific Chinese translations of Buddhist texts during the Six Dynasties era.Toru Funayama. The work of Paramārth ...

, a further split among the Mahāsāṃghika occurred with the arrival of the Mahayana sutras. Some sub-schools, such as the

Kukkuṭika The Kukkuṭika (Sanskrit; ) were an early Buddhist school which descended from the Mahāsāṃghika. Etymology It is likely that the name ''Kukkuṭika'' or ''Kukkulika'' originated from the Kukkuṭrārāma monastery at Pāṭaliputra, which w ...

s, did not accept the Mahayana sutras as being word of the Buddha, whole others, like the Lokottaravādins, did accept them.

Theravāda

Theravāda is the only extant mainstream non-Mahayana school. They are derived from the Sri Lankan

Mahāvihāra Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar ...

sect, which was a branch of the South Indian Vibhajjavādins. Theravāda bases its doctrine on the

Pāli Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

, the only complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language. This language is Pāli, which serves as the school's

sacred language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Concept A sacre ...

and

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

. The different sects and groups in Theravāda often emphasize different aspects (or parts) of the

Pāli canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

and the later commentaries (especially the very influential

Visuddhimagga The ''Visuddhimagga'' (Pali; English: ''The Path of Purification''), is the 'great treatise' on Buddhist practice and Theravāda Abhidhamma written by Buddhaghosa approximately in the 5th century in Sri Lanka. It is a manual condensing and syst ...

), or differ in the focus on and recommended way of practice. There are also significant differences in strictness or interpretation of the ''vinaya''. The various divisions in Theravāda include: * Indian Theravāda (mostly historical, although revived in the modern period partly through the

Vipassana movement The Vipassanā movement, also called (in the United States) the Insight Meditation Movement and American vipassana movement, refers to a branch of modern Burmese Theravāda Buddhism that promotes "bare insight" (''sukha-vipassana'') to attain s ...

) * Sri Lankan Theravāda **

Amarapura–Rāmañña Nikāya The Amarapura–Rāmañña Nikāya ( si, අමරපුර–රාමඤ්ඤ සාමග්‍රී මහා සංඝ සභාව, Amarapura–Rāmañña Sāmagrī Mahā Saṁgha Sabhāva) is the larger of the two Buddhist Buddh ...

*** Delduwa *** Kanduboda (or Swejin Nikaya) *** Tapovana (or Kalyanavamsa) ***

Sri Lankan Forest Tradition Sri Lankan Forest Monks' Tradition claims a long history. As the oldest Theravada Buddhist country in the world, several forest traditions and lineages had been existed, disappeared and re-emerged circularly in Sri Lanka. The current forest traditio ...

** Siam Nikaya *** Waturawila (or Mahavihara Vamshika Shyamopali Vanavasa Nikaya) * Burmese Theravāda ** Thudhamma Nikaya *** Vipassanā tradition of

Mahasi Sayadaw Mahāsī Sayādaw U Sobhana ( my, မဟာစည်ဆရာတော် ဦးသောဘန, ; 29 July 1904 – 14 August 1982) was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk and meditation master who had a significant impact on the teaching of vipa ...

and disciples ** Shwegyin Nikaya ** Dvaya Nikaya or Dvara Nikaya (see Mendelson, ''Sangha and State in Burma'', Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1975) ** Hngettwin Nikaya * Thai Theravāda **

Maha Nikaya The Mahā Nikāya (literal translation: "great order") is one of the two principal monastic orders, or fraternities, of modern Thai and Cambodian Buddhism. The term is used to refer to any Theravada monks not within the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, the ...

*** Dhammakaya Movement ***

Mahasati meditation The venerable pi, label=none, Cittasubho (; lay name: ''Pann Intapew''; 5 September 1911–13 September 1988), popularly known as Luang Por Teean, was a Thai reformist Buddhist monk. Cittasubho was the progenitor of ''mahāsati'' practice of medi ...

(

mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from ''sati'', a significant element of Hind ...

meditation) **

Thammayut Nikaya Dhammayuttika Nikāya (Pali; th, ธรรมยุติกนิกาย; ; km, ធម្មយុត្តិកនិកាយ, ), or Dhammayut Order ( th, คณะธรรมยุต) is an order of Theravada Buddhist ''bhikkhus'' (mon ...

***

Thai Forest Tradition The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from pi, kammaṭṭhāna meaning Kammaṭṭhāna, "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a Parampara, lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The ...

, focused on monastic living in the wilderness **

Santi Asoke The Santi Asoke ( th, สันติอโศก (อะโศก) "Peaceful Ashoka") was established by a former television entertainer and songwriter Phra Bodhirak after he "declared independence from the Ecclesiastical Council in 1975". He h ...

, a recent reform movement * Cambodian Theravāda **

Maha Nikaya The Mahā Nikāya (literal translation: "great order") is one of the two principal monastic orders, or fraternities, of modern Thai and Cambodian Buddhism. The term is used to refer to any Theravada monks not within the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, the ...

**

Thammayut Nikaya Dhammayuttika Nikāya (Pali; th, ธรรมยุติกนิกาย; ; km, ធម្មយុត្តិកនិកាយ, ), or Dhammayut Order ( th, คณะธรรมยุต) is an order of Theravada Buddhist ''bhikkhus'' (mon ...

* Tantric Theravada, includes many esoteric elements not present in classic Theravāda * Vietnamese Theravāda * Laotian Theravāda * Dai Theravāda in China * Bangladeshi Theravāda **

Sangharaj Nikaya The Sangharaja Nikaya is a tradition of Theravada Buddhism, located in Bangladesh. The word Nikaya is Pali and literally means "volume". It refers to the sections of the Tipitaka. However, an alternate usage is practiced in Southeast Asia, in ...

**

Mahasthabir Nikaya The Mahasthabir Nikaya is a Bengali order of Buddhist monks. They were anti-reformists and anti-foreign influence who attempted to replace the movement led by Saramitra Mahasthabir ("Saramedha Mahasthavira" in Pali), which led to the formation of ...

* Nepalese Theravāda ** Dharmodaya Sabha *

Vipassana movement The Vipassanā movement, also called (in the United States) the Insight Meditation Movement and American vipassana movement, refers to a branch of modern Burmese Theravāda Buddhism that promotes "bare insight" (''sukha-vipassana'') to attain s ...

, a strongly lay focused meditation based movement, popular in the West (where it is also known as "Insight Meditation") * Western Theravāda Buddhism

Mahāyāna schools

Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism

Mahāyāna (Great Vehicle) Buddhism is category of traditions which focus on the

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

path and affirm texts known as Mahāyāna sutras. These texts are seen by modern scholars as dating as far back as the 1st century BCE. Unlike Theravada and other early schools, Mahāyāna schools generally hold that there are currently many Buddhas which are accessible, and that they are transcendental or supramundane beings. In India, there were two major traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy. The earliest was the Mādhyamaka ("Middle Way"), also known as ''Śūnyavāda'', the

emptiness Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression (mood), depression, loneliness, anhedonia, wiktionary:despair, despair, or other mental/em ...

school. This tradition followed the works of the philosopher

Nāgārjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

(–). The other major school was Yogācāra ("yoga practice") school, also known as ''Vijñānavāda'' (the doctrine of consciousness), ''Vijñaptivāda'' (the doctrine of ideas or percepts). Some scholars also note that the

Tathāgatagarbha Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhist terms, including ''tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the " ...

texts constitute a third "school" of Indian Mahāyāna.

East Asian Mahayana

East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vi ...

or East Asian Mahayana refers to the schools that developed in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

and use the Chinese Buddhist canon. It is a major religion in China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. East Asian Buddhists constitute the numerically largest body of Buddhist traditions in the world, numbering over half of the world's Buddhists. East Asian Mahayana began to develop in China during the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

(when Buddhism was first introduced from Central Asia). It is thus influenced by

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. East Asian Mahayana developed new, uniquely Asian interpretations of Buddhist texts and focused on the study of sutras. East Asian Buddhist monastics generally follow the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya.

Main sects

*

Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...

(Buddhism in contemporary China is characterized by institutional fluidity between schools) ** Jingtu (

Pure Land A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

) **

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

Buddhism (Syncretized with

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...

and

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

) ** Lüzong. (

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

school) ** Chengshi (

Satyasiddhi The ''Tattvasiddhi-Śāstra'' ("The Treatise that Accomplishes Reality"; , also reconstructed as ''Satyasiddhi-Śāstra''), is an Indian Abhidharma Buddhist text by a figure known as Harivarman (250-350). It was translated into Chinese in 411 by ...

, historical) **

Kosa Kosa may refer to: Places * Kosa, Azerbaijan * Kosa, Croatia, a village in Croatia * Kōsa, Kumamoto, a town in Japan * Kosa, Russia, several places with the name in Russia * , a village in Bolhrad Raion, Ukraine People * Kosa (surname) * Kōs ...

( Abhidharmakośa school, historical) ** Sanlun ("Three Treatises", Mādhyamaka) ** Weishi a.k.a. Faxiang School ( Yogācāra, historical) ** She lun school (based on Asanga’s Summary of the Mahayana, historical) ** Niepan (

Nirvana Sutra ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

, historical) ** Dilun ( Daśabhūmikā- absorbed into Huayan) **

Tiantai Tiantai or T'ien-t'ai () is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in 6th-century China. The school emphasizes the ''Lotus Sutra's'' doctrine of the "One Vehicle" (''Ekayāna'') as well as Mādhyamaka philosophy, ...

(or

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

school) ** Huayan (or Avatamsaka school) **

Chan Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia *Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldwel ...

( Zen) ***

Sanjiejiao The Sanjiejiao ( "Three degrees religion") or Pufazong ( "Popular faith religion") was a religious movement based on the teachings of the Chan Buddhist monk Xinxing (, 540-594). Teachings Xinxing taught that in the last of the Three Ages of Buddhis ...

(historical) ***

Oxhead school The Oxhead school (''Niu-t'ou zong'') was a short lived tradition of Chinese Chan Buddhism founded by Fa-jung (Niutou Farong, 牛頭法融, 594–657), who was a Dharma heir of the Fourth Patriarch Tao-hsin (580-651). Their main temple was locate ...

(historical) *** East Mountain Teaching (historical) ****

Heze school The Heze School (), also called the Ho-tse School, was a short-lived school of Chinese Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty that was founded by Heze Shenhui (670–762) and who last patriarch was Guifeng Zongmi. Zongmi's writings and interpreta ...

(historical) **** Hongzhou school (historical) **** Five Houses of Chán ***** Caodong school ***** Fayan school (absorbed into

Linji school The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Song d ...

) *****

Guiyang school The Guiyang school (, also read Weiyang School) is one of the sects of Chan Buddhism. History The Guiyang school was the first established house of the Five Houses of Chán. Guiyang is named after master Guishan Lingyou (771–854) and his discip ...

*****

Linji school The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Song d ...

***** Yunmen school (absorbed into

Linji school The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Song d ...

) ****

Humanistic Buddhism Humanistic Buddhism () is a modern philosophy practiced by Buddhist groups originating from Chinese Buddhism which places an emphasis on integrating Buddhist practices into everyday life and shifting the focus of ritual from the dead to the li ...

(modern) ***** Chung Tai Shan ***** Dharma Drum Mountain *****

Fo Guang Shan Fo Guang Shan (FGS) () is an international Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhist organization and monastic order based in Taiwan that practices Humanistic Buddhism. The headquarters, Fo Guang Shan Monastery is located in Dashu District, Kaohsiung, and is ...

***** Tzu Chi **** Tibetan Chan (historical) **

Zhenyan A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

("True Word", Esoteric Buddhism) *

Vietnamese Buddhism Buddhism in Vietnam (''Đạo Phật'' 道佛 or ''Phật Giáo'' 佛教 in Vietnamese), as practiced by the ethnic Vietnamese, is mainly of the Mahayana tradition and is the main religion. Buddhism may have first come to Vietnam as early as the ...

(Traditions are generally syncretized in Vietnam, rather than existing as distinct schools) ** Tịnh Độ (

Pure Land A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

) ** Thiên Thai (

Tiantai Tiantai or T'ien-t'ai () is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in 6th-century China. The school emphasizes the ''Lotus Sutra's'' doctrine of the "One Vehicle" (''Ekayāna'') as well as Mādhyamaka philosophy, ...

) ** Hoa Nghiêm (

Huayen The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based prima ...

) ** Thiền ( Zen) *** Lâm Tế (

Linji school The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Song d ...

) *** Tào Động ( Caodong school) ***

Trúc Lâm Trúc Lâm Yên Tử (竹林安子), or simply Trúc Lâm ("Bamboo Grove"), is a Vietnamese ''Thiền'' (i.e. zen) sect. It is the only native school of Buddhism in Vietnam. The school was founded by Emperor Trần Nhân Tông (1258–1308) showing ...

(Syncretized with

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

) ***

Plum Village Tradition The Plum Village Tradition is a school of Buddhism named after the Plum Village Monastery in France, the first monastic practice center founded by Thích Nhất Hạnh. It is an approach to Engaged Buddhism mainly from a Mahayana perspective, t ...

( Engaged Buddhism) **** Order of Interbeing **

Đạo Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương Đạo Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương (, , "Way of the Strange Fragrance from the Precious Mountain") refers to a religious tradition originally practiced by the mystic Đoàn Minh Huyên (1807–1856) and continued by Huỳnh Phú Sổ, founder of the ...

( Millenarian movement) *** Hòa Hảo (Reformist movement) *

Śaiva Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

-

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

in Southeast Asia (historical, syncretized with

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

) *

Korean Buddhism Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, the ...

**

Tongbulgyo Tongbulgyo is a school of "interpenetrated Buddhism" which was taught by the Korean monk Wonhyo. See also *Ijangui The Ijangui, or Doctrine of the Two Hindrances, is an in-depth treatise concerning the various theories developed on the doctrine ...

(Interpenetrated Buddhism – including Jeongto, or

Pure Land A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

) ** Gyeyul (

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

school- historical) ** Samnon ( Mādhyamaka- historical) ** Beopsang ( Yogācāra- historical) ** Yeolban (

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

- historical) ** Wonyung ( Avatamsaka- historical) ** Cheontae (

Tiantai Tiantai or T'ien-t'ai () is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in 6th-century China. The school emphasizes the ''Lotus Sutra's'' doctrine of the "One Vehicle" (''Ekayāna'') as well as Mādhyamaka philosophy, ...

) ** Hwaeom (

Huayen The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based prima ...

- absorbed into Jogye Order) **

Seon Seon may refer to: * Seon, Switzerland, a municipality in the canton of Aargau * ''Seon'', a type of arranged marriage in South Korea * Korean Seon, a Zen school of Korean Buddhism * Seon (food), steamed vegetable dishes with fillings in Korean cui ...

( Zen) *** Jogye Order **** Kwan Um School of Zen ***

Taego Order The Taego Order or Taego-jong is the second largest order in Korean Seon, the Korean branch of Chan Buddhism. Characteristics Seonamsa is one of the head monasteries of the Taego Order, which includes over 8,000 monastics and 3,100 temples. ...

**

Wonbulgyo Won Buddhism ( ko, 원불교, Wǒnbulgyo, label=none), is a modern religion originating in Korea. It can be regarded as either a syncretic new religious movement or a reformed Buddhism. The name "Won Buddhism" comes from the Korean words 원/� ...

(Korean Reformed Buddhism) **

Jingak Order The Jingak Order (), is a South Korean Esoteric Buddhist sect founded in 1947 by Grand Master Hoedang (Kyu-Shang Sohn, 1902–1963). The order places more emphasis on Vairocana rather than Sakyamuni Buddha, and the sect's guiding doctrine is ''Dha ...

( Shingon syncretized with

Humanistic Buddhism Humanistic Buddhism () is a modern philosophy practiced by Buddhist groups originating from Chinese Buddhism which places an emphasis on integrating Buddhist practices into everyday life and shifting the focus of ritual from the dead to the li ...

) * Japanese Buddhism **

Pure Land A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

***

Jōdo-shū , also known as Jōdo Buddhism, is a branch of Pure Land Buddhism derived from the teachings of the Japanese ex-Tendai monk Hōnen. It was established in 1175 and is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan, along with Jōdo Shi ...

***

Jōdo Shinshū , also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran ( ...

****

Nishi Hongan-ji is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple in the Shimogyō ward of Kyoto, Japan. It serves as the head temple of the sub-sect Honganji-ha. It is one of two Jōdo Shinshū temple complexes in Kyoto, the other being Higashi Hongan-ji, which is the ...

**** Higashi Hongan-ji ***** Ōtani-ha *** Ji-shū *** Yūzū-nembutsu-shū ** Risshū (

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

school) ** Jojitsu (

Satyasiddhi The ''Tattvasiddhi-Śāstra'' ("The Treatise that Accomplishes Reality"; , also reconstructed as ''Satyasiddhi-Śāstra''), is an Indian Abhidharma Buddhist text by a figure known as Harivarman (250-350). It was translated into Chinese in 411 by ...

– historical, syncretized with Sanron) ** Kusha ( Abhidharmakośa – historical, syncretized with Hossō) ** Sanron ( Mādhyamaka – historical) ** Hossō ( Yogācāra) **

Kegon The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based primar ...

(

Huayen The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based prima ...

syncretized with Shingon) ** Mikkyō (

Esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

) ***

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

(

Tiantai Tiantai or T'ien-t'ai () is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in 6th-century China. The school emphasizes the ''Lotus Sutra's'' doctrine of the "One Vehicle" (''Ekayāna'') as well as Mādhyamaka philosophy, ...

syncretized with

Zhenyan A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

, Lüzong and

Oxhead school The Oxhead school (''Niu-t'ou zong'') was a short lived tradition of Chinese Chan Buddhism founded by Fa-jung (Niutou Farong, 牛頭法融, 594–657), who was a Dharma heir of the Fourth Patriarch Tao-hsin (580-651). Their main temple was locate ...

) *** Shingon (

Zhenyan A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

) ****

Kōyasan Shingon-shū is a Japanese sect of Shingon Buddhism. Headquartered on Mount Kōya in Wakayama Prefecture, it is also the oldest and largest of the eighteen Shingon sects in Japan. The main temple is Kongōbu-ji is the ecclesiastic head temple of Koyasan ...

****

Shingon Risshu The is a comparatively small medieval sect of Buddhism in Japan that arose in the Kamakura period as an offshoot of Shingon Buddhism. Its founder was a monk named Eison (叡尊 1201-1290), a disciple of Jōkei, and carried further by Eison's disci ...

(Syncretized with Risshū) ****

Shingon-shu Buzan-ha is a sect of Shingon Buddhism founded in the 16th century by the priest . The main Buzan-ha temple is Hase-dera in Sakurai, Nara. Today the Buzan-ha sect has 3000 temples, 5000 priests and two million followers. Its largest chapters outside Japa ...

**** Shingon-shū Chizan-ha ****

Shinnyo-en is a Japanese Buddhist new religious movement in the tradition of the Daigo branch of Shingon Buddhism. It was founded in 1936 by , and his wife in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo, the city of Tachikawa, where its headquarters is still located. ...

*** Shugendo (Syncretized with

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

,

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

and

Onmyōdō is a system of natural science, astronomy, almanac, divination and Magic (supernatural), magic that developed independently in Japan based on the Chinese philosophies of yin and yang and Wuxing (Chinese philosophy), wuxing (five elements). The p ...

) ** Zen (

Chan Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia *Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldwel ...

) ***

Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan E ...

(

Linji school The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Song d ...

) **** Fuke-shū (Historical) *** Sōtō ( Caodong school) *** Ōbaku (

Linji school The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Song d ...

syncretized with Jingtu) *** Sanbo Kyodan ( Sōtō syncretized with

Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan E ...

) **** White Plum Asanga ***** Ordinary Mind Zen School ***** Zen Peacemakers **

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of ...

***

Nichiren Shū Nichiren (16 February 1222 – 13 October 1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. Nichiren declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of ...

***

Honmon Butsuryū-shū The Honmon Butsuryū-shū () is a branch of the Honmon Hokke Shū sect (one of the most ancient sects of Nichiren Buddhism). It was founded by Nagamatsu Nissen (; 1817–1890) and a group of followers the 12th of January 1857 with the name of Ho ...

*** Kempon Hokke *** Nichiren Shōshū * Western Mahāyāna Buddhism **

Zen in the United States Zen was introduced in the United States at the end of the 19th century by Japanese teachers who went to America to serve groups of Japanese immigrants and become acquainted with the American culture. After World War II, interest from non-Asian A ...

Esoteric schools

Esoteric Buddhism, also known as Vajrayāna, Mantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, and Tantric Buddhism is often placed in a separate category by scholars due to its unique tantric features and elements. Esoteric Buddhism arose and developed in medieval India among esoteric adepts known as Mahāsiddhas. Esoteric Buddhism maintains its own set of texts alongside the classic scriptures, these esoteric works are known as the Buddhist Tantras. It includes practices that make use of

mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

s,

dharani Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as ''Parittas'', are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the Bud ...

s,

mudra A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. As wel ...

s,

mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

s and the visualization of deities and Buddhas. Main Esoteric Buddhist traditions include: * Indian Esoteric Buddhism (Historical) * Ari Buddhism (Historical) * Tantric Theravada *

Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism or Esoteric Buddhism in Maritime Southeast Asia refers to the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism found in Maritime Southeast Asia which emerged in the 7th century along the maritime trade routes and port cities of the In ...

*

Philippine Esoteric Buddhism Buddhism is a minor religion in the Philippines. The Buddhist population of the Philippines is 46,558 according to the 2010 census. History The oldest archeological evidence of Buddhism's presence in the Philippines date back to the 9th centu ...

*

Azhaliism Azhaliism (), also known as Dianmi or Baimi, is a Vajrayana Buddhist religion practiced among the Bai people of Yunnan, China. The name comes from lay tantric priests called ''azhali'' (Sanskrit: ''acharyas'') who are key figures in the religion ...

* Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, the most widespread of these traditions, is practiced in Tibet, parts of North India, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Mongolia. **

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

**

Bön ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan culture, Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initiall ...

(Indigenous, often considered "pre-Buddhist" in origin) ** Kadam (Historical) **

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

**

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depict ...

**

Bodong Bodong refers to the peace pact or treaty, used by the Kalinga people in Kalinga Province, northern Philippines. These peace rites are usually accompanied by Kalinga songs such as the ''ading'', ''wasani'' and the ''dandanag''. It is a unique jud ...

** Jonang **

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous ...

** Tibetan Pure Land ** Rimé movement (Non-sectarian) ** New Kadampa Tradition ** Kalmyk Buddhism ** Buryat Buddhism ** Tuvan Buddhism **

Mongolian Buddhism Buddhism is the largest and official religion of Mongolia practiced by 53% of Mongolia's population, according to the 2010 Mongolia census. Buddhism in Mongolia derives much of its recent characteristics from Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug and ...

**

Bhutanese Buddhism Buddhism is the most widely practiced religion in Bhutan. Vajrayana Buddhism is the spiritual heritage of Bhutan, and Buddhists comprise 84.3% and Hinduism 11.3% of its Demographics of Bhutan, population. Although the Buddhism practiced in Bhutan ...

* Newar Buddhism (

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

) *

Chinese Esoteric Buddhism Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Esoteric Buddhism Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayā ...

(''zhenyan'', 真言) **

True Buddha School The True Buddha School () is a relatively new (Vajrayana oriented) Buddhist sect, that includes practices and deities from Taoism, and thus could arguably be defined as a new religious movement. Its headquarters are in Redmond, WA, USA, and the ...

* Korean Esoteric Buddhism (''milgyo'', 密教) **

Jingak Order The Jingak Order (), is a South Korean Esoteric Buddhist sect founded in 1947 by Grand Master Hoedang (Kyu-Shang Sohn, 1902–1963). The order places more emphasis on Vairocana rather than Sakyamuni Buddha, and the sect's guiding doctrine is ''Dha ...

( Shingon syncretized with

Humanistic Buddhism Humanistic Buddhism () is a modern philosophy practiced by Buddhist groups originating from Chinese Buddhism which places an emphasis on integrating Buddhist practices into everyday life and shifting the focus of ritual from the dead to the li ...

) * Japanese Mikkyo ** Shingon ***

Shinnyo-en is a Japanese Buddhist new religious movement in the tradition of the Daigo branch of Shingon Buddhism. It was founded in 1936 by , and his wife in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo, the city of Tachikawa, where its headquarters is still located. ...

** Shugendo (Syncretized with

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

,

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

and

Onmyōdō is a system of natural science, astronomy, almanac, divination and Magic (supernatural), magic that developed independently in Japan based on the Chinese philosophies of yin and yang and Wuxing (Chinese philosophy), wuxing (five elements). The p ...

) * Western Vajrayāna Buddhism

New Buddhist movements

Various Buddhist

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

s arose in the 20th century, including the following. *

Agon Shu is a Japanese new religion in which the basic tenets are based on the ''Agamas'', a collection of early Buddhist scriptures, which comprise the various recensions of the '' Sūtra Piṭaka.'' The organization was founded in 1954 by Kiriyama Seiyū ...

* Aum Shinrikyo * Buddhist modernism **

Buddhist feminism Buddhist feminism is a movement that seeks to improve the religious, legal, and social status of women within Buddhism. It is an aspect of feminist theology which seeks to advance and understand the equality of men and women morally, socially, s ...

**

Buddhist fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict Biblical literalism, literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or Ideology, ideologies, along with a strong belief in th ...

**

Buddhist socialism Buddhist socialism is a political ideology which advocates socialism based on the principles of Buddhism. Both Buddhism and socialism seek to provide an end to suffering by analyzing its conditions and removing its main causes through praxis. ...

**

Critical Buddhism Critical Buddhism (Japanese: 批判仏教, hihan bukkyō) was a trend in Japanese Buddhist scholarship, associated primarily with the works of Hakamaya Noriaki (袴谷憲昭) and Matsumoto Shirō (松本史朗). Hakamaya stated that "'Buddhism ...

**

Secular Buddhism Secular Buddhism—sometimes also referred to as agnostic Buddhism, Buddhist agnosticism, ignostic Buddhism, atheistic Buddhism, pragmatic Buddhism, Buddhist atheism, or Buddhist secularism—is a broad term for a form of Buddhism based on hum ...

*

Coconut Religion The Coconut Religion is a religion founded by Ông Đạo Dừa in Ben Tre, South Vietnam. As one of many religions that existed in the South before communist authorities had abolished the religion on 1975. Dao Dua advocated religious harmony, s ...

* Dhammakaya Movement *

Diamond Way Diamond Way Buddhism (''Diamond Way Buddhism - Karma Kagyu Lineage'') is a lay organization within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The first Diamond Way Buddhist center was founded in 1972 by Hannah Nydahl and Ole Nydahl in Copenhage ...

*

Dobokai The Ohigashi schism (お東騒動) was a religious schism in the Ōtani-ha (also known as Higashi Honganji) subsect of the Jōdo Shinshū school of Buddhism in Japan, Buddhism that occurred in 1969 after a reformist group created internal divisions. ...

* Engaged Buddhism ** Buddhist Peace Fellowship **

Plum Village Tradition The Plum Village Tradition is a school of Buddhism named after the Plum Village Monastery in France, the first monastic practice center founded by Thích Nhất Hạnh. It is an approach to Engaged Buddhism mainly from a Mahayana perspective, t ...

*** Order of Interbeing **

Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement is a self-governance movement in Sri Lanka, which provides comprehensive development and conflict resolution programs to villages. It is also the largest indigenous organization working on reconstruction fro ...

*

Forshang Buddhism World Center Forshang Buddhism World Center is a new religious movement based in Taiwan. Beliefs The following information is according to the organization's website. The organization claims to have received the "revelation of Buddha-Nature", founded by t ...

*

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) was founded in 1975 by Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who began teaching Mahayana Buddhism to Western students in Nepal. The FPMT has grown to encompass over 1 ...

(FPMT) *

Gedatsukai , or Nirwana Association, is a Japanese new religious movement founded in 1929. The number of adherents exceeded 200,000 in the 1990s. It is a syncretic movement, with influences drawing from traditional Shinto and Shingon Buddhist teachings. Its ...

**

Gedatsu Church of America Gedatsu Church of America is an American Buddhist church with branches in Japan, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Hawaii. A nonsectarian spiritual movement, it is based on the Japanese Gedatsu-kai, a new religious movement that was founded in 192 ...

*

Guanyin Famen Guanyin Famen or Quan Yin Buddhism (Chinese: 觀音法門), the teachings of Meditation Society of ROC (Chinese: 中華民國禪定學會) or Ching Hai World Society (Chinese: 清海世界會), is a school of Mahayana Buddhism-like cult found i ...

* Hòa Hảo *

Ho No Hana The Japanese sect Ho No Hana Sanpogyo (法の華三法行 ''Hō No Hana Sanpōgyō'') was a new religious movement founded by "His Holiness" Hogen Fukunaga. The sect was found to have engaged in fortune telling fraud in Japan. History It is often ...

*

Humanistic Buddhism Humanistic Buddhism () is a modern philosophy practiced by Buddhist groups originating from Chinese Buddhism which places an emphasis on integrating Buddhist practices into everyday life and shifting the focus of ritual from the dead to the li ...

** Chung Tai Shan ** Dharma Drum Mountain **

Fo Guang Shan Fo Guang Shan (FGS) () is an international Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhist organization and monastic order based in Taiwan that practices Humanistic Buddhism. The headquarters, Fo Guang Shan Monastery is located in Dashu District, Kaohsiung, and is ...

** Tzu Chi *

Jingak Order The Jingak Order (), is a South Korean Esoteric Buddhist sect founded in 1947 by Grand Master Hoedang (Kyu-Shang Sohn, 1902–1963). The order places more emphasis on Vairocana rather than Sakyamuni Buddha, and the sect's guiding doctrine is ''Dha ...

*

Juniper Foundation Juniper Foundation is an organization that works to adapt and promote meditation tradition in the modern world. It was founded in 2003 by five individuals, Segyu Choepel Rinpoche, Hillary Brook Levy, Christina Juskiewicz, Pam Moriarty and Lawrence ...

* Kwan Um School of Zen *

Navayana Navayana (Devanagari: नवयान, IAST: ''Navayāna'') means "new vehicle" and refers to the re-interpretation of Buddhism by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar; it is also called Neo-Buddhism and Ambedkarite Buddhism. Ambedkar was a polymath, theol ...

("New Way"), also known as Dalit Buddhist movement, and "Ambedkarite" Buddhism * New Kadampa Tradition * Nichiren-based modern lay movements **

Nichirenism Nichirenism (日蓮主義, ''Nichirenshugi'') is the nationalistic interpretation of the teachings of Nichiren. The most well known representatives of this form of Nichiren Buddhism are Nissho Inoue and Tanaka Chigaku, who construed Nichiren's tea ...

***

Kenshōkai is a Japanese-based Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist lay group, affiliated with Taisekiji Head Temple since 1942 at the Myokoji Temple in Shinagawa, Tokyo and was originally called . After engaging in conflict with fellow Hokkeko members due to tole ...

***

Kokuchūkai The is a lay-oriented Nichiren Buddhist group. It was founded by Tanaka Chigaku in 1880 as and renamed in 1884 before adopting its current name in 1914. History The lay Nichiren Buddhist organization''Britannica Kokusai Dai-hyakkajiten'' arti ...

** Nipponzan Myōhōji **

Reiyūkai , or Reiyūkai Shakaden, is a Japanese Buddhist new religious movement founded in 1919 by Kakutarō Kubo (1892-1944) and Kimi Kotani (1901-1971). It is a lay organization (there are no priests) inspired by Nichiren Buddhism, but not affiliated to ...

*** Bussho Gonenkai Kyōdan *** Myōchikai Kyōdan ***

Myōdōkai Kyōdan The is a Japanese Buddhist lay organisation that stems from the Reiyūkai, a branch of Nichiren Buddhism. It was founded in 1951 and has approximately 219,000 adherents, most of whom are in Japan.Montgomery, Daniel (1991). Fire in the Lotus, The D ...

***

Risshō Kōsei Kai ; until June 1960, is a Japanese new religious movement founded in 1938 by Nikkyō Niwano and Myōkō Naganuma. Risshō Kōsei Kai is organized as a lay Buddhist movement, which branched off from the older Reiyūkai, and is primarily focused a ...

**

Shōshinkai , full name , is a Japanese Nichiren Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhist dissenting group formed in July 1980 by approximately 200 Nichiren Shōshū priests who were mostly the disciples of the former High Priest Nittatsu Hosoi, along with their lay foll ...

** Sōka Gakkai ** Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism *

PL Kyodan , is a Japanese Shinshūkyō (new religious movement) founded in 1924 by Tokuharu Miki (1871–1938), who was a priest in the Ōbaku sect of Zen Buddhism. The stated aim of the Church of Perfect Liberty is to bring about world peace. Teachings ...

* Rimé movement *

Rulaizong Rulaizong (; literally, The Tathāgata Sect of Buddhism) is a cult originating in Taiwan which was established by Miaochan. It claims itself as a sect of Buddhism. According to the official website of Rulaizong, in 2015, the organization had mo ...

* Sanbo Kyodan ** White Plum Asanga *** Ordinary Mind Zen School *** Zen Peacemakers *

Santi Asoke The Santi Asoke ( th, สันติอโศก (อะโศก) "Peaceful Ashoka") was established by a former television entertainer and songwriter Phra Bodhirak after he "declared independence from the Ecclesiastical Council in 1975". He h ...

* Shambhala Buddhism * Share International *

Shinnyo-en is a Japanese Buddhist new religious movement in the tradition of the Daigo branch of Shingon Buddhism. It was founded in 1936 by , and his wife in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo, the city of Tachikawa, where its headquarters is still located. ...

*

Tibbetibaba Tibbetibaba also known as Mahasadhak Tibbetibaba or Paramhamsa Tibbetibaba, alternative spellings Tibbatibaba, Tibbati Baba, Tibbeti Baba, Tibbotibaba or Tibboti Baba ("Tibetan Baba" or the Monk from Tibet, when translated into English.) b ...

* Triratna Buddhist Community *

True Buddha School The True Buddha School () is a relatively new (Vajrayana oriented) Buddhist sect, that includes practices and deities from Taoism, and thus could arguably be defined as a new religious movement. Its headquarters are in Redmond, WA, USA, and the ...

*

Vipassana movement The Vipassanā movement, also called (in the United States) the Insight Meditation Movement and American vipassana movement, refers to a branch of modern Burmese Theravāda Buddhism that promotes "bare insight" (''sukha-vipassana'') to attain s ...

*

Western Buddhism Buddhism in the West (or more narrowly Western Buddhism) broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia in the Western world. Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occur ...

** Buddhism in Australia ** Buddhism in Europe ***

Buddhism in Austria Buddhism is a legally recognized religion in Austria. Although still small in absolute numbers (10,402 at the 2001 census), Buddhism in Austria enjoys widespread acceptance. A majority of Buddhists in the country are Austrian nationals (some of t ...

*** Buddhism in Denmark ***

Buddhism in Italy Buddhism in Italy is the third most spread religion, next to Christianity and Islam. According to Caritas Italiana, in the country there are 160,000 Buddhists, that is to say the 0.3% of the total population. History According to some sources, ...

*** Buddhism in Russia ***

Buddhism in Slovenia Buddhism is a legally recognized religion in Slovenia and it is followed by more than 1,000 Slovenes, though no official numbers are established as the previous census did not include Buddhism specifically. Although still small in absolute numbers ...

*** Buddhism in the United Kingdom **

Buddhism in the United States The term American Buddhism can be used to describe all Buddhist groups within the United States, including Asian Americans, Asian-American Buddhists born into the faith, who comprise the largest percentage of Buddhists in the country. American Budd ...

***

Zen in the United States Zen was introduced in the United States at the end of the 19th century by Japanese teachers who went to America to serve groups of Japanese immigrants and become acquainted with the American culture. After World War II, interest from non-Asian A ...

* Won Buddhism

Notes

References

External links

The Sects of the Buddhists
by

T. W. Rhys Davids Thomas William Rhys Davids (12 May 1843 – 27 December 1922) was an English scholar of the Pāli language and founder of the Pāli Text Society. He took an active part in founding the British Academy and London School for Oriental Studies. ...

, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1891. pp. 409–422 {{Buddhism topics

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

Classifications

Terminology

Early schools

Theravāda

Mahāyāna schools

Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism

East Asian Mahayana

Main sects

Esoteric schools

New Buddhist movements

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links