The Theravada Buddhists believe that they practice the original form of Buddhism as it was handed down to them by Buddha. Theravada Buddhism dominates the culture of Sri Lanka, but is also very prominent in Thailand and Burma.
While Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, spent several decades teaching, none of his teachings were written down until several hundred years later. In the third century, Asoka, the great Mauryan emperor, converted to Buddhism and began to sponsor several monasteries throughout the country. He even sent missionaries out to various countries both east and west. During his reign, the teachings of Buddha spread all across India and Sri Lanka.
Disturbed by the prolific growth of Buddhist heresies, a council of Buddhist monks was convened at the Mauryan capital of Patna during the third century BC to purify the doctrine. What arose from that council, more or less, were the definitive teachings of Theravada Buddhism; from this point onwards, Theravada Buddhism undergoes little if any change.
When the teachings of Buddha were finally written into a canon, they were written not in Sanskrit, but in a language derived from Sanskrit, called Pali. This language was spoken in the western regions of the Indian peninsula, but from Sri Lanka (which is off the eastern coast of India) to Burma, the Pali scriptures would become the definitive canon. We can' determine precisely when they were written down, but tradition records that the canon was first written down somewhere between 89 and 77 BC, that is, over four hundred years after the death of Buddha.
This canon is called the Tripitaka, or "Three Baskets," for it is divided into three parts, the Vinaya , or "Conduct," the Sutta , or "Discourses," and the Abhidhamma , or "Supplementary Doctrines." The second part, the "Discourses," are the most important in Buddhism. These are discourses by the Buddha and contain the whole of Buddhist philosophy and morality.
The basic doctrines of Theravada Buddhism correspond fairly exactly with the teachings of Buddha. Theravada Buddhism is based on the Four Noble Truths and the idea that all of physical reality is a chain of causation; this includes the cycle of birth and rebirth. Through the practice of the Eightfold Noble Path and the Four Cardinal Virtues, an individual can eventually attain Nirvana . Theravada Buddhism, however, focussed primarily on meditation and concentration, the eighth of the Eightfold Noble Path; as a result, it emphasized a monastic life removed from the hustle and bustle of society and required an extreme expenditure of time in meditating. This left little room for the bulk of humanity to join in; Theravada Buddhism was, by and large, an esoteric religion.
Thera means "elders"
Vada means the aching or speech.
therefore Theravada is a group of Buddhism who be live in the original teaching of Buddha or the elders monks..it is a kind of "conservative"
Theravada Buddhism is the Buddhism that is the most attached to Buddha's original (orthodox) teachings than other schools.
Mahayana vehicle Buddhists believe they are recipients of later teachings of the Buddha which Theravada Buddhists deny.
Mahayana Buddhists believe compassion is essential to liberation and that one can not be truly free until all beings are free. Theravada Buddhists, on the other hand, believe those later writings to be inauthentic. As a result, they believe in a Budddhism that is more centered on personal liberation. They also tend to give authority to the Pali Canon.
Theravada tries to hold to what they understand to be the Buddha's original teaching. That is sort of like a doctor diagnosing scrofula and bleeding the patient to cure an imbalance of the humors. They reject the methods developed by centuries of sincere, hard-working Buddhists because the Buddha, in the mere 45 years he taught, never got around to mentioning them. In doing so, they serve a valuable function. Just as when you start to study electronics, you start with batteries and light bulbs, then generators and motors, then vacuum tubes, then transistors, and finally computer chips, it is likewise difficult to start by learning the more developed methods of Buddhist practice. To make sure that a firm basis for understanding would be available, the Buddha set up a society of monks that attacked attachment with stone axes (following rules that prohibited indulging any attachments until they died out) so that they people who later attacked them with lasers (Zazen, Shinshu "guided imaging", Vajrayana initiations &c.) would not get off the track.
One of the best sources on line is "What is Theravada Buddhism?" by John Bullitt, found at
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullitt/theravada.html
Theravada Buddhism: The Gautama Buddha (the recent Buddha 2552 years ago) compiles and teaches his discovery about the Law and Universal Truth. That is:
1.All beings be it the Human, Angels, Gods, Devils, Animals cycle through birth and rebirths in the 31 possible realms endlessly. Only their life span in those realms are different (e.g. Highest Realm of Formless God Nevasannanasannayatana has life span of 84,000 Mahakap [1 Mahakap ~ 1.8E+11 human years]; however, Human, Animals and (4) Devil realms have varying life span). Implication and conjecture: So, for one to think that we go to the heaven and that's the eternal end would be akin to believing that the earth is flat.
2.The latest Buddha discovered that there are three Universal characteristics of all things:
I.All things are impermanent (Anijang) ? not eternal. Implications and conjecture: They all come and go, beings are born in the 31 realms, they age, disease and all perish as a matter of time. None are excluded. Empires, the earth, the solar system, constellations, they all change form from matter to energy back and forth endlessly. Nothing lasts forever.
II.All things are suffering or oppressed (Dukkang) ? in one way or another. Implications and conjecture: It does not matter what it is, it yearns to become or wants something else endlessly. It does not matter if we are rich or poor, holy or sinful. All are born, experience the uneasiness or suffering the minute we come out of our mom?s wombs (first baby cry). (Good) Parents worry endlessly about their child from birth to death. The Rich worry about losing their investments. The poor worry about the next meal. The charitable worry about the funds getting into the wrong hands. Illegals and terrorists worry about being caught.
III.All things are none-self or soullessness (Anatta) ? Implications and conjecture: Both our physical body and the mind are mere material or part of the energy of the universe. We take in sustenance in the form of food or infrared heat (mind energy) and transform them or get transformed to something else. We cannot control our urges to go to the restroom because the body is none-self. We cannot always control our mind every second to think positively because it is not owned by us.
3.All the greatest problems, oppressions and sufferings that we all in the 31 realms have are due to misguided beliefs, ignorance, or unacknowledged of the Real Truth. Of all the misconceptions of beings, two KEY categories of misguidance and ignorance caused the greatest penalty and penalizes all beings the greatest are:
I.Normally occurring misconception (Titi) that all living things (Human, God, Angel, Devils ? except the enlightened ones) believe there is the Self, the Them, the Us, the Person, the Animals are unique and that they are whole. Implication and conjecture: By believing that they are wholesome, we want Them, we want to eat Them, we want to become Them. They are unique, they are beautiful and we must have them. Either through consumption, engaging through matrimony or hunting them down or hurting them.
II.Special misconceptions that occur some of the time (Special Titi):
a. Misconception that things occur without cause or causes (Aheatu-Titi). Implication and conjecture: One sees well to do people and one get envious of them. Or, one does not understand in this great country, why there are people less fortunate. Well, there was a cause and the deed that they have done in their past existence to deserve as they are.
b. Misconception that there will be no effect or consequence (Natig-TIti). Implication and conjecture: The thief?s, murderers believe that there are no consequence on themselves and think that the action ends with acquiring the wealth illegally or the passing of another?s life.
c.Misconception that there is neither cause nor effect (Natig-TIti), nothing maters. Implication and conjecture: One believes that winning a lottery is purely by chance. Some day lady luck will be on our side. Some people just happened to be born to a family inheritance of an oil field. Never to worry about their wealth or health. So, what one does, does not matter.
d.Misconception that the world and the universe is stable, permanent and unchanging (Agariya-TIti). Implication and conjecture: We see people everyday playing with danger, taking unnecessary risk ? you name it.
e. Misconception that the world and the universe are empty and void (Utchaet-Titi). Implication and Conjecture: If it is empty, and void, then one must create something to be there. Let?s put a tree in the backyard it looks so empty and void. How about creating another star or another solar system? One feel lost and emptiness. We have no one to interact with, no one to talk to. Let?s create a make-believe friend.
4.The major causes of oppressions, and sufferings that penalize all being stem from ignorance, misguidance and misconception. Im
Maybe it's trying to be aware of what's happening at every moment and having compassion for all living beings. They are both very difficult things to achieve.
Give them a try.
May i know about Theravada Buddhism as Simply and Easily?
