1. Theravāda | History Theravāda (Pāli, lit. " School of the Elders ") is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest extant school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins , have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha 's teaching in the Pāli Canon . The Pāli Canon is the only complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, Pāli , which serves as the

1. Pāli Canon In Theravāda Buddhism the Pāli Canon is the highest authority on what constitutes the Dhamma (the Truth or Teaching of the Buddha) and the organization of the Saṅgha (the community of monks and nuns). The Sutta and Vinaya portion of the Tipiṭaka shows considerable overlap in content to the Āgamas, the parallel collections used by non-Theravāda schools in India which are preserved

1. Mahāyāna Mahāyāna ( Great Vehicle ) is one of two major existing branches of Buddhism (the other being Theravāda ) and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. This movement added a further set of discourses, and although it was initially small in India, it had long-term historical significance. The Buddhist tradition of Vajrayāna is sometimes classified as a part of Mahāyāna

1. Vajrayāna Vajrayāna , Mantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Tibetan Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism and Esoteric Buddhism are terms referring to the various Buddhist traditions of Tantra and " Secret Mantra ", which developed in Medieval India and spread to Tibet, Bhutan, and East Asia. In Tibet , Buddhist Tantra is termed Vajrayāna , while in China it is generally known as Tangmi Hanmi (" Chinese Esotericism ") or

1. Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet where it is the dominant religion. It is also found in the regions surrounding the Himalayas (such as Bhutan, Ladakh, and Sikkim), much of Central Asia, the Southern Siberian regions such as Tuva, as well as Mongolia. Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Mah āyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism stemming from the latest

1. Zen | History Zen (Chinese: Chan ) Buddhism, as we know it today, is the result of a long history, with many changes and contingent factors. Each period had different types of Zen, some of which remained influential, while others vanished. The history of Chan in China is divided into various periods by different scholars, who generally distinguish a classical phase and a post-classical

1. Zen | Teachings Zen (Chinese: Chan ; Sanskrit: dhyāna ; Japanese: Zen ; Korean: Seon ; Vietnamese: Thien ) is the Japanese term (and often used term in English) for the principle of dhyāna in Buddhism, and for Zen Buddhism , a tradition in Mahāyāna Buddhism which originated in China during the Tang dynasty (as Chan Buddhism, Chinese: Chanzōng ). Chinese Chan Buddhism developed

1. Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13 th century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura Buddhism schools. Its teachings derive from some 300–400 extant letters and treatises attributed to Nichiren . Nichiren Buddhism focuses on the Lotus Sūtra doctrine that all people have an innate Buddha-nature and are therefore

1. Nichiren in Medieval Japan After Nichiren's death in 1282 the Kamakura shogunate weakened largely due to financial and political stresses resulting from defending the country from the Mongols. It was replaced by the Ashikaga shogunate (1336–1573), which in turn was succeeded by the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1600), and then the Tokugawa shogunate (1600–1868). During these time periods, collectively comprising Japan's medieval history, Nichiren Buddhism experienced

1. Humanistic Buddhism Humanistic Buddhism (Chinese: renjiān fojiao ) is a modern philosophy practiced by Buddhist groups originating from Chinese Buddhism which places an emphasis on integrating Buddhist practices into daily life and shifting the focus of ritual from the dead to the living . Taixu (1890-1947), a Buddhist modernist activist and thinker who advocated the reform and renewal of Chinese Buddhism , used the