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Buddhist Denominations Explained | Theravada vs Mahayana
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- Hi. This is Matt Baker. So far on this channel, I’ve talked about Christian denominations, as well as Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu denominations. So, you probably already
- guessed that Buddhist denominations would be next. Now, remember: I’m using the word Denomination quite loosely here – simply to mean a branch or sect within a larger religion.
- So let’s start with the Vedic Religion, which I introduced in my Hinduism video. It developed in India around 1500 BCE, after a group of Indo-Europeans slowly
- migrated into the area – probably intermingling with the descendants of the once mighty Indus Valley Civilization as well as with other native Indians living along the Ganges River. The Vedic
- Religion likely borrowed elements from all three of these groups, which is an important point to remember. We call this early form of Hinduism “Vedic” because it was during this
- period that the oldest and most sacred Hindu scriptures – called the Vedas – were composed. However, by around 500 BCE, the Vedic Religion had evolved into Brahminism, in which a certain
- class of people – known as Brahmins – controlled the priesthood as well as many other aspects of society. Below them were the Kshatriya (consisting of secular rulers and warriors), the Vaishya (the
- farmers and merchants), and finally, the Shudra (laborers and servants). However, not everyone was happy with the authority of the Brahmins and with the teachings in the Vedas. This gave rise to the
- Shramana movement, which was particularly popular along the Eastern Gangetic Plain. In order to explain, let’s take a look at a map of India around 500 BCE. By this point, most of
- the North was divided into sixteen independent states, which were known as “Mahajanapadas”, meaning “great realms”. Brahminism was strongest in the Kingdom of Kuru,
- which had previously been much larger and was the setting for the great Hindu epic The Mahabharat. But to the east, there were other states like Kosala, Vriji, and Magadha,
- where support for the Brahmins was weaker. It was here that the Shramana movement took hold. Basically, a “Shramana” was a person who dropped out of everyday society in order
- to instead live a very simple life focused on spiritual development. This resulted in the development of several new schools of philosophy but it also ended up influencing Brahminism as
- well - leading to what’s been called the “Hindu Synthesis” - which is when what we know today as Hinduism really took shape. So, from this point forward, from the Hindu perspective,
- Indian schools of philosophy were now divided into two categories: “Astika” and “Nastika”. Astika schools accept the authority of the Vedas (and are hence considered to be a part of Hinduism),
- whereas the Nastika schools reject the Vedas are thus considered to be separate religions. The two Nastika schools that most people are familiar with today are Jainism and Buddhism
- but in earlier times, there were other schools of thought that were just as popular. These include the atheist Charvaka school, the agnostic Ajñana school, and the fatalistic Ajivika school.
- Okay, with that background, let’s now focus exclusively on Buddhism. Unlike Hinduism, which has no founder, Buddhism does. It was founded by the person who most
- people know simply as The Buddha. But this was not his actual name. At birth, he was called Siddhartha Gautama and he was a prince living within the Kingdom of Kosala. More
- specifically though, he belonged to a region and ethnic group within Kosala known as the Shakyas, whose territory actually fell within what we today call Nepal. This is why,
- in the earliest records, the Buddha is called Shakyamuni, meaning the Sage of the Shakyas. I won’t go through his full story but here are the highlights. At the age of 29,
- Siddhartha left his family and life of luxury to become a Shramana. At first, he practised asceticism - denying himself all but the smallest amount of food needed to survive. But then,
- at the age of 35, while sitting under a tree, he is said to have achieved enlightenment. It’s at this point that he became “the Buddha” which is a title meaning “the Enlightened One”. After this,
- he preached about the “Middle Way”, which promotes living in-between the extremes of overindulgence on one side and self denial on the other. He also laid the foundations for Buddhist thought,
- called Dharma, which can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Now, in this video, I’m not going to go through the Buddha’s teaching in detail so instead I’m
- going to recommend to you a few books. In fact, thanks to today’s sponsor, Blinkist, I’m going to offer you free access to all of them. All you have to do is sign up for a
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- Currently, I’ve been listening to No Self, No Problem. It was the subtitle that caught my eye: How Neuropsychology is Catching Up to Buddhism. Now, remember you can get access to all of these
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- trial and then 40% off, just use the special promolink in the description or pinned comment. Okay, back to the family tree of Buddhist denominations. During the Buddha’s lifetime,
- he not only taught The Dharma, he also built up a community of followers known as The Sangha. You may have heard Buddhists refer to the Triple Gem, or three jewels. This is a reference to the
- Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. According to tradition, the Buddha died at age 80, around the year 480 BCE. At this point, the First Buddhist Council was held,
- with 500 of his followers attending. The purpose was to make sure that all of the teachings of the Buddha and the rules for the community were remembered. One of his
- 10 core disciples, named Ananda, recited all of the teachings (which are known as sutras) and another disciple (named Upali) recited the community rules (which are known as vinaya).
- According to tradition, a Second Buddhist Council was held approximately 100 years after the Buddha’s death. This time, there were disagreements over the community rules
- and this led to the first Buddhist schism. The majority group became known as the Mahasangika, meaning “the Great Sangha” and the minority group became known as the Sthaviravada,
- meaning “School of the Elders” because it consisted mostly of the more senior monks. Take note that all of the modern branches of Buddhism descend from the Sthaviravada,
- although there is some debate over whether or not the Maha-sangika had an influence on the development of Mahayana, a term that I will explain in a bit.
- But back to Early Buddhism. Eventually more and more divisions occurred, to the point where, in ancient times, it is thought that there were at least 18 separate schools. Around the time of
- Ashoka (the great Indian emperor who united most of India for the very first time) the three main ones were the Vibhajyavada, Sarvastivada, and Pudgalavada. Ashoka is an extremely important
- figure in the history of early Buddhism because he himself converted to the new religion and promoted missionary efforts to spread Buddhism to other lands. The most important of these missions was
- led by his first-born son, Mahinda, who became a monk and brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka. (Now, I should point out that one does not need to become a monk to follow Buddhism,
- although some still do - as it is generally seen as being a faster way to reach enlightenment.) In Sri Lanka, the school founded by Mahinda became known as the Tamrashatiya School and it
- was a branch of the Vibhajyavada School. It was in Sri Lanka that the Pali Canon was produced - which today is the oldest surviving complete set of Buddhist scriptures (Take note that Pali is a
- language closely related to, but not quite the same as, Sanskrit). Let’s now take a moment to look at the contents of the Pali Canon. A full set of Buddhist scriptures is called a Tipitaka,
- which means three baskets. That’s because it’s comprised of three main parts: the Vinaya pitaka (which contains the community rules), the Sutta pitaka (which contains the Buddha’s teachings),
- and the Abhidhamma, which contains analysis on those teachings. The Vinaya pitaka contains rules for both male monks, who are called Bhikkhus as well as for female monks (or nuns),
- who are called Bhikkhunis. It also contains a few sections covering early Buddhist history. In the Pali Canon, the Sutta Pitaka is divided into five parts,
- called nikayas (meaning volumes). These can then be broken down further into smaller books. Of these smaller books, the one that I’d like to highlight is the Dhammapada,
- which is located in the fifth nikaya. It’s the most well known of all the Buddhist scriptures and is a good starting point for those who want to dip their feet in the water. Finally,
- I’d like to point out that the Pali Canon version of the Abhidhamma has seven parts. Okay, let’s now go back to the family tree chart. From Sri Lanka,
- Buddhism eventually spread to Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. The type of Buddhism found in all of these countries is therefore very similar. Nowadays,
- it is called Theravada Buddhism. Take note that the word “Theravada” is actually just the Pali version of the Sanskrit word Sthaviravada, which as you might remember,
- means “School of the Elders”. Theravada Buddhism therefore sees itself as the original Buddhism. Generally speaking, it is more strict and more earthly-focused than the other forms of Buddhism.
- Although you can see here that there are three main types of Buddhism in the world today, considering that Tibetan Buddhism is - relatively-speaking - quite small,
- is often said that there are really just two main types of Buddhism: Theravada and Mahayana. I’m therefore going to focus on Mahayana next. The exact origins of Mahayana are unclear. It
- wasn’t really a separate school but rather a movement that took place within many schools. One theory is that it developed out of the now extinct Mahasangika school but another is that
- it might have originated among laypeople - meaning non-monks. Whatever the origin, the common factor among Mahayana Buddhists is that they have an additional set of scriptures known
- as the Mahayana sutras. According to Mahayana Buddhism, these special sutras were initially hidden away after the Buddha’s death, only to be revealed later, when the time was right.
- One of the early schools to accept the Mahayana Sutras was the Dharmaguptaka school, which was originally centered in Gandhara, in what is today Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- This is why there were - until very recently - some very old Buddha statues in this region. Unfortunately these were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. There is some debate over
- whether the Dharmaguptaka school came out of the Vibhajyavada school, or whether it came out of the Sarvastivada school. I’ve therefore showed it coming from both. From the Gandhara region,
- the Dharmaguptaka school eventually spread to China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. There were other schools that spread to these areas as well but they all went extinct and therefore today,
- all East Asian Mahayana monks follow the Dharmaguptaka community rules. Strangely, although Buddhism originated in India and was once a dominant force there,
- today the vast majority of Buddhists now live OUTSIDE of India. In fact, it is now China that has the most amount of Buddhists in the world. I therefore want to talk a bit about the Chinese
- Canon, which is the main alternative to the Pali Canon. Like the Pali Canon, it too contains a tripitaka - however, take note that the sections covering the teachings of the
- Buddha are called agamas instead of nikayas. The Chinese Canon has only four agamas, which roughly correspond to the first four nikayas from the Pali Canon. The Vinaya and Abhudharma sections,
- however, are totally different. Whereas the Pali Canon includes the Theravada community rules, the Chinese Canon includes the Dharma-guptaka rules, as well as rules from several now-extinct schools.
- However, the main difference between the Pali Canon and the Chinese Canon is that the Chinese Canon includes several additional sections, most notably the Mahayana Sutras,
- which I mentioned earlier. There are many of these but the most important are the Lotus Sutra, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, the Flower Garland Sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra. But
- that’s not all. The Chinese Canon also includes a section called the Jataka, which describes Buddha’s birth story and a section about tantras, which are esoteric or more “secret” practices,
- meant only for those with specialized knowledge. Now, as you might have guessed, the Chinese Canon is mostly written in Chinese, Classical Chinese to be exact (although the Japanese version does
- include some parts in Japanese). This is why the Pali Canon is generally understood to be the older of the two canons. After all, Pali is an ancient Indian language and India is where
- Buddhism originated. However, this paints a bit of wrong picture. It is actually more accurate to say that the Pali Canon is the oldest COMPLETE version of the Buddhist scriptures. This is because there
- are in fact parts of the Chinese canon for which we do have the corresponding, much older Sanskrit versions. It’s just that we don’t have the COMPLETE Chinese canon available in Sanskrit.
- Okay, now before I move on, I want to briefly describe the main difference between Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism in terms of beliefs. In both cases, the ultimate goal
- is to achieve enlightenment, which then frees a person from the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth (which, btw, is also the goal in Hinduism). Theravada Buddhists teach that there
- are three paths to enlightenment. The first and - by far - the most common path is the student path, in which a person learns from the teachings of a Buddha and eventually becomes an arhat
- (mostly by means of strict discipline). Once a person becomes an arhat, they will no longer be reborn. The second path is that of the Solitary Buddha, in which a person achieves enlightenment
- on their own but is unable to teach others how to do it. Finally, there is the Full Buddha Path, in which a person achieves enlightenment on their own AND is also able to teach others how to reach it.
- This obviously was the path taken by Siddhartha Gautama, which is why he is called THE Buddha. Now, what a lot of non-Buddhists don’t know is that THE Buddha was not the only
- person to achieve full Buddhahood. The Pali Canon mentions 27 Buddhas by name - Buddhas who lived before THE Buddha, the three most recent being Kakusandha, Konagamana,
- and Kassapa. It also talks about a future Buddha, named Maitreya. Which brings me to the word Bodhisattva, which is a term that is used to refer to someone on the path towards becoming a
- full Buddha. In Theravada Buddhism, Bodhisattvas are thought to be rare, with Maitreya being the only current one. Like I say, in Theravada Buddhism, most people take the Arhat path.
- And this is where Mahayana Buddhism is very different. In Mahayana Buddhism, the first two paths are viewed as being very much inferior. This is why Mahayana Buddhists refer to
- Theravada as “Hinayana” which means “the lesser path”. In contrast, the word Mahayana means “the greater path”. Mahayana teaches that the Full Buddha path (also known as the Bodhisattva path)
- is open to everyone. It sees Bodhisattvas as being compassionate individuals who put off enlightenment for the sake of helping others. Therefore, in Mahayana Buddhism,
- there are LOTS of Bodhisattvas, many of whom are understood to be residing in higher realms. So, Mahayana Buddhists often pray to Bodhisattvas and ask them for help. One example of a Bodhisattva
- is this guy, often called the “Laughing Buddha” or “Fat Buddha”. His real name is actually Budai and he was a monk who lived around 1000 years ago. But here’s the important thing. Budai and
- the Buddha are not the same person. THE Buddha is Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, who became a Buddha [lived] over 2000 years ago. In contrast, Budai, is a Bodhisattva, on his way to
- becoming a Buddha. Some think that he is Maitreya, that future Buddha that I mentioned earlier. All of this brings up the question: Are their gods in Buddhism? Well, it kind of depends on
- your definition of a god. Although Buddhism is often said to be an atheistic religion, in Mahayana Buddhism at least, a Bodhisattva certainly seem to be something a little bit
- similar to a god. Maybe not the omnipotent sort of God that Abrahamic religions talk about but some sort of spiritual being for sure. In Theravada Buddhism, this is less true. For example,
- you might see a Theravada Buddhist standing in front of a statue of the Buddha, with their hands together. But in this case, they are not actually worshipping Buddha as a god. Instead,
- they are simply showing respect or using the Buddha’s form as an aid to meditation. Okay, let’s now go back to the family tree chart. There are three particular sub-branches
- of East Asian Mahayana that I’d like to point out. There are actually many more than these but these three tend to be the most popular. The first is Chan Buddhism,
- known as Zen Buddhism in Japan. It is particularly popular in the West and mostly focuses on meditation. Then there’s Pure Land Buddhism, where the focus is trying to get
- reborn in a special “purified land” where it’s then easier to achieve enlightenment. The most popular “pure land” in Pure Land Buddhism is the one formed by a Buddha named Amitabha. Finally,
- there’s Tiantai (known as Tendai in Japan and Cheontae in Korea). It focuses on the Lotus Sutra that I mentioned earlier which teaches that all paths eventually lead to the one Bodhisattva path.
- Okay, I now want to turn our attention to Tibetan Buddhism. Back in the early days of Mahayana, there was another movement that split off, known as Vajrayana. But, like Mahayana,
- this was not a separate school of Buddhism but rather a movement that impacted several schools. One school that took on many Vajrayana ideas was the Mula-sarvasti-vada School,
- which was probably a branch of the similarly named Sarvasti-vada School. It eventually spread north to Tibet and Bhutan, which is where it is mostly found today.
- Tibetan Buddhism differs from other forms of Buddhism in that it incorporates far more esoteric practices such as chanting, reciting incantations, and making geometric patterns called
- mandalas to help induce trances. The most famous Tibetan Buddhist is of course the Dalai Lama, who is seen as being a sort of figurehead for the Tibetan people. He is actually the leader
- of just one sect of Tibetan Buddhism, of which there are currently four. However, his sect, known as the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school is the largest one. He is referred to as the 14th
- Dalai Lama because the belief is that he is the reincarnation of a man named Gedun Drupa, who died in 1474 but continues to be reborn on earth. In turn, all of the
- Dalai Lamas are said to be incarnations of a Boddhisatva called Avalokitesvara. Now, before I go, I want to briefly mention Jainism, which is the other religion that can
- be traced back to the Shramana movement. It was founded by a man named Mahavira, who as you can see here, is often depicted as looking quite similar to the Buddha. In fact,
- the two teachers lived around the same time, with Mahavira being the older of the two. Whereas the Buddha was born in Kosala, Mahavira was born in Vriji. One of the key features of the Jain
- religion is non-violence and therefore most Jains are vegetarians. Today, Jainism is much smaller than Buddhism and really there are only two main branches. The larger one is called Svetambara,
- which means “white clad” because its monks wear white robes. Note the face mask also. Jains have been wearing face masks long before the current pandemic. This helps prevent sacred
- items from being contaminated. The other branch of Jainism is called Digambara, meaning “sky clad”. This is because the male monks in this sect wear no clothes
- at all - a testament to the fact that they want as few earthly possessions as possible. Okay, so that was a look at the family tree of Buddhist denominations. Eventually I plan to
- combine all of the denomination charts I’ve made so far into one large World Religions Family Tree poster. So keep and eye for that. And remember, if you want to learn more about Buddhism,
- I suggest you check out Blinkist using the link in the description or pinned comment. Finally, I want to announce that I’ve activated the Join button on this channel. This allows
- you to become a channel member - which is slightly different from being just a subscriber. Subscribing to the channel is free and will always be free. However, becoming a channel
- member gives you a few extra perks, the most notable one being that you get priority replies from me. Which means that if you ask a question in the comment section, I will definitely reply.
- Okay, I hope you enjoyed today’s video. I’ve got one more coming about denominations but I’m not going to tell what kind of denominations yet. See if you can guess,
- in the comments. Thanks for watching.
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