Buddhism

==Schools and traditions==
{{Main|Schools of Buddhism|Timeline of Buddhism#Common Era}}
[[File:Buddhist sects.png|thumb|alt=color map showing Buddhism is a major religion worldwide|Distribution of major Buddhist traditions]]
Buddhists generally classify themselves as either [[Theravada|Theravāda]] or [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna]].{{sfnp|Keown|1996|p=12}} This classification is also used by some scholars{{sfnp|Smith|2006|pp=}} and is the one ordinarily used in the English language.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Tibetan Buddhism |encyclopedia=American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |year=2004 |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tibetan%20buddhism|access-date=2007-07-07|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080609051748/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tibetan%20buddhism |archive-date=9 June 2008 }}</ref> An alternative scheme used by some scholars divides Buddhism into the following three traditions or geographical or cultural areas: Theravāda (or "Southern Buddhism", "South Asian Buddhism"), [[East Asian Buddhism]] (or just "Eastern Buddhism") and [[Tibetan Buddhism|Indo-Tibetan Buddhism]] (or "Northern Buddhism").{{refn|group=note|name=alternative scheme|{{harvtxt|Harvey|1998}}, {{harvtxt|Gombrich|1984}}, {{harvtxt|Gethin|1998 |pp=1–2}}; identifies "three broad traditions" as: (1) "The Theravāda tradition of Sri Lanka and South-East Asia, also sometimes referred to as 'southern' Buddhism"; (2) "The East Asian tradition of China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, also sometimes referred to as 'eastern' Buddhism"; and, (3) "The Tibetan tradition, also sometimes referred to as 'northern' Buddhism.";<br />{{harvtxt|Robinson|Johnson|1982}} divide their book into two parts: Part One is entitled "The Buddhism of South Asia" (which pertains to Early Buddhism in India); and, Part Two is entitled "The Development of Buddhism Outside of India" with chapters on "The Buddhism of Southeast Asia", "Buddhism in the Tibetan Culture Area", "East Asian Buddhism" and "Buddhism Comes West";<br />''Penguin Handbook of Living Religions'', 1984, p. 279;<br />Prebish & Keown, ''Introducing Buddhism'', ebook, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 2005, printed ed, Harper, 2006.}}
[[File:Buddhism in Belgium.JPG|thumb|Buddhists of various traditions, Yeunten Ling Tibetan Institute]]

The Theravada tradition traces its origins as the oldest tradition holding the Pali Canon as the only authority. The Mahayana tradition reveres the Canon but also derivative literature that developed in the 1st millennium CE; its roots are traceable to the 1st century BCE. The Vajrayana tradition is closer to the Mahayana, includes Tantra, and as he younger of the three is traceable to the 1st millennium CE.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=1–2, 49–58, 253–271}}{{sfnp|Williams|1989|pp=1–25}}

Some scholars use other schemes, such as the multi-dimensional classification in the ''Encyclopedia of Religion''.<ref>{{harvp|Eliade et al.|1987|pp=440ff}}</ref> Buddhists themselves have a variety of other schemes. [[Hinayana]] (literally "lesser or inferior vehicle") is sometimes used by Mahāyāna followers to name the family of early philosophical schools and traditions from which contemporary Theravāda emerged, but as the Hinayana term is considered derogatory, a variety of other terms are used instead, including: [[Shravakayana|Śrāvakayāna]], Nikaya Buddhism, early Buddhist schools, sectarian Buddhism and conservative Buddhism.<ref name=kwmorganp410>{{cite book|author=Kenneth W. Morgan |title=The Path of the Buddha: Buddhism Interpreted by Buddhists |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6OHBCgmmGAC |year=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0030-4 |pages=410 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=N. Ross Reat|title=Buddhism: A History |url=https://archive.org/details/buddhismhistory00reat/ |year=1994|publisher=Asian Humanities Press|isbn=978-0-87573-001-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/buddhismhistory00reat/page/19 19–20]}}</ref>

<!-- comparison and contrast-->
Not all traditions of Buddhism share the same philosophical outlook or treat the same concepts as central. Each tradition, however, does have its own core concepts, and some comparisons can be drawn between them:<ref>{{cite book|author=Erika Wilson|title=Emotions and Spirituality in Religions and Spiritual Movements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSUY9LqXPdQC |year=2012|publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-5950-5 |pages=137–138 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=John M Koller |title=The Indian Way: An Introduction to the Philosophies & Religions of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgg3DAAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-50740-8 |pages=157–160 }}</ref>
* Both Theravāda and Mahāyāna accept and revere [[Gautama Buddha|the Buddha Sakyamuni]] as the founder, Mahāyāna also reveres numerous other Buddhas, such as [[Amitābha|Amitabha]] or [[Vairochana|Vairocana]] as well as many other bodhisattvas not revered in Theravāda.
* Both accept the [[Middle Way]], [[pratītyasamutpāda|Dependent origination]], the [[Four Noble Truths]], the [[Noble Eightfold Path]], the [[Refuge (Buddhism)|Three Jewels]], the [[Three marks of existence]] and the ''[[Bodhipakkhiyādhammā|Bodhipakṣadharmas]]'' (aids to awakening).
* Mahāyāna focuses mainly on the [[Bodhisattva|bodhisattva path]] to Buddhahood which it sees as universal and to be practiced by all persons, while Theravāda does not focus on teaching this path and teaches the attainment of [[arhat]]ship as a worthy goal to strive towards. The bodhisattva path is not denied in Theravāda, it is generally seen as a long and difficult path suitable for only a few.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Samuels |first=Jeffrey |title=The Bodhisattva Ideal in Theravāda Buddhist Theory and Practice: A Reevaluation of the Bodhisattva-Śrāvaka Opposition |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=47 |issue=3 |date=July 1997 |pages=399–415 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |doi=10.2307/1399912 |jstor=1399912 |url=https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/phil_rel_fac_pub/12 |access-date=11 October 2020 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203032843/https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/phil_rel_fac_pub/12/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Thus the Bodhisattva path is normative in Mahāyāna, while it is an optional path for a heroic few in Theravāda.{{sfnp|Keown|Prebish|2013|loc="Bodhisattva, Career in the Theravada"}}
* Mahāyāna sees the arhat's nirvana as being imperfect and inferior or preliminary to full Buddhahood. It sees arhatship as selfish, since bodhisattvas vow to save all beings while arhats save only themselves.<ref>Johnston, William M. (2013) ''"Encyclopedia of Monasticism"'' p. 600. Routledge.</ref> Theravāda meanwhile does not accept that the arhat's nirvana is an inferior or preliminary attainment, nor that it is a selfish deed to attain arhatship since not only are arhats described as compassionate but they have destroyed the root of greed, the sense of "I am".{{sfnp|Keown|Prebish|2013|loc="Bodhisattva, Career in the Theravada"}}
* Mahāyāna accepts the authority of the many Mahāyāna sutras along with the other Nikaya texts like the Agamas and the Pali canon (though it sees Mahāyāna texts as primary), while Theravāda does not accept that the Mahāyāna sutras are ''[[buddhavacana]]'' (word of the Buddha) at all.<ref>Hay, Jeff (2009). ''"World Religions"'' p. 189. Greenhaven Publishing LLC.</ref>