TRADITION
TOPICS
India
Religion has consistently played an important and contentious role in Indian politics and society. The country has a long history of religious diversity; it has given rise...
Religion has consistently played an important and contentious role in Indian politics and society. The country has a long history of religious diversity; it has given rise...
United States
The United States is a secular democracy with a culture rooted in its majority Christian tradition. Religious dissidents from Europe, particularly Puritans from England,...
The United States is a secular democracy with a culture rooted in its majority Christian tradition. Religious dissidents from Europe, particularly Puritans from England,...
BuddhismBuddhism is a religion based on the spiritual and moral precepts of Siddhārtha Gautama (c. 5th century BCE), a teacher known as the Buddha, who stressed liberation from the...
AT THE CENTER
EVENTS (8)
PUBLICATIONS (4)
2008 Undergraduate Fellows Report: A Leap of Faith: Interreligious Marriage in America
December 31, 2008
December 31, 2008
INTERVIEWS (71)
A Discussion with Sulak Sivaraksa, Founder, Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Melbourne
December 5, 2009
December 5, 2009
A Discussion with Gene Reeves, Consultant, Rissho Kosei-kai and the Niwano Peace Foundation
November 25, 2009
November 25, 2009
LETTERS (42)
POSTS (14)
RELATED RESOURCES ON BUDDHIST
Theravada
上座部佛教
Theravada (Pali for “the Teaching of the Elders”) is one of Buddhism’s two main denominations, the other being Mahayana. Theravada Buddhism has about 124 million followers, comprising over a quarter of all Buddhists. With its roots in the 3rd century BCE Third Buddhist Council, Theravada is the oldest surviving Buddhist school, preserving many characteristics of early Buddhism. Theravada emphasizes religious practice for monks; the central religious obligation for the laity has traditionally been to support the monastic community. The tradition teaches that enlightenment is a result of self-discipline and free will, and that each person must achieve enlightenment for him or herself. For most adherents, only the Pali Canon (Tipitaka), the earliest Buddhist writings, is considered sacred scripture.
上座部佛教（巴利语为“长老的学说”，也称小乘佛教）与大乘佛教并列，是佛教的两大主要派别之一。上座部佛教大约有1240万信徒，占佛教徒总数的四分之一以上。上座部佛教形成于公元前三世纪的第三届佛教理事会，是现存最古老的佛教派别，保留了早期佛教的许多特征。上座部佛教强调僧侣的宗教实践；传统上，居士的主要宗教义务是支持寺院。这一传统认为，觉悟是自律和自由意志的结果，每一个人都必须亲履实践方能得悟。对于大部分上座部佛教徒来说，只有《巴利藏经》（“三藏”，也是最早的藏经）被认为是佛经。