RLG100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Manjushri, The Heavenly Body, Lotus Sutra
Document Summary
By ashoka"s time, buddhism had split into 18 distinct sects. Over the following centuries most of these disappeared. The main survivor, theravada, is one of the three major divisions of buddhism that exist today. The second major school which emerged around the first century ce, called itself. Mahayana, great vehicle, in contrast to what it considered the hinayana (lesser. The third division, vajrayana, emerged some 500 years later and considered itself the third vehicle. We know very little about the early history of the way of the elders (sthaviravada in sanskrit, theravada in pali) Rejected all scriptures composed after the formation of the tripitaka. Considers itself the preserver of buddhism in its original form. Theravada in sri lanka: a monk named mahinda (mahendra in sanskrit) who was ashoka"s son, is said to have taken theravada buddhism to sri lanka in the 3rd century.
