Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia

vii, 201 pp. Theravada (/?t?r?'v??d?/; Pali, lit. "School of the Elders")[1][2] is the oldest of Buddhism's extant schools.[1][2] Theravadins have preserved their version of the Gautama Buddha's teaching in the Pali Canon.[1][2] The Pali Canon is the only complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, Pali, which serves as the school's sacred language[2] and lingua franca.[3] For over a millennium, theravadins have endeavored to preserve the dhamma as recorded in their school's texts.[web 1] In contrast to Mahayana and Vajrayana, Theravada tends to be conservative in matters of doctrine and monastic discipline.[4] Meditation practice was reintroduced in the 19th century and has since become popular with the laity in both traditionally Theravada countries and in the west.[web 1] Theravada Buddhism developed as a distinct school of early Buddhism in Sri Lanka and subsequently spread to the rest of Southeast Asia.[5] It's the dominant religion in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand and is practiced by minorities in India, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, and Vietnam. In addition, the diaspora of all of these groups as well as converts around the world practice Theravada Buddhism. Contemporary expressions include Buddhist modernism, the Vipassana movement and the Thai Forest Tradition.