History of Theravāda

History & overview · every faith gets one

The way of the elders — the oldest surviving school.

The school of the Pali canon: the historical Buddha's path preserved conservatively, aiming at the arhat's own liberation through ethics, concentration, and insight. Dominant in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia; source of the modern mindfulness movement.

The founding

No single founder — Theravāda accreted rather than began.

What it holds

The divine. None — no god at the center.

Death and after. Rebirth until nibbana.

The line

descent is public here — where it came from, what left it

Vedic Religion — c. 1500 BCE Buddhism — c. 480 BCE Theravāda — c. 250 BCE

Keep going

Back to the overview — the living page: elements, discussion, the web The Belief room — the claims themselves, with sources and context Branch Theravāda — inherit everything, change what you must