Theravāda

Theravāda means ‘the teachings of the elder monks’ and is the name of a school of Buddhism that originated in Sri Lanka and now predominates there as well as in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The term ‘theravāda’ first occurs in the Majjhima Nikāya where it is used to describe the teachings of Āḷara Kālāma, one of the teachers the Buddha studied under before his enlightenment (M.I,164). Theravāda Buddhism is a particular interpretation of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka which developed at the Mahāvihāra, the premier monastery in Anurādhapura, the ancient capital of Sri Lanka, and was finally systemized by Buddhaghosa in the 5th century. Theravāda is generally thought of as a more conservative and monastic-centred approach to the Buddha’s teachings.