TheravĀda
THERAVĀDA. The term Theravāda Buddhism refers, first, to a "school" and closely related "orientations" within the history of Buddhist monasticism and, second, to forms of Buddhist religious, political, and social life in various Buddhist countries. Although these two aspects of Theravāda Buddhism must be distinguished, they overlap and interact in various ways at different points in Theravāda history. In the present article, the specifically monastic aspects will receive priority, but reference will be made to the civilizational dimension as well.
What is the best way to identify the school and the related orientations that should appropriately be considered under the Theravāda rubric? This is a very difficult question, and there is no answer that proves appropriate in all circumstances. For our purposes, however, the following characterization may be helpful. The Theravāda school and orientations within Buddhist monasticism are those that have been self-consciously identified with the "Way of the Elders" (Skt., Sthaviravāda; Pali, Theravāda) and have maintained Pali as the language in which they have preserved what they hold to be the authentic teaching of the Buddha. Within the larger divisions of the Buddhist community, the Theravāda is the sole surviving member of the so-called Eighteen Schools, the eighteen (by traditional reckoning) nikāyas that together made up what its detractors would come to call Hīnayāna Buddhism, the "lesser vehicle" to salvation.
