Theravada Buddhism

We find this question very interesting to many people - What is Theravada Buddhism? We believe that many people from all walks of life claimed to be Buddhists themselves but do not know much about the differences in the Buddhist school of thought. It may be a difficult subject requiring deeper intellectual understanding to know what is Theravada at least.

My concern was raised following my observations of many Malaysian Buddhist devotees in Thai temples conducting merits and seeking amulet blessings from monks. Some seeking blessings for safety and good fortune, some seeking amulets for rent, pendants and takruts "tangkai" for protection, etc. I would reckon that many do not actually know that Thai Buddhism is a lineage from the Theravada school of taught. Many years ago I was catergorized into this Buddhist group often with some mixture of Taoism practices and the lack of understanding.

In Thailand and rest of Asia where Theravada Buddhism is available, perhaps it's crucial to know that the center of religion began in Nakhon Pathom more than 2,000 years ago.  A full article is available for further reading.

What is Theravada Buddhism? by John T.Bullitt

With this well written article by John Bullitt, I thought it will be a good idea to establish this understanding before dealing much deeper into Amulet collection. In my mind, this is the most fundamental understanding that a Buddhist following Thai or Myanmar traditions should at least have for themselves with good faith.

Theravada (pronounced — more or less — "terra-VAH-dah"), the "Doctrine of the Elders," is the school of Buddhism that draws its scriptural inspiration from the Tipitaka, or Pali canon, which scholars generally agree contains the earliest surviving record of the Buddha's teachings. For many centuries, Theravada has been the predominant religion of continental Southeast Asia (Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, Cambodia, and Laos) and Sri Lanka. Today Theravada Buddhists number well over 100 million worldwide. In recent decades Theravada has begun to take root in the West.

The Buddha — the "Awakened One" — called the religion he founded Dhamma-vinaya — "the doctrine and discipline." To provide a social structure supportive of the practice of Dhamma-vinaya (or Dhamma for short [Sanskrit: Dharma]), and to preserve these teachings for posterity, the Buddha established the order of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns) — the Sangha — which continues to this day to pass his teachings on to subsequent generations of laypeople and monastics, alike.

As the Dhamma continued its spread across India after the Buddha's passing away 2,551 years ago, differing interpretations of the original teachings arose, which led to schisms within the Sangha and the emergence of as many as eighteen distinct sects of Buddhism. One of these schools eventually gave rise to a reform movement that called itself Mahayana (the "Greater Vehicle") and that referred to the other schools disparagingly as Hinayana (the "Lesser Vehicle"). What we call Theravada today is the sole survivor of those early non-Mahayana schools. To avoid the pejorative tone implied by the terms Hinayana and Mahayana, it is common today to use more neutral language to distinguish between these two main branches of Buddhism. Because Theravada historically dominated southern Asia, it is sometimes called "Southern" Buddhism, while Mahayana, which migrated northwards from India into China, Tibet, Japan, and Korea, is known as "Northern" Buddhism".

The language of the Theravada canonical texts is Pali (lit., "text"), which is based on a dialect of Middle Indo-Aryan that was probably spoken in central India during the Buddha's time.

For further reading please visit the host article at;

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullitt/theravada.html

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/


The holy relics of Lord Sakyamuni Gotama Buddha helps remind us of his Dharma teachings. This origin of Lord Buddha's relics in the picture according to monks are from a temple in Sri Lanka. We pay homage to Lord Buddha and the Lord's holy relics serves as a reminder for us to practice his profound Dharma.

The Dharma is more precious than any expensive amulets that you may possessed. Even the most valuable King of Amulet in Thailand - Somdej Wat Rakang are made based on the pure Dharma essense of the Lord Buddha. Therefore, we must thoroughly understand the roots of Buddhism with at least some degree of the Dharma.

Lord Sakamuni Gotama Buddha had predicted that his profound Teachings of the Dharma will only last 5,000 years after his final Parinibbana.  In year 2010 (B.E.2553) it is already 2,553 years after our Lord Buddha's Parinibbana.  After 5,000 years, it will take eons before another Buddha will emerge in this human world again to discover the Teachings of the Dharma.  Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!