Theravada is often considered to have remained the closest to the Buddha’s original teachings and bears the most similarity to early Buddhism. The foundation of the Theravada school is the sermons, discourses, and teachings assembled in the Pali canon, which includes some of the earliest written records of the dharma.

Like all forms of Buddhism, the Theravada school today is comprised of many different schools, some monastic and others more oriented toward lay practitioners. In the West, the popular Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, school is a lay meditation tradition based in Theravada tradition of Myanmar (formerly Burma). 

Discover the rich history and philosophy of Buddhism’s “way of the elders” in Level 2, Deck 2: 

Are there different types of Theravada Buddhism? Explore the differences between Thai Forest, Vipassana, and other Theravada traditions. 

What are the teachings of Theravada Buddhism? Theravada places a major emphasis on the foundational teachings of the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path. 

What are the practices of Theravada Buddhism? Ethical conduct (sila), concentration (samadhi), and wisdom (panna) are cultivated simultaneously along the Theravada path. 

What is the Buddha’s role in Theravada? Of all Buddhist traditions, Theravada places the most emphasis on the Buddha as a historical figure. 

What are some important texts in Theravada? The scriptures of the Pali canon are believed to be among the earliest surviving written records of what the Buddha taught during his lifetime.

Who are some important figures in Theravada? Ajaan Chan, a Thai Forest teacher who was instrumental in Theravada to the West, attracted many American students and founded two major Thai Forest monasteries. 

What’s the structure of Theravada societies? The reciprocal relationship of the monastic sangha and the laity plays an important role in Theravadin communities. 

How does Theravada characterize nirvana? Nirvana, or awakening, is the ultimate goal of the Theravada Buddhist path. After experiencing nirvana, one becomes an arahant (“worthy one”).  

What is the Vipassana movement? Although Vipassana is now one of the most popular forms of meditation in the West, it didn’t start out as a meditation practice. 

Theravada in Southeast Asia: Theravada has been practiced for over 2,000 years in Southeast Asia, and is the main religion of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

Theravada in the West and around the world: American teachers, including Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, and Joseph Goldstein, founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, sparking the Insight Meditation movement in the West. 

Recommended Reading:

• Theravada Vipassana Practice, by Jack Kornfield 
• Less Is More, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu 
• Acts That Purify Our Existence: Dana, Sila and Bhavana, by Sayadaw U Pandita and Kate Lila Wheeler 
• Awakening through the Jhanas, by Sarah Shaw
• I Teach Only Suffering and the End of Suffering, by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi

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Around the 3rd century BCE, under the patronage of the Indian emperor Ashoka, missionaries took Buddhism to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where it flourished and became the dominant religion. While we cannot know for certain what branch of Buddhism these pre-Theravada missionaries belonged to, they may have been part of another group, the Vibhajjavadins (“Those Who Analyze”)— also known as the Theriyas—who opposed the Sthaviravada school. Because Buddhism was later virtually wiped out in India by Mongol invasions and other social and political upheavals, the Theravada we know today is essentially descended from what took root in Sri Lanka. The Pali canon, in fact, which forms the basis of most Theravada practice and monasticism, was first written down in Sri Lanka, and the commentaries were developed there, too.

From Sri Lanka, Buddhists made their way to Southeast Asia, where the teachings were adopted in kingdoms that today form parts of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. Along the way, Theravada teachings mixed with tantric practices, animism, and other local spiritual systems. 

For centuries, many forms of Theravada emphasized the practice of generosity and merit-making with the goal of a good rebirth over meditation and ethical conduct with the goal of enlightenment. But this began to change in the 19th century. In Thailand, for example, King Mongkut—the model for the king of Siam in the musical The King and I—was a former monk who promoted a Buddhism that adhered more strictly to the Vinaya and emphasized meditation and the quest for liberation. In the early 20th century, the meditation master Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta launched an even more ascetic school—Dhammayut, or the Thai Forest Tradition.

In Myanmar (formerly Burma), what we now know as the Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, school reintroduced meditation as a lay practice, partly in response to the work of Christian missionaries. This was part of a trend in the 19th and 20th centuries of anti-colonial efforts by Buddhists (such as the Sinhalese reformist Anagarika Dharmapala) seeking to wrest the religion from Western influence.

The Thai Forest and Vipassana traditions have been transplanted to the contemporary West, where they appeal to a large number of convert Buddhists. While the Thai Forest tradition is a monastic practice that clings to the Vinaya and depends on the generosity of lay supporters to sustain it, Vipassana is largely taught and practiced by lay people and is typically supported by a mix of donations, membership fees, and paid classes and retreats. 

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The teachings of Theravada are the basic tenets of Buddhism, which appear across traditions. But while other schools may promote additional teachings, Theravada is typically more selective about what it considers canonical and places a greater emphasis on the fundamental teachings encapsulated in the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path. 

First, according to the Buddha, we must apprehend the truth of the four noble truths—that dukkha (suffering, or dissatisfaction) is a fact of life, that our clinging and craving is the origin of dukkha, that we are capable of putting an end to dukkha and experiencing lasting, unconditional happiness, and that there is a strategy for ending dukkha, outlined in the noble eightfold path. Through intense diligence and commitment, the Buddha teaches, we can develop the qualities and skills we need to shed the greed, hatred, and delusion that keep us trapped in the endless cycle of suffering and rebirth known as samsara. 

At the root of these teachings is the principle of karma, the universal law of cause and effect. From the Theravada perspective, all of Buddhism can be parsed in terms of karma. Our actions—what we do, say, and think—determine what happens to us. The Buddha’s instructions for awakening guide us in dropping negative intentions and harmful behavior, and developing skillful actions that lead to lasting happiness.

Theravada also places special emphasis on cultivating ethical behavior (sila), the focus of three factors of the noble eightfold path—right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Virtuous behavior is viewed as imperative for anyone on the path, a gateway to developing concentration and insight. For laypeople, and particularly non-meditators, ethical behavior can be an important practice unto itself. 

As with all Buddhist traditions, Theravada has changed over time, accruing practices specific to the cultures and places where the dharma flourished. However, the tradition continues to value the transformative power of practice, maintaining that the heart of Theravada teachings is the goal of individual awakening, or becoming an arahant (Skt, arhat), an awakened one who through solitary effort attains nirvana.

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Theravada teaches that developing ethical conduct is a gateway to the path to awakening, as well as a practice that can improve the quality of one’s character and life along the way. Committing to the first five precepts is the baseline practice of ethical behavior. While monks and nuns take on many more precepts as part of their ordination, these same five are central to their practice too.

Another core practice, especially for the laity, is cultivating generosity. Generous acts, such as making offerings to and supporting monks and nuns, constitute a form of mind training, teaching the practitioner to orient their life around values other than self-concern. Monastics, for their part, practice generosity by preserving the teachings, offering them to students, and leading exemplary lives. 

Meditation is the bedrock of Theravada practice. Although the Buddha taught meditation as a practice for anyone following his path, for many centuries it was pursued mainly by monastics. In meditation, students develop insight into the workings of the mind, how we create our suffering, and how to let go of the habits that perpetuate it. Theravada revival movements in Thailand, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, popularized meditation among the laity, primarily those in the middle class. There are a number of different forms of meditation practice within Theravada Buddhism, but most take as their starting point instructions from the Pali canon, especially those for developing anapanasati, or mindfulness of the breath. 

Chanting is another central practice. Chants serve as reminders and reinforcements of the Buddha’s teaching, and also prepare students for meditation by focusing the mind and priming the breath and body. Most Theravada chants are drawn from the suttas of the Pali canon and collected into books known as Paritta texts, which are used in nearly all chanting rituals. Reciting these segments of the teachings is part of one’s daily practice, especially in monasteries and meditation centers. Chanting almost always begins with reciting an homage to the triple gem—the Buddha, the dharma (teachings), and the sangha (community)—and then making an inner commitment to uphold and follow them. (This is typically referred to as taking refuge in the triple gem.)

Paying respect to monastics is integral to a Buddhist life in Theravada countries. As a student further commits to their spiritual development and seeks additional guidance from a teacher, those relationships deepen, take on a personal significance, and become more central to the practice.

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The centrality of the Buddha in Theravada has everything to do with the fact that its core scripture is the Pali canon, which comprises some of the earliest recorded teachings of the Buddha and which Theravada practitioners believe represents what the Buddha actually taught. The Pali canon presents the Buddha as a human being, albeit one who has achieved something extraordinary. Many Theravadins also study the commentaries composed by scholar-monks several hundred years after the Buddha’s death, as well as teachings by masters and saints in their respective lineages. But the sermons of the Buddha recorded in the suttas (the Pali scriptures) and the Vinaya (monastic code of conduct) are the most central of all. The suttas are widely studied, chanted, taught, and expounded upon in Theravada countries.

By contrast, many Mahayana schools of Buddhism revere other emanations of the Buddha and consider the teachings of their schools’ saints to be revelations that are as authentic as the earlier scriptures. 

While arahants (enlightened men and women) and other great teachers are held up as role models in Theravada schools, the Buddha and his teachings are preeminent—the source of all conveyed wisdom and the one true guide to the path of practice and enlightenment.

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According to tradition, the Buddha taught not in the scholarly Sanskrit of the educated classes of his day but in a common tongue that would be accessible to all seekers. There are no existing records of exactly what that language was. Pali is a sort of lingua franca, an amalgam of several early Indian dialects that many consider to be the scriptural language most closely related to what the Buddha likely spoke. The texts in the Pali canon are salted with mnemonic devices, especially repetition, that made the oral teachings easier to commit to memory.

The Pali canon is also called the Tipitaka (Skt. Tripitaka)—literally “the three baskets”—because it contains three categories of teachings. The Sutta Pitaka, or sutra basket, is a collection of sermons by the Buddha and his principle disciples. The Vinaya Pitaka, literally “the discipline basket,” is the collection of rules for monks and nuns. These first two baskets lay out the path of practice and describe how disciples achieve awakening. The third basket, the Abhidhamma Pitaka, or the “higher dhamma basket,” offers a philosophical analysis and extremely detailed schematic of physical and psychological processes. Altogether, the Pali canon contains thousands of teachings and texts organized into myriad subcategories. 

Another important set of texts for Theravada Buddhists are known as the commentaries, which are analyses of the teachings in the Pali canon by scholar-monks attempting to explicate and expand on what is presented in the Tripitaka. The most famous of these commentators was Buddhaghosa, a 5th-century Indian philosopher who worked in Sri Lanka. Buddhagosa collated reams of commentaries, which he translated from Sinhalese into Pali, so that Buddhists in other places could understand them. While to most contemporary Buddhists the commentaries are not as well known as the Pali canon, they have had a profound impact in shaping Buddhist practice across the centuries. Much of what we think of as Theravada practice and doctrine was actually laid out by Buddhaghosa in the Visuddhimagga or Path of Purification, which is principally an Abhidhamma commentary.

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Ananda: The Buddha’s first cousin and one of his principle attendants, he is said to have committed all of the Buddha’s words to memory. The phrase “Thus have I heard,” which opens each sutra or teaching in the canon, signals that what follows is considered to be a text recited by Ananda at the First Buddhist Council following the Buddha’s death. Ananda (along with Mahapajapati, below) also pressed the Buddha to found an order of nuns and undertook their instruction.

Mahapajapati: The Buddha’s stepmother, she implored him to establish an order of nuns and became the first woman ordained by him (followed by 500 female companions). Later, she became an arahant (an enlightened being).

King Ashoka: An Indian emperor who ruled over a vast portion of the Indian sub-continent in the third century BCE, after a career as a violent conqueror he converted to Buddhism and then supported and facilitated the spread of Buddhism to large swaths of Asia, including Sri Lanka.

Buddhaghosa: A 5th-century Indian scholar-monk who traveled to Sri Lanka, he compiled a vast collection of commentaries, including scores of his own, on the tradition’s primary collection of scriptures, the Pali canon. He also wrote the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, an influential compendium of Buddhist doctrine and meditation technique, which some Theravada lineages criticize as deviating from the Buddha’s teaching.

Dhammapala: A Sri Lankan monk who lived sometime between the 6th and 9th centuries, he composed commentaries on parts of the canon overlooked by Buddhaghosa and wrote extensive sub-commentaries on Buddhaghosa’s work.

Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta (1870-1949): A Thai monk, he established the Thai Forest tradition of Theravada with the aim of placing a renewed focus on practices believed to be most authentic to practices followed by the Buddha and his disciples. The tradition spread across Thailand and has been exported to many countries, including some in the West.

Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933): An influential lay Sri Lankan reformer, revivalist, writer, and missionary, he delivered a speech at the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago that brought Theravada Buddhism into American consciousness. 

Mahasi Sayadaw (1904-1982): A Burmese monk and meditation master, he helped popularize Vipassana, or insight meditation, and led a Buddhist revival in his homeland. He and his students taught meditation internationally to many Westerners who, in turn, launched the Vipassana movement worldwide.

Ajaan Chah (1918-1992): A Theravada monk in the Thai Forest tradition, he played a huge role in exporting Theravada to the West. He founded the first Thai Forest monastery in the West, Cittaviveka (aka Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, in England), and established a center for training Westerners in Thailand. Many of his students have gone on to set up monasteries and teach in the United States, Europe, and the British Commonwealth.

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The sangha is one of the three jewels (or three gems) of Buddhism, alongside the Buddha and the dharma, or teaching. Spiritual relationships between earnest dharma students, the Buddha said, were paramount to following his path of practice. In the Uppadha Sutta, he calls these relationships “the whole of the holy life.” The community is often referred to as the “four-fold sangha” because it consists of nuns, monks, laywomen, and laymen. In the early days, the Buddha ordained only men, but it wasn’t long before his stepmother, Mahapajapati, together with five hundred companions and his attendant Ananda, convinced him to ordain women too, thus launching the order of Buddhist nuns.

The relationship between the monastic sangha and the laity has always been indispensable to the preservation and dissemination of the teachings in Theravada countries. As in the Buddha’s time, traditional Theravadin monastics offer the teachings and uphold the Buddha’s lifestyle as an example, and the laity in turn provide for the material needs of the monks and nuns.

To this day, in countries like Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka with large Theravada Buddhist populations, the reciprocal relationship of the monastic sangha and the laity remains intact. That dynamic has been exported to the Western countries where Theravadin communities and monastic centers have taken root, especially in places where many Southeast Asians live. You can see monks walking on alms rounds in cities as far-flung as Los Angeles, Toronto, Berlin, and Sydney. While there is some support for monks and nuns and their monasteries from Westerners, the practice has not been ingrained as a cultural habit in Western societies. As a result, most monasteries in the West have to rely largely on their Asian congregants for support, or make adjustments to the Vinaya, the monastic code of conduct, which prohibits any income other than donations, in order to support themselves. 

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In ancient India, nirvana referred to “unbinding” or “extinguishing,” like the snuffing out of a fire, or the separation or unbinding of a fire from its fuel. The extinguishing simile is beautifully apt. Upadana, the Pali word for clinging, literally refers to the act of fueling a process, such as putting logs on a fire. Likewise, in clinging, we stoke our own suffering, fueling it with greed, aversion, and delusion. So just as awakening is the end of clinging, nirvana is the extinguishing of that eternal fire of the mind characterized by greed, aversion, and delusion. 

From the Theravada perspective, the Buddha’s entire body of teaching and practice is aimed at helping people achieve nirvana, or awakening. And while his instructions and all the scaffolding the practice offers are clear and commonsensical, the work it takes to awaken is no mean feat. Only after we’ve developed all the factors of the noble eightfold path—the result of good karma amassed over countless lifetimes—are we able to enter the first stage of awakening, known as stream-entry (sotapatti). Stream-entry is a fleeting taste of nirvana. While there are more stages of awakening to move through, it’s a watershed on the path—there’s no turning back and no more doubt in the mind that the Buddha was right on.

When even the mind’s subtlest ripples of clinging, greed, ill will, and delusion are completely extinguished, one experiences nirvana and becomes an arahant, or “worthy one.” An arahant is absolutely free of suffering and stress, free of the notion of a fixed self, and free from the cycle of rebirth. The physical death of an arahant is known as parinirvana (Pali: parinibbana), meaning total extinguishing or unbinding. There are no words to describe parinirvana, the Buddha and other arahants say, but the joy and equanimity a practitioner develops along the path keep them pointed in the right direction.

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Vipassana was not originally a meditation practice in itself. The practice known today as Vipassana developed as part of a Buddhist revival in response to the British colonization of Burma in the late 19th century and to political and social changes in the 20th century. To safeguard their Buddhist religion—the defining element of Burmese culture and statehood that was under attack by the British—monks and other leaders began popularizing the teachings and making meditation, long practiced almost exclusively by monks and nuns in Southeast Asia, accessible to the laity. By the early 20th century, Burmese teachers were instructing laypeople in a technique that emphasized quiet sitting and noting sensations and activity arising moment to moment in the body and mind. 

Vipassana meditation came to be seen as the duty of every Burmese citizen, and by the mid-20th century, the Burmese government had installed one of the practice’s principle proponents, a monk named Mahasi Sayadaw, as head of the country’s largest meditation center. Mahasi Sayadaw in turn took Vipassana practice beyond Burma’s borders, teaching thousands in Sri Lanka and later in other parts of Asia and the West. Another well-known Burmese teacher, U Ba Khin, instructed both Westerners and Asians, many of whom, such as S.N. Goenka, Dipa Ma, Ruth Denison, and the Thai Forest Buddhism master Ajahn Chah, would spread insight meditation in their homelands. Among other Western seekers encountering Vipassana in Asia were Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzburg, and Joseph Goldstein, who went on to found the Insight Meditation Center (IMS) in Massachusetts, launching the Vipassana, or Insight Meditation movement in the United States.

Today, Vipassana is one of the most popular forms of meditation teaching and practice, and has introduced millions to sitting practice and the Buddha’s teachings. To encourage students to develop insight into the true nature of reality, Vipassana teachers usually emphasize mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati). Many Vipassana practitioners attend silent vipassana retreats to develop their meditation, and some combine Vipassana with teachings and practices from other Buddhist and non-Buddhist spiritual traditions.

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