Theravada

• Comes from a word meaning “The Teaching of the Elders”.
• Considered to be more “orthodox” of the Buddhist sects.
• Practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.
• Considers the Buddha to be more human than divine.
• Focusses mainly on an “understanding of human nature” and on enlightenment through meditation.
• All things divided into material and non-material; also five “constituent groups”: material quality, sensations, perceptions, mental formatives, and consciousness.

Mahayana

• Comes from a word meaning “The Great Vehicle”.
• Mostly known as the Pure Land School in China.
• Practiced mainly in China, Korea, and Japan.
• Believes that one can only obtain salvation through complete trust in Amitabha, one of the famous Buddhas.
  • This is very comparable to Christianity and the trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.
• Meditation is based completely on inward-looking.
• Buddhas are believed to be lokottara, or “super mundane”, meaning they are only tied to this world externally, but are actually divine beings.
• Splits into two sects:
  • Madhyamika – focuses more on the Middle Path.
  • Yogacara – focuses more on meditation and the practice of yoga.

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