Early Buddhist schools

The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha initially split, due
originally to differences in vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographical separation of
groups of monks.

The original saṅgha split into the first early schools (generally believed to be the Sthavira nikāya and the
Mahāsāṃghika) a significant number of years after the passing away of Gautama Buddha. According to
scholar Collett Cox "most scholars would agree that even though the roots of the earliest recognized groups
predate Aśoka, their actual separation did not occur until after his death."[1]

Later, these first early schools split into further divisions such as the Sarvāstivādins, the Dharmaguptakas,
the Vibhajyavāda, and ended up numbering traditionally to about 18 or 20 schools.[2] In fact, there are
several overlapping lists of 18 schools preserved in the Buddhist tradition, totaling about twice as many,
though some may be alternative names. It is thought likely that the number is merely conventional.

The textual material shared by the early schools is often termed the Early Buddhist Texts and these are an
important source for understanding their doctrinal similarities and differences.

Contents
Developments in history
The first council
Map of the major geographical centers of Sectarian
The second council Buddhist schools in South Asia.
Period between the second and third councils * Red: non-Pudgalavāda Sarvāstivāda school
Third council under Aśoka * Orange: non-Dharmaguptaka Vibhajyavāda
Developments during and after the third council schools
* Yellow: Mahāsāṃghika
Mahāyāna members
* Green: Pudgalavāda (Green)
The Chinese pilgrims * Gray: Dharmaguptaka
The eighteen schools Note the red and grey schools already gave some
original ideas of Mahayana Buddhism and the Sri
According to the Dipavamsa
Lankan section (see Tamrashatiya) of the orange
According to Vasumitra school is the origin of modern Theravada
According to Vinitadeva Buddhism.
According to the Śāriputraparipṛcchā
Twenty schools according to Mahayana scriptures in Chinese
Hypothetical combined list
Legacy
See also
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links

Developments in history

The first council

According to the scriptures (Cullavagga XI.1 ff), three months after the passing of Gautama Buddha, the first council was held at Rajagaha by some of his
disciples who had attained arahantship. At this point, Theravāda tradition maintains that no conflict about what the Buddha taught occurred; the teachings were
divided into various parts and each was assigned to an elder and his pupils to commit to memory.

The accounts of the council in the scriptures of the schools differ as to what was actually recited there. Purāṇa is recorded as having said: "Your reverences,
well chanted by the elders are the Dhamma and Vinaya, but in that way that I heard it in the Lord's presence, that I received it in his presence, in that same way
will I bear it in mind." [Vinaya-pitaka: Cullavagga XI:1:11].

Some scholars deny that the first council actually took place.[3][4]

The second council

The Second Buddhist council took place approximately one hundred years after Gautama Buddha's parinirvāṇa. Virtually all scholars agree that the second
council was a historical event.[5] Traditions regarding the Second Council are confusing and ambiguous, but it is agreed that the overall result was the first
schism in the sangha, between the Sthavira nikāya and the Mahāsāṃghikas, although it is not agreed upon by all what the cause of this split was.[6]
Period between the second and third councils
The textual sources agree that the first split was between the Sthaviravāda and the Mahāsāṃghika. However, after this initial division, more were to follow.
Some modern scholars argue that the first split occurred in the intervening period between the second and third councils, and was probably about monastic
discipline. However, only two ancient sources (the Dīpavaṃsa and Bhavya's third list) place the first schism before Aśoka, and none attribute the schism to a
dispute on Vinaya practice.

Third council under Aśoka

Tradition largely holds that Buddhism split into 18 schools, but different sources give different lists of them, and scholars conclude that the number is merely
conventional.

Theravādin sources state that, in the 3rd century BCE, a third council was convened under the patronage of Aśoka.[7] Some scholars argue that there are certain
implausible features of the Theravādin account which imply that the third council was ahistorical. The remainder consider it a purely Theravāda-Vibhajjavāda
council. It is generally accepted, however, that one or several disputes did occur during Aśoka's reign, involving both doctrinal and disciplinary (vinaya)
matters, although these may have been too informal to be called a "council". The Sthavira school had, by the time of Aśoka, divided into three sub-schools,
doctrinally speaking, but these did not become separate monastic orders until later.

According to the Theravādin account, this council was convened primarily for the purpose of establishing an official orthodoxy. At the council, small groups
raised questions about the specifics of the vinaya and the interpretation of doctrine. The chairman of the council, Moggaliputta Tissa, compiled a book, the
Kathavatthu, which was meant to refute these arguments. The council sided with Moggaliputta and his version of Buddhism as orthodox; it was then adopted
by Emperor Aśoka as his empire's official religion. In Pali, this school of thought was termed Vibhajjavāda, literally "thesis of [those who make] a distinction".

The distinction involved was as to the existence of phenomena (dhammas) in the past, future and present. The version of the scriptures that had been
established at the third council, including the Vinaya, Sutta and the Abhidhamma Pitakas (collectively known as the "Tripiṭaka"), was taken to Sri Lanka by
Emperor Aśoka's son, the Venerable Mahinda. There it was eventually committed to writing in the Pali language. The Pāli Canon remains the most complete
set of surviving Nikāya scriptures, although the greater part of the Sarvāstivādin canon also survives in Chinese translation, some parts exist in Tibetan
translations, and some fragments exist in Sanskrit manuscripts, while parts of various canons (sometimes unidentified), exist in Chinese and fragments in other
Indian dialects.

Developments during and after the third council

Whatever might be the truth behind the Theravādin account, it was around the time of Aśoka that further divisions began to occur within the Buddhist
movement and a number of additional schools emerged, including the Sarvāstivāda and the Saṃmitīya. All of these early schools of Nikāya Buddhism
eventually came to be known collectively as "the eighteen schools" in later sources. Unfortunately, with the exception of the Theravāda, none of these early
schools survived beyond the late medieval period by which time several were already long extinct, although a considerable amount of the canonical literature of
some of these schools has survived, mainly in Chinese translation. Moreover, the origins of specifically Mahāyāna doctrines may be discerned in the teachings
of some of these early schools, in particular in the Mahāsānghika and the Sarvāstivāda.

During and after the third council, elements of the Sthavira group called themselves Vibhajjavādins. One part of this group was transmitted to Sri Lanka and to
certain areas of southern India, such as Vanavasi in the south-west and the Kañci region in the south-east. This group later ceased to refer to themselves
specifically as "Vibhajjavādins", but reverted to calling themselves "Theriyas", after the earlier Theras (Sthaviras). Still later, at some point prior to the
Dipavamsa (4th century), the Pali name Theravāda was adopted and has remained in use ever since for this group.

The Pudgalavādins were also known as Vatsiputrīyas after their putative founder. Later this group became known as the Sammitīya school after one of its
subdivisions. It died out around the 9th or 10th century CE. Nevertheless, during most of the early medieval period, the Sammitīya school was numerically the
largest Buddhist group in India, with more followers than all the other schools combined. The Sarvāstivādin school was most prominent in the north-west of
India and provided some of the doctrines that would later be adopted by the Mahāyāna. Another group linked to Sarvāstivāda was the Sautrāntika school, which
only recognized the authority of the sutras and rejected the abhidharma transmitted and taught by the Vaibhāṣika wing of Sarvāstivāda. Based on textual
considerations, it has been suggested that the Sautrāntikas were actually adherents of Mūlasarvāstivāda. The relation between Sarvāstivāda and the
Mūlasarvāstivāda, however, is unclear.

Etienne Lamotte divided the mainstream Buddhist schools into three main doctrinal types:[8]

1. The “personalists”, such as the Pudgalavādin Vātsīputrīyas and Saṃmittīyas

2. The “realists”, namely the Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda Ābhidharmikas
3. The “nominalists”, for instance, the Mahāsāṃghika Prajñaptivādins, and possibly non-Abhidharma Sthaviravadins.
Between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE, the terms "Mahāyāna" and "Hīnayāna" were first used in writing, in, for example, the Lotus Sutra.

Mahāyāna members
Although the various early schools of Buddhism are sometimes loosely classified as "Hīnayāna" in modern times, this is not necessarily accurate. According to
Jan Nattier, Mahāyāna never referred to a separate sect of Buddhism (Skt. nikāya), but rather to the set of ideals and doctrines for bodhisattvas.[9] Paul Williams
has also noted that the Mahāyāna never had nor ever attempted to have a separate vinaya or ordination lineage from the early Buddhist schools, and therefore
each bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī adhering to the Mahāyāna formally belonged to an early school.

Membership in these nikāyas, or monastic sects, continues today with the Dharmaguptaka nikāya in East Asia, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda nikāya in Tibetan
Buddhism. Therefore, Mahāyāna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools.[10] Paul Harrison clarifies that while Mahāyāna monastics belonged to a
nikāya, not all members of a nikāya were Mahāyānists.[11] From Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in
India often lived in the same monasteries side by side.[12] Additionally, Isabella Onians notes that Mahāyāna works rarely used the term Hīnayāna, typically
using the term Śrāvakayāna instead.[13]
The Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim Yijing wrote about relationship between the various "vehicles" and the early Buddhist schools in India. He wrote,
"There exist in the West numerous subdivisions of the schools which have different origins, but there are only four principal schools of continuous tradition."
These schools are namely the Mahāsāṃghika nikāya, Sthavira, Mūlasarvāstivāda and Saṃmitīya nikāyas.[14] Explaining their doctrinal affiliations, he then
writes, "Which of the four schools should be grouped with the Mahāyāna or with the Hīnayāna is not determined." That is to say, there was no simple
correspondence between a Buddhist monastic sect, and whether its members learn "Hīnayāna" or "Mahāyāna" teachings.[15]

The Chinese pilgrims

During the first millennium, monks from China such as Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing made pilgrimages to India and wrote accounts of their travels when they
returned home. These Chinese travel records constitute extremely valuable sources of information concerning the state of Buddhism in India during the early
medieval period.

By the time the Chinese pilgrims Xuanzang and Yijing visited India, there were five early Buddhist schools that they mentioned far more frequently than
others. They commented that the Sarvāstivāda/Mūlasarvāstivāda, Mahāsāṃghika, and Saṃmitīya were the principal early Buddhist schools still extant in
India, along with the Sthavira sect.[16] The Dharmaguptakas continued to be found in Gandhāra and Central Asia, along the Silk Road.

The eighteen schools

It is commonly said that there were eighteen schools of Buddhism in this period. What this actually means is more subtle. First, although the word "school" is
used, there was not yet an institutional split in the saṅgha. The Chinese traveler Xuanzang observed even when the Mahāyāna were beginning to emerge from
this era that monks of different schools would live side by side in dormitories and attend the same lectures. Only the books that they read were different.[17]
Secondly, no historical sources can agree what the names of these "eighteen schools" were. The origin of this saying is therefore unclear.

What follows are the lists given by each of the different sources.

According to the Dipavamsa

This list was taken from the Sri Lankan chronicles, Dipavamsa (3rd–4th century CE) and Mahavamsa (5th century CE).

Sthaviravāda/Vibhajjavāda/Theravāda
Mahīśāsaka – First schism
Sarvāstivāda – Third schism
Kāśyapīya – Fourth schism
Sankrantika – Fifth schism
Sautrāntika – Sixth schism
Dharmaguptaka – Third schism
Vatsīputrīya – First schism
Dharmottarīya – Second schism
Bhadrayānīya – Second schism
Sannāgarika – Second schism
Saṃmitīya – Second schism
Mahāsāṃghika
Gokulika – First schism
Prajñaptivāda – Second schism
Bahuśrutīya – Second schism
Ekavyahārikas – First schism
Caitika – Third schism, according to Dipavamsa, but in the Mahavamsa it is said to have arisen from the Pannati and Bahussutaka
In addition, the Dipavamsa lists the following six schools without identifying the schools from which they arose:

Hemavatika (Sanskrit: Haimavata)

Rajagiriya
Siddhatthaka
Pubbaseliya
Aparaseliya (Sanskrit: Aparaśaila)
Apararajagirika

According to Vasumitra
This list was taken from Samayabhedo Paracana Cakra, the author of which was Vasumitra (d. 124 BCE), a Sarvāstivādin monk.

Sthaviravāda
Haimavata – First schism; referred to by Sarvāstivādins as "the original Sthavira School", but this school was only influential in the north
of India.
Sarvāstivāda – First schism
Vatsīputrīya – Second schism
Dharmottarīya – Third schism
 Bhadrayānīya – Third schism
Saṃmitīya – Third schism
Sannāgarika – Third schism
Mahīśāsaka– Fourth schism
Dharmaguptaka – Fifth schism
Kāśyapīya – Sixth schism
Sautrāntika – Seventh schism
Mahāsāṃghika
Ekavyahārikas – First schism
Lokottaravāda – First schism
Gokulika – First schism
Bahuśrutīya – Second schism
Prajñaptivāda – Third schism
Caitika – Fourth schism
Apara Śaila – Fourth schism
Uttara Śaila – Fourth schism

According to Vinitadeva
Vinitadeva (c. 645–715) was a Mūlasarvāstivādin monk.

Sthaviravāda
Jetavaniya
Abhayagirivasin
Mahaviharavasin
Sammatiya
Kaurukullaka
Avantaka
Vatsīputrīya
Sarvastivadin
Mūlasarvāstivādin
Kasyapiya
Mahisasaka
Dharmaguptaka
Bahuśrutīya
Tamrasatiya
Vibhajyavadin
Mahāsāṃghika
Purvasaila
Aparasaila
Haimavata
Lottaravadin
Prajñaptivāda

According to the Śāriputraparipṛcchā

The Śāriputraparipṛcchā is a Mahāsāṃghikan history.

Sthaviravāda
Sarvāstivāda
Mahisasaka
Dharmaguptaka
Suvarsa
Vatsīputrīya
Dharmottarīya
Bhadrayaniya
Sammatiya
Sannagarika
Kāśyapīya
Sutravadin
Samkrantika
Mahāsāṃghika
Vyavahara
Lokottaravāda
 Gokulika
Bahuśrutīya
Prajñaptivāda
Mahadeva
Caitika
Uttarashaila

Twenty schools according to Mahayana scriptures in Chinese

Sthaviravāda (上座部) was split into 11 sects. These were: Sarvāstivādin (説 – 切有部), Haimavata (雪山部), Vatsīputrīya (犢子部), Dharmottara (法上部),
Bhadrayānīya (賢冑部), Sammitīya (正量部), Channagirika (密林山部), Mahisasaka (化地部), Dharmaguptaka (法蔵部), Kāśyapīya (飲光部), Sautrāntika
(経量部).

Sthaviravāda, later Haimavata

Sarvāstivādin
Vatsīputrīya
Dharmottara
Bhadrayānīya
Sammitīya
Channagirika(Sannāgarika)
Mahisasaka
Dharmaguptaka
Kāśyapīya
Sautrāntika
Mahāsāṃghika (大衆部) was split into 9 sects. There were: Ekavyahārika (– 説部), Lokottaravāda (説出世部), Gokulika (鶏胤部), Bahuśrutīya (多聞部),
Prajñaptivāda (説仮部), Caitika (制多山部), Aparaśaila (西山住部), and Uttaraśaila (北山住部).

Mahāsāṃghika
Ekavyahārika
Caitika
Lokottaravādin
Aparaśaila
Gokulika
Uttaraśaila
Bahuśrutīya
Prajñaptivāda

Hypothetical combined list

Sthaviravāda
Pudgalavāda ('Personalist') (c. 280 BCE)
Vatsīputrīya (during Aśoka) later name: Saṃmitīya
Dharmottarīya
Bhadrayānīya
Sannāgarika
Vibhajjavāda (prior to 240 BCE; during Aśoka)
Theravāda (c. 240 BCE)
(Kāśyapīya (after 232 BCE))[note 1]
(Mahīśāsaka (after 232 BCE))[note 1]

(Dharmaguptaka (after 232 BCE))[note 1]

Sarvāstivāda (c. 237 BCE)

(Kāśyapīya (after 232 BCE))[note 1]

(Mahīśāsaka (after 232 BCE))[note 1]

(Dharmaguptaka (after 232 BCE))[note 1]

Sautrāntika (between 50 BCE and c. 100 CE)
Mūlasarvāstivāda (3rd and 4th centuries)
Vaibhāṣika
Mahāsāṃghika
Ekavyahārikas (during Aśoka)
Lokottaravāda
Gokulika (during Aśoka)
Bahuśrutīya (late third century BCE)
 Prajñaptivāda (late third century BCE)
Caitika (mid-first century BCE)
Apara Śaila
Uttara Śaila
Noted Canadian Buddhist scholar A.K. Warder (University of Toronto) identifies the following eighteen early Buddhist schools (in approximate chronological
order): Sthaviravada, Mahasamghika, Vatsiputriya, Ekavyavaharika, Gokulika (a.k.a. Kukkutika, etc.), Sarvastivada, Lokottaravāda, Dharmottariya,
Bhadrayaniya, Sammitiya, Sannagarika, Bahusrutiya, Prajnaptivada, Mahisasaka, Haimavata (a.k.a. Kasyapiya), Dharmaguptaka, Caitika, and the Apara and
Uttara (Purva) Saila. Warder says that these were the early Buddhist schools as of circa 50 BCE, about the same time that the Pali Canon was first committed to
writing and the presumptive origin date of the Theravada sect, though the term 'Theravada' was not used before the fourth century CE (see Ajahn Sucitto,
"What Is Theravada" (http://ajahnsucitto.org/articles/what-is-theravada-2012/) (2012); see also A.K. Warder, Indian Buddhism, 3rd rev. ed. (Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 2000), chapters 8 and 9).

Legacy
The Theravāda School of Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand is descended from the Sthaviravādin and (more specifically) the Vibhajjavāda School. It underwent
two more changes of name. In the Indian accounts it is sometimes called the "Tāmraparnīya" (translation: Sri Lankan lineage), but there is no indication that
this referred to any change in doctrine or scripture, while it is very obvious that it refers to geographical location. At some point prior to the Dipavamsa (4th
century) the name was changed to "Theravāda", probably to reemphasize the relationship to the original "Sthaviravāda", which is the Sanskrit version of the
Pāli term "Theravāda".

The Theravāda school is the only remaining school which is exclusively aligned with the philosophic outlook of the early schools. However, significant
variation is found between the various Theravādin communities, usually concerning the strictness of practice of vinaya and the attitude one has towards
abhidhamma. Both of these, however, are aspects of the Vibhajjavādin recension of the Tipiṭaka, and the variation between current Theravāda groups is mainly
a reflection of accent or emphasis, not content of the Tipiṭaka or the commentaries. The Tipiṭaka of the Theravāda and the main body of its commentaries are
believed to come from (or be heavily influenced by) the Sthaviravādins and especially the subsequent Vibhajjavādins.

Timeline: Development and propagation of Buddhist traditions (c. 450 BCE – c. 1300 CE)

450 BCE 250 BCE 100 CE 500 CE 700 CE 800 CE

Mahāyāna Vajrayāna
Early Early Buddhist schools
India
Sangha

Sri Lanka &

Southeast Asia
Theravāda

Tibetan Buddhism Nyingma

Tangmi

Nara (Rokushū) Shingon

Early Buddhist schools

and Mahāyāna Chan Th

East Asia (via the silk road

to China, and ocean

contact from India to Vietnam)

Tiantai / Jìngtǔ
Tendai

Greco-Buddhism

Central Asia & Tarim Basin

Silk Road Buddhism

450 BCE 250 BCE 100 CE 500 CE 700 CE 800 CE

 Legend: = Theravada = Mahayana = Vajrayana =

The legacies of other early schools are preserved in various Mahāyāna traditions. All of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism use a Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya and
study the Sarvāstivādin abhidharma, supplemented with Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna texts. Chinese schools use the vinaya from the Dharmagupta school, and
have versions of those of other schools also. Fragments of the canon of texts from these schools also survive such as the Mahāvastu of the Mahāsānghika
School.

Discussion on the difference in their views includes Kathāvatthu and the Chinese or Tibetan translation of Samayabhedoparacanacakra ( 異 部 宗 輪 論 ),
Abhidharmamahāvibhāsā-śāstra (大毘婆沙論), Abhidharmakośa-śāstra (俱舍論) Abhidharma-nyāyānusāra (順正理論), Abhidharma-kośa-samaya-pradīpikā
(顯宗論) etc.[19]

See also
Atthakavagga and Parayanavagga
Buddhist Councils
History of Buddhism
Index of Buddhism-related articles
Nikaya Buddhism
Pyrrhonism
Rhinoceros Sutra
Schools of Buddhism
Secular Buddhism
Timeline of Buddhism

Notes
1. According to Buswell and Lopez, the Kāśyapīya and Mahīśāsaka were offshoots of the Sarvastivadins, but are grouped under the
Vibhajjavāda as "non-sarvastivada" groups.[18]

References
1. Cox 1995, p. 23. 13. Isabelle Onians, "Tantric Buddhist Apologetics, or Antinomianism
2. Hahn 1999, p. 16. as a Norm," D.Phil. dissertation, Oxford, Trinity Term 2001 p. 72
3. Hoiberg & Ramchandani 2000, p. 264. 14. Walser, Joseph (2005) Nagarjuna in Context: Mahayana Buddhism
and Early Indian Culture: p. 41
4. Williams 1989, p. 6.
15. Walser, Joseph (2005) Nagarjuna in Context: Mahayana Buddhism
5. Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica 1998.
and Early Indian Culture: pp. 41–42
6. Skilton 2004, p. 47.
16. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. edited by Edward Irons. Facts on File:
7. Berkwitz 2009, p. 45. 2008. ISBN 978-0-8160-5459-6 p. 419
8. Huifeng 2013, pp. 175 - 228. 17. Elizabeth Cook. Light of Liberation: A History of Buddhism in India.
9. Nattier 2003, p. 193–194. Dharma Publishing, 1992. p. 299
10. Williams 1989, p. 4–5. 18. Buswell & Lopez 2013, p. 859.
11. Xing 2004, p. 115. 19. "六、《論事》(Kathāvatthu)" (https://web.archive.org/web/2004110
12. Williams, Paul (2000) Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction 3222843/http://www.chibs.edu.tw/publication/LunCong/024/307-35
to the Indian Tradition: p. 97 1.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.chibs.edu.tw/publicati
on/LunCong/024/307-351.htm) on 2004-11-03. Retrieved
2013-08-09.

Sources
Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (1998), "Buddhist Council" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhist-council), Encyclopædia Britannica
Berkwitz, Stephen C. (2009), South Asian Buddhism: A Survey, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415452489
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2013), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University Press
Cox, Collett (1995), Disputed Dharmas: Early Buddhist Theories on Existence, Tokyo: The Institute for Buddhist Studies, ISBN 4-906267-36-
X
Hahn, Thich Nhat (1999), The Heart of Buddha's Teachings, Harmony, ISBN 978-0767903691
Hoiberg, Dale; Ramchandani, Indu (2000), "Early Buddhist schools", Students' Britannica India, Popular Prakashan, ISBN 0-85229-760-2
Huifeng, Shi (2013), " 'Dependent Origination = Emptiness' – Nāgārjuna's Innovation? An Examination of the Early and Mainstream Sectarian
Textual Sources" (https://www.academia.edu/8805059/_Dependent_Origination_Emptiness_N%C4%81g%C4%81rjuna_s_Innovation_An_Ex
amination_of_the_Early_and_Mainstream_Sectarian_Textual_Sources), Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Sri Lanka, 11: 175–228,
ISSN 1391-8443 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1391-8443)
Nattier, Jan (2003), A Few Good Men : The Bodhisattva Path According to the Inquiry of Ugra (Ugraparipṛcchā), University of Hawai'i Press,
ISBN 978-0824830038
Skilton, Andrew (2004), A Concise History of Buddhism, Windhorse Publications, ISBN 978-0904766929
Williams, Paul (1989), Mahayana Buddhism, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-35653-4
Xing, Guang (2004), The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory (Routledge Critical Studies in
Buddhism), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415333443

Further reading
Coogan, Michael D. (ed.) (2003). The Illustrated Guide to World Religions. Oxford University Press. ISBN 1-84483-125-6.
Dhammananda, K. Sri (1964). What the Buddhist Believe (http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/whatbelieve.pdf) (PDF). Buddhist Mission
Society of Malaysia. ISBN 983-40071-1-6.
 Gethin, Rupert (1998). Foundations of Buddhism (https://archive.org/details/foundationsofbud00rupe). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-
289223-1.
Gunaratana, Bhante Henepola (2002). Mindfulness in Plain English. Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-321-4.
Lowenstein, Tom (1996). The vision of the Buddha. Duncan Baird Publishers. ISBN 1-903296-91-9.
Thurman, Robert A. F. (translator) (1976). Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: Mahayana Scripture (https://archive.org/details/holyteachingofvi00vim
a). Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-00601-3.
Walpola Rahula (1974), What the Buddha Taught, Grove Press ISBN 0-8021-3031-3.
Yamamoto, Kosho (translation), revised and edited by Dr. Tony Page. The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra. (Nirvana Publications 1999-
2000).
Yin Shun, Yeung H. Wing (translator) (1998), The Way to Buddhahood: Instructions from a Modern Chinese Master, Wisdom Publications
ISBN 0-86171-133-5.

External links
The Sects of the Buddhists (http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/tw.htm). Rhys Davids. T. W.. The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
1891. pp. 409–422
Sects & Sectarianism – The origins of Buddhist Schools (http://sectsandsectarianism.googlepages.com/home)

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