not just scholars, he spoke in a language many people in India understood, Pali. In a country with a social caste system of segregation, the Buddha's democratic views were a novelty and won him many followers. Since no one wrote down exactly what the Buddha said, all the Buddhist teachings begin with the phrase, "Thus have I heard." Then they go on to tell what Buddha taught and believed. The oldest Buddhist writings, the Pali Canon, are also known as the Three Baskets (Comptons Interactive Encyclopedia). One of the baskets, the 'Vinaya' (meaning "discipline") spelled out the rules for the Buddhist monks. These monks, the community known as the Sangha, constitute the oldest continuous religious order of all the world's great religions. After the Buddha's death, his followers split into a number of factions, each with its own interpretations of the master's teachings. Within 200 years two major traditions emerged. This schism has persisted to the present time(Kelen 36). Even within the major traditions, there are smaller sects. The older tradition, known as the Way of the Elders, is also called Hinayana, or the Lesser Vehicle. Its adherents are the more conservative interpreters of the Buddhist teachings, and the name was given them by the more liberal sect, who call themselves the Mahayana, or the Greater Vehicle. A more respectful name for the Way of the Elders is Theravada Buddhism. It is still the main tradition in such countries as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. The word vehicle suggests that Buddhism is a means of journeying from the pain of this world to the bliss of the next (Dumoulin 79). Each tradition believes that it is the best vehicle for Buddhists on their Path. The Greater Vehicle, Mahayana, is the form of Buddhism popular in Mongolia, Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Nepal. Zen Buddhism is a derivative of the Mahayana school, which has far more followers than the Theravada school. The ...
