page_title: Theravada
section_title: Modern developments
hierarchical_section_title: Theravada / History / Modernisation and spread to the West / Modern developments
caption_attribution_description: English: A man meditates in front of a giant bell at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar on 27 April 2012.
context_page_description: Theravāda is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins, have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha's teaching in the Pāli Canon. The Pāli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, Pāli, which serves as the school's sacred language and lingua franca. For over a millennium, theravādins have endeavored to preserve the dhamma as recorded in their school's texts. In contrast to Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, Theravāda tends to be conservative in matters of doctrine and monastic discipline.
  Modern Theravāda derives from the Mahāvihāra sect, a Sri Lankan branch of the Vibhajjavādins, a sub-sect of the Indian Sthavira Nikaya, which began to establish itself on the island from the 3rd century BCE onwards. It was in Sri Lanka that the Pāli Canon was written down and the school's commentary literature developed.
  From Sri Lanka, the Theravāda Mahāvihāra tradition subsequently spread to the rest of Southeast Asia. It is the dominant religion in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand and is practiced by minorities in India, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, and Vietnam.
context_section_description: The following modern trends or movements have been identified.
  Modernism: attempts to adapt to the modern world and adopt some of its ideas; including, among other things:
  Green movement, ecological work.
  Syncretism with other Buddhist as well as Hindu (in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bali and Thailand) traditions
  Universal inclusivity
  Reformism: attempts to restore a supposed earlier, ideal state of Buddhism; includes in particular the adoption of Western scholars' theories of original Buddhism (in recent times the "Western scholarly interpretation of Buddhism" is the official Buddhism prevailing in Sri Lanka and Thailand).
  Ultimatism: tendency to concentrate on advanced teachings such as the Four Noble Truths at the expense of more elementary ones
  Neotraditionalism; includes among other things
  Revival of ritualism
  Remythologization
  Social and political action, including engaged Buddhism, protesting and participating in election politics.
  Devotional religiosity
  Reaction to Buddhist nationalism
  Renewal of forest monks
  Revival of meditation practice (by monks and laypersons), emphasizing meditation centers and retreats. Ledi Sayadaw (1846–1923) is particular important in this regard.
  Revival of the Theravāda bhikkhuni (female monastic) lineage (not recognized by some male sangha authorities).
  Convert Buddhism in Western countries, establishment of Western monastic orders (especially the Thai forest tradition) and development of Pāli scholarship in Western languages.
caption: A man meditates in Myanmar
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