SE1996 Last Revd May 2011
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THERAVADA AND MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
SN TOPICS THERAVADA BUDDHISM
1 Buddha Only the historical Gautama
(Sakyamuni) Buddha and
past buddhas are accepted.
2 Bodhisattvas Only Maitreya bodhisattva is
accepted.
3 Objective of Arahant or pacceka-buddha
training
4 Organisation of The Pali Canon is divided
Buddhist into 3 baskets (Tipitaka):
scriptures  Vinaya Pitaka of 5 books,
 Sutta Pitaka of 5
collections (many suttas)
and
 Abhidharmma Pitaka of 7
books
5 Concept of Main emphasis is self
Bodhicitta liberation. There is total
reliance on one-self to
eradicate all defilements.
6 Trikaya Very limited emphasis on the
concept 3 bodies of a buddha.
References are mainly on
Nirmana-kaya and Dharma-
kaya.
7 Transmission Southern transmission:
route Predominant religion in Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Burma,
Laos and Cambodia and
parts of SE Asia like
Malaysia, Indonesia and
Singapore.
MAHAYANA1 BUDDHISM
Besides Sakyamuni Buddha, other
contemporary buddhas like Amitabha and
Medicine Buddha are also very popular.
Avalokitesvara, Mansjuri, Ksitigarbha and
Samanthabadra are four very well known
bodhisattvas besides Maitreya.
Four famous mountains in China have
been associated with these bodhisattvas
with temples dedicated to their worship
and specific teachings.
Buddhahood (via bodhisattva path). There
are 18 attributes that a buddha does not
shared with arahants.
The Mahayana Buddhist Canon also
consists of Tripitaka of :
 precepts/disciplines (vinaya),
 discourses (sutras) and
 dharma analysis (sastras).
The teachings are also classified into one
or more of the 12 divisions of topics like
Cause and Conditions , Verses and
Parables.
The Mahayana canon contains virtually all
the Theravada Tipikata and many sutras
and sastras not found in the latter. The
Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra and many
commentaries are essentially Chinese
indigenous teachings.
Very well elaborated concept in
Mahayaya, supported by many sutras and
a key sastra.
Besides self liberation, it is important for
Mahayana followers to help other sentient
beings to progress along the ‘bodhi’ path.
Very well mentioned in Mahayana
buddhism. Samboga-kaya or
reward/enjoyment body completes the
Trikaya concept.
Northern transmission:
China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Mongolia
and parts of Southeast Asia like Vietnam,
Malaysia and Singapore.
Tibet is identified with Varjayana which
includes tantra teachings and practices
besides the many Mahayana teachings.
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8 Language of Tipitaka is strictly in Pali. Buddhist canon is translated into the local
dharma Dharma teaching is in Pali language (except for the 5
teaching supplemented by local untranslatables), e.g. Tibetan, Chinese,
language. Japanese, Korean, Mongolian and
Vietnamese.
Original language of transmission is
Sanskrit.

9 Nirvana No distinction is made Also known as ‘liberation from Samsara,’

(Nibbana in between nirvana attained by there are subtle distinctions in the level of
Pali) a buddha and that of an attainment for the three situations.
arahat or pacceka buddha

10 Sakyamuni Basically historical disciples, A lot of bodhisattvas were introduced by

Buddha’s whether arahants or human
disciples monastic followers, royalties
and lay people.
In Theravada suttas, there is
no mention of bodhisattvas in
the audience.
Sakyamuni Buddha. All these
bodhisattvas are not historical figures.
In Mahayana sutras, human listeners
were always enumerated before the
bodhisattvas and devas.

11 Rituals and There are some rituals but Owing to local cultural influences and
liturgy not heavily emphasized as in preferences, there is much more
Mahayana schools. emphasis on the use of rituals; e.g.
Rituals for the deceased, feeding of Petas,
Repentence liturgy, etc.

12 Use of Mantras Some equivalent in the use Heavily practised in the Esoteric 2 school
and Mudras of Parittas (aka Mizhong/Zhongmi) of Mahayana
Buddhism.
Other schools (exoteric) also have
included some mantras in their daily
liturgy.

13 Dying and death Very little research and
aspects knowledge on the process of
dying and death.
Usually, the dying persons
are advised to meditate on
impermanence, suffering and
emptiness.
The Esoteric school is particularly
meticulous in these areas. There are
many inner and external signs manifested
by people before they die.
There is also heavy emphasis in doing
transference of merit practices (like
donations to charity) in the immediate few
weeks following death to assist in the
deceased’s next rebirth.

14 Bardo This in-between stage after All Mahayana schools teach this after
death and before rebirth is death aspect but the most elaborate is the
ignored in Theravada Esoteric School.
tradition. There is a maximum of 49 days that the
consciousness must take rebirth in one of
the six realms.

15 One meal a day This the norm among This is a highly respected practice but it is
practice Theravada sanghas. left to the disposition of each individual
and temple in the various sanghas. It is
practised as in the 8 Precepts observance.

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16 Vegetarianism This aspect is not necessary.
In places like Thailand where
daily morning rounds are still
practised, it is very difficult to
insist on the type of food to
be offered by the lay people.
17 Focus of Simple layout with the image
worship in the of Sakyamuni Buddha the
temple focus of worship.
18 Denominations One surviving major school
(schools) of the following years of attrition
tradition from a high number of 18
schools.
19 Non Buddhist Mainly pre-Buddhist
influences Indian/Brahmin influences.
Many terms like karma,
sangha, etc were prevailing
terms during Sakyamuni
Buddha’s life time.
References were made from
the Vedas and Upanishads.
20 The role of Minimally mentioned in
Repentence5 Theravada teachings and not
stressed at all as a practice.
21 Salvation Not expounded at all. Karmic
overture effects to follow their normal
course.
22 Concept of Not as elaborate as the
Sunyata Mahayana tradition. Pretty
(Emptiness) much stopped at anatta.
SE1996 Last Revd May 2011
Very well observed in all Mahayana
schools (except the Tibetans due to the
geographical circumstances).
This aspect is recommended but not
compulsory for the lay people.
Can be quite elaborate; with a
chamber/hall for Sakyamuni Buddha and
two disciples, one hall for the 3 Buddhas
(including Amitabha and Medicine
Buddha) and one hall for the 3 key
bodhisattvas; besides the protectors, etc.
There are 8 major (Chinese) schools
based on the selective doctrines of the
teachings (sutras, sastras or vinaya).
The four schools inclined towards
practices are:
 Ch’an/Zen3
 Pureland/Amitabha4
 Esoteric/Mizhong and
 Vinaya (not for lay people)
and they are more popular than the
philosophy based schools like:
 Tien-tai/Tendai,
 Avatamsaka/Hua-yen,
 Yogacara/Mind Only and
 Madhyamika/San Lun.
Both Tien-tai and Avatamsaka are pure
indigenous developments in China.
In the course of integration and adoption
by the people in other civilizations, there
were heavy mutual influences.
In China, both Confucianism and Taoism
exerted some influence on Buddhism
which in turn had an impact on the
indigenous beliefs, particularly Taoism.
This scenario was repeated in Tibet and to
some extent in Japan.
Quite developed concept in Mahayana
teachings.
Karmic retribution may be moderated by
dedicated repentance rituals.
Some relief from bodhisattva’s
intercession, even though it may be
temporary.
Highly developed philosophy as taught by
Nagarjuna, who was honoured by all eight
schools.
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23 Buddha nature Absent from the teachings of Heavily stressed in the Tathāgatagarbha
Theravada tradition. teachings.
However, this concept is the least
expounded by Mahayana teachers.

24 Meditation Very well developed All denominations practise some form of

teachings and widespread
practices, based on the Maha
Satipatthana Sutta.
meditation but historically, the Mahayana
tradition tends to emphasize Dharma
teachings more than meditation practices.
However, Tien-tai School stands out in
this regard with teachings on Mohe Zhi
Guan (basically Samantha and
Vipassana).
The Ch’an School also stresses a lot of
meditation so that followers can better
understand/realize the teachings, hence
Ch’an meditation centres in the West.

25 Chanting Regular chanting sessions, Quite a heavy bit of chanting practices as

mostly in original Pali. part of various liturgies. Sutras are
chanted in local language (e.g. Chinese)
but Dharanis/mantras in Sanskrit
(transliterated in Chinese).

1
What is referred to as Mahayana Tradition today is basically the collective teachings transplanted from
India to China and subsequent indigenous developments over the course of almost 2000 years.
2
The Esoteric School was one of the eight Mahayana Schools in China known as Mizhong/Zhong Mi. It was
subsequently transmitted to Japan by Japanese monk Kukai, the founder of Shingon School during the Tang
Dynasty.
In Tibet, the esoteric teachings of Buddhism were dominant in the course of transmission of teachings from
the Indian panditas and they became a tradition. Vajrayana Tradition (Zhang Mi) in turn has various schools
based on the distinct teachings of various masters and transmission. The Vajrayana teachings that are
popular with Western societies derive essentially from Tibetan sources rather than Chinese Mizhong or
Japanese Shingon.
3
Ch’an/Zen is the most popular Mahayana school among Westerners and many centres (rather than
temples) have been established in US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
4
Several prominent masters of the Pureland School has set up temples in the West but the spread and
popularity are a lot lesser than Ch’an influence.
5
Repentence is not effective without utmost sincerity and abstinence from future transgression.