Theravada Buddhism is the older of two major Buddhist traditions (the other being Mahayana), that base their philosophies on the teachings of “Siddhartha Gautama”, better known as the “Buddha”. Theravada means ”Way of the Elders” in Pali, the original language of these teachings. These teachings are usually referred to as sutras.

It is practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.

Origin

From Pali theravāda, literally ‘doctrine of the elders’, from there ‘elder, old’ + vāda ‘speech, doctrine’.

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