The Diptych
Buddhism and Theravada
Buddhism stands as a Worldview; Theravada stands as a Branch. This comparison renders under slot registry version 1.0, in the registry's fixed order. The Diptych displays; it does not score, rank, or adjudicate.
Coverage: Buddhism has 6 sections documented and 10 partial; its evaluative coverage is pending. Theravada has 5 sections documented and 2 partial; its evaluative coverage is pending.
1. In its own words
The entity stated in its own words: its self-description, before any external description.
Buddhism
Buddhism spread from the Gangetic plain across Asia and divided, over centuries, into great vehicles that share the founder and the earliest texts while differing on scripture, practice, and the goal itself. This tree models the vehicles and their schools as first-class entities.
Source: The Pali Canon (Tipitaka).
Confidence: high
Theravada
Theravada is the Buddhism of the Pali Canon, the earliest complete canon to survive. Its monks keep the Vinaya in its Pali form, its laity support the sangha and make merit, and its meditation traditions were carried worldwide in the modern centuries.
Source: The Pali Canon.
Confidence: high
2. Scale and spread
How large the entity is and where it is found: adherents, bodies, and geography, with sources.
Buddhism
Buddhism counts roughly 490 million adherents, about seven percent of the world's people. Majorities stand in Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan, Laos, and Mongolia, with large populations in Japan, China, Vietnam, and South Korea.
The range inside, as documented:
- Theravada: The way of the elders, which keeps the Pali Canon as its scripture and the arahant as its goal, and carries the Buddhism of Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia.
- Mahayana: The great vehicle, which sets the bodhisattva's vow to liberate all beings above the solitary goal, and reads its own sutras beside the early discourses.
Source: Pew Research Center, 'The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050' (2015).
Confidence: high
Theravada
Theravada Buddhism is the majority form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, counting roughly 150 million adherents, and it has grown a substantial following in Western convert communities.
Source: Pew Research Center, 'The Global Religious Landscape' (2012); Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Theravada'.
Confidence: high
3. Historical timeline
The entity's timeline: the events of its history, drawn from the History of Worldviews timelines.
Buddhism
- The buddhist timeline
- Life of the Buddha
- First Council at Rajagaha
- Second Council at Vaishali
- Reign of Ashoka
- Third Council at Pataliputra
- Emergence of the Mahayana
Source: The Pali Nikayas
Confidence: high
Theravada
- The buddhist timeline
- Life of the Buddha
- First Council at Rajagaha
- Second Council at Vaishali
- Reign of Ashoka
- Third Council at Pataliputra
- Pali Canon committed to writing (Sri Lanka)
Source: The Pali Nikayas
Confidence: high
4. Sources of authority
What the entity treats as authoritative: its scriptures, creeds, councils, and reference works.
Buddhism
Partial coverage
Confidence: moderate
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
5. Ultimate reality
What the entity holds to be ultimately real.
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
6. The human person
What the entity holds a human person to be: nature, dignity, and destiny.
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
7. Problem and solution
The entity's account of what is wrong and how it is set right.
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
8. Ethics and hard cases
The entity's moral teaching and how it meets the hard cases.
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
9. Practice and devotion
How the entity is practiced: worship, prayer, devotion, and the calendar.
Buddhism
Partial coverage
- Vandana and Taking Refuge
- Mettā Bhāvanā; Loving-Kindness
- Offerings at the Buddhist Shrine
- Vesak
- The Meditation Retreat
- Pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya
- Refuge Prayer (Tisarana)
- Five Precepts (Pancasila)
Confidence: moderate
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
10. Community and governance
How the entity is organized: its bodies, offices, and the directory of its communities.
Buddhism
Partial coverage
The range inside, as documented:
- Theravada: The way of the elders, which keeps the Pali Canon as its scripture and the arahant as its goal, and carries the Buddhism of Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia.
- Mahayana: The great vehicle, which sets the bodhisattva's vow to liberate all beings above the solitary goal, and reads its own sutras beside the early discourses.
- Vajrayana: The diamond vehicle, which adds tantra's initiations, mantras, and visualizations to the Mahayana path and carries the Buddhism of Tibet and the Himalayas.
- Navayana: The new vehicle proclaimed by B. R. Ambedkar in 1956: Buddhism re-founded as the path of social liberation for India's oppressed castes.
- Secular Buddhism: The modern reading that keeps the Buddha's ethics and meditation while setting aside rebirth, karma as cosmic law, and the supernatural frame of the early texts.
Confidence: moderate
11. Art and material culture
The entity's art and material culture, drawn from the Religious Art section.
Buddhism
Partial coverage
The range inside, as documented:
- Vajrayana: The diamond vehicle, which adds tantra's initiations, mantras, and visualizations to the Mahayana path and carries the Buddhism of Tibet and the Himalayas.
Confidence: moderate
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
12. Science and technology posture
The entity's posture toward science and technology.
Buddhism
Partial coverage
- Chinese Imperial
- Indian Classical
- Contemporary
- Buddhist
- Evolution by natural selection
- Organ transplantation
- Germline gene editing
- Artificial intelligence and human dignity
Confidence: moderate
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
13. Internal diversity
The range inside the entity: its branches, schools, and movements, each in its own terms.
Buddhism
The range inside, as documented:
- Mahayana: The great vehicle, which sets the bodhisattva's vow to liberate all beings above the solitary goal, and reads its own sutras beside the early discourses.
- Vajrayana: The diamond vehicle, which adds tantra's initiations, mantras, and visualizations to the Mahayana path and carries the Buddhism of Tibet and the Himalayas.
Confidence: high
Theravada
Not yet documented
Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented.
14. Contributions
What the entity has contributed, stated with sources.
Buddhism
Not yet documented
Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records.
Theravada
Not yet documented
Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records.
15. Internal critique
The critique raised from within the entity's own tradition, in its strongest form, with its reply.
Buddhism
Not yet documented
Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records.
Theravada
Not yet documented
Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records.
16. External critique and reply
The critique raised from outside, in its strongest form, with the strongest available reply.
Buddhism
Not yet documented
Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records.
Theravada
Not yet documented
Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records.
17. Contested history
The points of the entity's history that are contested, and by whom.
Buddhism
Partial coverage
The range inside, as documented:
- Theravada: The way of the elders, which keeps the Pali Canon as its scripture and the arahant as its goal, and carries the Buddhism of Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia.
- Mahayana: The great vehicle, which sets the bodhisattva's vow to liberate all beings above the solitary goal, and reads its own sutras beside the early discourses.
Confidence: moderate
18. What each says about the other
What each of the two entities says about the other. This slot renders only when both directions stand populated and reviewed.
Buddhism
Not yet documented
This slot renders only when both directions stand populated and reviewed.
Theravada
Not yet documented
This slot renders only when both directions stand populated and reviewed.
19. What this comparison cannot settle
This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate.
Sections this comparison cannot yet speak to, because the documentation is incomplete: Sources of authority, Ultimate reality, The human person, Problem and solution, Ethics and hard cases, Practice and devotion, Art and material culture, Science and technology posture, Internal diversity, Contributions, Internal critique, External critique and reply, What each says about the other.
On the questions where these two panels disagree, the outcome turns on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, which authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. This instrument settles none of those.
20. Sources
Buddhism
- The Pali Canon (Tipitaka).
- Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism (2013).
Theravada
- The Pali Canon.
- Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism (2006).
Citations resolve to the site's References register as that rebuild lands; exports of this comparison stand under the tools above.
| Section | Buddhism | Theravada |
|---|---|---|
| In its own words | populated: Buddhism spread from the Gangetic plain across Asia and divided, over centuries, into great vehicles that share the founder and the earliest texts while differing on scripture, practice, and the goal itself. This tree models the vehicles and their schools as first-class entities. | populated: Theravada is the Buddhism of the Pali Canon, the earliest complete canon to survive. Its monks keep the Vinaya in its Pali form, its laity support the sangha and make merit, and its meditation traditions were carried worldwide in the modern centuries. |
| Scale and spread | populated: Buddhism counts roughly 490 million adherents, about seven percent of the world's people. Majorities stand in Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan, Laos, and Mongolia, with large populations in Japan, China, Vietnam, and South Korea. | populated: Theravada Buddhism is the majority form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, counting roughly 150 million adherents, and it has grown a substantial following in Western convert communities. |
| Historical timeline | populated | populated |
| Sources of authority | partial | not documented |
| Ultimate reality | partial | not documented |
| The human person | partial | not documented |
| Problem and solution | partial | not documented |
| Ethics and hard cases | partial | not documented |
| Practice and devotion | partial | not documented |
| Community and governance | partial | partial |
| Art and material culture | partial | not documented |
| Science and technology posture | partial | not documented |
| Internal diversity | populated | not documented |
| Contributions | not documented | not documented |
| Internal critique | not documented | not documented |
| External critique and reply | not documented | not documented |
| Contested history | partial | partial |
| What each says about the other | not documented | not documented |
| What this comparison cannot settle | populated: This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate. | populated: This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate. |
| Sources | populated | populated |