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Theravada, or Southern Buddhist

The Buddhism of the followers of Gotama, the so-called "Sect of the Elders" (Theravada), consequently is found at the present day only in Ceylon and through the greater part of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula; but even in these countries the monks have deviated in many respects from the strictness of the ancient rule, and the mass of the laity, although paying a formal homage to the Buddha, the Law and the Order, are in fact more addicted in their daily lives to spirit-worship and other native superstitions.

The Theravada faith is followed in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Kampuchea, and Thailand, and for thousands of years its sacred texts have come down in Pali, an ancient Indian language. Theravada Buddhists differ from other Buddhists primarily because they emphasize only Gotama the Buddha, the original teacher of the sixth century BC in India, and not a host of other Buddha-like beings called bodhisattvas, who exist in heaven to aid the faithful, as they also did for the Tantric Buddhists of old Tibet and elsewhere.

The Buddhists of Ceylon held fast to the more primitive teaching of the Hinayana, or "Little Vehicle," through all the vicissitudes of their history, and this is still the principal religion of the island, although others predominate in the northern portion. From Ceylon or southern India the Hinayana was conveyed to Pegu in Lower Burma not later than the 6th century AD, and in the 11th century it overcame the Mahayana in Upper Burma, gaining over the entire country a sway that it still maintains. Throughout Indo-China Mahayana Buddhism appears to have been early introduced by colonists from India along with the rival religion of Hinduism; but the HInayana gradually advanced from the coast inland and has been supreme in Siam and Cambodia since about the 14th century. Buddhism also penetrated into Sumatra and Java but was supplanted by Mohammedanism in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries.

In strict orthodox Theravada Buddhism, Gotama was merely a human being; he does not exist anywhere to hear people's prayers. His words are left in the sacred books and can be learned from his "sons," the living Theravada monks, who exist today as the Buddha once instructed the first monks to live. All Burmans share in this heritage and follow some semblance of the strict orthodox teachings. The Buddhism of the Pali scriptures, however, often differs from actual religious beliefs and practices in modern Burma.

In terms of each persons' daily plan and lifelong ambition, a major quest is for non-attachment to the sensate world, which everyone must quit eventually. In the early years and in the flush of adulthood, attachments to kin, sensate pleasures, career, society, and self are seen as naturally strong; nonetheless, one should try to lessen the bonds. Rational thought should conclude in harmony with the Buddha's teachings that the stronger the attachment, the worse the eventual suffering when all must be released at the end. Each person will vary tremendously in the ability to control desire, anduman weaknesses undermine many sincere efforts. For example, because the Buddha condemned alcohol as a substance t hat prevented rational thought, Buddhists try not to drink alcohol, but some lack the will to avoid it, though they usually are the first to explain that they are wrong to indulge. The more sensate pleasure a person can deny, the more Buddhists honor that person. Slaves to attachments, however, are merely normal humans, not sinners.