Protons, Neutrons, Electrons and the Space Between…

by E. Raymond Rock
Similar to Christianity, Buddhism has many branches. The original doctrine that the Buddha taught his monks is called the Theravada or the Teaching of the Elders, but this very deep teaching may be too strange and frightening for everyday Americans.

This unpopularity is not unusual when we consider the deeper teachings of many religions, such as Kabbalah in Judaism and Orison in Christianity. People usually talk a good story about God, but don’t want to really go there, opting instead for earthly glories such as sex, money, power, security and entertainment. Familiar things.

For exactly these reasons, some Buddhist branches, for example, Zen, Tibetan, and many other divisions of Buddhism have split off from the original, strict Theravada, making their particular brand of Buddhism more user-friendly, and have thus enjoyed great success in attracting followers, while the Theravada remains somewhat obscure in most of the world.

Theravada is called (Hinayana) the “small vehicle” because it appealed originally to a limited number of people who were very serious in their practice, i.e., the Buddha’s Sangha of monks or disciples, who had only one desire in mind: Enlightenment. In modern times, Theravada has evolved into a mainly social religion where ceremony and practices of generosity, harmlessness, and loving kindness have generally replaced the austere practices of the Buddha and his disciples. However, these austere teachings are still practiced by dedicated Buddhist monks in the remote forests of Sri Lanka, Thailand and other Southeastern Asian countries, a practice relatively unchanged from the Buddha’s times; teachings that I was fortunate enough to participate in while living in forests of Northeast Thailand.

Zen, Tibetan, and the other branches are called Mahayana, the “large vehicle,” which is more sociable and where multitudes can easily fit into the boat. Mahayana adjusts the original teachings so that they are palatable for the wider audience. A blend of Buddhism, German Romanticism, new age, and light and love seems to work well in the U.S.

Hinayana, or the original Buddhism, never altered the Buddha’s original teachings in order to attract more followers because this method has proven, over 2600 years, to be the fast and sure road to enlightenment. Being fully cognizant that this adherence to the strict doctrine limited its popularity, Hinayana never altered its course and has thus survived for many centuries, mostly under the radar, because it is the place one goes to get the original, profound Buddhist teachings that work.

Even though only a handful of people ever get a hankering to go this far, enough throughout history have recognized the Theravada as the real deal. The numbers, even today, that have become enlightened by practicing as the Buddha originally taught is a testament to its effectiveness. Thailand remains steady at about 93% Theravada Buddhist, and Sri Lanka about 70%, with large Theravada populations in Cambodia, Viet Nam, and Laos. There are about 100 million Theravada Buddhist worldwide, and about 2 billion Mahayana Buddhists globally counting China.
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