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Monks Who Carried the Baton
Sects
After Buddha, his followers divided his doctrine into
* Hinayana or Theravada or lesser vehicle
* Mahayana or higher vehicle
Theravada or Hinayana has been popular in countries like Sri Lanka , Thailand , Cambodia , Burma , and Laos while places like China , Japan , Taiwan , Tibet , Nepal , Mongolia , Korea , Vietnam , and Mahayana has dominated India .
Places
Buddhism spread rapidly throughout the land of its birth. Missionaries dispatched by King Asoka introduced the religion to southern India and to the northwest part of the subcontinent. Theravada was carried to Burma from Sri Lanka during the reign of Asoka and spread to the area of modern Thailand in the 6th century. About the beginning of the Christian era, Buddhism was carried to Central Asia and entered China along the trade routes by the early 1st century ad . Buddhism was first introduced into Tibet through the influence of foreign wives of the king, beginning in the 7th century ad and had become a significant force in Tibetan culture.
Monastic life
The most devoted followers of the Buddha were organized into the monastic sangha. Their shaved heads identified its members and robes made of unsewn orange cloth. The early Buddhist monks, or bhikkus, wandered from place to place, settling down in various communities the world over. Monastic life was governed by the rules of the Vinaya sutra. The sangha included an order for nuns as well as for monks, a unique feature among Indian monastic orders.
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