Types of Buddhist Schools

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Eileen Dey, on behalf of Expert Village, and in this segment we'll talk about some of the Buddhist schools; the traditions that came out of what occurred in northern India, oh, so many years ago. Following Buddha's life, the school, the ideas that developed around him were referred to as Theravada or lesser vehicle, in that one was able to work upon themselves for the purpose of attaining nirvana, enlightenment, and therefore; helping oneself achieve liberation from samsara. As time went on, and as Buddhism spread out across Asia out of the south, there developed the vajayana school; the greater vehicle, so that not only would you achieve enlightenment for self, you would do it to help humanity. The third school, vajrayana, is unique to Tibet. It combined with the native traditions and religions there, and became very ritualized and specific to that culture. In this next segment, we'll talk about the bodhisattva path in Buddhism."