Buddhism

Buddhists follow the teachings (called dhamma) of Gautama Buddha, who lived and taught in northern India about 2,550 years ago. There are a number of schools of Buddhism. The chief division is between Theravada, also called Hinayana, or “lesser path,” which is the form of Buddhism followed in Burma, as well as in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, and Mahayana, or “greater path,” various forms of which are followed in India, Tibet, Japan, China, and Vietnam.

Although the majority of Bamar people are Buddhists, some Bamar and a large proportion of the non-Bamar peoples were converted to Christianity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (To some extent the central government has used Buddhism as a marker of nationalism, to try to create divisions between Buddhists and Christians who are in opposition.) Underlying Buddhist beliefs and practices in Burma is the “old” religion, a form of animism in which spirits, known as “nats,” are worshipped and looked to for help. The animist beliefs of pre-Buddhist Burma infuse daily life for many Buddhists. (See “What Day Are You?,”.)