"Buddhism (2)"

Buddhism is broadly recognized as being composed of two major branches:

Theravada, which has a widespread following in Southeast Asia
Mahayana (including Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, Tibetan Buddhism and Tendai), found throughout East Asia. It should be noted that in some methods of classification, Vajrayana is considered a third branch.
While Buddhism remains most popular within these regions of Asia, both branches are now found throughout the world.

Buddhist schools disagree on what the historical teachings of Gautama Buddha were, so much so that some scholars claim Buddhism does not have a clearly definable common core. Significant disagreement also exists over the importance and canonicity of various scriptures.

Various sources put the number of Buddhists in the world between 230 million and 500 million.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia