one of two great schools of Buddhist doctrine emphasizing personal salvation through your own efforts; a conservative form of Buddhism that adheres to Pali scriptures and the non-theistic ideal of self purification to nirvana; the dominant religion of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand and Laos and Cambodia
Theravada Buddhism style left its traces in the grotto art in China is rare. 其造型留有小乘佛教的痕迹,在我国石窟艺术中实属罕见。
Tibetan Buddhism also incorporates the monastic disciplines of early Theravada Buddhism and the shamanistic features of the indigenous Tibetan religion, Bon. 藏传佛教也把早期小乘佛教的僧侣纪律和西藏本土宗教笨教和萨满教的特征合并在一起。