Theravada

E58748

Buddhist tradition religious denomination school of Buddhism

Theravada is the oldest surviving school of Buddhism, emphasizing the Pali Canon and the path of individual liberation through monastic discipline and meditation.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (22)

Label	Occurrences
Theravada Buddhism	493
Theravāda Buddhism	16
Theravada canonical	8
Hinayana Buddhism	4
Theravada Buddhists	2
Theravada school of Buddhism	2
Theravāda	2
Theravāda tradition	2
Burmese Buddhism	1
Burmese Theravada	1
Cambodian Buddhism	1
Cambodian Theravada	1
Khmer Theravada Buddhism	1
Lao Theravada	1
Sinhalese Buddhism	1
Sri Lankan Theravada	1
Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism	1
Theravada Buddhism (dominant)	1
Theravada Buddhism is majority religion	1
Theravada Buddhist monastics	1
Theravada Buddhist tradition	1
Theravāda Buddhists	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T466555 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Theravada
Context triple: [Buddhism, majorBranch, Theravada]

A. Buddhism
Buddhism is a major world religion and philosophical tradition founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), emphasizing the Four Noble Truths and the path to enlightenment.
B. Chan Buddhism
Chan Buddhism is a major school of Chinese Buddhism emphasizing meditation, direct insight into one’s true nature, and the transmission of enlightenment outside of scriptures.
C. Jainism
Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that emphasizes non-violence, truth, and asceticism as the path to spiritual liberation.
D. Svetambara
Svetambara is one of the two main Jain monastic and lay traditions, distinguished by its white-clad monks and nuns and its emphasis on non-possession and ascetic discipline.
E. Buddha
"Buddha" is a biographical and historical study of Siddhartha Gautama by religious historian Karen Armstrong, exploring the life, teachings, and enduring influence of the Buddha.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Theravada
Target entity description: Theravada is the oldest surviving school of Buddhism, emphasizing the Pali Canon and the path of individual liberation through monastic discipline and meditation.

A. Buddhism
Buddhism is a major world religion and philosophical tradition founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), emphasizing the Four Noble Truths and the path to enlightenment.
B. Chan Buddhism
Chan Buddhism is a major school of Chinese Buddhism emphasizing meditation, direct insight into one’s true nature, and the transmission of enlightenment outside of scriptures.
C. Jainism
Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that emphasizes non-violence, truth, and asceticism as the path to spiritual liberation.
D. Svetambara
Svetambara is one of the two main Jain monastic and lay traditions, distinguished by its white-clad monks and nuns and its emphasis on non-possession and ascetic discipline.
E. Buddha
"Buddha" is a biographical and historical study of Siddhartha Gautama by religious historian Karen Armstrong, exploring the life, teachings, and enduring influence of the Buddha.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (65)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Buddhist tradition ⓘ religious denomination ⓘ school of Buddhism ⓘ
associatedPractice	Samatha ⓘ Vipassana ⓘ
contrastedWith	Mahayana ⓘ Vajrayana ⓘ
coreTeaching	dependent origination ⓘ surface form: Dependent Origination Four Noble Truths ⓘ Eightfold Path ⓘ surface form: Noble Eightfold Path Three Marks of Existence ⓘ
cosmology	karma ⓘ rebirth ⓘ
emphasisOn	Tripitaka ⓘ surface form: Pali Canon ethical conduct ⓘ individual liberation ⓘ insight meditation ⓘ meditation ⓘ mindfulness ⓘ monastic discipline ⓘ
ethicalFoundation	Five Precepts ⓘ Ten Precepts ⓘ
goal	Nibbana ⓘ arahantship ⓘ liberation from samsara ⓘ
hasSubtradition	Theravada self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Burmese Theravada Theravada self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Cambodian Theravada Theravada self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Lao Theravada Theravada self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Sri Lankan Theravada Thai Forest Tradition ⓘ
historicalRoot	Sthavira Nikaya ⓘ early Buddhism ⓘ
languageOfScholarship	Pali ⓘ
majorRegion	Indochinese Peninsula ⓘ surface form: Mainland Southeast Asia Sri Lanka ⓘ
meditationGoal	insight into impermanence ⓘ insight into non-self ⓘ insight into suffering ⓘ
monasticCode	Patimokkha ⓘ
monasticCommunity	Sangha ⓘ
monasticIdeal	renunciation ⓘ
originatedIn	India ⓘ
primaryScripture	Abhidhamma Pitaka ⓘ Tripitaka ⓘ surface form: Sutta Pitaka Tripitaka ⓘ surface form: Tipitaka Vinaya Pitaka ⓘ
regardsAsAuthoritative	Tripitaka ⓘ surface form: Pali Canon Tripitaka ⓘ surface form: Tipitaka
religion	Buddhism ⓘ
ritualLanguage	Pali ⓘ
scripturalLanguage	Pali ⓘ
spreadTo	People's Republic of Bangladesh (from East Pakistan) ⓘ surface form: Bangladesh Cambodia ⓘ India ⓘ Laos ⓘ Myanmar ⓘ Nepal ⓘ Sri Lanka ⓘ Thailand ⓘ Western countries ⓘ
usesCanon	Tripitaka ⓘ surface form: Pali Canon
viewOnBodhisattvaIdeal	secondary to arahant ideal ⓘ
viewOnBuddha	fully enlightened being ⓘ historical teacher ⓘ
viewOnScripture	Pali Canon is earliest complete Buddhist canon ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (543)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Shan → majorReligionBranch → Theravada ⓘ

this entity surface form: Theravada school of Buddhism

Magha Puja → tradition → Theravada ⓘ