Major Schools in the United States

“The two major schools of Buddhism, Theravada and the Mahayana, are to be understood as different expressions of the same teaching of the historical Buddha.”

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/schools2.htm

There are four major schools of Buddhism in the United States. This is not necessarily all of the schools of Buddhism in the world. This study focuses on the United States on the assumption that most readers will live here. If you live elsewhere, and/or know of schools other than the ones I discuss here, by all means explore them. In examining schools of Buddhism, it is worthwhile to know that people do make stuff up and that lineages with the longest verifiable histories are the most reliable. Remember, Buddhism is a tradition that is older than Christianity, so any school that claims to be part of it should be able to trace its roots back quite a way.

The most basic division among the schools is between Theravadan and Mahayana schools. Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism and Zen are both Mahayana schools. The Theravadans claim to adhere most closely to the Pali Canon. One of many good things about Buddhism is that Buddhists from different schools do not snipe at or argue with Buddhists from other schools. You will routinely hear Theravadan teachers refer to texts and teachers from both Zen and Vajrayana traditions, and vice versa. Chogyam Trungpa, a major Vajrayana figure, had enormous respect for Zen Buddhism. As we have seen, the only litmus test the Dalai Lama has is recognition of…