Theravada Buddhism in the context of "Chakma people"

Pāli (/ˈpɑːli/, IAST Pāḷi) is a Middle Indo-Aryan language that is widely studied as the sacred language of Theravada Buddhism and the language of the Tipiṭaka. Pali was designated a classical language of India by the Government of India on 3 October 2024.

Mahayana Buddhism entered Han China via the Silk Road, beginning in the 1st or 2nd century CE. The first documented translation efforts by Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE via the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory bordering the Tarim Basin under Kanishka. These contacts transmitted strands of Sarvastivadan and Tamrashatiya Buddhism throughout the Eastern world.

Theravada Buddhism developed from the Pāli Canon in Sri Lanka Tamrashatiya school and spread throughout Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Sarvastivada Buddhism was transmitted from North India through Central Asia to China. Direct contact between Central Asian and Chinese Buddhism continued throughout the 3rd to 7th centuries, much into the Tang period. From the 4th century onward, Chinese pilgrims like Faxian (395–414) and later Xuanzang (629–644) started to travel to northern India in order to get improved access to original scriptures. Between the 3rd and 7th centuries, parts of the land route connecting northern India with China was ruled by the Xiongnu, Han dynasty, Kushan Empire, the Hephthalite Empire, the Göktürks, and the Tang dynasty. The Indian form of Buddhist tantra (Vajrayana) reached China in the 7th century. Tibetan Buddhism was likewise established as a branch of Vajrayana, in the 8th century.

21°10′20″N 94°51′37″E / 21.17222°N 94.86028°E / 21.17222; 94.86028The Pagan kingdom (Burmese: ပုဂံပြည် Băgam pyi [bəɡàɰ̃ kʰɪʔ]; lit. 'Bagan state'), also known as the Pagan dynasty, was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Myanmar. Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Bamar ethnicity in Upper Myanmar, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar and in mainland Southeast Asia.

The kingdom grew out of a small 9th-century settlement at Pagan (present-day Bagan) by the Mranma people, the predecessor to the modern Bamar ethnicity. Over the next two hundred years, the small principality gradually grew to absorb its surrounding regions until the 1050s and 1060s when King Anawrahta founded the Pagan Empire, presumably for the first time unifying under one polity the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. By the late 12th century, Anawrahta's successors had extended their influence farther to the south into the upper Malay Peninsula, to the east at least to the Salween River, in the farther north to below the current China border, and to the west, in northern Arakan and the Chin Hills. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Pagan, alongside the Khmer Empire, was one of two main empires in mainland Southeast Asia.

Buddhism in Vietnam (Vietnamese: Đạo Phật, 道佛 or Phật Giáo, 佛教), as practiced by the Vietnamese people, is a form of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. It is the second religion in Vietnam. According to the Vietnamese government's 2019 National Population and Housing Census, approximately 4.6 million individuals identified as Buddhists, representing about 4.8% of the total population at that time. Roman Catholics represent 6.1% of the total population and the vast majority (83.6%) stated that they had to no religion or practice folk religion. However, the U.S. Department of State's 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom cites Vietnam's "White Book" that the Buddhist population increased from nearly 10 million in 2008 to approximately 14 million in 2021, which accounts for 13.3% of the overall population of Vietnam.

Buddhism may have first come to Vietnam as early as the 3rd or 2nd century BCE from the Indian subcontinent or from China in the 1st or 2nd century CE. Vietnamese Buddhism has had a syncretic relationship with certain elements of Taoism, Chinese spirituality, and Vietnamese folk religion. Theravada Buddhism also exists, as well as indigenous forms of Vietnamese Buddhism such as Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương and Hòa Hảo.

A Dharma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The name is traditionally given by a Buddhist monastic, and is given to newly ordained monks, nuns and laity. Dharma names are considered aspirational, not descriptive.

Most of the well-known Buddhist teachers are known to have had many different Dharma names in the course of their careers, and often each name represents a stage of their career. For example, Prince Shotoku was also known as Prince Umayado and Prince Kamitsumiya. Shinran's original name was Matsuwakamaru; he was also known as Hanen, Shakku, Zenshin, Gutoku Shinran and Kenshin Daeshi. Nichiren's original name was Zennichi and his Dharma names were Zenshobo Rencho and Rissho Daishi. Similarly, the tradition of various Dharma names was also used by Zen monks, who also used art to promote Buddhism. The famous monk-painter Hokusai was also known as Shunro, Kako, Sori, Taito, Iitsu, Gakyojin and Manji. Even the famous samurai Miyamoto Musashi had several names, including the Dharma name Niten Doraku and the birthname Miyamoto Masana. The Zen monk Thích Nhất Hạnh also has used various Dharma names in the course of his career.

Yama Zatdaw (Burmese: ရာမဇာတ်တော်, pronounced [jàma̰ zaʔ tɔ̀]), unofficially Myanmar's national epic, is the Burmese version of the Ramayana and Dasaratha Jataka. There are nine known pieces of the Yama Zatdaw in Myanmar. The Burmese name for the story itself is Yamayana, while zatdaw refers to the acted play or being part of jataka tales of Theravada Buddhism.