Vajrayāna in the context of "Dvesha"

Theravāda is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins (anglicized from Pali theravādī), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or Dhamma in the Pāli Canon for over two millennia. As of 2010, Theravada is the second largest branch of Buddhism with 36% Buddhists belonging to Theravada, compared to 53% to Mahayana.

The Pāli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, Pāli, which serves as the school's sacred language and lingua franca. In contrast to Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, Theravāda tends to be conservative in matters of doctrine (pariyatti) and monastic discipline (vinaya). One element of this conservatism is the fact that Theravāda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared c. 1st century BCE onwards). Consequently, Theravāda generally does not recognize the existence of many Buddhas and bodhisattvas believed by the Mahāyāna school, such as Amitābha and Vairocana, because they are not found in their scriptures.

Tibetan tantric practice, also known as "the practice of secret mantra", and "tantric techniques", refers to the main tantric practices in Tibetan Buddhism. The great Rime scholar Jamgön Kongtrül refers to this as "the Process of Meditation in the Indestructible Way of Secret Mantra" and also as "the way of mantra", "way of method" and "the secret way" in his Treasury of Knowledge. These Vajrayāna Buddhist practices are mainly drawn from the Buddhist tantras and are generally not found in "common" (i.e. non-tantric) Mahayana. These practices are seen by Tibetan Buddhists as the fastest and most powerful path to Buddhahood.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the higher tantric yogas are generally preceded by preliminary practices (Tib. ngondro), which include sutrayana practices (i.e. non-tantric Mahayana practices) as well as preliminary tantric meditations. Tantric initiation is required to enter into the practice of tantra.

In Vajrayāna Buddhism, an empowerment or consecration (Sanskrit: abhiṣeka, lit. ablution; sprinkling) is an esoteric initiation or transmission of secret teachings performed by a tantric guru (vajracharya) to a student in a ritual space containing the mandala of a Buddhist deity. The initiation is traditionally seen as transmitting a certain spiritual power (Sanskrit: adhiṣṭhāna, Tibetan: jinlap, sometimes translated as "blessings") which allows the tantric yogi to reach enlightenment swiftly or to attain other yogic accomplishments.

Many tantric practices are commonly said to be secret, and are only to be revealed after ritual initiation. Other tantric practices may be openly known, but are only considered to be effective after being initiated into the proper mandala which corresponds to a specific practice. The secrecy of teachings was often protected through the use of allusive, indirect, symbolic and metaphorical language (twilight language) which required interpretation and guidance from a teacher. The teachings may also be considered "self-secret", meaning that even if they were to be told directly to a person, that person would not necessarily understand the teachings without proper context or initiation. In this way, the teachings are "secret" to the minds of those who are not following the path with more than a simple sense of curiosity.

Nirmāṇakāya (Chinese: 應身; pinyin: yīngshēn; Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, tulku, Wylie: sprul sku) is the third aspect of the trikāya and the physical manifestation of a Buddha in time and space. In Vajrayāna it is described as "the dimension of ceaseless manifestation".

In Theravāda Buddhism, pariyatti, paṭipatti, paṭivedha (Pāli; "Learning; practicing; realizing") is the educational concept consisting of three progressive stages culminating in full understanding of the Buddha's teaching. Pariyatti refers to the theoretical study of the Buddha's teaching as preserved within the suttas and commentaries of the Pāli Canon; paṭipatti means to put the theory into practice; and paṭivedha means penetrating the theory or rather experientially realizing the truth of it, that is the attainment of the four stages of awakening. Traditionally, pariyatti serves as the foundation of paṭipatti, and paṭipatti serves as the foundation of paṭivedha.

The Pāli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, Pāli, which serves as the school's sacred language and lingua franca. In contrast to Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, Theravāda tends to be conservative in matters of the theoretical study of the doctrine (pariyatti) and monastic discipline (vinaya). One element of this conservatism is the fact that Theravāda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared c. 1st century BCE onwards).