Evolving Traditions of Buddhism
Sri Lanka, when Buddhism first arrived in the third century BCE, was a great center of Buddhist learning for the thousand years following Buddhism’s arrival. Therevada Buddhism defines itself by referring to traditions and teachings that were established between the fifth and tenth centuries in Sri Lanka. Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka by Mahinda, after which there emerged three great divisions of the Sangha on the island, each of which centered on a monastery in the ancient capital of Anuradhapura. Mahavihara, great monastery, is the oldest of the monasteries and was established by Mahinda in the third century, the Abhayagiri-vihara in the first century BCE, and the Jetavana in the third century CE. None of the writings of the monks of Abhayagiri and the Jetavana monasteries survived, which makes it hard to tell how their traditions differed from those of the Mahavihara. There appeared to be a rivalry between them due to a Mahavihara opposition to their Mahayana sympathies, which is simplistic and problematic.