Buddhism has developed in a variety of different forms and it has also adapted to different environments.Compare and contrast buddhism in two different buddhist countries.Distinguish the forms of buddhism practiced in each country and the specific ways it

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Buddhism is one of the worlds ' major religious . It was initially founded in North Eastern India based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (Wayman , 1997 . Its main teachings are based on perseverance in sufferings and rebirth of its followers

It emphasizes on meditation and thorough follow up of good moral values

Thailand and China are two main countries which are known to be strong followers of Buddhist religion . Buddhism as a religion is practiced in two main practice . These are : Mahayana and Theravada

. The two countries China and Thailand have different practices since China practices Mahayana while Thailand practices Theravada

The main difference between the two practices is that Mahayana emphasizes on Bodhisattva and reincarnation ideas leading to Buddha hood whereas Theravada emphasizes on Arahantaship

However , the two practices have a number of similarities . The two practices accepted Sakyamuni Buddha as their teacher . Sakyamuni was a title given to religious person who acted as a teacher in teaching the practices of Buddhism (William , 2005 . In Buddhism schools , the four noble truths are exactly the same in both practices . These four noble truths guide Buddhist on areas that they should follow . Also , in this school of Buddhism , the eight fold paths are exactly the same in both Theravada and Mahayana practices

The origin of Paticca-Sumuppada is the same in both Mahayana and Theravada practices

The two practices , Mahayana and Theravada rejected the idea of Supreme Being who created and governed the world . They did not believe in Supreme Being who create and governed the country

Both practices accepted three characteristics of existence which include annica , Dukkha and Anata . These characteristic of existence enabled the two practices to exist in either of these ways (Tamura 1997

Mahayana and Theravada accepted the three levels of training in Buddhist school . These are Sila , Samadhi and Panna without revealing any difference between the two practices

These main similarities evidenced by the two practices have greatly strengthened the unity of Buddhism and they have helped Buddhist religion to grow and have little differences regarding the two practices . This is much strengthened by the fact that the two practices worship the same golden god Buddha the only difference is evidence by their practices

The two countries worshipped in temples but difference came in regarding the practices carried out in those temples (Tamura , 1997

In China , the scripture was carried on the back of a white horse . The white horse which carried the scripture was adopted as the name of the temple . In Thailand , practices in temple were different from those of China since in the first place they did not recognize temple as church but it was considered to be more than a church , since other practices such as village life serving as schools , orphanage theatre , meeting hall , crematorium , youth clubs , and playgrounds and sometime as market place . Buddhist temples in Thailand have strict dress code similar to those of Christians in west

Men were entitled to wearing long pants and a...