ABSTRACT
The various sects or schools of Buddhism in Tibet are probably best referred to as “religious orders” in that most of them are in many ways analogous to Christian monastic orders in the West, namely Benedictines, Dominicans, and so forth. Thus, not only do they accept as fundamental the same Tibetan Buddhist canon (finally compiled in the thirteenth century and consisting almost entirely of works translated from Buddhist Sanskrit originals), but many of them were founded by outstanding men of religion, just as the various Christian orders were established, and so far as doctrine and religious practice is concerned there are no considerable differences between them. Conversely, the various sects or schools of Indian Buddhism were clearly distinguishable at two levels: first, they began to separate according to their various diverging versions of the traditional “monastic rule” (Vinaya), attributed by all of them to Śākyamuni Buddha himself; second, ever greater divergences developed from the early centuries Ce onward as some communities adopted philosophical views and religious cults typical of the Mahāyäna, while other communities held to the earlier traditions.
