The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2482 page)

 
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Thera-
and
Ther
-g
th
(part of Buddhist P
li canon):

see
KHUDDAKA-NIK
YA
.

 
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(Gk., ‘healers’). Jewish ascetic sect. The Therapeutae are described by
Philo
in his
De Vita Contemplativa
. Many scholars believe that their way of life was copied by the early monks of the Christian Church.

 
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(P
li, ‘teaching of the elders (of the order)’; Chin., Shang-tso-pu; Jap., J
zabu; Korean, Sangjwabu). An early school of Buddhism, derived from
Vibhajjav
dins
and associated with Sthaviras. As the major survivor of this line, the term became synonymous with Buddhism derived from, and defensive of, the
P
li canon
—in contrast to
Mah
y
na
. Therav
da is the form of Buddhism in
ri Lank
and SE Asia. Mah
y
na (‘Large Vehicle’) calls Therav
da ‘
H
nay
na