| Mahinda introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the third | | | | which makes it hard to tell how their traditions differed |
| century BCE. After this brief introduction, Buddhism | | | | from those of the Mahavihara. There appeared to be |
| became the dominant religion on the island, and Sri | | | | a rivalry between them due to a Mahavihara |
| Lanka turned into a center of religious learning. The | | | | opposition to their Mahayana sympathies, which is |
| new religion substituted Hinduism and became | | | | simplistic and problematic.The schools of Chinese |
| well-accepted by the low/middle class.It emerged three | | | | Buddhism are divided into two categories, those that |
| great divisions of the Sangha on the island, each of | | | | have a more or less direct Indian counterpart and |
| which centered on a monastery in the ancient capital | | | | those which have a more or less direct Indian |
| of Anuradhapura. Mahavihara, great monastery, is the | | | | counterpart and those that are native to China. The |
| oldest of the monasteries and was established by | | | | principal schools are the Vinaya, the Kosa, the |
| Mahinda in the third century, the Abhayagiri-vihara in | | | | Madhyamaka, the Yogacara, and the Mantrayana. |
| the first century BCE, and the Jetavana in the third | | | | Those schools in principal are also the schools of |
| century CE. None of the writings of the monks of | | | | Korean and Japanese Buddhism. Some schools |
| Abhayagiri and the Jetavana monasteries survived, | | | | developed more significant local traditions than others. |