Buddhism is a belief system that has been around since around the 6th century B.C. and most Buddhists today still hold to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path that the Buddha is said to have taught back then, along with his concept of the middle path, or moderation in all things. Several different branches of Buddhism have developed since then, however, with Buddhists primarily following two different paths to enlightenment. The two main branches of Buddhism currently in existence are the Mahayana and the Theravada.
The Mahayana sect is otherwise known as the Greater Vehicle or Northern Buddhism. The Mahayana Buddhists are based mostly in China, Korea, Japan and Tibet. The Theravada, the other main path, is also known as the Smaller Vehicle or Southern Buddhism. These Buddhists are found primarily in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma and other Southeast Asian countries (Epstein, 1992).
One of the differences between those of the Mahayana and those of the Theraveda path is that although neither Theravada nor Mahayana proposes that there is a God or Creator, within the Mahayana sect there is deity belief present in The Three Bodies (forms) of Buddha. These forms are: 1) The Body of Essence or the Ultimate Truth that is Nirvana; 2) The Body of Bliss or Buddha as a divine deity, formless, with the saving power of grace, omnipotence, and omniscience; and 3) The Body of Transformation or the illusion or emanation in human form provided by the divine Buddha to guide his followers along their paths. ("What Mahayana...", 2000). Anyone can achieve Buddhahood by becoming one with the Ultimate Reality and those who sacrifice their liberation to help others find their Buddhahood and are known as Bodhisattvas and are worshipped as gods or saints. In fact, they even go so far as to say there are countless Buddhas presiding over countless universes (2000). The Theravada, however, have no such writings to support any sort of deity bel...