Abstract

There are plenty of Buddhist traditions throughout the world. The one of the main causes for the arising of these different sects is philosophic problems that these traditions faced time to time in the sāsanic history. This situation can be seen in the Buddha’s time as well as in the later periods of ‘sāsana’. In the Buddha’s time the ‘ātman’ concept was the focal question that he faced. After the demise of the Buddha, about one hundred years later, sāsana got divided into two and subsequently into many sects or groups. At that time, the central question was that if everything is impermanent how could things exist?