The Path of the Elders: Understanding Theravāda Buddhism in Cambodia

Chapter One: The Enduring Path: A History of Buddhism in Cambodia The story of Buddhism in Cambodia is a journey as long, as complex, and as resilient as the story of the Khmer people themselves. While the nation today is defined by the gentle, saffron-robed presence of ** Theravāda Buddhism **, the path to this modern reality was a winding one, involving centuries of religious coexistence, imperial patronage of different schools, a near-total annihilation, and a powerful, modern rebirth. The history of the Dharma in this land is not a single, straight line, but a rich and layered chronicle of adaptation and endurance. It is a story that begins in the shadow of the great Hindu temples of Angkor and culminates in the vibrant, living faith of the village pagoda that stands at the heart of every community today. The Early Seeds: Buddhism in the Age of Hindu Gods Buddhism first arrived in the region of modern-day Cambodia in the earliest centuries of the first millennium CE. Like the Brahmanic…