Beginnings File:Abhayagiri_Dagoba_in_Anuradhapura,_Sri_Lanka.jpg|
Abhayagiri Dagoba at
Anuradhapura built in the 2nd Century BC File:Bodhisattva_Avalokitesvara-BMA.jpg|Bodhisattva
Avalokiteśvara, venerated in Lanka today as Natha deva. File:Ratnamaliyantra.jpg|Ratnamali Yantra Historically, monks of the
Abhayagiri and
Jetavanaramaya fraternities in
Sri Lanka are known to have incorporated
Bodhisattva vows and
Tantric rituals into their practices, The practice of
Paritta (protective chanting) in Sri Lanka may also trace its origins to tantric influences from mendicants of the Abhayagiri Vihara. Paritta chanting plays a central role in Sri Lankan religious and social life, functioning both as a communal ceremony and a form of protection. The Sri Lankan
Theravāda tradition is unique for maintaining paritta
bhāṇaka (reciter) lineages dedicated to preserving these chants orally. While earlier oral lineages for transmitting the
Vinaya,
Sutta, and
Abhidhamma Piṭaka texts have largely disappeared, paritta transmission lineages have survived because oral transmission is believed to empower the texts with spiritual efficacy. The use of
Yantra diagrams as meditation aids within the Theravāda tradition is also thought to have originated among members of the Abhayagiri community.
Theravāda Buddhism in
Southeast Asia was also shaped by the influence of
Vajrayāna, which flourished in the region during the
Khmer Empire and
Srivijaya periods. However, esoteric practices may have already been present due to the broader
Indianization of Southeast Asia.
Ari Buddhism—practiced in the
Bagan Kingdom of
Myanmar (Burma)—combined
Tantric elements from India with local traditions of
spirit and
Nāga worship. Scholars such as
François Bizot have proposed that the Buddhism of the
Mon people may have influenced the later Yogāvacara tradition. During the reign of
Rama I, the Thai Yogāvacara master
Kai Thuean (1733–1823) was invited to
Bangkok to lead the meditation tradition there. He was later appointed
Sangharaja (supreme patriarch) by
Rama II of Siam in 1820. Following the re-establishment of the Sri Lankan
sangha by
Upali Thera, monks of the
Siam Nikaya practiced and disseminated these teachings, establishing monasteries around
Kandy. Yogāvacara practices, such as the rapid repetition of
Araham, were still observed in Sri Lanka as late as the 1970s. The Dhammayuttika Nikaya was later introduced into
Cambodia, then a protectorate of the Thai kingdom, further contributing to the decline of esoteric traditions.
Legacy File:Logo of Samatha Trust.jpg|Logo of the Samatha Trust File:Dhammakaya_logo.png|Logo of the
Dhammakaya movement File:Preparing_an_offering_ceremony.jpg|Offering ceremony at
Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen One of the last monks believed to have received initiation into the traditional Boran lineage in Sri Lanka was a monk named
Doratiyāveye Thera, who lived around the turn of the 20th century. His life marks one of the last recorded links to the
Boran or “ancient” meditation traditions that once thrived in Theravāda monasteries across the region. Some contemporary Buddhist movements in Southeast Asia are thought to preserve echoes of this heritage. Scholars suggest that elements of Yogāvacara practice have influenced modern Thai traditions such as the
Dhammakaya movement. The movement's mother temple,
Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, and its associated online centers such as the Vijja Meditation Center, continue to promote systematic forms of concentration and visualization practice. Throughout the region, temples integrate meditation, ritual, and popular devotional culture. Many monasteries engage lay followers through both Dhamma instruction and the sale of sacred items such as
amulets,
yantra cloth (
Pha Yant), and protective tattoos. Temples like
Wat Bang Phra are known for their
sak yant tattoo rituals, while others, such as
Wat Tha Sung, are celebrated for their elaborate ceremonies and meditative teachings. Outside Asia, the older
Samatha methods have also been maintained. The
Samatha Trust in the UK represents one such organization dedicated to teaching and preserving these early meditative traditions in the West along with the traditional Tai-Khmer knowledge of
bijas. ==Practices and concepts==