History of Buddhism Xuanzang in 7th-century India were Mahayanists. Early Mahayana schools of thought included the Mādhyamaka, Yogācāra, and Buddha-nature ("Tathāgatagarbha") teachings. Mahayana is today the dominant form of Buddhism in East Asia and Tibet. Several scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, which are among the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras, developed among the Mahāsāṃghika along the Kṛṣṇa River in the Āndhra region of South India. The earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to include the very first versions of the Prajñāpāramitā genre, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya Buddha, which were probably written down in the 1st century BCE in the south of India. A.K. Warder believes
Newar Buddhism Newar Buddhism Newar Buddhism is the form of Vajrayana Buddhism practiced by the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It has developed unique socio-religious elements, which include a non-monastic Buddhist society based on the Newar caste system and patrilineality. The ritual priests ("guruju"), vajracharya (who perform rituals for others) and "shakya" (who perform rituals mostly for their own families) form the non-celibate religious sangha while other Buddhist Newar castes like the Urāy act as patrons. Uray also patronise Tibetan Vajrayanin, Theravadin, and even Japanese clerics. Although there was a vibrant regional tradition of Buddhism in the Kathmandu Valley during