Different Buddhist traditions preserve and transmit different philosophical approaches and ways of achieving Liberation and Enlightenment, because in the process of teaching, the Buddha proceeded from the needs, capabilities and abilities of his students. The Four Noble Truths, the doctrine of cause - dependent origin and karma, the doctrine of the non-existence of the individual Self - the Anatmavada ("no-soul") and Kshanikavada (the doctrine of instantaneity) doctrines, as well as Buddhist cosmology-are a range of general ideas that are characteristic of all branches of Buddhism in one form or another. The highest goals of Buddhist spiritual practice are liberation from the shackles of samsara, the attainment of Buddhahood - complete Enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, the state of omniscience and the highest happiness. The understanding of these basic ideas for all Buddhist traditions, as well as the interpretation of ways and methods of advancing along the path of spiritual development can be very different: Buddhism "is historically represented in the form of various trends and trends, sometimes extremely different from each other and more reminiscent of different religions than different confessions within the same religion" [Torchinov, 2002, pp. 30-32]. The abundance of views "reflects the huge changes that took place in Buddhism over the years, from the time of the Buddha and the early forms of Buddhism to the late Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism that came to Tibet" (Clifford, 2003, p. 37). The goals of spiritual development are achieved in completely different ways according to the differences in their philosophical views. Diverse currents in Buddhism are traditionally represented by the Small Way, the Great Way and the Diamond Way to achieve a state of Liberation and Enlightenment. The levels of approach to understanding and applying the Buddha's Teachings are metaphorically referred to as the" Three Turns of the Dharma Wheel "or the"Three Chariots" ... Read more