After the Buddha 's death at the age of 80 , Buddhism eventually split into two main lines , those who strictly followed his teachings , the Theravada or Hinayana school of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia , and those who allowed new interpretations , the Mahayana Buddhists of China , Japan , Korea , Tibet , India , and Nepal .
Buddhism split in two categories of adepts , those who followed Buddha 's teachings and those who allowed new interpretations .