>>508703982
>There is a greater and a lesser Buddhism, with the lesser version being the more orthodox to the original message, is there not?
There is, although the same goes for Christianity. Orthodox traditions place all of their emphasis on the spirit of the lessons, and are very opposed to modern American views which only tend to the letter and insist that the Bible is the literal word of God. Even looking back as recently as the 1500's, it wasn't uncommon to see Christian writers point out that the Bible was almost entirely allegorical and should be read with as unliteral of an eye as possible.