MAHAYANA BUDDISM

a. Founder: Siddhartha Gautama

 The precise origin of Mahayana Buddhism is unknown. It appeared

sometime between 150 BC and AD 100 in India and quickly spread
throughout Asia. It came about with the introduction of new sutras, or
authoritative teachings of the Buddha.
 These teachings drew on but modified earlier Buddhist
thought.Mahayana gave rise to several Buddhist schools of thought
such as
Varjayana,Vinaya,Tendai,Avamtasaka,Yogacara,Madyamika,and Zen,
which is perhaps the most recognizable school to those who live in the
west..
 Mahayana Buddhism is one of two major Buddhist traditions, both of
which base their philosophies on the teachings of Siddartha Guatama,
more commonly referred to as the Buddha. Like Theraveda Buddhism,
Mahayana is both a philosophy and a way of life that aspires to nirvana.
Nirvana is a state of enlightenment that comes with the recognition that the ego, or the thing
we think of as our self, is an illusion that causes us pain and suffering. Mahayana differs from
the Theraveda tradition in three basic ways:

 1.Mahayan emphasizes sunyata, or the emptiness that comes with enlightenment. While
Theravada Buddhism suggests that sunyata is the ultimate basis of all things, Mahayana holds that
no such basis exists, that nothing is anything until compared to something else. Put briefly,
everything is nothing! Mahayana embraces the letting go of all phenomena as aspects of illusion.
 2.Mahayana also differs in its preferred path to enlightenment. The Mahayana tradition
privileges the Bodhisattva-path. A bodhisattva is one who has achieved enlightenment
but postpones full nirvana to help others on their paths to do the same. Unlike the
Theravada tradition, which held that enlightenment required years of careful study by
trained monks and sometimes required multiple reincarnated lifetimes to achieve,
Mahayana tradition holds that any individual can take up the bodhisattva-path and that
enlightenment can occur suddenly and within one lifetime.
 3.Mahayana Buddhism celebrates the Buddha as transcendent being and encourages
the use of his image, as a meditative tool or object of devotion. Depictions of heroic
bodhisattvas are also associated with Mahayana Buddhism.
 b. SACRED TEXT: SUTRAS
 The Buddhist canon consists of the Sutras:
 the words and teachings of the Buddha.
There are also a number of noncanonical
Buddhist texts that provide supplementary
teachings, rules of conduct and commentary
on transitional states after death.
 Sacred Texts
 The earliest Mahayana texts compose the
vast corpus known as the "Prajnaparamita"
("Perfection of Wisdom"), which forms the
foundation of many later Mahayana schools.
Other important early texts include the
"Sadharmapundarika" ("Lotus Sutra") and the
"Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra."
What are the beliefs of Mahayana
Buddhism?

 MAHAYANA BUDDHISM BELIEFS

 Mahayana Buddhists believe that
salvation is accessible to all those
who have faith and regard
their religion as a way of life that can
be embraced by any one.
.
What is the buddhist holy book
called?
 The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tripitaka ( callled Tripitaka
in pali).It is also called the Pali cannon, after the language in which it
was first written. It is written in an ancient Indian language called pali
which is very close to the language that the Buddha himself spoke.
 Buddhist Sacred Texts: The Sutras. ... The Tripitaka (Pali
Canon), Mahayana Sutras and the Tibetan Book of the Dead are
three major noncanonical Buddhist texts. The Pali Canon, which
means “the word of Buddha,” includes some of
theBuddha's discourse, but it also incorporates the teachings of his
pupils.
c. Doctrines: Four noble truths, Eigth-fold path, The six perfections to become a
bodhisattva
(generosity, morality, patience , perseverance,meditation, amd insight)

 The perfections are the virtues that are fully developed by a

bodhisattva (Buddha-in-training) to become a Buddha.
 A set of six perfections became common among some genres of
mainstream Buddhist literature and developed into a standard list in a
number of Mahayana sutras.
 The six are:
- generosity (dāna),
- morality (śīla),
- patience (kṣānti),
- vigor (vīrya),
- concentration (dhyāna),
- wisdom (prajñā).
d. God: non-theistic

 >Mahayana went a bit further by accepting Buddha as the God

>Some Buddhist accept and suggest that Buddhism is atheistic and
theistic
 >Mahayana Buddhism is a later version of Theravada and
Buddhism
 >Scholars used the term “non-theistic” to define Buddhism is
atheistic and theism
 e. Issues: Tibet invasion, engaged activism

 In the context of Mahayana Buddhism, ‘engaged

activism’ refers to ‘Engaged Buddhism’ which is also
called ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism.’ It is not a
Buddhist branch or sect, but a particular movement
within the Buddhist religion. “Founded by
Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh in the 20th
century, Engaged Buddhism seeks to apply
Buddhist teachings in a more activist and social
manner than has been traditional” (“Engaged
Buddhism,” n.d.).
 The peaceful buddhist country of Tibet was
invaded by Communists China in 1949. Since that
time, over 1.2 million out of 6 Tibetans have been
killed, over 6000 monastaries have been destroyed,
and thousands of TIbetans have been imprisoned.
f. University and growth of sects: Development of buddism to
Zen (chan) Buddism as the fruit of its encounter with taoism.