Religion

• Mahayana Buddhism


  Believing itself as the more genuine version of Buddha's teachings, it has diverged into numerous schools with each developing its own canon and rituals since its founding more than two thousand years ago
• Mahayana Buddhism


  • Also known as the "Great Vehicle", it emerged out of monastic rule and doctrinal differences within the original form of Buddhism
  • While the two major Buddhist schools of Mahayana and Theravada both originated in the foundational teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, their methods and search for liberation from the cycle of reincarnation can be very different
  • They may be viewed as two different articulations of the original principles of the historical Buddha
  • In contrast to the Theravada school of thought, Mayahana Buddhism aims to extend religious authority to a larger number of people
• Mahayana Buddhism is widespread in China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and Tibet
• With its openness to more traditional religious views, Mahayana Buddhism has developed a wide appeal to common people and gained tremendous ground in becoming one of the most successful missionary religions in the world
• Mahayana Buddhism


  • Not a single group but more of an assembly of Buddhist customs
• Buddha was a spiritual leader and teacher whose life serves as the foundation of the Buddhist religion
• Mahasamghika


  One of the early Buddhist schools that may have been the source for the initial growth of Mahayana Buddhism
• Sthavira nikaya


  Another major Buddhist school that had a religious schism with the Mahasamghika during the "Second Buddhist Council"
• These new ideas eventually concretized resulting in a new form of Buddhism quite different from the original teachings taught by Siddhartha Gautama and to those accepted by Theravada Buddhists
• Mahayana Buddhism practically became a new religion
• Mahayana Buddhism was able to penetrate new places without fear of reprisal from native religions since deities or local gods can be treated as manifestations or incarnations of Buddha
• Theravada was the first to enter China during the first century C.E., but Buddhism did not gain much ground here not until the arrival of Mahayana in the third century C.E.
• Mahayana Buddhism took a major foothold of China while local beliefs were relegated to lesser stature
• Korea was the next territory to be influenced by Mahayana school around the fourth century C.E. and followed by Japan in the sixth century C.E.
• Mahayana Buddhism existed alongside Japan's native religion Shintoism
• Mongolia and Tibet likewise embraced Mahayana Buddhism
• All these places developed their own versions of Mahayana Buddhism that exist up until the present day
• Buddhism was steadily dying in India where it all started due to a series of invasions that destroyed numerous Buddhist centers and temples, and the rising tide of Islam in India resulted in the forcible conversion of Buddhists to the Muslim faith
• Hinduism was able to gradually absorb challenging religions, such as Buddhism and Jainism, due to its tolerance and openness to other belief systems
• The Hindu belief that Siddhartha Gautama was a manifestation of Vishnu contributed to the fading influence of Buddhism in India
• Mahayana Buddhism disappeared in India during the eleventh century
• Nonetheless, Mahayana Buddhism is still the most popular branch of Buddhism in the world today
• Tripitaka


  The collection of Buddha's teachings, which is the canonical texts of the Theravada school that the Mahayana branch also accepts
• Abhidharma Pitaka


  Ultimate Doctrine
• Mahayana Buddhists have teachings or sutras not present in the Theravada school and the followers believed they have recovered the original teachings of the Buddha
• Principal scriptures of the Mahayana sect have no parallels in the Pali Canon
• Lotus Sutra


  One of the most popular and prominent Mahayana Buddhist texts, also known as the Saddharmapundarika-sutra which literally means "correct dharma white lotus sutra" or "Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Law" in Sanskrit
• The Lotus Sutra is presented as a discourse conveyed by Siddhartha Gautama before his eventual death
• Mahayana tradition maintains that while the sutras were recorded during Siddhartha Gautama's lifetime, these sutras were kept for 500 years and reintroduced only during the "Fourth Buddhist Council" in Kashmir in 78 C.E.
• The oldest portion of the Lotus Sutra may have been written between 100 B.C.E. and 100 C.E., and a Chinese version was translated from the original Sanskrit in 255 C.E. making it the earliest record of such existence in history
• Lotus Sutra


  Contains the most definitive teachings of the Buddha, and a key idea within the influential sutra is that all people equally and inherently possess the so-called "Buddha nature" or "Buddhahood" which is the condition of complete happiness and freedom from fear and illusions
• Trikaya


  The teaching of Mahayana Buddhism about the nature of the Buddha and reality, which states that each Buddha has three bodies: dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya
• Dharmakaya


  Body of absolute truth; absolute nature of all beings
• Sambhogakaya

  Body that experiences bliss of enlightenment
• Nirmanakaya


  Body that manifests the world; embodiment of dharmakaya in human form
• For Mahayana Buddhists, Buddhas are not individuals who actually lived in this world, but rather expressions of the one Buddha reality, such as that of Siddhartha Gautama
• Bodhisattvas


  One distinct feature of Mahayana Buddhism concerns its teachings about bodhisattvas
• Sambhogakaya


  A special place which is beyond perceptual forms. As a body of bliss, the state of sambhogakaya is already enlightened but remains distinctive. Believed to be a remuneration of one's aggregated positive deeds, it serves as a crossing point between the two other trikayas of Buddha.
• Nirmanakaya


  The physical body that undergoes birth, inhabits the world, and dies in the end. The great teacher Siddhartha Gautama is an example of a Buddha in a state of nirmanakaya.
• For Mahayana Buddhists, Buddhas are not individuals who actually lived in this world. In some ways, they are simply expressions of the one Buddha reality, such as that of Siddhartha Gautama.