Blackboard Post 3 The Mahayana have a unique system of beliefs which they view as superior to the Hinayana because of the perceived nobility of their goals. One of the fundamental beliefs of the Mahayanists (which helps us to “map” and mentally visualize their doctrine) is their goal of helping all mankind achieve Buddhahood; their collective humanism stands in stark contrast to the relative individualism dictating the Hinayana notion of nirvana. In essence, the Mahayanists view themselves as a final evolution, a realization of the fundamental ideals of Buddhism that resembles the self-perception of Mormons vis-à-vis Christianity or Muslims vis-à-vis Abrahamic religions on the whole. The Mahayanists insult the Hinayanists by viewing them as inferior; however, inferiority is what might have spurred …show more content…
Perhaps still, the Mahayanist ranks may have grown as a result of scorned Buddhists being told that they would probably never be bodhisattvas. The Mahayana seem analogous to the global fundamentalist belief systems shared by many different religions (e.g. Evangelical Christianity or Wahhabi Islam), and appears almost reactionary at times. The Mahayana nevertheless have reasoning behind their proselytism; their “superior vehicle” is considered necessary given the bounds of rationality.
What appears bizarre at first glance is the non-abiding nirvana of the Mahayana; must they live a full reincarnation for a brief moment of enlightenment for another or are they more utilitarian? That the Mahayana believe all barriers to full “apprehension of reality” can be eliminated similarly boggles the imagination of an unenlightened westerner. Translating, juxtaposing, and ultimately achieving the knowledge of the Mahayanist bodhisattva in a modern world defies easy comprehension. It’s
Walking into the Hall of the Buddhas, there was a sense of peace and guidance lingering inside me. The seated Bodhisattva, of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), CA.480, from the Yungang, Cave xv, Shani Province, made of sandstone, guarded the entrance. At first, I thought it was a time to be disciplined, but the transcending smile from the statue was a delicate fixed gesture that offered a feeling of welcome. It was not a place to confess your wrongdoings; neither was it a place for me to say, “Buddha I have sinned.” It was a room to purify the mind, the mind that we take for granted without giving it harmony. There was a large mural decorating the main wall called “The Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru”(916-1125). I sat down wandering if the artist of the portrait knew that his work would one day be shared on this side of the world, in my time. Much like Jesus Christ and his followers, the mural is a painting of healers and saviors. It was a large figure of the Buddha of medicine, (Bhaishajyaquru) surrounded by followers of Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahosthamaprapta with twelve guardian generals who have pledged to disseminate the Buddha’s teaching (Tradition of Liao 916-1125, Metropolitan Museum wall plaque).
In ancient India, many members of lower casts wanted to come back as members of higher casts. While this is an important goal of reincarnation, the main goal is to reach either moksha (Hinduism) or nirvana (Buddhism). In other words, the goal is to reach a point of spiritual enlightenment that removes the person from the reincarnation process. Geoff Childs, an anthropologist, examines the views of the Buddhist religion by studying the lives of the people in Tibetan villages. He looks at issues that adversely affect these people, such as infant mortality.
A man of noble birth, living in the time before the Common Era, preached a way to extinguish the fire of self-centered delusion. This state of Nirvana can be achieved by understanding The Four Noble Truths, suffering in life, he explains can be avoided by following an Eightfold Path. Sounds simple? This must have been an awaking for people of his time seeking a more personal religion, away from the rigidities of a priest-dominated Hinduism of India. The man, the Buddha, spent the rest of his life teaching the religion he discovered and its doctrine based upon his Dharma (cosmic law and order). The first written evidence of the existence of Buddhism is found over 400 years ago after the life of the Buddha. (Kozak) Historians pose the
At this point in time, there were two major schools of Buddhism in China. The first form to emerge was known as Hinayana, or Theravada Buddhism. This loosely translated means, “The Lesser Vehicle.” Theravada Buddhism was mainly concerned with reaching individual enlightenment; how one could rise above the cycle of samsara and reach nirvana. Mahayana Buddhism, or, “The Great Vehicle,” became the popular form practiced in most of China, Japan and Korea. The followers of Mahayana believed that the entire world could reach salvation, and that those who f...
Buddhism is currently the fourth most popular religion in our society today, following Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Its major ideologies are based on the philosophies of Siddhartha Guatama, also known as “Buddha”, who began his teachings in 598 BCE at the age of 35, according to Buddhist texts. A Buddhist’s foremost aspiration is the obtainment of Bodhi, or enlightenment through meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of the breath). Buddhism shares many ideologies with India’s Hinduism and Yoga such as non-harming, non-violence, and self-awareness. In many instances, people regard Buddhism as a way of life rather than a religion, for it has no clear belief in the idea of a God or Gods. Its structure is built upon a hierarchy much like Christianity where superior orders such as Lamas or the Dalai Lama are said to be chosen by nature through the process of reincarnation rather than by a council like Christianity’s Pope. Though these “higher level” Buddhists are rare (not everyone is a reincarnation of an ancient Buddhist “priest”), all are permitted to follow “The Middle Way” either as a Buddhist monk or the simple attendance of a weekly teaching session from time to time. Throughout the last few hundred years the Buddhist population has blossomed into a healthy 381,611,000 and over fifteen different sects including Zen, Mahayana, and Theravada.
...point of view, I do not mind or wish to impose Buddhism on them. However, by looking at scientific studies, I can conclude that Buddhism is very rational.
Although Buddhism and Christianity show several parallels, their three key differences are that Buddhists do not believe in one divine being, and have different views about both the purpose of life and the concept of afterlife. Buddhists do not believe in a Supreme Being, God or Creator, though many Buddhists today worship the Buddha - the central figure of Buddhism - and his teachings. They view him as someone with a universal spirit, an essence that can be attained by everyone rather than only a higher deity that rules over the world (Brown). Especially in Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of the Buddha nature is fundamental (“Pure Land”).... ...
“I work to establish the realm of transcendent wisdoms for all beings”. I detected tensions within the world from this excerpt. The bodhisattva was not backing down and did not fear
There are three motives followers of Buddhism have lesser, middling and great motivation. Mainstream Buddhism has middling motivation and Mahayana has great motivation. Mainstream Buddhism end goal for the majority of its followers is to become an arhat who is a worthy one or the small minority that want to become a Buddha. Mainstream Buddhist have been known to lead the more selfish path since their main goal is to achieve nirvana for one self and stay there. The path to either becoming an arhat or Buddha varies in length. Becoming a Buddha is said to have a more difficult and long journey than one of an arhat. Now Mahayana Buddhist follows the Bodhisattva Path, which can take up to an aeon to complete and when embarking on this path one first accepts the bodhisattva vow. A reason so many are motivated to accept the bodhisattva vow is to avoid bad karma and the penalties that come with it like the five realms of hell. The main goal in Mahayana Buddhism is to attain Buddhahood which, is when one does not reside in nirvana, they wish to pursue other realizations and they come back down out of nirvana to help other beings attain nirvana this is called a Bodhisattva. Since Mahayana Buddhist return from nirvana they remain in a state of samsara till the end. The nirvanas Mahayana and Mainstream
The study of Buddhism over the past century or so has resembled the encounter of the blind men and the elephant in many ways. Students of Buddhism have tended to fasten onto a small part of the tradition and assume their conclusions held true about the whole. Often the parts they have seized on have been a little like the elephant's tusks a striking, but unrepresentative, part of the whole animal. As a result, many erroneous and sweeping generalizations about Buddhism have been made, such as that it is 'negative', 'world-denying', 'pessimistic', and so forth.
Via my identification of the terminal political community as an American and my membership in the collectivity of the Buddhism church that lacks the terminal quality, the structural and psychological basis of my membership in both community are similar. However, the claims that Americans make of me, like obligations, surpass that of the Buddhism church's claims. One will wonder why beliefs can be held by masses of people who do not experience them as beliefs, meaning that the beliefs serve as the "givens" of a political community, even if they are not understood as such.
Though both Hinduism’s moksha and Buddhism’s nirvana are more or less synonymous, they both hold distinctive differences in the path that leads followers to the end goal of enlightenment from samsara. In Hinduism, “letting go” or releasing from samsara by way of the realization that “atman is Brahman” is what moksha is defined as. Contrastingly, Buddhism involves extinguishing feelings that cause suffering and thus, achieving
"Buddhism's Core Beliefs." ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Over 100 million people seek enlightenment by taking on a spiritual journey called Theravada Buddhism, originating in ancient India during 100 BCE. By taking on this religious path people begin to learn traits such as wisdom and acceptance through meditation. I can inform readers about Gautama Buddha’s ancient religion by revealing Theravada’s peaceful teachings and spiritual beliefs. And along this religious journey followers of Theravada become wiser and kinder, they learn to accept things for what they truly are, and this new mindset eventually results in Nirvana, or Enlightenment, the ultimate goal in which every Theravada follower dreams of. This peaceful religion, Theravada, means “school of the elder monks” in Pali, Theravada’s original language in which their sacred doctrines (the Pali Canon and the Pali Tipitaka) are
...deed present at the heart of the Mahayana tradition, it has also been expanded upon in order to answer the philosophical questions that the Pali Canons ignored. Mahayana Buddhism introduces the idea of the “inner Buddhahood”, compassionate Bodhisattvas, dharma as empty, and finally may also encourage a bit of clinging to the recitation and repetition of its dharma. However, aforementioned, it still emphasizes the Buddha’s teachings outlined in the Pali Canons, the existence of dukkha and awakening as a way to overcome it, and especially the Noble Eight Fold Path. Mahayana Buddhism is simply a representation of the Buddhist faith being adapted in a way to make it more all encompassing and strives to provide all, not just the clergy, with a closer connection with the Buddha and his teachings.