The Great Vehicle: Mahayana Buddhism

As Dr. Madhu Bazaz Wangu, founder of Mindful Writers Group indicates and professor of religions in India, indicates, Buddhism is a path to spiritual discovery (8). Being that Buddhism is a non-theistic religion; its disciples follow the monotheistic doctrine demonstrating that they believe in only one deity. Siddhartha Gautama, mostly acknowledged as Buddha––the enlightened––, is the one deity Buddhists believe in. As Dr. Wangu writes, Siddhartha practiced severe self-denial and meditation before he could accomplish Nirvana (state of mind that ends the path of suffering) (8). Siddhartha came to the conclusion that to reach Nirvana one should be capable of eliminating desire by doing right and thinking right. This could be done by following the Dharma (the law of Buddhism). Because the Buddha never wrote down any of his teachings, his disciples memorized his words. Nevertheless, hundreds of years later after the Buddha’s death, his teachings were written down. By that time, two different forms of Buddhism had already appeared; Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. As viewonbuddhism.org explains, Theravada Buddhism follows more firmly the Buddha’s teachings while Mahayana Buddhism adapted the Buddha’s teachings more freely. Unlike Theravada Buddhists who teach how to become arhats (perfect saints) to obtain Nirvana, Mahayana Buddhists teach how to become Bodhisattvas, saints who delay Nirvana to help other obtain it as well.
Although the origins of Mahayana Buddhism are not clearly known, Richard Hughes Seager, professor of religious studies at Hamilton College, writes, Mahayana Buddhism has it origins in India around 100 C.E. (23). Because the Buddha initiated his teachings in India, the different forms of Buddhism emerged fro...

... middle of paper ...

...adapted, hence emerged many different schools from it. The final purpose of all Mahayana Schools is to help others obtain Nirvana with an open option to become a Buddha. Buddhism was never forced on anyone; instead, Mahayana Buddhism was made to be easily adapted with any other religion or tradition. Being a flexible version of Buddhism, Mahayana can provide a routine of meditation and thought to help you end the path of suffering––Nirvana.

Works Cited

Freiburg KG Herder, Verlag. Trans. Heinrich Dumoulin, and John C. Maraldo. Buddhism in the Modern World. New York: Macmillan Co., Inc, 1976. Print.
Seager Hughes, Richard. Buddhism in America. Chichester: Columbia University Press, 1999. Print.
Wangu Bazas, Madhu. Buddhism: World Religions. New York: Brown Publishing Network, Inc., 1993. Print.
Rudy Harderwijk. http://viewonbuddhism.org/ . nd, web, March 27, 2014.