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Mahayana Buddhism is the largest Buddhist sect in the world, and its beliefs and practices are what most non-adherents recognize as "Buddhism" in the modern era. It developed as a school of thought sometime after 383 BCE, possibly from the earlier school known as Mahasanghika , though that claim has been challenged.

Mahasanghika ("Great Congregation") was an early Buddhist school that developed after the Second Buddhist Council of 383 BCE when the Sthaviravada school ("Sect of the Elders" or "Teaching of the Elders") broke away from the Buddhist community over doctrinal differences. This early schism led to others and the development of many different Buddhist schools of which Mahasanghika was only one.

Mahasanghika, claiming to represent the majority of Buddhists (as its name suggests) was thought by 19th-century scholars to have eventually become Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle"), but modern scholars contend that this is incorrect as evidence suggests Mahayana existed alongside Mahasanghika and was supported and encouraged by that school. How and why Mahayana Buddhism developed is a question still debated by scholars and Buddhist theologians.

Buddha ’s Life & Death

According to Buddhist tradition, the belief system was founded by a former Hindu prince, Siddhartha Gautama (l. c. 563 - c. 483 BCE), whose father protected him from experiencing any kind of pain or suffering for the first 29 years of his life. When the prince was born, a seer prophesied that, should he ever experience or even see evidence of pain and suffering, he would become a great spiritual leader, renouncing his kingdom. Siddhartha’s father, hoping to preserve his dynasty, constructed a pleasure palace , which distanced his son from the everyday world of pain and disappointment and kept him safely inside the compound through the help of his many servants.

Siddhartha grew up, married, and had a son, all the while believing he was living in the real world. Periodically, he would be taken for a ride around what he believed was his father’s kingdom by a coachman loyal to the king who made sure to stay away from the gates leading to the outside world. One day, though, this coachman (or, in the most popular version of the tale, a substitute who was unaware of the rules) took the prince out through one of the gates, and he encountered the Four Signs that would change the direction of his life:

• An aged man

He had never experienced anything like this before and questioned the coachman each time after seeing the first three, asking, "Am I, also, subject to this?" The coachman explained how everyone grew old, experienced illness and pain, and eventually died. This revelation horrified the prince because he understood he had been living in a false world constructed by his father which was actually governed by the same rules as this real world he was now encountering and, eventually, he would lose everything he loved.

The fourth sign, the ascetic, intrigued him, however, as this man seemed unconcerned with age, sickness, or death and so he had the coachman stop so he could ask why. The ascetic replied that he was living a life of non-attachment to the world and was at peace, and shortly after this, Siddhartha abandoned his life and fled to the woods to join a band of spiritual ascetics.

He learned meditation techniques and how to fast and various methods of spiritual discipline, but none of these satisfied him. Finally, he removed himself from the ascetic community and went out on his own, eventually seating himself beneath a Bodhi tree and claiming he would attain enlightenment there or die in the attempt.

Enlightenment came in the form of the Four Noble Truths :

• Life is suffering
• The cause of suffering is craving
• The end of suffering comes with an end to craving
• There is a path which leads one away from craving and suffering

He understood that the suffering he felt at the thought of losing everything he loved was caused by the desire that these things remain just as they were forever. This craving for permanence in an impermanent world, he realized, could only lead to suffering because the nature of life was transitory. All aspects of existence were in a constant state of change, growth, and dissolution; nothing could be held and claimed as everlasting, not even the identity one believed was oneself. Scholar John M. Koller comments:

The Buddha's teaching of [the Four Noble Truths] was based on his insight into interdependent arising ( pratitya samutpada ) as the nature of existence. Interdependent arising means that everything is constantly changing, that nothing is permanent. It also means that all existence is selfless, that nothing exists separately, by itself. And beyond the impermanence and selflessness of existence, interdependent arising means that whatever arises, or ceases, does so dependent upon conditions. This is why understanding the conditions that give rise to [suffering] is crucial to the process of eliminating [suffering]. (64)

In this moment, he became the Buddha ("Enlightened One") and recognized, in the Fourth Noble Truths, the way to live without suffering. He called this “the middle way” between extreme asceticism and enslavement to sense attachments, also known as the Eightfold Path:

• Right Intention
• Right Speech
• Right Action
• Right Livelihood
• Right Effort
• Right Mindfulness
• Right Concentration

By following this path, one could still appreciate all that one had without insisting on permanence; one could appreciate without attachment. Buddha’s first sermon outlined this vision and attracted adherents who became the first Buddhists.

Early Buddhist Schools

Buddha taught his precepts until the age of 80 when he died. He told his disciples they should not choose a leader, every person should seek enlightenment individually just as he had done, and requested that his remains be placed in a stupa at a crossroads, presumably so travelers would see it and be reminded that there was a way to live without constant suffering through rebirth and death in countless incarnations. His disciples, instead, divided his remains amongst themselves and erected stupas at various locations throughout the region each felt most appropriate. They then institutionalized the Buddha’s teachings, chose a leader, and wrote up rules and regulations for the faith.

The First Council was convened c. 400 BCE at which the rules governing the community (the sangha ) were established and the Buddha’s "true" teachings separated from "false" legends that had already grown up around him. At the Second Council of 383 BCE, different factions within the sangha offered their own interpretations of these teachings and of the rules previously agreed to. Disagreements led to one group, later known as the Sthaviravada school, separating from the main body and declaring they, alone, understood Buddha’s vision. The larger group became known as Mahasanghika – the Great Congregation – which had more adherents than Sthaviravada – and also claimed it alone understood the Buddha’s message.

The Sthaviravada school took Buddha’s admonition that each person should seek their own enlightenment and turned their focus inward toward each member of the sect working to become an arhat (saint) with no responsibility for anyone else. Mahasanghika took the example of Buddha’s life – complete selflessness in service to others – as their model and believed each person could become a Bodhisattva (“essence of enlightenment”) and it was a Buddhist’s responsibility, after attaining enlightenment, to help others achieve the same state.

More schools developed out of these first two and, by the late 3rd century BCE, there were many which included Mahayana. Around 283 BCE, the Mahasanghika school divided over whether the teachings of Mahayana were worthy of acceptance. Sometime shortly after this, Mahasanghika either died out or merged with Mahayana. It is unclear what happened to the school, but later texts state that they lost the authority to ordain monks which must have meant that some larger and more powerful school of thought now claimed that right. The only school with that kind of power at the time was Mahayana.

Mahayana Beliefs

The claim that Mahayana developed from Mahasanghika is supported not only in the similarity of the names (both claiming to be the largest group of believers and therefore the majority who agreed on Buddha’s vision) but by what is known of Mahasanghika beliefs later held by Mahayana. Mahasanghika rejected the Sthaviravada position that the primary goal of Buddha’s message was individual spiritual perfection, claiming an arhat was just as fallible as any other human being and possessed no supernatural powers or insights. To the Mahasanghika school, an arhat was simply a spiritual ascetic who used Buddha’s vision as a guide toward spiritual development instead of one of the many others in use at the time. Mahasanghika also believed:

• Bodhisattvas take vows prior to their incarnation to be born in the worst locales so they can help people overcome their suffering.
• Only the present exists at all times; past and future are illusions which distract and trouble the mind.
• Enlightened beings, spirits, and deities exist in every direction, at all times, because there actually is no time – no past and no future – only an eternal present.
• Enlightenment brings supramundane powers including the ability to communicate without speech.

Mahayana Buddhism accepted all of these tenets but also claimed that a Mahayana sutra – a book of Buddhist teachings, words of the Buddha, hagiographies, and meditative verses – represented the authentic vision of the Buddha while those of other schools, however valuable they might be, did not. The term Mahayana was self-applied – the school itself claimed to have the largest number of followers – and they called other schools Hinayana ("The Lesser Vehicle") applied to those groups that rejected Mahayana sutras and maintained their own beliefs regarding the Buddha and his essential teaching.

The main difference between Mahayana and other schools was their focus on the importance of the bodhisattva. One’s path toward enlightenment was not for one’s benefit alone but for the whole world. Once one had attained an awakened state, it was one’s responsibility to assist others in doing the same. A further important difference is that Mahayana understands the Buddha (known as Sakyamuni Buddha) as an eternal, transcendent being who is either eternal or is possessed of so long a lifespan that he may as well be. Accepting this truth and dedicating oneself to emulation of the Buddha’s path is rewarded by spiritual merit which advances one on the path to becoming a bodhisattva and then a Buddha like Sakyamuni and the many others that Mahayana believes came before and after him.

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All Buddhas who have ever lived have always existed and will always exist in the eternal present human beings experience as life. Sakyamuni Buddha, therefore, did not actually die of dysentery after eating his last meal but only appeared to because those around him understood death as an end to life. They experienced the Buddha’s death because they accepted the paradigm of someone dying, but to the Mahayana school, this was only another of the many of life’s illusions. Sakyamuni Buddha, like all others, has been active in the lives of believers and non-believers the world over for centuries and will continue to be for generations yet to be born.

Mahayana Practices

These beliefs are observed in one’s daily life through the ten practices known as pāramitā ( Sanskrit for "perfection") essential to one’s spiritual development:

• Dāna Pāramitā : Charity, the act of giving generously
• Śīla Pāramitā : Morality, self-discipline, virtuous conduct
• Ksānti Pāramitā : Patience, forbearance, endurance
• Vīrya Pāramitā : Effort, diligence, perseverance
• Dhyāna Pāramitā : Concentration, single-mindedness
• Prajñā Pāramitā : Wisdom, spiritual knowledge tempered by compassion
• Upāya Pāramitā : Method, the right way to accomplish anything
• Pranidhāna Pāramitā : Resolution, determination in working toward a goal
• Bala Pāramitā : Spiritual power
• Jñāna Pāramitā : Knowledge, both of the nature of life and of oneself

There are different paramita lists, some only include the first six of the above, some all ten. It should also be noted that the above is the list from Sanskrit sources while in the Pali sources (in which the pāramitā are known as pāramī ) the perfections are different and include renunciation and a commitment to telling the truth at all times. The list of ten practices, eventually split into six and four, is thought to reflect an early cohesion of Buddhist thought, which fractured as different schools developed.

By including these practices in one’s daily life, one advances along the path of the bodhisattva. Scholars Robert E. Buswell, Jr. and Donald S. Lopez, Jr. comment:

The practice of these perfections over the course of the many lifetimes of the bodhisattva’s path eventually fructifies in the achievement of Buddhahood. The precise meaning of the perfections is discussed at length [in Buddhist commentary] as is the question of how the six (or ten) are to be divided between categories of merit (Punya) and wisdom (Jnana). (624)

The accumulation of spiritual merit is an important aspect of Mahayana belief and is accrued through adherence to the discipline of the paramita and acceptance of the truth of the Mahayana sutras.

Mahayana Scriptures

Besides the Dhammapada , a collection of 423 verses attributed to Sakyamuni Buddha, the foundational text of Mahayana Buddhism is The Perfection of Wisdom (the literal translation of the Sanskrit title Prajñāpāramitā ) written by various Buddhist sages primarily between c. 50 BCE - c. 600 CE. It is a kind of manual on how to become a bodhisattva with a full understanding of Buddhist Dharma (“cosmic law ”) unimpeded by one’s ego which darkens understanding through willful ignorance and pride. The verses of this work aim at confusing rational thought and linear thinking in order to free the mind to understand the world from a different, higher perspective.

For many people, this is the most important work in Buddhism, memorized and recited daily by Buddhists around the world. It contains some of the most famous Buddhist sutras such as The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (c. 50 BCE), The Diamond Sutra (c. 2nd century CE), and the Heart Sutra (c. 660 CE). The Heart Sutra is the most often memorized and recited as it focuses on discarding the ego-attachment to the identity one calls the "self", freeing the mind and spirit to create space – emptiness – in the self that can then be filled by higher thought and clearer vision. As long as one is full of oneself, one has no room for anything else – like a home that has become cluttered with so many possessions there is no room for even one more and, further, one no longer even knows what is there – but by reciting the Heart Sutra , one removes, piece by piece, the elements of self and "cleans house", as it were, restoring a natural balance and order to one’s life.

There are many more significant scriptures in Mahayana Buddhism including the equally, if not more, famous Lotus Sutra (also known as Sutra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma ) which makes clear that all forms of Buddhism are aspects of Ekayana ("One Vehicle" or "One Path") and Mahayana Buddhism, while still claiming to be the most complete or authentic, is only one of many.

There are also the Pure Land Sutras , celebrating the work of the Celestial Buddha Amitabha and the realm of bliss he created, which awaits believers in the afterlife. The Golden Light Sutra emphasizes the importance of order in one’s internal life that is reflected externally, specifically concerning kings and those in authority. Another work, the Tathagatagarbha Sutras , makes clear that all living things are possessed of a Buddha-nature which, if developed, lead to the enlightenment of Buddhahood. Other, equally important, sutras, develop these themes and others in providing a complete guide to following the path of the bodhisattva and freeing oneself, and then others, from ignorance, avarice, and the craving that binds one to the wheel of perpetual suffering.

Buddhism did not initially find a wide audience in India where Hinduism , which was already well established, and Jainism , which appealed to the ascetic community, were more popular. It was not until Buddhism was embraced by Ashoka the Great (r. 268-232 BCE) of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE) that it was spread across the Indian subcontinent and was exported to other lands such as China , Sri Lanka, Korea , and Thailand.

In the present day, there are many schools of thought around the world representing the Buddhist vision but the main three are:

• Theravada Buddhism (The School of the Elders, possibly developed from the Sthaviravada school)
• Vajrayana Buddhism (The Way of the Diamond, also known as Tibetan Buddhism)

Of these, as noted, Mahayana Buddhism is the most widely practiced, and its rituals, such as pilgrimage to stupas and other holy sites and veneration of statues of the Buddha, are most widely recognized. Contrary to claims by some modern writers, Theravada is not the oldest school of Buddhism as it developed at the same time as Mahayana. All schools recognize the value of Buddha’s essential teaching of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path but interpret and express that value differently in the way they think best to address suffering and encourage compassionate enlightenment throughout the world.

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Bibliography

• Baird, F. E. & Heimbeck, R. S. Philosophic Classics: Asian Philosophy. Routledge, 2010.
• Buddha. The Dhammapada . Scribners, 2010.
• Burtt, E. A. The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha. Berkley, 2000.
• Buswell, R. E. jr & Lopez, D. S. jr. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press, 2013.
• Dalai Lama, His Holiness, et. al. Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions. Wisdom Publications, 2017.
• Keay, J. India: A History. Grove Press, 2010.
• Koller, J. M. Asian Philosophies. Prentice Hall, 2007.
• Shantideva & Padmakara Translation Group. The Way of the Bodhisattva. Shambhala, 2006.
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• Williams, P. Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. Routledge, 2008.

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Setting Out on the Great Way: Essays on Early Mahāyāna Buddhism

Setting Out on the Great Way  brings together different perspectives on the origins and early history of Mahāyāna Buddhism and delves into selected aspects of its formative period. As the variety of the religion which conquered East Asia and also provided the matrix for the later development of Buddhist Tantra or Vajrayāna, Mahāyāna is regarded as one of the most significant forms of Buddhism, and its beginnings have long been the focus of intense scholarly attention and debate.

The essays in this volume address the latest findings in the field, including contributions by younger researchers vigorously critiquing the reappraisal of the Mahāyāna carried out by scholars in the last decades of the 20th century and the different understanding of the movement which they produced. As the study of Buddhism as a whole reorients itself to embrace new methods and paradigms, while at the same time coming to terms with exciting new manuscript discoveries, our picture of the Mahāyāna continues to change. This volume presents the latest developments in this ongoing re-evaluation of one of Buddhism’s most important historical expressions.

"Setting Out on the Great Way: Essays on Early Mahāyāna Buddhism"

Setting Out on the Great Way brings together different perspectives on the origins and early history of Mahāyāna Buddhism and delves into selected aspects of its formative period. As the variety of the religion that conquered East Asia and also provided the matrix for the later development of Buddhist Tantra or Vajrayāna, Mahāyāna is regarded as one of the most significant forms of Buddhism, and its beginnings have long been the focus of intense scholarly attention and debate.

The essays in this volume address the latest findings in the field, including contributions by younger researchers vigorously critiquing the reappraisal of the Mahāyāna carried out by scholars in the last decades of the twentieth century and the different understanding of the movement they produced. As the study of Buddhism as a whole reorients itself to embrace new methods and paradigms, while at the same time coming to terms with exciting new manuscript discoveries, our picture of the Mahāyāna continues to change. This volume presents the latest developments in this ongoing re-evaluation of one of Buddhism’s most important historical expressions.

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• Table Of Contents

Mahayana , movement that arose within Indian Buddhism around the beginning of the Common Era and became by the 9th century the dominant influence on the Buddhist cultures of Central and East Asia , which it remains today. It spread at one point also to Southeast Asia , including Myanmar (Burma) and Sri Lanka , but has not survived there. The movement is characterized by a grandiose cosmology, often complex ritualism, paradoxical metaphysics , and universal ethics .

The origins of Mahayana Buddhism remain obscure; the date and location of the tradition’s emergence are unknown, and the movement most likely took shape over time and in multiple places. The proper appraisal of the early Mahayana is even further complicated by the fact that most reconstructions have been heavily influenced by the agendas of modern sectarian movements and that the scriptures most valued by later groups are not necessarily the texts that best represent the movement in its formative period. The earliest sources for the tradition are the Mahayana sutra s, scriptures that were first compiled some four centuries after the Buddha ’s death. As in earlier canonical Buddhist literature, these scriptures, almost certainly written by monks, present the movement’s innovative ideas in the form of sermons said to have been delivered by the Buddha Shakyamuni, as Siddhartha Gautama is known.

Despite the common assumption that the counterpart to Mahayana is pre-Mahayana Buddhism, the differences between Mahayana and non-Mahayana Buddhism are usually more a matter of degree and emphasis than of basic opposition. Many non-Mahayana literary sources date from a time when the Mahayana had already become established, and therefore both sets of sources reflect mutual influences. Mahayana, therefore, should not be seen as the successor to an earlier established tradition. The definition of the Mahayana as one of three vehicles was intended to establish the Mahayana’s superiority over other teachings, and it has no historical basis. The same is true of the contrast frequently found in modern studies between Mahayana and Hinayana (“Lesser Vehicle”), a term used in some Mahayana texts to criticize unacceptable and deviant opinions; it has no real-world referent and is never equivalent to non-Mahayana Buddhism, much less to any specific sect such as the Theravada .

Central to Mahayana ideology is the idea of the bodhisattva , one who seeks to become a Buddha. In contrast to the dominant thinking in non-Mahayana Buddhism, which limits the designation of bodhisattva to the Buddha before his awakening ( bodhi ), or enlightenment, Mahayana teaches that anyone can aspire to achieve awakening ( bodhicittot-pada ) and thereby become a bodhisattva. For Mahayana Buddhism, awakening consists in understanding the true nature of reality. While non-Mahayana doctrine emphasizes the absence of the self in persons, Mahayana thought extends this idea to all things. The radical extension of the common Buddhist doctrine of “dependent arisal” ( pratityasamutpada ), the idea that nothing has an essence and that the existence of each thing is dependent on the existence of other things, is referred to as emptiness ( shunyata ).

The bodhisattvas seek to understand this reality through wisdom ( prajna ) and to actualize it through compassion ( karuna ). They realize that since no individual has a “self,” there can be no real difference between themselves and others, and therefore their own liberation is not distinct from the liberation of all beings. They are thus “self-less,” both philosophically, in the sense of understanding the absence of self or essence in all things and persons, and ethically, since they act for all beings without discrimination .

Buddhism, like most Indian systems of thought, sees the world as a realm of transmigration, or reincarnation ( samsara ), from which one may escape by attaining nirvana . In the Mahayana tradition, the emphasis is less on nirvana and more on knowledge or wisdom, the mastery of which constitutes awakening. Moreover, because the fact of emptiness implies that all dualities, such as good and evil or existence and nonexistence, are ultimately false, even basic distinctions such as that between samsara and nirvana cannot be sustained. As developed by later philosophers, such as Jnanagarbha in the 8th century, the doctrine of the Two Truths, absolute truth ( paramarthasatya ) and conventional truth ( samvritisatya ), resolves the apparent conflict by stating that ultimately things do not exist as such, which is to say, do not exist as they seem to exist, substantially. Therefore, ordinary reality is ultimately nothing more than convention or tacit agreement. Understanding absolute truth consists in understanding the nature of ordinary reality as nothing more than conventional. This is realized through meditation and—in the Vajrayana tradition, which uses highly symbolic language—through various practices specifically designed to break down ordinary assumptions through shocking inversions of normal expectations. Practices that challenge ordinary views of purity and impurity, for instance, teach that such notions are not an inherent part of the world but something imposed upon it by convention.

The universal accessibility of awakening, together with the idea that the universe has no beginning in time and is filled with an infinite number of beings and an infinite number of worlds, leads to the conclusion that there are not only an infinite number of bodhisattvas in the universe but also an infinite number of buddhas, each dwelling in his own world-realm. The existence of these buddhas erases the separation between samsara and nirvana inherent in the idea that buddhas cease to exist upon attaining nirvana. These “cosmic” buddhas play a role in many Mahayana sutras and much more so in later Tantric traditions. As depicted in many Mahayana and Vajrayana texts, this cosmology confirms that all aspirants can become buddhas. A prominent example of this idea is the bodhisattva Dharmakara , whose vows set the conditions under which he would attain awakening and become the Buddha Amitabha (Japanese: Amida). He promised to create the world-realm Sukhavati (“Pure Bliss”) and to guarantee that ordinary beings could attain rebirth there (rather than reentering the cycle of transmigration) merely by having faith in him. Amitabha assured his devotees entry into Sukhavati by transferring to them some of the infinite merit he acquired during eons of practice as a bodhisattva. Although the classical theory of karma dictates that only an individual’s own actions can affect his future, epigraphical evidence illustrates the early existence of the idea of the transfer of merit, especially to one’s deceased parents, ultimately leading to their liberation. The generation of merit has always been important in Buddhism, but the application of merit toward the acquisition of wisdom and ultimate awakening, instead of toward better future rebirths within samsara, is a Mahayana innovation .

The development of this cosmology marked a shift away from the idea that the Buddha Shakyamuni is the sole refuge or source of liberation to the view that there are multiple sources. This in turn entailed a multiplicity of objects of veneration, ranging from other buddhas, such as Amitabha and Vairocana , to bodhisattvas, such as Avalokiteshvara , and eventually even to symbolic representations, such as scrolls reproducing the title of the Lotus Sutra , an early Mahayana scripture, in the calligraphy of the Japanese monk Nichiren (1222–82). This devotion has generated a vibrant array of visual art, with sculptures and paintings often seen as themselves empowered to aid believers.

Crucial to the Mahayana salvific vision is the doctrine of skillful means ( upaya ). Motivated by compassion and guided by wisdom and insight, buddhas and bodhisattvas wish to lead ordinary beings to liberation. Their individually appropriate methods are beyond ordinary comprehension and may even seem deceptive, but they are justified by the superior insight of these saviours. The most famous examples of this idea are given in parables from the Lotus Sutra ; they have served as influential models for later elaborations, particularly in popular literature .

"The Chief Characteristics and Doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism"

Author:  King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Crozer Theological Seminary)

Date:  April 28, 1950 ?

Location:  Chester, Pa. ?

Genre:  Essay

Topic:  Martin Luther King, Jr. - Education

In this paper for Davis’s course History of Living Religions, King explores the tenets of Mahayana Buddhism and implicitly associates that religion’s morality and popular appeal with the ideals of Christianity. King drew chiefly on S. Radhakrishnan’s  Indian Philosophy  and J. B. Pratt’s  The Pilgrimage of Buddhism.  (King later met Radhakrishnan during his 1959 trip to India.) Davis gave King an A for the paper, calling it “a clear statement,” and a B + for the course.

Immediately after the death of Buddha schismatic tendencies began to develop within the religion which he had founded. Even in Buddha’s lifetime there were tendencies to schism among his followers, but his magnetic personality was able to prevent their development. 1  The first great doctrinal controversy in Buddhism was about the nature of Buddha. The school of the great council (Mahasanghikas) maintained that Buddha’s nature was transcendent, and free from all earthly limitations. The conservatives, while exalting Buddha, above common humanity, would not admit that he was exempt from all the limitations of mankind.

These were but the first steps in a path which led to a radical transformation of Buddhism. The progressive group gave itself the name Mahayana, “the great vehicle,” that is, the comprehensive scheme of salvation; with a deragatory comparison they called the old fashioned religion Hinayana, “the little vehicle,” a scheme of individual salvation.

Hinayana Buddhism was called Southern Buddhism, since it prevailed in southern countries like Burma and Ceylon. On the other hand Mahayana Buddhism was called Northern Buddhism, since it flourished in northern countries like China and Japan. However this dividion seems to be an artificial one. Says Rhys Davids: “There is not now, and never has been, any unity either of opinion or of language in what is called Northern or in what is called Southern Buddhism.”\[Footnote:] R. Davids, Buddhist India, p. 173.\ 2  Although the division is artificail from a geographical point of view it is all important on higher grounds: the “southern” school insists that it has preserved the original teachings of Buddha with no accresions; the “northern” school is manifestly a broader interpretation. The northern school has never been essentially dependent upon the historical Buddha. Dates and documents have never mattered much to this Idealism.

As time passed on Hinayana Buddhism became the “incarnation of dead thought and the imprisonment of spirit.” It could give neither a warm faith for which to  work  {live, nor a real ideal for which to work.} It set forth a sort of world hatred as its inspiring motive. It preferred negative philosophical speculation, rather than a warm and positive religious expression. But this negative philosophy of the Hinayana could never become a popular religion. 3  Its cold, passionless metaphysics could never inspire a real emotional uplifting. 4  “The Hinayana ignored the groping of the spirit of man after something higher and wronged the spiritual side of man. The philosophical atheism of the Hinayana is the skeleton in the box, the diseased worm in the beautiful box.”\[Footnote:] S. Radhakrishman, Indian Philosophy, p. 589\ 5  Thus the Hinayana Buddhism had to give way to a more positive and religious mode of expression. As Buddhism became more catholic, the Hinayana became less useful. As Buddhism spread throughout India and even beyond it, it had to adjust itself to new modes of thought. It had to present its message in language understandable to the masses. This challenge was met by Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayanism was able to capture the minds of the masses by giving up the icy coldness of some forms of early Buddhism and framing a religion that could appeal to the inner emotions.\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 591.\ 6

The Mahayana Buddhism gives us positive ideas of the ultimate issues of life. The Mahayana, or Great Vessel, offers to all beings salvation, by faith and love as well as by knowledge, while the Hinayana only seeks those few strong souls who require no external aid nor the consolation of worship. The Hinayana is exceedingly hard; whereas the burden of the Mahayana is light, and does not require one to totally renounce the world and his affections for humanity. “The Hinayana emphasises the necessity of saving knowledge, and aims at the salvation of the individual, and refuses to develop the mystery of nibbana in a positive sense; the Mahayana lays as much or greater stress on love, and aims at the salvation of every sentient being, and finds in nirvana the One Reality, which is void only in the sense that it is free from the limitations of every phase of the limited or contingent experience of which we have emperical knowledge.”\[Footnote:] A. Coomaraswamy, Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism, p. 227.\ 7  The Hinayanist would protest that the Mahayanist too easily capitulated the pure teachings of Buddha to the necessities of human nature. But such capitulation was inevitable if Buddhism was to win converts. The Hinayana Buddhism was a religion for the thinking and the strong in spirit. Its lack of any supernatural power, its morbid way of solving the central problems of life, its reduction of nirvana to ultimate extinction, and its relegation of the ethical life to a streneous asceticism, could never satisfy the masses. A new development had to arise for the emotional and the worshipful. 8  Such was found in Mahayana Buddhism. At this point we may turn to a more detailed study of the chief characteristics and doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism.

The Mahayana Methaphysics

The metaphysics of Mahayana is monistic in character. All that exist in the world is of one reality. The nature of this reality is beyond description. 9  “Things in their fundamental nature cannot be named or explained. They cannot be adequately expressed in any form or language. They are beyond the range of perception, and have no distinctive features. They possess absolute sameness, and are subject neither to transformation nor to destruction. They are nothing else but one soul, for which tathata is another designation.”\[Footnote:] Suzuki’s translation of, The Awakening of Faith, p. 56.\ 10  No relativity whatsoever can be attributed to the absolute. However it is the self-existent and the source of all. It is “the effulgence of great wisdom; the universal illumination of the dharmadhatu (universe), the true and adequate knowledge, the mind pure and clean in its nature; the eternal, the blessed, the self-regulating and the pure, the immutable and the free.”\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 96.\ 11

The Mahayana Buddhists see the world of experience as phenomenal and not real. They liken it to a maya, mirage, flash of lightning or froth.\[Footnote:] Radhakrishnan, op. cit., p. 593.\ All existent things have three aspects: (1) quintessence, (2) attributes, and (3) activities. This may be illustrated by a simple jar. Its quintessence is the earth, its attribute is the form of the jar, and its activity is to keep water. The attribute and activity are by nature mutable, subject to the law of birth and death. On the other hand the quintessence is indestructible. 12  The whole universe has its unchanged aspect as well as its changeable one. The term most frequently used to name the ultimate cosmic principle or the unchangable aspect of the universe is Bhutatathata. This universal absolute is above all predicates. It can best be expressed in terms of the mystic, i.e., by negatives: “Bhutatathata is neither that which is existence nor that which is plurality, nor that which is at once unity and plurality.”\[Footnote:] Suzuki, op. cit., p. 59.\ 13  It is quite significant to note the similarity of this conception with the Brahman of the Upanishads. However it seemed that the Mahayanists were quite aware of the similarity of their position with the Upanishadic view. 14  In fact there was a steady influence of the spiritualistic monism of the Upanishads upon the thought of Mahayana Buddhism. The acceptance of the cosmic and monistic Bhutatathata on the part of the Mahayanists was quite significant for later Buddhism, for it meant the transformation of Buddhism from an individualistic and either pluralistic or nihilistic philosophy into a monistic and spiritualistic view, strikingly similar to neo-Hegelian absolute idealism.\[Footnote:] J. B. Pratt, The Pilgrimage of Buddhism, p. 248.\ 15

The rise of the world of multiplicity is accounted for by a metaphysics of metaphors. Ignorance or avidya is said to be the cause of the world. 16  As stated previously Bhutatathata is pure spirit or pure awareness without multiplicity or character; but it is infected with multiplicity through the action of ignorance, a process which the author of the Awakening seeks to make plainer by the simile of “perfuming.” Just as clothes when new have no odor but are scented by the perfumes which one puts upon them, so the pure, undifferentiated mind is “perfumed” by ignorance. From this perfuming there results the mind of man, and from the mind of man results the dream or vision of an external world. 17  However this illusion of an external world is a defect of true vision; it is “a cataract on the spiritual eye.” This world of multiplicity is indeed ultimately attributable to, it flows from, the One Reality. At this point, as Pratt reminds us,\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 253.\ we find the Mahayana asserting the same general thesis as Spinoza. Like Spinoza again, the Mahayana does not pretend to be able to follow out the details of derivation. They are quite aware of the impossibility of ascertaining where the many appear and where they disappear; for that we must look to the Supreme Nature. However we can know that the many are illusory, like the “flower-shaped apparition” which a man would get, “who with perfect sight, beheld the pure void of space, but fixed his eyes on one particular spot, beyond which he did not look or move his eyes, staring until his sight was fatigued.” 18

We are immediately led to ask the question, whence arises in our finite minds the illusion of the many? This question is never completely and satisfactorily answered. The Mahayana struggles with it, but its attempts at explanation seldom satisfy the western reader. It seems that their explanation boils down to this point: since an illusion is really a negation of reality, consisting of non-being, no explanation is required. In other words, since it is a form of nothing, it is not necessary to attribute a cause to it.

This then is the explanation of the phenomenal world; this expresses the way in which the many evolve from the one through the intervention of ignorance. Obviously this is not wholly clear. But it need not perplex us to much, for even the author of the Awakening does not claim to have full understanding of the matter himself. In fact, he tells us that “the mind which starts from the perfuming influence of ignorance which has no beginning cannot be comprehended by common people nor even by Sravakas and Pratyekalriddhas. It is partly comprehended by some Bodhisattvas; but even those who have reached the highest stage of Bodhisattvahood cannot thoroughly comprehend it. The only one who can have a clear and consummate knowledge of it is the Tathagata.”\[Footnote:] Suzuki, op. cit., p. 78.\ 19

The Mahayana Religion

From a doctrinal point there is no unity in the Mahayana religion. It is characterized by a great degree of diversity. This lack of doctrinal unity in Mahayana Buddhism may be attributed to its amazing amount of tolerance, something quite conspicuously missing in Hinayana Buddhism. Wherever Mahayana Buddhism prevailed the indigeneous religions were tolerated, while it took care to teach them a new respect for life, kindness to animals and resignation. So long as they followed certain ethical rules, the new converts were not forced to give up their numerous superstitions. Any god could be believed in so long as one was ethical. This protean character of Mahayana Buddhism is another example of that universal historical law, viz., that that culture which conquers is in turn conquered. 20  This universal law is especially true of religion. It was true when Christianity proved victorious in the Roman empire and it was true when Mahayana Buddhism won converts from the regions of China, Korea, Siam, Burma and Japan. “The more crusading a religion is, the more it absorbs.”

The amazing amount of tolerence of Mahayana Buddhism is in consonance with its metaphysical views. It is asserted that all religions are revelation of the same Dharmakaya and bring out some aspects of truth.\[Footnote:] Radhakrishnan, op. cit., p. 597.\ Dharma is the all-pervading spiritual force, the ultimate and the supreme principle of life. It is interesting to note that there is an attempt to personify dharma in the conception of Buddha. He is considered the first cause, the eternal God, superior to all things the supreme and first of all Buddhas. 21  He is the devatideva, the paramount God of gods. He is the creator of all bodhisattvas. All beings are his children. “The tathagata, having left the conflagration of the three worlds, is dwelling in peace in the tranquillity of his forest abode, saying to himself all three worlds are my possession, all living beings are my children, the world is full of intense tribulation, but I myself will work out their salvation.” “To all who believe me I do good, while friends are they to me who seek refuge in me.”\[Footnote:] Quoted in Radakrishnan, op. cit., p. 600.\ 22  However there is more than one Buddha. There are a number of Buddhas endowed with the highest intelligence and love. They too are working constantly to save the world. There have been an infinite number of these Buddhas in the past, and there will be an infinite number in the future. All of these Buddhas are transitory manifestations of the one eternal being. 23

Many of the Vedic gods are brought over into Mahayanism, and thus become aspects of the One Supreme Reality. Nagarjuna who, with Asvaghosha is commonly considered the founder of Mahayana Buddhism, by his precept and practice taught that the Hindu gods of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Kali had the attributes assigned to them in Brahmanical scriptures, and were proper objects of worship. The traditional Hindu gods were easily adjusted to this new system, and their function and assignments were readily given.\[Footnote:] Indra becomes Satamanyu and Vajrapani, with his own kingdom of heaven. Brahma had his chief characters transferred to Manjusri, the lamp of wisdom. Vishnu passes his attributes to Avalokitesvara or Padmapani. Virupaksa is one of the names of Shiva, though in Buddhistic legend he is one of the four kings. Ganesa is taken over both as Vinayaka and demon Vinatakn. Ajita formed with Sakyamuni and Avolokitesvara a triad. 24 \ A close analysis of Mahayanism will reveal that a vast number of its bodhisattvas, archangels and saints are only Vedic Aryans “thinly disguised by Buddhistic symbolism.”\[Footnote:] Radhakrishnon, op. cit., p. 598.\

On the surface Mahayana religion seems to be polytheistic, in contrast to its monistic metaphysics. But a more scrutinizing study would reveal that the several gods are subordinate to a single head. 25  It is the Dharmakaya which is the ultimate foundation of existence. This metaphysical conception of Dharmakaya as the ground of all existence makes Mahayana religion essentially compatible with its metaphysics.

The Ethics of Mahayana

The ethical ideal of the Mahayana is the Bodhisattva. Etymologically the term Bodhisattva means simply one whose being consists of insight. But historically it means “one who is on the way to the attainment of perfect knowledge, a future Buddha.” 26  The term was first applied to Gotoma during his previous births and throughout the earlier years of his historical life up to the time of his enlightenment. It therefore came to mean a man destined to become a Buddha in this or in some future life.\[Footnote:] Pratt, op. cit., pl 217.\ 27  To understand this ideal it is necessary to go back to the teaching and life of the founder. His own example was quite free from selfishness and narrowness. He taught that each man should avoid giving pledges to Fortune and should seek the desireless and sorrow-free life. But beyond this his own heart was so full of love for every form of suffering creature that he long postponed Parinivana for their sake. It was this point of the Buddha’s teaching and example that the Mahayanist seized upon and it was upon this that they based their moral ideal. The Arat 28  of the Hinayana, busy about his own salvation, was considered too narrow and selfish by the Mahayana, and they erected in his stead the ideal of the earnest seeker after the welfare of others, who in unselfish devotion to his fellow creatures accumulates great stores of merit and dedicates it not to his own salvation but to that of all suffering beings. Merit is thought by the Mahayana as being transferable. There is also the element of vicarious suffering in Mahayana religion. The Bodhisattva is able to present his merit to a needy world, and for its sake he is willing to be a meritless sinner.\[Footnote:] Ibid, 218.\ 29  It is interesting at this point to note the similarities of this conception of vicarious suffering and the transference of merit to many of the theories of atonement that have appeared in the history of Christian thought.

The Mahavastu, a late Hinayana work, gives a list of ten stages in the progress of the Bodhisattva, and the same number is retained, with modifications in detail, by the Mahayana authorities. 30  The first stage is the joyful (pramudita) one characterised by the rise of the thought of bodhi. It is here that the Bodhisattva makes sincere resolutions which determine the future course. One such vow is the resolution of Avalokitesvara not to accept salvation until the last particle of dust shall have attained to Buddhahood. The recognition of the impermanence of things brings the stage of Vimala or purity into being. In it came the practice of morality and the exercise of wisdom (adhicitta). In the next stage the Bodhisattva goes through the process of blotting out anger, hatred, and error, and promoting faith, compassion, charity, and disinterestedness. This is the third stage (prabhakari), where the seeker shines with patience and forbearance. In the fourth stage the Bodhisattva surrenders all traces of egoism by training himself in good work and applying himself specially to the cultivation of virtues connected with bodhi. In the fifth stage the seeker begins a course of study and meditation to understand the four noble truths in their true light. In the next stage the seeker turns to the basic principles of “dependent origination and nonsubstantiality.” This stage is called the abhimukhi, or “turned towards.” The seeker now devotes himself to the attainment of that knowledge which would enable him to effect his aim of universal salvation. He is now in the seventh stage, called duramjama. Next the seeker comes to the eighth stage in which the supreme virtue of (anutpattiladharmacaksuh) seeing all things such as they are dominates. In the ninth stage the seeker reaches the point when all his acts are unselfish, done without desire. Finally the Bodhisattva reaches the tenth stage in which he becomes a tathagata, a cloud of dharma.\[Footnote:] Radhakrishnan, op. cit., pp. 601, 602.\ 31

In this upward pathway from the phenomenal world to the Real world we see something of the Mahayana view of salvation. Just before his death, Buddha had said to his followers, “Work out your own salvation with diligence.” The Mahayana accepts this command and urges the necessity of individual effort in the salvation process. But they do not stop here. The help of a saviour is necessary. The Mahayana would reword the Buddha’s sentence and cry with St. Paul: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”\[Footnote:] Philippians 2:12.\ It is the Buddha nature within us that unites itself with our wills in the struggle for salvation. Without this more than human aid, salvation from ignorance and desire would be impossible.

The principles of the moral life for the Mahayana are five in number, viz., dana (charity), virya (fortitude) sila (morality), ksanti (patience), and dhyana (meditation). The severity of monasticism is relaxed. It is possible for one to reach the goal and remain married. Asceticism and poverty are not emphasized as they are in Hinayana ethics. The doctrine of karma is tempered with mercy. Emphasis is placed on faith as a way of salvation. 32  The Mahayana insists on the turning over of ethical merit to the advantage of others. They insist that no man lives to himself alone. The good or evil of one affects the whole. Whether the metaphysical truth that nothing on earth is real, can be reconciled with the ethical law that we should work and suffer for our neighbor, is apparently a problem which the Mahayanist never solved. 33  He would still insist that he must save the world. When the question of nirvana is brought forth the Mahayanists are anxious to make out that it is not annihilation. 34  It is real freedom where ignorance is overcome. 35  It is the union with the great soul of the universe. 36  To become a Buddha is to become one in essence with the infinite. 37

Now we may see why Mahayana Buddhism gradually won out over Hinayana Buddhism. The Hinayana was for the Buddhist elect chiefly: the Mahayana is for everybody. It has its obstruse philosophical appeal for the thinker, as was noticed in its metaphysical system; and at the same time it provides something for the most naive mind, as was noticed in the amazing degree of tolerance in its religion. 38  “Its thinkers were well aware of Hegel’s distinction between religion and philosophy at least sixteen hundred years before Hegel was born. The truths of philosophy need not be studied in their obstruse form by the beginner; for him the simpler and symbolic figures that speak to the imagination may well suffice.”\[Footnote:] Pratt, op. cit., p. 231.\

Thus Buddhism became a religion for the laymen as well as for the monk. The emphasis on fleeing from the world was replaced by a desire to live in the world, while yet being not of the world. In the words of Coomaraswamy, “the development of the Mahayana is the overflowing of Buddhism over the limits of Order into the life of the world.”\[Footnote:] op. cit. p. 228\ 39

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Ashvaghosha, Awakening of Faith, trans. by D. T. Suzuki, Chicago, 1900.
• Coomaraswamy, A. Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism, New York, 1916.
• Davids, R., Buddhist India, New York, 1903.
• Pratt, J. B., The Pilgrimage of Buddhism, New York, 1928.
• Radhakrishnan, S., Indian Philosophy, New York, 1923.

1.  S. Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , vol. 1, (New York, Macmillan, 1923). p. 581: “Even in the lifetime of Buddha there were tendencies to schism among his followers, though they did not develop on account of the magnetic personality of the founder.”

2.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 584: “Hīnayāna Buddhism was called Southern Buddhism, since it prevailed in southern countries like Ceylon, while Mahāyāna is called the Northern, since it flourished in the North, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan. But this division seems to be an artificial one. Rhys Davids observes: ‘There is not now, and never has been, any unity either of opinion or of language in what is called Northern or in what is called Southern Buddhism.’”

3.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 590: “The negative philosophy of the Hīnayāna could not become a popular religion.”

4.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 589: “A cold, passionless metaphysics devoid of religious teaching could not long inspire enthusiasm and joy.”

5.  The end of the quotation should read “the diseased worm in the beautiful flower” rather than “in the beautiful box” (Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 589).

6.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 591: “The Mahāyāna found that it could capture the peoples’ minds only if it gave up the icy coldness of some forms of Buddhism and framed a religion which could appeal to the human heart.”

7.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , pp. 591–592, quoting A. Coomaraswamy,  Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism , pp. 226–227: “The Mahāyāna Buddhism gives us positive ideas of God, soul and human destiny. ‘The Mahāyāna, or Great Vessel, is so called by its adherents in contradistinction to the Hīnayāna, or little vessel, of primitive Buddhism; the former offers to all beings in all worlds salvation by faith and love as well as by knowledge, while the latter only avails to convey over the rough sea of becoming to the farther shore of nibbāna, those few strong souls who require no external spiritual aid nor the consolation of worship. The Hīnayāna,… is exceeding hard; whereas the burden of the Mahāyāna is light, and does not require that a man should immediately renounce the world and all the affections of humanity.… The Hīnayāna emphasizes the necessity of saving knowledge, and aims at the salvation of the individual, and refuses to develop the mystery of nibbāna in a positive sense; the Mahāyāna lays as much or greater stress on love, and aims at the salvation of every sentient being, and finds in nirvāna the One Reality, which is “void” only in the sense that it is free from the limitations of every phase of the limited or contingent experience of which we have empirical knowledge.’”

8.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 592: “The Hīnayāna protests against the Mahāyāna as an accommodation of the pure teaching to the necessities of human nature.… The absence of the supernatural and the consequent lack of any scope for imagination, the morbid way of solving the central problems of life, the reduction of nirvāna to extinction and ethical life to a monastic asceticism, made the Hīnayāna a religion for the thinking and the strong in spirit, while a new development had to arise for the emotional and the worshipful.”

9.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 593: “Mahayana metaphysics is monistic in character. All objects in the world are of one reality. The nature of this reality is beyond language and description.”

10.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 593, quoting Suzuki’s translation of  The Awakening of Faith , p. 56: “‘Things in their fundamental nature cannot be named or explained. They cannot be adequately expressed in any form of language. They are beyond the range of perception, and have no distinctive features. They possess absolute sameness, and are subject neither to transformation nor to destruction. They are nothing else but one soul, for which tathatā is another designation.’”

11.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 593, quoting Suzuki’s translation of  The Awakening of Faith , p. 96: ”It is ‘the effulgence of great wisdom; the universal illumination of the dharmadhātu (universe), the true and adequate knowledge, the mind pure and clean in its nature; the eternal, the blessed, the self-regulating and the pure, the immutable and the free.’”

12.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 593: “The world of experience is phenomenal and not real.… The Mahāyāna Buddhists liken the universe to a māyā, mirage, flash of lightning or froth. All things of the world have the three aspects of (1) quintessence, (2) attributes, and (3) activities. If we take a jar, its quintessence is the earth, its attribute is the form of the jar, and its activity is to keep water. The attribute and activity are subject to law of birth and death, while the quintessence is indestructible.”

13.  J. B. Pratt,  The Pilgrimage of Buddhism  (New York: Macmillan, 1928), pp. 249–250, quoting Suzuki’s translation of  The Awakening of Faith , p. 59: “Pure being, if so I may for the moment render Bhutatathata, is above all predicates. It can best be expressed as the mystics have always expressed it, by negatives: ‘ Bhutatathata  is neither that which is existence nor that which is nonexistence; it is neither that which is unity nor that which is plurality, nor that which is at once unity and plurality, nor that which is not at once unity and plurality.’”

14.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 594n: “The Mahāyānists seemed to have been aware of the similarity of their position to the Upaniṣad view.”

15.  Pratt,  Pilgrimage of Buddhism , p. 248: “It meant the transformation of Buddhism from an individualistic and either pluralistic or nihilistic philosophy into a monistic and spiritualistic view, an absolute idealism in many ways strikingly similar to neo-Hegelianism.”

16.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 594: “The rise of the world is accounted for as usual by a metaphysics of metaphors. Ignorance or avidyā is said to be the cause of the world.”

17.  Pratt,  Pilgrimage of Buddhism , p. 250: “ Bhutatathata  and  Alaya-vijnana  are pure spirit or pure awareness without multiplicity or character; but they are infected with multiplicity through the action of ignorance, a process which the author seeks to make plainer by the simile of ‘perfuming.’ Just as our clothes when new have no odor but are scented by the perfumes which we put upon them, so the pure, undifferentiated mind is ‘perfumed’ by ignorance. From this perfuming there results the mind of man, and from it the dream or vision of an external world—a world of things which are nothing but the percepts of the various observers.”

18.  Pratt,  Pilgrimage of Buddhism , p. 253: “The illusion of a real material world is a defect of true vision; it is, as it were, the effect of a cataract on the spiritual eye. This world of multiplicity is indeed ultimately attributable to, it flows from, the One Reality—here we find the Mahayana philosophy asserting the same general thesis as Spinoza. Like Spinoza again, the Mahayana does not pretend to be able to follow out the details of the derivation. To ascertain the precise point where the many appear and where they disappear is not possible; for that we must look to the Supreme Nature, and beyond that we can ascertain nothing. But we know that the many are illusory, like the ‘flower-shaped apparition’ which a man would get ‘who with perfect sight, beheld the pure void of space, but fixed his eyes on one particular spot, beyond which he did not look or move his eyes, staring until his sight was fatigued.’”

19.  Pratt,  Pilgrimage of Buddhism , p. 254: “This, then, in general, is the explanation of the world of multiplicity; this expresses the way in which the many evolve from the One through the intervention of ignorance. If it is not wholly clear to the reader, let him blame neither himself nor me.… Thus the author of the  Awakening  does not claim to have the matter clear nor fully to understand it himself. In fact, he tells us that ‘the mind which starts from the perfuming influence of ignorance which has no beginning cannot be comprehended by common people nor even by Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas. It is partly comprehended by some Bodhisattvas; but even those who have reached the highest stage of Bodhisattvahood can not thoroughly comprehend it. The only one who can have a clear and consummate knowledge of it is the Tathagata.’”

20.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , pp. 596–597: “There is no unity in the Mahāyāna religion. It suffered religious superstitions gladly. Wherever it prevailed, India, China, Korea, Siam, Burma and Japan, the indigenous religions were tolerated, while it took care to teach them a new respect for life, kindness to animals and resignation. So long as men conformed to certain ethical rules and respected the order of monks, the Buddhist teachers did not feel called upon to condemn the superstitious usages. It does not matter what gods you worship, so long as you are good. The protean character of Mahāyāna Buddhism is due to this tendency.”

21.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 597: “The freedom of opinion in religious matters is in consonance with the metaphysical views of the Mahāyāna. All religions are revelations of the same Dharmakāya and bring out some aspects of truth. Dharma is the all-pervading spiritual force, the ultimate and the supreme principle of life. The first attempt at personifying dharma is in the conception Ādi Buddha, the first cause, the eternal God, superior to all things, the supreme, the first of all the Buddhas, without equal or comparison.”

22.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 600: “All beings are his children. ‘The Tathāgata, having left the conflagration of the three worlds, is dwelling in peace in the tranquillity of his forest abode, saying to himself all three worlds are my possession, all living beings are my children, the world is full of intense tribulation, but I myself will work out their salvation.’ ‘To all who believe me I do good, while friends are they to me who seek refuge in me.’”

23.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 597: “The work of saving the world is done by the Buddhas, or the beings endowed with the highest intelligence and love. There have been an infinite number of these Buddhas in the past, and there will be an infinite number in future.… They are all transitory manifestations of the One Eternal Being.”

24.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 598n: “Indra becomes Śatamanyu and Vajrapāni, with his own kingdom of heavens (svarga), called Trayastrmśaloka. Brahmā had his chief characters transferred to Mañjuśrī, the lamp of wisdom. Sarasvatī continued to be one of his wives, the other being Lakṣmī. Avalokiteśvara or Padmapāṇi has the attributes of Visnu or Padmanābha. Virūpāksa is one of the names of Śiva, though in Buddhistic legend he is one of the four kings. Gaṇeśa is taken over both as Vināyaka and demon Vinataka. The Sapta tathāgatas are the seven ṛṣis. Ajita formed with Śākyamuni and Avalokiteśvara a triad.”

25.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 598: “The monistic metaphysics of the Mahāyāna has given rise to an apparently polytheistic religion, but we should note that the several gods are subordinate to a single head.”

26.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 600: “But historically it means ‘one who is on the way to the attainment of perfect knowledge, a future Buddha.’”

27.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 600: “It therefore came to mean ‘a Buddha designate,’ or a man destined to become a Buddha in this or some future life.”

28.  Davis corrected “Arat” to “Arhat.”

29.  Pratt,  Pilgrimage of Buddhism , pp. 217–218: “To understand this ideal it is necessary to go back to what I have referred to as the heart element in the teaching and life of the Founder. His own example, as I have so often pointed out, was quite free from that implication of selfishness or narrowness … Whatever might be the natural deduction from his teaching that each of us should avoid giving pledges to Fortune and should seek the desireless and sorrow-free life, his own heart was so full of love for every form of suffering creature that he long postponed Parinirvana for their sake, and fired the imaginations of many of his disciples with the longing to be of service to others at any cost. It was this aspect of the Buddha’s teaching and example that the Mahayana thinkers seized upon and it was on this that they based their moral ideal. The typical Arhat (= Arahant), busy about his own salvation, wandering alone as a rhinoceros, they felt to be narrow and unworthy, and they erected in his stead the ideal of the earnest seeker after the welfare of others, who in unselfish devotion to his fellow creatures accumulates great stores of merit and dedicates it not to his own salvation but to that of all suffering beings. For in the faith of the Mahayana, there are many such ardent saviors of others. All the Buddhas had dedicated themselves, for ages before their complete enlightenment, to this unselfish task: and as there will be an endless line of Buddhas in the infinite future, as there has been in the infinite past, so there must now be an incalculable multitude of future Buddhas, i.e., Bodhisattvas, who have dedicated themselves to the same endless task as that for which Gotama went through so many births and deaths. This faith involves not only a new ideal but a new conception of the acquisition of merit and of salvation. Merit is thought of by the Mahayana as being transferable. Suffering and goodness are vicarious. The Bodhisattva is able to present his merit to a needy world, and for its sake he is willing to be himself a meritless sinner.”

30.  Pratt,  Pilgrimage of Buddhism , p. 221 : “The Mahavastu, a late Hinayana work, gives a list of ten stages in the progress of the Bodhisattva, and the same number is retained, with modifications in detail, by the Mahayana authorities.”

31.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , pp. 601–602: “The first stage is the joyful (pramuditā) one characterised by the rise of the thought of bodhi. It is here that the bodhisattva makes those pregnant resolutions (praṇidhāna) which determine the future course. The resolution of Avalokiteśvara not to accept salvation until the last particle of dust shall have attained to Buddhahood before him is such a vow. The insight is developed gradually so as to render the heart pure and the mind free from the illusion of self. The recognition of the impermanence of things enlarges the aspirant’s compassionate nature, and we get next the stage of vimalā, or purity. In it we have the practice of morality and the exercise of wisdom (adhicitta). In the next stage the bodhisattva engages himself in the various bhāvanās which enable him to annihilate anger, hatred and error, and promote faith, compassion, charity, and disinterestedness. This is the third stage (prabhākarī), where the seeker shines with patience and forbearance. The bodhisattva, to surrender all traces of egoism, trains himself in good work and applies himself specially to the cultivation of virtues connected with bodhi (bodhipaksa dharma). It is the fourth radiant stage (arciṣmatī). Then does the seeker begin a course of study and meditation to understand the four noble truths in their true light. It is the fifth invincible (sudurjayā) stage where dhyāna and samādhi predominate. As a result of moral practice and meditation, the seeker turns to the basic principles of dependent origination and non-substantiality. This stage is called abhimukhī, or ‘turned towards.’ Here prajñā reigns. Yet he is not completely free from passion, and still has the desires of becoming a Buddha and the intention of saving mankind. He devotes himself to the attainment of that knowledge which would enable him to effect his aim of universal salvation. He is now in the seventh stage, called duraṁgamā. When he is free from the eager desire for the particular, his thoughts are not bound to any special objects, and he becomes immovable (acala). This is the eighth stage where the supreme virtue of (anutpattikadharmacakṣuḥ) seeing all things such as they are, i.e. rooted in tathatā, dominates. The activity of the bodhisattva is tainted by no duality or selfishness. He is not content with tranquil repose, but is actually engaged in the teaching of dharma to others. It is the ninth stage, that of the good ones (sādhumatī) when all his acts are unselfish, done without desire.… The bodhisattva becomes a tathāgata in the tenth stage, a cloud of dharma (dharmamegha).”

32.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , pp. 602–603: “The principles of moral life are dāna (charity), vīrya (fortitude), śīla (morality), kṣānti (patience), and dhyāna (meditation), and crowning all, prajñā, the home of peace and blessing. The severity of monasticism is relaxed.… It is possible to reach the goal though married. Asceticism and poverty, so common in Hīnayāna ethics, are almost exceptional.… The doctrines of karma, or the continuous working of our deeds good or bad, is tempered by mercy, which finds expression in the easier way of salvation by faith.”

33.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 603: “No man lives to himself alone. The good or evil of one affects the whole. Whether the metaphysical truth that nothing on earth is real, and the ethical law that we should work and suffer for our neighbour, can be reconciled or not, is a problem for the Mādhyamika system.”

34.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 605: “The Mahāyānists are anxious to make out that nirvāṇa is not annihilation.”

35.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 604: “It is not non-existence pure and simple, but real freedom, where ignorance is overcome.”

36.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 605: “According to Asaṅga, nirvāṇa is the union with the Great Soul of the universe, or Mahatman.”

37.  Radhakrishnan,  Indian Philosophy , p. 604: “To become a Buddha is to become one in essence with the infinite.”

38.  Pratt,  Pilgrimage of Buddhism , p. 231: “The Hinayana was for monks chiefly; the Mahayana is for everyone. As we shall see in the next chapter, it has its abstruse philosophy for the thinker, but it has something also for the simplest and even for the most superstitious.”

39.  Pratt,  Pilgrimage of Buddhism , p. 232: “In the words of Coomaraswamy, ‘the development of the Mahayana is the overflowing of Buddhism over the limits of the Order into the life of the world.’ Thus Buddhism became a religion for the layman quite as much as for the monk.… [T]he old fear of the world, the fleeing from the world was replaced by the desire to live  in  the world, while yet being not  of  the world.”

Source:  MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, Mass.

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Bhikkhu Bodhi

The Bodhisattva idea: Essays on the Emergence of Mahayana

This book brings together six essays on the origin and history of the bodhisattva ideal and the emergence of the Mahāyana .

The essays approach the subject from different perspectives — from scholarly examinations of the terms in the Nikayas and Agamas to the relationship of the bodhisattva ideal and the arahant ideal within the broader context of the social environment in which Maha y ana formed and further developments that lead to the formulation of the fully fledged bodhisattva path.

As such, the collection provides a good overview for a wider Buddhist readership of the history of changes that eventually led to the emergence of the Mahayana.

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You yourselves must strive, the Buddhas only point the way Buddha, Dhp 276

Investigating the Dhamma

This book brings together eight essays of Bhikkhu Bodhi, five of which were earlier published in academic journals and volumes, and three not published before.

Mudita: The Buddha’s Teaching on Unselfish Joy

This book contains several short essays, one by the editor, Venerable Nyanaponika, and three by lay practitioners on one of the lesser known and too-little…

Dhamma Reflections

This volume brings together fifty-three essays of Bhikkhu Bodhi that were earlier published by the BPS in newsletters and other publications.

Handful of Leaves: An Anthology from the Sutta Pitaka

This all-in-one book bundles all of the sutta collections: the Dīgha, Majjhima, Saṁyutta, and Aṅguttara Nikāyas, as well as six books from the Khuddaka Nikāya…

Devotion in Buddhism: Three Essays

Religion and devotion are inseparable, and Buddhism is no exception to this rule. Theravada, or Buddhism based on the Pali Tipiṭaka, the original Teachings of…

Buddhist Dictionary: A Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines

Translations of important Pali words and meditation terms arranged in alphabetical order; definitions include a longer discussion of certain complex concepts…

Mahayana Buddhism: History, Beliefs and Core Teachings

During its formation and development, Buddhism was transmitted from India to neighboring countries, to East Asia, and then spread worldwide. This development is divided into two directions: northward, known as Mahayana Buddhism, which carries the Mahayana thought, and southward, known as Theravada Buddhism , embodying the Hinayana thought.

The Mahayana (Great Vehicle) sect, meaning “great rescue path” or “great vehicle,” is considered a reformed religion. Mahayana teachings introduce many innovations compared to original Buddhism. This sect believes that not only monks but also lay Buddhists can be saved.

Therefore, Mahayana Buddhism advocates not only self-liberation and enlightenment but also helping others achieve the same. Mahayana holds that anyone can reach Nirvana through their efforts and promotes mass liberation.

Mahayana Buddhism perceives the cycle of life and death and Nirvana not as separate realms but as integrated aspects of existence. One can attain Nirvana during the cycle of life and death itself.

Table of Contents

What is Mahayana Buddhism?

Mahayana Buddhism, one of the two principal Buddhist traditions alongside Theravada, plays a significant role in the religious landscape of northern Asia. Mahayana Buddhism is popular in countries such as China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and North Korea.

Deriving its name from the Sanskrit words ‘maha,’ signifying ‘great,’ and ‘yana,’ referring to ‘vehicle’. Hence, Mahayana Buddhism is called “Great Vehicle” or “Northern Buddhism”. As the largest branch of Buddhism, it incorporates Yogachara, a philosophical school intimately connected with yoga practice .

The Mahayana tradition is characterized by its diversity, being divided into four practice-oriented schools: Zen, Pure Land, Vajrayana, and Vinaya, and four philosophy-grounded schools: Yogachara, Tendai, Avamtasaka, and Madhyamika.  While some scholars propose recognizing Vajrayana as an independent tradition, thus making it the third principal branch of Buddhism, it generally remains categorized within the Mahayana framework.

Contrary to the Theravada tradition, where the ultimate goal lies in becoming an enlightened saint or arahant who attains nirvana, the Mahayana path encourages adherents to aspire to become bodhisattvas. These enlightened beings, distinguished by their altruistic commitment, choose to delay their own nirvana in order to aid others in achieving this enlightened state.

This unique perspective of the Mahayana tradition extends the possibility of enlightenment to laypeople, not just monastic practitioners, asserting that enlightenment can be achieved within a single lifetime. However, the various schools within the Mahayana tradition differ on the precise methods for achieving this end.

History of Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism, one of the most prominent forms of Buddhism, possesses a rich and complex history dating back to the 1st century CE. Emerging out of India, this ‘Great Vehicle’ tradition represented an evolution in Buddhist thought and practice, distinguished from the earlier, more conservative Theravada tradition.

The origins of Mahayana Buddhism are somewhat shrouded in mystery due to a lack of comprehensive historical records. However, it is generally agreed that it emerged as a distinct movement during the beginning of the Common Era in India. Its formation represents a response to the perceived limitations of the earlier Theravada tradition, with a particular emphasis on the accessibility of enlightenment and the bodhisattva ideal.

Mahayana Buddhism was a diverse and expansive movement from the onset, encompassing a wide array of scriptures, teachings, and practices. It introduced a multitude of new sutras, known as the Mahayana sutras, that had not been part of the earlier canons. These texts,  believed to be the word of the Buddha, became the foundation of Mahayana thought and practice. Among them were influential texts such as the Lotus Sutra, the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra.

The early Mahayana tradition was influenced by a number of philosophical and religious movements in India, including the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy, which emphasized the emptiness or lack of inherent existence of all phenomena, and the Yogacara school, which taught that ultimate reality is a kind of consciousness or awareness.

Over the centuries, Mahayana Buddhism spread across Asia, largely due to the efforts of merchants and monks along the Silk Road, a network of trade routes linking China with the West. As it spread, it evolved into several distinct schools of thought, including Zen, Pure Land, Vajrayana, and others. These schools represented different interpretations and practices within the broad Mahayana tradition.

By the 6th century, Mahayana Buddhism had become the dominant form of Buddhism in China . From China, it spread to Korea and Japan, where it further diversified and evolved. The Pure Land school, emphasizing faith and devotion, and the Zen school, emphasizing meditation and mindfulness, were particularly influential in these regions.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Mahayana Buddhism began to take root in the Western world, particularly in the United States. This was primarily due to immigration from East Asia and growing interest in Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Today,  Mahayana remains one of the most practiced forms of Buddhism worldwide, continuing to evolve and adapt to contemporary needs and cultures.

The Language used in Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism has historically used a variety of languages, depending on the region and time period. The earliest Mahayana texts were written in Sanskrit , which was the literary and religious language of ancient India.

Sanskrit continued to be the primary language of Mahayana Buddhism for several centuries, and many important Mahayana texts, including the Prajnaparamita Sutras and the Lotus Sutra, were composed in Sanskrit.

As Mahayana Buddhism spread to other parts of Asia, it was translated into a variety of local languages, including Chinese, Tibetan, Korean, and Japanese. In China, Mahayana Buddhism was first translated into Chinese during the Han dynasty, and this led to the development of a distinctive Chinese Buddhist vocabulary and literary style. In Tibet,  Mahayana Buddhism was translated into Tibetan beginning in the 7th century, and this led to the development of a rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhist literature and scholarship.

In Japan, Mahayana Buddhism was initially transmitted orally and was later recorded in Japanese using a mixture of Chinese characters and indigenous phonetic scripts. This led to the development of a unique form of Japanese Buddhist literature, including works such as the Shobogenzo by the Zen master Dogen and the writings of the Pure Land master Shinran.

Today, Mahayana Buddhism continues to be practiced in a variety of languages around the world, and there is also a growing body of literature and scholarship in English and other Western languages.

Who does Mahayana Buddhism Worship?

Mahayana Buddhism extends its reverence beyond Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, embracing a multitude of other enlightened figures as objects of worship.

This branch of Buddhism recognizes an array of Buddhas such as Amitabha , Maitreya, and the Medicine Buddha, underscoring a universal potential for enlightenment. Mahayana posits that enlightenment is accessible to all, evidenced by revered figures like Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), and Samantabhadra who have attained Buddhahood.

In Mahayana temples, visitors can observe an array of Buddha statues, each embodying different qualities and teachings. These temples also honor Bodhisattvas—enlightened beings who, out of compassion, forgo final nirvana to aid others on their spiritual journeys.

Avalokiteshvara, known for his infinite compassion, stands out as one of the most venerated Bodhisattvas, symbolizing the embodiment of mercy and kindness. Through these practices, Mahayana Buddhism fosters a community centered on compassion, wisdom, and the pursuit of enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

Beliefs of Mahayana Buddhism

A central belief in Mahayana Buddhism is the bodhisattva ideal . Unlike Theravada Buddhism, where the ultimate goal is to become an arahant or enlightened saint who attains nirvana , Mahayana Buddhists aspire to become bodhisattvas.  These are compassionate beings who have achieved enlightenment but choose to delay their own nirvana to assist others on the path. This commitment to altruistic action for the benefit of all sentient beings embodies the essence of the bodhisattva ideal.

Another key belief of Mahayana Buddhism is the universality of Buddha-nature. Mahayana teachings assert that all beings possess the inherent potential for enlightenment, often termed as ‘Buddha nature’. This perspective extends the possibility of enlightenment beyond the monastic community to all individuals, regardless of their lay or monastic status.

The doctrine of emptiness, or ‘shunyata’, also plays a pivotal role in Mahayana belief. Emptiness in this context does not denote ‘nothingness’, but rather the interdependent nature of all phenomena. This principle encourages practitioners to see beyond surface appearances to understand the interconnected nature of existence.

The Mahayana tradition also acknowledges a cosmology replete with numerous Buddhas and bodhisattvas, transcending the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni . These celestial beings are often the focus of devotion and are believed to inhabit numerous ‘Buddha-lands’ across the universe.

While these are core beliefs within Mahayana Buddhism, it is vital to note that the tradition encompasses a variety of schools, each with its unique interpretations and practices. For instance, Pure Land Buddhism places strong emphasis on faith in Amitabha Buddha,  while Zen Buddhism stresses the importance of meditation and direct experience. Despite these variations, all schools of Mahayana Buddhism share a commitment to the ideals of compassion, wisdom and liberation for all beings.

Core Teachings of Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism is characterized by a wide range of teachings and practices, but there are several core teachings that are central to the Mahayana tradition. These include:

The Bodhisattva Ideal: The Bodhisattva Ideal is the central ethical and spiritual aspiration of Mahayana Buddhism. A bodhisattva is a being who has attained enlightenment, but who chooses to remain in the cycle of birth and death ( samsara ) in order to help others attain enlightenment as well. The bodhisattva ideal is based on the cultivation of compassion, wisdom, and skillful means, and it emphasizes the importance of serving others and working for the benefit of all beings.

Bodhicitta : Bidhicitta is the intention or aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is considered the foundation of the Mahayana path and is cultivated through the practice of meditation, ethical conduct, and the development of wisdom and compassion . Bodhicitta is seen as the motivating force behind the bodhisattva’s activities and is an essential aspect of the Mahayana Buddhist path.

Emptiness : Emptiness is a core philosophical concept in Mahayana Buddhism. It refers to the idea that all phenomena lack inherent existence or self-nature, and that their existence depends on causes and conditions. Emptiness is not a nihilistic or relativistic view, but rather a way of understanding the interdependence and interconnectedness of all things. It is closely related to the Buddhist concept of dependent origination, which teaches that all things arise in dependence on other things.

The Six Perfections : The Six Perfections (paramitas) are a set of ethical and spiritual practices that are central to the path of the bodhisattva. They include generosity, ethics, patience, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom. The Six Perfections are seen as essential for cultivating the qualities of a bodhisattva and progressing on the path toward enlightenment.

Buddha nature : Buddha Nature is the innate potential for enlightenment that is said to exist within all beings. It is the fundamental nature of mind, and it is not something that can be created or destroyed. The Buddha Nature is seen as the basis for the bodhisattva ideal, and it is the ultimate source of wisdom and compassion.

The Two Truths : The Two Truths refer to the distinction between conventional truth (samvriti-satya) and ultimate truth (paramartha-satya). Conventional truth refers to the relative reality of everyday experience, while ultimate truth refers to the ultimate nature of reality, which is characterized by emptiness. The Two Truths are not seen as contradictory, but rather as complementary ways of understanding reality. Understanding the Two Truths is an important aspect of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy and practice.

The Three Bodies of the Buddha: The Three Bodies of the Buddha (trikaya) are a way of understanding the nature of the Buddha . They include the Dharmakaya (the body of truth), the Sambhogakaya (the body of bliss), and the Nirmanakaya (the body of manifestation). The Three Bodies of the Buddha are seen as interdependent and interconnected, and they represent different aspects of the Buddha’s enlightened nature.

So, these main teachings of Mahayana Buddhism are totally connected and have each other’s backs, you know what I’m saying? And they give us a way to understand how to become a bodhisattva and what the ultimate goal of all this is: getting enlightened for the sake of every living being. It’s like a roadmap, a guidebook to help us get there.

The Difference Between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism are two major branches of Buddhism, with some key differences:

Goal: The goal of Theravada Buddhism is to achieve individual liberation from suffering and reach the state of Arahant, while the goal of Mahayana Buddhism is to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Bodhisattva path: Mahayana Buddhism places a greater emphasis on the bodhisattva path, which involves cultivating compassion for all sentient beings and working for their benefit. Theravada Buddhism does not emphasize the bodhisattva path as much.

Scriptures: Theravada Buddhism relies mainly on the Pali Canon, while Mahayana Buddhism includes a wider range of sutras and texts.

Role of the Buddha: In Theravada Buddhism, the Buddha is seen as a teacher who has achieved individual liberation. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha is seen as an ideal and a source of inspiration for the bodhisattva path.

Practices: While both branches emphasize meditation, Mahayana Buddhism places more emphasis on practices such as mantra recitation, deity yoga, and visualization.

Emptiness: While both branches of Buddhism emphasize the concept of non-self, Mahayana Buddhism places a greater emphasis on it, and developed the concept of “sunyata” which emphasizes the ultimate nature of emptiness.

Iconography: Mahayana Buddhism developed an elaborate iconography of bodhisattvas and other deities, while Theravada Buddhism does not place as much emphasis on the use of imagery and symbolism.

Geography: Theravada Buddhism is mainly practiced in Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, and parts of India, while Mahayana Buddhism is practiced in East Asia, including China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet.

Monasticism: Monasticism is an important part of both branches of Buddhism, but in Theravada Buddhism, the monastic community is seen as the primary means of preserving and transmitting the dharma, while in Mahayana Buddhism, lay practitioners also play a significant role in the propagation of the dharma.

Even though there are some differences, both types of Buddhism are actually pretty similar, you know? They’re both trying to achieve the same thing:  getting rid of suffering. They both think that being a good person, meditating, and gaining wisdom are key to reaching that goal.

Major Schools of Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism is characterized by a remarkable diversity of thought and practice. This multifaceted tradition has given rise to several prominent schools, each with its distinct interpretations and emphasis within the Mahayana framework. Here, we focus on four of the most influential schools: Zen, Pure Land, Vajrayana, and Yogachara.

• Zen Buddhism : Emerging in China and later spreading to countries like Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, Zen Buddhism emphasizes direct insight into one’s Buddha nature through meditation (Zazen) and mindfulness in daily life. This school is known for its simplicity, directness, and focus on experiential wisdom rather than textual learning. Zen practitioners often employ koans (paradoxical questions or statements) as a means to transcend rational thought and facilitate spiritual awakening.
• Pure Land Buddhism : As one of the most popular schools of Mahayana Buddhism, Pure Land emphasizes faith and devotion to Amitabha Buddha, known as the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life. Practitioners aspire to be reborn in Amitabha’s Western Pure Land, a realm free from the suffering of samsara, where they can more easily attain enlightenment. Recitation of the name of Amitabha Buddha (Nembutsu) is a central practice in this school.
• Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism) : While some scholars categorize Vajrayana as a separate tradition, it can also be seen as a school of Mahayana Buddhism. Prominent in Tibet and Mongolia, Vajrayana incorporates esoteric practices such as mantra recitation, deity yoga, and elaborate rituals. It also introduces the concept of the guru or spiritual teacher as a vital guide on the path to enlightenment.
• Nichiren Buddhism : Named after its founder, the 13th-century Japanese monk Nichiren, this school places exclusive emphasis on the Lotus Sutra, asserting that it contains the ultimate truths of Buddhism. Nichiren Buddhism encourages its practitioners to chant the phrase “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” (Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra) to bring forth the buddha nature in one’s own life and achieve enlightenment.
• Yogachara: Also known as ‘Consciousness-Only’ or ‘Mind-Only’ School, Yogachara proposes that our experiences of reality are projections of our own mind. It presents a detailed analysis of mind and consciousness, positing that understanding our own mental processes is key to achieving liberation. While not as popular today as Zen and Pure Land, Yogachara’s teachings have deeply influenced other Mahayana schools and philosophies.

Each of these schools, while sharing the broader Mahayana commitment to the bodhisattva path and universal enlightenment,  contributes unique practices and perspectives to the tradition’s rich tapestry. Through their individual approaches, they offer practitioners varied paths towards the shared goal of liberation from suffering and ultimate enlightenment.

The Development of Mahayana Buddhism in Europe and America

The development of Mahayana Buddhism in Europe and the United States represents a noteworthy chapter in the global expansion of Buddhism. This dissemination outside of its traditional Asian contexts has been facilitated by both immigration and the growing Western interest in Buddhist philosophy and practice.

The initial introduction of Mahayana Buddhism to the West can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, largely driven by intellectual curiosity and philosophical exploration.  Early translations of Buddhist texts, along with the works of scholars and philosophers like D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts, played a key role in raising awareness and interest in Mahayana philosophies, particularly Zen Buddhism.

In the United States, the significant influx of Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the 19th century marked the beginning of established Buddhist communities. Temples were built to cater to these communities, many of which adhered to Mahayana traditions such as Pure Land and Zen. Over time, these traditions began to attract interest from the broader American population, leading to the development of convert Buddhist communities.

The latter half of the 20th century saw a proliferation of Zen centers and Tibetan Buddhist groups in both Europe and the United States, sparked in part by the arrival of Asian teachers and the interest of Western seekers. Figures like Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, founder of the San Francisco Zen Center, and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who established Naropa University and Shambhala International, were instrumental in making Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, respectively, accessible to Western audiences.

As Mahayana Buddhism took root in the West, it adapted to its new cultural contexts. It engaged with issues such as gender equality, environmentalism, and social justice, which led to the evolution of a distinctly Western form of Buddhism that blends traditional teachings with contemporary concerns.

Today, Mahayana Buddhism continues to flourish in Europe and the United States, demonstrating a remarkable capacity to adapt and evolve.  Through this ongoing process of transformation, Mahayana Buddhism has become a significant part of the religious and philosophical landscape in the West, influencing the lives of millions and contributing to the rich diversity of spiritual practices.

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Setting Out on the Great Way: Essays on Early Mahāyāna Buddhism

Setting Out on the Great Way brings together different perspectives on the origins and early history of Mahāyāna Buddhism and delves into selected aspects of its formative period. As the variety of the religion which conquered East Asia and also provided the matrix for the later development of Buddhist Tantra or Vajrayāna, Mahāyāna is regarded as one of the most significant forms of Buddhism, and its beginnings have long been the focus of intense scholarly attention and debate.

The essays in this volume address the latest findings in the field, including contributions by younger researchers vigorously critiquing the reappraisal of the Mahāyāna carried out by scholars in the last decades of the 20th century and the different understanding of the movement which they produced. As the study of Buddhism as a whole reorients itself to embrace new methods and paradigms, while at the same time coming to terms with exciting new manuscript discoveries, our picture of the Mahāyāna continues to change. This volume presents the latest developments in this ongoing re-evaluation of one of Buddhism’s most important historical expressions.

Paul Harrison is the George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University.

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Creators/contributors, contents/summary.

• 1. Sara Boin-Webb, Translator of Buddhist Texts (1937-2008) Russell Webb
• 2. Early Mahayana: Laying Out the Field Paul Harrison
• 3. How the Unborn was Born: The Riddle of Mahayana Origins Peter Skilling, Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient, Bangkok
• 4. The Forest Hypothesis David Drewes, University of Manitoba
• 5. Recruitment and Retention in Early Bodhisattva Sodalities Daniel Boucher, Cornell University
• 6. Abhidharma in Early Mahayana Johannes Bronkhorst, University of Lausanne
• 7. The Concept of `Remodelling the World' Shizuka Sasaki, Hanazono University
• 8. Altered States and the Origins of the Mahayana Douglas Osto, Massey University
• 9. Early Mahayana in Gandhara: New Evidence from the Bajaur Mahayana Sutra Ingo Strauch, University of Lausanne
• 10. Looking for Mahayana Bodhisattvas: A Reflection on Visual Evidence in Early Indian Buddhism Juhyung Rhi, Seoul National University.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

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Essays on Early Mahāyāna Buddhism

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Setting Out on the Great Way brings together different perspectives on the origins and early history of Mahāyāna Buddhism and delves into selected aspects of its formative period. As the variety of the religion which conquered East Asia and also provided the matrix for the later development of Buddhist Tantra or Vajrayāna, Mahāyāna is regarded as one of the most significant forms of Buddhism, and its beginnings have long been the focus of intense scholarly attention and debate.

The essays in this volume address the latest findings in the field, including contributions by younger researchers vigorously critiquing the reappraisal of the Mahāyāna carried out by scholars in the last decades of the 20th century and the different understanding of the movement which they produced. As the study of Buddhism as a whole reorients itself to embrace new methods and paradigms, while at the same time coming to terms with exciting new manuscript discoveries, our picture of the Mahāyāna continues to change. This volume presents the latest developments in this ongoing re-evaluation of one of Buddhism’s most important historical expressions.

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It’s hard to find a self-help book today that doesn’t praise the benefits of meditation, mindfulness and yoga.

Many individuals engage in meditation and other practices associated with Buddhism. But not all realize the complexities of the religion, according to Stanford expert Paul Harrison. (Image credit: FatCamera / Getty Images)

Many of these practices are rooted in the ancient tradition of Buddhism, a religion first developed by people in India sometime in the fifth century BCE.

But according to Stanford Buddhist scholar Paul Harrison , Buddhism is more than finding zen: It is a religious tradition with a complicated history that has expanded and evolved over centuries. Harrison has dedicated his career to studying the history of this religion, which is now practiced by over 530 million people.

In a recent book he edited, Setting Out on the Great Way: Essays on Early Mahāyāna Buddhism , Harrison brings together the latest perspectives on the origins and early history of a type of Buddhism that has influenced most of today’s Buddhist practices around the world.

This new work focuses on the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, which evolved about 400 years after the birth of Buddhism. It is an elaborate web of ideas that has seen other types of Buddhism branch from its traditions. Unlike other Buddhists, Mahayana followers aspire to not only liberate themselves from suffering but also lead other people toward liberation and enlightenment.

Stanford News Service interviewed Harrison, the George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies in the School of Humanities and Sciences, about Buddhism and the latest research on its origins.

What are some things that people may not know about Buddhism?

Some people, especially those in the Western world, seem to be bewitched and mesmerized by the spell of Buddhism and the way it’s represented in the media. We’re now saturated with the promotion of mindfulness meditation, which comes from Buddhism.

Paul Harrison (Image credit: Connor Crutcher)

But Buddhism is not all about meditation. Buddhism is an amazingly complex religious tradition. Buddhist monks don’t just sit there and meditate all day. A lot of them don’t do any meditation at all. They’re studying texts, doing administrative work, raising funds and performing rituals for the lay people, with a particular emphasis on funerals.

Buddhism has extremely good press. I try to show my students that Buddhism is not so nice and fluffy as they might think. Buddhism has a dark side, which, for example, we’ve been seeing in Myanmar with the recent persecution of the Rohingya people there.

It’s as if we need to believe that there is a religion out there that’s not as dark and black as everything else around us. But every religion is a human instrument, and it can be used for good and for bad. And that’s just as true of Buddhism as of any other faith.

Why is it important to study the origin of Buddhism and other religions?

Religion plays a hugely important role in our world today. Sometimes it has extremely negative consequences, as evidenced by terrorism incidents such as the Sept. 11 attacks. But sometimes it has positive consequences, when it’s used to promote selfless behavior and compassion.

Religion is important to our politics. So, we need to understand how religions work. And part of that understanding involves trying to grasp how religions developed and became what they became.

This new book of essays on Mahayana Buddhism is just a small part of figuring out how Buddhism developed over time.

What is Mahayana Buddhism and what are its distinct features?

The word Mahayana is usually translated as “the great vehicle.” The word maha means “great,” but the yana bit is trickier. It can mean both “vehicle” and “way,” hence the title of this book.

As far as we know, Mahayana Buddhism began to take shape in the first century BCE. This religious movement then rapidly developed in a number of different places in and around what is now India, the birthplace of Buddhism.

Buddhism itself started sometime in the fifth century BCE. We now think that the Buddha, who founded the religion, died sometime toward the year 400 BCE. As Buddhism developed, it spread beyond India. A number of different schools emerged. And out of that already complicated situation, we had the rise of a number of currents, or ways of thinking, which eventually started being labeled as Mahayana.

The kind of Buddhism before Mahayana, which I call mainstream Buddhism, is more or less a direct continuation of the teachings of the founder. Its primary ideal is attaining liberation from suffering and the cycle of life and rebirth by achieving a state called nirvana. You can achieve nirvana through moral striving, the use of various meditation techniques and learning the Dharma, which is the Buddha’s teachings.

Eventually, some people said that mainstream Buddhism is all fine and well but that it doesn’t go far enough. They believed that people need to not just liberate themselves from suffering but also liberate others and become Buddhas too.

Mahayana Buddhists strive to copy the life of the Buddha and to replicate it infinitely. That effort was the origin of the bodhisattva ideal. A bodhisattva is a person who wants to become a Buddha by setting out on the great way. This meant that Mahayana Buddhists were allegedly motivated by greater compassion than the normal kind of Buddhists and aimed for a complete understanding of reality and greater wisdom.

That’s Mahayana in a nutshell. But along with that goes a whole lot of new techniques of meditation, an elaborate cosmology and mythology, and a huge number of texts that were written around the time of the birth of Mahayana.

What’s the biggest takeaway from the latest research on the origin of Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism?

The development of Buddhism and its literature is much more complicated than we have realized. In the middle of the 20th century, scholars thought Mahayana Buddhism was developed by lay people who wanted to make a Buddhism for everybody. It was compared to the Protestant movement in Christianity. But we now know that this picture is not true.

The evidence shows that Mahayana Buddhism was spearheaded by the renunciants, the Buddhist monks and nuns. These were the hardcore practitioners of the religion, and they were responsible for writing the Mahayana scriptures and promoting these new ideas. The lay people were not the initiators.

But the full story is even more complicated than that. Buddhism’s development is more like a tumbleweed than a tree. And Mahayana Buddhism is sort of like a braided stream of several river currents, without one main current.

Why is it challenging to figure out how Mahayana Buddhism came about?

What’s special about Buddhist studies and makes it different from studying religions like Christianity is that there is still a huge amount of material that has not been translated or studied properly.

In the last two or three decades, scholars have also discovered a whole lot of texts in a long-lost language, called Gandhari, some of which are related to the Mahayana. These documents, the oldest of which date to the first century BCE, have been found in a region that now includes Pakistan and parts of North India, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

A lot of these texts are very hard to translate and understand. And there is more material that keeps surfacing. All of that is changing our view of the early history of Buddhism.

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Alex Shashkevich, Stanford News Service: (650) 497-4419, [email protected]

How Does Mahayana Differ From Early Buddhism? Essay

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Introduction

Mahayana analysis, early buddhism, works cited.

Religion is one of the world’s phenomena that have undergone significant evolutions which have resulted into intriguing transformation of beliefs and traditions. Cutting across the plane, these religions have rich histories and carry elements which make them unique. They have also played a major role in shaping the norms, behavior and culture of millions of people globally. In this regard, it is important to understand existing differences and similarities among religions of the world (Molloy 3).

This is so crucial in appreciating the beliefs and traditions of others as they relate to who they are. In this regard, this essays explores how Mahayana differs from early Buddhism in terms of practices, believes and overall doctrine. To achieve this objective, relevant information has been gathered from both the college library and online sources like journals, books and websites.

According to theological and historic findings, Mahayana began in India between 100 B.C.E and 100 C.E. This was as a result of a debate which was going on explaining the appropriate Buddhist teachings and rituals, monastic discipline and discussions about the continued existence of Buddha even after his death. Additionally, it is has been argued that the nature of enlightenment which engulfed people further contributed to this emergence (Molloy 149).

Importantly, Mahayana was formerly impacted by several Buddhist schools of thought that were common in India during that time. As these practices spread within and outside India, aspects of the indigenous religious practices were also absorbed and assimilated. Some of these indigenous religious traditions included but not limited to Bon, Taoism and Confucianism. Hinduism also played a major role in influencing Mahayana.

Even though there has been no consensus on the founder of Mahayana, credit has been given to Nagarjuna, a philosopher along with other prominent people like Asanga and Vasubandhu. The controversy behind this is that each of the figures mentioned in the foundation of the tradition went ahead to establish their own sub-schools within Mahayana (Molloy 150).

It therefore follows that there is no particular person who can be identified as the core founder of Mahayana. Earliest Mahayana texts were mainly composed of several texts referred to as “Prajnaparamita” or translated as “Perfection of Wisdom”.

Although this aspect of the school may not be remembered by many, it forms the basic foundation of countless Mahayana schools which exist today. Other early texts which were considered important were “Sadharmapundarika” and “Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra” (Patheos 1). As a general observation, Mahayana thoughts have become quite recognizable and influential in several parts of the world and in Western philosophy where it has been manifested through religious teachings and numerous ethical teachings.

Although Mahayana emphasized several things, the book received extraordinary recognition and respect. Hundreds of books were written by experts and distributed to people all over as they were of great significance and sometimes worshipped. Other theological analysts argue that this move was mainly aimed at suppressing and countering the supremacy of stupa veneration in several Buddhists schools (Religion Tolerance 1).

Notably, Mahayana is commonly known by many as the schismatic movement. After its emergence, there were several sub-schools which were formed in India and China that later became quite important. These included Ch’an, Madhyamaka, Pure Land Schools and Yogacara. In addition, Mahayana was highly supported by the leadership of the time including influential kings. Among them were Tang and Han in China, Palas in India and the Kushanas (Patheos 1).

This recognition and abundance support enabled Mahayana to spread to several parts of India via missionary activities, led supporters of the kings and monks. This expansion spread to regions outside India like China and Asia by the onset of the second century C.E (Patheos 1).

By understanding the analysis of Mahayana, it is possible to see that is has undergone a series of transformations that have led to its revolution in the 21 century, with continuous evolution into the modern world. Besides, Mahayana has been integrated into several religions of today’s world (Molloy 151). Mahayana has also thrived as a result of integrating its practices into political and social welfare of other regions like Asia, North America and Europe.

With regard to sacred times, Mahayana does not observe consistent sacred time. This is mainly attributed to the fact that bodhisattvas are always present and working around the world regardless of the season or time of the year. It therefore attempts to have a holistic sense of sacred time where every moment is considered sacred unlike in several religions where certain seasons and times of the year are perceived to be more sacred than others, depending on a religion’s activity season (Patheos 1).

However, it has to be mentioned that Mahayana highly values and recognizes the temple as its most holy and sacred space. Diagrams which are used in the temple during mediation are always elaborated in Mandalas. Nevertheless, practitioners can always occupy space of representation through mediation practices.

Like in other religions, Mahayana recognizes rituals and ceremonies as part of its traditional norm to be observed. These include mantra recitation, ritual devotion, mediation practices and pilgrimages among others. According to Mahayana believers, the rituals and ceremonies are important in affirming their faith and in teaching vital traditions and rules that have to be followed by those who accept to be members of the religion (Patheos 1). They also give worship guidance as it considered as one of their fundamentals.

How is worship conducted? Mahayana Buddhists worship an array of objects in the name of gods, serving different functions as defined by their traditions and beliefs. Common purposes of these gods include protection, guidance and devotion to people. They therefore believe that they thrive in everything they do by the power of gods. Examples of Mahayana gods are Tara, the Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, Amitabha and the bodhisattvas among others (Patheos 1).

There are also symbols which are commonly used in Mahayana during rituals, worship and devotion services. It is important for people to learn these symbols in order to understand when used by those conducting services and ceremonies. The lotus and the eight-spoke wheel are highly regarded and ever-present in Mahayana practices and rituals (Patheos 1).

The role of lotus is to represent purity, a core component among its believers while the eight-spoke wheel usually denotes the main teachings of Buddha, also known as dharma. Seating, standing, the book and the sword are among other commonly used symbols during important functions.

The two main schools of Buddhism are Mahayana and Hinayana which originated from India. However, the former has dominated in other countries like Nepal, China and Japan. This religion and the philosophy were founded by Siddhartha Gautama known as Buddha in c.525 B.C (Molloy 126). In terms of statistics, there are at least three million Buddhists in the world with Asia leading in numbers.

Apart from the two mentioned schools above, the Vajrayana has its roots in Japan and Tibet even though is not as common as the other main classes in China and India. Due to continuous globalization and other factors, Buddhism disappeared from India, its country of origin although the presence of refugees from Tibet and people who get converted from Hinduism has maintained the religion (McGovern 1). Like other religions, early Buddhism has beliefs and practices which makes it unique or similar with other world regions.

The spread of Buddhism to other countries resulted into the splitting of the main religion to form smaller sects in various geographical regions. As a result, each sect adopted certain beliefs, customs, rituals and practices which were to be the pillar of their practical faith as Buddhists (Molloy 132).

Nevertheless, all the sects had a backbone of these doctrines and beliefs with shared similarities regardless of their location. A common belief among Buddhists is that every person is in a position to have happiness regardless of their background, race and age (Patheos 1). By such, Buddhists believe that all forms of delusions and negativism among people can only be overcome by mediation. With this understanding, it follows that men and women can easily restore their happiness through a simple mediation process.

Additionally, reincarnation is a core belief as Buddhists believe in rebirths and continuity of the human race. Their doctrines strongly believe in the existence of certain life cycles which ensure that life remains a continuation process. These cycles revolve around birth, life, death and the ultimate rebirth. Besides these cycles, the doctrine further emphasizes that Nirvana can only be achieved by shedding off personal desires and ego (Pillai 1).

There are four truths which are strongly contained in Buddhism doctrine and beliefs. These truths are Dukkha, Samudaya, Marga and Nirodha. The fisrt truth is Dukkha which refers to suffering. According to this belief, suffering is inevitable in the life of any individual (Molloy 134).

Therefore, every Buddhist has to expect some from of suffering in life and need not to be received negatively as it is viewed as part of a normal life. Suffering which is categorized in this doctrine include anger, loneliness, fear, embarrassment and frustrations. This belief also explains workable ways of achieving happiness in life (Patheos 1).

According to Samudaya, suffering among Buddhists is mainly caused by their constant aversions and craving which they go through in their daily lives. Furthermore, craving together with greed have the potential of depriving individuals off their happiness and their contentment. Importantly, an individual can only achieve Nirvana if he or she curbs existing luxurious cravings in life (Pillai 1).

Similarly, Norodha gives an explanation on how suffering can be overcome in order to realize happiness in life. Based on this belief, incidents which occurred in the past should not be allowed to cause fear or worry. Accordingly, uncertainties of the future should not take away happiness, as it emphasizes the need to live each day at a time. According to the fourth truth, Marga, total happiness can only be achieved by adhering to “eight-fold path”.

This model encourages the need to have a stable mind and being conscious of thoughts and ones actions. Additionally, morality and a good livelihood it is highly encouraged under this doctrine. Those who adhere to the four truths are believed to have wisdom and compassion. Buddhist teachings are always taught to everybody as people are encouraged to solve their problems since it is believed that problems are caused by individuals (Pillai 1).

Early Buddhism also observes sacred narratives whose main component is the story of Buddha which is considered holy. Other stories are narrated by teachers with reference to the sutras. On the other hand, the notion of salvation in Buddhism does not have a consensus, with variations being seen from country to country or era to era.

Unlike Mahayana, Buddhism does not have sacred time but rather emphasizes the need for Nirvana as with reference to a Nirvana dichotomy (FPMT 1). However, their sacred space includes stupas, which contains Buddha relics and other monks. Additionally, some mountains are highly regarded as the most high place. Accordingly, there are variations in the calendar of events.

On the other hand, Buddha’s birthday and the New Year day celebrations are quite significant. Other rituals include pilgrimages and death-related ceremonies. Notably, Buddhist monks demonstrate different life with lay people as this relationship is defined by merit. Early Buddhism symbols include the stupa, the dharma wheel and what was considered as Buddha’s footprint. Others are monks’ robes, Mandalas and mudras. It is important to note that some symbols vary from country to country (Patheos 1).

From the above analysis of Mahayana and early Buddhism, it is clear that the two religions have several elements which make them different. Although they share a number of similarities, Mahayana and Buddhism have different beliefs and practices. Their sacred time, spaces, and the understanding of suffering are also different. However, their similarities can be attributed to the fact that Mahayana is one of the schools of Buddhism.

FPMT . Buddhism FAQ , 2011. Web.

McGovern, William. Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism . Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2003. Print.

Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the world’s religious . New York City: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print.

Patheos . Mahayana Buddhism , 2011. Web.

Pillai, Maya. Basic Beliefs of Buddhism. Buzzle, 2011. Web.

Religion Tolerance . Mahayana Buddhism, 2011. Web.

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IvyPanda . 2018. "How Does Mahayana Differ From Early Buddhism?" December 27, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-does-mahayana-differ-from-early-buddhism/.

1. IvyPanda . "How Does Mahayana Differ From Early Buddhism?" December 27, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-does-mahayana-differ-from-early-buddhism/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "How Does Mahayana Differ From Early Buddhism?" December 27, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-does-mahayana-differ-from-early-buddhism/.

Visiting Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion?

You must join the virtual exhibition queue when you arrive. If capacity has been reached for the day, the queue will close early.

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Cosmic buddhas in the himalayas.

Crowned Buddha

Mahapratisara, the Buddhist Protectress

Votive Stupa with Four Buddhas

Buddha Shakyamuni

Pair of Manuscript Covers with Buddhist Deities

Seated Jambhala

Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha

The Goddess Mahasitavati, Folio from a Buddhist Manuscript

Buddha Amoghasiddhi with Eight Bodhisattvas

The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in the Form of Padmapani, the Lotus Bearer

Panel from a Buddhist Ritual Crown Depicting Vairocana

Twenty-One Emanations of the Goddess Tara

Hevajra Mandala

Akshobhya, the Buddha of the Eastern Pure Land

Amitabha, the Buddha of the Western Pure Land (Sukhavati)

The Five Tathagata or Cosmic Buddhas, Forehead Ornament for a Deity

White Jambhala on a Dragon

Kurt Behrendt Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Buddhist tradition in the Himalayas has a complex pantheon of deities who give form to Mahayana and Vajrayana ideology. At the foundation are the unchanged teachings of the historic Buddha Shakyamuni , but there emerged a belief that he was just one among many who had attained enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhists looked to living Buddhas residing in heavens that can be accessed through veneration and ultimately by rebirth in one of their realms. Vajrayana Buddhism builds on these ideas, formalized in a corpus of esoteric texts called tantras written in India between the eighth and twelfth centuries. According to the Yoga Tantra, at the moment the Buddha reached enlightenment ( 2012.458 ), he left his physical body and ascended to the highest heaven, where he assumed the perfected, crowned, and bejeweled form of the Buddha Vairocana ( 1997.152 ) and taught the path to enlightenment to the assembled gods. He then returned to our realm of existence and in his physical body went out into the world to teach the dharma, or the path to breaking free from the cycle of rebirth. After the Buddha’s death, his physical body was cremated and his relics enshrined in stupas that served as the devotional focus of Buddhist sacred areas across South Asia . Small votive stupas, such as one in the Museum’s collection that may have contained the ashes of a monk ( 20.70 ), were placed near massive stupas with the Buddha’s relics. By this time, the connection between the historic Buddha Shakyamuni and Vairocana in his heaven was known from texts and accepted in religious practice. Thus the dome of the stupa simultaneously represents Shakyamuni’s relics and Vairocana’s celestial presence in a heaven, with the four Buddhas looking out from foliate niches being understood as the celestial Buddhas (Tathagatas) who presided over the four directional pure lands.

For a devotee, the most important of these celestial Buddhas was Amitabha ( 2004.139 ), who lived in the western paradise. Being reborn in his heaven gave the individual access to Amitabha and his teachings of the uncorrupted path to enlightenment, and in this way offered an immediate way to escape the cycle of rebirth ( samsara ). Hence, being reborn in Amitabha’s western pure land became a central goal for lay and monastic practitioners, and could be achieved by simply saying the Buddha’s name. In a painting on cloth ( tangka ) dated around 1700 ( 2004.139 ), Amitabha sits beneath a flowering tree adorned with jewels and auspicious symbols. Throngs of the reborn fill the western paradise of Sukhavati, presented as a vast, panoramic landscape with lotus pools and courtyards. Below Amitabha, flanking tables of offerings, are the eight great bodhisattvas, while filling the sky are gods and flying celestials ( apsaras ) who scatter flowers.

Amitabha , like the other Buddhas of the four cardinal directions, could be approached and accessed through his emanations. A good example is Avalokiteshvara, also known as Padmapani the Lotus-bearer ( 2016.752 ), a bodhisattva of compassion that emanated from Amitabha in a ray of light emitted from his urna (a dot in his forehead understood to be an inward-looking eye) as he sat in meditation. Avalokiteshvara presides over our realm of existence in the period after the death of the Buddha Shakyamuni and before the coming of the future Buddha Maitreya; he achieved enlightenment but chose to help all sentient beings break free from the cycle of rebirth before entering nirvana. It is in this sense that the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism recognizes the Dalai Lama as the living incarnation of Avalokiteshvara.

Another of these directional Buddhas, Amoghasiddhi, presides over the northern pure land. In a thirteenth-century painting in the Museum’s collection ( 1991.74 ), Amogasiddhi can be identified by various iconographic markers and by his green color; his heaven and many of his emanations are also green. Lay worshippers using this image readily understood this depiction as a celestial Buddha (note his crown, jewelry, and elaborate textiles), but also as one who is essentially equivalent to the historic Buddha Shakyamuni . In fact, Amoghasiddhi shares the important hand gesture of approachability ( abhayamudra ) with the historic Buddha. However, as with so much imagery from the Himalayas, this painting also contains embedded secondary figures only a monk or learned Buddhist could interpret. At the base, for example, are five multi-armed Pancha Raksha goddesses  who embody five early Buddhist texts and simultaneously serve as female emanations of the five celestial Buddhas (the four directions and the center). From left to right are the goddesses Maha Pratisara, Maha Sahasrapramardini, Mahamayuri (the green emanation of Amoghasiddhi), Shitavati, and Mantramanudharani. This seeming complexity in part is an effort to give sophisticated ideological concepts pictorial form, but for the average lay devotee, while these goddesses were known to have deeper meanings, effectively they served as protectors.

When the eleventh-century Indian Buddhist monk Atisha ( 1993.479 ) came to Tibet, it was with the intention of clarifying Mahayana ideas surrounding the directional celestial Buddhas and their various manifestations. Appearing to him in a dream, the goddess Green (Syama) Tara told him he would be of great service to Tibet. At the center of a fourteenth-century stela ( 2015.500.4.19 ), Green Tara holds a lotus and bestows boons with her lowered right hand ( varadamudra ). The five Taras above (which relate to the cosmic Buddhas) and the nearly identical representations below visualize the twenty-one forms of Tara described in an Indian tantric text. Each verse recalls a form of Tara offering protection against disease, malevolent spirits, or war, among other dangers. Some Taras bestow boons of health, abundance, and prosperity, while other emanations help devotees on the more abstract path to enlightenment by engendering knowledge and wisdom. The monk Atisha is credited with building the first temple in Tibet to the twenty-one forms of Tara. While the monastic community would have conducted tantric ritual to the many complex forms of Tara for the benefit of the lay community, even the average person would have understood Green Tara’s connection to Amoghasiddhi, reinforced by their shared color.

The Buddha of the eastern pure land, Akshobhya, seen here in a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century terracotta sculpture from Nepal ( 62.207 ), shares iconography with the historic Buddha Shakyamuni and here touches the earth with his right hand marking the moment of enlightenment. Akshobhya has mirrorlike wisdom that allows him to see reality without distortion, and he is the unshakable one that presides over deities in the vajra family ( vajrakula ). One of Akshobhya’s most powerful and important emanations is the deity Hevajra, seen dancing with his consort Nairatmya at the center of a fifteenth-century mandala ( 2015.551 ). A monk versed in tantric Buddhist practice would have used this mandala to visualize and self-identify with this three-headed, four-armed form drawn from the text of the Hevajra Tantra. Central to this practice is the concept of dualism, echoed here in the deity’s name, which fuses the male he (compassion) with the female vajra (wisdom, or shunyata ). Surrounding the couple is a ring of ferocious yet beautiful female dancing dakinis, powerful deities credited with obtaining secret doctrines. At the corners are four Hevajra images that are color-matched to the directional cosmic Buddhas.

The Buddha of the southern pure land, Ratnasambhava, seen here in a late eleventh-century image produced at the beginning of the surviving Tibetan painting tradition , has a much more practical meaning for the average devotee. He is associated with material abundance and enriching worshippers with the knowledge of Buddhist teachings, or the dharma. His name means “jewel-born,” and it is not surprising that his hand gesture is one of giving boons ( varadamudra ), associated with the historic Buddha Shakyamuni . One of Ratnasambhava’s most important emanations is the goddess Vasudhara ( 1983.547 ). As the consort of Jambhala ( 48.30.12 ), the god of wealth, she brings prosperity and offers protection. In our Nepalese example, she holds wheat, jewels, and a pot of foliage, marking her role as one who bestows abundance. Like Ratnasambhava, she holds her lowered hand in the varadamudra , or boon-giving gesture. As with so many Buddhist deities, she embodies ideology that here is signaled by the manuscript held in her upraised left hand; in this sense, the Mahayana Buddhist doctrine is conceived in terms of her physical form.

Although seemingly complex, nearly all of the Himalayan Buddhist pantheon can be related to these five celestial Buddhas, a structure illustrated in a fourteenth-century Vajradhatu (Diamond World) Mandala . The Buddha Vairocana, shown in white, sits at the center of this diagram of the heavens, framed by the four directional cosmic Buddhas, each with their own distinctive color, that together make up the focal circle. The most important of these heavens is the western pure land, at the top, where Amitabha (red) presides, and where pious devotees hope to be reborn. Akshobhya (blue) is below, with Ratnasambhava (yellow) to the left and Amoghasiddhi (green) to the right. Around this central group is a square, multitiered palace, inhabited by one thousand bodhisattvas. For the devout, the veneration of these five Buddhas offered a direct path to breaking free of the cycle of rebirth, a goal facilitated by their innumerable manifestations that make up the Himalayan Buddhist pantheon.

Behrendt, Kurt. “Cosmic Buddhas in the Himalayas.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cbud/hd_cbud.htm (June 2017)

Further Reading

Behrendt, Kurt. Tibet and India: Buddhist Traditions and Transformations . New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. See on MetPublications

Behrendt, Kurt. @kurt.behrendt

Fisher, Robert E. Art of Tibet . New York: Thames & Hudson, 1997.

Luczanits, Christian. “The Many Faces of Buddha Vairocana.” In The All-Knowing Buddha: A Secret Guide , edited by Jan Van Alphen, pp. 12–23. New York: Rubin Museum, 2013.

Additional Essays by Kurt Behrendt

• Behrendt, Kurt. “ Gandhara .” (April 2012)
• Behrendt, Kurt. “ Pre-Angkor Traditions: The Mekong Delta and Peninsular Thailand .” (August 2007)
• Behrendt, Kurt. “ The Mon-Dvaravati Tradition of Early North-Central Thailand .” (August 2007)
• Behrendt, Kurt. “ Poetic Allusions in the Rajput and Pahari Painting of India .” (October 2016)

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Paramitas: The Ten Perfections of Mahayana Buddhism

• Origins and Developments
• Figures and Texts
• Becoming A Buddhist
• Tibetan and Vajrayana Buddhism
• B.J., Journalism, University of Missouri

Mahayana Buddhism  developed six paramitas or perfections early in its history. Later, the list was fleshed out to include ten perfections. The Six or Ten Perfections are virtues to be cultivated and practiced on the path to realizing enlightenment . To add to the confusion, Theravada Buddhism has its own list of Ten Perfections . They have several items in common, but they are not identical.

Although the Six Perfections are complete in themselves, the additional items in the list of Ten Perfections add the dimension of the bodhisattva path. A  bodhisattva is an "enlightenment being" who has bowed to bring all other beings to enlightenment. The bodhisattva is the ideal of practice for all Mahayana Buddhists.

With the additional four "perfections, we see the fruits of wisdom manifested in the world. In some ways this recalls the Oxherding Pictures of Zen Buddhism, which represent stages of enlightenment. Realization of great enlightenment is represented in the eighth and ninth pictures. The tenth shows an enlightened master walking in a marketplace, bestowing blessings. Read on for the complete list of the Mahayana Ten Perfections.

Dana Paramita: Perfection of Generosity

Perfection of Generosity is about more than just charitable giving. It is generosity as an expression of selflessness and an acknowledgment that we all inter-exist with each other. Without attaching to possessions or to ourselves we live to benefit all beings. 

Sila Paramita: Perfection of Morality

The Perfection of Morality is not about living according to rules -- although there are Precepts , and they are important -- but living in harmony with others. Sila Paramita also touches on the teachings of karma . 

• Ksanti Paramita: Perfection of Patience

Ksanti  means "unaffected by" or "able to withstand." It could be translated as tolerance, endurance and composure as well as patience or forbearance. It is a patience with ourselves and others and also an ability to bear hardship and misfortune.

Virya Paramita: Perfection of Energy

The word virya  comes from  vira , an ancient Indo-Iranian word ancient that means "hero." Virya is about tirelessly and courageously overcoming obstacles and walking the path as far as it goes. 

Dhyana Paramita: Perfection of Meditation

Meditation in Buddhism is not done for stress relief. It is mental cultivation, preparing the mind to realize wisdom (which is the next perfection).

Prajna Paramita: Perfection of Wisdom

The original Six Perfections ended with wisdom, which in Mahayana Buddhism is equated with the doctrine of sunyata , or emptiness. Very simply, this is the teaching that all phenomena are without self-essence. And wisdom, the late Robert Aitken Roshi wrote, is "the raison d'être of the Buddha way."

Upaya Paramita: Perfection of Skillful Means

Very simply, upaya is any teaching or activity that helps others realize enlightenment. Sometimes upaya is spelled  upaya-kausalya , which is "skill in means." One skilled in upaya can lead others away from their delusions.

Pranidhana Paramita: Perfection of Vow

This one is sometimes called Perfection of Aspiration. In particular, it is about dedicating oneself to the bodhisattva path and living the bodhisattva vows. 

Bala Paramita: Perfection of Spiritual Power

Spiritual power in this sense could refer to supernormal powers, such as an ability to read minds. Or, it could refer to the natural powers awakened by spiritual practice, such as increasing concentration, awareness and patience.

Jnana Paramita: Perfection of Knowledge

The Perfection of Knowledge is the implementation of wisdom in the phenomenal world. We can think of this as something like the way a physician uses knowledge of medicine to heal people. This Perfection also ties together the previous nine so that they can be put to work to help others.

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• The Perfection of Renunciation in Buddhism
• What Do Buddhist Teachings Mean by Sunyata, or Emptiness?
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• Charity in Buddhism
• The Ten Perfections of Theravada Buddhism
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• The Buddhist Precepts
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• The Avatamsaka Sutra
• An Overview of Buddhist Scriptures
• The Dharma Wheel (Dharmachakra) Symbol in Buddhism

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Mapping the Mahāyāna: Some Historical and Doctrinal Issues

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Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-first Century Civilization (Harvard University, USA, 1993)

(Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, September 24, 1993)

Nothing could please me more than to be back at Harvard University on a day of truly glorious weather, to speak with faculty and students at this, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. To Professor Nur Yalman, Professor Harvey Cox, Professor John Kenneth Galbraith, and all those who have made my visit possible, I extend grateful thanks.

It was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who, with his famous panta rhei , declared that all things are in flux and that change is the essential nature of reality. Indeed, everything, whether in the realm of natural phenomena or of human affairs, changes continuously, moment to moment. Nothing maintains the exact same state for even the briefest instant; even the most solid-seeming rocks and minerals are subject to the erosive effects of time. In the realm of human affairs, through the course of this century of war and revolution, we have been witness to the most extraordinary panorama of societal transformation.

Buddhism terms this aspect of reality “the transience of all phenomena” (Jpn. shogyo mujo ). In the Buddhist cosmology, this idea is described as the repeated cycles of formation, continuance, decline, and disintegration through which all planets and systems must pass.

In terms of our lives as human beings, we experience this transience as the four sufferings: the suffering of birth (and the attendant pain of day-to-day existence), that of illness, of aging, and finally, of death—sufferings from which no one is exempt. It could be said that it was these sufferings, in particular the problem of death—the inexorable fate of all living things—that since ancient times spawned the formation of religious and philosophical systems.

Shakyamuni, it is said, was inspired to seek the truth by his chance encounters with these sufferings at the gates of the palace in which he was raised. Plato stated that true philosophers are always engaged in practice for dying and death. And Nichiren, the founder of the school of Buddhism practiced by the Soka Gakkai, admonishes us to “first study death, then study other matters.” [1] This is one of the subjects that I discussed over the course of several days with the great British historian Arnold J. Toynbee some twenty years ago.

Death weighs heavily on the human heart as an inescapable reminder of the finite nature of our existence. However seemingly limitless the wealth or power one might attain, the reality of one’s eventual demise cannot be avoided. Awakened to its own mortality, humanity has sought to conquer the fear and apprehension surrounding death by finding means by which to participate in, and partake of, the eternal. Through this quest, our species has learned to transcend instinctual modes of living and has developed those characteristics which we know as human. Seen in this light, it is obvious why the history of religion is coincident with the history of humankind.

Modern civilization has attempted to forget and ignore death; we have diverted our gaze from this most fundamental of problems. Death has been driven into the shadows and is considered something to be abominated only. For modern humanity, death is the mere absence of life, blankness and void. Life is identified with all that is good, with being, the rational, with light; death is only evil, nothingness, the dark and irrational. In all regards, the solely negative perception of death prevails.

Death, however, will not be ignored, and has exacted heavy retribution on modern humanity. The horrific and ironic climax of modern civilization has been what Zbigniew Brzezinski terms our own “century of megadeath.” [2] More immediately, a wide range of issues is now spurring a re-examination and re-evaluation of the true significance of death. These issues include brain death, death with dignity, the function of hospices, different funerary styles, as well as research into death and dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and others.

Humankind seems finally to be on the verge of realizing the fundamental error of our view of life and death, to understand that death is more than the absence of life, that death, together with active life, is necessary to the formation of a larger more essential whole. The greater whole to which I refer is the deeper continuity of life and death, which we experience as individuals and which we express as culture. A central and fundamental challenge for the coming century will be that of establishing a culture—based on an understanding of life and death and of life’s essential eternity—that does not disown death, but directly confronts and correctly positions death within a larger living context.

Buddhism speaks of an intrinsic nature (Jpn. hossho , sometimes translated as “dharma nature”) existing within the depths of phenomenal reality. Dependent upon and in response to environmental conditions, this intrinsic nature manifests alternate states of emergence and latency. All phenomena, including life and death, are viewed as the cyclical emergence into a manifest state and withdrawal into latency of this intrinsic nature.

Cycles of life and death can be likened to the alternating periods of sleeping and wakefulness. We can understand death as a state in which, just as sleep prepares us for the next day’s activities, we rest and replenish ourselves for new life. Viewed in this light, death is not to be reviled, but should be acknowledged, with life, as a blessing to be appreciated. The Lotus Sutra, the core of Mahayana Buddhism, states that the purpose of existence—the eternal cycles of life and death—is to be “happy and at ease.” [3] It further teaches that sustained faith and practice enable us to know a deep and abiding joy in death as well as life, to be equally “happy and at ease” with both. Nichiren describes the attainment of this state as the “greatest of all joys.” [4]

If the tragedies of this century of war and revolution have taught us anything, it is the folly of believing that reform of external factors, such as social systems, is the linchpin to achieving happiness. I am convinced that in the coming century, the greatest emphasis must be placed on fostering inward-directed change. In addition, our efforts must be inspired by a new understanding of life and death.

Premised on the above, I would like to discuss three specific areas in which I feel the outlook and approach of Mahayana Buddhism can contribute to the civilization of the twenty-first century.

The first is as a driving force for the creation of a peaceful society.

Since its inception, the philosophy of Buddhism has been associated with peace and pacifism. This derives principally, I feel, from Buddhism’s consistent rejection of violence, its constant emphasis on dialogue, discussion, and language as means of resolving conflict.

Karl Jaspers astutely attributes the great sadness of Shakyamuni’s disciples on his approaching death as deriving from a fear that “the word will have lost its master.” [5] One sutra describes Shakyamuni as meeting others with joy, approaching them with a bright and welcoming countenance. The life of Shakyamuni was one completely untrammeled by dogma, a life of open dialogue expressive of his openness of spirit.

Significantly, the sutra describing the travels that are the culmination of Shakyamuni’s Buddhist practice at the ripe age of eighty begins with an episode in which he uses the power of language to avert a war of invasion. According to the sutra, Shakyamuni did not directly admonish the minister of Magadha, a large country bent on realizing its aims of hegemony through the conquest of the neighboring state of Vajji. Rather, he persuasively expounded upon the principles by which nations prosper and decline, thus dissuading the minister from the planned invasion.

The final chapter of this same sutra concludes with a moving description of Shakyamuni on his deathbed, repeatedly urging his disciples to ask any question they might have about the Buddhist Law (dharma) or its practice, so that they would not find themselves regretting unasked questions after his passing. To his final moment, Shakyamuni actively sought out dialogue, and the drama of his final voyage from beginning to end is illuminated by the light of language, skillfully wielded by one who was truly a “master of words.”

Why was Shakyamuni able to employ language with such freedom and to such effect? What made him such a peerless master of dialogue? In essence, it was the embracing expansiveness of his enlightened state, utterly free of all dogma, prejudice, and attachment. The following words, attributed to him, are illustrative: “I perceived a single, invisible arrow piercing the hearts of the people.” [6] This “arrow” could be termed the arrow of a discriminatory consciousness, an unreasoning emphasis on difference. The India of his time was in a period of transition and upheaval, in which the horrors of conflict and war were an ever-present reality. To Shakyamuni’s penetrating gaze, it was clear that the underlying cause of this conflict was attachment to differences such as those of ethnicity and nationality.

Speaking in the early years of this century, Josiah Royce, one of many important philosophers Harvard has given the world, declared as follows: “Reform, in such matters, must come, if at all, from within. . . . The public as a whole is whatever the processes that occur, for good or evil, in individual minds, may determine.” [7]

Indeed, the “invisible arrow” of evil to be overcome is not to be found in races and classes external to ourselves, but embedded in our own heart. The conquest of our own prejudicial thinking, our own attachment to difference, is the guiding principle for open dialogue, the essential condition for the establishment of peace and universal respect for human rights. It was his own complete release from prejudice that enabled Shakyamuni to expound the Law with such freedom, adapting his style of teaching to the character and capacity of his interlocutor.

Whether mediating a communal dispute over water rights, converting a violent criminal, or admonishing one who objected to the practice of begging for alms, the quality we find throughout Shakyamuni’s dialogues is the effort to make others aware of the “arrow” of their inner evil. It was the power of his extraordinary character that brought these words to the lips of one contemporaneous sovereign: “Those whom we, with weapons, cannot force to surrender, you subdue unarmed.” [8]

Only through overcoming attachment to difference can a religion rise above an essentially tribal outlook to offer a global faith. When, for example, Nichiren dismisses the Japanese Shogunate authorities who were persecuting him as the “ruler of this little island country” [9] it is clear that his vision was directed toward a world religion embodying universal values, transcending the confines of a single state.

It should also be noted that dialogue is not limited to the kind of placid exchanges that might be likened to the wafting of a spring breeze. There are times when, to break the grip arrogance has on another, speech must be like the breath of fire. It was the occasional ferocity of their speech that earned Shakyamuni and Nagarjuna, whom we typically associate only with mildness, the sobriquet of “those who deny everything” [10] from the powers-that-be of their respective eras.

Likewise, Nichiren, who demonstrated a familial affection and tender concern for the common people, was uncompromising in his confrontations with corrupt and degenerate authority. Always unarmed in the inveterately violent Japan of his time, he relied exclusively and unflinchingly on the power of persuasion and nonviolence. The following passage, written when he was exiled to a distant island from which none were expected to return alive, typifies his lionesque tone. Whether tempted with the promise of absolute power if he renounced his faith or threatened with the beheading of his parents if he adhered to his beliefs, he vowed that “whatever obstacles I might encounter, so long as persons of wisdom do not prove my teachings to be false, I will never yield!” [11]

Nichiren’s faith in the power of language can only be termed adamantine. If more people were to resolve to pursue dialogue in this same unrelenting manner, the inevitable contentions of human life would surely find more harmonious resolution, prejudice would yield to empathy, war and conflict to peace. Through the workings of genuine dialogue, opposing perspectives are transformed from that which divides and sunders people into that which forges deeper union between them.

During World War II, the Soka Gakkai challenged head-on the forces of Japanese militarism. As a result, many members, beginning with founder and first president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, were imprisoned. There, far from recanting, Makiguchi continued to expound to his guards and interrogators the principles of Buddhism and of peace—the very thoughts which made him a “thought criminal.” He died in prison at age seventy-three.

Heir to Makiguchi’s spiritual legacy, second president Josei Toda emerged from the ordeal of a two-year imprisonment and, declaring his faith in the global human family, engaged in widespread dialogue among the common people, suffering and lost in the aftermath of the war. President Toda also bequeathed to us, his youthful disciples, the mission of building a world free of nuclear weapons.

With this as our historical and philosophical basis, the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is at present engaged in activities for peace, education, and culture, forging bonds of solidarity with citizens in 115 countries and territories worldwide. For my own part, I am committed to continuing my efforts to engage in dialogue with people of good will throughout the world, in order to contribute in some small way to the greater happiness of humankind.

The second point I would like to touch upon is the role that Buddhism can play in the restoration of humanity, the rejuvenation of the human person.

In an age marked by widespread religious revival, we need always to ask: Does religion make people stronger, or does it weaken them? Does it encourage what is good or what is evil in them? Are they made better and more wise—or less—by religion? These, I believe, are the criteria we must keep firmly in view.

While the authority of Marx as social prophet has been largely undermined by the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, there is an important truth contained in his equating of religion to opium. And although one hopes that the recent tragedy in Waco, Texas, represents a rare extremity, it is not clear that all religions have rid themselves of their opiate-like aspects. In fact there is reason for concern that more than a few of the religions finding new life in the twilight of this century are characterized by a dogmatism and insularity that run counter to the accelerating trend toward interdependence and cross-cultural interaction.

In this regard, it is important to examine the balance that different belief systems accord to reliance on our own powers and reliance on powers external to ourselves, ideas corresponding roughly to free will and grace in Christian terminology.

If we paint in the broadest strokes the movement from the medieval to the modern in Europe, we observe a steady progress away from a God-centered determinism toward an ever greater emphasis on free will and human responsibility. The powers of the human being have increasingly been stressed, while those external to us have been steadily de-emphasized. And while none would deny the great achievements of science and technology in the modern era, a misplaced faith in the omnipotence of reason has led humanity to believe that there is nothing beyond our power, thus bringing civilization to its present, apparently inextricable impasse. If past reliance on an external force led humanity to underestimate the full dimensions of our possibility and responsibility, excessive faith in our own powers has produced a dangerous overinflation of the human ego.

Could it not be said that civilization is now seeking a third path, a new balance between faith in our own power and recognition of that which lies beyond us? Nichiren represents the subtle and richly suggestive Mahayana perspective on attaining enlightenment in the following passage: “Neither solely through one’s own efforts . . . nor solely through the power of others.” [12] The persuasive argument of Buddhism is that the greatest benefit is derived from the dynamic fusion and balancing of these two forces.

Along similar lines, John Dewey, in A Common Faith , asserts that it is “the religious,” rather than specific religions, that is of vital importance. In contrast to religions, which fall all too quickly into dogmatism and fanaticism, “that which is religious” has the power to “unify interests and energies” and to “direct action and generate the heat of emotion and the light of intelligence.” Likewise, “the religious” enables the realization of those goods which Dewey identifies as “the values of art in all its forms, of knowledge, of effort and of rest after striving, of education and fellowship, of friendship and love, of growth in mind and body.” [13] While Dewey does not identify a specific external power, for him “the religious” is a generalized term for that which supports and encourages people in active aspiration toward the good and the valuable. “The religious,” as Dewey defines it, helps those who help themselves.

As the results of modern humanity’s self-worship make sadly evident, unassisted we are incapable of realizing our full potential. It is only through fusing and merging ourselves with the eternal—that which lies beyond our finitude as individuals—that we can manifest the full scale of our potential. And yet that potential is not foreign to us, but is of us, within us, and always has been. Such, I believe, are the implications of Dewey’s argument.

Further, I believe that the balance each religious tradition strikes between inner and exterior forces will decisively influence that tradition’s future viability. Not only Buddhists but all involved in religion must devote careful attention to this relationship, if we are to avoid repeating the history of human enslavement to dogma and religious authority and ensure that the religious impulse serves as a vehicle for the restoration and rejuvenation of humanity. In this regard, I am deeply appreciative of Professor Harvey Cox’s appraisal of the SGI as offering a model of humanistic religion. [14]

Elsewhere in Nichiren’s teachings we find: “When you concentrate the exertions of millions of aeons in a single life-moment, the three inherent properties of the Buddha will become manifest in your every thought and act.” [15] Buddhism is not merely theoretical, but seeks to enable us to guide our lives, moment by moment, toward happiness and value-creation. The expression “the exertions of millions of aeons” indicates an attitude of confronting each of life’s problems with our full being, awakening the entirety of our consciousness and leaving no inner resource untapped. By meeting—wholeheartedly and head-on—the challenges of living, we bring forth from within us the “three inherent properties of the Buddha.” It is the light of this inner wisdom that at each instant encourages and guides our actions toward the true and correct.

In this context, the appearance throughout the Lotus Sutra of drums, horns, and various other musical instruments can be understood as urging on, through their vibrant tones, the human will to live. The function of the Buddha nature is always to encourage us to be strong, to be good, to be wise; the message is always one of human restoration.

The third point I would like to discuss is the philosophical basis which Buddhism provides for the symbiotic coexistence of all things.

Among the many images in the Lotus Sutra, one that I find particularly compelling is that of an impartial rain that compassionately moistens the vast expanse of the land, bringing forth new life from all the trees and grasses, large and small. [16] This scene, depicted with a vividness, grandeur, and beauty characteristic of the Lotus Sutra, symbolizes the enlightenment of all people touched by the Buddha’s Law of great and impartial wisdom. At the same time, it is a magnificent paean to the rich diversity of human as well as all forms of sentient and insentient life, each equally manifesting the inherent enlightenment of its nature, each thriving and harmonizing in a grand concert of symbiosis.

Buddhism uses the term “dependent origination” (Jpn. engi ) to describe symbiotic relations. Nothing—no one—exists in isolation. Each individual existence functions to bring into being the conditions that in turn sustain all other existences. Reality is understood more in terms of relationality and interdependence than in terms of discrete individualities. All things, mutually supportive and related, form a living cosmos, what modern philosophy might term a semantic whole. This is the conceptual framework through which Mahayana Buddhism views the natural universe.

Speaking through Faust, Goethe gives voice to a similar vision. “All weaves one fabric; all things give/Power unto all to work and live.” [17] The poet, whose insights now strike us for their remarkable affinity to Buddhism, was criticized by his young friend Eckermann as “lacking confirmation of his presentiments.” [18] The intervening years have offered a steadily swelling chorus of affirmation for the prescience of Goethe’s, and Buddhism’s, deductive vision.

Taking as an example the concept of causation, we find that causal relations viewed in the light of dependent origination differ fundamentally from the kind of mechanistic causation which, according to modern science, holds sway over the objective natural world—a world divorced from subjective human concerns. Causation, in the Buddhist view, spans a more broadly defined nature, one that embraces human existence.

To illustrate, let us assume that an accident or disaster has occurred. A mechanistic theory of causation can be used to pursue and identify how the accident occurred, but is silent regarding the question of why certain individuals should find themselves caught up in the tragic event. Indeed, the mechanistic view of nature requires the deliberate forestalling of such existential questionings. In contrast, the Buddhist understanding of causation seeks to directly address these poignant “whys?” as demonstrated by this question and response early in Shakyamuni’s career: “What is the cause of aging and death? Birth is the cause of aging and death.” [19] In a later era, through a process of exhaustive thought and inquiry, the founder of the Chinese Tiantai school, Zhiyi, developed a theoretical structure, comprising such concepts as “three thousand realms in a single moment of life,” which is not only sweeping in scope and rigorous in elaboration but is entirely compatible with modern science. While limitations of time prohibit elaboration, it is worth mentioning that many contemporary fields of inquiry—among them ecology, transpersonal psychology, and quantum mechanics—are remarkably cognate with Buddhism in their approach and conclusions.

When relatedness and interdependence are given this kind of emphasis, a concern that perhaps springs to many minds is that individual identity will be obscured. The following passages from the Buddhist scriptures can be cited in this connection. “You are your own master. Could anyone else be your master? When you have gained control over yourself, you have found a master of rare value.” [20] And elsewhere: “Be lamps unto yourselves. Rely on yourselves. Hold fast to the Law as a lamp, do not rely on anything else.” [21]

Both passages urge us to live independently, true to ourselves and unswayed by others. The “self” referred to here, however, is not what Buddhism terms the “lesser self” (Jpn. shoga ), caught up in the snares of egoism. Rather, it is the “greater self” (Jpn. taiga ) fused with the universal life through which cause and effect intertwine over the infinite reaches of space and time.

This greater, cosmic self is profoundly resonant with the unifying and integrating “self” which Jung perceived in the depths of the ego, and with what Emerson spoke of as “the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal One.” [22] I am firmly convinced that a wide-scale awakening to this greater self will give rise to a world of creative and symbiotic coexistence in the coming century.

I am here reminded of the following lines of Whitman, in which he sings the praises of the human spirit:

But that I, turning, call to thee O soul, thou actual Me, And lo, thou gently masterest the orbs, Thou matest Time, smilest content at Death, And fillest, swellest full the vastnesses of Space. [23]

The “greater self” elucidated in Mahayana Buddhism is another expression for the kind of openness and expansiveness of character that embraces the sufferings of all people as one’s own, always seeking amidst the realities of human society ways of alleviating the pain, and augmenting the happiness, of others. I am convinced that only the solidarity of such natural human nobility will break down the isolation of the modern “self,” opening horizons of new hope for civilization.

As individuals, it is the dynamic, vital stirrings of this greater self that will enable each of us to experience both life and death with equal delight.

In the record of his orally transmitted teachings, Nichiren states: “We adorn the treasure tower of our being with the four aspects [of birth, aging, sickness, and death].” [24] It is my earnest desire and prayer that in the twenty-first century each member of the human family will bring forth the natural luster of this inner “treasure tower” and, wrapping our azure planet in the symphonic tones of open dialogue, humankind will make its evolutionary advance into the new millennium. Sharing with you this vista—of the brilliant dawn of a century of peace and humanity—I conclude my remarks.

[1] Translated from Japanese. GZ, New Ed., 2101 (GZ, 1404), cf. WND-2, 759.

[2] Zbigniew Brzezinski, Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the 21st Century (New York: Touchstone, 1995), p. 10.

[3] Translated from Japanese. GZ, New Ed., 1097 (GZ, 788), cf. LSOC, 272.

[4] OTT, 212.

[5] Karl Jaspers, Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1962), p. 25.

[6] Translated from Japanese. J. Takakusu, ed., Nanden daizokyo (The Mahatripitaka of the Southern Tradition), 65 vols. (Tokyo: Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo Kankokai, 1935–41), vol. 24, p. 358.

[7] Josiah Royce, The Basic Writings of Josiah Royce , vol. 2 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969), p. 1122.

[8] Translated from Japanese. J. Takakusu, ed., Nanden daizokyo , vol. 11a, p. 137.

[9] WND-1, 765.

[10] Translated from Japanese. J. Takakusu, ed., Taisho shunshu daizokyo (The Chinese Tripitaka), 100 vols. (Tokyo: Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo Kankokai, 1924–34), vol. 9.

[11] WND-1, 280.

[12] Translated from Japanese. GZ, New Ed., 345 (GZ, 403), cf. WND-2, 62.

[13] John Dewey, A Common Faith (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1934), pp. 50–52.

[14] Translated from Japanese. Harvey Cox, “Shakai to shukyo no yakuwari” (The function of religion in society), Seikyo Shimbun , July 7, 1993.

[15] Translated from Japanese. GZ, New Ed., 1099 (GZ, 790), cf. OTT, 214.

[16] See LSOC, 138.

[17] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust (London: George Routledge and Sons Ltd., 1927), p. 22.

[18] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann (London: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1930), p. 101.

[19] Translated from Japanese. J. Takakusu, ed., Nanden daizokyo , vol. 13, p. 1ff.

[20] Translated from Japanese. J. Takakusu, ed., Nanden daizokyo , vol. 23, p. 42.

[21] Translated from Japanese. J. Takakusu, ed., Taisho shinshu daizokyo , vol. 1, pp. 645c, 15b.

[22] Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays and Poems of Emerson (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1921), p. 45.

[23] Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (Garden City: Doubleday & Co., 1926), p. 348.

[24] Translated from Japanese. GZ, New Ed., 1031 (GZ, 740), cf. OTT, 90.

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Mahāyāna Buddhism: Main

General Works

Ching Keng, Toward a New Image of Paramartha: Yogacara and Tathagatagarbha Buddhism Revisited (2022)

Andrea Schlosser, Three Early Mahayana Treatises from Gandhara: Bajaur Kharosthi Fragments 4, 6, and 11 (2022)

Joseph G. Walser, Genealogies of Mahayana Buddhism (2018)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Buddhapada and the Bodhisattva Path (2017)

David McMahan, Empty Vision: Metaphor and Visionary Imagery in Mahayana Buddhism (2015)

Jikido Takasaki, Collected Papers on the Tathagatagarbha Doctrine (2014)

Jikido Takasaki, A Study on the Ratnagotra-vibhaga (Uttaratantra): Being A Treatise on the Tathagatagarbha Theory of Mahayana Buddhism (2014)

Bhikkhu Nyanatusita (ed.), The Bodhisattva Ideal: Essays on the Emergence of Mahayana (2013)

Satya P. Agarwal & Urmila Agarwal, The Social Message of Mahayana Buddhism (2012)

Bhikkhu Analayo, The Genesis of the Bodhisattva Ideal (2010)

John Blofeld, Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin (2009)

Nagapriya, Visions of Mahayana Buddhism: Awakening the Universe to Wisdom and Compassion (2009)

Jonathan A. Silk, Buddhist Studies: The Legacy of Gadjin M. Nagao (2008)

Paul Williams, Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations (2008)

Alan Cole, Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahayana Buddhist Literature (2005)

Linnart Mäll, Studies in the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita and Other Essays (2005)

Gregory Schopen, Figments and Fragments of Mahayana Buddhism in India: More Collected Papers (2005)

Fernando Tola & Carmen Dragonetti, On Voidness: A Study of Buddhist Nihilism (2005)

Shohei Ichimura, Buddhist Critical Spirituality: Prajna and Sunyata (2001)

Steven W. Laycock, Nothingness and Emptiness: A Buddhist Engagement with the Ontology of Jean-Paul Sartre (2001)

Har Dayal, The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature (1999)

Richard King, Early Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism: The Mahayana Context of the Gaudapadiya-karika (1995)

Ulrich pagel, the bodhisattvapitaka: its doctrines, practices and their position in mahayana literature (1995).

Steven W. Laycock, Mind as Mirror and the Mirroring of Mind: Buddhist Reflections on Western Phenomenology (1994)

Malcolm D. Eckel, To See the Buddha: A Philosopher's Quest for the Meaning of Emptiness (1992)

Ryomin Akizuki, New Mahayana: Buddhism for a Post-Modern World, trans. James W. Heisig & Paul L. Swanson (1991)

Brian E. Brown, The Buddha Nature: A Study of the Tathagatagarbha and Alayavijnana (1991)

Susan K. Hookham, The Buddha Within: Tathagatagarbha Doctrine According to the Shentong Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga (1991)

Luis o. gomez & jonathan a. silk (eds.), studies in the literature of the great vehicle: three mahayana buddhist texts (1989).

Hosaku Matsuo, The Logic of Unity: The Discovery of Zero and Emptiness in Prajñaparamita Thought, trans. Kenneth K. Inada (1987)

Diana M. Paul, Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in the Mahayana Tradition (1985)

Raoul Birnbaum, The Healing Buddha (1980)

Edward Conze, The Prajñāpāramitā Literature (1978)

Nalinaksha Dutt, Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and Its Relation to Hinayana (1978)

Minoru Kiyota, Mahayana Buddhist Meditation: Theory and Practice (1978)

Michael Pye, Skilful Means: A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism (1978)

Lewis R. Lancaster (ed.), Prajñaparamita and Related Systems: Studies in Honor of Edward Conze (1977)

D.T. Suzuki, On Indian Mahayana Buddhism, ed. Edward Conze (1970)

Frederick J. Streng, Emptiness: A Study in Religious Meaning (1967)

D.T. Suzuki, Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism (1963)

Sylvain Lévi (ed. & trans.), Mahayana-Sutralamkara, exposé de la doctrine du Grand Véhicule selon le système Yogacara, 2 vols. (1907)

This volume offers a solution to a problem that some have called the holy grail of Buddhist studies: the problem of the “origins” of Mahāyāna Buddhism. In a work that contributes both to a general theory of religion and power for religious studies as well as to the problem of the origin of a Buddhist movement, Walser argues that that it is the neglect of political and social power in the scholarly imagination of the history of Buddhism that has made the origins of Mahāyāna an intractable problem. Walser challenges commonly-held assumptions about Mahāyāna Buddhism, offering a fascinating new take on its genealogy that traces its doctrines of emptiness and mind-only from the present day back to the time before Mahāyāna was "Mahāyāna." In situating such concepts in their political and social contexts across diverse regimes of power in Tibet, China and India, the book shows that what was at stake in the Mahāyāna championing of the doctrine of emptiness was the articulation and dissemination of court authority across the rural landscapes of Asia. This text will be will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students and scholars of Buddhism, religious studies, history and philosophy.

She is the embodiment of selfless love, the supreme symbol of radical compassion, and, for more than a millennium throughout Asia, she has been revered as "The One Who Hearkens to the Cries of the World." Kuan Yin is both a Buddhist symbol and a beloved deity of Chinese folk religion. John Blofeld’s classic study traces the history of this most famous of all the bodhisattvas from her origins in India (as the male figure Avalokiteshvara) to Tibet, China, and beyond, along the way highlighting her close connection to other figures such as Tara and Amitabha. The account is full of charming stories of Blofeld’s encounters with Kuan Yin’s devotees during his journeys in China. The book also contains meditation and visualization techniques associated with the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and translations of poems and yogic texts devoted to her.

Originating in India, Mahayana Buddhism spread across Asia, becoming the prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet and East Asia. Over the last twenty-five years Western interest in Mahayana has increased considerably, reflected both in the quantity of scholarly material produced and in the attraction of Westerners towards Tibetan Buddhism and Zen. Paul Williams’ Mahayana Buddhism is widely regarded as the standard introduction to the field, used internationally for teaching and research and has been translated into several European and Asian languages. This new edition has been fully revised throughout in the light of the wealth of new studies and focuses on the religion’s diversity and richness. It includes much more material on China and Japan, with appropriate reference to Nepal, and for students who wish to carry their study further there is a much-expanded bibliography and extensive footnotes and cross-referencing. Everyone studying this important tradition will find Williams’ book the ideal companion to their studies.

This beautifully written work sheds new light on the origins and nature of Mahayana Buddhism with close readings of four well-known texts―the Lotus Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Tathagatagarbha Sutra, and Vimalakirtinirdesa. Treating these sutras as literary works rather than as straightforward philosophic or doctrinal treatises, Alan Cole argues that these writings were carefully sculpted to undermine traditional monastic Buddhism and to gain legitimacy and authority for Mahayana Buddhism as it was veering away from Buddhism’s older oral and institutional forms. His sophisticated and sustained analysis of the narrative structures and seductive literary strategies used in these sutras suggests that they were specifically written to encourage devotion to the written word instead of other forms of authority, be they human, institutional, or iconic.

NG Yu-Kwan, T'ien-t'ai Buddhism and Early Madhyamika (2016)

Yaroslav Komarovski, Visions of Unity: The Golden Pandita Shakya Chokden's New Interpretation of Yogacara and Madhyamaka (2011)

Sara L. McClintock, Omniscience and the Rhetoric of Reason: Santaraksita and Kamalasila on Rationality, Argumentation, and Religious Authority (2010)

David Seyfort Ruegg, The Buddhist Philosophy of the Middle: Essays on Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka (2010)

M. David Eckel, Bhaviveka and his Buddhist Opponents: Chapters 4 and 5 of the Verses on the Heart of the Middle Way with the Commentary Entitled The Flame of Reason (2009)

James Blumenthal, The Ornament of the Middle Way: A Study of the Madhyamaka Thought of Santaraksita (2004)

Karl Brunnhölzl, The Center of the Sunlit Sky: Madhyamaka in the Kagyü Tradition (2004)

Harsh Narain, The Madhyamika Mind (1997)

Paul Williams, The Reflexive Nature of Awareness: A Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence (1997)

Anne Carolyn Klein (ed.), Path to the Middle: Oral Madhyamika Philosophy in Tibet (1994)

Ming-Wood Liu, Madhyamaka Thought in China (1994)

Ian c. harris, the continuity of madhyamaka and yogacara in indian mahayana buddhism (1991).

Mark MacDowell, A Comparative Study of the Teachings of Don Juan and Madhyamaka Buddhism: Knowledge and Transformation (1991)

Gadjin M. Nagao, Madhyamika and Yogacara: A Study of Mahayana Philosophies (1991)

C. W. Huntington & Geshe N. Wangchen, The Emptiness of Emptiness: An Introduction to Early Indian Madhyamika (1989)

Gadjin M. Nagao, The Foundational Standpoint of Madhyamika Philosophy, trans. John P. Keenan (1989)

Elizabeth S. Napper, Dependent-Arising and Emptiness: A Tibetan Buddhist Interpretation of Madhyamika Philosophy Emphasizing the Compatibility of Emptiness and Conventional Phenomena (1989)

Peter D. Santina, Madhyamaka Schools in India: A Study of the Madhyamaka Philosophy and of the Division of the System into the Prasangika and Svatantrika Schools (1986)

Hsueh-li Cheng, Empty Logic: Madhyamika Buddhism from Chinese Sources (1984)

Jeffrey Hopkins, Meditation on Emptiness, ed. Elizabeth Napper (1983)

David Seyfort Ruegg, The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India (1981)

Jaideva Singh, An Introduction to Madhyamaka Philosophy (1976)

Richard H. Robinson, Early Madhyamika in India and China (1967)

T.R.V. Murti, The Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of the Madhyamika System (1955)

The great Buddhist scholars Santaraksita (725-788 CE) and his disciple Kamalasila were among the most influential thinkers in classical India. They debated ideas not only within the Buddhist tradition but also with exegetes of other Indian religions, and they both traveled to Tibet during Buddhism's infancy there. Their views, however, have been notoriously hard to classify. The present volume examines Santaraksita's Tattvasamgraha and Kamalasila's extensive commentary on it, works that cover all conceivable problems in Buddhist thought and portray Buddhism as a supremely rational faith. One hotly debated topic of their time was omniscience - whether it is possible and whether a rational person may justifiably claim it as a quality of the Buddha. Santaraksita and Kamalasila affirm both claims, but in their argumentation they employ divergent rhetorical strategies in different passages, advancing what appear to be contradictory positions.

Shantarakshita's The Ornament of the Middle Way is among the most important Mahayana Buddhist philosophical treatises to emerge on the Indian subcontinent. In many respects, it represents the culmination of more than 1300 years of philosophical dialogue and inquiry since the time of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. Shantarakshita set forth the foundation of a syncretic approach to contemporary ideas by synthesizing the three major trends in Indian Buddhist thought at the time into one consistent and coherent system. Shantarakshita's text is considered to be the quintessential exposition or root text of the school of Buddhist philosophical thought known in Tibet as Yogachara-Svatantrika-Madhyamaka. In addition to examining his ideas in their Indian context, this study examines the way Shantarakshita's ideas have been understood by and have been an influence on Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Specifically, Blumenthal examines the way scholars from the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism have interpreted, represented, and incorporated Santaraksita's ideas into their own philosophical project.

Madhyamaka is a potent and universally accessible means of calming our suffering and awakening to our innate wisdom. The Center of the Sunlit Sky artfully rescues this brilliant teaching from its unwarranted reputation for intellectual opacity and reinstates it as a supremely practical tool kit for everyday living. The aim of this book is to take Madhyamaka out of the purely intellectual corner into which it unjustly gets boxed. It is an attempt to show how Madhayamaka actually addresses and works with all of our experiences in life. The book follows the original Indian sources as well as the standard commentaries on Madhyamaka in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. At the same time, these materials are adapted for a contemporary audience, combining the familiar sharpness of Madhyamaka reasonings (launching a massive assault on our cherished belief systems) with exploring the practical relevance of the Madhyamaka way of mind training.

This work presents the first English translation of the complete text of the Madhyamakāvatāra (Entry into the Middle Way), a sixth century Sanskrit Buddhist composition that was widely studied in Tibet and, presumably, in its native India as well. In his lengthy introduction to the translation, Huntington offers a judiciously crafted, highly original discussion of the central philosophy of Mahāyāna Buddhism. He lays out the principal ideas of emptiness and dependent origination not as abstract philosophical concepts, but rather as powerful tools for restructuring the nature of human experience at the most fundamental level. Drawing on a variety of Indian and Western sources, both ancient and modern, Huntington gradually leads the reader toward an understanding of how it is that sophisticated philosophical thinking can serve as a means for breaking down attachment to any idea, opinion or belief. All of this on the Buddhist premise that habitual, unreflective identification with ideas, opinions, or beliefs compromises our appreciation of the ungraspable miracle that lies at the heart of everyday, conventional reality. The author shows how the spiritual path of the bodhisattva works to transform the individual personality from a knot of clinging into a vehicle for the expression of profound wisdom (prajñā) and unconditional love (karuṇā).

Jingjing Li, Comparing Husserl's Phenomenology and Chinese Yogacara in a Multicultural World (2022)

Shek-Wing Tam, The Dharani of Entering Non-Conceptuality, trans. Vivian Tsang (2021)

Roy Tzohar, A Yogacara Buddhist Theory of Metaphor (2018)

Jay L. Garfield & Jan Westerhoff (eds.), Madhyamaka and Yogacara: Allies or Rivals? (2015)

John P. Keenan, A Study of the Buddhabhumyupadesa: The Doctrinal Development of the Notion of Wisdom in Yogacara Thought (2014)

John Makeham (ed.), Transforming Consciousness: Yogacara Thought in Modern China (2014)

Ulrich timme kragh, the foundation for yoga practitioners: the buddhist yogacarabhumi treatise and its adaptation in india, east asia, and tibet (2013).

Tagawa Shun'ei, Living Yogacara: An Introduction to Consciousness-Only Buddhism, trans. Charles Muller (2009)

Jeffrey Hopkins, Absorption in No External World: 170 Issues in Mind-Only Buddhism (2006)

Tao Jiang, Contexts and Dialogue: Yogacara Buddhism and Modern Psychology on the Subliminal Mind (2006)

John Powers, Hermeneutics and Tradition in the Samdhinirmocana-Sutra (2004)

Fernando Tola & Carmen Dragonetti, Being as Consciousness: Yogacara Philosophy of Buddhism (2004)

Jeffrey Hopkins, Emptiness in the Mind-Only School of Buddhism: Dynamic Responses to Dzong-ka-ba's Essence of True Eloquence (2003)

Dan Lusthaus, Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogacara Buddhism and the Ch'eng Wei-Shih Lun (2003)

William S. Waldron, The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-Vijñana in the Context of Indian Buddhist Thought (2003)

Jeffrey Hopkins, Reflections on Reality: The Three Natures and Non-Natures in the Mind-Only School (2002)

John Powers, The Yogacara School of Buddhism: A Bibliography (1991)

Thomas E. Wood, Mind Only: A Philosophical and Doctrinal Analysis of the Vijnanavada (1991)

A.K. Chatterjee, The Yogacara Idealism (1976)

C.L. Tripathi, The Problem of Knowledge in Yogacara Buddhism (1972)

Buddhist philosophy is fundamentally ambivalent toward language. Language is paradoxically seen as both obstructive and necessary for liberation. In this book, Roy Tzohar delves into the ingenious response to this tension from the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism: that all language-use is metaphorical. Exploring the profound implications of this claim, Tzohar makes the case for viewing the Yogacara account as a full-fledged theory of meaning, one that is not merely linguistic, but also applicable both in the world as well as in texts. Despite the overwhelming visibility of figurative language in Buddhist philosophical texts, this is the first sustained and systematic attempt to present an indigenous Buddhist theory of metaphor. By grounding the Yogacara pan-metaphorical claim in a broader intellectual context, of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, the book uncovers an intense philosophical conversation about metaphor and language that reaches across sectarian lines. Tzohar's analysis radically reframes the Yogacara controversy with the Madhyamaka school of philosophy, sheds light on the Yogacara application of particular metaphors, and explicates the school's unique understanding of experience.

Yogacara is one of the most influential philosophical systems of Indian Buddhism. Competing traditions of Yogacara thought were first introduced into China during the sixth century. By the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), however, key commentaries of this school had ceased being transmitted in China, and it was not until the end of the nineteenth century that a number of them were re-introduced from Japan where their transmission had been uninterrupted. Within a few short years Yogacara was being touted as a rival to the New Learning from the West, boasting not only organized, systematized thought and concepts, but also a superior means to establish verification. This book accomplishes three goals. The first is to explain why this Indian philosophical system proved to be so attractive to influential Chinese intellectuals at a particular moment in history. The second is to demonstrate how the revival of Yogacara thought informed Chinese responses to the challenges of modernity, in particular modern science and logic. The third goal is to highlight how Yogacara thought shaped a major current in modern Chinese philosophy: New Confucianism. Transforming Consciousness illustrates that an adequate understanding of New Confucian philosophy must include a proper grasp of Yogacara thought.

Yogacara is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology that stems from the early Indian Mahayana Buddhist tradition. The Yogacara view is based on the fundamental truth that there is nothing in the realm of human experience that is not interpreted by and dependent upon the mind. Yogacara Buddhism was unable to sustain the same level of popularity as other Buddhist schools in India, Tibet, and East Asia, but its teachings on the nature of consciousness profoundly impacted the successive developments of Buddhism. Yogacara served as the basis for the development of the doctrines of karma and liberation in many other schools. In this refreshingly accessible study, Tagawa Shun'ei makes sense of Yogacara's subtleties and complexities with insight and clarity. He shows us that Yogacara masters comprehend and express everyday experiences that we all take for granted, yet struggle to explain. Eloquent and approachable, this book deepens the reader's understanding of the development of Buddhism's interpretation of the human psyche.

Are there Buddhist conceptions of the unconscious? If so, are they more Freudian, Jungian, or something else? If not, can Buddhist conceptions be reconciled with the Freudian, Jungian, or other models? These are some of the questions that have motivated modern scholarship to approach ālayavijñāna, the storehouse consciousness, formulated in Yogācāra Buddhism as a subliminal reservoir of tendencies, habits, and future possibilities. Tao Jiang argues convincingly that such questions are inherently problematic because they frame their interpretations of the Buddhist notion largely in terms of responses to modern psychology. He proposes that, if we are to understand ālayavijñāna properly and compare it with the unconscious responsibly, we need to change the way the questions are posed so that ālayavijñāna and the unconscious can first be understood within their own contexts and then recontextualized within a dialogical setting. In so doing, certain paradigmatic assumptions embedded in the original frameworks of Buddhist and modern psychological theories are exposed. Jiang brings together Xuan Zang’s ālayavijñāna and Freud’s and Jung’s unconscious to focus on what the differences are in the thematic concerns of the three theories.

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