Mahayana Buddhism

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Mahayana Buddhism

• At about the time of Christ, Buddhism became
  divided
• Theravada (Hinayana) small raft (vehicle)
• Mahayana large raft (vehicle)
• One striking feature of the Mahayana is its
  literature (Prajnaparamita Sutras)
• Written in Sanskrit
• Proliferated about 100 BC 400 AD
• Too voluminous for any single person to read in a
  single lifetime
• The wisdom gone to the other shore
• Lotus Sutra, Diamond Sutra, etc.
• Theravada Buddhism the 3 marks of all existence
• Anatta (no self) Dukkha (painfulness) Anicca
  (impermanence)
• Mahayana Buddjsm added emptiness, as the fourth
  mark of all existence
• Happiness is intrinsic to a healthy mind
• Dont grasp just be
• Reality is not an illusion but its real nature
  (its reality) is transparent to analysis
• The objective world exists, but its independent
  existence, separate from its subjective
  perception, cannot be found
• A non-verbal experience of reality is what is
  needed

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• Different philosophies in the Mahayana school of
  Buddhism
• Sthaviravadins
• Pudgalavadins
• Yogacarins
• Madhyamika
• Etc.
• Subtle philosophical differences re nature of
  ultimate reality and how we apprehend it
• Varieties of Buddhism (diagram)

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• Comparison between the two schools (chart)
• Theravada (Hinayana) Mahayana
• Teaching of the elders Spirit of the elders
• Small vehicle Large (great) vehicle
• Man as an individual Man involved with others
• Man on his own in the universe Man is not alone
  (grace is real)
• Key virtue wisdom (bodhi) Key virtue
  compassion (karuna)
• Religion is primarily for monks Religion is for
  laypersons as well
• Ideal the Arhat (lonely saint) Ideal the
  Bodhisattva
• Nirvana Nirvana heavens, hells
• Buddha is a saint or sage Buddha is a savior
• Avoids metaphysics (speculation) Elaborates
  metaphysics
• Avoids ritual Includes ritual
• Conservative Liberal
• Pali texts Many later texts (Sanskrit)
• Old wisdom school New wisdom school
• Escape Samsara, and reach Nirvana Samsara is
  Nirvana (identity)
• Ceylon, Burma, etc. (Southern Bism) China, Korea,
  Japan (N Bism)

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• Most Mahayanists hold that Buddha privately
  taught that man does not have to save himself
  there is help available. The number of Buddhas
  proliferated. The authors of salvation are of
  three kinds
• Manushi Buddhas (started from a human base
  Gotama Buddha)
• They came on earth, attained enlightenment, and
  are now gone. They are teachers
• Gotama before his enlightenment
• Bodhisattvas
• Beings who vowed to become Buddhas and have
  enormous merit they postponed their entrance to
  Nirvana to help us
• Maitreya, Avalokitesvara, Kwan Yin, Amitabha
• Dhyani Buddhas (meditation Buddhas, never in
  human form)
• They achieved Buddha-hood, but not in human
  manifestation
• Vairocana, Amitabha are the most appealing of the
  D. Buddhas
• Also, a mythology about the Buddha developed
  (Buddhology)
• The Trikaya (Triple Body of the Buddha)
• Dharmakaya (analogous to the Godhead)
• Sambogakhaya (analogous to the resurrected
  Christ)
• Nirmanakaya (analogous to the historical Jesus of
  Nazareth)

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• The Bodhisattva became popular
• A being whose essence is enlightenment
• The bodhisattva vow (to save all sentient beings)
  Vision p 41
• Daily schedule of the schools of Buddhism
  (Theravada, Zen, Tibetan)
• Rise at 4 am
• Lunch is the main meal
• To bed by 10 pm
• A lot of time given to study/work
• Re the conduct of the various schools
• Symbiotic relationship
• Conduct (gives merit, or punya) includes
• Rules of restraint (5 and 5)
• The perfections towards which we should strive
• Taking responsibility for ones actions

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• The main objective in Buddhism is to attain
  liberation
• Buddhism has fragmented there are many different
  schools
• In Japan alone, there are over 180 differentiated
  schools of Buddhism
• Several important schools, all of which have the
  same ultimate objective
• Pure Land Buddhism (getting to heaven, or the
  pure land)
• Chan, Zen, Son (meditative Buddhism)
• Tendai (Rationalist School)
• Nichiren (Sociological and political)
• Tibetan (esoteric)
• Let us look at each of these in turn..

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• Pure Land Buddhism
• Faith in Amidha Buddha and recitation and
  meditation on his name
• Religious goal of being reborn in his Pure Land
  and meditation on his name
• This present age is an age of decay
• (pure dharma, compromised dharma Mappo latter
  day dharma)
• In Japan often called Amidhism
• In 12 century the monk Honen became persuaded
  that in our corrupt age the only successful road
  to enlightenment is through a complete dependence
  on Amidha
• The mythological side of the movement centered on
  the Buddha of boundless light, Amitabha, although
  Kuan Yin over overshadowed Amida
• The Pure Land of the West exists infinitely far
  away as the Western edge of the universe (or it
  can be realized here and now in ones present
  life)
• Jodoshu (Pure Land Buddhism) was founded by Honen
  (1133-1212)
• He did 60,000 bows in one day (?)
• Reciting the nembutsu (namu amida butsu) is the
  only way to endure or make it in the last
  days
• Repeating the formula can bring salvation
• Salvation is impossible by meditation or
  asceticism

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• Jodoshinshu (True PLBuddism) was founded by
  Shinran (1173-1263)
• Salvation by grace alone
• If salvation is by faith, the monastic rule
  avails a man nothing
• Parallel with Martin Luther in the course of
  faith re monasticism
• The Pure Land Sutra
• Culmination of Pure Land Buddhism
• Nembutsu, but with faith (tariki other power
  school)
• He shifted the attention from practice, to
  attitude
• He made the act of faith itself the essential
  basis of salvation
• The act of faith was made not by the person, but
  by the Buddha acting in that person (similar to
  Karl Barth-W. theologian)

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• Chan (China), Zen (Japan), Son (Korea)
• Zen Buddhism is very popular in the West
• Buddhas flower sermon (the disciple Ananda)
• 28 patriarchs
• 1. Sakyamuni..28. Boddhidharma
• 1) A special oral transmission from master to
  disciple outside of scripture
• 2) No dependence upon the authority of words and
  letters (anti-intellectual)
• 3) Direct pointing to the soul of man
• 4) Seeing into ones own nature and attaining
  Buddha-hood
• The 10 Ox-Herding pictures
• Rinzai school (Eisai) sudden enlightenment with
  a Koan (ie Wonhyo in Korea)
• Short pithy utterance (sound of one hand
  clapping?)
• Designed to disrupt the normal, everyday mental
  machinery
• Great death leads to satori (enlightenment)
  (see notes)
• Soto school (Dogen) gradual enlightenment
  (without a koan)
• Very popular in the Western world
• The western scholar and the Zen master with a
  filled cup of tea

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• Rationalist school of Tendai (Tien Tai)
• An eclectic school
• One of Chinas great schools of Buddhism
• Tries to reconcile Theravada and Mahayana
  (inclusive point of view)
• Meditation should be balanced by a prolonged and
  serious study of texts
• Has a place for all the Buddhist scriptures
• Most popular and important text is the Lotus
  Sutra
• Locus classicus is the burning home passage
  (Vision p 218)
• Also contains a parable of the prodigal son,
  rather similar to the Bible

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• Lotus Sutra (Saddharma)
• Contains the essence of all the teachings of the
  Buddha
• Doctrine that the Buddha taught differently at
  the different stages of his life
• He taught according to the understanding of his
  hearers (like Jesus)
• Upaya (skillful means)
• Originally the doctrines of the Theravada sutras
• Later, in progressively profounder versions, the
  Mahayana doctrines
• The fullest revelation of eternal truth is in the
  Lotus Sutra
• All men can become the Buddha, because all
  possess the Ba nature
• Various teachings are necessary to meet various
  needs
• Tendai scholars made use of the doctrine of the 3
  bodies of the Ba
• The Ba as absolute truth manifests in the realm
  of phenomena both as historical teacher and as
  celestial object of worship and adoration
• Scholars arranged various writings in a hierarchy
• At the summit was the Lotus Sutra

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• Nichiren (a socio-political school of Mahayana
  Buddhism)
• Soka Gakkai Risho Kosekai
• Has become very political
• Seemingly has lost the spirit of Buddhism
• Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan School
• The reasoned knowledge of the schools, distilled
  into books, is not as effective in awakening one
  to enlightenment as live experience under a guru
  able to conduct magically potent secret exercises
  which can bring one into direct contact with
  ultimate reality
• Tantrayana
• Mandalas
• Bardo Thodol
• (Bardo intermediate state Thodol great
  liberation by hearing)
• The Tibetan Book of the Dead
• Deals with transition states
• Between death and passing between jobs
  between moments of security (ie at moments of
  insecurity and uncertainty)
• We are confronted by our demons how we handle
  them determines our destiny

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• New Religious Movements (especially in Japan)
• Tenchi Seikyo
• Maitreya Buddha
• Beautiful white marble statue
• Doctrines similar to UM
• Won Buddhism
• Indigenous to Korea
• One circle (see chart)
• Buddhist art
• Very significant and beautiful
• Not just for decoration, but are visual images of
  the Buddha at various points along his life path
• Buddhist influence on the early desert fathers of
  Christianity
• Two Messages, One Doctrine

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