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
–Don’t 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 per-
ception, cannot be found
–A “non-verbal” experience of reality is what is needed
• 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)

• 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)
• 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)
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 one’s actions
• 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”)
– Ch’an, Zen, Son (meditative Buddhism)
– Tendai (Rationalist School)
– Nichiren (Sociological and political)
– Tibetan (esoteric)

– Let us look at each of these in turn…..

• 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 bound-
less 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 one’s 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 “en-
dure” or “make it” in the last days
– Repeating the formula can bring salvation
– Salvation is impossible by meditation or asceticism
– 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)
• Ch’an (China), Zen (Japan), Son (Korea)
• Zen Buddhism is very popular in the West
• Buddha’s “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 one’s 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
• Zen and the Art of Archery
• Rationalist school of Tendai (Tien Tai)
– An eclectic school
– One of China’s 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
• 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
• 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 effec-
tive 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 se-
curity (ie at moments of insecurity and uncertainty)
• We are confronted by our demons; how we handle them determines our
destiny
• 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”