Presented by Melissa Mills

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM

Mahayana TheravadaLocation Northern (Tibet, China, Taiwan,

Japan, Korea, Mongolia, parts of Southeast Asia )

Southern (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, parts of Southeast Asia)

Schools/ Sects Pure Land and Zen most common

One surviving

Scriptures Tripitaka and many other sutras Pali Canon/Tripitaka only

Buddhas Gautama plus Amitabha, Medicine Buddhas, and others

Guatama and past Buddhas only

Bodhisattvas Maitreya, Avalokitesvara, Mansjuri, Ksitigarbha and Samanthabadra

Maitreya only

*Goal of Training Buddhahood by the bodhisattva-path

Arhat

Trikaya Emphasized, including the samboga-kaya or reward/enjoyment body

Very little emphasis

Original Language Sanskrit PaliBuddha Nature Emphasized, especially in

practice based schoolsNot taught

Non-Buddhist Influences Heavily influenced by local religious ideas as transmitted to new cultures (China, Japan, Tibet).

Mainly pre-Buddhist Indian influences like concepts of karma, sangha, etc.

Etymology• Mahayana- Skt. “great vehicle”

• mahājāna – Prakrit “great knowing”

• synonym for Bodhisattvayāna in texts

• following path and teachings of bodhisattvas

• References to term first appeared in The Lotus Sutra(Skt. Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra) 1st century BCE - CE

• Theravada- Pali “teachings from the elders”

Goal of Training

Mahayana- liberation for all beings from suffering

Theravada- personal liberation from suffering

PURE LAND BUDDHISMShin, Amidhism

How Pure Land came to China• originated in India- became popular in Kashmir and Central Asia• The Pure Land Sutras were brought from Gandhara region 147CE• Kushan monk Lokakṣema translated into Chinese• The Pure Land School founded in China at Donglin Temple• HuiYan of monastery in 402CE

The Pure Land Practices• Not centered on nirvana (impossible)- faith to Amitabha

• Meditation- chanting Amitabha’s name: "Namu Amida Butsu”came from Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra

• Visualization of the Buddha- become one with Amitabha

• devotion to Amitabha= karmic merit

• Sukhavati- not eternal destination (Realm of Bliss)

• born into The Pure Land- never reborn again

• karma diasppears- reach Nirvana through Amitabha and bodhisattvas

• Avataṃsaka Sūtra- most difficult Mahayana text

Controversy

• psuedo-Buddhism

• not The Holy Way- eliminate ignorance and self-attatchment

• “The Easy Path” – Mahayana vs. Theravatafaith + recitation = enlightenment

• Amida provides salvation for the unliberated

ZEN BUDDHISM

How Zen Came to China• “The Flower Sermon” – Guatama Buddha & disciple Mahākāśyapa

I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvāṇa, the true form of the formless, the subtle Dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special

transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.

Concentrated on direct experiences

Bodhidharma came from India to Luoyang, China (Longmen Grottos)- Taught outside of scripture what words could not explain

The Bloodstream Sermon

• Buddhas don't save buddhas. If you use your mind to look for a buddha, you won't see the Buddha. As long as you look for a buddha somewhere else, you'll never see that your own mind is the Buddha. Don't use a buddha

to worship a buddha. And don't use the mind to invoke a buddha. Buddhas don't recite sutras. Buddhas don't keep precepts. And buddhas don't break precepts.

Buddhas don't keep or break anything. Buddhas don't do good or evil. To find a buddha, you have to see your

nature

Buddha Nature• Natural in all beings- universal wisdom

• Essential nature of the mind itself

• Goal of Zen is to discover this in all beings through meditation and Buddha’s teachings

• Sumi E is a form of mediation- seeing things as they truly are

• sitting meditation- schools practice intensivelyLotus Flower position

References• http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/fastfacts/

differences_theravada_mahayana.htm• http://buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/b3schmah.htm• http://www.jodo.org/about_plb/what_plb.html• Buswell, Robert E., ed. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. 1. Macmillan. pp. 57, 130.

ISBN 0028657187.• Suzuki, D.T. (1935). Manual of Zen Buddhism.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/mzb/mzb00.htm.• Amidism", Britannica Online Encyclopedia,

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9007174/Amidism