INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGION AND BELIEF SYSTEM- MAHAYANA BUDDHISM

1. Prepared by: Rostum Orleans Andrada
Student Teacher

2. Buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama
“This craving for permanence in an
impermanent world, he realized, could only
lead to suffering because the nature of life
was transitory. “

3. • Buddhism doesn’t have a supreme god
• Any body can be Buddha
• Buddhism believes in KARMA
(Positive)
• Monks shave their hair to move
on
• AUM- This sound represents the
beginning – the creation of the
universe and everything within it.

4. Mahayana Buddhism

5. Communicate, orally and in
writing, about religion with
sensitivity and respect.
Lesson
Objectives
Define, discuss and write about
Mahayana Buddhism and how it
differs from Theravada Buddhism

6. H AT I S
WM A H AYA N A
B U D D H I S M

7. BEGINNINGS
FOUNDERS
EARLY DEVELOPMENTS
SACRED TEXT
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
INFLUENCES
SCHISM AND SECTS
MISSIONS AND EXPANSION

8. • DALAI LAMA • BODHISATTVA

9. Human Nature and the Purpose of Existence
Suffering and the Problem of Evil
The Mahayana holds that the cultivation of wisdom, prajna—through various
meditation techniques, sometimes with the help of bodhisattvas—allows
individuals to cut through the ignorance and grasping that keep them stuck in
samsara.
Afterlife and Salvation
As with other schools of Buddhism, the Mahayana holds that suffering is
caused by grasping on to things and experiences that are, by their very nature,
impermanent.
Final salvation in the Mahayana is nirvana, Some schools hold that
enlightened beings are reborn in pure lands, limitless paradises where they
reside with buddhas and bodhisattvas.

10. At the age of two, the child, then named Lhamo
Dhondup, was recognized as the reincarnation
of the previous 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso
Mahayana Buddhist believe that the Dalai Lama
is not just a religious leader but also the head of
the government.
14TH DALAI LAMA
TENZIN GYATSO

11. The 14th Dalai Lama, known as
Gyalwa Rinpoche to the Tibetan
people, is the current Dalai Lama,
the highest spiritual leader and
former head of state of Tibet.
POTALLA PALACE
DHARAMSHALA INDIA

12. B E G I N N I N G S
The Mahayana emerged between
100 B.C.E. and 100 C.E. in India in
the context of debate
about proper Buddhist doctrine
and practice, about monastic
discipline, and particularly about
the ongoing presence of the
Buddha after his death as well as
the nature of enlightenment
itself.

13. The philosopher/monk Nagarjuna is
sometimes said to be the founder of
the Mahayana, along with such early
figures as Asanga and Vasubandhu,
although each of these figures actually
founded sub schools within the early
Mahayana; in reality there is no single
founder of the tradition.
FOUNDER

14. INFLUENCES Initially, the Mahayana was influenced
by other Buddhist schools of thought in
India; as it spread in and beyond India,
it absorbed and adopted aspects of
indigenous religious traditions, such as
Taoism, Confucianism, Bon, and
various forms of Hinduism

15. The earliest Mahayana texts
compose the vast corpus known as
the "Prajnaparamita" ("Perfection
of Wisdom"), which forms the
foundation of many later Mahayana
schools. Other important early texts
include the "Sadharmapundarika"
("Lotus Sutra") and the "Vimalakirti
Nirdesha Sutra."
S a c r e d T e x t

16. DAMA
PARAMITA
SILA
PARAMITA
KSANTI
PARAMITA
VIRYA
PARAMITA
DHYANA
PARAMITA
PRAJNA
PARAMITA

17. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Mahayana thought has been extremely
influential in western world and, in recent
decades, western religious and ethical
practice.
Early scholarship on the Mahayana
focused primarily on Mahayana thought,
but more attention recently has been paid
to ritual and devotional practices.

18. EARLY DEVELOPMENT
Emphasis on the importance of the book;
hundreds of new texts were written, copied,
disseminated, and often worshipped. This
may have been intended to counter the
dominance of stupa veneration in other
Buddhist schools.

19. S C H I S M A N D S E C T
Emergence of sub-school in India and
China among them is Madhyamaka,
Yogacara, the Pure Land Schools, and
Ch'an.

20. MISSION AND EXPANSION
Mahayana Buddhism, also known as the Great
Vehicle, is the form of Buddhism prominent in
North Asia, including China, Mongolia, Tibet,
Korea, and Japan
EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST
A variety of kings in both India and east and
southeast Asia supported the Mahayana
the Kushanas, Guptas, and Palas in India; the Han and Tang in China;
the Srivijaya and Sailendra in Indonesia.

21. DHARMAKAYA
TRIKAYA
(body of essence), the unmanifested mode, and the
supreme state of absolute knowledge
SAMBHOGAKAYA
(body of enjoyment), the heavenly mode
NIRMANAKAYA
(body of transformation), the earthly mode, the
Buddha as he appeared on earth or manifested
himself in an earthly bodhisattva, an earthly king, a
painting, or a natural object, such as a lotus.

22. THERAVADA AND
MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
SIMILARITIES
• Siddharta Gautama or Buddha as
founder
• Accept the basic Buddhist Teachings of
Four Noble Truths and Eight-fold Path

23. THERAVADA AND
MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
DIFFERENCES
• Teaching of the
elders
• The Great Vehicle
• Assimilated local
custom to
accommodate the
socio cultural beliefs
THERAVADA MAHAYANA

24. THERAVADA AND
MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
DIFFERENCES
• Gain freedom from
the cycle of samsara
• May choose to stay
in samsara out of
compassion for
others
THERAVADA MAHAYANA

25. THERAVADA AND
MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
Why Theravada and Mahayana
Buddhism exist in peace and
harmony despite these differences?

26. Thank You
With our thoughts we make the world
--Buddha