LTLRE June 30th 2017

Making sense of
Mahayana Buddhism

Prof Denise Cush

Making sense of Mahayana Buddhism
Theravada v. Mahayana
 Theravada v. Mahayana
 What are the main differences? (in 2s)

 Burma, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, Vietnam
Theravada v. Mahayana:
main differences
 How did Mahayana start?
 Various theories
 Mahasanghikas in early councils
 Influence of ‘Hinduism’
 Monastic meditation visions (Williams,
Rawlinson)
 Lay stupa worship (Hirakawa)
 The use of writing (Gombrich)
 Which came first?
 Western scholars presume Theravada
 Mahayana practitioners claim just as old
 Extant textual sources near in date
 Both have long histories
 Both developed side by side in India
 Buddhist concept of time
 Awareness of issue in Mahayana – hidden
texts, Lotus Sutra, so…
 Why is it harder to grasp
Mahayana?
Theravada is
a) a line of ordination
b) a school of philosophy
Mahayana isn’t – a different vision of the
meaning of Buddha and the Buddhist goal, a
movement with roots in Indian monasteries.

Southern/Northern/Eastern Buddhism
 ‘Vajrayana’ and Tantra
 Some sources claim a third wing of
Buddhism ‘Vajrayana’, but
 Clearly within Mahayana, found in Tibetan
Buddhism and Shingon
 Tantric ‘Advanced’ ritual practices which
provide a quicker but more dangerous
path to enlightenment
 Some schools of Mahayana
 Tibetan
Gelugpa, Kargyupa, Sakyapa, Nyingmapa
 Chan/Zen – Rinzai, Soto
 T’ien Tai/Tendai
 Chen yen/Shingon
 Pure Land – Jodo, Jodo Shinshu
 Nichiren
 Many more including NRMs
Kukai (Shingon)
 Mahayana philosophies
 Madhyamaka
 Yogachara
 Hua yen
Nagarjuna at Samye Ling
 Nagarjuna and Madhymaka
 Prajnaparamita texts
 Shunyata ‘emptiness’
 Empty of inherent existence
 Nothing is anything in or by itself
 Nothing has svabhava ‘own-being’, ‘aseity’
 If it did, nothing could ever happen
 Everything is interdependent/relative
 Samsara and nirvana are not separate
 Experiential as well as intellectual
 Levels of truth
 Yogachara
 Asanga and Vasubandhu
 Everything as mental construct ‘mind-only’
 The delusion of real separate objects/selves
 The flow of perceptions misinterpreted
 Alayavijnana or ‘store consciousness’
 Universal Mind?
 Hua yen
 Avatamsaka Sutra
 Indra’s jeweled net
 Interpenetration
 Each individual thing reflects all things
 Influential in China and Japan
 Gives a more positive value to material
world
 Vairochana Buddha ‘shining one’
Vairocana Buddha in Nara
 Buddhas in Theravada
 Buddhas in Theravada
 Historical Buddha, previous and future
Buddhas eg Dipankara, Maitreya
 Rare
 Pass out of samsara at death
 Not in contact
 Maitreya as symbol of unity
Dipankara and Maitreya
Maitreya
 Buddha(s) in Mahayana
 Other universes, other Buddhas
 Vairochana, Amogasiddhi, Amitabha,
Akshobya, Ratnasambhava
 ‘Cosmic’ Buddhas – Vajrasattva,
Vajradhara
 ‘Our’ Buddha, Shakyamuni, is still with us
 All can be Buddhas
 All IS Buddha
 Buddha(s) in Mahayana
 Trikaya ‘three body’ teaching
 Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya,
Dharmakaya
 Tathagatagarbha ‘embryo’ or ‘womb’ of
the Buddha in all
 All can become Buddhas
 All already are
Amida Buddha
Vajrasattva
 Bodhisattvas
 In Theravada, ‘Buddha to be’ - rare
 In Mahayana, someone who aspires to
buddhahood for sake of others
 Advanced bodhisattvas available to help
 Six/Ten perfections and stages
 Perfect wisdom and infinite compassion
 Aspects of Buddha nature?
Avalokitesvara/Chenrezi/Kwanyin
Manjusri and Tara
 Some Mahayana practices
 Temples
 Rituals
 Festivals
 Mandalas
 Mantras
 Meditation
 Funerals
Mount Hiei
Zen Garden, Kyoto
Hanamatsuri April 8th