Buddhism as a Religion - Essay Example

Buddhism Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism 3 Origin of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism 4 Spreading of Mahayana and Theravada all over the World 5 Mahayana 5 Theravada 6 Different Beliefs of Mahayana as well as Theravada 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction Religion is an accumulation of beliefs and cultural systems, which has related the people or humanity with an order of existence. Every religion has its own narrative symbols as well as its historical contribution towards the development of a society. It is has been stated that the religion of an individual explaining his or her origin of life. Every religion has its separate importance within the society. It is expected that every religion has shown its significance for building an ideal society (Jingpeng, 2012). In this regard, Buddhism is recognised as one of the most significant factor for building an ideal society. More specifically, Buddhism has played an important role for spreading harmony within the society. There are several forms of Buddhism that has played an important role for the development of the society. Mahayana Buddhism as well as Theravada Buddhism is considered to be two principle branches of Buddhists’ belief (Rahula, 1996). The objective of the study is to provide a brief overview regarding the two types of Buddhist principle that include Mahayana Buddhism as well as Theravada Buddhism. The study will also focus upon the diversified attributes of both the principles. Difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism Buddhism is a religious believe developed by the Great Saint named Goutam Buddha. He was the prince of Sakya tribe, which belongs to Nepal. The key principle of Buddhism is to spread harmony and love around the world. The principle intention of Buddhism is to describe people about the purpose of their life. Moreover, Buddhism also provides information regarding the apparent injustice as well as inequality that are happening all around the world. In this regard, Buddhism provides a code of conduct or code of practice that will lead towards the actual happiness of life (Rahula, 1996). Mahayana as well as Theravada Buddhism is the two major principles of Buddhism based on which people following the religion are able to lead their life in a different way. It is also stated that both the principles are having different understanding along with different expressions towards life. In addition, the principles are identified to be having different meanings on the basis of purpose and meaning. Mahayana Buddhism is having the meaning of ‘The Great Vehicle’ and on the other hand, Theravada Buddhism expresses the principle of ‘The Teaching of the Elders’ (Jingpeng, 2012). Origin of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism The concept of Mahayana Buddhism originated in India. Subsequently, it spread throughout Korea, Japan, China, Central Asia, Vietnam, Tibet as well as Taiwan. It is also stated that the followers of Mahayana are having traditional point of view, which regarded their doctrine as the full exposure of the teachings of Buddha. More specifically, the followers of Mahayana are following the teachings of Buddha by providing entire exposure of all the doctrine to the people living within the society (Jingpeng, 2012). On the other hand, Theravada Buddhism has also been identified to be originated in India and expanded several courtiers of southern Asia. It is also stated that after the origin of Theravada Buddhism, there are certain differences arising among the major fundamental principle of Buddhism. The southern Asian countries where the Theravada principle is followed by a large number of people include Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Sri Lanka as well as Burma. It has been also stated that Theravada principle is having few differences from the traditional approach of Mahayana Buddhism (Rahula, 1996). Spreading of Mahayana and Theravada all over the World It has been observed by reviewing the world history that numerous legendary people had played a legendary role in order to expand Buddhism on a worldwide basis. In this context, the Indian emperor named The Great Asoka is recognised to be most legendary person who has played an active participation behind the expansion of Buddhism. Moreover, not only Asoka, but his family also played an imperative role in the expansion of Buddhism (Keown, 2013). Mahayana Mahayana and Theravada principles are recognised as two major or prime existing segments of Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism expresses the major terms for classifying all the philosophies as well as practices of Buddhism. Most of the time, people considered Vajranaya as a major division of Mahayana Buddhism. However, few people also recognised Vajranaya as a different part of Mahayana. Mahayana Buddhism has developed a new belief relating to the schisms, which has made a division between doctrine as well as monastic rules (Rahula, 1996). The meaning of Mahayana is recognised to be a “The Grate Vehicle”. Most of the followers considered it as a more authentic version of the teaching of Buddha. It has been observed that Mahayana has been accepted the canonical texts, which belongs to the Theravada tradition. This script is also famous as Hinayana that means as ‘lesser Vehicle’. This section mainly consists of philosophical as well as devotional text that teaches about the actual context of life (Bhikkhu, 2012). Besides, Mahayana is also recognised as an umbrella body, which represents a large number of varieties of schools. These schools are primarily based upon the Tantra Schools, which teaches secret of Yoga to all the Buddha followers. These schools are oriented from Tibet as well as from Nepal. It has been also found that the Ch’an Buddhism is one of the famous Buddhist schools of China as well as Zen Buddhism is also famous among all the Japanese Buddhist schools. As per Mahayana Buddhism, Buddha has been figured as a heavenly body that mainly famous for its longevity attributes among the East Asian countries (Waterhouse, 2013). Theravada On the other hand, Theravada is another branch of Buddhism, which mainly focuses upon teaching the Pali Canon. The Pali Canon is recognised to be a collection of oldest records of Buddhist text, which provide a concise description about the doctrine of Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism explains the expression “Teaching of the Elders”. This concept is mainly preached in several schools of Buddhism. It is also stated that countries including Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand as well as Burma have accepted the concept of Buddhist principle of the Theravada schools (Rahula, 1996). More specifically, it has been elaborated that the Theravada schools are the oldest or the traditional forms of Buddhist schools where the Pali literatures were being preached. The Theravada schools are also popular as most orthodox schools, which provide devotional knowledge regarding Buddhism. The schools are providing a belief about the presence of human quality in Buddha as well as also provide a characteristic of the psychological understanding of every human nature (Gakkai, n.d.). Theravada Buddhism also emphasises the contemplative approach, which will provide supports as well as encourages the transformation of consciousness. Theravada Buddhism approach primarily features the process of Buddha’s teaching. According to the Theravada schools, the teaching of Buddha is very much simple in nature. In addition, several Theravada scholars noted that Buddha always requested to withdraw all kinds of evil from the human heart and mind. As per the Theravada philosophy, Buddha has also requested people to accumulate as well as assimilate all kinds of purity and goodness in the human mind (Bhikkhu, 2012). Different Beliefs of Mahayana as well as Theravada It has been observed that though both the philosophies that include Mahayana as well as Theravada are recognised to be more similar, but both are having few different as per their understandings. It is also found that both the philosophies are differentiated based on the discrimination made among each other. Contextually, it is found that as per Mahayana Buddhism, Buddha is having several forms. In this regard, the Amitabha forms of Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha as well as other contemporary Buddha such as Medicine Buddha are also famous (Waterhouse, 2013). However, as per Theravada Buddhism, the historical Goutam Buddha as well as past Buddha is widely accepted. As per the beliefs of Mahayana Buddhism, Maitreya bodhisattva is the one and only accepted beliefs. On the other hand, as per the Theravada beliefs, there are more four types of bodhisattva present apart from Maitreya bodhisattva such as Samanthabadra, Mansjuri, Avalokitesvara as well as Ksitigarbha (Rahula, 1996). The main objective of the Mahayana Buddhism belief is to provide teaching of Buddhism with the objective of Arahant, which improve seldom and respect amid monks as well as nuns. In the other hand, as per the Theravada Buddhism beliefs, the key objective of the training is to ensure that the followers live according to Buddha-hood. In the Theravada belief, one Buddhist follower should live according to the Monastic Codes, which will be taught through the classes held in a Sangha. In Theravada Buddhism, the concept of monks and nuns does not exist, as this is recognised to be the earlier concept of Buddhism (Keown, 2013). The Mahayana Buddhism schools are conducting the practices relating to meditation and other Tantra related education. Mahayana also teaches all the monks as well as nuns to visit the temple on a regular basis. Apart from this, Mahayana Buddhism teaches to make offerings to the Buddha as per their nature. However, as per Theravada Buddhism, the Sangha are playing an important role for teaching people according to the traditional philosophy. According to Theravada Buddhism, donation, meditation as well as mortality are recognised to be the prime factor for the practices (Keown, 2013). As per the beliefs of Theravada Buddhism, morality is nobler than donation and meditation is recognised to be nobler than morality. It can be stated that both the philosophies are based on different approach in terms of religious beliefs and principles. According to Mahayana Buddhism, women can become a nun. On the other hand, Theravada also allows women to join the Sangha and leads a monastic life as Buddha was also allowed as per the religious approach. It also describes that Mahayana Buddhism most of the time follows the principles of Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha). Sometimes they also follow the path of Amitabha Buddha who is recognised as a canonical figure of the heavenly figure Buddha. On the contrary, Theravada followers follow the principle of Siddhartha Gautama, where they only learn about Tripitak the Pali Canon text of Buddhism (Bhikkhu, 2012). Conclusion From the above discussion, it has been depicted that Buddhism is the religion, which mainly spread the concept of Harmony. Buddhism is having two principle braches such as Mahayana as well as Theravada. Both the concepts i.e. Mahayana and Theravada explain the different attributes of Buddhism. By reviewing the study, it can be explained that both the principles are having their own attributes as well as significance, which can provide a detailed knowledge about Buddhism. It can be comprehended that Theravada Buddhism is recognised to be the traditional form of Buddhism, which pay attention towards the Buddha’s teaching. On the other hand, Mahayana Buddhism plays attention upon building monks and nuns for the sustainability of the teachings of Buddha. References Bhikkhu, J., 2012. Theravada and Mahayana: Parallels, Connections and Unifying Concepts. Final Paper, pp. 1-7. Gakkai. S., No Date. The Difference between Hinayana and Mahayana. Article, pp. 468-479. Jingpeng, S., 2012. A Critical Study of Triune Vehicle of Mount Lushan Huiyuan. Renmin University of China, pp.1-9. Keown, D., 2013. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. Rahula, W., 1996. Theravada - Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhist Missionary Society, pp. 1-4. Waterhouse, H., 2013. Buddhism Study Guide. The Open University, pp. 1-170. Read More