Introduction

One of the major developments inside Buddhism is the Mahayana movement. It features new radical innovations that helped Buddhism to spread in all East Asia, gathering more lay followers and coexisting with indigenous religions.

Main doctrinal traditions: the Mahayana Buddhism

The Mahayana (Skt: “Greater Vehicle”) movement arose within Indian Buddhism around the beginning of the Common Era and became by the 9th century the dominant influence on the Buddhist cultures of Central and East Asia, which it remains today (see links to other modules).

There are uncertainties about the historical origins of this movement and the provenance of its scriptures. Probably the best approach is to understand Mahayana as slow and organic development of beliefs, ideas, and attitudes that were present in early Buddhism, enriched by adding new elements and perspectives, till becoming a independent movement. In fact even if Mahayana asserted itself as superior to other traditions, which where called “Hinayana” (Small Vehicle), some of the older Buddhist schools continued flourishing long after the emergence of Mahayana and there was a peaceful co-existence between the two groups. The common features of the traditions that proclaim their affiliation to Mahayana are: the Ideals of Bodhisattva, the Supramundane nature of Buddha, adherence to new Sutras (see below).

Sacred Text: New Mahayana Sutras

The Mahayana movement is characterized by the production of new Sutras over an extended

period, of uncertain provenance and authorship. Even if they  postdate the Historical Buddha's death, they present themselves as Buddha's word. In fact, they all start with the phrase "Thus I have heard", which sanction a text as a Sutra. But these Sutras present new literary styles, different from that of the earlier Sutra, which depicted the Historical Buddha preaching to an audience of monks. These new Sutras featured depictions of   Supramundane Buddhas (see below) otherworldly realms, audience of celestial beings, symbolism, and, most important of all, new doctrinal perspective such as Wisdom, Compassion and Skillful Means (see below).

Main doctrinal tenets: Wisdom, Compassion and Skillful Means

For Mahayana Buddhism, enlightenment consists in understanding and actualizing the true nature of reality. While non-Mahayana doctrine emphasizes the absence of the self in persons, Mahayana thought extends this idea to all things. Therefore, everything is void.  Understanding this is called Wisdom (Skt: Prajna). Moreover, the Mahayana practitioner has to actualize this comprehension through Compassion (Skt Karuna), that is, leading other beings towards liberation. The relationship between Wisdom and Compassion is the following: since no individual has a “self,” there can be no real difference between themselves and others, therefore one's own liberation is not distinct from the liberation of all beings. This is the essence of Buddhahood.

Another element crucial to the Mahayana salvific vision is the doctrine of Skillful Means (upaya). Motivated by compassion and guided by wisdom, Supramundane Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (see above) wish to lead ordinary beings to liberation. In order to do so, they adapt, in various way, their teachings to the level of the audience.

Deities, holy beings: Supramundane Buddhas

Along with the expansion, the opening to the lay people, and the philosophical development inside the Buddhist community, the figure of the founder, the Historical Buddha, Goutama Shakyamanuni, slowly fade into a more rich and lofty vision: the Historical Buddha is just a compassionate emanation of a Supramunade Entity, conceived as the pure embodiment of the Eternal Truth (which obviously correspond to the Buddhist teaching). Therefore there exist, and have existed, innumerable  Buddhas, each dwelling in its own world-realm, striving to help all sentient beings towards liberation. This vision of universal accessibility of awakening appeased the lay audience, because they could express devotion to innumerable sources of liberation represented by these Buddhas. With time, from this idea of Supramundane Buddhas   developed also the imagination of their heavenly dwelling, called the Pure Lands, that offered to the devotees the hope of a permanent paradise. In these Pure lands these Buddhas are assisted by a numbers of other heavenly beings, most notably of all, the Bodhisattvas (see below).

Main doctrinal tenets and holy beings: the Ideal of Bodhisattva

Central to Mahayana ideology is the idea of the Bodhisattva, namely, the one who wish to attain enlightenment and to lead other beings towards it, following the dialectic between Wisdom and Compassion (see above). This is in contrast to the dominant thinking in non-Mahayana Buddhism, which state as ideal of liberation and perfection the Arhat, who seek individual liberation, and is thus  criticized by Mahayana for being too selfish.

The Bodhisattva's Ideal express  a new perspective of universal liberation, no more confined the monastic setting, but open to all, especially to lay people. In fact, apart from being a ideal of liberation and perfection, the concept of Bodhisattva gave way to the worship of a number of Celestial Bodhisattvas: supramundane beings who achieve enlightenment but, moved by Compassion, delay the entrance in Nirvana, remaining instead on Earth to help all sentient beings attain liberation.

Instead of performing a difficult path, the lay devotee could ask these Bodhisattva for miraculous help. Moreover, prayers to Bodhisattvas weren't just plea for liberation, but also for more practical benefits, such as recover from illness. Such request weren't considered mundane hindrance for enlightenment but, followings the doctrine of Skillful Means (see above), a teaching expedient. This increased greatly the number of lay followers.

Source Analysis

Source 1

Glossary:

mandarava,  mahamandarava,  manjushaka,  mahamanjushaka: types of flower, called "tiger claw".

yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas: various Indian mythical beings.

Avichi: the lowest level of the Buddhist Hell.

Akanishtha: the highest level of the Buddhist Paradise.

World Honored One: one common epithet of the Buddha.

Shariputra: One of the disciples of the Historical Buddha.

Hearers: people who could listen directly to the Buddha's teaching.

Solitary Buddhas: people who attained enlightenment studying indirectly the Buddha's teaching.

Dharma: the Buddhist Law, the Buddhist teachings, the true nature of reality.

The Sutra starts in the first excerpt depicting the Historical Buddha, Siddhartha Goutama, surrounded by an assembly, but differently from early Sutras, the setting is filled with wondrous beings and miraculous deeds, like raining flowers and beams of light. This shows how the Mahayana Sutras conceive the Buddha as a god-like being.

In the second excerpts the Buddha reveals how in the past there have been innumerable Buddhas who all preached the same teaching. However, because this doctrine is too profound, they have continuously adapted it to their audience using the Skillful Means (see above). This is very important because, in this perspective, the early Sutras, allegedly spoken by the Historical Buddha, are just an adaptation of the real Truth.

In the third excerpts the Historical Buddha reveals himself as a simple emanation of a  eternal Supramundane Buddha (see above): he didn't attained Buddhahood (i.e. attained enlightenment) in this life, but countless eons ago. He manifested himself as Buddha on earth innumerable times in the past.  For this reason, when the Historical Buddha died entering the Parinirvana (see pag. 2), it was just a purported illusion ("I expediently manifest Nirvana."). In reality this supreme, Supramundane Buddha is always present in this magical setting continuously preaching for the liberation of living beings.

Source n°2

Avalokiteshvara is one of the most famous and revered Bodhisattva (see above). He is the considered the embodiment of compassion. For this reason he is frequently represented with numerous hands and eyes (here only twenty-two hands are shown): these symbolize his continuous efforts to look for and help out living beings. There are some basic guidelines to help distinguish between Buddhas  and Bodhisattvas. Almost all Buddhas wear simple monk's robes, without jewelry or ornamentation. In contrast, sculptures of the Bodhisattvas are generally ornate, often wearing jewelry and princely clothes. It is a way to express that they are still bond to this world.

This painting depicts Amitayus, one of the most revered Supramundane Buddhas (see above) of the Mahayana pantheon. He is shown in his paradise,  the Western Pure Land, enthroned beneath a flowering tree adorned with jewels and auspicious symbols. To either side the sky is filled with demigods who bear offerings and scatter flowers. Seated below are eight Bodhisattvas, and between them are two large, low tables covered with offerings. To either side are there vast  audiences who receive Amitayus’s message. At the bottom, set within a vast panoramic landscape, are courtyards, giant lotus flowers, and pools from which the purified are being reborn.

These visions of Supramundane Buddhas dwelling in paradises, where devotees could be reborn, show the multifaceted differentiation of Mahayana Buddhism: For some traditions that followed the  ascetic and meditative methods, these images were visualization technique for concentration or mere metaphor for states of consciousness. Others  traditions, on the other hand, developed a perspective of liberation to be attained through faith and devotion to these Supramundane Buddhas.

intercultural and interdisciplinary information

The Skillfull Means are a pivotal idea in the widespreading and co-existence of various Mahayana schools. The fact that different ways of attaining enlightenment are seen as adaptations of a single truth> implies that there is always the possibility for a new schools to rise, or for a new Sutra to be created. Generally every school held that their Sutra of election was the real Truth, or at least nearest to the Truth. but would maintained that the other Sutras, even if mere adaptations, were nonetheless valid and could contribute to lead to liberation. That's the reason why the Mahayana Canon of sacred scriptures (now extant in Chinese and Tibetan version) contains thousands of volumes.

More important, the ideas of Skillful Means enabled Buddhism to easily co-exist or even absorb already existent religious traditions of other places (for example in China and Japan), because also these indigenous traditions came to be considered as adaptation of the eternal Buddhist teaching. Just as the Devas of Hinduism, deities of also other religious tradition were absorbed by Buddhism.

This is a big difference with religious traditions such Judaism, Christianity and Islam, because in these traditions there exist only a small amount of sacred scripture (the Bible or the Quran), whose authenticity and supremacy is unquestionable. As a result,  these traditions historically tended less to coexist or merge with other religious traditions, but usually tried to substitute the indigenous beliefs, regarded as totally wrong.

Link to other modules:

Christianity Module I,(History) sec. 3.

Islam Module I (History), sec. 2,3

Link to other modules:

See the pages on countries where Mahayana Buddhism is prominent

Buddhism Module II. Diffusion in the World  sec.3, 4 and 5.