Introduction to World

Religions & Belief

Systems
Second Quarter,
Module 1
MIRAROS S. BALANSAG
Teacher II
LET US PLAY:
DIRECTIONS: Group the class into
two. Each representative of the group
must pass and execute the images on the
floor before writing their answer on the
board. The group who will garner the
highest points will be proclaimed
winners.
REVIEW:
There will be students who will discuss
to the class the different components that
contribute to the formation of Theravada
Buddhism.
1. Beliefs and Doctrines
2. Sacred Scriptures
3. Founder
4. Related issues
MAHAYANA
BUDDHISM
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Discuss the brief history, beliefs and
practices and related issues of Mahayana
Buddhism.
2. Draws the insight from the acts of
generosity of Tzu Chi Foundation that
reflect the core teaching of Mahayana.
3. Relate the Mahayana Buddhism to the
teachings of your religion.
Why do religions
have
divisions/sects?
MAHAYANA BUDDHISM (the Great Vehicle)
- the more genuine version of Buddha’s
teachings
- comes with a more traditional religious
views.
MAHASAMGHIKA (of the Great Sangha)
- one of the early Buddhist schools, may have
been the source for the initial growth of
Mahayana Buddhism especially during the
Second Buddhist Council that occurred a hundred
years after Buddha’s parinirvana.
The definition of the Mahayana as one of three
vehicles was intended to establish the
Mahayana’s superiority over other teachings,
and it has no historical basis.
TEACHINGS AND DOCTRINES
*BODHISATTVA/BODHISATTA
- “one whose goal is awakening”
- “enlightened existence”
- one who seeks awakening (bodhi)—hence,
an individual on the path to becoming a
buddha.
 - generated bodhicitta or the spontaneous
desire to achieve the state of being enlightened.
-are enlightened beings who have put off
entering paradise in order to help others attain
enlightenment.
- are usually depicted as less austere or
inward than the Buddha.
- are typically represented with precious
jewelry, elegant garments and graceful
postures.
 - believed that Siddhartha secretly taught key
principles to chosen people, to his most dedicated
disciples, or to the most faithful who could
completely interpret these teachings in time.
- forwarded the concept that Siddhartha
Gautama was actually a benevolent celestial
being, not just a mere human being
- advanced the radical idea that Siddhartha
Gautama was not the only Buddha.
 - teaches that anyone can aspire to achieve
awakening (bodhicittot-pada) and thereby become
a bodhisattva
- awakening consists in understanding the true
nature of reality
- seek to understand this reality through
wisdom (prajna) and to actualize it through
compassion (karuna)
- They are “self-less,” both philosophically, in
the sense of understanding the absence of self or
essence in all things and persons, and ethically,
since they act for all beings without
discrimination.
 *AWAKENING - the emphasis is less on
nirvana and more on knowledge or wisdom
- ordinary reality is ultimately nothing more than
convention or tacit agreement. Understanding
absolute truth consists in understanding the nature
of ordinary reality as nothing more than
conventional; and is realized through meditation
and—in the Vajrayana tradition, which uses highly
symbolic language—through various practices
specifically designed to break down ordinary
assumptions through shocking inversions of normal
expectations
 - its universal accessibility leads to the
conclusion that there are not only an infinite number of
bodhisattvas in the universe but also an infinite number
of buddhas, each dwelling in his own world-realm
EXAMPLE:
Bodhisattva Dharmakara - whose vows set the
conditions under which he would attain awakening and
become the Buddha Amitabha (Japanese: Amida). He
promised to create the world-realm Sukhavati (“Pure
Bliss”) and to guarantee that ordinary beings could
attain rebirth there (rather than reentering the cycle of
transmigration) merely by having faith in him
 MAHAYANA INNOVATION:
*Although the classical theory of karma dictates
that only an individual’s own actions can affect his
future, epigraphical evidence illustrates the early
existence of the idea of the transfer of merit, especially
to one’s deceased parents, ultimately leading to their
liberation. The generation of merit has always been
important in Buddhism, but the application of merit
toward the acquisition of wisdom and ultimate
awakening, instead of toward better future rebirths
within samsara.
*THE DOCTRINE OF SKILLFUL MEANS
(UPAYA)
- it originates in myths of the Buddha's
compassionate plans for raising life from the
ceaseless round of birth and death. His
strategies or interventions are 'skillful means' -
morally wholesome tricks devised for the
purpose of enabling nirvana or enlightenment.
*THE CONCEPT OF TRIKAYA (THREE
BODIES)
- states that each Buddha has three bodies,
namely, dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and
nirmanakaya. The table below summarizes the
nature of the three bodies of Buddha.
 1. DHARMAKAYA - is identical with perfect
enlightenment that is absolute and beyond
existence or non-existence; everyone is capable
of attaining this special place which is beyond
perceptual forms.
2. SAMBHOGAKAYA - believed to be a
remuneration of one’s aggregated positive deeds,
it serves as a other trikayas of Buddha
3. NIRMANAKAYA - is the physical body
that undergoes birth, inhabits the world, and dies
in the end
EXAMPLE: Siddharta Gautama
 *For Mahayana Buddhists, Buddhas are not
individuals who actually lived in this world; they
are simply expressions of the one Buddha reality,
such as that of Siddhartha Gautama; these great
Buddhas are to be found in various heavens
enshrined together with other gods and saints.
*BHUMIS AND PARAMITAS
- these are extensions of the “Eightfold Path”
as discussed in the previous lesson on Theravada
Buddhism.
 BHUMI -it is the 32nd and 33rd place on the
outgoing's process of Mahayana awakening. Each
stage represents a level of attainment in that case,
and serves as a basis for the next one. Each level
marks a definite advancement in one's training
that is accompanied by progressively greater
power and wisdom
PARAMITAS - means 'perfection' or
'completeness‘; It is described in Buddhist
commentaries as noble character qualities
generally associated with enlightened beings
 PARAMITAS - translated as “to
cross over the other shore,” imply
crossing from the “sea of suffering”
to the “shore of happiness

*BODDHISATTVA VOW is stated

as “May I attain Buddhahood for the
benefit of all sentient beings.”
 WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES
*They pray and chant to pay their respect to the
Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
*They offer vegetarian food and light incense to
pay homage to these important divine beings.
*Worshippers also recite chants and undertake
pilgrimages to sites of Buddhist importance.
Meditational activities are fundamental in almost
all popular forms of Buddhism.
*The lotus that symbolizes purity, the eight-spoke
wheels that represent the dharma, and the different
hand gestures (mudras) are important symbols for
Mahayana Buddhism.
DIVISIONS OF INDIAN MAHAYANA
SCHOOLS:
1.MADHYAMIKA
- founded by the Indian monk and philosopher
Nagarjuna; is a systematization of the
Prajnaparamita (“Perfection of Wisdom”)
scriptures, which emphasize that the doctrine of
wisdom (prajna) is the most important of the six
perfections that the bodhisattva must master. The
others are charity (dana), discipline (hila),
flexibility (kanti), energy (virya), and meditative
contemplation (dhyana)
2. YOGACARA (VIJNANAVADA)
- founded by the Indian philosophers Asanga and
his brother Vasubandhu, is less directly based on any
sutra and is better understood as a synthesis of the
Madhyamika emptiness doctrine with Abhidharmic
systematics or traditional dogmatics.
OTHER PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS:
*Yogacara-Madhyamika fusion
*a Tathagatagarbha (buddha nature) tradition, which
emphasizes the inherent seed of awakening in all
beings
*a school of Logic and Epistemology (pramana)
SUBDIVISIONS OF MAHAYANA
BUDDHISM:
1. THE PURE LAND SECT
- When believers die, it is their objective to
live in the “Pure Land of the West” or
Sukhavati. By simply reciting the name of the
Amitabha with utmost attentiveness many
times during the day, they may be reborn in
this paradise where they can work to achieve
enlightenment much easier; utilizes chants and
recitations to focus on helpful thoughts
2. THE INTUITIVE SECTS
- emphasize that salvation is a personal
matter and one cannot receive assistance from
other entities, such as another person or
institution, to realize the inner truths of
religion; An individual may be spiritually
enlightened by a sudden spark of insight, either
through meditation or even by accident,
beyond words or thoughts.
3. THE RATIONALIST SECTS
T’ien-t’ai - rationalist Buddhist school of
thought emphasized that acts of studying and
contemplation were both vital for spiritual
enlightenment; other means to reach this goal
include mystical communion with the eternal,
ascetic discipline, meritorious deeds, and
simple faith in the mercy of the Buddha
4. THE SOCIO-POLITICAL SECT
Nichiren Daishonin - a Japanese Buddhist monk
began to teach that the path towards attaining
enlightenment rested solely on the devotion to the
Lotus Sutra.
Nichiren (“sun lotus”) Buddhism, which is purely a
Japanese phenomenon, perceives itself as the only
rightful version of Buddhism; teaches that individuals
must take responsibility to enhance themselves, or
what is called “human revolution,” and, in turn, to
improve the world’s lot. Enlightenment is accessible to
every individual on earth simply by opening one’s
inherent Buddha-nature in this world
5. TIBETAN BUDDHISM
- is a religion in exile, forced from its homeland
when Tibet was conquered by the Chinese.
- combines the essential teachings of Mahayana
Buddhism with Tantric and Shamanic, and material
from an ancient Tibetan religion called Bon
Songtsan Gampo - considered the founder of the
Tibetan Empire. He was influenced by his Chinese and
Indian wives who were both Buddhist followers
Dalai Lama - best known face of Tibetan Buddhism
who has lived in exile in India since he fled Chinese
occupation of his country in 1959.
SACRED SCRIPTURES (2184 sutras)
SUTRAS – sacred texts
1. LOTUS SUTRA
- one of the most important and influential sutras, or
sacred scriptures, of Buddhism.
- a teaching that encourages an active engagement
with mundane life and all its challenges
- it is ultimately a teaching of empowerment. It
“teaches us that the inner determination of an individual
can transform everything; it gives ultimate expression
to the infinite potential and dignity inherent in each
human life. (SGI President Daisaku)
2. PERFECTION OF WISDOM SUTRA (PRAJNA-
PARAMITA)
- refers to this perfected way of seeing the nature of
reality, as well as to a particular body of sutras and to
the personification of the concept in the Bodhisattva
known as the "Great Mother" (Tibetan: Yum Chenmo)
PRAJNA-PARAMITA - Sanskrit words prajñā
"wisdom" with pāramitā "perfection".
- is a central concept in Mahāyāna
Buddhism and is generally associated with the doctrine
of emptiness (Shunyata) or 'lack of Svabhava' (essence)
and the works of Nagarjuna. Its practice and
understanding are taken to be indispensable elements of
the Bodhisattva path.
3. HEART SUTRA
- this short sutra goes to the heart of the
doctrine it summarizes
- it discusses the doctrine of
“emptiness” (shunyata), which is the
nature of reality.
 - The process of death and rebirth (samsara),
the suffering (dukkha) that one experiences while
knowing that one may die, the effects of past
actions (karma) that bind one to samsara, the
skandhas that constitute a sense of selfhood, the
ephemeral and microscopic dharmas that
constitute phenomenal reality—all are revealed to
be devoid of permanence, and thus “empty.”
Awareness of such emptiness leads to release
(moksha) from samsara and to the wisdom that
precedes enlightenment (bodhi).
4. LAND OF BLISS SUTRA (SUKHAVATI)/
PURE LAND OF BLISS
- rebirth in Sukhavati is ensured by invoking
the name of Amitabha, particularly at the moment
of death. It demonstrate a popular belief that
women may also enter Sukhavati upon death.
- expressively described as being a joyous
world, soft and glowing, filled with the music of
birds and the tinkling of trees adorned with
precious jewels and garlands of golden bells.
*The newly dead enter into lotus buds, which
unfold when the occupants have become entirely
purified and have attained enlightenment. Many
are said to be reborn on Earth after leaving
Sukhavati to become bodhisattvas working
toward the liberation (moksha) of all sentient
beings.
SELECTED ISSUES:
1.TIBET INVASION
2.ENGAGED ACTIVISM
3.A GREAT INSIGHT INTO THE
CHARITY OF TZU CHI
ACTIVITY:
Direction: Answer the following questions in your
activity notebook.
1. What is the importance of the Sutras in Mahayana
Buddhism?
2. Why is Siddhartha Gautama considered as an
example of a Buddha in a
state of nirmanakaya.
3, What is bodhisattva and how is it related to buddha-
hood?
4. Why did Thich Quang Duc burn himself?
5. How does Mahayana Buddhism spread in Tibet?
Thank you!