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138-528: In pre-Buddhist India caitya was a term for a shrine or holy place in the landscape, generally outdoors, inhabited by, or sacred to, a particular deity. In the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra , near the end of his life the Buddha remarks to Ananda how beautiful are the various caitya round Vaishali . The sārīraka (Sanskrit śarīra ) or dhātu cetiya, the remains of Gautama Buddha's body, are

276-408: A Buddha (tathāgata): the space at the center of a stūpa, where lies hidden that which is essential to a Buddha and most precious to the world after his (apparent) departure from it." The term “chamber for a relic” (dhātugarbha) is attested in many Buddhist texts. Due to this, Radich argues that the term tathāgatagarbha also developed as an internalized buddha relic which came to refer to the presence of

414-514: A Buddha's pure land or buddha field ( buddhakṣetra ), where they can strive towards Buddhahood in the best possible conditions. Depending on the sect, liberation into a buddha-field can be obtained by faith , meditation, or sometimes even by the repetition of Buddha's name . Faith-based devotional practices focused on rebirth in pure lands are common in East Asia Pure Land Buddhism . The influential Mahāyāna concept of

552-544: A Buddha. This wish to help others by entering the Mahāyāna path is called bodhicitta and someone who engages in this path to complete buddhahood is a bodhisattva . High level bodhisattvas (with eons of practice) are seen as extremely powerful supramundane beings. They are objects of devotion and prayer throughout the Mahāyāna world. Popular bodhisattvas which are revered across Mahāyāna include Avalokiteshvara , Manjushri , Tara and Maitreya . Bodhisattvas could reach

690-454: A billion worlds, and yet, ultimately, I do not take parinirvāṇa.” According to Radich, the tathāgatagarbha idea in the Nirvana sutra is closely related to the positive elements of this docetic Buddhology, which refers to the idea that since the Buddha did not have a normal human body (nor did he gestate in a normal womb), he must have had some other transcendent type of body (which requires

828-405: A buddha's qualities, mode of being or body which was not located in a stupa but in sentient beings. Another key aspect of the buddha-nature as taught in the Nirvana sutra is that it can only be directly perceived by a fully awakened Buddha, though the sutra says that a bodhisattva at the tenth stage (bhūmi) can also perceive buddha-nature in an imperfect and indistinct manner. Since according to

966-718: A chronology for the Shaiva tantric literature and argues that both traditions developed side by side, drawing on each other as well as on local Indian tribal religion. Whatever the case, this new tantric form of Mahāyāna Buddhism became extremely influential in India, especially in Kashmir and in the lands of the Pala Empire . It eventually also spread north into Central Asia , the Tibetan plateau and to East Asia. Vajrayāna remains

1104-488: A compilation period between 100 CE and 220 CE for the core sutra. The Indian version of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra underwent a number of stages in its composition. Masahiro Shimoda discerns several main stages: The Nirvana sutra is an extremely influential work for East-Asian Buddhism . It was translated various times and two major Chinese translations are extant. The translation by Dharmakṣema (c. 385–433)

1242-466: A double meaning in the famous Parable of the Burning House , which talks of three vehicles or carts (Skt: yāna ). In Chinese , Mahāyāna is called 大乘 ( dàshèng, or dàchéng ), which is a calque of maha (great 大 ) yana (vehicle 乘 ). There is also the transliteration 摩诃衍那 . The term appeared in some of the earliest Mahāyāna texts, including Emperor Ling of Han 's translation of

1380-420: A feature of buddha-nature is also found in the Śrīmālādevī sūtra . Paul Williams also notes that while we can speak of the tathāgatagarbha as a Self, this is a much more complex issue since the sutra also speaks of the importance of the not-self teaching, saying that those who have notions of a self cannot perceive buddha-nature. The Nirvana sutra is aware that there are numerous non-buddhist accounts of

1518-401: A minority in India, Indian Mahāyāna was an intellectually vibrant movement, which developed various schools of thought during what Jan Westerhoff has been called "The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy" (from the beginning of the first millennium CE up to the 7th century). Some major Mahāyāna traditions are Prajñāpāramitā , Mādhyamaka , Yogācāra , Buddha-nature ( Tathāgatagarbha ), and

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1656-485: A new sect or order. A few of these texts often emphasize ascetic practices, forest dwelling, and deep states of meditative concentration ( samadhi ). Indian Mahāyāna never had nor ever attempted to have a separate Vinaya or ordination lineage from the early schools of Buddhism, and therefore each bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī adhering to the Mahāyāna formally belonged to one of the early Buddhist schools. Membership in these nikāyas , or monastic orders, continues today, with

1794-429: A number of loosely connected book worshiping groups of monastics, who studied, memorized, copied and revered particular Mahāyāna sūtras. Schopen thinks they were inspired by cult shrines where Mahāyāna sutras were kept. Schopen also argued that these groups mostly rejected stupa worship, or worshiping holy relics. David Drewes has recently argued against all of the major theories outlined above. He points out that there

1932-532: A particularly important place for the study of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Mahāyāna spread from China to Korea , Vietnam , and Taiwan , which (along with Korea) would later spread it to Japan . Mahāyāna also spread from India to Myanmar , and then Sumatra and Malaysia . Mahāyāna spread from Sumatra to other Indonesian islands , including Java and Borneo , the Philippines , Cambodia , and eventually, Indonesian Mahāyāna traditions made it to China. By

2070-405: A pure land, and enthusiastically recommends the cult of the book, yet seems to know nothing of emptiness theory, the ten bhumis , or the trikaya , while another (the P'u-sa pen-yeh ching ) propounds the ten bhumis and focuses exclusively on the path of the bodhisattva, but never discusses the paramitas . A Madhyamika treatise ( Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamika-karikas ) may enthusiastically deploy

2208-521: A region in southern India during the time of the Śātavāhana dynasty , likely the 2nd century CE. The Śātavāhana rulers gave rich patronage to Buddhism, and were involved with the development of the cave temples at Karla and Ajaṇṭā , and also with the Great Amarāvati Stupa . During this time, the Śātavāhana dynasty also maintained extensive links with the Kuṣāṇa Empire . Hodge argues that it

2346-449: A representation of the Buddha's foot, or sārīraka, implying that the footprint was the foot itself. The final category, udesaka or uddesika cetiya, literally translates as "indicative reminders" or "votive objects", for example images of the Buddha. Udesaka do not have any physical connection to the Buddha but still serve as relics because they were created in his memory. Originally udesaka were secondary to paribhogaka and sārīraka, but with

2484-529: A result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism . Sanderson argues that Vajrayāna works like the Samvara and Guhyasamaja texts show direct borrowing from Shaiva tantric literature . However, other scholars such as Ronald M. Davidson question the idea that Indian tantrism developed in Shaivism first and that it was then adopted into Buddhism. Davidson points to the difficulties of establishing

2622-472: A self are rejected in the Nirvana sutra (including some of the theories taught in the Upanishads ), in which the self is "some kernel of identity hidden within the body" which is a "person" (pudgala), a jīva , a "doer" (kartṛ) or a "master" (zhu 主). According to Williams, the "Self" taught in the Nirvana sutra "is not a Self in the worldly sense taught by non-Buddhist thinkers, or maintained to exist by

2760-409: A self which might sound similar to its own self theory and it argues that if they seem similar, this is due to two reasons. The first is that non-buddhist ātmavāda theories are often misinterpretations or misrememberings of what was taught by a bodhisattva and the second is that they may be skillful means taught to non-buddhists by Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Furthermore, numerous non-buddhist doctrines of

2898-408: A self! I constantly teach that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature; is Buddha-nature not the self? Hence, I have not taught an annihilationist view." The Buddha then states the reason he teaches not-self (and impermanence, suffering, and impurity) is because sentient beings do not see the buddha-nature. Later on in the sutra, the Buddha also states: Good son, this Buddha-nature is in truth not

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3036-411: A separate school in competition with the so-called " Hīnayāna " schools. Some of the major theories about the origins of Mahāyāna include the following: The lay origins theory was first proposed by Jean Przyluski and then defended by Étienne Lamotte and Akira Hirakawa. This view states that laypersons were particularly important in the development of Mahāyāna and is partly based on some texts like

3174-462: A single unified movement, but scattered groups based on different practices and sutras. One reason for this view is that Mahāyāna sources are extremely diverse, advocating many different, often conflicting doctrines and positions, as Jan Nattier writes: Thus we find one scripture (the Aksobhya -vyuha ) that advocates both srávaka and bodhisattva practices, propounds the possibility of rebirth in

3312-474: A specific school or sect, Mahāyāna is a "family term" or a religious tendency, which is united by "a vision of the ultimate goal of attaining full Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings (the 'bodhisattva ideal') and also (or eventually) a belief that Buddhas are still around and can be contacted (hence the possibility of an ongoing revelation)." Buddhas and bodhisattvas (beings on their way to Buddhahood) are central elements of Mahāyāna. Mahāyāna has

3450-402: A subset of Mahāyāna which makes use of numerous tantric methods Vajrayānists consider to help achieve Buddhahood . Mahāyāna also refers to the path of the bodhisattva striving to become a fully awakened Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings, and is thus also called the "Bodhisattva Vehicle" ( Bodhisattvayāna ). Mahāyāna Buddhism generally sees the goal of becoming a Buddha through

3588-437: A transcendent womb, the tathāgata-garbha, "buddha womb"). The doctrine of the "buddha-dhātu" (buddha-nature, buddha-element, Chinese: 佛性 foxing , Tibetan: sangs rgyas gyi khams ), which refers to the fundamental nature of the Buddha, is a central teaching of the Nirvana sutra . According to the Nirvana sutra , "all sentient beings possess buddha-nature without distinction" (Chinese:一切眾生皆有佛性而無差別) . According to Sally King,

3726-489: A true self ( ātman ), a “supreme essence” (Tibetan: snying po’i mchog) and as a "great self" ( mahātman, 大我) that is eternal, pure and blissful, and is also separate from the five aggregates and beyond samsaric phenomena. For example, the sutra states: The real self is the nature of the Tathāgata ( 如來性). Know that all sentient beings have this, but as those sentient beings are enshrouded by immeasurable afflictions, it

3864-584: A vastly expanded cosmology and theology , with various Buddhas and powerful bodhisattvas residing in different worlds and buddha-fields ( buddha kshetra ). Buddhas unique to Mahāyāna include the Buddhas Amitābha ("Infinite Light"), Akṣobhya ("the Imperturbable"), Bhaiṣajyaguru ("Medicine guru") and Vairocana ("the Illuminator"). In Mahāyāna, a Buddha is seen as a being that has achieved

4002-484: Is also depicted much more positively in the longer versions of the sutra). As such, the icchantika doctrine has caused much controversy and debate in East Asian Buddhism. According to Karashima, the word icchantika derives from the verb icchati (to claim, to hold, to maintain) and the term is thus best understood as "someone who [makes] claims; an opinionated [person]." Specifically, the icchantika

4140-589: Is an influential Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture of the Buddha-nature class. The original title of the sutra was Mahāparinirvāṇamahāsūtra ( Great Scripture of the Great Perfect Nirvāṇa ) and the earliest version of the text was associated with the Mahāsāṃghika - Lokottaravāda school. The sutra was particularly important for the development of East Asian Buddhism . The Nirvana sutra uses

4278-399: Is cited widely by numerous East Asian Buddhist authors. The sutra was a key scriptural source for the idea that all sentient beings have buddha-nature, which was seen as an active force in the world. It was also influential due to its teachings promoting vegetarianism and its teachings on the eternal nature of the Buddha. All these doctrines became central teachings of Chinese Buddhism. In

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4416-480: Is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism, the others being Theravāda and Vajrayāna . Mahāyāna accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism but also recognizes various doctrines and texts that are not accepted by Theravada Buddhism as original. These include the Mahāyāna sūtras and their emphasis on the bodhisattva path and Prajñāpāramitā . Vajrayāna or Mantra traditions are

4554-420: Is disagreement among scholars regarding this issue as well on the general relationship between Buddhism and Theism. The idea that Buddhas remain accessible is extremely influential in Mahāyāna and also allows for the possibility of having a reciprocal relationship with a Buddha through prayer, visions, devotion and revelations. Through the use of various practices, a Mahāyāna devotee can aspire to be reborn in

4692-445: Is endowed with the powers and qualities of a buddha is free of any karma or affliction ( klesha ), transcending the five skandhas and the twelve links of dependent arising . However, in order to become true Buddhas, sentient beings need to practice the six pāramitās which actualize their buddha potential into full Buddhahood. This is compared to how milk is made into cream or butter through additional conditions . As such,

4830-400: Is impermanent as permanent (nitya), they see what is not-self as a self (ātman), they see what is impure as pure (śubha/śuci) and they see what is suffering as being pleasant or blissful (sukha). The Nirvana sutra claims that while these four do apply to samsaric phenomena, when it comes to the "supreme dharma(s)" ( zhenshifa 真實法, *paramadharma, like Buddha and buddha-nature), the opposite is

4968-609: Is likely that the text was composed "in a Mahāsāṃghika environment" like Karli or Amaravatī - Dhanyakaṭaka . Hiromi Habata likewise associated the sutra with the Mahāsāṃghika - Lokottaravāda school. According to Stephen Hodge, internal textual evidence in the Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra , Mahābheri Sūtra , and the Nirvāṇa indicates that these texts initially circulated in South India, but then gradually began to be propagated in

5106-673: Is mostly dominated by various branches of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Paul Williams has noted that in this tradition in the Far East, primacy has always been given to the study of the Mahāyāna sūtras. Beginning during the Gupta (c. 3rd century CE–575 CE) period a new movement began to develop which drew on previous Mahāyāna doctrine as well as new Pan-Indian tantric ideas. This came to be known by various names such as Vajrayāna (Tibetan: rdo rje theg pa ), Mantrayāna, and Esoteric Buddhism or "Secret Mantra" ( Guhyamantra ). This new movement continued into

5244-485: Is mysteriously hidden from the view of ordinary people. Blum notes that the two major Chinese versions of the sutra don't use the literal Chinese term for embryo or womb, but speak of the "wondrous interior treasure-house of the Buddha" which is always present within all beings. This inner treasure, a pure "buddha-relic" within, is obscured by the negative mental afflictions of each sentient being. Once these negative mental states have been eliminated, however, buddha-nature

5382-507: Is no actual evidence for the existence of book shrines, that the practice of sutra veneration was pan-Buddhist and not distinctly Mahāyāna. Furthermore, Drewes argues that "Mahāyāna sutras advocate mnemic/oral/aural practices more frequently than they do written ones." Regarding the forest hypothesis, he points out that only a few Mahāyāna sutras directly advocate forest dwelling, while the others either do not mention it or see it as unhelpful, promoting easier practices such as "merely listening to

5520-406: Is not manifested. The Indic term "ātman" generally referred to "the permanent and indestructible essence, or an unchanging central element, of any human or other sentient being", and the idea that such a thing existed was widely rejected by mainstream Indian Buddhism . In teaching the existence of a permanent element (Tibetan: yang dag khams ) in sentient beings that allows them to become Buddhas,

5658-401: Is not the self). This is part of his skillful means (upaya) to guide beings to liberation. The Nirvana sutra states that those who see everything as empty and fail to see what is not empty do not know the true middle way . Likewise, those who see everything as not-self but fail to see what is Self also fail to see the true middle way, which is the buddha nature . According to Mark Blum,

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5796-580: Is said to shine forth unimpededly. The Nirvana sutra's explanation of buddha-nature is multifaceted and complex. Karl Brunnholzl argues that there three main meanings of buddha-nature in the Nirvana sutra: (1) an intrinsic pure nature that merely has to be revealed, (2) a seed or potential that can grow into Buddhahood with the right conditions, (3) the idea that the Mahayana path is open to all . The Nirvana sutra states that buddha-nature as buddhahood

5934-501: Is seen as being the superior spiritual path by Mahāyānists, over and above the paths of those who seek arhatship or "solitary buddhahood" for their own sake ( Śrāvakayāna and Pratyekabuddhayāna ). Mahāyāna Buddhists generally hold that pursuing only the personal release from suffering i.e. nirvāṇa is a smaller or inferior aspiration (called " hinayana "), because it lacks the wish and resolve to liberate all other sentient beings from saṃsāra (the round of rebirth ) by becoming

6072-497: Is significantly longer and this has led some scholars to argue that the latter portions of this edition were composed in China. This longer edition was also the most important and popular one in China, Japan and Korea, since it promoted the universality of Buddha nature and Buddhahood. The six fascicle version on the other hand was mostly ignored according to Blum. Dharmakṣema's Nirvana sutra inspired numerous sutra commentaries and

6210-459: Is someone who rejects and is hostile to the buddha nature teaching of the Nirvana sutra . Mahayana Mahāyāna ( / ˌ m ɑː h ə ˈ j ɑː n ə / MAH -hə- YAH -nə ; Sanskrit : महायान , pronounced [mɐɦaːˈjaːnɐ] , lit.   ' Great Vehicle ' ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts , philosophies , and practices developed in ancient India ( c.  1st century BCE onwards). It

6348-462: Is the teaching of "the nature of the Tathāgata, which is the supermundane, supreme self" (離世真實之我, possibly * lokottaraparamātman ). Another important element of the relationship between not-self and true self in the Nirvana sutra is that they are seen as non-dual (advaya), as two sides of the same coin so to speak. Thus, according to the Nirvana : "the wise know that the existence of the self and absence of self are non-dual." In making this claim,

6486-481: Is uncertain, but its early form may have developed in or by the second century CE. The original Sanskrit text is not extant except for a small number of fragments, but it survives in Chinese and Tibetan translation. The Nirvana sutra was translated into Chinese various times. The most important editions are the 416 CE "six fascicle text" and the 421 CE translation of Dharmakṣema , which is about four times longer than

6624-573: The Aṅgulimāla and the Lotus sutra (he is also called Sarvalokapriyadarśana in the Mahāmegha and Mahābherīhāraka ). This figure is connected with the teaching of the eternity of the Buddha and is said to have been born during the a Śātavāhana king (a prophesy placed in the mouth of the Buddha himself in some sources). According to Hodge, Sarvasattvapriyadarśana may have been a historical figure connected to

6762-635: The Buddha-nature teaching. While initially a small movement in India, Mahāyāna eventually grew to become an influential force in Indian Buddhism . Large scholastic centers associated with Mahāyāna such as Nalanda and Vikramashila thrived between the 7th and 12th centuries. In the course of its history, Mahāyāna Buddhism spread from South Asia to East Asia , Southeast Asia and the Himalayan regions . Various Mahāyāna traditions are

6900-481: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra , which is cited by name in the Nirvana sutra ). These similes suggest a more immanent understanding of buddha-nature in which the buddha element is merely something to be revealed . Furthermore, other similes reject the idea that buddha-nature abides in sentient beings at all, stating that buddha-nature abides nowhere, like how the sound made by a lute is not located in any part of

7038-544: The Vimalakirti Sūtra , which praise lay figures at the expense of monastics. This theory is no longer widely accepted since numerous early Mahāyāna works promote monasticism and asceticism. The Mahāsāṃghika origin theory , which argues that Mahāyāna developed within the Mahāsāṃghika tradition. This is defended by scholars such as Hendrik Kern , A.K. Warder and Paul Williams who argue that at least some Mahāyāna elements developed among Mahāsāṃghika communities (from

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7176-688: The Dharmaguptaka nikāya being used in East Asia, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda nikāya being used in Tibetan Buddhism . Therefore, Mahāyāna was never a separate monastic sect outside of the early schools. Paul Harrison clarifies that while monastic Mahāyānists belonged to a nikāya, not all members of a nikāya were Mahāyānists. From Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in India often lived in

7314-664: The East Asian Madhymaka (by Kumārajīva ) and East Asian Yogacara (especially by Xuanzang ). Later, new developments in Chinese Mahāyāna led to new Chinese Buddhist traditions like Tiantai , Huayen , Pure Land and Chan Buddhism ( Zen ). These traditions would then spread to Korea , Vietnam and Japan . Forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism which are mainly based on the doctrines of Indian Mahāyāna sutras are still popular in East Asian Buddhism , which

7452-545: The Lotus Sutra . Due to its status in these doctrinal traditions, it also became important for numerous Japanese Buddhist schools like Zen , Nichiren and Shin Buddhism . The work is cited by key Japanese Buddhist figures like Dōgen , Nichiren and Shinran . The Nirvana Sutra is among the most important sources and influences on Shinran 's magnum opus, Kyogyoshinsho . Shinran relies on crucial passages from

7590-509: The Nirvana Sutra for the more theoretical elaboration of the meaning of shinjin . Similarly, the Nirvana is a key source for Dōgen's view of buddha-nature. The Nirvana sutra 's setting is the final hours of the Buddha's life. Unlike the early Buddhist Mahaparanibbana sutta , Ananda , the Buddha's attendant, is mostly absent from the Nirvana sutra (instead, the main interlocutor is Mañjuśrī ). The Nirvana sutra also ends with

7728-412: The Nirvana sutra criticizes those who think that buddha-nature means that all beings are already full Buddhas and do not need to practice the bodhisattva path . However, other similes in the Nirvana sutra contain slightly different characterizations of buddha-nature. For example, one simile compares the buddha nature to a treasure buried under the earth, or a to a gold mine (both which are found in

7866-417: The Nirvana sutra discusses the idea of the icchantikas , a class of sentient beings who "have little or no chance of liberation." The icchantika idea is discussed in various ways throughout the different versions of the sutra, and the issue is complex, though as Blum writes the Nirvana sutra seems "ambivalent on whether or not icchantikas can attain buddhahood". The Nirvana sutra 's precise date of origin

8004-481: The Nirvana sutra sees the Buddhist doctrine of not-self as "a very important doctrine to be expounded when the listener is attached to his or her notion of selfhood or personality, because it deconstructs that object of attachment, revealing its nature as a fantasy." However, the sutra understands both the not-self and emptiness teachings as being skillful means , not ultimate truths. The Nirvana sutra also affirms

8142-469: The Nirvana sutra , "the nature of the Tathāgata is difficult to see", the sutra emphasizes the importance of faith ( śraddhā ) in both the Nirvana sutra itself and in the buddha-nature, saying that "only one who follows the teachings of the Tathāgata, faithfully committing oneself to them, after that sees their equality [to the Buddha]." The Nirvana sutra describes Buddhahood and buddha-nature as

8280-702: The Pala era (8th century–12th century CE), during which it grew to dominate Indian Buddhism. Possibly led by groups of wandering tantric yogis named mahasiddhas , this movement developed new tantric spiritual practices and also promoted new texts called the Buddhist Tantras . Philosophically, Vajrayāna Buddhist thought remained grounded in the Mahāyāna Buddhist ideas of Madhyamaka, Yogacara and Buddha-nature. Tantric Buddhism generally deals with new forms of meditation and ritual which often makes use of

8418-695: The Southern Dynasties (420-589) period, there was a Chinese Buddhist school devoted to the Dharmakṣema Nirvana sutra , which was simply called the "Nirvana School" ( nièpán-zong ) and was also influenced by the works of Daosheng . This school taught the universality of Buddha nature and the capacity for even icchantikas to attain Buddhahood. The school thrived in the Liang dynasty (502-557) and many of its teachings were incorporated into

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8556-655: The Tiantai school. During the Liang, the school's teachings were supplemented by the teachings of the Tattvasiddhi-Śāstra by scholars like Pao-liang (d. 509). The Nirvana sutra was also seen as a key sutra for both the Tiantai and the Huayan schools, the main doctrinal schools of Chinese Buddhism . The key Tiantai exegete Zhiyi even saw the sutra as a final teaching of the Buddha and as being of equal status to

8694-771: The earlier Buddhist texts . Broadly speaking, Mahāyāna Buddhists accept the classic Buddhist doctrines found in early Buddhism (i.e. the Nikāya and Āgamas ), such as the Middle Way , Dependent origination , the Four Noble Truths , the Noble Eightfold Path , the Three Jewels , the Three marks of existence and the bodhipakṣadharmas (aids to awakening). Mahāyāna Buddhism further accepts some of

8832-547: The school of Dignaga and Dharmakirti as the last and most recent. Major early figures include Nagarjuna , Āryadeva , Aśvaghoṣa , Asanga , Vasubandhu , and Dignaga . Mahāyāna Buddhists seem to have been active in the Kushan Empire (30–375 CE), a period that saw great missionary and literary activities by Buddhists. This is supported by the works of the historian Taranatha . The Mahāyāna movement (or movements) remained quite small until it experienced much growth in

8970-405: The "womb of the tathāgata". The Chinese typically translated the term as 如來藏 rúlái zàng ("tathāgata storehouse," "tathāgata matrix", or "tathāgata chamber"). However, according to Mark Blum, Dharmaksema translates tathāgatagārbha as Chinese : 如來密藏 ; pinyin : rúlái mìzàng or simply mìzàng, "tathagata's hidden treasury". This treasury is seen as a wondrous liberating truth that

9108-581: The 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE. Seishi Karashima has suggested that the term first used in an earlier Gandhāri Prakrit version of the Lotus Sūtra was not the term mahāyāna but the Prakrit word mahājāna in the sense of mahājñāna (great knowing). At a later stage when the early Prakrit word was converted into Sanskrit, this mahājāna , being phonetically ambivalent, may have been converted into mahāyāna , possibly because of what may have been

9246-455: The 1st century BCE onwards), possibly in the area along the Kṛṣṇa River in the Āndhra region of southern India. The Mahāsāṃghika doctrine of the supramundane ( lokottara ) nature of the Buddha is sometimes seen as a precursor to Mahāyāna views of the Buddha. Some scholars also see Mahāyāna figures like Nāgārjuna , Dignaga , Candrakīrti , Āryadeva , and Bhavaviveka as having ties to

9384-437: The Buddha lying down, but it does not depict his actual parinirvāṇa , nor does it depict the cremation , and other episodes after his death, like the division of relics and Mahakasyapa paying respect to his body etc. According to Sallie B. King, the Nirvana sutra is somewhat unsystematic and this made it a fruitful sutra for later commentators who drew on it for various doctrinal and exegetical purposes. King notes that

9522-455: The Buddha merely appears to be born, practice the path, achieve nirvana and die in order to be "in accordance with the world" (lokānuvartanā, Ch. suishun shijian , 隨順世間) so that people would trust him as a human sage. However, in reality, his nature is eternal and unchanging. As the Buddha says in the Nirvana sutra, "at times, I show [myself entering into] parinirvāṇa in the Jambudvīpas of

9660-658: The Buddha visited, so Bodh Gaya itself functions as a paribhogaka. The most common paribhogaka is the Bodhi Tree , which was transplanted across Southeast Asia; cuttings of the original bodhi tree still survive today in Sri Lanka. Another extremely common paribhoga cetiya is the Buddha footprint , which are found across the Buddhist world symbolizing the ground that Buddha walked on and the powerful size of his dhammakāya . Sometimes these footprints are also classed as udesaka,

9798-651: The Buddha. Rather, creating images of the paribhogaka was regarded as a more fulfilling and meaningful symbol by the early Buddhists, evoking the discovery of Buddhist understanding ( pañña ). Whether these scenes contained substitutes for the image of Buddha himself is currently under debate. Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a S%C5%ABtra The Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra ( Sanskrit ; traditional Chinese : 大般涅槃經 ; pinyin : Dàbānnièpán-jīng ; Japanese : Daihatsunehan-gyō , Tibetan : མྱ ངནལས་དསཀྱི མྡོ ; Vietnamese: Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn ) or Nirvana Sutra for short,

9936-498: The Buddhism practiced in China , Indonesia , Vietnam , Korea , Tibet , Mongolia and Japan is Mahāyāna Buddhism. Mahāyāna can be described as a loosely bound collection of many teachings and practices (some of which are seemingly contradictory). Mahāyāna constitutes an inclusive and broad set of traditions characterized by plurality and the adoption of a vast number of new sutras , ideas and philosophical treatises in addition to

10074-603: The Buddhist Order", who were attempting to imitate the Buddha's forest living. This has been defended by Paul Harrison, Jan Nattier and Reginald Ray . This theory is based on certain sutras like the Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra and the Mahāyāna Rāṣṭrapālapaṛiprcchā which promote ascetic practice in the wilderness as a superior and elite path. These texts criticize monks who live in cities and denigrate

10212-483: The Dharmakāya with the buddha-nature and states that it has four perfections ( pāramitās ): permanence, bliss, purity, and selfhood. According to Shimoda and Radich, this theme is the central theme of what is perhaps the earliest textual layer of the Nirvana sutra. Radich also notes that the Nirvana sutra refers to itself by alternative titles, including Tathāgataśāśvata-sūtra/Tathāgatanityatva-sūtra, which indicate

10350-549: The Lotus Sutra. It also appears in the Chinese Āgamas , though scholars like Yin Shun argue that this is a later addition. Some Chinese scholars also argue that the meaning of the term in these earlier texts is different from later ideas of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The origins of Mahāyāna are still not completely understood and there are numerous competing theories. The earliest Western views of Mahāyāna assumed that it existed as

10488-545: The Mahāsāṃghika tradition of Āndhra. However, other scholars have also pointed to different regions as being important, such as Gandhara and northwest India. The Mahāsāṃghika origins theory has also slowly been shown to be problematic by scholarship that revealed how certain Mahāyāna sutras show traces of having developed among other nikāyas or monastic orders (such as the Dharmaguptaka ). Because of such evidence, scholars like Paul Harrison and Paul Williams argue that

10626-517: The Mahāyāna tradition was the largest major tradition of Buddhism , with 53% of Buddhists belonging to East Asian Mahāyāna and 6% to Vajrayāna , compared to 36% to Theravada . According to Jan Nattier , the term Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") was originally an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna (" Bodhisattva Vehicle"), the vehicle of a bodhisattva seeking buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. The term Mahāyāna (which had earlier been used simply as an epithet for Buddhism itself)

10764-618: The Mahāyāna." Evidence of the name "Mahāyāna" in Indian inscriptions in the period before the 5th century is very limited in comparison to the multiplicity of Mahāyāna writings transmitted from Central Asia to China at that time. Based on archeological evidence, Gregory Schopen argues that Indian Mahāyāna remained "an extremely limited minority movement – if it remained at all – that attracted absolutely no documented public or popular support for at least two more centuries." Likewise, Joseph Walser speaks of Mahāyāna's "virtual invisibility in

10902-519: The Nirvana sutra lineage (even its founder) in south India. After the situation in the south became unfavorable for this tradition, it was taken to Kashmir, where later parts of the text were written, reflecting the decline narrative of some parts of the text. Shimoda Masahiro proposes that the earliest part of the Nirvana sutra is related to the views and practices of itinerant dharma preachers called dharmakathikas or dharmabhānakas (說法者 or 法師). These figures frequently went on pilgrimage to stūpa sites in

11040-402: The Tathāgata is soft, can easily be broken, and is the same as that of common mortals. O good man! Know now that for countless billions of kalpas, the body of the Tathāgata has been strong, firm, and indestructible. The Nirvana sutra thus presents the Buddha as an eternal and transcendent being ( lokottara ) who is beyond being and non-being and is Thusness ( tathata ), the ultimate reality,

11178-468: The apparent death of his body), he is in fact eternal and immortal, since he was never born, and had no beginning or end. The sutra states: The body of the Tathāgata is an eternal body (*nityakāya), an indestructible body (*abhedakāya), an adamant body (*vajrakāya); it is not a body sustained by various kinds of food. That is to say, it is the Dharma Body (*dharmakāya). Do not say now that the body of

11316-404: The archaeological record until the fifth century". Schopen also sees this movement as being in tension with other Buddhists, "struggling for recognition and acceptance". Their "embattled mentality" may have led to certain elements found in Mahāyāna texts like Lotus sutra , such as a concern with preserving texts. Schopen, Harrison and Nattier also argue that these communities were probably not

11454-429: The backdrop of the Buddha's final nirvana to discuss the nature of the Buddha , who is described in this sutra as undying and eternal, without beginning or end. The text also discusses the associated doctrine of buddha-nature ( tathāgatagarbha ) which is said to be a "hidden treasury" within all living beings that is eternal (nitya), blissful, Self ( atman ), and pure (shudda). Due to this buddha nature, all beings have

11592-524: The beginning of the common era . Jan Nattier has noted that some of the earliest Mahāyāna texts, such as the Ugraparipṛccha Sūtra use the term "Mahāyāna", yet there is no doctrinal difference between Mahāyāna in this context and the early schools . Instead, Nattier writes that in the earliest sources, "Mahāyāna" referred to the rigorous emulation of Gautama Buddha 's path to Buddhahood. Some important evidence for early Mahāyāna Buddhism comes from

11730-594: The bodhisattva path as being available to all and sees the state of the arhat as incomplete. Mahāyāna also includes numerous Buddhas and bodhisattvas that are not found in Theravada (such as Amitābha and Vairocana ). Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy also promotes unique theories, such as the Madhyamaka theory of emptiness ( śūnyatā ), the Vijñānavāda ("the doctrine of consciousness" also called "mind-only"), and

11868-416: The capacity to reach Buddhahood . Some scholars like Michael Radich and Shimoda Masahiro think that the Nirvana sutra might be the earliest source for the idea of buddha-nature. The Nirvana sutra also discusses the teachings of not-self and emptiness , and how they are incomplete unless they are complemented by the teaching of "non-emptiness" and the true self, which is buddha-nature. Furthermore,

12006-599: The case. As the sutra states: Monks, whatever you mentally cultivate, repeatedly and increasingly and with full acceptance, to be in all instances impermanent, unsatisfactory, without self, and impure, amid these there is that which exhibits permanence, bliss, purity and selfhood... As such, the Nirvana sutra claims that buddha-nature (and the Buddha's body, his Dharmakaya) is characterized by four perfections (pāramitās) or qualities (which are denied in classic Buddhist doctrine): permanence ( nitya ), bliss ( sukha ), self ( ātman ), and purity ( śuddha). The four perfections as

12144-413: The category commonly considered "relics" today by Western observers, and were responsible for major forms of Buddhist art and symbolism, although they only constitute one of the three categories of reminders. Most frequently preserved parts of Buddha's body are tooth and bone, because these parts would remain after the rest of the body decayed. (But note that the body of the Buddha was cremated) The relic of

12282-419: The company of laypeople who were allowed to protect them with swords and staves. They may have also believed in the eternal nature of the Buddha and his vajra body. According to Shimoda, the authors of the Nirvana sutra, as advocates of stupa worship, would have known how the term buddhadhātu originally referred to śarīra or physical relics of the Buddha. According to Shimoda's theory, these figures used

12420-404: The correct teaching about the self (i.e. the buddha-nature) could be given. This is why according to the Nirvana sutra, "the Buddha teaches that the nature of the Tathāgata (如來性) is the real self (真實我), but if with respect to this tenet one mentally cultivates [the thought] that it is not the self, this is called the third distortion." Using another medicinal simile, the Nirvana sutra compares

12558-746: The dominant form of Buddhism in Tibet , in surrounding regions like Bhutan and in Mongolia . Esoteric elements are also an important part of East Asian Buddhism where it is referred to by various terms. These include: Zhēnyán ( Chinese : 真言, literally "true word", referring to mantra), Mìjiao (Chinese: 密教; Esoteric Teaching), Mìzōng (密宗; "Esoteric Tradition") or Tángmì (唐密; "Tang (Dynasty) Esoterica") in Chinese and Shingon , Tomitsu, Mikkyo , and Taimitsu in Japanese. Few things can be said with certainty about Mahāyāna Buddhism in general other than that

12696-582: The earlier one. This sutra should not be confused with the early Buddhist Mahāparinibbāna Sutta which is not a Mahayana sutra . The history of the text is extremely complex, but the consensus view is that the core portion of this sutra was compiled in South India ( dakṣiṇāpatha ), possibly in Andhra or some part of the Deccan . The language used in the sūtra and related texts seems to indicate

12834-427: The eternal Dharmakāya or "dharma body" (which is equivalent to the buddha-body). The sutra also states that the Buddha's body (buddhakaya) is an eternal, unchanging, unimpeded, and indivisible adamantine body ( abhedavajrakāya). As such, while he appears to die, his "transcendent, indestructible mode of being" is something that never truly dies, being uncompounded (asaṃskṛta). The Nirvana sutra further equates

12972-467: The eternity of the Tathāgata. A key element of the doctrine of the eternal buddha-body is a kind of Mahayana docetism , the idea that the Buddha's physical birth and death on earth was a mere appearance, a conventional show for the sake of helping sentient beings (a doctrine which was already found in the Mahāsāṃghika school). According to the Nirvana sutra, the Buddha entered nirvāṇa aeons ago (and yet remains actively benefiting beings). As such,

13110-435: The exact status and nature of the icchantika in the Nirvana sutra is difficult to ascertain, as the topic is discussed in different ways throughout the sutra. In some parts, icchantikas are said to be like scorched seeds who can never sprout and thus of being incurable and incapable of Buddhahood. In other passages, they are said to also possess buddha-nature and to be able to attain buddhahood (their potential for buddhahood

13248-415: The fifth century . Very few manuscripts have been found before the fifth century (the exceptions are from Bamiyan ). According to Walser, "the fifth and sixth centuries appear to have been a watershed for the production of Mahāyāna manuscripts." Likewise it is only in the 4th and 5th centuries CE that epigraphic evidence shows some kind of popular support for Mahāyāna, including some possible royal support at

13386-447: The fifth century, Mahāyāna Buddhism and its institutions slowly grew in influence. Some of the most influential institutions became massive monastic university complexes such as Nalanda (established by the 5th-century CE Gupta emperor, Kumaragupta I ) and Vikramashila (established under Dharmapala c. 783 to 820) which were centers of various branches of scholarship, including Mahāyāna philosophy. The Nalanda complex eventually became

13524-599: The forest life. Jan Nattier's study of the Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra, A few good men (2003) argues that this sutra represents the earliest form of Mahāyāna, which presents the bodhisattva path as a 'supremely difficult enterprise' of elite monastic forest asceticism. Boucher's study on the Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā-sūtra (2008) is another recent work on this subject. The cult of the book theory , defended by Gregory Schopen , states that Mahāyāna arose among

13662-459: The fourth century, Chinese monks like Faxian (c. 337–422 CE) had also begun to travel to India (now dominated by the Guptas ) to bring back Buddhist teachings, especially Mahāyāna works. These figures also wrote about their experiences in India and their work remains invaluable for understanding Indian Buddhism. In some cases Indian Mahāyāna traditions were directly transplanted, as with the case of

13800-454: The highest kind of awakening due to his superior compassion and wish to help all beings. An important feature of Mahāyāna is the way that it understands the nature of a Buddha, which differs from non-Mahāyāna understandings. Mahāyāna texts not only often depict numerous Buddhas besides Sakyamuni , but see them as transcendental or supramundane ( lokuttara ) beings with great powers and huge lifetimes. The White Lotus Sutra famously describes

13938-487: The ideas found in Buddhist Abhidharma thought. However, Mahāyāna also adds numerous Mahāyāna texts and doctrines, which are seen as definitive and in some cases superior teachings. D.T. Suzuki described the broad range and doctrinal liberality of Mahāyāna as "a vast ocean where all kinds of living beings are allowed to thrive in a most generous manner, almost verging on a chaos". Paul Williams refers to

14076-517: The importance of dharmabhanakas (preachers, reciters of these sutras) in the early Mahāyāna sutras. This figure is widely praised as someone who should be respected, obeyed ('as a slave serves his lord'), and donated to, and it is thus possible these people were the primary agents of the Mahāyāna movement. Early Mahayana came directly from " early Buddhist schools " and was a successor to them. The earliest textual evidence of "Mahāyāna" comes from sūtras ("discourses", scriptures) originating around

14214-482: The influence of Greco-Buddhism , statues of the Buddha were produced in great numbers, followed later by paintings and other images. The dharmachakra "wheel of the dharma", falls under this category as a reminder of Buddhist insight. The conventional view has long been this meant that early Buddhist art was aniconic . However, this view has recently been the subject of debate among specialists . There does not seem to have been any prohibition of creating images of

14352-573: The kingdom of Shan shan as well as in Bamiyan and Mathura . Still, even after the 5th century, the epigraphic evidence which uses the term Mahāyāna is still quite small and is notably mainly monastic, not lay. By this time, Chinese pilgrims, such as Faxian (337–422 CE), Xuanzang (602–664), Yijing (635–713 CE) were traveling to India, and their writings do describe monasteries which they label 'Mahāyāna' as well as monasteries where both Mahāyāna monks and non-Mahāyāna monks lived together. After

14490-565: The largest and most influential Buddhist center in India for centuries. Even so, as noted by Paul Williams, "it seems that fewer than 50 percent of the monks encountered by Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang; c. 600–664) on his visit to India actually were Mahāyānists." Over time Indian Mahāyāna texts and philosophy reached Central Asia and China through trade routes like the Silk Road , later spreading throughout East Asia . Over time, Central Asian Buddhism became heavily influenced by Mahāyāna and it

14628-502: The lifespan of the Buddha as immeasurable and states that he actually achieved Buddhahood countless of eons ( kalpas ) ago and has been teaching the Dharma through his numerous avatars for an unimaginable period of time. Furthermore, Buddhas are active in the world, constantly devising ways to teach and help all sentient beings. According to Paul Williams, in Mahāyāna, a Buddha is often seen as "a spiritual king, relating to and caring for

14766-412: The lute . The Indic term dhātu was used in early Buddhism to refer to the relics of a Buddha as well as to basic constituents of reality or "raw material" (like the eighteen "dhātus" that make up any personality). The Nirvana sutra draws on this term and applies it to the true nature of a Buddha, which is permanent (nitya), pure, blissful and resides within all sentient beings (analogous to how

14904-475: The main impulse behind Mahāyāna as the vision which sees the motivation to achieve Buddhahood for sake of other beings as being the supreme religious motivation. This is the way that Atisha defines Mahāyāna in his Bodhipathapradipa . As such, according to Williams, "Mahāyāna is not as such an institutional identity. Rather, it is inner motivation and vision, and this inner vision can be found in anyone regardless of their institutional position." Thus, instead of

15042-408: The most important innovation of the Nirvana is the linking of the term buddhadhātu ( buddha-nature ) with tathagatagarbha ( tathagata womb/chamber). The buddha-dhātu (buddha-nature, buddha-element) is presented as a timeless, eternal (nitya) and pure "Self" ( ātman ). This notion of a buddhist theory of a true self (i.e. a Buddhist ātma-vada ) is a radical one which caused much controversy and

15180-421: The movement was not sectarian and was possibly pan-buddhist. There is no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals, and later doctrines, for aspiring bodhisattvas. The "forest hypothesis" meanwhile states that Mahāyāna arose mainly among "hard-core ascetics , members of the forest dwelling ( aranyavasin ) wing of

15318-426: The much-maligned ‘man in the street’", since these are considered to lead to egoistic grasping. Thus, the Nirvana sutra often portrays the teaching of the tathāgatagarbha as a Self as being a skillful means, a useful strategy to convert non-buddhists and to combat annihilationist interpretations of the Dharma. For example, in Nirvana sutra , the Buddha proclaims "I do not teach that all sentient beings are without

15456-407: The northwest (especially in Kashmir ). Hodge notes that the Nirvana sutra contains prophesies of its own emergence during a period of Dharma decline (which can be calculated to be in around 220 CE) along with prophesies that the text will be taken to Kashmir (罽賓). Hodge also discusses an important person named Sarvasattvapriyadarśana who appears in a group of texts related to the Nirvana sutra like

15594-464: The personal nirvana of the arhats , but they reject this goal and remain in saṃsāra to help others out of compassion. According to eighth-century Mahāyāna philosopher Haribhadra , the term "bodhisattva" can technically refer to those who follow any of the three vehicles, since all are working towards bodhi (awakening) and hence the technical term for a Mahāyāna bodhisattva is a mahāsattva (great being) bodhisattva . According to Paul Williams,

15732-632: The predominant forms of Buddhism found in China , Korea , Japan , Taiwan , Singapore , Vietnam , Philippines , and Malaysia . Since Vajrayāna is a tantric form of Mahāyāna, Mahāyāna Buddhism is also dominant in Tibet , Mongolia , Bhutan , and other Himalayan regions. It has also been traditionally present elsewhere in Asia as a minority among Buddhist communities in Nepal , Malaysia , Indonesia and regions with Asian diaspora communities. As of 2010,

15870-403: The promotion of vegetarianism , and a teaching on the decline of the Buddha's Dharma. A key teaching found in the Nirvana sutra is the eternal nature of the Buddha. Blum notes that the sutra makes it clear that the Buddha is not subject to the processes of birth and death, but abides forever in an undying state. While the Buddha will appear to die (and manifest parinirvāṇa , his final nirvana,

16008-416: The pure buddha relics were housed inside a stupa ) . Some scholars like Shimoda and Radich have seen the buddha-nature idea as arising from an internalization of stupa and relic worship. Instead of worshiping relics externally, the buddha-nature teaching turns inward, to the inner buddha relic in all of us. According to Jones, the term tathāgatagarbha could also have referred to "the chamber (garbha) for

16146-429: The rhetoric of emptiness without ever mentioning the bodhisattva path, while a Yogacara treatise ( Vasubandhu's Madhyanta-vibhaga-bhasya ) may delve into the particulars of the trikaya doctrine while eschewing the doctrine of ekayana . We must be prepared, in other words, to encounter a multiplicity of Mahayanas flourishing even in India, not to mention those that developed in East Asia and Tibet. In spite of being

16284-468: The same monasteries side by side. It is also possible that, formally, Mahāyāna would have been understood as a group of monks or nuns within a larger monastery taking a vow together (known as a " kriyākarma ") to memorize and study a Mahāyāna text or texts. The earliest stone inscription containing a recognizably Mahāyāna formulation and a mention of the Buddha Amitābha (an important Mahāyāna figure)

16422-532: The self; for the benefit of sentient beings is it called the self.… Buddha-nature is absence of self, [but] the Tathāgata teaches the self [for the sake of some audiences]: because of his permanence, the Tathāgata is the self, but he teaches absence of self, because he has achieved sovereignty [zizai 自在, possibly Skt. aiśvarya]. Thus, according to the Nirvana sutra , the Buddha uses the term self when needed (to overcome nihilistic interpretations of not-self) and teaching not-self when needed (to overcome grasping at what

16560-750: The sutra also cites two sutras, the Sarvapuṇyasamuccayasūtra (possibly Taisho no. 381–382) and a Prajñāpāramitā sutra (the most likely candidate being the Suvikrāntavikrāmiparipṛcchā ). Despite the fact that the Buddha-nature is innate in all sentient beings, there is a class of people who called icchantikas ("extremists" or "dogmatists") which are either excluded from Buddhahood or will find it very difficult to ever reach it. The Nirvana sutra discusses this class of people often. According to scholars like Blum and Brunnholzl,

16698-488: The sutra is self consciously adopting a Buddhist version of ātmavāda (“discourse about the self”) which was popular in Indian thought, while also modifying the Buddhist doctrine of not-self ( anātman ) that completely rejected any notion of a self. The teaching that the buddha-nature is a self is one of the "four inversions" (viparyāsas), a key theme in the Nirvana sutra . Early Buddhism held that living beings have four distortions in how they perceive reality: they see what

16836-471: The sutra speaks about Buddha-nature in many different ways. This led Chinese scholars to create a list of types of buddha-nature that could be found in the text. The Nirvana sutra also equates buddha-nature with the term tathāgatagarbha (which is also done by other texts like the Aṅgulimālīya , Mahābherī , and Uttaratantra ). According to King, this can be understood as an "embryonic tathāgata" or as

16974-569: The sutra, or thinking of particular Buddhas, that they claim can enable one to be reborn in special, luxurious ' pure lands ' where one will be able to make easy and rapid progress on the bodhisattva path and attain Buddhahood after as little as one lifetime." Drewes states that the evidence merely shows that "Mahāyāna was primarily a textual movement, focused on the revelation, preaching, and dissemination of Mahāyāna sutras , that developed within, and never really departed from, traditional Buddhist social and institutional structures." Drewes points out

17112-567: The sārīraka functions mainly as a symbol, with the importance of authenticity varying between cultures. The body parts of especially powerful monks are also called sārīraka, but these usually take on the form of bright jewels formed during the cremation of the body. The paribhoga cetiya, things used by the Buddha, would seem at first to be a nonexistent category today. However, temples such as Tongdosa in South Korea claim to keep his robe and begging bowl. The category also includes all places

17250-500: The tathāgatagarbha doctrine. Scholars believe that the compilation of the core portion (corresponding to the six fascicle Chinese translation and the shorter Tibetan translation) must have occurred at an early date, during or prior to the 2nd century CE, based internal evidence and on Chinese canonical catalogs. Using textual evidence in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra and related texts, Stephen Hodge estimates

17388-402: The teaching of not-self to a medicine which requires a mother to stop breast feeding her infant. The mother thus smears her breast with a pungent ointment and tells her child that it is poison. When the medicine is fully ingested, the mother removes the ointment and invites the child to nurse at her breast again. In this simile, the medicine is the skillful notion of not-self, and the mother's milk

17526-526: The teachings of the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra to reshape the worship of the śarīra into worship of the inner Buddha as a principle of salvation: the Buddha-nature . Sasaki states that a key premise of Shimoda's work is that the origins of Mahayana and the Mahāparinirvāṇa are entwined. Scholars like Shimoda as well as Michael Radich argue that the Nirvana sutra might be the earliest source for

17664-501: The term Mahāyāna as a synonym for Bodhisattvayāna , but the term Hīnayāna is comparatively rare in the earliest sources. The presumed dichotomy between Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna can be deceptive, as the two terms were not actually formed in relation to one another in the same era. Among the earliest and most important references to Mahāyāna are those that occur in the Lotus Sūtra (Skt. Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra ) dating between

17802-459: The texts translated by the Indoscythian monk Lokakṣema in the 2nd century CE, who came to China from the kingdom of Gandhāra . These are some of the earliest known Mahāyāna texts. Study of these texts by Paul Harrison and others show that they strongly promote monasticism (contra the lay origin theory), acknowledge the legitimacy of arhatship , and do not show any attempt to establish

17940-514: The three bodies ( trikāya ) of a Buddha developed to make sense of the transcendental nature of the Buddha. This doctrine holds that the "bodies of magical transformation" ( nirmāṇakāyas ) and the "enjoyment bodies" ( saṃbhogakāya ) are emanations from the ultimate Buddha body, the Dharmakaya , which is none other than the ultimate reality itself, i.e. emptiness or Thusness . The Mahāyāna bodhisattva path ( mārga ) or vehicle ( yāna )

18078-522: The tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lanka is the most notable site where a relic is visibly preserved, but hundreds of such sites were created, in the architectural form now called a stupa . In Thai, these stupas are called chedī , retaining the second half of the phrase dhātu cetiya ; in Lao, they are called that after the first half. Beyond the stupa itself, sārīraka are used across the Buddhist world, in such quantity that not all could be legitimate; in this sense

18216-437: The truth of "non-emptiness", which is a real genuine self, the buddha-nature. The Nirvana sutra compares the not-self teaching to a milk-based medicine which is useful for certain ailments, but not for all. Because of this, a physician who only prescribed this single medicine would be an unskillful one. The Buddha in the Nirvana sutra says he taught not-self in order to get rid of certain mistaken views of self in order that

18354-475: The visualization of Buddhist deities (including Buddhas, bodhisattvas, dakinis , and fierce deities ) and the use of mantras. Most of these practices are esoteric and require ritual initiation or introduction by a tantric master ( vajracarya ) or guru . The source and early origins of Vajrayāna remain a subject of debate among scholars. Some scholars like Alexis Sanderson argue that Vajrayāna derives its tantric content from Shaivism and that it developed as

18492-625: The world", rather than simply a teacher who after his death "has completely 'gone beyond' the world and its cares". Buddha Sakyamuni 's life and death on earth are then usually understood docetically as a "mere appearance", his death is a show, while in actuality he remains out of compassion to help all sentient beings. Similarly, Guang Xing describes the Buddha in Mahāyāna as an omnipotent and almighty divinity "endowed with numerous supernatural attributes and qualities". Mahayana Buddhologies have often been compared to various types of theism (including pantheism ) by different scholars, though there

18630-561: Was a major source for Chinese Buddhism. Mahāyāna works have also been found in Gandhāra , indicating the importance of this region for the spread of Mahāyāna. Central Asian Mahāyāna scholars were very important in the Silk Road Transmission of Buddhism . They include translators like Lokakṣema (c. 167–186), Dharmarakṣa (c. 265–313), Kumārajīva (c. 401), and Dharmakṣema (385–433). The site of Dunhuang seems to have been

18768-791: Was found in the Indian subcontinent in Mathura , and dated to around 180 CE. Remains of a statue of a Buddha bear the Brāhmī inscription: "Made in the year 28 of the reign of King Huviṣka , ... for the Blessed One, the Buddha Amitābha." There is also some evidence that the Kushan Emperor Huviṣka himself was a follower of Mahāyāna. A Sanskrit manuscript fragment in the Schøyen Collection describes Huviṣka as having "set forth in

18906-406: Was interpreted in many different ways. Other important doctrinal themes in the Nirvana sutra include re-interpretations of not-self ( anātman ) and emptiness (Śūnyatā) as a skillful means that paves the way for the ultimate buddha-nature teachings, the doctrine of the icchantika , the eternal and docetic ( lokottara ) nature of Shakyamuni Buddha and his adamantine body ( vajra -kaya),

19044-399: Was therefore adopted at an early date as a synonym for the path and the teachings of the bodhisattvas. Since it was simply an honorary term for Bodhisattvayāna , the adoption of the term Mahāyāna and its application to Bodhisattvayāna did not represent a significant turning point in the development of a Mahāyāna tradition. The earliest Mahāyāna texts, such as the Lotus Sūtra , often use

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