What is Mahayana Buddhism?

Mahayana is one of the main branches of Buddhism. The Sanskrit word mahāyāna means "great vehicle". It is the tradition behind most Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan, and it is also the foundation of Tibetan Buddhism.

How it began

Mahayana took shape in India over several centuries, roughly from the first century BCE. It was not a single school with a founder. It appeared as a movement around new scriptures, called sutras, that presented themselves as teachings of the Buddha. Among the best known are the Perfection of Wisdom sutras, including the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra, and the Lotus Sutra.

Mahayana monks often lived in the same monasteries as monks of other schools and followed similar monastic rules. The differences were mainly in ideals and emphasis.

The bodhisattva ideal

The heart of Mahayana is the bodhisattva. A bodhisattva is someone who aims at full awakening, not only for themselves but in order to help all beings reach it too. The path is described through the perfections, or pāramitā, such as generosity, ethics, patience, effort, meditation and wisdom. Compassion and wisdom are said to be like the two wings of a bird.

Mahayana texts also speak of many Buddhas and great bodhisattvas, such as the Buddha Amitābha and the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, who can be turned to for inspiration and support.

Key ideas

Two ideas run through much Mahayana thought. The first is emptiness (śūnyatā): nothing exists by itself, independent of causes and conditions. The philosopher Nāgārjuna developed this in the Madhyamaka, or "middle way", school. The second is buddha-nature: the teaching, found in many East Asian schools, that every being has the potential to awaken.

Schools within Mahayana

Mahayana is very diverse. Its schools include Zen (Chan in Chinese), Pure Land, Tiantai and Huayan in East Asia, the Nichiren schools in Japan, and the Vajrayana traditions of Tibet and the Himalayas. Practices range from silent sitting to chanting the name of the Buddha Amitābha, studying sutras or reciting mantras.

All of these share the basic teachings of the Buddha with Theravada. They differ in which texts they emphasise and in how they describe the path.