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Topic: Mahayana Sutras


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In the News (Sun 29 Nov 09)

  
  Other Mahayana Writings
The Heart Sutra – Another of the most important sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, illuminating the teaching on emptiness and form, the Heart Sutra is chanted everyday throughout most Zen monasteries.
Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra- Another key sutra in Mahayana (Sometimes referred to as the "crown jewel of the Mahayana"), this is about Vimalakirti Nirdesa, the lay Bodhisattva and regarded as the main Sutra on the topic of non-duality.
The Lotus Sutra - One of the primary (and longest) sutras in the Mahayana Canon, this sutra is described by many masters as the greatest and most profound sutra of all (568 KB), thoroughly covering all the Dharmas.
civet-cat.skandinaviskzencenter.org /civet-cat/mahayana-writings.htm   (1140 words)

  
  Mahayana sutras - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahayana Buddhists believe that the Mahayana sutras, with the exception of those with an explicitly Chinese provenance, are an authentic account of teachings given during the Buddha's lifetime.
The tradition in Mahayana is that the Mahayana sutras were written down at the time of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in the realm of the dragons (or Nagas).
The tradition further claims that the teachings of the Mahayana sutras are higher than the teachings contained in the Agamas and the Sutta Pitaka, and that people were initially unable to understand the Mahayana sutras at the time of the Buddha (500 BCE).
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Mahayana_sutras   (458 words)

  
 Mahayana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Among the earliest major Mahayana scriptures that are attested to historically are the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajna-Paramita) Sutras, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakīrti Sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra.
Mahayana as a distinct movement began around the 1st century BCE in the area around Kushan Empire (now area within Pakistan) before it was transmitted in a highly evolved form to China in the second century CE.
From the 1st century CE and in the space of a few centuries, Mahayana was to flourish and spread in the East from India to South-East Asia, and towards the north to Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, culminating with the introduction of Buddhism in Japan in 538 CE.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Mahayana   (2085 words)

  
 Mahayana Buddhism
The most significant Mahayana innovation was the view of the Buddha as a supernatural being who assumed a transformation body (nirmana-kaya) to be born as the historical Buddha.
Mahayana generally offers more hope of enlightenment for the lay believer than Theravada: the compassionate bodhisattvas can supposedly transfer their merit to worshippers; Zen is notoriously disdainful of the formalities of creed and hierarchy; the Pure Land is an interim paradise on the road to salvation attainable by the pious.
Mahayana attitudes toward Buddhist teachings are in part a consequence of the Mahayana view of the Buddha.
mb-soft.com /believe/txh/mahayana.htm   (2632 words)

  
 RELS 307 Handout 11: The Beginnings of the Mahayana Movement
The Early Mahayana was not a distinct school; rather, it was a loose confederation among existing Buddhist groups, arising between 150 BCE and 100 CE.
Mahayana means the greater vehicle, which emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal rather than that of the Arahat.
The Mahayana remained a minority movement in India for centuries, but by the seventh century CE, about half of the 200,000 or so monks counted by the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan-tsang were Mahayana.
www.calpoly.edu /~jlynch/30711.htm   (860 words)

  
 Thelemapedia: The Encyclopedia of Thelema & Magick | Mahayana
Mahayana and non-Mahayana monks could live without discord in the same monastery, so long as they held he same code, though we have reason to believe that the non-Mahayana monks may have viewed with some scorn the beliefs and private practices of their Mahayana brethren.
Mahayana departs from the Nikaya tradition (sometimes referred to as the Hinayana schools) in its acceptance of the Mahayana sutras.
Mahayana schools do not, however, reject Nikaya sutras, such as those recorded in the Pali Canon; these are also seen as authoritative.
www.thelemapedia.org /index.php/Mahayana   (1297 words)

  
 vehicle (in Buddhism)
Thirdly, in later Mahayana, they were seen as teachings hidden by the Buddha in the world of serpent- deities (*naga's*), till there were humans capable of seeing the deeper implications of his message, who would recover the teachings by means of meditative powers.
The peculiarity of the Mahayana was that it urged all 'sons and daughters of good family' to tread the *Bodhisattva*-path.
In early Chinese translations of Mahayana texts, the lay *Bodhisattva* is expected to live a life free of attachment to family, and to aim to ordain as soon as possible....
www.luckymojo.com /avidyana/vehicle.html   (1350 words)

  
 Mahayana Buddhism   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
From this it is inferred that "Mahayana Buddhism was originally concerned with laymen" and that "doctrines for lay bodhisattvas play a prominent role in the oldest Mahayana sutras" (Hirakawa 270).
The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra actually tends to efface distinctions between monks and the "bodhisattvas wearing white." The spiritual demands and requirements are equally stringent for both groups and on one occasion, the sutra even interchanges categories when referring to the chief protagonist, Bhadrapala.
Mahayana texts, much like any primary or historical document, must be considered in all their opacity, and as results of complex socio-historical and even religio-political webs; rarely are they directly reflective of the context in which they were written.
www.russbo.com /scholar/mahayana_buddhism.htm   (2531 words)

  
 Glossary of Tibetan Buddhist Terms
Central motivational state believed by the Mahayana to be essential for the attainment of Buddhahood, and defined as the desire to attain Buddhahood from compassion for the sufferings of other beings, and in order to acquire the ability to liberate them from their sufferings.
For the Mahayana, the concept of Buddhahood is extended from the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, he is seen as an emanation of a Buddha-nature (dharmakaya) underlying all phenomena.
Associated with the revelation of many new texts (see MAHAYANA SUTRAS) held to have been taught by the historical Buddha Shakyamuni in his lifetime but to have been hidden because the time was not yet ready for their being taught publicly.
essenes.net /tibgloss.html   (3548 words)

  
 Mahayana Buddhism
Scholars believe that Mahayana as a distinct movement began around the 1st century BCE in the North-western Indian subcontinent, estimating a formative period of about three centuries before it was transmitted in a highly evolved form to China in the 2nd century CE.
The Mahayana was not a rival school, and therefore it was not the consequence of a schism (sanghbheda).
Mahayana disappeared from India during the 11th century, and consequently lost its influence in South-East Asia where it was replaced by Theravada Buddhism
www.thaiexotictreasures.com /mahayana_buddhism.html   (1326 words)

  
 Buddhism
For the Theravadins, the Mahayana sutras are works of poetic fiction, not issuing from the Buddha himself; for the Mahayanists, the Mahayana sutras contain the Buddha's higher, esoteric teachings, reserved for his more advanced disciples.
In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha (transcending his mere physical form) is viewed as a boundless, beginningless and endless being, present in all times and all places, yet beyond the reach of logic or mundane conceptualisation.
In Mahayana Buddhism, a caveat is added: one should indeed always meditate on the impermanence and changefulness of compounded structures and phenomena, but one must guard against extending this to the realm of Nirvana, where impermanence holds no sway and eternity alone obtains.
www.thecomdaily.com /Bu---Ce/Buddhism.php   (7699 words)

  
 Buddhist Canon Paper
Inscriptions that used the term "Mahayana" do not appear until the 6th century, although this is a very long time after Mahayana literature first began to appear (although a notion of "Mahayana literature" alone does not necessarily mean that the Mahayanists considered themselves to be a separate movement).
The Mahayana sutras, having their earliest origins within the more doctrinally open Mahasanghikas, were very different in style and theme from the earlier sutras.
These sutras, according to the Mahayanists, were "the second turning of the Dharma wheel." While the Pali canon of the Hinayana Buddhists had already been established in South and Southeast Asia, helped in no small part by King Asoka and his Buddhist missionaries, hundreds of new Mahayana scriptures were being written and promulgated within India.
www.geocities.com /DharmaBoi22/buddhist_canon.html   (5089 words)

  
 Buddhist Scriptures: Guide to Mahayana Sutras
One of the three sutras that form the doctrinal basis of the Pureland School - the two others are Meditation Sutra and Longer Amitabha Sutra.
One of the smallest sutras, and with the Diamond Sutra, one of the most popular of the 40 sutras, in the vast Prajnaparamita literature.
This is a philosophic dramatic discourse, in which basic Mahayana principles are presented in the form of a conversation between famous Buddhist figures, and the householder, Vimalakirti.
www.buddhanet.net /e-learning/history/s_mahasutras.htm   (345 words)

  
 Buddhist Sutras - ReligionFacts   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Mahayana Buddhism reveres the Tripitaka as a sacred text, but adds to it the Sutras, which reflect distinctively Mahayana concepts and are used more often by Mahayana Buddhists.
Most of the Mahayana Sutras, which number over two thousand, were written between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the period in which Mahayana Buddhism developed.
The Lotus Sutra is revered by most Buddhists, and is the primary focus of the Nichiren school.
www.religionfacts.com /buddhism/texts/sutras.htm   (295 words)

  
 Buddhism in a Nutshell - The Sutra Pitaka   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
The sutras are dogmatic, which is the truth discovered by the Buddha in his enlightenment.
Sutras are written in various figures of speech, chiefly simile and metaphor.
Many other sutras are developed to expound the nature of a Buddha, the career of Bodhisattvas, the concepts of emptiness, the doctrine of Middle Way, etc., e.g.
www.buddhistdoor.com /bdoor/archive/nutshell/teach41.htm   (480 words)

  
 Nirvana Sutra :: Appreciation of the "Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra"
Inspired by this superlative sutra, I have created this website to encourage the accurate study and practice of what may be called "Nirvana Sutra Buddhism" - a very positive, balanced, faith-promoting and spiritually affirmative manifestation of Buddhism, which recognises the hidden reality of the egoless Buddha-Self in all beings.
The Mahaparinirvana Sutra is a key sutra for an understanding of the Buddha's teachings on the Buddha-dhatu ("Buddha Nature", "Buddha Element", "Buddha Principle") and the synonymous Tathagatagarbha (indwelling Buddha Essence of each being).
The English text of the sutra mainly cited for reference throughout this study is the specially commissioned English translation by Stephen Hodge of the Tibetan version of the scripture, as well as that same scholar's occasional forays into the Faxian and the Dharmakshema "Northern" versions of the scripture.
www.nirvanasutra.org.uk   (1149 words)

  
 The Three Vehicles: Hinayana, Mahayana and Tantrayana
The terms Mahayana and Hinayana appeared in the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra or the Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Law.
The Mahayana tradition claims that all their sutras have been taught directly by Shakyamuni Buddha or have at least been inspired by the Buddha.
Sometimes there is a regrettable tendency on the part of certain followers of the Mahayana to disparage the teachings of the Theravada, claiming that they are the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, and thereby not suited to one's own personal practice.
buddhism.kalachakranet.org /vehicles.html   (2612 words)

  
 Mahayana Sutras   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Mahayana accepts a number sutras other than those in the Pali Canon, which almost certainly do not come from the historical Buddha.
Since the word sutra (or sutta) means "discourse", and the Buddhist sutras are all supposed to be discourses from the historical Buddha, Theravadins have accused the Mahayana tradition of false innovation by putting speeches into the mouth of the historical Buddha which never could have come from him.
However, the Mahayana sutras consistently display through their imagery a profound understanding of basic Buddhist principles, and a complete understanding of these texts requires a very subtle philosophical appreciation.
www.humboldt.edu /~wh1/6.Buddhism.OV/6.Sutras.html   (574 words)

  
 Senchaku Shu: Closing the Gateway of the Mahayana Sutras
This means that recitation of the Mahayana sutras, including the Lotus Sutra, is one of the practices that Honen states are no longer required because the Buddha intended to transmit the nembutsu alone to Ananda.
Those familiar with T’ien-t’ai teaching might note that the sutras mentioned in the above passage are the sutras used to name the four groups of Mahayana sutras that are listed in the sutra classification scheme known as the “five flavors” or “periods” of the Dharma.
So the names of the sutras in this passage are also the names of the periods of time wherein the Buddha taught the Mahayana according to the five period classification scheme of the T’ien-t’ai school.
nichirenscoffeehouse.net /Ryuei/RAR13.html   (1054 words)

  
 Edited by Garma C. C. Chang: Treasury of Mahayana Sutras, A
Of the two great schools of Buddhism, Mahayana has the greatest numero of adherents worldwide— it prevails among the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Tibetans, and Vietnamese— and contains within it a number of movements, notably Zen, which have been of growing interest in the West in recent decades.
It contains 22 of the 49 sutras of the Maharatnakuta (or "Treasury") Sutra, many translated for the first time in a Western language, selected and arranged to give the modern reader a progressive introduction to one of the world's major religious traditions.
In the course of translating from the original, special effort was made to retain both the devotional style appropriate for religious reading and the precision required by the scholar, while presenting the material with a clarity and flow that would make it accessible to the Western layman.
www.psupress.org /books/titles/0-271-00341-3.html   (369 words)

  
 SGI - Buddhism   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
The Mahayana tradition, in which Nichiren Buddhism is included, emphasizes the bodhisattva practice as the means toward the enlightenment of both oneself and others, in contrast to teachings which aim only at personal salvation.
They called their school of Buddhism Mahayana (great vehicle), meaning the teaching which can lead all people to enlightenment, and they criticized the earlier, traditional schools for seeking only personal enlightenment, labeling them Hinayana, or lesser vehicle.
A Mahayana Buddhism arose as a reform movement seeking to restore the original spirit of Buddhism.
www.sgi.org /english/Buddhism/mahayana.htm   (208 words)

  
 The Religion of the Samurai: Chapter III: The Universe is the Scripture of Zen
The former are the basis of the Mahayana, or the higher and reformed Buddhism, full of profound metaphysical reasonings; while the latter form that of the Hinayana, or the lower and early Buddhism, which is simple and ethical teaching.
It is in this sutra that most of Shakya's eminent disciples, known as the adherents of Hinayanism, are astonished with the profound wisdom, the eloquent speech, and the supernatural power of Vimalakirtti, a Bodhisattva, and confess the inferiority of their faith.
As there were, however, no written sutras to disprove their assertion, the elders, such as Yaça, Revata, and others, who opposed the Indulgences, had to convoke the second council of 700 monks, in which they succeeded in getting the Indulgences condemned, and rehearsed the Buddha's instruction for the second time.
www.sacred-texts.com /bud/rosa/rosa05.htm   (6602 words)

  
 The Teaching, Capacity, Time and Country
But when the votaries of the provisional sutras speak words of condemnation and slander against the Lotus Sutra, it is like followers attempting to mete out punishment to their ruler, sons attempting to punish their father, or disciples to punish their teacher.
To understand that the Lotus Sutra is the king, the first among all the various sutras, is to have a correct understanding of the teaching.
Ch'eng-kuan of Mount Ch'ing-liang and Kobo of Mount Koya claimed that the Kegon and Dainichi sutras are superior to the Lotus Sutra, Chi-tsang of Chia-hsiang-ssu temple and the priest K'uei-chi of Tz'u-en-ssu temple claimed that the two sutras known as the Hannya and the Jimmitsu are superior to the Lotus Sutra.
www.buddhistinformation.com /teaching_capacity_time_country.htm   (2922 words)

  
 Bio at BlinkBits. buddhism
In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha (transcending his mere physical form) is viewed as a boundless, beginningless and endless being, present in all times and all places, yet beyond the reach of logic or mundane conceptualisation.
In Mahayana Buddhism, a caveat is added: one should indeed always meditate on the impermanence and changefulness of compounded structures and phenomena, but one must guard against extending this to the realm of Nirvana, where impermanence holds no sway and eternity alone obtains.
A long passage in the Lankavatara Sutra shows the Buddha speaking out very forcefully against meat consumption and unequivocally in favor of vegetarianism, since the eating of the flesh of fellow sentient beings is said by him to be incompatible with the compassion that a Bodhisattva should strive to cultivate.
www.blinkbits.com /bits/viewforum/buddhism_bio?f=64311   (9171 words)

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