Main Differences between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism
There are many differences between Theravada Buddhism and the Mahayana school of Pure Land. The first begins with the location of each, Theravada being located in Southern areas (Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka and parts of Southeast Asia. On the other hand Mahayana was more focused on northern areas such as Tibet, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, as well as some parts of Southeast Asia. The second difference of the two religious schools was schools and sects because Theravada is the only one with a surviving existent school having 18 schools at one time. The scriptures used by the people were also different by the Theravada using only the Pali Canon and Tripitaka while the Mahayana used the Theravada Tripitaka plus many other sutras for example the one discussed in the textbook the Lotus Sutra. It was interesting to know that at some point they may have had some intersecting knowledge by both using the Tripitaka. It was interesting to note that they had a difference in the Buddha that they worshiped. The Theravada believed in the historical Buddha and past Buddha’s only while the Mahayana believed in many Buddha’s for example the Gautama Buddha, medicine Buddha, and Amitabha. The bodhisattvas were also difference but common because the Theravada believed in Maitreya only while the Mahayana believed in the Maitreya as well but also Avalokitesvara, Mansjuri, and Samanthabadra. The objective of training for Theravada was Arhat while for Mahayana was Buddha hood by way of the bodhisattva-path. The three Buddha bodies also know as Trikaya for the Theravada has very little emphasis since they mainly emphasized nirmana-kaya and dharma- kaya while Mahayana emphasized them greatly including the reward/enjoyment body. The original language for each religious school interestingly enough was also different with Theravada using Pali while Mahayana used Sanskrit. The language to which the teachings were translated in Theravada is that of the Tripitaka in Pali while the teachings in Pali were also supplemented by local languages however with Mahayana their scriptures are translated into local languages to begin with. With regard to rituals and liturgy, Theravada has some but was not as heavily emphasized as in Mahayana schools of thought. The Theravada school believed that Buddha’s disciples are the historical disciples that are described in the scripture while Mahayana believes in many bodhisattvas that are not historical figures. The Mantras and Mudras were also surprisingly difference as the Theravada only believed in some use of Parittas while the Mahayana believed in use of Vajrayana and sometimes incorporated knowledge of other schools. The huge difference in my eyes laid is the idea of Bardo also known as Limbo as Theravada rejected the idea completely while the Mahayana taught the idea in all of their schools. Also, the idea of Buddha nature was not taught by Theravada while it was emphasized especially by practice based schools. After learning of the astounding differences between the two religious schools, I believe that the Theravada makes more sense. It is more practical, straight forward and follows the historical ideas of Buddhism and not so much of the newer more complex aspect of Mahayana incorporating more modern and much less historical ideas. I enjoyed learning about both schools and how history and culture were influential in Buddhism regardless of the school one belonged to.
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