01:840:211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Bodhisattva Vow, Bodhicitta, Mahayana
4 Apr 2017
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Document Summary
Mah y na buddhism is a development within the buddhist tradition that began in india around 0. C. e. and later spread to china, tibet, korea, japan, vietnam and elsewhere. It is based upon and further elaborates ideas and ractices that were a central part of the earliest forms of indian. Subsequently,mah y na further developed into many different orientations and sub-schools with different emphases: chan/zen, pure land,tantra/mantranaya, etc. In very general terms, the basic orientation of the mah y na is a refocus of the ultimate aspiration of buddhist practice away from the arhat (pali, arahant) path towards the bodhisattva (pali, bodhisatta) path. Early mah y na s tras begin to be composed around the 1st century b. c. e. Mahayana is not a sect of buddhism, but an orientation. Early mah y na monks were not a schismatic group or sect.
