Mahayana

SHHG

Mahayana, (Sanskrit: “Greater Vehicle”) movement that arose within Indian Buddhism around the beginning of the Common Era and became by the 9th century the dominant influence on the Buddhist cultures of Central and East Asia, which it remains today. It spread at one point also to Southeast Asia, including Myanmar (Burma) and Sri Lanka, but has not survived there. The movement is characterized by a grandiose cosmology, often complex ritualism, paradoxical metaphysics, and universal ethics.
The difference between Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism is that compared to Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism is the dharma of universal sentient beings. India is Theravada Buddhism, mainly focused on self-cultivation. Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, mainly focuses on Purdue sentient beings.
Written by Weipiaoran
Data from https://baike.baidu.com/item/MAHAYANA/51140315

tangerine

Mahayana(梵语：大乘）运动，大约在公元初产生于印度佛教内部，到9世纪成为影响中亚和东亚佛教文化的主导教派并延续至今。它还一度传播到东南亚，包括缅甸和斯里兰卡，但没有延续下来。大乘的特点在于弘大的宇宙观，往往有复杂的仪节，看似矛盾的形而上学，以及普遍的伦理学。
大乘佛教与小乘佛教的区别在于，相较于小乘佛教，大乘佛教是普度众生的佛法；而印度是小乘佛教，讲求自我修行。
撰稿：魏飘然
补充内容：
The Mahayana sutras cover a wide range of content, but a key difference between the Mahayana sutras and the earlier sutras is the Mahayana distinction between buddhahood and arhathood. According to the Mahayana:
Buddhahood represents the enlightened state of the Buddha, which is superior to that of his diciples, who reached the level of arhathood. The path to buddhahood is the path of the bodhisattva which is superior to the path of the arhats.
Arhathood represents the level of enlightenment reached by the buddha's disciples. This represents a high level of attainment, that is free from suffering, but it lacks the infinite wisdom and compassion of the state of buddhahood. Thus the path of the arhat that is emphasized in the earlier sutras is a more limited path.
Thus, the Mahayana places great emphasis on the path of the bodhisattva, which includes training methods such as the six paramitas, that are intended to develop the highest possible level of wisdom and compassion.

The Mahayana sutras were not accepted as the "word of the Buddha" (buddhavacana) by all the Buddhist practitioners in India during this period. However, many Mahayana sutras were translated into Chinese and later into Tibetan, and the Mahayana view became the accepted view in East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. In some cases in East Asia, certain Mahayana sutras were revered as the highest possible expression of the Buddha's teaching.

The Theravadan Pali Canon does not include the Mahayana sutras that developed in India during this period. Hence, the Theravada traditon of Southest Asia does not accept the Mahayana sutras of this period as the "word of the Buddha."
Data from: https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Mahayana
回帖：侯泽君

Sabrina

The fundamental principle of Mahayana Buddhism is the idea that all live beings can separate themselves from the suffering of life. Mahayana doctrine does believe in Bodhisattvas with powers usually reserved for immortal beings, who dedicate themselves to the perfections, or ideals of Mahayana Buddhism.
https://buddhists.org/mahayana-buddhism/

巧克李子

Mahayana Buddhism is the largest Buddhist sect in the world, and its beliefs and practices are what most non-adherents recognize as "Buddhism" in the modern era. It developed as a school of thought sometime after 383 BCE, possibly from the earlier school known as Mahasanghika, though that claim has been challenged.

1989

Mahayana is a liberal and theistic branch of Buddhism comprising sects chiefly in China and Japan, recognizing a large body of scripture in addition to the Pali canon, and teaching social concern and universal salvation.The author wonderfully displayed its definition to us.