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Mahayana Buddhism?

19:01 / 04.12.01

Not that I'm getting you guys to write my paper for me ::cough cough:: but can any of you give me any information on this school of buddhism?
*links are nice
*Already written 8 - 10 page papers even better

Thanks

19:26 / 04.12.01

You can always try this site: www.religioustolerance.org

Also, there is a repository of sacred texts here:
www.sacred-texts.com

20:42 / 04.12.01

BuddhaNet.net used to have a side-by-side comparison showing the differences between Mahayana and Theravada.

[ 04-12-2001: Message edited by: Dekapot Mass ]

16:54 / 05.12.01

The Great Vehicle.

Almost every school of Buddhism you're likely to run into can be included in this (slightly ethnocentric*) category.

Buddhism.org's links seem to be ok as a resource. There was a better page I came across once... I think it was when I was researching the Maitreya Buddha. A lot of searches (including linking off the buddhism.org page) bring me to Pure Land Buddhists, which are a pretty strange offshoot. A bit like the Buddhist equivalent of the Prayer of Jabez Christians, they chant either the name of Amida Buddha or the Pure Land Sutra over and over again to get a/ reborn in the heavenly "Pure Land" and b/ lots of cool material possessions right here and now.

This fact-filled page seems to have everything you'd need, though. The more I scan it, the better it seems. All you'd ever need - surf around the site.

* The opposite term, Hinayana, means "Lesser Vehicle" - not terribly flattering to those Thai Buddhists and the like who fall under it. They prefer the term "Theravada," although I've forgotten what that means literally.

18:49 / 05.12.01

Oh, I was gonna to the paper on Maitreya but I don't think I can fill 10 pages on that...I mean how will I even structure it?

Thank for the links guys...::sniff sniff:: I love you all.

19:14 / 05.12.01

Not sure if this ONLINE BOOK is any help.

Buddhism Link

19:24 / 05.12.01

quote:Originally posted by grant:
* The opposite term, Hinayana, means "Lesser Vehicle" - not terribly flattering to those Thai Buddhists and the like who fall under it.

Not always the case, Grant. The differences are that the Mahayanan Buddhists hold that gods and Buddhas can intervene on behalf of men and has absorbed a greater number of pre- and exo-Buddhist beliefs (esp. Hinduism). Thusly, because the Mahayana Buddhists accept more processes for enlightenment, their faith is "larger" than the Thai's.

The Theravada school, on the other hand, believes that only one person can enlighten oneself. No gods or Buddhas helping the side of humanity. Thusly, their faith is "smaller" because there is no faith placed into other beings in the same manner as the Mahayana's.

But then that's their point, they're smaller because they believe they have to be smaller.

The Dali Lama is a Mahayana btw.

-Jesse

13:41 / 06.12.01

There is also a third vehicle, Tantrayana.
This vehicle recognizes that there is no difference between the other two vehicles.
Just food for thought, but, also my preferred vehicle. Taught in the schools of Nyingma and Kagyu in the Dzog Chen teachings.

-May Tricks

15:25 / 06.12.01

Check that last link I posted up there and click onto the next page - Tantra is also called the "Thunder Vehicle," which is kinda cool.

15:37 / 08.12.01

this was part of my essay. I wrote it at 3 in the morning and now I'm a bit worried. If you were a prof. and you got something like this what would think?

quote: "Form is empty and emptiness is form." OK, take a video game like Super Mario Bros. for example. You have Mario and he has to go through all of these levels and environments and fight King Koopa and save the princess. We see the form of Mario and we see the form of the other characters and they are separate and acting in space independently of each other. In reality they are not separate. Mario, Koopa, the tree he just jumped over, and the spaces in between are one. They are all the same program. Now, poor, unenlightened Mario is unaware that he's only a 16-bit, fictional character and so is eternally stuck in the Nintendo Dukkha cycle dictated by the program. What would happen if he realized that he and everything in his universe are not only the same thing but utterly empty? His little digital head would burst with radiant light and the game would stop. I may have lost you because I don't know if you're big on video games, but the metaphor is appropriate.

[ 08-12-2001: Message edited by: impulsivelad ]

18:28 / 08.12.01

Yer shitting me, right?

Use characters form the Great Gatsby, not pop culture video stars.

Besides, Super Mario Bros is a 8 bit game.

-Jesse

19:08 / 08.12.01

I would give you an A without hesitation.

20:02 / 08.12.01

impulsive, I some what agree with Jesse there. I think the premise is great and I love the metaphor...just not for a paper that will be graded. I am not sure if you want to use Gatsby, but, something eloquent and classic would be much more impressive.

-May

03:11 / 09.12.01

Just a note, the Illumanitus! triology characters, those of Paradice Lost, the Divine Comedy and Don Quixote are all right out for this type of exercise cause they know they are in a book. Animal Man too.

-Jesse

15:08 / 09.12.01

lovely image, imp, and a good explanation! but edit for phrases like 'big on video games'- it's trivial, I know, but it can make all the difference if you can adapt your language use to the academic paradigm. You might also consider elaborating on the rhetorical question at the end- quote: What would happen if he realized that he and everything in his universe are not only the same thing but utterly empty? His little digital head would burst with radiant light and the game would stop. needs 'according to mahayana buddhism, his little digital head...' in it- it's a question of referring to the belief pattern rather than simply asserting it.

12:56 / 12.12.01

The thing is I had already sent it to the teacher when I posted this and your suggestions only worried me more.
BUT I just got an e-mail from the Prof. and he said that although the metaphor was a bit...questionable. After reading a 100 papers about ox carts and lotus flowers he really enjoyed my essay and it's obvious that I understand the concepts (which is what's important) and applying them to my modern life...so I got an A!
Thanks to all you humans and servitors for all your help

[ 12-12-2001: Message edited by: impulsivelad ]

14:31 / 12.12.01

Might said paper make an OK zine article?

17:36 / 12.12.01

Very good!