Buddhism: The Story of Theravada and Mahayana

-

Introduction

Buddhism
In Patrick Bresnan's Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought, chapters 11 and 12 speak about two different types of Buddhism: Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism respectively. At one point in history, "Buddhism is broadly divided between two great traditions, Theravada (also known as Hinayana) and Mahayana" (Bresnan 243). Although "Mahayana would become the larger and historically more influential movement" (Bresnan 243), Theravada would precede the Mahayana for its well-organized movement. Throughout reading through both of these chapters, there were specific questions from the book that I would like to address. I find that by addressing these, we'd come to learn more about both types of Buddhism.


Theravada Buddhism

The first question I would like to address is the differences between samatha and vippasana meditation. Samatha meditation is a type of meditation appropriate for beginners as "it promotes a state of clarity and equanimity, and deep relaxation of mind and body" (Bresnan 258). Through this meditation, one confronts Theravada's five hinderances: "desire for sense pleasure, hatred, anxiety, laziness, and doubt" (Bresnan 258). Vippasana meditation is more focused on whatever is flowing on the consciousness right now without having to control or direct it and it can also take on many forms rather than focusing on a single point in mind. Of these two meditations, Buddhaghosa would stand with Vippasana meditation when he composed the Visuddhimagga as he believed "the roots of vippasana reach back to Buddha himself" (Bresnan 258).

How to do Vipassana Meditation




Mahayana Buddhism

In Mahayana Buddhism, one question that occurred to me was how the character of the Theravadin tradition created a path for Mahayana and why the Mahayanists called Theravadin traditions "Hinayana." Some Buddhists believed that the traditions of Theravada had "become too conservative, too rule-bound, too elitist, and too narrow in scope" (Bresnan 263). Believing that the Theravadins were becoming too self-centered, the Mahayana, a Sanskrit word meaning "great vehicle," was formed to oppose them and also started referring Theravadin traditions as Hinayana (small vehicle) as a reference to "Buddha compared his teachings to a raft (one of the meanings of yana) that could ferry a person across the river of ignorance" (Bresnan 264). Therefore, by calling the Theravadins "Hinayana," Mahayanists will pilot the large ferryboats while the Theravadins can pilot the small ones since they only had room for the elitists as its intent was to "suggest that the ideals of this more conservative group were more confined and more limited" (Bresnan 264). Despite the different teachings of both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, their traditions and teachings will be passed down to history.





Works Cited

Bresnan, Patrick S. Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought, 6th ed., 

    Routledge, 2018.

"Buddhism, Meditation And… Floating! How the Three Are Intrinsically Linked.” Floatworks Journal, 

    31, Mar. 2017, floatworks.com/journal/buddhism-meditation-and-floating-how-the-three-are-

    intrinsically-linked. Accessed 21, Oct. 2021.

Harrison, Paul. "Vipassana Meditation Technique: Everything You Need To Know." The Daily 

    Meditation, 26 Sept. 2021, www.thedailymeditation.com/vipassana. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

Khan Academy. " Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism | World History | Khan Academy" Youtube, 16, 

    Mar. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCA6ioTLw-Q. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

TEDx Talks. "Vippasana Meditation and Body Sensation: Eilona Ariel at TEDxJaffa 2013." Youtube, 15, 

    Nov. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixu4Kd5R1DI. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zen Buddhism

-
Image
Zazen Zazen, Sanzen, and Samu are three important factors in the Zen Monastery. Before I decide which of the three I consider the greatest importance, I want to give a brief description of each of the three techniques in the Zen Monastery starting with Zazen. Zazen Zazen is a form of sitting meditation with a cross-legged posture in Japanese Zen Buddhism.  Regarded as an insight to the nature of existence, the purpose of zazen for the meditator is to suspend any judgmental thinking and "completely focus his conscious on the existential reality of the moment, and stay with that" (Bresnan 496). In Japanese, this technique is called shikantaza, as it allows the meditator to fully grasp the moment. Below is a quick beginner's tutorial of Zazen meditation: Sanzen Sanzen Sanzen is a type of "meeting in dokusan with the roshi" (Bresnan 512). In other words, Sanzen is a private interview between master and student. In a Sanzen, a student would be let in to a roshi'
Read more

Daoism and Confucianism

-
Image
  Confucius Introduction In 255 BCE, the Zhou Dynasty would reach it's end due to the Period of Warring States, where the country of China was ravaged by constant feudal warfare, ruined crops, armies and conquest, and the suffering of the peasants. By the end of the Zhou Dynasty, history would "see the appearance of many new social philosophies, all of them seeking to be a blueprint for the right ordering of society and government. That was a natural response to the turmoil of the times" (Bresnan 304). Because of this, the Period of Warring States would also be known as the Period of a Hundred Philosophies. Two that were mentioned in Patrick Bresnan's  Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought were Confucianism and Daoism (also known as Taoism) with Confucianism being one of the earlier schools founded by Confucius. After reading both chapters on Confucianism and Daoism, there were specific questions about Confucius from the book that caught my atte
Read more