Orthodox Vs. Herterodox
Buddhism derived from the preaching’s of Siddhartha Gautama “ the Buddha”, who is said to have reached the state of enlightenment at the young age of thirty-five. Siddhartha Gautama spent most of his life teaching his beliefs that focused mainly on his goal to rid himself and others from suffering in an attempt to ultimately attain inner peace. “The Buddha’s teachings are like the Buddha himself-practical. Surrounded in India of his day by every kind of speculation about the afterlife, the nature of the divine, and other difficult questions, the Buddha concentrated on what was useful” (Molloy 111). Among his ideals was the belief in the eightfold path and the four noble truths as methods to reach the ultimate state of enlightenment. Meanwhile, he gained many followers and began an order of monks. A few months after his death, five hundred of his most devout disciples made up the first Buddhist council, led by the eldest monk Maha Kassapa. Their lack of agreement on any changes to be made to their new system of belief helped Maha Kassapa decide that none of the original teachings of the Buddha should be altered in any way. About one hundred years later a second council was held and some minor
changes were made to the religion. The disagreement of Buddhist with some of the original Buddhist teachings resulted in many braches being formed but only three remain prevalent today; Therevada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Therevada took on the conservative approach “hoping to protect the Buddha’s rather stark teachings and simple practice from being altered” (Molloy 122). When Therevada was first developed there was no such term as Mahayana, but later it appeared in the Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Law. About a century later, the term Mahayana became clearly defined and referred to as “ the big vehicle” that included a more hopeful approach in attaining enlightenment for the laypeople. The Mahayanists also developed a theology of Buddha called the doctrine of The Three Bodies, or Trikaya. The Buddha was not a human being, as the Theravada Buddhists believed, but a manifestation of a universal, spiritual being. This being had three bodies. “According to Mahayana Buddhism, the cosmic Buddha permeates all things” (Molloy129). When Siddhartha Gautama was on earth his divinity took a physical form called Mirmanakaya. There are many forms of the divine being; among these are the cosmic Buddha’s that inhabit the heavens like Amitabha Buddha who is said to have created a land to the west of the sun in order to receive those wish to reach enlightenment after death. One of Mahayana’s most unique view is that, “Regardless, Mahayana is open to anything that can lead to greater spiritual awareness, a concept known as “skillful means” (Molloy 129). Although Therevada resulted from an attempt to stick to what they believe to be the original teachings of the Buddha, and Mahayana altered some of those beliefs, Mahayana and Therevada hold many of the same
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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