Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana in Sanskrit is, literally, the "Great Vehicle." As a school of thought it refers to the school of Buddhist practice and teaching that developed around 200 b.c.e., probably in northern India and Kashmir, and then spread east into Central Asia, East Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia. Mahayana is generally seen as one of the two main schools of Buddhism—the other is Theravada, or, in terms of the Mahayana writers, Hinayana, or the "Lesser Vehicle."
The way that Mahayana first developed is not clear. It probably started as a movement in opposition to the formal, scholastic approach to Buddhist practice. Mahayana stressed instead meditation and assistance of the spiritual development of others. Some theories suppose it was influenced by the Theravada emphasis on saddha, or faith. Another theory holds that it was an outgrowth of Hinduism. Just as the Bhagavad-Gita teaches the need to act, Mahayana emphasizes the importance of disengaged, non-selfish action. It is also possible that Iranian ideas, mainly the teachings of Zoroastrianism, influenced Mahayana. The Zoroastrian idea of a heaven of light ruled over by a deity of light is similar to the Mahayana concept of the Buddha Amitabha and his Western Paradise.
The key teachings in Mahayana revolve around the idea of the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva is a saintlike individual who has advanced along the way of cultivation. Instead of deciding to move on to the final extinction of nirvana, the bodhisattva decides to remain in the world of SAMSARA, of constant rebirth, in order to help others achieve enlightenment. The bodhisattva is motivated by a strong sense of compassion (karuna), and compassion is the primary religious emotion stressed in Mahayana writings. In juxtaposition is wisdom (prajna). The bodhisattva must develop karuna and prajna equally during the cultivation process.
Mahayana quickly developed its own subdivisions. The major statement of its philosophy is contained in the PRAJNAPARAMITA (perfection of wisdom) texts. The prajnaparamita sutras developed the concept of SUNYATA, or emptiness. The idea of the Buddha also shifted; the Buddha was increasingly seen as a spiritual, cosmic being. Later schools developed out of this tradition, including Yogacara Buddhism, Madhyamika, Pure Land Buddhism, and Vajrayana Buddhism. Eventually all beings were seen as possessing Buddha nature, and so all beings had the potential to be enlightened.
Today the major division in Buddhism is between Theravada and Mahayana. Some people also differentiate two other forms of popular Buddhism, Vajrayana, the "Diamond Vehicle" (equivalent to Tantric Buddhism), and Chan (Zen). Strictly speaking these are subdivisions within the Mahayana family. Vajrayana was strongly influenced by Tantric ideas, which were added to a Mahayana foundation; Vajrayana is today prominent in Nepal and in Tibetan Buddhism. Chan developed in China from the influence of Daoist ideas on Mahayana. Chan is today prominent in all East Asian cultures, primarily China, Korea, Japan, and in Southeast Asia, Vietnam. All of these East Asian Buddhist areas teach Mahayana ideas, in particular Pure Land and Chan, as a matter of course.
Mahikari
Mahikari ("true light") is the popular name of Sekai Mahikari, one of the more successful of the Japanese New Religions. Mahikari has centers in more than 75 countries. There are an estimated 800,000 members worldwide, 500,000 of whom are in Japan. It was founded in 1959 by Okada Kotama (1901-74), formerly a member of the Church of World Messianity, a church that had emerged out of one of the older Japanese New Religions, Omoto. The Church of World Mes-sianity was built around spiritual healing accomplished by johrei, God’s healing light.
In 1959, Okada had a personal revelation concerning Mahikari, the Divine Light of Sushin, the Creator. Mahikari is a cleansing energy that can yield health, harmony, and prosperity by its ability to tune the soul to its divine purpose. Humans have been sent to Earth to realize God’s Divine Plan. It is their job to learn to use the material resources available to them to create an evolved civilization grounded in spiritual wisdom.
Okada began to teach the ideas derived from his revelation to any who would listen. He evolved a format for three-day seminars in which people learn to use the Mahikari energy for healing. They receive a pendant, the omitana, which is believed to focus the light. It is then dispensed through the palm of the hand of the Mahikari practitioners. A summary of the teachings is found in a book, the Goseigen, The Holy Words, originally published in English in 1982.
After the death of okada, who had become known as Sukuinushisama (Savior), the movement split. He left the movement to his daughter, Keishu Okada, known as Oshienushisama. She set about the task assigned to her to build Suza, "God’s Throne," or the world shrine dedicated to creator god, which was erected in Takayama City, Japan. However, some members dissented from oshienushisama’s leadership claims and believed that Sakae Sekiguchi (1909-94), a prominent member, should be the new leader. The dispute led to a court case. The court recommended a settlement that would recognize two independent Mahikari organizations. The two would share the Goseigen (The Holy Words) and the Norigotoshu (the group’s prayer book). The court proposal was accepted by both groups. Sekai Mahikari remains the larger group. The group led by Sekiguchi is known as Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan. After Sekiguchi’s death in 1994, he was succeeded by Katsutoshi Sekiguchi (1939- ).
In the 1990s, Mahikari became the subject of bitter controversy when it was charged that its founder had taken part in one of the more horrendous atrocities of World War II, the so-called Rape of Nanking, in 1937. These charges, though still widely promulgated on the Internet, remain unsubstantiated.
Mahinda (third century b.c.e.)
Introducer of Buddhism to Sri Lanka
Mahinda was the son of the Indian king and Buddhist convert Asoka and brother of Sangha-mitta. As a young man, following the urging of his father, Mahinda became a Buddhist monk. Shortly thereafter, he traveled to Sri Lanka and introduced Buddhism to the island nation. He is said to have delivered his first discourse to the king at Mihintale, a few miles from the old capital at Anuradhapura. The year 247 b.c.e. is generally accepted as the date of King Devanampiyatissa’s (c. 250-210 b.c.e.) conversion.
After Devanampiyatissa accepted Buddhism, Mahinda would spend the rest of his life establishing it throughout Sri Lanka and seeing to the building of temples across the island. His most important construction project was the monastic complex at Mihintale. While it was being built, he sent for and received some relics of the Buddha, now housed there in the Ruwanweliseya, the "Great Stupa," at Anuradhapura. His sister took a branch of the Bodhi tree, which was planted there.
When Mahinda died, his body was cremated and a cetiya (earthen mound) erected over it. A mythological account of Mahinda is found in the Mahavamsa, the chronicle of ancient Sri Lanka.
Maidari festival
The Transformation of Maidar (Maitreya) is a Mongolian festival that honors Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. It was introduced in 1656 by Zanabazar from Tibet, where it was first held in 1049. In Mongolia it takes place in each monastery for a day, usually some time after the lunar New Year.
During the festival, a sculptural depiction of Maidar is transported on a horse-drawn cart, which is also filled with banners and scriptures. Although the cart is pulled by lamas, a horse-head sculpture is placed on the front to simulate being pulled by a horse. Maitreya is said to descend into the figure, and all those in the procession are reborn as disciples of Maitreya.
The festival from the beginning took on political connotations, as it symbolized the desire for a new age of Mongol preeminence, similar to the golden age under Genghis Khan. During the era of Soviet domination of Mongolia in the 1930s, the sacred chariot used in the ceremony in the capital city of urga (ulaan Baator) was destroyed. A new chariot has been built and donated by the Dalai Lama. Today the Maidari festival has been revived.
Maitreya (Milefo, Miroku)
Maitreya is the Buddha of the future. Within Buddhist thought, Maitreya is the last of the five earthly Buddhas. until he enters this world of phenomena, he resides in his own heavenly realm, the tusita. There, he currently preaches to other heavenly beings. When he returns, he will deliver three sermons to those who have formed a personal bond with him. Those who relate to him as a bodhisattva attempt to create a relationship that will guarantee their being present for the three sermons. one way to attain their goal is to work in this life so they may be reborn in the tusita and thus be with Maitreya when he descends to earth.
Rare double-image of two seated Buddhas, in plaster with gold foil on the faces, in the Dhammayangyi Pahto temple at Pagan, central Myanmar (Burma), from 12th century C.E. The image on the left is Maitreya Buddha, on the right, Gautama, the historical Buddha.
Contemporary image of the Buddha Maitreya, the Buddha of the future, carved into a rock at the Da Yan Pagoda, Da Qian Temple, Xi’an, western China
Maitreya appears in both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, but his figure is more developed and worshipped in Mahayana cultures. He is usually depicted on a seat with his feet on the ground, showing his willingness to enter the world. Elevation of Maitreya can be traced to the Northern Wei dynasty in China (386-534). Worship of him appears to have been introduced to Japan in the seventh century. The Maitreya cult thrived for several centuries but was eventually displaced by attention to rebirth in the western paradise of Amitabha as advocated by Pure Land Buddhism. Veneration of Maitreya is most alive in Korea.
In China, Maitreya’s image became mixed with that of Bu Dai, a monk of the Song (960-1279) dynasty. Bu Dai is a fat figure always depicted laughing and carrying a bag. As a result in many drawings and sculptures of Maitreya in China and Japan he is fat, the "laughing Buddha."
Maitripa
(11th century) major transmitter of Buddhism to Tibet
Though many details of his life are missing, Maitripa emerges in the 11th century as a major impetus in the introduction of Indian Vajrayana teaching to Tibet through his most famous student, Marpa (1012-96).
Maitripa studied at Nalanda University at the time Naropa served as its head. He also studied at Vikramasila university but was forced to leave because of sexual aspects of the Vajrayana practices—the monks at Vikramasila had taken a vow of chastity. He then took Savari, one of the mahasiddhas (masters of the mahamudra), as his guru.
At one point, Marpa, one of the founders of the Kagyu tradition in Tibet, traveled to India. On his initial trip, he spent 12 years with Naropa and on a later trip spent some time with Maitripa. Maitripa is credited with passing to him the MAHAMUDRA teachings and the teachings on the Buddha nature contained in the Uttara Tantra Sastra written by the fourth-century Indian teacher Asanga. Marpa helped make Asanga’s work popular in Tibet.
Makiguchi, Tsunesaburo
(1871-1944) founder of Soka Gakkai
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, the founder of the Nichi-ren Buddhist lay organization Soka Gakkai (now Soka Gakkai International), was born in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He attended college in Sapporo, a city on Japan’s northern island. He taught at the normal school for several years but eventually moved to Tokyo and obtained a job in the public school system. An early book he wrote was published in 1903 as the Geography of Life. It contained the germ of his idea concerning the creation value (or soka). In the 1920s, Makiguchi converted to Nichiren Shoshu.
In 1937, he formed the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Society for the Education in the Creation of Value). The 60 original members elected him president. The original purpose of the Soka Kyo-iku Gakkai was to reform education so that it aimed at assisting people to attain happiness, which would arise in lives that create the values of beauty, benefit, and goodness. This goal set the group at odds with the government, which was already in a state of war and required social groups to give priority to the war effort.
As the war heated up, in 1941, Makiguchi was forced out of his job as an elementary school principal. He had started a magazine, Kachi Zsozo (Creation of value), which was suppressed in 1942. He was arrested in 1943 and died in prison in 1944. Twenty other leaders of his group were also arrested, including its vice president, Josei Toda, who would succeed Makiguchi and revive the Soka Gakkai after World War II.
Malaysia, Buddhism in
Malaysia is a Muslim country created after the British relinquished control and the several former British colonies merged in 1963. The country traces its history to the second millennium b.c.e., when Chinese moved into the area to join the native Malay population. Today the country is approximately 60 percent Malay and 26 percent Chinese and 6 percent Indian and indigenous. Almost all of the Malay are Muslim and conversion to any other faith is strongly discouraged. The Chinese are divided among various Christian and Buddhist groups, with the former slightly larger.
Buddhism was the majority religion among the Chinese Malays for many centuries. Forms of Mahayana (mixed with Daoism), which had spread in China, predominate, though a few Theravada Buddhists of Sri Lankan extraction are also present. The later formed the Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society as a national body for Sri Lankan Buddhists in 1894. In the 19th century, Christianity began to make inroads into the predominantly Buddhist community and a strong Protestant Christian mission has been active to the present. In the face of the strong Christian proselytization, in the last half of the 20th century, Malay Buddhists formed several organizations to strengthen and increase the Buddhist community.
The Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia, founded in 1970, is the most active of several national Buddhist associations. It works with Buddhists of all traditions to nurture Buddhist practice among the younger generation and to further the cause of Buddhism in a variety of social and cultural settings. It has more than 250 affiliated units.
The majority of Malaysian Buddhists are part of the temple associations affiliated with the Malaysian Buddhist Association, which formed to represent Buddhists in the new country. It was originally headed by the Venerable Chuk Mor (1913- ), a Chinese-born Buddhist priest who left China after the revolution and settled in Malaysia in 1953. He founded the major Buddhist intellectual center, Malaysian Buddhist Institute. After many years as chairman, he passed the leadership of the association to the Venerable Kim Beng (1913-99), a writer, artist, and Mahayana monk. Among Kim Beng’s major accomplishments, he worked to have the Malaysian government declare Wesak as a public holiday and helped form the Malaysian Multi-religious Council. He was succeeded by the Venerable Chip Hong, also the chief abbot of a temple in Seremban.
Recent growth of the Malaysian Buddhist community has been largely attributed to the work of the Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda (1919- ), a Sri Lankan immigrant to Malaysia, who has since his arrival in 1952 become the most well-known missionary for Buddhism throughout the country, especially in the English-speaking communities. In the 1990s he put together a set of videos under the collective title Introducing Buddhism.
Most recently, a variety of groups have entered Malaysia from Taiwan. Foguangshan, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Association, the Amitabha Buddhist Societies, and the True Buddha School have been active in the Chinese-speaking community, the latter reporting that its growth in Malaysia now rivals that in Taiwan. Soka Gakkai, established in Malaysia in 1984, is the primary Japanese Buddhist group working in the country.
Mandala
Mandala (Sanskrit, circle) is an object of devotion found in Tantric Hindu and Vajrayana Buddhist practice. In addition the mandala may serve as a model of the universe and the place of humans within. The Tibetan mandala often depicts a central mountain, Mt. Sumeru, surrounded by protecting layers. The path into the mantra thus becomes a symbol of the spiritual journey. The mandala may be painted on a wall, cloth, or paper. occasionally it is rendered through sand painting or in other sculpted materials.
The mandala usually includes a variety of geometric shapes, using patterns that have evolved from the yantra (a symbol of the cosmos). The mandala is also often understood as a symbolic palace. The palace contains four gates oriented to the four corners of the Earth and is located within circles that form protective barriers, symbolic of qualities (purity, devotion, resolve, etc.) that one must attain prior to entering the palace.
Inside the palace, the mandala contains symbols of the deities and/or the faith—a diamond (clear mind), a ghanta (or bell, symbol of the female), the yantra (or thunderbolt, symbol of the male), a Dharma wheel (Eightfold Path), and/or a lotus (teachings).
Precise methodology is followed in creating the mandala and its construction integrated with a ritual, notable for the chanting of mantras, words of power. The ritual accomplishes the empowerment of the mandala, now seen as an object of cosmic energy. As one meditates with a mandala, she or he is given access to the energy it embodies. In Tibetan Buddhism, whole temples may be constructed as giant mandalas.
Large bronze combination mandala and incense burner, from Yonghe Gong in Beijing, China.
In the 20th century, the use of the mandala moved into Western esoteric thought, a complex amalgamation of ideas based on alchemy, occultism, and other mystical teachings, largely as a consequence of its being introduced to the West by the Theosophical Society. In addition the mandala has often attracted people initially as simply an object of aesthetic appreciation.
