Mahayana

Mahayana

Mahayana as a distinct movement began around the 1st century BCE
in the area around Kushan Empire (now within Pakistan) before it was
transmitted in a highly evolved form to China in the second century CE.
The exact origin of Mahayana Buddhism is unknown. However a number
of common elements and background are suggested by various
scholars and theologians.

The Abhidharma in modern Theravada Pali Cannons and a
Sarvastivada Abhidharma composed in Sanskrit which survives in both
Chinese and Tibetan traditions has no common order of composition.
This indicates that, overall, Buddhism became increasingly fragmented
and possibly this might have led to widening distance between laity
and the Sangha who are increasingly preoccupied with theological
speculation. The Mahayana movement, on the other hand, was
ecumenical, reflecting a wide range of theology from both
Sthaviravada and Mahasanghika sects. (Paul Williams "Mahayana
Buddhism",1989) Moreover, those who believe that Mahayana sutras
were invented during this period speculate that the process of
reshuffling of sutras in term of relevance to various Abbhidharma
eventually led to editing itself. This process slowly eroded the taboo
regarding the composition of new sutras.

Another important element is the lay practice of stupa devotion, which
was actively encouraged by Ashoka. According to Akira Hirakawa (A
History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana), stupas,
which were initially mere monuments to Gautma Buddha, increasingly
became the place of devotion and the place of spreading buddhism to
the mass, the majority of whom were illiterate Hindus. On the inside wall
of the stupa, pictures were drawn or sculpted to demonstrate the life of
Buddha and his previous lives as a bodisattva to demonstrate the
teaching of Buddhism.

The first known Mahayana texts are translations made into Chinese by
the Kushan monk Lokaksema in the Chinese capital of Luoyang,
between 178 and 189 CE.

Lokaksema's work includes the translation of the Pratyutpanna Sutra,
containing the first known mentions of the Buddha Amitabha and his
Pure Land, said to be at the origin of Pure Land practice in China, and
the first known translations of the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, a founding text
of Mahayana Buddhism.

The formal rise of Mahayana Buddhism has been dated to around the
middle of the 2nd century CE, when the Kushan emperor Kanishka
convened the 4th Buddhist Council in Gandhara, which confirmed the
formal scission of Mahayana Buddhism from the traditional Nikaya
schools of Buddhism.

This was also the time and place of a rich cultural interaction between
Buddhism and Hellenistic culture, which influenced the early
representations of Buddhas, in what is known as Greco-Buddhist art.

From the 1st century CE and in the space of a few centuries, Mahayana
was to flourish and spread in the East from India to South-East Asia, and
towards the north to Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan,
culminating with the introduction of Buddhism in Japan in 538 CE.

Mahayana disappeared from India during the 11th century, and
consequently lost its influence in South-East Asia where it was replaced
by Theravada Buddhism from Sri Lanka.

Mahayana remains, however, the most followed of the Buddhist
doctrines to this day in Eastern Asia and the world.