home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
/
Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
/
M
/
Mahayana
/
INFOTEXT
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-09-03
|
769b
|
19 lines
Sanskrit `greater vehicle' one of the two
major forms of Buddhism, common in N Asia
(China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet). Veneration
of bodhisattvas (those who achieve
enlightenment but remain on the human plane
in order to help other living beings) is a
fundamental belief in Mahayana, as is the
idea that everyone has within them the seeds
of Buddhahood. A synthesis of Mahayana
doctrines is found in the Sutra of the Golden
Light, stressing that people should obey
reason (prajna), which enables them to tell
right from wrong; an act of self-sacrifice is
the highest triumph of reason. The Lotus
Sutra describes the historical Buddha as only
one manifestation of the eternal Buddha, the
ultimate law (dharma) of the cosmos and the
omnipresent and compassionate saviour.