Mahayana and Christianity
Throughout the years of its existence, the religion of Buddhism has gone through many changes. One example of how Buddhism changed is when the Mahayana was adopted as an official interpretation. The "Great Vehicle" was the name that the Buddhists came up for this new way of thinking. The Buddhists spent much of their lives concentrating on reaching nirvana, which was balanced with everyday activities. Judaism also experienced many changes during this time, which was far more drastic than the Mahayana Buddhism religion. While the Mahayana kept the basic beliefs of Buddhism, Christianity changed far more in terms of thinking. When comparing these two religions, it is obvious that each religion is quite similar and different in many ways. These religions are similar in the fact that they both allow the saving of ones soul and that they are both variations on more strict religious rules, while they contrast each other in the fact they each have their own idea of the "supreme being".In order for someone to reach nirvana, one had to be very dedicated and meditate a majority of the day. This limited the amount of other work that could be accomplished in a days worth of time. If everyone in the world followed this religion "t
o the tee", no work would ever be accomplished. This is one of the main reasons that Buddhism had to be changed in order to make it a world religion. Buddhism was changed into a slightly new interpretation that was to be known as Mahayana, which literally means Great Vehicle. The first step to the change was the creation of the Hinyana, which translates to the Lesser Vehicle. This interpretation only allowed a small portion of people to achieve nirvana because of the many strict rules of meditation. This lasted for a small period of time until the Mahayana interpretation was presented, which allowed more people to reach enlightenment. The reason for an increase in people reaching nirvana was because of a smaller amount of meditation that was involved. This allowed more time during the day for people to complete their everyday tasks. In addition to meditation, one must believe in the Bodhisattvas and the Buddhas to reach enlightenment. These were beings that were between living and enlightenment to help those still on earth striving to reach nirvana. Though enough yakshas and rakshasa to fill all the thousand-millionfold world should try to come and torment a person, if they hear him calling the name of Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's Sounds, then these evil demons will not even be able to look at him with their evil eyes, much less do him harm (Andrea, 185). One area in which you will find considerable differences is in the writings of the two religions. In the Mahayana religion, the Lotus Sutra was the text used, with described the "ten cosmic levels of existence" (Andrea, 184)
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1083
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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