Expert: Laurie McLauglin - 1/25/2009

Question
how are these two relate to each other

Answer
Greetings, Isabel,

Mahyana is related to Buddhism because it qualifies what type of Buddhism you follow.  It is like how Catholic or Protestant qualifies what type of Christian one is.

The Buddha taught 84,000 teachings.  He geared each of his teachings to a specific audience based on their specific needs and abilities.  Because of this, many types of Buddhism emerged. Mahayana Buddhism is one type.

From what I have learned so far, the earliest school of Buddhism is called the Theraveda tradition. This tradition focuses mainly on the practice of meditation to escape samsara (the realm of suffering and cyclic existence in which all sentient beings live) and achieve Nirvana; thus becoming an Arhat – An Arhat is someone who by their sincere practice has removed all causes for future rebirths.

Around the first century AD, a new way of practicing Buddhism emerged which was called Mahayana or “great vehicle”.  To be a Mahayana Buddhist is to believe it is not enough to remain in Nirvana after one has achieved it. Instead, first, one must become a Bodhisattva. This is a person that has Bodhichitta.  Bodhichitta is the desire to attain full Enlightenment and become a Buddha not just to end one’s own suffering but to devote one’s self to continue to return to samsara  and help all other sentient beings escape the suffering of samsara and become Enlightened too.

The term “great vehicle” may have been coined from one of the Buddha’s teachings called the Lotus Sutra where he said that the Sravaka, or disciples of the Buddha who aspire to reach Nirvana by hearing the words of the Buddha but whose ability to serve others is limited, were represented by a goat-cart and the Samyaksambuddha which are practitioners who emphasized the teachings of Buddha relating to becoming a Bodhisattva (which is what the Mahayanists believe) were represented by an ox-cart (hence a greater vehicle than a goat cart).

The emphasis on the Bodhisattva teachings of the Buddha was a new twist in the development of Buddhism and caused the Mahayana Buddhists to consider the earlier forms of Buddhism as not as helpful to all mankind.  Thus they were labeled Hinayana  or “The Lesser Vehicle.”

Theraveda Buddhists believe that although it is possible to become a Buddha it takes at least an eon.  Mahayana Buddhists believe it is possible to become a Buddha within one lifetime.  Also Mahayana Buddhists believe that being an Arhat is not enough.  One needs to become a Bodhistattva, then a Budddha.

Theravedans believe that it should be left up to the individual whether they want to work towards achieving Enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings or not. If they would be just as happy reaching Nirvana and remaining as an Arhat, that would be just fine. The Mahayanists believe that one should only practice Mahayana Buddhism if one wants to achieve Enlightenment for the sake of all other sentient beings.

Down through the centuries, things have gotten a bit confused and the terms Hinayana and Theraveda have to some extent become synonymous, though that is not accurate.  Today, it is common (though apparently inaccurate) to say that a Mahayana Buddhist is one who follows the teachings of Buddha and works to achieve Enlightenment and become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings;   and a Hinayana Buddhist is one who follows the teachings of Buddha but works to achieve Nirvana strictly for their own sake.

Don’t hesitate to ask if you have further questions.
Laurie