Expert: Justin Choo - 5/5/2011

Question
I think my common sense accept Theravada Buddhism easily. But still, I am novice. In my country (Mongolia), there ain't any sangha of Theravada tradition .But we have Vajra and Mahayana tradition inherited from Tibet.

Here is the issue, I have pondered long time.

Gautama Buddha was Samyaksam Buddha or Supreme Buddha (others forms of Buddhahood are Pacceka Buddha and Sravaka Buddha). Thus, thathagatha (he) has complete and perfect knowledge and teaching of Dhamma.

Theravada tradition aims to become Arahant or self liberation by following Noble eightfold paths. But Mahayana's point of view, becoming Arahant is incomplete.

Question 1: Then why did not Samyaksam Buddha mention about Mahayana's goal of Boddhisatva, if becoming Arahant was not enough? Does Pali texts, which I believe strongly related to historic Gautama Budhha, suggest any fundamental concept of Mahayana Tradition?

Question 2: Who wrote Lotus Sutta? and can we believe the robustness of Mahayana Suttas?

Answer
Hi Unur,

Welcome back.

With reference to question 1, I think you need to realize that what is taught as Buddhism may not necessarily be that as taught by the Buddha himself. Of course, the Mahayanese will insist that all their text were authentic. So it is up to you to decide.  No point arguing over this matter. You have the freedom to decide and choose which tradition suits you.

Perhaps a little historical background of Buddhism will explain this. During the Buddha's time, his teachings were all memorized by the learned monks and passed down as such. After a few hundred years, differences in interpretations began to appear. A lot of Brahmins from the Brahmin religion (modern day Hinduism) became Buddhists. During that time the emperor was a Buddhist. His name was King Asoka. Naturally, all would like to become Buddhists! Because of these differences, King Asoka called for a council of monks to confirm the authenticity of the Buddha's teachings. The council of learned monks recited and confirmed the full text of the teachings which had been handed down by verbal recitation. They referred to this confirmation as the text of the elders (senior monks or thera). In the Pali language it is called Theravada, which is the tradition that I follow. Later these verbal recitations were written down and what we have today as the Tipitakka. The Brahmin group decided to have their own version and called themselves the Great Vehicle (Great Wheel), in Pali, Mahayana. They then belittled the Theravada by calling them Lesser Vehicle which in Pali is Hinayana. Subsequently new text were added by the Mahayanese in Sanskrit which were not found in the Theravada tradition. The Lotus Sutra is one of the many.

The Mahayana spread towards the north-west to Afghanistan, the Silk Route to China, Korea, and Japan. While the Theravada spread to the south to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and then up north-east to Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Being very practical teachings based on universal truths, Buddhism was able to be accepted by the different communities. They could practise Buddhism without having to change their cultures and customs. That is why we have Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism, and who knows Western Buddhism! The beauty of Buddhism is that although there are such varieties, the basic teachings of the Buddha are the same. The difference is actually in the rites and rituals, and some other minor subjects.

Be that as it may, you have the freedom to analyze the Buddha's teachings from the different sources, and decide for yourself which tradition you wish to follow.  


<<"Who wrote Lotus Sutta? and can we believe the robustness of Mahayana Suttas?">>

You can find a brief explanation in Wikipedia @
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Sutra

Can you believe or not, it's up to you to decide.