The Experience of Buddhism

This difference affects how each speak to views karma, nirvana, bodhisattva, anatman/sunyata, duhkha, Arhats, and pretas (hungry ghosts).

My protest preference is Mahayana, because I would like to think that as many people as possible could reach enlightenment, and that it is non the exclusive club of those few who argon able or inclined to live so strictly concord to the teachings. It would count that the more conservative Buddhists of Nikaya, those who follow the teachings to the letter, may be judgmental, spot the more liberal champions, who follow the tone of the Buddha rather than a strict interpretation of his teachings, are far more open-hearted, and uncoerced to be loving, compassionate, and of service to others. At the same time, the rituals associated with Mahayana do not appeal to me, although in practicing them and information how they encourage compassion done with(predicate) much(prenominal) shared practices, I believe I would interpose to appreciate them more, as a means of losing both my own ego and learning more to be a surrendered collapse of the community.

The question of karma has to do with cause. Why does what happens in the world, to us, happen? Karma is think to explain this. In Nikaya, the individual is the center of the aim of religion. It is up to the monk alone to save himself through discipline and learning and insight. Karma, which is the universal law which creates effects from causes, can be deferred by such

Mahayana sees karma as a more common feature of Buddhism. The individual is not free from the community by his own effort. Karma can be unstuck through pity, compassion, service. It does not require the strict, severe way of life of the Nikaya.

Duhkha holds that life is worthless, due to attachments, loss, desire. etc. If each there were were suffering and there were no escape, then all would be hopeless.

twain Nikaya and Mahayana believe in duhkha, and in liberation from duhkha, still Nikaya, again, sees such liberation from suffering as an individual responsibility, while Mahayana sees such suffering as a universal responsibility, calling for the savant Buddhist's dedication to helping others escape such suffering through "the Buddhist attempt at enlightening beings" (146).

Nirvana for the Mahayana Buddhist, however, is and must(prenominal) be a shared experience: "If Maitreya gains nirvana, then all living creatures should gain nirvana, for the Buddhas know that all living creatures are already calm and ceased, and this is nirvana" (173).

discipline on the take leave of the individual. One acts and that action has consequences both immediate and later. Karmic influence is powerful, but the individual can incur aware of his actions and their consequences, and thereby become freed from the karmic cycle. One is not helpless in the face of karma, according to Nikaya, but can liberate oneself through hard work. waiver from karma is a matter of the individual's realizing simply that "one does not cover the past, present or future" (132), or is liberated from karma.

Strong, bath S. The Experience of Buddhism. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2002.

Pretas, or hungry ghosts, are seen by the Mahayana Buddhist as simply another of the suffering beings for whom one exercises compassion. They "cannot find in a hundred years flush a wretched piece of filth to eat" (162). The Nikaya to a fault recognize the petras but do not feel the compact or necessity of exercising their com
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