Mahāyāna
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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1997
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© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information)
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Mahāyāna (Skt., ‘Great Vehicle’; Chin., Tachʾeng; Jap., Daijō; Korean, Taesūng). The form of Buddhism prominent in Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. It regards itself as a more adequate expression of the
dharma than what it calls
Hīnayāna (Skt., ‘Lesser’ or ‘Inferior Vehicle’). The absence of the later teaching in early texts is variously explained. Tibetan Buddhism ascribes, within the
Trikāya of the Buddha, the Hīnayāna to the historical Nirmāṇakāya and the Mahāyāna to the
Sambhoga-kāya; whereas
Zen claims a special wordless transmission that could not by its very nature have a literary witness. In any case, such teaching is now recorded in many
sūtras. The distinctive teaching of the Mahāyāna is that of compassion for all sentient beings such that the practitioner delays his own
nirvāna until all other beings shall have been liberated. The ideal practitioner is the
bodhisattva, i.e. one who has given birth to the
bodhicitta (Skt., ‘enlightenment-mind’) which strives to manifest Great Compassion. The two main philosophical schools of Mahāyāna are
Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra/
Vijñānavāda (for the lineages, see
BUDDHIST SCHOOLS). Also of importance are the forms of devotion, e.g. to the Buddha Amitābha (
Amida) with the promise of rebirth in the paradise of
Sukhāvatī; the emphasis on sūtras containing the developed teaching of the Buddha (according to
upāya-kauśalya, his early teaching was adapted to the simple-minded); the recognition of the buddha-nature (
Tathāgata-garbha,
buddhatā) in all things.
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Zaretan
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Zaretan , Zartanan , or Zarthan , in the Bible, unlocated place in the valley of the Jordan, associated with the crossing of the Jews. Variants, all probably referring to the same place, are Zartanah, Zereda, Zeredathah, and Zererath.
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Zartanah
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Zartanah , Zereda , Zeredathah , and Zererath , variant forms of Zaretan .
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