can you tell me what zen, mahayana and tervada buddhism means?

Answer 1

ON MAHAYANA: Ven Zhang Hui presented a short description of Mahayana Buddhism in the Chinese culture. In Mahayana, the supreme practice is that of Bodhicitta, or the Bodhi Heart. Gradually, Mahayana Buddhism in China were split into 2 major schools, Zen and Pureland. In Zen, one practices full-time and walks a difficult path to Nirvana. But most pp in China were poor, illiterate farmers. So, what the venerable described as "The Convienent Path", PureLand, came to prominence. It allows them to just chant the name of Amitabha Buddha, and from there, develops some merit that enables them to plant the seeds for future practice (in the next life).

ON THERAVADA:Ven Gunaratana presented a short description of Theravada Buddhism. The word "Thera" means "firm". It comes from the Buddha's words, "I am firm in what I speak". After the Buddha died, a group of senior monks took over the running of the Sangha & organized the First Buddhist Council 3 months after His death. The senior monks were known as the Firm ones, or the Theras. They include Mahakassapa, Ananda and Upali. 100 years after the Buddha died, the majority of the monks split from the Theras to form the Mahayana sect. What remained of the original Sangha was known as Theravada.
One factor that best distinguishes Theravada from the other Buddhist schools is the importance it places on the preservation of the original Dharma. From the time of Mahakassapa, the Theras saw the importance of preserving the Dharma in its most authentic form possible. Hence, Theravada monks place a lot of emphasize on knowing the Tipitika and making sure it was not dilluted or amended as it goes from generation to generation.

ON VARJAYANA: Ven Khadro presented a short description of Varjayana Buddhism. Vajrayana is described as "the Quick Path". It is supposed to be the fastest path to Nirvana. However, this path is extremely difficult to practice. It requires, for example, complete renounciation, bodhicitta, and selflessness as pre-requisites. The venerable emphasized that the practice of Varjayana MUST be based on the foundation of basic teachings & cannot be practiced just by iteself. She gave a very interesting analogy. "Vajrayana is like flying a jet. It's faster than driving a car, but u must spend extra time learning the jet before u can start to fly. Otherwise, u either never get there or crash to the ground".

Zen Buddhism: Developed from CH’an a school of Chinese Buddhism formed in the Seventh century from a blend of Taoism (Chinese philosophy outlined in the TaoTeChing). It aims is to achieve harmony with all that is by pursuing inaction and effortless) and Mahayana teachings. The school stressed experience rather than learning. One of the heroes of Zen is the fierce – looking Indian monk Boddhidharma who brought Buddhism to China.
Absolute faith is placed in a person’s own inner being. Zen came to Japan in the 13th century five centuries after the orthodox forms of Buddhism. It appealed because of its emphasis on the uselessness of words and the insistence of action without thought.
Zen teaches the possibility of enlightenment in the here and now, unlike the tendency that have developed in other strands of Buddhism as far off goals. It teaches that enlightenment is a spontaneous event, totally independent of concepts, techniques or rituals. Zen Monks are based on doing things, learning through experience.
Esoterically regarded, Zen is not a religion but rather an indefinable, incommunicable (fukasetsu) root, free from all names, descriptions, and concepts, that can only be experienced by each individual for him- or herself. From expressed forms of this, all religions have sprung. In this sense Zen is not bound to any religion, including Buddhism. It is the primordial perfection of everything existing, designated by the most various names, experienced by all great sages, saints, and founders of religions of all cultures and times. Buddhism has referred to it as the "identity of samsara and nirvana." From this point of view zazen is not a "method" that brings people living in ignorance (avidya) to the "goal" of liberation; rather it is the immediate expression and actualization of the perfection present in every person at every moment.

Answer 2

The two major schools of Buddhism, Theravada and the Mahayana, are to be understood as different expressions of the same teaching of the historical Buddha. There is little difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism regarding the fundamental teachings and practice.

Theravada (The Teachings of the Elders) (Pāli थेरवाद theravāda; Sanskrit: स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda) is the longest surviving Buddhism school, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka and continental Southeast Asia (parts of southwest China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malayasia, Indonesia,Vietnam and Thailand). It is also gaining popularity in Singapore and Australia.

The earliest available teachings of the Buddha are to be found in Pali literature and belongs to the school of the Theravadins, who may be called the most orthodox school of Buddhism. This school admits the human characteristics of the Buddha, and is characterised by a psychological understanding of human nature; and emphasises a meditative approach to the transformation of consciousness.

It is sometimes labeled as Hinayana ("Lesser Vehicle") in opposition to the Mahayana ("Greater Vehicle"), but this term is now widely seen as either inaccurate or derogatory.

Mahayana (The Great Vehicle) (Sanskrit महायान mahāyāna, literally "great vehicle"; Chinese: 大乘, Dàchéng; Japanese: 大乗, Daijō; Vietnamese: Đại Thừa; Korean:대승, Dae-seung): originated in the Indian subcontinent and was transferred to China during the first century CE and later spread throughout East Asia. Some of the areas in which it is practiced today are India, People's Republic of China, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan. From Mahayana developed the esoteric Vajrayana which claims to encompass all previous schools.

The Mahayana is more of an umbrella body for a great variety of schools, from the Tantra school (the secret teaching of Yoga) well represented in Tibet and Nepal to the Pure Land sect, whose essential teaching is that salvation can be attained only through absolute trust in the saving power of Amitabha, longing to be reborn in his paradise through his grace, which are found in China, Korea and Japan. Ch’an and Zen Buddhism, of China and Japan, are meditation schools. According to these schools, to look inward and not to look outwards is the only way to achieve enlightenment, which to the human mind is ultimately the same as Buddhahood. In this system, the emphasis is upon ‘intuition’, its peculiarity being that it has no words in which to express itself at all, so it does this in symbols and images. In the course of time this system developed its philosophy of intuition to such a degree that it remains unique to this day.

Zen is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism which strongly emphasizes the practice of moment-by-moment awareness and of 'seeing deeply into the nature of things' by direct experience. Zen emerged as a distinct school in China and spread to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and, in modern times, the rest of the world. The common English name derives from the school's name in Japanese, zen (禅).

Answer 3

that's a type of Mah?y?na Buddhism that stresses the practice of meditation because the foremost to enlightenment. it ought to also be linked with koans, the eastern tea ceremony and Zen gardens. in accordance to legend, the beginnings of Zen should be traced back to the existence of Siddhartha Gautama, the historic Buddha. study this e book An creation to Zen Buddhism by technique of D. T. Suzuki regads JohnH

Answer 4

These are different schools of Buddhism.

They teach slightly different means (exercises, rituals, postures, layouts, meditative exercises) for attaining Peace/ Nirvana/ enlightenment (in Buddhist terms).

The idea (in large parts of Buddhism) is to break the cycle of reincarnation and suffering to attain surcease from suffering (ultimately a form of eternal personality suicide).

No offense meant to anyone.

Cordially,
John

Answer 5

I can't, Can you tell me?

Answer 6

money.. more money