A Comparison of Concepts of Buddhahood
The Buddha attained enlightenment and preached his first sermon in India
, where the orthodox Theravada, or Speech of the Elders, began. As the Hindu and Islamic religions became more prevalent in India, Buddhism spread throughout Asia, dispersing Theravada throughout. As isolated communities reinterpreted their limited stock of memorized and orally disseminated sutras, differing ideas and eventually schools of thought began to emerge, and these are collectively known as Mahayana, or the Greater Vehicle. They key differences are summarized within the labels themselves, and largely relate to each tradition's concept of Buddha-hood. In Theravada Buddhism, the Buddha is recognized as a self-enlightened being, while in Mahayana Buddhism the Buddha is transcendental, non-conceptual, and all-pervasive ground of being.Before a discussion of the contrasts occurs, it will be useful to briefly expound the similarities of the ideas of Buddha-hood between the two traditions of interest. In both traditions, many of the same techniques are followed to help attain (although a distinction will be made below regarding the connotation of "attain") enlightenment, and thus Buddha-hood. Although there is a difference between a Buddha and an arhat (to be mentioned later) in Theravada, both reach the stage of enlightenment, which is an aspect of Buddha-hood. In Mahayana and Theravada, bhikkus, or monks, will realize the truth of the Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, The Five Aggregates, etc. They will both perform samatha and vipassana meditation. For the most part, the path is the same, but the goal is different. The similarities may become more evident by explaining the differences between the concepts of Buddha in the two traditions..
Theravada makes a unique distinction between Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha, and the arahants. A Buddha is an individual, who eventually attains enlightenment through mechanisms and strategies of his or her own, thusly rediscovering the dharma, which had been lost since the time of the previous Buddha. An arhat is an enlightened being, who became such through an encounter with and practice of the dharma, not of his or her own accord. In this realm of thought, there is only one Buddha at a time. The Buddha, and arhats, through the cultivation of wisdom, experience nirvana, attain enlightenment, die, and experience parinirvana. There is an emphasis on the attainment of enlightenment
Mahayana groups have a different concept of what it means to be a Buddha. In Mahayana, one does not attain enlightenment, and thus the Buddha-nature, but realizes that which is already inherent within herself, himself, and all things. The path to enlightenment is less of a growth process, and more of a shedding of conception and the Three Fires. This process is performed through the cultivation of prajna, or wisdom, which is seeing reality as it truly is. But Mahayana does not place the final emphasis on this point. It believes that, while the Buddha did in fact teach this much, this was only his use of upaya, or skillful means, meant to simply instigate the practice within people with the desire for the cessation of suffering. One is to practice the prajnaparamita, or the perfection of Wisdom, but even after this, one should then cultivate the bodhicitta.
The bodhicitta, the mind and heart of enlightenment, is the first step on the path of the Bodhisattva. A Bodhisattva is one who vows, after realizing enlightenment, to remain within Samsara to help others until all are free of the bonds of the cycle of rebirth and death. This person will attain the ten perfections, instead of arhat's six. Here, the emphasis is additionally placed on compassion. And even prajna is understood differently, not as wisdom, but Wisdom, the personification of the source of the Buddha. This combination of wisdom and compassion is why the Mahayana tradition is named so. It is the greater of the two traditions. There is a condescending lable sometimes used to refer to Theravada which is Hinayana, meaning "lesser vehicle."
In Mahayana, there is not a distinction made between Buddha and arhat. Everyone already has, and eventually will realize, their Buddha-nature. This also is the reason why there is believed to be more than one Buddha at a time. For an infinitely large realm of existence, there surely must be other Buddha's teaching in their own Buddha-fields in their enjoyment bodies, or even here in their transformation bodies. Among these Buddhas are Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, Amitabha, the Bodhisattva of boundless light, Maitreya, the coming Buddha, and more. Among these sub-schools of Mahayana, there are even more particular lines of thought, with differing ideas of how one may realize the Buddha-nature.
For example, there is the Pure Land school, who, like many Theravadans believe that it is impossible to attain enlightenment in this life and time. While the Theravadans may hope for a positive rebirth in the time of Maitreya, the Pure Landists hope to take advantage of Amitabha's vows. He vowed to use his merit toward the creation of a land that is purely conducive to the process of enlightenment. This is called the sukkhavati, or Pure Land. Through the recitation of his name, one may be reborn in his land and easily realize their true nature.
Another sub-school is Ch'an, more commonly known in the West as Zen. The founder, The Bearded Bodhidhama, known as the First Patriarch, traveled from India to China along the trade route known as the Silk Road. He spoke of a direct transmission from guru to student, outside of all conceptual knowledge, to help one realize their true inner nature. It is said that this school began when Siddhartha gave a sermon, where he simply held up a flower. Among the thousands in attendance, one bhikku smiled, and had received the direct transmission. To break this conceptual knowledge, bhikkus are assigned koans to meditate upon, which are paradoxical and contradictory statements or stories, in an effort to shock the mind. One may even be struck with a cane, as a person would strike one who is sleeping to wake them up.
All of these schools arise from one of the fundamental ideas, and probably the most notable difference between the ideas of Buddha-hood between Theravada and Mahayana. This idea can be found in many places, for example, "The Whole Universe Contained in a Sutra" sutra. This sutra states that the Tathagata's Wisdom is within all beings. There is a sutra contained in every speck of dust. This is where the emphasis on realization, and not attainment, comes from. It is also where the idea of sunyata, or emptiness, originates. Sunyata can be thought of as the idea of anatman spread to all things, which is very similar to the teaching of dependent arising. The Buddha is in all things, and all things are in the Buddha. The Buddha is not the person of the historical Buddha, but the Ultimate Body. It is the dharmakaya. It is. To even say as much as the previous sentence is too much. Much like asking where a fire goes after it is extinguished, any and all questions, statements, and conceptions do not apply.
Theravada Buddhism, as the Buddha suggested, does not concern itself with metaphysical concepts. Mahayana may appear to, but does not. It is definitely more philosophical in its view of what Buddha-hood is, but its definition (or disregard of a definition) insinuates that reality is co-mingled with the transcendental. There is no metaphysics. There only is an all-containing, and yet empty, reality. The historical Buddha, as emphasized by the Theravadans, was simply a manifestation of this Mahayanan non-concept.
A Comparison of Concepts of Buddhahood
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