Mahayana

Mahayana (Sanskrit: महायानcode: sa is deprecated , mahāyāna "Perantara Besar") ialah satu daripada dua aliran utama agama Buddha, selain Theravada. Di kalangan para pengikutnya, "Mahayana" juga memaksudkan tahap motivasi atau kesedaran rohani yang berasaskan bodhicitta, iaitu cita-cita mulia untuk mencapai kesedaran (makrifat ) bukan sahaja untuk diri sendiri, bahkan juga demi kesejahteraan segala makhluk berperasaan. Meskipun pergerakan Mahayana dikatakan berasal dari ajaran Gautama Buddha, namun sesetengah ilmuwan percaya asalnya adalah di India pada abad pertama Masihi,^[1]^[2] tidak pun abad pertama SM.^[3]^[4] Mereka percaya bahawa Mahayana mencapai arus perdana di India pada abad ke-5 M, kerana ketika itulah prasasti Mahayana mula wujud dalam catatan epigrafi di India.^[5] Sebelum abad ke-11 M (ketika Mahayana masih berleluasa di India), Sutra Mahayana masih tengah disemak; oleh itu timbulnya pelbagai versi berbeza yang diterbitkan dari sutra yang sama itu. Versi-versi berlainan ini tak ternilai bagi para ilmuwan yang hendak membina semula sejarah aliran Mahayana. Sepanjang sejarahnya, aliran Mahayana tersebar ke seluruh Asia Dalam dan Asia Timur, di mana terbentuknya dua lagi cabang utama, iaitu agama Buddha Tibet (di Tibet, Mongolia, dan kawasan Himalaya); dan agama Buddha Asia Timur (di China, Jepun, Korea, dan Vietnam). Antara "aliran-aliran" utama dalam agama Buddha Asia Timur termasuk Jingtu, Tientai, Huayan, dan Zen.

^ The Mahayana movement claims to have been founded by the Buddha himself. Scholars however, think that it originated in South India in the 1st century CE’ – Indian Buddhism, AK Warder, 3rd edition, 1999, p. 335.
^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 293
^ Buddhist Saints in India, Reginald A. Ray, 1994, p.404
^ A History of Indian Buddhism - Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1993, p. 252
^ Certainly, we have for this period an extensive body of inscriptions from virtually all parts of India. ... But nowhere in this extensive body of material is there any reference, prior to the fifth century, to a named Mahayana. There are, on the other hand, scores of references to what used to be called Hinayana groups — the Sarvastivadins, Mahasamghikas, and so on. From this point of view, at least, this was not “the period of the Mahayana,” but “the period of the Hinayana.”, Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 493

[Indian_Buddhism_1999,_p._335-1] The Mahayana movement claims to have been founded by the Buddha himself. Scholars however, think that it originated in South India in the 1st century CE’ – Indian Buddhism, AK Warder, 3rd edition, 1999, p. 335.

[Buddhism_2004,_page_293-2] Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 293

[India,_Reginald_A_1994,_p.404-3] Buddhist Saints in India, Reginald A. Ray, 1994, p.404

[Hirakawa_Akira_1993,_p._252-4] A History of Indian Buddhism - Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1993, p. 252

[5] Certainly, we have for this period an extensive body of inscriptions from virtually all parts of India. ... But nowhere in this extensive body of material is there any reference, prior to the fifth century, to a named Mahayana. There are, on the other hand, scores of references to what used to be called Hinayana groups — the Sarvastivadins, Mahasamghikas, and so on. From this point of view, at least, this was not “the period of the Mahayana,” but “the period of the Hinayana.”, Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 493

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]