HINDUISM TO BUDDHISM – A METAMORPHOSIS

The Real Vedic sectarian (Hinduism) approach for the first time was
commenced in the Mahabharat region approximately 700 years after the
Sakhyamuni Buddha propogated a well-crafted ideology. His rediscovered practical
approach in the realm of meditation posed wider contradictions to the then
existing Vedic priests. But unlike the case of Jesus Christ, Vedic priests did not
try to imprison or humiliate Buddha. Vedic priests modified their own preachings
by amalgamating their teachings with the Buddha idealogy happened from Acharya
Naagarjuna (200 AD) onwards as per Britishers’ compiled history.
Emperor Asoka and Aftermath : There is a historical proof 2400 years ago, in
India, there was an Emperor Asoka. And he was great terror, how many people he
killed! How many people he wounded? Just because he has to fulfill his Mission, and
he became Big, bigger empire for that madness and suddenly he realized that what
I am doing? It is so harmful! And then such big change came in this person. He was
called Chanda Asoka, i.e. Asoka the Terror! And how he became Dhamma Asoka!
The Emperor, full of love and compassion. And for that, he left his capital
Pataliputra (which is Patna today) and went about thousand miles away in Rajasthan,
there was a Vipassana Teacher. He lived there and learnt this technique, he
became perfect in this technique, and out of love and compassion he started
spreading throughout his Empire, it is a big Empire – today it is Afganisthan to
Bengal, from North India to South, such a big Empire! There are rock edicts there.
He says “So much of peace in my country. Many Emperors and many Rulers before
me wanted that their people to live in peace and harmony, have love and compassion
for others, have respect for elders, have love for fellow human beings. They were
not successful, but I am successful. Why? Not because I am giving lessons of
dhamma, because I am making people making meditate, and such a large no. of
people meditated and the whole country changed”. Also, there was no riot in those
days. There was no so many different sects as like today we have in India,
nocommunal riot not a single, and there was no invasion in the country. Such a
great land of peace and harmony! Such a great example we are having. Same thing
can happen if the people at the top if they realize that there is a way, they can
become peaceful and they can make others peaceful and you can have the world
peaceful.
Similarly after the time of the Buddha, during the time of Emperor Asoka in
the third century B.C., the Dhamma spread widely. Again this was mainly because of
the practical, applied aspect of the teaching (Dhamma pa ṭipatti). Several Asokan
rock edicts prove this fact. Asoka must have himself experienced the beneficial
results of this technique, and he propagated the Dhamma with great zeal. It was
out of the volition to serve others, which develops when the mind becomes
purified, that he put forth so much effort to help his subjects in both the
mundane as well as the supramundane spheres.
On the Pillar Edict 7 he points out two reasons why he succeeded in this.
One was the rule of law and order in his kingdom (Dhammaniyamāni), but he gave
more emphasis to the second reason which was the practice of meditation
(nijhatiyā), the practical aspect of the Dhamma. This shows that he appreciated
the fact that the practice of the Dhamma is the main reason for its spread. It was
after the Third Council under Asoka’s patronage that fully liberated arahant monks
were sent out of northern India to nine different areas to make the Dhamma
available to more people.
These monks were called Dhamma dūtas (Dhamma messengers). They
naturally gave emphasis to the practical aspect of the Dhamma by which they
themselves had become free from mental impurities. Filled with love and
compassion, they attracted large numbers of people to the path of liberation.
The following are the names of the elder monks (Theras) and the nine areas
where they went to teach Dhamma: 1.Majjhantika Thera: Kāsmira and Gandhāra
(Kashmir, Afghanistan, Peshawar and Rawalapindi in northwest Pakistan);
2.Mahādeva Thera: Mahisamaṇḍala (Mysore); 3.Rakkhita Thera: Vanavāsī (North
Kanārā in South India); 4.Yonaka Dhammarakkhita Thera: Aparantaka (modern
northern Gujarat Kathiavar, Kachcha and Sindh); 5.Mahādhamma Rakkhita Thera:
Mahāraṭṭha (parts of Maharashtra around the source of Godavari); 6.Mahā Rakkhita
Thera: Yonakaloka (ancient Greece); 7.Majjhima Thera: Himavanta Padesa Bhāga
(Himalayan region); 8.Soṇa and Uttara Theras: Suvaṇṇa Bhūmi (Burma); 9.Mahinda
Thera and others: Tambapaṇṇidīpa (Sri Lanka)
Asoka also sent teachers to as far away as present day Syria and Egypt. He
paved the way for coming generations to spread the sublime Dhamma to the entire
world. (http://www.vridhamma.org/The-Spread-of-The-Dhamma).
2 centuries after the Buddha breathed his last, Asoka became Emperor of
Magadha. Driven by overweening ambition, he established a vast empire covering
much of India and neighbouring countries. But one kingdom had not been brought
under his sway: Kalinga, the modern-day Indian state of Orissa. Furious at its
resistance to him, Asoka attacked Kalinga and subjugated it in a bloody war. Then,
after the fighting was over,he saw how many innocent people had been killed and
how terrible was the suffering of this once-prosperous land. Heartsick at his own
actions, he resolved to abjure the sword. It was at this time that Asoka came to
know about the teachings of the Buddha and was instantly attracted. He began by
studying the words of the Enlightened One. Then someone told him that knowledge
of the texts was not enough to give an understanding of the real meaning of the
teachings; that can come only through the development of insight, that is,
vipassanā-bhāvanā, or Vipassana meditation. The best place then to learn Vipassana
was at Bairath in the state of Rajasthan, where a bhikkhu named Upagupta taught.
Handing over power to his subordinates, Asoka set out for Rajasthan. After 300
days he returned to his capital, a changed man. The hill at Virat Nagar, Jaipur
(Bairat) on which Paanch Khand Hanuman Temple is now situated also has the
Ashoka Shila Lekh (Ashoka Edicts) which were etched on to rock in Prakrit script,
when Ashoka defeated Kaling in 260 BC. After the war, this place became the
Meditation place of Asoka. Under the stewardship of his Bouddha guru, Arhant
Mogli Puttis, Asoka started his in-sight meditation as preached by the Buddha.
Finally, Asoka attained the first place of Sotapanna out of the four stages as
prescribed by the Buddha in his Dharma teachings.
Now his ambition was to spread the teachings of the Buddha throughout his
empire; he had been inspired by ehipassiko, the wholesome wish that others may
come and see the Dhamma. Printing then was unknown but Asoka was determined to
spread the Buddha’s teachings among his subjects. He gave orders to inscribe the
core teachings in stone, where everyone could see. This happened little more than
two centuries after the Buddha, before his original words had been altered in any
way. That is why we see the pure teachings of the Buddha in Asoka’s rock
inscriptions. (Ref:http://www.vridhamma.org/en2011-08). i.e. Some 2300 years ago
it was ruled by Ashoka the Great, whose empire extended from present-day
Afghanistan to Bangladesh. Throughout his realm, this compassionate ruler caused
edicts to be inscribed on stone, proclaiming that all faiths should be respected; and
as a result, followers of all spiritual traditions felt secure under his sway. He asked
people to live a moral life, to respect parents and elders, and to abstain from
killing. The words in which he exhorted his subjects are still relevant today: “ One
should not honour only one's own religion and condemn other religions. Instead, one
should honour other religions for various reasons. By doing so one helps one's own
religion to grow and also renders service to the religions of others. In acting
otherwise one digs the grave of one's own religion and harms other religions as
well. Someone who honours his own religion and condemns other religions may do so
out of devotion to his religion, thinking, 'I will glorify my religion'; but his actions
injure his own religion more gravely. Concord is good. Let all listen and be willing to
listen to the doctrines professed by others. (Rock Edict 12)”
Emperor Ashoka represents a glorious tradition of tolerant co-existence and
peaceful synthesis. That tradition lives on among governments and rulers today. An
ex. is the noble monarch of Oman, who has donated land for churches and temples
of other faiths while practicing his own religion with all devotion and diligence. I am
sure that such compassionate rulers and governments will continue to arise in
future in many lands around the world. As it is said, "Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God." 
Present day VIRAT NAGAR, JAIPUR (BAIRAT) -
Bairat is an ancient Indian City which is presently a
famous town. Virat Nagar was the ancient name of
Bairat. In ancient India, it was the capital of a
kingdom, Mahajanapada of Machcha. This kingdom
later became a part of Mauryan Empire. The ruin of
the oldest Buddhist structure (Chaitya) in India is
found here. Lots of Mughal structures of ancient
time were observed
here. 
Attractions of Bairat:
T h e m a i n a t t
place worth to be visited as there are many
monuments from Bairat's long history. The Museum
has sculptures, coins, pottery, seals and metal
objects. The museum is also home to a Buddhist
Chaitya called the Bijak ki pahadi. The chapel goes
back to the 3rd century BCE. The unique feature of this chapel is that it is one of
the oldest Buddhist structures present in India till date which is free standing.
The place is also notable for two Asokan inscriptions and important ancient
Buddhist relics which were found here.
The Decline of Teachings of the Buddha in India :The period between 200 AD to
600 AD, a reformed Vedic religion type situation emerged as an amalgamation of
many religious concepts. This period witnessed personification of all Gods or
Deities in relation to Vedas. Even though the full details of their own deities are
not available in the Vedas, they brought out such hymns only for the sake of their
own created Gods/Deities. In the process, the priests gave human shapes and
attributes to the Sun, Sky, Air, Earth, Fire, Narasimha swamy, Vana Durga,
Sarabha saaludu, Ganda Bherundam, and dasa maha vidyalu Gods Idolatry etc. – the
essence of present day Hinduism, was invented during this period.
Further, after the time of the Buddha, people have given more importance
to theory and discourses alone. Those people felt satisfied just reciting a
discourse, or reciting memorizing the entire TIPITAKA – the teachings of the
Buddha – as if the purpose of their life was fulfilled. Then came discussions,
debates, arguments about the meanings of words. Confusion prevailed. Really
speaking, without the practice of In-sight meditation, there was no understanding.
The words of all Enlightened person are words of his own experience, to guide
people to witness the TRUTH. Playing games with the words creates a great
hindrance.
After the Buddha, Emperor Asoka spread the teaching of Pure Dharma to
far away villages of India. He also spread it to the neighboring countries. After his
death there was infighting and squabbling amongst his sons for the royal throne.
Gradually, the peace and happiness of the royal family was lost. In the end, the
reins of the empire went into the hands of Brihadratha, who was of a weak nature.
Enemies from outside kept attacking. Finally, he appointed a young man named
Puṣyamitra Ṥuṅga, who had come from some other country, to train his cavalry. He
made him the trainer of his cavalry division. With the passage of time some wicked
people laid a plot and the trainer of the cavalry became the commander of the
whole army. Unfortunately, those very people cunningly conspired and got the king
killed by Puṣyamitra Ṥuṅga. The chief of the army was then coronated as the king.
He became mad with the royal power. He did not realize what the conspirators
were asking him to do. After some time, they began to do what they wanted to do.
The proverb, 'Now that the police chief is my husband why should I fear any
body?' came in to force.
A great delusion spread in the minds of the people, that during the reign of
Puṣyamitra Ṥuṅga, the whole Brahman community was united to destroy the
teachings of the Buddha. In fact the Brahmans in general, did not oppose the
teachings of the Buddha. Only the Brahmans who were priests opposed his
teachings because the animal sacrifices they performed were stopped by the
Buddha. As a result, the huge income they had by performing these sacrifices was
lost. It is true, that all priests were Brahmans but it is also true that all Brahmans
were not priests. It was the class of priests amongst the Brahmans, who suffered
a great loss when sacrifices were stopped. Hence, they composed a lot of
literature in the newly formed Sanskrit language, in which they pointed out that
the teaching of the Buddha was unacceptable and wrong. Thus his teaching was
gradually destroyed.
Further, in the court of Puṣyamitra of the Ṥuṅga dynasty, the Yoga-Sutras
author, Patanjali Maharshi was there as a Priest for the ruler. Patanjali is reputed
to be the codifier of the treatise popularly known as the Aphorisms on Yoga. Also,
an Indian tradition identifies him with the author of the Mahabhashya – his
namesake. Buddha’s teaching left a very deep impression on the minds of the
suffering humanity with the result that a very large number of people began to
follow the path he prescribed. This required observance of certain percepts of
morality, practice of concentration of mind and insight meditation. It is a
confused text which is only intelligible by the aid of the Yoga-Bhashya ascribed to
Vyasa maharshi who my or may not have accurately rendered the original sense,
very probably moulding it to his own views. Please understand here that Vasistha
and Vyasa are only designations of the GURUS of their respective dynasties.
Hence, the Yoga Sutras’ text looks somewhat confused if it is interpreted solely
with the aid of the traditional commentators, headed by Vyasa. His Yoga-bhashya
is the oldest and the most important commentary on the Yoga-Sutras. This, in
turn, has several Tattva-Vaisaradi by Vachaspati Mishra.
The flaw with these commentaries and sub-commentaries is that these were
written at a time when the Pali Canon, containing the original teaching of the
Buddha, had completely disappeared from India. In the process, the actual
practice of insight-meditation taught by the Buddha had also disappeared. While
Patanjali, the codifier of the Yoga-Sutras, could draw upon the oral as well as the
living tradition of the Buddha’s teaching, which were extant in his time his
commentators and sub-commentators remained ignorant of both.
Now, let us come to our own topic. It would be wrong, therefore, to hold all
Brahmans responsible for the destruction of the teaching of the Buddha. It was
only the priestly class, which was responsible for it. They were indeed Brahmans
but the majority of the Brahmans were not priests. They, therefore, did not
suffer a great loss of income. Only the priests were the ones who had income from
such sacrifices. Other Brahmans just got some pieces of meat from the animals
sacrificed there. Hence, the stopping of these animal sacrifices struck a severe
blow to the priests and not to other Brahmans. When we read old literature we get
an idea of how much fee a priest used to get by performing a particular sacrifice.
(1) Agnihotra yajῆa (oblation to a sacrificial fire) - more than 1,000 cows and a
chariot with silver sheet affixed on it.
(2) Vishwajit yajῆa (sacrifice performed by an all -conqueror) - either all one's
wealth or 1,000 cows and 100 horses.
(3) Vishwajit Ṥilpa yajῆa - the king had to pay according to his capacity and also in
proportion to how large and small his kingdom was.
(4) Syena yajῆa - since in this sacrifice sorcery was used, so one- eyed, crippled,
horn-less, tail-less and sick cows had to be given.
(5) Sadyasakra yajῆa - 6,006 cows.
(6) Vājapeya yajῆa (sacrifice in which Soma was offered) - 1700 cows, 1700 pieces
of valuable clothes, 1,700 sheep, 1,700 goats. At some places it is said to be
17,000.
(7) Rājasūya yajῆa (sacrifice performed at a coronation ceremony) - 24,000 cows.
(8) Aṣvamedha yajῆa (sacrifice in which horses were offered/ killed) -
Innumerable cows. Even the queen and daughter were offered to the priests!
(9) Sarvamedha yajῆa (universal sacrifice, a 10-day Soma sacrifice)- All one's land
holdings, and all the property owned by him were given to the priests.
All Brahmans, as said above, were not priests. Many Brahmans earned their
livelihood by doing different jobs. For example, they worked as 1. physicians, 2.
royal advisers or ministers, 3. hunters, 4. fishermen, 5. servants of the king, 6.
teachers i.e. to teach and educate, 7. farmers raising cattle 8. menial workers, 9.
ploughmen 10. prognosticators of the value of a sword by figuring out the marks on
it etc. Some selected people of the priestly class, who were scholars of the newly
formed Sanskrit language, started using the words that the Buddha had used to
explain Vipassana, in their teachings so that people might be misguided to think
that the Buddha had borrowed what he taught from their older literature. They
thus composed such literature, which proved to be antagonistic to the teaching of
the Buddha. The Eight-fold Noble Path was a very well- known teaching of the
Buddha; hence they created the Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. In the Buddha's Vipassana, the
process of observing the truth within was from head to feet and feet to head and
it was known as Anuloma-Pratiloma. They named the coming and going of the breath
as Anuloma-Pratiloma, so that people would be misguided to think that this
knowledge of the Anuloma-Pratiloma was very ancient. In this way, those scholars
amongst the priestly class tried to establish the fact that the Buddha had spread
his teaching on the basis of this ancient knowledge.
Priests vigorously propagated the view that Lord Krishna, as an incarnation
(avatāra) of Vishnu, was prior to the Buddha, Hence, the Gītā taught by him must
certainly be an ancient text. Whereas the fact is that the Bhagavad Gītā was
composed after the Buddha i.e. B.C. 2 nd Century. It is not a fact that the teaching
of the Buddha was influenced by the Gītā but, on the other hand, the teaching of
the Buddha had an influence on the Bhagavad Gītā.
Secondly, they realized that the Dhamma taught by the Buddha had spread
because it was non sectarian and universal. The foundations of the Dhamma he
taught were ṣīla and Samadhi and that Dhamma is good moral conduct. People did
not consider it to be sectarian. Hence, it spread without any difficulty. The Buddha
called his teaching Dhamma, which is for all. He called his followers "Dhammiko"
which is accepted by all. So those scholars struck a severe blow to the Dharma
taught by the Buddha by christening it 'Buddhism' and his followers 'Buddhists'
instead of 'Dhammiko'. In this way, they projected the universal teachings of the
Buddha as sectarian and people started believing this to be just another sectarian
teaching. Hence, the easy way in which his teaching spread in the beginning came to
a halt. Also, the problem comes in defining sin and piety. When the essence of
Dharma is lost in any society; it becomes a sect, and then each sect gives a
different definition of piety, such as having a particular external appearance, or
performing certain rituals, or holding certain beliefs.
The word 'sectarian' became synonymous with Dharma. Hence, when the
Constitution of India was written, the word secular was mistakenly translated as
"Dharma Nirpekṣa" into Hindi, i.e. indifferent to Dharma. A good state is never
indifferent to Dharma rather it is indifferent to sects. The Indian Constitution
written in English, was translated into Hindi by Seth Govind Das. He used the word
"Dharma Nirpekṣa" in Hindi, which was a mistake. When Seth Govind Das met me in
Rangoon (Yangon), I asked him, "How can a good state be indifferent to Dharma? A
state should follow Dhamma. Yes, it should certainly be indifferent to cults and
sects." He accepted his mistake and later on changed 'Dharma Nirpekṣa' to
'Pantha Nirpekṣa'. Another great scholar of Hindi also had raised his voice against
it. But when 'Dharma Nirpekṣa' was replaced by 'Pantha Nirpekṣa' he was
satisfied.
In the whole country today Dharma is understood as a sectarian religion like
the Hindu Religion, Jain Religion, Muslim Religion, Sikh Religion etc. Dharma is
acceptable to all. So long as the term Dharma stood for the teaching of the
Buddha, it was acceptable to all. But when it became 'Buddhism' it became a sect
like all other sects. Unfortunately, it was not called Buddhism only in India; it
began to be called so in the neighbouring countries as well. When the British came
to India, they began to call the teaching of the Buddha 'Buddhism' on the pattern
of 'Hinduism' and 'Jainism'. And so, the British declared the teaching of the
Buddha as 'Buddhism' and his followers as 'Buddhists'. The ruler influences the
subject for good or bad. Wherever the British established their colonies the
teaching of the Buddha became 'Buddhism' instead of 'Dharma' and his followers
became 'Buddhists' instead of 'Dhārmikās'. The Dharma preached by the Buddha
was not sectarian but universal. To make it appear sectarian, when it began to be
called Buddhism like the teaching of others then it became a major cause for its
down -fall. The words, "svadharme nidhanaṃ ṣreyah, paradharmo bhayāvaha --
rather than accept other religion, it's better to die in one's own religion," were
widely propagated in the society. These words from the Gītā are later than the
time of the Buddha, and yet, by propagating that the Gītā was written before the
Buddha, this stanza was made famous as an ancient stanza. In fact, it was not
taken from any ancient literature, but was rather composed by distorting the
teaching of the Buddha.
 'Dharma', is uniformly accepted by people of all castes, colours, clans and
sects and even by native and foreign people because 'Dharma' is universal. "Right
moral conduct is Dharma, immoral conduct is Adharma" - no one would object to
this saying. But when the teaching of the Buddha began to be called Buddhism,
then it began to be regarded as a sect and people started thinking this to be a
different religion and so they thought they should keep away from it. This was a
great cause for the decline of the teaching of the Buddha in India.
In Myanmar, our neighbouring country, the common people call the teaching
of the Buddha "taya" which literally means Dharma. "Taya na thoun mey" - means
we will listen to Dharma discourse. "Taya thai mey" - means we will sit to practice
Dharma (meditation). But at the same time the words 'Buddhism' and 'Buddhist'
also began to be widely used. Why? Because the British used them. By and by the
teaching of the Buddha lost its universal character. It became sectarian and as a
result people gradually distanced themselves from it.
Similarly in the phrase "Sarva dharmānparityajya māmekaṃ ṣaraṇaṃ vraja" -
'all dharmas' mean all sectarian religions including the teaching of the Buddha. This
was fraudulent on the part of the adversaries of the Buddha who propagated this
phrase and as a result there was a gradual downfall of the teaching of the Buddha.
In a nutshell, the tradition of Buddha that upholds Pali canon and the noble eight-
fold path, which leads Practitioners to Liberation (Nirvana), a state free from the
suffering of conditioned existence (or) freedom from the afflictive obscurations
and cycle of existence; one of the present day 18 schools into which the
HINAYANA split not long after Buddha’s death; the dominant Hinayana school
today, widely practiced in Sri Lanka, Myamnar and most of continental South-East
Asia.
THE ADVENT OF MAHAYANA : As per the compilation of British history also,
after Asoka and before Acharya Nagarjuna (AD 200) the history relating to
Buddha’s pali canon teachings is found missing in India.
The emergence of the PRAJNAPARAMITA SUTRAS in the 1 st Century A.D.
heralded a new age of Buddhism, in which the early ordering of ideas found in the
ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA was to give way to another philosophical tradition
encompassing logic, epistemology and metaphysics. At the vanguard of this moment
was Acharya Nagarjuna, whose recovery and reading of the PRAJNAPARAMITA
SUTRAS led to his writings of MAHAYANA with emptiness and the Middle Way.
Over the course of 5 works, Acharya Nagarjuna exposed the flaws of both
NIHILISM (the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that
life is meaningless, synonyms are negativity, cynicism, pessimism) and
ETERNALISM (philosophical approach to the ontological nature of time, which
takes the view that all points in time are equally real, as opposed to the presentist
idea that only the present is real, and the growing block universe theory of time in
which past and present are real while the future is not),demonstrating that while
phenomena appear, they are nonetheless empty and while phenomena appear they
are nonetheless manifest in an interdependent web of cause and effect. He is also
a tantric master. Though not an explicit work on VAJRAYANA, he begins his
writings with a citation from the GUHYASAMAJA TANTRA, calling our attention
to the ultimate awakening mind or bodhichitta, ascribed by Saakyamuni Buddha.
Thus, Acharya Nagarjuna writings boils down to Saakyamuni Buddha’s accumulation
of merit and wisdom for over three countless eons and purification of defilements
were, from the outset, driven by his first arousal of bodhichitta.
Likewise he’s speaking of the way to cultivate bodhichitta by exchanging self
for others. Nagarjune and due in part to his influence, the Bhuddha’s teachings
spread widely in Sanskrit mantras, idol pujas and recitation of stotras throughout
Mahabharata. The beliefs of the Hindu's is very different then that of
Christian's. Hinduism is based on beliefs in things such as reincarnation, dharma
and in three main gods.
In the meanwhile, the Christian doctrine has come out with an appeal to
FAITH IN GOD AND REASON. Often times faith is emphasized. But faith and
reason must go together. Faith in God must come from a belief in God. Those
traditions that believe in a creator God say that God, the creator of the world is
an external, self-existent being. I am not sure how explicitly they say this, but
that time, Vaidika traditions that believe in a creator God hold that it is the will of
God, the eternal self-existent being, that has created the world and its
inhabitants. Such a being would not depend on causes or effect/conditions, as
preached by Buddha. But generally everything we can see proceeds from causes or
conditions which demonstrable whereas an eternal, self-existent being is a matter
of belief; it’s not a matter of reason, is it? One can only say such a God is
ineffable, inconceivable and indescribable. But it’s not easy if your faith rests
entirely on something that is inconceivable and indescribable. That’s why reason is
important, that you must proceed with both reason and faith together.
Thus Buddha’s changed teachings under Mahayana reached the countries
viz., China, Tibet, Mangolia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam in the shape of a big book of 1
lakh versus, containing more than 100 sutras, PRAJAPARAMITA SUTRAS. Again,
in this book, not less than 40 sutras with small, big, medium size books numbering
to 40 are available. Out of which, DIAMOND SUTRA(Vajrachhedita) is also an
important book in MAHAYANA tradition.
 Finally, the Mahayana Buddhist tradition is traced back to Acharya
Nagarjuna and his spiritual heirs, and through them, flows the Nalanda tradition.
This tradition is not, as some have said, Lamaism. Others characterize it as Secret
Mantra, or Vajrayana, but that description is not very clear. It’s partial, just as
calling it Mahayana is also partial. It’s best to say it’s the tradition of Nalanda
Monastery; there’s Mahayana, and the practices taught in the shravaka schools;
the Mahayana path of the Perfections is studied and practiced. In addition, the
whole of secret mantra, Kriya, Karya, Yoga and Annutaratantra Yoga are all
practiced. Therefore, the Mahayana Buddhist tradition is the Nalanda tradition,
with the changed version of Hinayana, Mahayana and Secret Mantra. The so called
Shravakayana is divided into 18 branches over a period of time. Due to the effort
of Shravak Bhikkus only the teachings of Mahayana tradition is widespread in the
world. The Chinese Bhikku, I-tsing wrote that in the Bouddha Monasteries Shravak
bhikkus and Mahayana bhikkus use to reside jointly. ( Ref: the writings of Chinese
Bhikku, I-tsing,AD 672-695 - he was in India during this period).
As on date, these two main traditions of Buddhism viz., Theravada and
Mahayana have the main difference between them lies in the goal of one’s practice.
In Theravada, the goal of one’s practice is to free oneself from cyclic existence
and attain Nirvana. In Mahayana, the goal is to help all living beings become free
from cyclic existence. In order to do this, one needs to become enlightened, a
Buddha.
Accordingly, in Mahayana, the aspiration to attain enlightenment in order to
help all living beings is called BODHICHITTA, and the one who has such an
aspiration is a BODHISATTVA. The aspiration is characteristic of the path of
the highest capable being according to LAM RIN, one of the buddhist’s schools of
thought in Tibet. More so, Bodhisattvas are sages of Mahayana(Graduation) and
Vajrayana(tantra) (Post-Graduation) who walk the path to Buddhahood. In short,
Bodhisattva dedicates his thoughts, words and actions to the good of others.
They have 8 Bodhisattvas in their tradition. Of which, the Dalai Lamas of
Tibet are said to be emanations of the Deity, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, who
symbolizes Compassion.
PRESENT DAY HINDUISM: Hinduism is thought to have originated from the
Vedas. Hinduism has changed greatly since it was first practiced, there are now
different sects, also known as denominations, and new beliefs have developed.
There are still many things connected between the different sects of Hinduism,
their basic believes are what ties them together. The religion of Hinduism teaches
us that each living body, including animals, is filled with an eternal soul. Hindus say
that the individual soul was a part of the creator spirit, Brahma or existence from
within their own Atman, roughly soul. It is each soul's job and wishes eventually to
return to Brahma. It is not possible though because by a soul's sins, and impurities
from the world, they are no longer pure and holy to return. Instead, a soul must
become pure before returning to Brahma, who is absolutely pure. The process of
becoming pure is so hard that no soul can become pure in only one lifetime. The soul
is forced to live life after life until it is pure enough to return to Brahma. In
Hinduism, attaining the highest life is a process of removing the bodily distractions
from life, allowing one to eventually understand the Brahma nature within.
Basic Beliefs of the Hinduism Religion : Hinduism teaches that the individual soul
of all living bodies, including animals, was part of the creator spirit, Brahma. They
believe that each souls job and wish is to eventually return to Brahma. No soul can
return to Brahma, however until becoming clean of all impurities and sins of the
world, they mush be holy and pure to return to Brahma. The process of becoming
pure enough to return to Brahma is not an easy task; it takes more than one life to
cleanse oneself. The soul is forced to live life after life until it is pure enough to
return to Brahma. The Hindus call the cycles of rebirth samsara or the Wheel of
Life. It is called moksha when a soul is finally cleansed and ready to go back to
Brahma. When a soul finally returns to Brahma, it is there for an eternity of
contentment and ecstasy.
There are certain things the one must follow in order to be a Hindu, they
must believe these things and live by them. The first is a belief in karma which is
the result of one's good and bad deeds done in a lifetime. The second is a belief in
dharma and Hindu traditions. They must believe in the three main Hindu gods:
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. They must have a belief in reincarnation after death.
They must have honor for the sacred Vedas. They must have a belief that if lived a
religious life, the Wheel of Life can end ad achieve moksha. Hindu's worship many
gods, but they believe in a single god, Brahma. Everything comes from Brahma, it
does not matter who they worship, because ultimately all worship goes to Brahma.
Brahma does not punish or reward those for their achievements in life; every soul
creates their own rewards and punishments through karma. Karma rules what each
soul will be in the next lifetime, it is formed by the persons good and bad deeds in
each life; if a person had more good deeds than bad deeds then they have good
karma, if they had more bad deeds than good, then they have bad karma.
Dharma is the ultimate balance of all living things; it belongs to everything,
including the universe. Every soul is responsible for balancing their own dharma,
the areas of dharma to balance are religious, social and within the family. They
must keep their promises and remain faithful to religious rituals, while also taking
care of their family. If a soul is unbalanced, then it will affect their karma. To
some dharma is considered a tradition, duty and custom, but to Hindu it is
spiritually more than that.
Technically speaking, Hinduism is not a religion but a group of religious and
sectarian movements that share some fundamental and in some respects identical
beliefs, regional variations, history, tradition and practices peculiar to the land and
the times in which they originated and evolved.