Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c6.s5: Mahāyāna is not the Original Buddhism but a Later and More Developed Stage of Same
Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c6.s5
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Mahāyāna is not the Original Buddhism but a Later and More Developed Stage of Same
c6.s5.1
From the standpoint of Mahāyānic philosophy, the three yānas may be essentially one, but the philosophic expositors of Ekayānatā never saw eye to eye with the Hinayānists, and expressed their feelings for the latter in disparaging terms. The Hinayānists, however, literally obeyed the dictum of the Teacher, attānam na ukkamseti paraṃ na vambheti (neither praise yourself nor disparage others) and did not choose to embody in their literature condemnations of their opponents. It cannot, however, be denied that Mahāyāna had in some features and principles for which it can rightly claim superiority over Hinayāna in some directions. Its wider outlook with the great emphasis laid on Maitrī and Karuṇā and its attempt to put together in as perfect a manner as possible the philosophical truths can claim for it a superior position in regard to Hinayāna, but it should be remembered that Mahāyāna is an advanced stage of Buddhism; in fact, it is a later phase of Buddhistic thought and religion, an outcome of the Buddhist culture of two or three centuries. The relation of Hinayāna to Mahāyāna has been happily expressed by Dr. Maeda thus:—"The teachings of Śākyamuni are the seeds, those of Hinayāna are the branches and leaves, those of Mahāyāna are the blossoms and fruits. Long after the seeds were hidden away and when the time was ripe, the fruit appeared". According to Dr. Murakami¹ "Buddha did not necessarily teach Hinayāna or Mahāyāna, as these are designations invented later. What was really preached by Buddha himself was primitive Buddhism in which there was yet no differentiation". Even the Āgamas of Hinayāna Buddhism, in his opinion, do not preserve all the features of early Buddhism, as they were compiled some centuries after Buddha, but yet they contain more primitive Buddhism than other scriptural texts. Drs. Anesaki and Chuki Tominaga also agree that Mahāyāna cannot have historically a direct relation to Śākyamuni².
c6.s5.2
¹ Vide his article on Mahāyāna in the Eastern Buddhist, I, ii, pp. 1, 2.
c6.s5.3
² The opinions of the Japanese scholars have been taken from the paper of Mr. R. C. Armstrong on "The discussion of the origin of Mahāyāna Buddhism" in the Eastern Buddhist, IV, i.