Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c6.s7.1

c6.s7.1

Let us now see what the modern scholars have to say about the authenticity of Mahāyānism and Mahāyāna scriptures. Mr. Suzuki takes to a line of reasoning different from those of the ancient scholars. He tries to draw an analogy between Buddhism and Christianity and says that if Protestantism be the genuine teaching of Jesus of Nazareth then Mahāyāna Buddhism is also the genuine teaching of Buddha Śākyamuni. This sort of argument may well serve Mr. Suzuki in a controversy with an orthodox advocate of Protestantism speaking on Mahāyāna, but in historical criticism, it has no weight. However, he reveals the real state of things when he points out in another place that Mahāyānism is not a fossilised but a living religion like Christianity and though some “changes it has made during its historical evolution, its spirit and central ideas are all those of its founder”. He states further that if we take the term “genuine” to mean a lifeless preservation of the original, then Mahāyānism is not the genuine teaching of Buddha, but "the Mahāyānists would be proud of the fact, because being a living religious force, it would never descend to be the corpse of a bygone faith". Ultimately he says "What does it matter, then, whether or not Mahāyānism is the genuine teaching of Buddha" ¹.