Buddhist Sects

>Theravada: Closest to what the Buddha taught, enlightenment is obtained slowly over many lifetimes. It was the first school of Buddhism to develop and is considered the most conservative of all the sects. Buddha is more human in Theravada tradition, compared to the more deified Mahayana view of him. (Sri Lanka and all of Southeast Asia except for Vietnam)

>Mahayana: Enlightenment is pushed away in favor of becoming a bodhisattva, a sort of saint like figure that is teetering on the edge of enlightenment, in order to help others on their own paths. Mahayana is more a loose collection of different sects than a coherent school like Theravada. It was based off of later writings and found success in China, Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. (China, Japan, Tibet, Korea, and Vietnam)

>Vajrayana: Highly esoteric branch of Mahayana with many strange rituals and practices with hidden meanings that are transmitted from master student via a Guru, influenced by Tantras coming out of India. It developed in India before settling in Tibet. (Tibet)

>Pure Land: Mahayana branch focused on obtaining enlightenment via reincarnating in a “pure land”, which are the realm of a Buddha, they are free from samsara and thus once reborn there enlightenment is assured. Of these various realms the Buddha Amitabha’s realm of Sukhavati is the most favored and you get there through faith and devotion to Amitabha. It was developed in China and was very popular with lay people due to making enlightenment more accessible. (China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan)

>Zen: In the Mahayana branch of Zen the writings of the Buddha have less weight and the focus is put upon doing. It developed in China and was heavily influenced by Daoism. Philosophy and analysis of scripture is cringe, intuitive understanding and direct experience is based basically. (China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan)

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Nice summary

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Thanks, I’ve only recently started studying the religion and I was looking to start up a discussion on the various sects. I’m also looking for some good books to read, something specific preferably since I’ve already read about general stuff.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        say what you will but buddhist art is some of the most creative I've seen.

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Mahayanas would disagree about therevada being closest to what the buddha taught, fot obvious reasons

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      It’s what a I’ve generally heard, but I’ve also heard it said they developed around the same time. I’ll probably change the description a bit later.

      I would also add that the presence of vajrayana is still in Japan with its own sect, shingon buddhism

      I forgot they existed lol, I’ll add them on later as well, how similar are they to their brethren in Tibet?

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I would also add that the presence of vajrayana is still in Japan with its own sect, shingon buddhism

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    How does religious syncretism work in Buddhism? If for example I am a santero, how would the mixture be? Didn't the Buddhist Greeks believe that Heracles was a Dharmapala? So would I have to believe Ogun is a Dharmapala?

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    S: Vajrayana
    A: Zen
    B: Theravada
    C: Mahayana
    F: Pure Land
    Hinduism is better than Buddhism though.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      tf

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Hinduism is not even a religion. It's a pajeet cope for repeatedly getting conquered and having to adopt various Central Asian religions. Hinduism is the dumping ground for all the discarded religions of Central Asia.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      hinduism is the wringed out remains of vedas

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Zen koan of two monks and a woman

    >A senior monk and a junior monk were traveling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.
    The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman.
    Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his journey.
    The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened. After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.
    Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk could contain himself any longer, and blurted out “As monks, we are not permitted a woman, how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?”
    The older monk looked at him and replied, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river, why are you still carrying her?”

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      This is just justifying pump and dump. Disgusting.
      These heathens need Christ.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I don't get it

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >Just forget it, bro. Past is past, hoes come last.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >why is she rent free in your head bro ?
        >also the spirit of the rule >>>> letter of the rule

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Zen is all about getting to the core of Buddhist thought rather than obsessing over rules and scripture. The younger monk is concerned with the letter of the law, but the older monk understands its meaning: they're forbidden from touching a woman so as not to get distracted from the pursuit of enlightenment. The older monk left the woman behind at the river and returned to considering the universe, whereas the younger monk is still thinking about the woman and therefore not about his way. Enlightenment is achieved by letting go of the world.

        Also, when the older monk had the opportunity to improve his karma with a simple act of kindness he took it. Following the rules does not give you good karma, they are only a guide to how you can behave in a way that brings you good karma.

        In a very loose sense Zen was a reaction against older Buddhist sects in the same way Protestantism was a reaction against Catholicism.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >Tl;dr
          >Zen is for people over 30

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >It was the first school of Buddhism to develop and is considered the most conservative of all the sects. Buddha is more human in Theravada tradition, compared to the more deified Mahayana view of him. (Sri Lanka and all of Southeast Asia except for Vietnam)

    This is wrong.

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Theravada is fake Indian nonsense. Tibetan Buddhism is fake Tibetan nonsense, and even worse than Theravada. Mahayana is real Buddhism.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Mahayana originated in India you dumb chink. Now go rub Budai's belly for good luck.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        No, it didn't. Nothing except streetshitting originated in India. What Xuanzang brought back was pure cancer.
        You can just compare Mahayana sutras to Theravada sutras and see for yourself. I invite everyone to do this and have a laugh at Indian fake Buddhists.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Hinduism is not even a religion. It's a pajeet cope for repeatedly getting conquered and having to adopt various Central Asian religions. Hinduism is the dumping ground for all the discarded religions of Central Asia.

          hinduism is the wringed out remains of vedas

          Reminder that India hosts 3 of the most sacred sites in all Buddhism, and hosts the most sacred one of them all, Bodh Gaya, in its deepest shithole. All 3 of the main Buddhist branches were first formulated in India, with Vajrayana being a crystallization of the last Indian Buddhist philosophies before the Muslims essentially wiped them from the earth

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            No one believes in your bullshit, pajeet. Brits popularized their version because they couldn't be bothered to look at China or Central Asia. Buddha has nothing to do with the likes of you. Stick to Vishnu and Shiva and your other abo gods.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >Mahayana scholars in East Asia called India 天竺 because the British travelled back in time to popularize the pajeet version of history

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            These "scholars" came a milennium later, moron. Might as well say it's 3750.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Sima Qian called it Tianzhu in the Han, you tool.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Did I stutter?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Doesn't that kinda disprove your point that Central Asia and China were the true origins of Buddhism, schizo? If they were calling India the heavenly center and making migrations there to get Buddhist knowledge centuries before the British renovation of ancient Indian history, then your point is essentially moot.

            Sima Qian came centuries later anon.

            Then who wrote Shiji?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            How does it disprove anything? Buddhism entered India around Ashoka's time. Buddhism was in India for centuries at this point. Why do people keep jumping around in time as if literal centuries have no meaning?
            Considering historical populations, India would be known as a great center of Buddhism at this point, having also incorporated Kabul and many important Buddhist centers. Most of the Theravada heresies were developed around this time period as well.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            My negus, the BUDDHA was literally BORN in NEPAL, Lumbini is a 30 minute walk away from the Indian border. The Buddha literally WOKE UP IN BODH GAYA, BIHAR. He gave his first sermon in the deer park at SARNATH, UTTAR PRADESH. He died at KUSHINAGARA, UTTAR PRADESH. Can you show me pre-Tripitaka Buddhist texts?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            All pajeet nonsense composed after Ashoka entered Afghanistan. Kapilvastu is Kabul. Lumbini inscriptions are known fakes.
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumbini_pillar_inscription

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Any proof that Kapilavastu is Kabul? What about the other important locations in Siddhartha's life?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >Lumbini inscriptions are known fakes.
            That doesn't show that any of the other Ashoka edicts are fake though, that one individual inscription being does nothing to invalidate the evidence that the other pillars present against your narrative. The wikipedia page itself notes that the lumbini inscriptions are done in a different style than the other pillars of Ashoka, for which there is no evidence they are fake.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Sima Qian came centuries later anon.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            I have no horse in this race, but 天竺 is probably a transliteration of 'Hinduka', it sounded much closer in Old Chinese.

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Pretty accurate, the only big branch you forgot is Nichiren.

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    https://discord.gg/rsyZ5AWH

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Vajrayana is not Buddhism.

  12. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    How would you summarize Chan Buddhism? Is it substantially different from Zen?

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      It's Taoism.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Dab on me if you like b***h. It ain't gonna change anything.

  13. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    what is soka gakkai though? is that just the mormons of buddhism?

  14. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Zen Buddhism is the most approachable for the purpose of expanding ones perceptions by studying different ways of thinking of in esoteric philosophy.

  15. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    What is it about Buddhism that made it go through the exact same forms as Abrahamism? The Mahayanas basically have intercession of the saints, the Pure Land Buddhists have a proper salvation-through-heaven afterlife, you neglected to mention the Nichiren Buddhists which are practically one-true-faith types and maybe even restorationists in the Mormon style. And the entire Buddhist tradition of new scriptures coming out of nowhere is very israeli/Christian apocryphal, with a little of Quran and Mormon scripture kinship on top. They also have the Maitreya, a Jesus Second Coming or Mahdi type figure. Their belief in multiple buddhas and periods of apostasy and renewal is very dispensationalist. Siddartha himself has known similarities to the later-appearing Jesus. They also were a missionary faith that spread outside their original homeland and became majorities in the region (Sinosphere) next door, like the Levantine Christians becoming more successful in Europe. What would Jungians say about all these parallel archetypes?

  16. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I didn’t include Nichiren Buddhism in my original post, so here’s a summary for them as well.

    >Nichiren: A sect entirely devoted to the Lotus Sutra, and founded by the eponymous founder Nichiren. In their view the Lotus Sutra is absolute truth and the central message of the Buddha, any practices not exclusively based upon the Lotus Sutra were corruptions of the Buddha’s message. The other schools weren’t just wrong, they were actively leading people into hellfire by not exclusively basing everything upon the Lotus Sutra. Thus he and his followers were fanatical in going around debating rival sects and converting as many people as possible in order to save them from hell. He once said rival sects should have their temples burnt and their leaders decapitated, which also tied into his belief that the state’s duty was to enforce Buddhist principles and the correct view of Buddhism. He believed Japan’s trouble was caused by allowing rival sects to spew their moronation, and that if everyone began practicing correctly again prosperity would be restored. Nichiren had a persecution fetish somewhat like evangelical christians do today, and the more you suffered the more righteous you were in his view. He was constantly persecuted for his beliefs and was in constant exile, he would later claim to be a living bodhisattva later in his life. He was the type of homie to wholeheartedly endorse a christcuck genocide basically. They also became associated with Japanese nationalism as many Nichiren Buddhists went hard on worshipping the Emperor. A split off cult from this sect known as SGI-USA straight up preach a sort of prosperity gospel, but they aren’t really representative of the whole sect. (Japan)

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