Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism ②

Introduction to Buddhism Part 2-②
Professor Aaron Proffitt will lay the foundation for exploring Buddhist ideas and practices.
In this episode, you will learn about Mahayana Buddhism.
Introduction to Buddhism Series by Professor Aaron Proffitt.
• Introduction to Buddhi...
American Buddhist Study Center in NYC Home Page - Bringing together Buddhist Wisdom and Japanese Culture for more than Seventy Years.
Please subscribe our weekly news letter ↓↓↓
www.ambuddhist...
#pureland ,#mahayana ,#buddhism ,#jodoshinshu ,#shinran ,#jodoshinshu ,#buddha ,#American Buddhist Study Center, #professor Aaron Proffitt, #japanesebuddhism ,

[@GULAB58]

This was very enlightening. Thanks for the Mahayana series.

[@AlanPhan128]

TLDR: Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes the path to achieving nirvana through realizing the capacity to awaken within oneself, with the belief in many great buddhas guiding beings to awakening.
1. 00:00 📚 Mahayana Buddhism focuses on the teachings of shakyamuni buddha and the path to achieving nirvana through realizing the capacity to awaken within oneself, with the belief in many great buddhas guiding beings to awakening.
1.1 Mahayana Buddhism discusses the buddhas encountered in texts, including shakyamuni buddha, who left his privileged lifestyle to understand the nature of suffering and taught the four noble truths.
1.2 The solution to stress in Mahayana Buddhism is achieving nirvana through the Buddhist path, which involves realizing the capacity to awaken and achieve awakening within oneself.
1.3 Shakyamuni may be an expression of an eternal cosmic force guiding beings to awakening, and there are many great buddhas, including Buddha Amitabha, who created a perfect land for beings to achieve awakening.
2. 03:19 📿 The practice of mindfulness of Buddha and meditation are important in Mahayana Buddhism, focusing on wisdom and compassion.
2.1 Amitabha and Amitayus represent wisdom and compassion in Mahayana Buddhism, and the practice of mindfulness of Buddha helps to focus on something ultimately good for us.
2.2 Meditation and chanting the Buddha's name, as well as the concept of the Medicine Buddha, are popular practices in East Asian Mahayana Buddhism.
3. 05:57 📚 Bodhisattvas vow to become buddhas and save all beings, emphasizing interconnected liberation and manifestation in various forms to help others awaken in Mahayana Buddhism.
3.1 The pure land of different buddhas, including Amitabha Buddha and Medicine Buddha, represents the idea that body, speech, and mind are ultimately one with Buddha reality in Mahayana Buddhism.
3.2 Bodhisattvas are beings on the path to awakening who seek to perfect six qualities and vow to become buddhas and save all beings from samsara.
3.3 The core virtue of the bodhisattva path is that one's liberation is interconnected with the liberation of others, and bodhisattvas may manifest in various forms to help others awaken.
4. 09:00 📚 Bodhisattvas like Maitreya and Manjushri play important roles in teaching and wisdom in Mahayana Buddhism.
5. 10:31 🌸 The bodhisattva of compassion is associated with the lotus sutra and amitabha, and is believed to guide and help beings, with bodhisattvas being inherent capacities in the mind in Mahayana Buddhism.
5.1 The bodhisattva of compassion, often depicted as female in East Asia, is associated with the lotus sutra and amitabha, and is believed to come into the world to guide and help beings.
5.2 Bodhisattvas are inherent capacities in the mind, with mahastama prabhta being an important bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism.
6. 12:41 📚 Bodhisattva Manjushri is the protector of lotus sutra devotees and helps monks remember sutras, while jizo bodhisattva resides in the six realms and is associated with protecting travelers and children.
6.1 Bodhisattva Manjushri is the protector of lotus sutra devotees and is said to help monks remember and recite sutras if they forget.
6.2 Bodhisattva, also known as jizo bodhisattva, resides in the six realms, can manifest in multiple forms, and is associated with children and protecting travelers.
7. 14:19 📚 Compassion and devas are seen as protectors of travelers in Mahayana Buddhism, with bodhisattvas and local gods in Japan ultimately understood to be one.
7.1 Compassion and devas are seen as protectors of travelers in Mahayana Buddhism, with gods known as devas in India, tien in China, and kami or ten in Japan.
7.2 Buddhist bodhisattvas and local gods in Japan are understood to be ultimately one, and studying Buddhism in Japan allows for encounters with Hindu gods at Japanese Buddhist temples.
8. 16:29 📚 Mahayana Buddhism incorporates important deities such as protector deities, Amaterasu, and Dainichi, alongside Hindu gods popular in Japan.
8.1 Saraswati, Shiva, and Ganesha are Hindu gods with different forms and attributes, and they are also popular in Japan.
8.2 Important deities in Mahayana Buddhism include protector deities, the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the great sun Buddha Dainichi.

[@AmericanBuddhistStudyCenter]

Thank you for watching the video.
PLEASE JOIN WITH US our Zoom Event ↓↓↓
Introduction to the Heart Sutra With Professor Aaron Proffitt
Click ink to the FREE Zoom event
2/24/2024 from 1-2pm (EAT. New York Time)
www.ambuddhist.org/events
Professor Aaron Proffitt is going to answer questions you may have.

[@GuruRasaVonWerder]

The greatest thing you could do for me, that I am trying to understand, is how Buddhism can be while denying there is an Almighty God & also there is no God within {Atman}.....Then it is no more than a mental/emotional discipline? Like Humanism or plain psychology without acknowledging a God of Creation. I know the rest of it what I need to know to put it into the 'New Religion' that I've been working on. I sent you a personal letter, let's see if you answer. I mention what is going on here with the followers, hypocrisy? Because believe you me, they are WORSHIPPING Buddha & Rinpoches, they are building or have build monuments, stuccos, Temples - which he said weren't necessary. WHO ARE THEY PRAYING TO when they spin those endless wheels? Who are they prostrating to, their faces to the ground? And WHY are they seeking Blessings from the Llamas & Rinpoches, needing their heads touched by him, when Buddha said no need of Gurus? This is what BAFFLES me. The behavior of the followers is inconsistent with the teachings of Buddha. And the Tibetans leave many bowls of water & other things before the altar of their pseudo-God. And the Maitrea, they worship this form also. If anyone says this is not worship they are lying.

[@USENAM9U]

Good afternoon, first i´d like to apologize for any grammatical mistakes since english is not my first language. Second i´m sharing my experience from the perspective of a Zen practitioner. The scope of your question could not be answered in a single comment but i´d like to help you understand some different perpective on buddhism.
The first thing you could start searching for is the proper concept of Anatta or anatman, which means you don´t have an essential nature inside you, there´s nothing in you that´s unchangeable, there´s no essence inside, threrefore if there´s no essence there could not be any god or soul or divine spirit within.
Second, you could search for the concept of the five aggregates, to understand the buddhist perspective on the self. After this you can start pondering, so if there´s no self, no divine soul inside, then who is doing these prayers and for whom am i praying and making rituals for?
There´s just various types of being manifesting but we don´t know for sure what that means, there could be beings outside, out there in diferent dimensions who can hear you, and answer your prayers to help you awake. OR those religious experiences are just the product of your own mind, but they can be useful because of their simbolic and psychological power. The shakyamuni buddha lived in a world where people believed in gods as real beings in a external place, he himself believed in gods, but he didnt find them useful to help you achieve enlightment.

[@USENAM9U]

You could say that buddhism is an agnostic religion, some buddhist sects can be very close to atheism ( like theravada) while other scan be very devotional to a myriad of buddhas and bodhisatvas, which are not really gods because they´re not responsable nor they manage the creation of natural phonemena such as thunder, sea, sun... they´re seen as just beings who are very wise and powerful to help you overcome suffering.

[@GuruRasaVonWerder]

@@USENAM9U I thought I could make Buddhism an important part of our 'New Religion' but based on that maybe not. But the way the PEOPLE practice it appeals to me for whatever reasons but I must believe in the Eternal, Infinite God & the God within, so maybe I'll have to pass on including Buddhism in our New Religion. I am SO DISAPPOINTED. I love their peacefulness & moral teaching, it's just like Christianity.

[@GuruRasaVonWerder]

@@USENAM9U Wow. I imagined Buddhism differently. I thought Jesus was a reincarnated Buddhist Guru but this is DIFFERENT than what Jesus taught. Or maybe He agreed with SOME of Buddhism but not all of it. So I agree with the love & kindness it teaches, but not these other things you say. My religion has to have a God within & God in all creation, even inanimate things. God is in every cell, atom, neutron & neutrino. God is in Spirit & matter. So this is different than Buddhism, I'm so disappointed in him.