# Buddhism and Mahayana: a Diptych comparison Schema version 1.0. The Diptych displays; it does not score, rank, or adjudicate. ## 1. In its own words ### Buddhism Buddhism spread from the Gangetic plain across Asia and divided, over centuries, into great vehicles that share the founder and the earliest texts while differing on scripture, practice, and the goal itself. This tree models the vehicles and their schools as first-class entities. - [Buddhism](/tree/buddhist) ### Mahayana Mahayana Buddhism arose in the first centuries of the common era and became the Buddhism of China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Its sutras present the Buddha's teaching as unfolding in turnings of the wheel, and its schools argue over emptiness, Buddha-nature, and the pure land. - [Mahayana](/tree/mahayana) ## 2. Scale and spread ### Buddhism Buddhism counts roughly 490 million adherents, about seven percent of the world's people. Majorities stand in Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan, Laos, and Mongolia, with large populations in Japan, China, Vietnam, and South Korea. - [Buddhism](/tree/buddhist) ### Mahayana Mahayana Buddhism is the larger of Buddhism's two great divisions, standing across East and northern Asia: China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Singapore hold its largest populations, in Zen, Pure Land, Tiantai, and other schools. - [Mahayana](/tree/mahayana) ## 3. Historical timeline ### Buddhism - [The buddhist timeline](/history/buddhism) - [Life of the Buddha](/history/events/life-of-the-buddha) - [First Council at Rajagaha](/history/events/first-council-at-rajagaha) - [Second Council at Vaishali](/history/events/second-council-at-vaishali) - [Reign of Ashoka](/history/events/reign-of-ashoka) - [Third Council at Pataliputra](/history/events/third-council-at-pataliputra) - [Emergence of the Mahayana](/history/events/emergence-of-the-mahayana) ### Mahayana - [The buddhist timeline](/history/buddhism) - [Life of the Buddha](/history/events/life-of-the-buddha) - [Reign of Ashoka](/history/events/reign-of-ashoka) - [Emergence of the Mahayana](/history/events/emergence-of-the-mahayana) - [Nagarjuna](/history/events/nagarjuna) - [Asanga and Vasubandhu](/history/events/asanga-and-vasubandhu) - [Huiyuan's White Lotus Society on Mount Lu](/history/events/huiyuans-white-lotus-society-on-mount-lu) ## 4. Sources of authority ### Buddhism - [Refuge Prayer (Tisarana)](/prayers-and-creeds/refuge-prayer) - [Five Precepts (Pancasila)](/prayers-and-creeds/five-precepts) - [Metta Sutta](/prayers-and-creeds/metta-sutta) ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 5. Ultimate reality ### Buddhism - [Buddhism](/world-views/buddhism) ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 6. The human person ### Buddhism - [Buddhism](/world-views/buddhism) ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 7. Problem and solution ### Buddhism - [Buddhism](/world-views/buddhism) ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 8. Ethics and hard cases ### Buddhism - [Buddhism](/world-views/buddhism) ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 9. Practice and devotion ### Buddhism - [Vandana and Taking Refuge](/devotion/vandana-and-refuge) - [Mettā Bhāvanā; Loving-Kindness](/devotion/metta-bhavana) - [Offerings at the Buddhist Shrine](/devotion/offerings-at-the-shrine) - [Vesak](/traditions/vesak) - [The Meditation Retreat](/traditions/the-meditation-retreat) - [Pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya](/traditions/pilgrimage-to-bodh-gaya) - [Refuge Prayer (Tisarana)](/prayers-and-creeds/refuge-prayer) - [Five Precepts (Pancasila)](/prayers-and-creeds/five-precepts) ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 10. Community and governance ### Buddhism - [Buddhist](/church/buddhist) ### Mahayana - [Mahayana](/church/mahayana) ## 11. Art and material culture ### Buddhism - [The Bharhut Railing](/art/entries/bharhut-railing) - [The Great Stupa at Sanchi](/art/entries/sanchi-stupa) - [A Gandhara Buddha](/art/entries/gandhara-buddha) - [Buddhism](/art/profiles/buddhism) ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 12. Science and technology posture ### Buddhism - [Chinese Imperial](/science/eras/chinese-imperial) - [Indian Classical](/science/eras/indian-classical) - [Contemporary](/science/eras/contemporary) - [Buddhist](/science/traditions/buddhist) - [Evolution by natural selection](/science/technologies/evolution-by-natural-selection) - [Organ transplantation](/science/technologies/organ-transplantation) - [Germline gene editing](/science/technologies/germline-gene-editing) - [Artificial intelligence and human dignity](/science/flashpoints/ai-and-human-dignity) ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Coverage record created at intake; content not yet documented. ## 13. Internal diversity ### Buddhism - [Theravada](/tree/theravada) - [Mahayana](/tree/mahayana) - [Vajrayana](/tree/vajrayana) - [Navayana](/tree/navayana) - [Secular Buddhism](/tree/secular-buddhism) ### Mahayana - [Zen](/tree/zen) - [Pure Land](/tree/pure-land) - [Nichiren Buddhism](/tree/nichiren-buddhism) ## 14. Contributions ### Buddhism Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ## 15. Internal critique ### Buddhism Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ## 16. External critique and reply ### Buddhism Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. Evaluative coverage is scheduled; this slot populates through sourced, reviewed records. ## 17. Contested history ### Buddhism - [Mahayana-Theravada Divergence](/tree/schisms/mahayana-divergence) ### Mahayana - [Mahayana-Theravada Divergence](/tree/schisms/mahayana-divergence) ## 18. What each says about the other ### Buddhism Coverage: not documented. This slot renders only when both directions stand populated and reviewed. ### Mahayana Coverage: not documented. This slot renders only when both directions stand populated and reviewed. ## 19. What this comparison cannot settle ### Buddhism This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate. ### Mahayana This comparison sets two self-descriptions side by side; it does not decide between them. A tradition is a living range of positions, and each panel renders the range this site has documented, which is not the whole of the tradition. Where a cell is marked not yet documented, the gap belongs to this site's documentation, not to the tradition. Questions of truth between the panels turn on premises the reader brings: what counts as evidence, what authority is recognized, and what a human life is for. The instrument does not score, rank, or adjudicate. ## 20. Sources ### Buddhism - [Buddhism](/tree/buddhist) ### Mahayana - [Mahayana](/tree/mahayana) ## Sources - Buddhism: The Pali Canon (Tipitaka). - Buddhism: Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism (2013). - Mahayana: The Prajnaparamita Sutras; the Lotus Sutra. - Mahayana: Paul Williams, Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations (2009).