tiltbillings wrote:Wizard in the Forest wrote:Tilt, maybe you have a clear understanding of the differences, so I would like to hear what you think they are if you don't mind.
I think, Alice, if you are intersted I can suggest a couple of books. Herbert Guenther's translation of Gompopa's
The Jewel Ornament of Liberation gives a very classic view of the Mahayana and is worth a read. From that you should get some idea of where the Theravada and classical Indian Mahayana touch and where they separate.
According to an amazon.com review, this quote appears on the back cover of The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: "This is a masterwork of Tibetan Buddhism."
The Jewel Ornament of Liberation is probably a great source of information on vajrayana buddhism, but not mahayana. If you want a look at mahayana buddhism as its actually practiced today, get some information on chan buddhism. Chan is chinese mahayana buddhism, usually found in the wild with chinese pure land buddhism, which encourages devotional practices. By number of adherents chan is probably the biggest mahayana sect, if you want to know more about it go to
http://chan1.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Chan btw is the chinese precursor to japanese zen. Something was lost in the translation.
About the bodhisattva issue that everyone seems hung up on, i have seen that interpreted, in chan and zen anyway, more as a device for developing bodhicitta, since its taught that in reality there are no sentient beings to save( anatta remember? ). I think other sects may interpret it more literally, but i actually dont know that. The heart sutra and commentaries are an excellent way to understand mahayana buddhism, and there is a great audio series on the heart sutra here
http://www.everydayzen.org/index.php?It ... 0emptiness" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A translation of the heart sutra in modern english (not the one i like the best but pretty accessible if you havent read it before):
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/heartsutra.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
“The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.” ― Robert M. Pirsig