Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
dagon
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by dagon »

hermitwin said
I just want to respond to this question in a different way. It is too easy to defend the religion of your choice. Eg . if a person is born in Thailand, it is easy to defend Theravada or if my teacher is a Tibetan Buddhist nun, so I defend Vajrayana.
Simply, because of your culture and background.

Similarly, a person born in Taiwan would usually defend Mahayana.

Much more difficult to approach the debate with an open mind. To look at the different schools as a scientist would before coming to any conclusion.

First of all, you need to look at the history. Then you need to look at how it is practiced today.

And always remember that the most popular forms may not be the most accurate representative of the school.

But what usually happen is people just defend the school they like and criticise the other schools without knowing much about them.
I do not agree with you about the views relating to those born in Theravada countries (I do not have the direct knowledge if Sri Lanka so I will not generalise any statements that far)

My view is that I was born where I was because of my karma - that is why I was exposed to Theravada Buddhism from birth. I hold the view that some born somewhere else with any of the other forms of Buddhism are likely to follow that form. All of us have hurdles that we have to overcome - just as our karma is different so are the hurdles that each individual has to overcome is different. I think that the important thing is that everyone follows the path the best resonates with them - even if that is a completely different belief system. If someone ends up following a Theravada path after following a Mahayana path they owe that path the same respect as they should hold their parents in - because it has brought them to this point. The same should also apply the other way.

What I have seen in my travels people being more susceptible to defensive posture is where they have converted and for some reason feel the need to defend their choice; or where people live at the geographical junction of religious beliefs. Your following post illustrates that point very well I think.

metta
dagon
Disciple
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by Disciple »

Many good replies posted here, thanks. If I have any more questions I will come back with a follow up.
binocular
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by binocular »

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:I don't think many actively choose one tradition over another. It's more a matter of where their kamma leads them.
I think so too.

For quite some time, I desperately wanted to be into Mahayana - it would be so much more convenient and I would have so many friends. But no, it wouldn't stick.
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manas
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by manas »

I don't reject Mahayana, but I do follow Theravada. We don't have to 'reject' other schools of Buddhism to follow what seems best to ourselves. How we express ourselves matters. Let's live and let live - in peace and harmony.

metta
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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convivium
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by convivium »

one can't 'follow theravada' in the deeper sense and 'reject mahayana'
Just keep breathing in and out like this. Don't be interested in anything else. It doesn't matter even if someone is standing on their head with their ass in the air. Don't pay it any attention. Just stay with the in-breath and the out-breath. Concentrate your awareness on the breath. Just keep doing it. http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Just_Do_It_1_2.php
sphairos
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by sphairos »

I do follow Theravāda and did reject Mahāyāna, because I only have a "limited vision": it is said in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna texts and teachings, that in order to follow these higher teachings one must have a "great vision", "enlargened", "enbiggened" vision. This vision allows one to see 40 000 monks, 80 000 bodhisattvas and incalculable amount of deities and spirits, in places and occasions when and where the Pāli canon reports only one or two persons, small or - rarely - large (a few hundred people at best) groups. For instance, Mahāyānists claim, that on the Vulture peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa) near the capital of Magadha Rājāgriha the Buddha when giving a "sermon" was surrounded by 40 000 monks, 80 000 bodhisattvas etc., while in the Pāli canon only reasonable number of people is remembered... It's all about the "broadness" of "vision". ;)
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Jon. S
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by Jon. S »

Because Vajrayana empowerments are expensive.
I was born naked.
My beloved parents
kindly gave me a name.
When I reached twenty
I thought "a name is a chain,
I want to abandon it".
Whoever I questioned
No one answers me.
When I hear the wind in the pines
I get an answer.
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mettafuture
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by mettafuture »

I was a Mahayana basher for awhile until I discovered Sōtō Zen, based on the teachings of Master Dōgen Zenji. Although I don't consider Zen teachings, such as those found in The Shōbōgenzō, canonical, I still have an appreciation for many of the ideas they expound. But I'll likely stay with the Theravada tradition because I feel a closer connection with it, and prefer the systematic approach of the canonical teachings.
ES06
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by ES06 »

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:I don't think many actively choose one tradition over another. It's more a matter of where their kamma leads them.
I didn't "choose" Theravada. It was just that every time I found any inspiring texts on Buddhism, it was most often Theravada. It just makes most sense to me.

Mahayana demands too much faith (Tibetan, Pure Land) or I don't get its philosophy (Zen).

So, technically I didn't choose Theravada, it was only possibility.
Babadhari
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by Babadhari »

i became drawn to the teachings of the Buddha after 3 years engaging in a type of yoga that involved rituals, mantras, visualisation , postures and breath manipulation.

Theravada has more appeal for me than Mahayana because of the lack of those types of practices. the direct nature of the teachings mean more time spent in meditation, more discourses , more understanding and peace of mind.

:namaste:
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

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PadmaPhala
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Re: Good reasons to reject Mahayana and follow Theravada

Post by PadmaPhala »

trying to put it in a neutral way...

vajrayana chosed to create a schism within the buddhadharma; Zen works for some; theravada is closest to source.

~nominally Zen Rinzai, theravada practitioner; would prefer if there was an ekayana [no schisms].
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