As a follow up to my posts from last week, I briefly mentioned the influence of Buddhism in both countries. How did the religion flow there all the way from India? Through contact with surrounding countries like China and India. In both Myanmar and Vietnam, the forms of Mahayana and Theravada are most dominate. In Vietnam, the northern part of the country studied Mahayana (more Chinese influence) Buddhism; while in the south, it was Theravada that was more dominate and flowed downward from India through the Mekong Delta.
Buddhism is based on the “four noble truths:”
- “Man is born to suffer in successive lives
- “The cause of this suffering is man’s craving for earthly pleasures and possessions”
- “The suffering ceases upon his deliverance from this craving”
- “He achieves this deliverance by following “the noble eightfold path”
Other terms such as enlightenment or nirvana, reincarnation, meditation, are also major terminology that is associated with the religion.
The major differences between Mahayana and Theravada is that Theravada focuses heavily on the teachings of Gautama Buddha (the founder of the religion). Theravada also focuses on individual enlightenment; however, Mahayana traditionally seeks to have all humans achieve salvation.