Sects Of Buddhism

 

As the Buddhist council developed �Tripitaka� to summarise Buddha�s teachings so that people could follow these teachings. So, what was the need for the �Sects�? Let us learn about the two sects of Buddhism namely, Hinayana and Mahayana.

 

Some of the disciples were in disagreement with the teachings of Buddha. So, to resolve it, three more Buddhist Councils were held. The second Buddhist council was held at Vaishali, Bihar and the third Buddhist Council was held in Pataliputra, the modern-day Patna, which was during the reign of King Ashoka.

 

But the issue still remained unresolved. When the fourth council was called by the Kushana king Kanishka at Kashmir, he divided Buddhism into two sects or groups of people according to different sets of beliefs.

 

So, one group is known as �Hinayana� and the other group is �Mahayana�

 

Now, you must be thinking that on what basis these two names were given to these sects of Buddhism, and what do they actually mean?

 

So, the words �Hinayana� and �Mahayana� are Sanskrit words. The word �Hinayana� consists of �Hina� which means less or lower� and �yana which means vehicle or �method of arriving at knowledge. Hence, Hinayana essentially is believed to be a relatively lesser prominent method of acquiring spiritual knowledge.

 

The belief system of this sect was considered to be rigid and had to be followed �As It is� without any deviations or changes. And this belief system was less prominent in terms of the number of followers who believed or followed it as it was, that�s why the name given to this sect was �Hinayana�.

 

Now, the word �Mahayana� is made up of two words that are �Maha which means relatively more prominent� and �Yana� as we have discussed earlier also which means a method of arriving at spiritual knowledge. Hence, Mahayana signifies a �more prominent method of arriving at spiritual knowledge.

 

As opposed to Hinayana, the belief system of this sect was progressive in nature and more prominent in terms of the number of followers who believed or followed it, that�s why the name given to this sect was �Mahayana�.

 

But the purpose of spreading the spiritual knowledge by both the groups was the same and that was to attain the stage of Salvation.

Now, what do we understand by the term Salvation?

 

Well, Salvation is the state of being free from any kind of suffering.

 

Now, let�s assume that there are two ways to reach a temple, one person is traveling using a bike and another person is traveling using a car. The structure of their vehicle is different, just like the beliefs of these two sects of Buddhism are different.

 

But their destination is the same which in this case is the temple. Similarly, both the groups believed in arriving at the spiritual knowledge in order to attain salvation but their ways of gaining it were different from each other, which in this context is the temple.

 

Now, let�s talk about the beliefs of these two sects of Buddhism and understand the differences between them.

 

Suppose there are two persons namely Manish and Gaurav, both of them follow Buddhism. However, despite belonging to the same religion both of them have different belief systems.

 

On one hand, Manish follows the original teachings of Buddha but does not consider Buddha as God. On the other hand, Gaurav also follows the teachings of Buddha but considers Buddha as God.

 

Also, Manish does not believe in idol worship and believes that salvation is only possible through self-discipline and meditation whereas Gaurav believes in idol worship and believes that salvation is only possible through having faith and committing oneself to Buddha.

 

Therefore, according to these belief systems, Manish is said to belong to the Hinayana sect and Gaurav is said to belong to the Mahayana sect. This way we have the two different sects of Buddhism & how they are different from each other in terms of their belief systems & practices.

 

Sects Of Buddhism Questions:

 

1. At which place, the second Buddhist council was held?
a. Kushana
b. Kashmir
c. Magadh
d. Vaishali

 

2. Who divided Buddhism into two sects?
a. King Ashoka
b. King Chandragupta Maurya
c. King Harshvardhana
d. King Kanishka

 

3. Which of the following group appropriately represents the two sects of Buddhism?
a. Hinayana and Tripitaka
b. Mahayana and Tripitaka
c. Digambara and Shewatambara
d. Hinayana and Mahayana

 

4. The purpose of both the sects was to attain the stage of __________.
a. Spiritual knowledge
b. Freedom
c. Prosperity
d. Salvation

 

5. _________ sect believes in idol worship.
a. Digambara
b. Hinayana
c. Mahayana
d. None of these

 

Read More:

 

Jainism: Texts and Contribution of Jainism to Indian Culture