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split in the Buddhist Church - Mahayana and Hinayana?
It was
during the-Fourth Buddhist Council convened by the great Kushan king, Kanishka
that Buddhism split into two sects known as Mahayana (the Greater Vehicle) and
Hinayana (the Lesser Vehicle).
Hinayana -
its main features
Hinayana was
the earlier form of Buddhism in which the only object of worship was the stupa.
It regarded Buddha as a great teacher and guide. It did not build temples or
idols. It laid emphasis on the salvation of the individual by directly
observing the Eightfold Path. It used Pali for its scriptures. The Hinayana is
confined to India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Siam, Cambodia and Laos.
Mahayana -
its important features
The newer
Buddhists came to be known as the Mahayana Buddhists to distinguish from the
older creed. They regarded the Buddha as God. They introduced elaborate rituals
and adopted Sanskrit as a language of its scriptures. The Mahayana sect
appealed to the masses and became more popular than the Hinayana Buddhism.
Today, it has a greater number of followers in the world. It has spread to
central Asia, China and many other countries of Asia.
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