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Comparing Mahayanan Buddhism and Theravadan Buddhism
The major differences between Mahayana tradition and Theravadan tradition in Buddhism include the number of Buddhas, the proper language to use for religious texts, the number of bodhisattvas, and the acceptability of adaption of local custom.
Mahayana Tradition recognizes an infinite number of Buddhas who are able to help people achieve enlightenment or, for the lay followers, pray to in times of need. Theravadan tradition however only recognizes Gautama Buddha and prior Buddhas as legitimate. These Buddhas are accepted as men who found enlightenment, but not as supernatural beings. The Mahayanan tradition of accepting infinite Buddhas is beneficial to the religion overall because general practitioners can look to the different Buddhas for guidance and support in times of trouble which, in turn, has a profound positive influence on lay followers.
Theravada Buddhism only accepts Maitreya Bodhisattva as an “official” bodhisattva because he is the only one mentioned in the Pali language cannon.
Compared histories of Gautama and Mahavira
While both Guatama and Mahavira followed a similar patterns in life, there were small differences in Mahavira’s and Gautama’s life from the beginning. For example, the mothers of Gautama and Mahavira both had dreams that foretold that the boys would either become great religious leaders or great warriors. Mahavira’s mother dreamed that the baby was conceived in the Brahmin Devanda’s womb and then later transferred to her body; Gautama’s mother dreamed that a white elephant holding a lotus flower entered her body. However they were raised differently: Gautama’s father surrounded him with every earthly pleasure to force him to become a warrior; however, Mahavira’s father did not try to force the outcome and allowed the boy to find his own path.
Mahavira was born in 599 BC in Bihar, India (formerly Vaishali Videha) where he lived a normal princely life until the age of 28 when both of his parents died.
