THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
It was but natural that divergent opinions should arise within the faith itself. These remained comparatively unimportant, however, until the schism into the Mahayana and Hinayana, or the " Great Vehicle" and "Little Vehicle." The latter still adhered strictly in the main to the original tenets of Buddhism, although it was subdivided into the Vaibhashikas and the Sautrantikas, 7. Buddhist the former laying special stress on the Sects. " Abhidhammapitaka " or metaphysical section of the sacred books of the religion, and the latter on the " Suttapitaka " or discourses of the Buddha. The Mahayanists, on the contrary, who form by far the larger sect, devoted themselves to all manner of speculation, being influenced not only by Hinduism but at a later period by Shamanism (q.v.) as well. The Mahayana postulates the existence of a thousand Buddhas with a supreme god, the Adibuddha, and prefers beneficent activity to the passivity of the Buddha's own doctrines, although both the principal subdivisions of this sect, the Yogacaras and the Madhyamikas, are strictly idealistic, and in so far are orthodox Hindus.
Buddhism was introduced into Tibet about the seventh century a.d., when it was already permeated by Saivaite and Tantric Hinduism and by Mahayanism, while under the influence of Mongolian Shamanism it departed still more from its original ideal. Here is evolved the concept of the Dhyani- Buddhas, the celestial types of the 8. The Buddhas which appear on earth as Dhyani- men (Manushi-Buddhas). These Dha- Buddhas. yani-Buddhas, who are five in number, watch over the welfare of the world between the incarnations of the Manushi-Buddhas, although they themselves never become incarnate. Three of them correspond to the three Buddhas who preceded Gautama in the present age of the world; one, Amitabha, to the historical Buddha, whose earthly reincarnation is the lesser Lama of Tibet; and the fifth is the Dhyani-Bodhisatva Padmapani or Avalokitesvara, who is represented on earth by the Dalai-Lama at Lhassa, and is the •type of the Bodhisatva Maitreya, the future earthly Buddha and the savior of the world. Sec Lamaism. Buddhism was introduced into China in its Mahayanistic form by the emperor Mingti in 61 a.d., and despite persecutions, especially under the Tang dynasty (620-907), it has survived there until the present day, although overlaid with superstition and consisting in great part in the worship of pictures and relics. It has gained, however, only a subordinate place in China, being unable to compete either with the popular Taoism or the cultured 'Confucianism, despite the fact that the three religions exist peaceably side by side. From China Buddhism was carried to Japan, where numerous sects have arisen, although the results have been little more than a further departure from the original faith (see China, 1., 3; Japan, I., II., 2).
Some scholars would like to derive the gospel narrative from Buddhism, but it is a significant fact that an overwhelming majority of Oriental scholars have decided that the story of Buddha has had no influence on the canonical life of
Christ. They reach this conclusion by a comparison of elements of the Buddha legend composed long after the death of the teacher with the Gospels. The Buddhist parallels are drawn, moreover, in the main, from the texts of the Northern school, which are confessedly late and mythopeic to a degree which almost totally obscures the figure of the historic Buddha, while
some of the so-called cogent Christian 9. Bud- parallels are based upon the apocrydhism and phal Gospels. Considering the canon- Christianity, ical Gospels on the one hand and the
texts of the Southern Buddhism on the other, the parallels between the lives of Jesus and Buddha seem to resolve themselves into those which are natural in the case of great religious teachers. Thus of five parallels mentioned by Seydel, the ablest advocate of the theory of Buddhistic influence on Christianity, the three most important are the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple compared with that of the infant Buddha; the fast of Jesus and that of Buddha; and the preexistence of Jesus and of Buddha in heaven. Of these the presentation of Buddha is found neither in the writings of the Southern school nor in the ancient text of the Northern, while at the time of Jesus it was usual for a pious mother to attend the temple for the redemption of the firstborn and her own ritual purification. The account of the fasting and temptation is not entirely harmonious in both accounts. Buddha first overcomes Mara and then fasts forty-nine days, while Jesus fasts forty days and is then tempted by the devil. Not only is the account of the Gospels the more accurate psychologically, but it may be paralleled with similar events in the lives of Moses and Elijah, while the story of the temptation is found not only in Buddhism and Christianity, but also in Zoroastrianism. The third parallel of the preexistence of Jesus and Buddha is equally discrepant. Jesus existed in heaven from all eternity and is unique in such existence, while Buddha merely shares the history of all other Buddhas and was reincarnated on earth countless times. It must be borne in mind that the spirit of the two religions as of their founders is entirely divergent. The tragedy and the majesty of the Christ is very different from the peacefulness and the sweetness of Buddha. Jesus sought to save the world, not himself. Buddha began by saving himself and then taught the world. The aim of Jesus is faith and individual existence in heaven in the presence of God; the summum bonum of Buddha is knowledge and the annihilation of self in Nirvana. In the face of such essential divergencies, the parallels alleged to exist between Buddha and Jesus seem to be cases of accidental coincidence, and it is almost certain that, despite the travel between Palestine and India, which may have influenced to some degree the apocryphal Gospels on the one hand and late Northern Buddhism on the other, Christianity and Buddhism developed to all intents and purposes independently. For esoteric Buddhism (so called), see Theosopiiy.
Bibliography: The literature on Buddhism is enormous, and it is possible to cite hen: only u <V-w out of the many