Mahayana

E59081

Buddhist tradition branch of Buddhism religious movement

Mahayana is one of the two main branches of Buddhism, emphasizing the bodhisattva path and the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.

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All labels observed (9)

Label	Occurrences
Mahayana Buddhism	160
Mahāyāna Buddhism	21
Mahayana canonical	10
Mahāyāna	6
Mahayana Buddhists	4
Buddhist Mahayana tradition	1
Mahayana Buddhist philosophy	1
Mahāyāna tradition	1
Yogācāra	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T466556 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Mahayana
Context triple: [Buddhism, majorBranch, Mahayana]

A. Theravada
Theravada is the oldest surviving school of Buddhism, emphasizing the Pali Canon and the path of individual liberation through monastic discipline and meditation.
B. Chan Buddhism
Chan Buddhism is a major school of Chinese Buddhism emphasizing meditation, direct insight into one’s true nature, and the transmission of enlightenment outside of scriptures.
C. Buddhism
Buddhism is a major world religion and philosophical tradition founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), emphasizing the Four Noble Truths and the path to enlightenment.
D. Jainism
Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that emphasizes non-violence, truth, and asceticism as the path to spiritual liberation.
E. Maitreya
Maitreya is the future Buddha in Buddhist tradition, prophesied to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Mahayana
Target entity description: Mahayana is one of the two main branches of Buddhism, emphasizing the bodhisattva path and the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.

A. Theravada
Theravada is the oldest surviving school of Buddhism, emphasizing the Pali Canon and the path of individual liberation through monastic discipline and meditation.
B. Chan Buddhism
Chan Buddhism is a major school of Chinese Buddhism emphasizing meditation, direct insight into one’s true nature, and the transmission of enlightenment outside of scriptures.
C. Buddhism
Buddhism is a major world religion and philosophical tradition founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), emphasizing the Four Noble Truths and the path to enlightenment.
D. Jainism
Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that emphasizes non-violence, truth, and asceticism as the path to spiritual liberation.
E. Maitreya
Maitreya is the future Buddha in Buddhist tradition, prophesied to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (53)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Buddhist tradition ⓘ branch of Buddhism ⓘ religious movement ⓘ
aimsAt	enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Great Vehicle ⓘ
contrastedWith	Hīnayāna (as a polemical term in Mahāyāna texts) ⓘ Theravada ⓘ surface form: Theravāda Buddhism
coreIdeal	bodhisattva ideal ⓘ
cosmology	multiple Buddha-fields (Buddha-kṣetras) ⓘ
emphasizes	bodhisattva path ⓘ compassion (karuṇā) ⓘ wisdom (prajñā) ⓘ
ethicalFocus	benefit of all sentient beings ⓘ
etymology	Sanskrit term meaning “Great Vehicle” ⓘ
goal	attainment of Buddhahood ⓘ
historicalOrigin	India ⓘ
includesSchool	Huayan / Kegon ⓘ Madhyamaka ⓘ surface form: Madhyamaka tradition Nichiren Buddhism ⓘ Pure Land Buddhism ⓘ Tendai Buddhism ⓘ surface form: Tiantai / Tendai Yogācāra tradition ⓘ Chan Buddhism ⓘ surface form: Zen (Chan) Buddhism
isPartOf	Buddhism ⓘ
majorDoctrine	emptiness of all phenomena ⓘ two truths doctrine ⓘ universal Buddhahood potential ⓘ
originPeriod	around the 1st century BCE to 1st century CE ⓘ
practice	devotional practices to Buddhas and bodhisattvas ⓘ meditation ⓘ recitation of sūtras ⓘ
recognizes	bodhisattvas as central figures ⓘ multiple Buddhas in many world-systems ⓘ
religion	Buddhism ⓘ
scriptures	Avataṃsaka Sutra (Flower Ornament Sutra) ⓘ surface form: Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Flower Garland Sūtra) Lotus Sūtra ⓘ Mahayana sutras ⓘ surface form: Mahāyāna sūtras Diamond Sutra ⓘ surface form: Prajñāpāramitā sūtras Pure Land sutras ⓘ surface form: Pure Land sūtras Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sutra ⓘ surface form: Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra
spreadTo	China ⓘ Japan ⓘ Korean Peninsula ⓘ surface form: Korea Mongolia ⓘ Tibet Autonomous Region ⓘ surface form: Tibet Viet Nam ⓘ surface form: Vietnam
teaches	Buddha-nature is inherent in all beings ⓘ surface form: Buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha) bodhisattva vows ⓘ emptiness (śūnyatā) ⓘ perfection of wisdom (prajñāpāramitā) ⓘ skillful means (upāya) ⓘ
values	altruistic motivation (bodhicitta) ⓘ six perfections (pāramitās) ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (205)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Amitābha Buddha → tradition → Mahayana ⓘ

this entity surface form: Mahāyāna Buddhism

Jōdo-shū → classification → Mahayana ⓘ