[Buddha-l] Re: Mahayana taught by the Buddha?

[Andrew Ward]

Richard P. Hayes wrote:

>On Tue, 2005-06-21 at 08:12 +1200, Andrew Ward wrote:
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>>Was the Mahayana taught by the Buddha, or was it invented after his 
>>death?
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>A huge furor was created in Japan in the mid-19th century when a
>celebrated scholar claimed that Mahayana sutras were composed many
>centuries after the Buddha's death. This scholar, as I recall, felt
>compelled to resign from his academic post for creating such a stir.
>Apparently textual and historical criticism of Buddhist texts was no
>better received in Japan than textual and historical criticism of
>biblical texts was received in Europe. It was perceived by many as a
>hostile attack on believers by people who had gone over to the dark
>side.
>
>Although making such a claim would not create as big a panic today as it
>did in the mid-1800s, one can still sense a certain amount of tension
>between some historians and some Buddhists. 
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>> The Dalai Lama asserts in one of his books that it was in fact 
>>taught by the Buddha, but he does not go into any more detail than that. 
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>That is the official position of traditional Mahayana teachers.
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Do they have this position because they disagree with the scholars on 
the dates that the various writings were created? Or do they have this 
position because they find hints of Mahayana teachings in the original 
Pali scriptures?

>>Other books I have looked at say the Mahayana emerged 500 or so years 
>>after the Buddha's death.
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>That is what most textual historians (including Mahayana Buddhist
>scholars in both Asia and the West) would say.
>
>Perhaps your question merits a counter-question: what difference does it
>make to you personally what the answer to your question turns out to be?
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Of course, whether you accept or reject a teaching should be based on 
it's content, not on it's author. However, in cases where faith is 
required to follow a teaching until you have the neccessary 
understanding of it, then it is easier if you already have respect for 
the author's other works. If someone reads a teaching about aspiring to 
become a Bodhisattva and decides this is a good course of action, they 
need to have faith that what is contained in the teaching is actually 
possible.