Mahayana Buddhism is the largest branch of Buddhism, with 58.9% of Buddhists following the branch. Mahayana Buddhism was the main branch of the religion in China, Japan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Malaysia, and Mongolia, including Vajrayana Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Nichiren, and Tendai.
History[]
Mahayana Buddhism split from the puritan Theravada Buddhism due to their accepting of buddhas Amitabha and Medicine Buddha in addition to Buddha himself. Also, in addition to the Maitreya bodhisattva, the religion accepted Avalokitesvara, Mansjuri, Ksitigarbha, and Samanthabadra. A major quality that Mahayana Buddhism advocated was the helping of others in addition to yourself instead of Theravada Buddhism's focus on relying on yourself to eradicate all defilements and to achieve liberation. The Mahayana branch of Buddhism became the dominant school in East Asia as well as parts of Southeast Asia, and the Vajrayana Buddhism branch is considered to be a part of Mahayana beliefs. Because of their area of teaching, Mahayana Buddhism had influences from Taoism and Confucianism while Theravada had influences from Hinduism and Jainism, pre-Buddhist teachings from India. Having Buddha nature became a Mahayana belief while being absent from the Theravada belief.