School of thought

Mahayana

Tradition

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Classification

Period
c. 100 BCE onward
Regions
South Asia (origin), East Asia
Domains
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Religion

Overview

Mahayana ('Great Vehicle') Buddhism expanded the Buddhist path from individual liberation to universal salvation through the bodhisattva ideal — the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Its philosophical innovations include Nagarjuna's doctrine of emptiness (sunyata) and the Yogacara school's analysis of consciousness.

Key ideas

  • Bodhisattva Ideal: Rather than seeking liberation for oneself alone, the bodhisattva vows to attain full awakening for the sake of all beings, and treats compassion as the supreme virtue.
  • Sunyata (Emptiness): All phenomena are empty of inherent, independent existence. Emptiness is not nothingness but the absence of fixed essence — everything exists dependently.
  • Skillful Means (Upaya): The Buddha adapts his teaching to the capacities of each listener. Different doctrines and practices are appropriate for different people at different stages.

Key figures

Nagarjuna · Asanga · Vasubandhu · Shantideva

Positions held

  • No-Self

    Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka denies the self as one case of emptiness: like every other phenomenon, the self lacks an inherent nature of its own.

    Question scope: Existence of the Self

Influenced by

  • Buddhism

    Mahayana was not a separate ordination lineage: its followers kept the same monastic rule and the same teaching of no-self and dependent origination as other Buddhists, and pushed that teaching further, from the absence of a self in the person to the emptiness of every thing.

Later connections

References