Mahayana Buddhist believe that the right path of a follower will lead to the redemption of all human beings. The Hinayana believe that each person is responsible for his own fate. Along with these doctrines there are other Buddhist beliefs like ‘Zen Buddhism’ from Japan and the ‘Hindu Tantric Buddhism’ from Tibet.

It accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism, but also adds various new doctrines and texts such as the Mahāyāna Sūtras. Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy also promotes unique theories, such as the Madhyamaka theory of emptiness (śūnyatā), the Vijñānavāda doctrine and the Buddha-nature teaching.

Here is how you can practice Buddhism:

1. Living With the Four Great Bodhisattva Vows.
2. 1) Work to end the suffering of others.
3. 2) Follow the Noble Eightfold Path.
4. 3) Cut Ties to Desire and Need.
5. 4) Lifelong Learning.
6. Living With the Five Precepts.
7. Living With Buddhist Practices: Karma and Dharma.

Pure Land Buddhism (Chinese: 淨土宗; pinyin: Jìngtǔzōng; Japanese: 浄土仏教, romanized: Jōdo bukkyō; Korean: 정토종; RR: Jeongto-jong; Vietnamese: Tịnh Độ Tông), also referred to as Amidism in English, is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism and one of the most widely practiced traditions of Buddhism in East Asia.

Bodhisattva (Pāli Bodhisatta) literally means an “enlightened being.” Bodhisattva is an ideal in Mahāyāna (see Mahāyāna) Buddhism. According to Śāntideva, a Bodhisattva is one who has generated bodhicitta (“awakening mind” or “desire for enlightenment”) to work for the benefit of others till all attain Buddhahood [1].

Mahayana Buddhism reveres the Tripitaka as a sacred text, but adds to it the Sutras, which reflect distinctively Mahayana concepts. Most of the Mahayana Sutras, which number over two thousand, were written between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the period in which Mahayana Buddhism developed.

Mahayana Buddhists believe they can achieve enlightenment through following the teachings of the Buddha . Whereas Theravada Buddhists strive to become Arhats and gain freedom from the cycle of samsara, Mahayana Buddhists may choose to stay in the cycle of samsara out of compassion for others.

A Buddha is someone who has already achieved enlightenment, while a Bodhisattva is either someone who has almost achieved enlightenment or has delayed enlightenment out of compassion for the mortals.

Religious and secular culture come together in the increasing use of namaste (pronounced /NAH-muh-stay/) in English: the term is associated with both Hinduism and yoga. The word comes from Sanskrit and literally means “bowing to you” or “I bow to you,” and is used as a greeting.

Amitayus, the Buddha of Eternal Life, is also known as Amitabha, one of the five Cosmic Buddhas of Esoteric Buddhism. He is shown in his paradise, Sukhavati, the Western Pure Land, enthroned beneath a flowering tree festooned with strands of jewels and auspicious symbols.

The Dalai Lama is considered a living Buddha of compassion, a reincarnation of the bodhisattva Chenrezig, who renounced Nirvana in order to help mankind. The title originally only signified the preeminent Buddhist monk in Tibet, a remote land about twice the size of Texas that sits veiled behind the Himalayas.

The state of an arhat is considered in the Theravada tradition to be the proper goal of a Buddhist. Mahayana Buddhists criticize the arhat ideal on the grounds that the bodhisattva is a higher goal of perfection, for the bodhisattva vows to become a buddha in order to work for the good of others.

But the fact is that both the Theravada and the Mahayana unanimously accept the Bodhisattva ideal as the highest… Although the Theravada holds that anybody can be a Bodhisattva, it does not stipulate or insist that all must be Bodhisattva which is considered not practical.

Arhats do exist, of course. There are thousands of them. However most of them stay in the shadows because of that nasty characteristic called humility that accompanies the deepest level awakenings.

One difference between an arhat and a Buddha was that a Buddha realized enlightenment on his own, while an arhat was guided to enlightenment by a teacher. In the Sutta-pitaka, both the Buddha and arhats are described as being perfectly enlightened and free from fetters, and both achieve nirvana.

four Bodhisattvas