Mahayana Bodhisattvas and Universal Salvation
Avlokiteshvara with Multiple Hands and Heads Tibetan Monastery, Bodh Gaya "The Land of Enlightenment", Bihar Source: Dr. Richa Singh A rift in Buddhism emerged during the fourth Buddhist council, which was presided over by Vasumitra and held in Kashmir in the first century CE under the patronage of the Kushana king Kanishka. It led to the emergence of the Hinayana and Mahayana sects. Unlike earlier councils, in this council deliberations were conducted in Sanskrit rather than Pali. Through the dispatch of missionaries, Kanishka spread Mahayana Buddhism in China and Central Asia. There are quite a number of aspects that separate the two. Among them are the concepts of karma and karuna , or compassion. While the adherents of Hinayana believe in the law of karma and righteous deeds, and that as an arhat, one has to achieve his or her own redemption whereas Mahayanists maintain that the law of karuna supersedes the law of karma, and that salvation can be achieved not jus...