Mahayana Buddhism: An Open Asian Religion

“Guanyin be like”. Drawn by the author.

Recommended Prior Reading:

• Contrasting Traditional versus Modern (Western) Views of Magic and Spirit Work
• How Asian Spirituality Differs from Western Occultism

Introduction

For those who want to delve into Asian practices legitimately, it can be very difficult to find genuine information. You have to navigate the heavily appropriated New Age websites, which often reduce Buddhism to just philosophy and meditation. Then there is the extra layer of difficulty, with the vast majority of Asian spiritualities being initiatory. 

Luckily, there is an Asian practice that is open to everyone to practice legitimately: Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism is fully open. This is because the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism have vows to help all sentient beings, not just humans. 

For the confused westerners, Buddhism is not just a “philosophy”: Buddhism is a fully-fledged religion with deities, spirits, rituals, mythology, and all other basic components that religions share. The history of how it came to be watered down in the west is something I hope to cover in a future article. 

Requirements and Mixing with Other Practices

As implied by being open, there are no requirements to practicing Mahayana Buddhism. 

In fact, one can claim the title of being buddhist as soon as you take refuge, a single time. It does not need to be taken in front of a priest, although you can have a formal refuge ceremony if you would like to. It’s that open. It is as simple as this prayer: 

“I take refuge in the buddha

I take refuge in the dharma

I take refuge in the noble sangha.”

It’s not strictly required to practice other parts of Mahayana, but it is a blessing prayer in itself, and is often used to open many rituals. 

For those worried, no, it’s not a strict conversion at all, unlike the way Christianity expects you to worship none other than That God. Instead, Refuge simply means, “I allow and hope that the buddhas, the dharma, and sangha will help me.” It’s not a vow at all and does not limit you in any way. 

You are still perfectly able to practice whatever other spiritual stuff you have outside of Buddhism! Unlike Christianity, Mahayana does not have any hard limitations on what other spiritual traditions you may practice. 

If I remember correctly, one of the tenets of Buddhism was “do not discriminate against other religious beliefs.” I know this was mentioned in a sutra, though I don’t remember which exact one to be fully honest. Will definitely update this post when I remember. 

Though Mahayana is open, this does not mean that you should intentionally try to syncretize it with non-asian practices. “Namo Asclepius pusa” as a prayer is not going to work. Practice whatever you want but preserve the structure and integrity of each tradition you practice by keeping them separate. 

Basic Background of Mahayana

This is a VERY basic background and I recommend you look at more historical sources and official documentaries for more info. Because it is open, there is a wealth of information out there that is easily searchable. 

Mahayana is one of the two major branches of buddhism, the other being Theravada. Mahayana focuses on the bodhisattva path: generating bodhicitta, endless compassion for all sentient beings, in addition to achieving enlightenment. Bodhisattvas are those who have achieved Enlightenment, but have purposefully postponed leaving Samsara (the cycle of reincarnation), to help others to be able to do the same. 

There is also a focus on seeing our samsaric existence as illusory. That does not mean that our experiences are fake. It is more so that the cycle of reincarnation and karmic existence is like a horrible nightmare that we can’t choose to wake up out of. When we are able to dispel the illusion, we reach a state of enlightenment. 

Part of this samsaric illusion is seeing a distinction between the self and others. This perception of distinction is also considered an illusion: there is no individuality, we are all one being. 

And it is because we are all one being, that we should strive to help all “others”. By helping “others”, we are helping ourselves as well, and through helping we generate compassion for all sentient beings. 

Super Basic Summary of Karma in Mahayana Buddhism

Karma is strictly speaking, cause and effect. In Mahayana it is a universal law, like gravity. 

It does not always have to do with “good” or “bad”; it is cause and effect. For example, the karma of buying an apple is that you have an apple to eat. Karma can be used to refer to both the cause (“buying an apple”) and effect (“having an apple to eat”.) 

Karma affects all beings, from bugs, to spirits, even gods and goddesses. 

The only beings that are outside of karma are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as they are Enlightened. They are also the only ones that have a genuine, full understanding of what karma causes what. Karma is incredibly wild and crazy in that minor causes can have major ramifications that manifest seemingly completely randomly several lives later. Simply put, karma is canonically convoluted. 

A major part of this convolutedness that gets left out of appropriated Western and New Age conceptions of karma, is how interdependent and interactive it is with your environment. You do not live in a vacuum, and neither does your karma. You can inherit the karma of everything and anything around you: the karma of locations you frequent, the karma of your friends, the karma of your ancestors, and the karma of your past lives. And this is what makes karma so incredibly hard to track and convoluted, and why events can seem “random” to our limited perception. This is why only those who are Enlightened can know all karma- they are able to observe it from an outside perspective. 

Another confusion in appropriated Western and New Age circles is the conflation of karma with “deserving”. In the strictest sense, when you buy an apple, you do not deserve that apple- you simply have it. You have the karma of having that apple. You did not “deserve” that karma. And to apply it to past lives, you do not deserve to suffer whatever consequences in this life, from poor actions in a previous life. Or poor actions from your ancestor, or from whoever owned your apartment before you, or so on.

One of the main reasons to cultivate Bodhicitta is that nobody deserves to suffer the consequences from actions that they did not commit, or actions they committed in lifetimes long ago. Quite literally, it’s very, very horrible that happens. But that is the law of karma: completely unjust, completely unfair; simply cause and effect. 

We strive to clear this negative karma through the generation of merit (good karma), and the help of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This merit can then be dedicated to other beings to clear their karma. And, wonderfully, merit is not lost upon dedication! In fact, it has increased! Therefore a common action at the end of many Mahayana prayers and rituals is to dedicate the merit to all sentient beings. 

Basics of Practice

Spiritually, in short, Mahayana Buddhism involves venerating Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to ask for help in your life, and the life of others. Both Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are Enlightened beings. 

To quote my article article on Asian Spirituality vs Western Occultism, what Enlightened means: 

“In Asia, there is also a very important distinction between Enlightened and Worldly beings. Enlightened beings typically refer to those that have escaped Samsara (reincarnation), though it can also refer to those that are so benevolent that they want to help everyone and everything, even if they never offer a thing in return. Those definitions are conflated because escaping Samsara generally involves cultivating that level of bodhicitta (endless compassion for every living being). 

Enlightened beings are quite literally above feelings of being “used” or “owing”. You CANNOT offend them by not offering anything. It is not possible and against the definition of being enlightened. 

That is why they are not Worldly- they have no concern for material offerings, no need for fancy rituals, and in open religions such as Mahayana Buddhism- no need for a baseline level of spiritual authority to be able to call on them. 

Worldly deities can still be benevolent; worldly deities can still want to help us. They just might want such offerings, fancy rituals, and spiritual authority to be able to call on them.” Unlike Enlightened beings, they are able to be offended; thus, the encouragement of proper ritual. 

To differentiate Buddhas from Bodhisattvas: Buddhas are beings that have achieved Enlightenment and escaped samsara. Whereas Bodhisattvas have also achieved Enlightenment, but have not left samsara so as to help beings in a different form. 

Working with Enlightened beings is great because it’s a wonderful safety net of spiritual practice that can give you great results while being so safe even lay people can engage in it. You get cleansing, protection, and blessing all in one neat bundle. 

Popular Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism

Enlightened beings in Mahayana Buddhism are open for anyone to engage with, as they have vows to help all sentient beings. 

To make certain that you are working with open Mahayana figures, it’s generally easiest and best to stick with popular divinities. Here are a couple of very popular Mahayana Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that are definitely open: 

• Guan yin / Kuan Yin Bodhisattva
• Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
• Manjusri Bodhisattva
• Medicine Buddha

Information is not included as they are so popular that they are very easily Google-able, even in the West. 

However, there are closed sects of buddhism, so try to make sure that you are engaging with Mahayana figures and not closed buddhist figures, as closed parts of buddhism are strictly initiatory. Some beings have both tantric and mahayana versions; just make sure to stick with the specifically Mahayana stuff and you will be fine. 

“I’ve never reached out to these beings before. I’m worried about fakes.”

So Mahayana Buddhism canonically has beings called Dharmapalas, aka Dharma Protectors. Their literal job is to punish any fake spirits that try to impersonate the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and to protect anyone who venerates the Dharma. 

It is also important to remember that Buddhism is a major world religion, full of total laypeople. If that’s not a sign of fakes being impossible to come across, I don’t know what is. 

Additionally, this is why it is important to stick to open sects of buddhism– dharmapalas will NOT protect anyone who knowingly and willingly engages in the very closed Tantra without the proper empowerments or teachers, from fake impersonator beings.They may even seek to punish those who engage in closed sects willingly. 

How to work with them?

Prayer: 

There isn’t really a particular prayer format, if you are going for an open, lay-person approach. It’s pretty much same as praying to any divinity…”X Buddha/Bodhisattva, please help me with Y. Thank you.” 

Offerings: 

Though not necessary, physical offerings are a way of generating merit of generosity because they do not need offerings. If you do want to offer, whatever you can is ok! Peak traditional offering is literally a glass of water, because it is considered an offering that poses minimal harm to other beings. You are also able to drink it afterwards- it is considered blessed! You can also eat any food offerings you provide. Other typical offerings include incense, candles, and vegetarian food (only offer vegetarian food).  

Additionally, due to buddhist cosmology stuff about mind/mental states that I don’t get yet- simply visualized offerings count as well. I believe it is because thoughts are considered exactly as illusory as physical, but don’t quote me on that. Either way, it truly is the thought that counts! 

Chant Mantra and/or Invoking Prayers

Mantras 

Mantras are short phrases that are the deity themselves embodied in sonic form. You are literally channeling their energy into yourself and surroundings. A mantra is an entire complete blessing in and of itself. Just when searching for mantras, make sure that you are only chanting Mahayana Buddhist mantras! 

Unlike Western Occultism (as defined in this article), tons and tons of chanting seems to form the basis of a lot of Buddhist magic. As stated above, each mantra is a complete “spell” in and of itself. 

Invoking Prayers

There are also invoking prayers that can be chanted like mantras. These often take the format of “Namo XXX pusa”. These invoking prayers are most common in specifically Chinese Mahayana, as they are praises in Mandarin – equivalent to “homage to the honorable X”. They are not technically mantras, but they are considered ways to invoke the blessings of the spirit nevertheless.

Minimum Number

With both mantras and invocation prayers, 108x is considered the peak minimum for decent effect. While that sounds like a lot, once you chant quickly enough, that is about 1-2 minutes! There is nothing wrong with chanting as fast or slow as you please. If you still do not even have 5 minutes, or the energy of the mantra is still so overwhelming that you cannot chant it fast, then 7 is considered the very basic minimum for noticeable benefits. Besides the above guidance, you are free to chant as you please. The only downside of not chanting more is that benefits may not manifest as quickly. 

To keep track of the number of prayer repetitions, it is very helpful to get a mala, prayer beads. Malas are often made of a number of beads that corresponds with a beneficial number of repetitions; 108 is the most common. There are both longer ones, that are often a multiple of 108, and shorter ones, such as 21 beads. 

Open Prayers

Some open mantras and prayers of the above Bodhisattvas are: 

Guan yin / Kuan Yin Bodhisattva:

• Invoking prayer: Namo guan shi yin pusa 
• Compassion Mantra: Om mani padme hum

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, also known as Dizang Wang in Chinese Mahayana:

• Invoking mantra: Namo Di Zhang Wang pusa
• General cleansing mantra: Om pramardani svaha

Manjusri Bodhisattva:

• Om arapa cha na di 

Medicine Buddha: 

• Om baisajye baisajye baisajya samudgate svaha

How do I know which mantra is right for me? 

You may have noticed above that deities can have multiple mantras. So from there, it is often simply picking which one calls to you the most! We feel these different calls because of our karma; the mantra we feel pulled to most is often the one that will help us the most. 

And there is no need to have a different mantra for every situation. This is because in Buddhism, all deities are considered one, because individuality is an illusion. This means that all deities can do everything that all the others can. The only difference is being slightly more specialized. (For more elaboration, see How Asian Spirituality Differs from Western Occultism– section “Everything is One”). 

This means every mantra is cleansing, protection, and blessing all in one! 

Read and Recite Sutras

Sutras are the core texts of Mahayana Buddhism. You can find many of them online, totally for free! This is because it is considered very benevolent to share the words of the Buddha (but not in a forceful missionary way.)

There are hundreds of sutras, which provide a wealth of information about Mahayana Buddhism. Lore about beings, history of Mahayana, instructions for practice…all of it can be found in sutras! 

In addition to providing so much good background information, reading sutras imparts a blessing. It is very common to read phrases such as, “reading a single word of this sutra will prevent one from falling into the hells for a hundred lifetimes”…While much of sutras can be quite grandiose like that, I do think phrases like that are also like the mission statements of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. 

Speaking of them, in sutras it’s also incredibly common to hear that engaging with Buddhas/Bodhisattvas in any way, such as hearing their name once, seeing their iconography, and so on, also imparts a blessing. I think it’s what makes Mahayana funny, but also wonderful at the same time- the goal is literally a constant shower of blessings! 

Reciting Sutras is another form of prayer and ritual that can impart blessings. Some Sutras are actual prayers with prayer instructions; others are more like books. In either case, you can recite the sutra for a blessing. 
Popular Sutras to Read or Recite Include: 

• Heart Sutra
• Lotus Sutra
• Golden Light Sutra

Shamatha Meditation

Shamatha meditation is a type of meditation where you visualize a deity in front of you in as much detail as possible. Through this, you are forming a connection with the deity by becoming very familiar with their appearance and iconography. Meditating on them is also like a constant stream of blessing. 

For concise directions on Shamatha meditation: when you meditate on the deities, you visualize them in front of you, in as much detail as possible. From them glorious light radiates, filling you. This light imparts a wealth of blessings. You can also imagine the light solving problems in your life, by imagining them flowing from the deity to whatever problems you face, and thus relieving your suffering. 

Exercise Bodhicitta 

In accordance with Bodhicitta, endless compassion, a huge part of Mahayana Buddhism is actually helping other people! So you can totally pray on behalf of others and do all the typical things above on behalf of others as well, and this helps you, because there are no such things as individuals in buddhism. 

Basically whatever you chant mantra for others, you are also receiving the blessings of it as well. The power of the blessing is not reduced- in fact it is multiplied because there is no individuality. 

But chanting and prayer is canonically considered absolutely secondary to actual physical action, when it comes to legitimately helping others and generating merit. To actually do good is considered to generate more merit than prayer alone. 

Additionally, advocacy and fighting for good causes are an inherent part of Buddhism: it is an expression of the “wrathful” benevolent deities- those that bring about good by punishing evil and destroying oppression. The idea of Buddhism being an ignorant pacifist religion that ignores fighting for good causes is an incredibly harmful stereotype by the West that discourages POC from fighting against oppression. 

Closing Statements

This is intended to be a very basic summary, just enough to summarize the massive amount of information existent in a way that someone can get started. I fully encourage you to learn more about Mahayana online! As it is open, much of it is very easily searchable. 

Though in your search, I would avoid these types of sources:

• New Age
• Westernized buddhist
  • Often identifiable by calling themselves a “meditation center”, calling buddhism solely a philosophy, or not denoting a specific tradition of buddhism, like Mahayana, Theravada, Pure Land, etc 
• Scholarly articles that discuss buddhism in any non-religious context
  • Unfortunately, scholarly articles often contribute to the racist notion of buddhism as a philosophy only. 

And support these sources: 

• Mahayana focused websites
• Mahayana temples
• Sutras
• Local asians near you