noun
- the later of the two great schools of Buddhism, chiefly in China, Tibet, and Japan, characterized by eclecticism and a general belief in a common search for salvation, sometimes thought to be attainable through faith alone.
noun
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- a liberal Buddhist school of Tibet, China, and Japan, whose adherents aim to disseminate Buddhist doctrines, seeking enlightenment not for themselves alone, but for all sentient beings
- (as modifier)Mahayana Buddhism
type of Buddhism practiced in northern Asia, 1868, from Sanskrit, from maha “great,” from PIE root *meg- “great” (see magnate) + yana “vehicle,” from PIE root *ei- “to go” (see ion).