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Mahayana (Sanskrit: महायान, mahāyāna literally  'Great Vehicle') is one of two major existing schools of Buddhism based upon the teachings of Gautama Buddha, the other major school being the Theravada. Usage of the term Mahayana was used by this school's followers to contrast it with the Theravada ("Way of the Elders"), which they referred to as the Hinayana (or, "Lesser Vehicle"). The school is believed to have started in India somewhere around the 1st century CE following the Buddha's death as disputes came about regarding the validity of many of the sutras comprising the early Buddhist Tripiṭaka. These disputes centered around the Theravada school's interpretation of the Buddhas' teachings which were based on early discourses and commentaries in Pāli collected by the First Buddhist Council after the Buddha's death. The Mahayana did not adopt this interpretation, which they viewed as too narrow and orthodox, instead opting for what they deemed to be a more broad-minded acceptance of scriptures and traditions unrecognized by that First Buddhist Council. Today, Mahayana is the kind of Buddhism found predominately in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam as well as in Tibetan Buddhism.

Early Mahayana sutras

 * Ajitasena Sūtra
 * Pratyutpanna-buddha-sammukhāvasthita-samādhi Sūtra (or, Pratyutpanna Sūtra)
 * Ugradattapariprcchā Sūtra