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Mahayana Buddhism The Mahayana Buddhism movement has its beginnings in northern India and Central Asia around 410 B.C.E. and is well rooted in the Theravada School. However, the Mahayanists consider the Theravada to be Hinayana or "the lesser vehicle". Mahayanists accept much of the scripture and ritual that the Hinayanists believe in, but they hold their concepts to be of higher value than that of the Hinayana. Their belief in attaining Nirvana through devotion, …

…adds to the term Nirvana by stating that when a soul attains Nirvana, it enters its final resting place of heaven. Mahayana Buddhism tries to reform some of the basic Theravada beliefs. Just like the Protestant Reformation of Europe, the Mahayanists were not trying to start another religion but rather they were attempting to modify the Hinayana beliefs to suit the common people. Their major modifications came in the concepts of salvation, Nirvana, and heaven.