Mahayana is the other Major School of Buddhism. Tibetan or diamond vehicle Buddhism and Zen Buddhism, for instance, are types of Mahayana.

From Wikipedia:

Mahayana is a large religious and philosophical structure. It constitutes an inclusive faith characterized by the adoption of new Mahayana sutras in addition to the earlier Agama texts, and a shift in the basic purpose and concepts of Buddhism. Mahayana sees itself as penetrating further and more profoundly into the Buddha's Dharma. There is a tendency in Mahayana sutras to regard adherence to Mahayana sutras as generating spiritual benefits greater than those which arise from being a follower of the non-Mahayana approaches to Dharma. Thus the Srimala Sutra claims that the Buddha said that devotion to Mahayana is inherently superior in its virtues to the following of the Sravaka or Pratyekabuddha path.^[56]

Mahayana Buddhist schools de-emphasize the ideal of the release from Suffering and the attainment of Nirvana, found in the Early Buddhist Schools. The fundamental principles of Mahayana doctrine were based around the possibility of universal liberation from suffering for all beings (hence "great vehicle") and the existence of Buddhas and Bodhisattva embodying Buddha-nature (佛性). Some Mahayana schools simplify the expression of faith by allowing salvation to be alternatively obtained through the grace of the Buddha Amitabha (अमिताभ) by having faith and devoting oneself to chanting to Amitabha. This devotional lifestyle of Buddhism is most strongly emphasized by the Pure Land schools and has greatly contributed to the success of Mahayana in East Asia, where spiritual elements traditionally relied upon chanting of a Buddha's name, of mantras or dharanis; reading of Mahayana sutras and mysticism. In Chinese Buddhism, most monks, let alone lay people, practise Pure Land, some combining it with Chan (Zen).^[57]

Most Mahayana schools believe in a pantheon of quasi-divine Bodhisattvas (बोधिसत्त्व) that devote themselves to personal excellence, ultimate knowledge, and the salvation of humanity and all other sentient beings (animals, ghosts, demigods, etc.). Zen Buddhism is a school of Mahayana which often de-emphasizes the pantheon of Bodhisattvas and instead focuses on the meditative aspects of the religion. In Mahayana, the Buddha is seen as the ultimate, highest being, present in all times, in all beings, and in all places, and the Bodhisattvas come to represent the universal ideal of altruistic excellence.

Mahayana Buddhism can in general be characterized by:

• Universalism, in that, in those schools of Mahayana that still have large followings, everyone will become a Buddha (see, for example, the Lotus Sutra);
• Bodhicitta as the main focus of realization (see, for example, the Nirvana Sutra and various Prajnaparamita Sutras);
• Compassion through the transferral of merit;
• Transcendental immanence, in that the immortal Buddha Principle (see, for example, Buddha-nature, Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Angulimaliya Sutra, Srimala Sutra, Tathagatagarbha Sutra) is present within all beings.

“Philosophical” Mahayana tends to focus on the first three characteristics (universalism, enlightened wisdom, compassion) and, in some schools, the Buddha-nature, without showing much interest in supernatural constructions, while “devotional” Mahayana focuses mainly on salvation towards other-worldly realms (see, for example, the Sukhavati sutras).