With reference to the earliest institutional schism after the Vaishali council, what specific theological innovations did the Mahasanghika school introduce that eventually bridged toward Mahayana Buddhism?

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The Mahasanghikas shifted the focus from the human teacher to the cosmic entity of Buddha. By theorizing the Lokottaravada (the transcendent nature), they argued that Buddha is not a mortal subject to aging but an eternal force. This intellectual shift eventually facilitated the worship of multiple celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas defining the later Mahayana architecture.

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