Mahayana and Hinayana (Theravada) Compared: Maha-Yana Greater Vehicle - Hina Small Lesser - Chinese Da cheng

"Maha" means great, "yana" means "vehicle", hence "Great Vehicle"; "Hinayana" means "Small Vehicle" or "Lesser Vehicle".

The modern representatives of the Hinayana belong to the Theravada School of Buddhism, which is found in Sri Lanka and most of Southeast Asia such as Burma (Myanmar) and Cambodia. Because Hinayana is a pejorative term, it is sometimes referred to as Southern Buddhism, while Mahayana is called Northern Buddhism because it came to be found in China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and Tibet.

Mahayana and Hinayana began not as separate schools but as alternative goals which were a matter of personal choice. The adherents of each lived and practiced together. Over the centuries they developed into different schools and eventually spread into different geographic areas.

What then are the different goals? The goal of the Hinayana is that of ending attachment to self and, thereby, becoming an Arhat, who undergoes no further rebirth. The Mahayana teaches that Arhatship is not an ultimate goal; its adherents follow the Path of the Bodhisattva, which leads to Buddhahood. The Bodhisattva is reborn voluntarily in order to aid all living beings to become enlightened. The realization of Buddhahood includes not only realization of the emptiness of self but also of the emptiness of dharmas, that is, of the entire psycho-physical world. (See emptiness.)

The Mahayana accepts all of the teachings of the Hinayana; however, the Hinayana rejects the Mahayana Sutras and does not recognize the "expansive" teachings of the Mahayana about Bodhisattvas and about the Buddhas of the other directions.

"In Buddhism we find an attachment to the Great and Small Vehicles, and much opposition between them. Those of the Small Vehicle won't admit there is a Great Vehicle. And in the Great Vehicle, the attitude toward the Small Vehicle is condescending.

"Within the Buddhadharma itself this difficulty arises. You say I'm false, and I say you're false; as a result, it's become the case that both are false; neither is true. That's because the Buddha's disciples didn't listen to the Buddha's instructions and made the divisions of Great and Small.

"An expression says that one must enter as the master and come out as the servant. If you are a Great Vehicle person, then the Great Vehicle is the master, the lord, and the Small Vehicle is the servant. If you're of the Small Vehicle, then you say the Small Vehicle is the master and the Great Vehicle is the servant. All this struggle occurs right in the basic substance of the Buddhadharma. . . .

"Those of the Small Vehicle should take a step forward and not be so attached. And those of the Great Vehicle should take a step backward and not be so attached. When the two, those of both the Great and the Small Vehicles, don't have any attachments, they can become one. When they become one, then they can benefit one another and not indulge in mutual slander.

"In the Dharma-ending Age all the Buddha's disciples work on a superficial level. They don't apply their effort on the real, fundamental level. It is a very painful situation. . . .

"Is it not strange that people nowadays make discriminations and say there are only Arhats, that there aren't any Bodhisattvas or any Buddhas in the ten directions. They still argue ceaselessly, and that's really too bad. . . . In Buddhism there shouldn't be any Great Vehicle and Small Vehicle; there is only the Buddha Vehicle. There is no other vehicle. If you look at it this way, you won't be able to be so attached. Also, for the sake of the Dharma you should forget yourself. For the sake of seeking the Buddhadharma, you should spare neither body nor life. It is said that to the ends of space throughout the Dharma Realm, there isn't a place as small as a mote of dust which is not a place where all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the past, the present, and the future have given up their lives.

"All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have renounced their lives for the sake of the Buddhadharma in order to seek true principle, to seek the unsurpassed Way.

"Nowadays people not only don't seek true principle; they also indulge in slander of one another. Those of the Small Vehicle slander the Great Vehicle; those of the Great Vehicle slander the Small Vehicle. Evolving in this way Buddhism has developed a lot of discriminations: right and wrong, us and them, mine and yours. Such Buddhists don't understand in the least that the practices which the Buddhas of the past cultivated were without self and others, were beyond right and wrong. They concentrated on cultivating many Dharma doors and did not criticize the Dharma doors cultivated by others as being wrong." (LY I 146-150)

1) Chinese Mandarin: a) ta cheng , b) syau cheng ; 2) Sanskrit: a) mahayana, b) hinayana; 3) Alternate Translations: a) Greater Vehicle, b) Small/Lesser Vehicle.

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: LY I 146-7, 150; FAS Ch3 (Great Vehicle); FAS-PII(1) 116-120; EDR I 198-199 (verse); SV 6-7.

Vajrayana of the Mahayana compared with Paramitayana-Sutrayana of the Mahayana

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings
(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

Nalanda Online University's teachings are based especially on the Dharma Flower Lotus Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Vajra Sutra, the Prajna Paramita Hridayam Sutra, the Guhyasamaja, the Kalachakra and their commentaries (shastras) by the above Arya Tripitakacharya Dharma Masters.

At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

1. Teaching School (Mahayana Sutrayana - Paramitayana - Hua Yan and Tian Tai, Yogachara, Nalanda Prasangika Madhyamika, Theravada Sutta)

See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

2. Moral Regulations School (Vinaya Pratimoksha Shila - Bodhisattva Pranidhana - Vajrayana-Samaya - Yogic Yama)

3. Esoteric School (Vajrayana - Mantrayana - Tantrayana - Dharani - Secret School of the Mahayana)

4. Meditation School (Indian Dhyana Samadhi - Shamatha - Vipassana, Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen,
        Tibetan Mahamudra of Kagyupa, and Tibetan Dzogchen of Nyingmapa)

5. Pure Land Devotional School (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
         Manjushri-Kalarupa Great Wisdom, Maitreya Great Loving-Kindness, Mahasthamaprapta Great Strength,
         Ksitigarbha - Earth Store Great Vows, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva,
         Chandraprabha Moonlight Radiance, Suryaprabha Sunlight Radiance, Medicine King Bodhisattva, Medicine Superior Bodhisattva
         and others Dharma Protecting Dharmapala Lokapala Bodhisattvas, Gods and Goddesses)

Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Increasing Effect Mantra:
Om Sambhara Sambhara (These Bhikshu Bodhisattva Bodhichitta Vows) Bimana Sara (Spread) Maha (Greatly) Java (Rapidly) Hum (recited 7x)

To increase by 100,000 times the merit created:
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I Now Universally Transfer the Merit and Virtue of to All Beings to realize Anuttara-Samyak-Sam-Bodhi
(“Unsurpassed Proper and Equal Right Enlightenment”)

Sarva Mangalam.
May all be Auspicious.

Arya Bhikshu Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara says:
Just as Manjushri works
To fulfill the aims of all limited beings
To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
Dispelling the sufferings of wandering beings.

(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
May all of them ripen on me,
And through the Bodhisattva assembly,
May wandering beings enjoy happiness.

May the teachings,
the sole medicine for the sufferings of wandering beings
And the source of all happiness,
Continue to endure for a very long time,
With material support and shows of respect.

Updated July 17, 2008

Mahayana and Hinayana Compared

Vajrayana of the Mahayana compared with Paramitayana-Sutrayana of the Mahayana