Hinayana and Mahayana

                                                                                                                                Sumanapal Bhikkhu

In common parlance Buddhism is broadly divided into two schools in the Mahayana and the Hinayana. Mahayana is of later origin. Some scholars are however of the opinion that the name Hinayana was coined only to distinguish the Mahayana from the earlier schools of Buddhism. Thus the name Hinayana was of later origin than the name Mahayana. Hinayana means the lesser vehicle or the smaller vehicle whereas the Mahayana means greater vehicle. Some Buddhologists opine that the Mahayana school showed up as disagreeing with the tenets of Hinayana school. But no. But the great Chinese travelers who visited India tells us that the Hinayana devotes lived in the same monastery with the Mahayana devotees. Some scholars identify Theravada with Hinayana. The word Hinayana could have a pejorative connotation on the surface since it means lesser vehicle. As Walpola Rahula points out that Theravada is not synonymous with Hinayana. Buddhism reached Sri Lanka during the third century B. C. and nothing called Mahayana was there at that moment. Today there is no Hinayana sect in the world The World Fellowship of Buddhism of Sri Lanka unanimously decided that the term Hinayana should be dropped. When we refer to Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia etc we must speak of Theravada Buddhism or the Buddhism of the elders.

In this essay we give an outline of Theravada Buddhism. Loosely called Hinayana. Theravada in the main refers to Tripitaka or the three baskets of wisdom as the fountain head of their doctrine. The language of the Theravada canonical text is Pali. The followers of Mahayana however pint their faith on other texts than Tripitaka which or not written in Pali. Tripitaka consists of some 84000 Buddha vacanas. Lord Buddha it is claimed spoke in the language of common men and women of the then Northern India which was Pali. The Tripitaka however not composed during the lifetime of Lord Buddha. After the Lords demise his Arhat disciples met at a conference in Rajagriha’ There Ananda recounted from his memory the entire Sutra Pitaka and Upali recited from his memory the entire Vinaya pitaka. As legend goes Mahakasyapa recounted the Abhidhamma pitaka there. While Vinaya dwells on the stern rules to observe by the inmates of a monastery, the Sutra pitaka is the compilation of the Lords teaching to the monks as well as to the laity. It is lessen with a plethora of tales dialogues Udanas or ecstatic speeches and the like. The Abhidhamma on their hand focuses on Buddhist psychology as propounded by the Lord. It must be remembered that according to tradition the whole of Tripitaka is an ad verbatim record of Lord Buddha’s speeches and sermons. The teachings of the Buddha as per the doctrine of Theravada is raised on the four pillars viz. the four noble truths. They are 1. To live is to suffer. Dukkha or suffering is sine qua non with existence. 2. Suffering or Dukkha has its causes. Nothing is uncaused whatever in the world. 3. There could be cessation of suffering 4. There are ways and means to get rid of dukkha or suffering. What could be the way out from suffering? The Lord says the observance of the Eightfold Path is the way out from suffering. They are 

1.       Right View

2.      Right Intention

3.      Right Speech

4.      Right Action

5.      Right Livelihood

6.      Right Effort

7.      Right Mindfulness

8.      Right Concentration.

Theravada Buddhism looks upon the Lord Buddha as human who excels the gods. On the surface it does not revel in metaphysical speculations. It seeks to determine what ails the humanity and how to overcome that sorrow. That is all. Theravada Buddhism asks to follow its tenets only to see how far they help men to get rid of sufferings. Buddhism does not ask for blind faith from its followers.

Schism in Buddhism church began during the lifetime of Buddha himself. Devadutta advocated a sterner way of life remaining in the field of Buddhism itself. When Lord Buddha passed away, his Arhat disciples compiled the Tripitaka, or the Three baskets of wisdom. They enshrined in the main all Buddha Vacana. The Theravada school or the doctrine of the elders pinned their faith on Tripitaka which was composed in Pali Language. But ambiguity is sine qua non with all language. No wonder that in course of time Buddha vacana was subject to interpretation on numerous levels. With the rolling of history therefore, different schools of interpretation of Buddha Vacana popped up. Besides emergent teachings of Lord Buddha were unearthed. There were fresh devotees of Buddhism who claimed that their teachings were authentically Buddha’s teachings. The followers of Buddhism who claimed these emergent teachings of the Lord as well as the Tripitaka to be authentic are known as the followers of Mahayana. Since Lord Buddha himself refers to the eightfold paths as the way from sufferings, the imagery of Yana quite fitted with the frame of Buddhist teachings. The Mahayana Buddhism must be understood in the context of Theravada. While both the Mahayana or Theravada or Hinayana Buddhism penned their faith on anatta or absence of any substance for soul and while both look forward to the eightfold path there are some salient differences between the two schools. While the Hinayana Buddhism looks forward to the literature of the self from the vale of tears that in the world, the Mahayana Buddhism underlines the notion of Bodhisattva. A Bodhisattva or an enlightened being is one who toils hard for liberation of every particle that contributes the existence. The Theravada system deems that the historical Buddha was a Bodhisattva in his earlier births. On the night of the enlightenment the Lord Sakya Sinha Buddha could espy in a flash the countless births and deaths that he had undergone before he became the Buddha. Lord Buddha himself recounts 547 tales of his earlier lives on earth. It is true that he had attained the ten paramis or perfections during these earlier lives. And Buddha himself was a Boddhisattva during these life times. As Siddhartha prince of Kapilavastu the historical Buddha renamed a bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva Siddharta became the enlightened one or the Buddha when he had the revelations at Buddhagaya under the Bodhitree. The Mahayana seemed to have taken the cue from the Jataka tales and claim that any person could look forward to become a Bodhisattva. Avolokiteswara was the type of Bodhisattva who refused Nibbana. He is still there on earth toiling hard to liberate every particle of the existence. As long as the whole existence is not liberated he will not accept Nibbana. But what is Nibbana? It is the extinction of all desires as such or something more? Or something beyond? It has been described as naiva Sanna na Sanna- neither not consciousness nor not not. Nagajuna is one of the greatest philosophers of Mahayana Buddhism who points that the world neither is nor is not. Philosophical arguments did not stop here. The Mahayana Buddhist philosophy ascended the dizzy heights of Bodhicitta. Bodhichitta is all in all. It is all that exists behind the show of things. And to recall Huineng there is neither north nor south in Bodhicittas. Relative Bodhicitta implies a state of mind in which the practitioner strives for the good of every being as it were his own .Absolute Bodhicitta is the wisdom of emptiness that alone is. Thus Mahayana Buddhism registers a great leap from the tenets of Hinayana Buddhism. But Saddharamapundarika observes that there is neither Hinayana nor Mahayana. There is only one Yana or transport to liberation which is Buddhayana. The scripture such as Saddharmapundarika asserts that every person is capable of becoming a Buddha and every person is could be a Buddha.

In this comtext one must thank the Mahanodhi Publidhers. They are different. Their only object is to republish the ancient classics and books that carry the freight of original thoughts so that the readers sympathy with hopes and fears which they heeded not earlier.