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Hīnayāna (Chinese: 小乘 Xiǎoshèng; Japanese: Shōjō; Vietnamese: Tiểu thừa; rendered as hinayana in English) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning "the inferior vehicle", where "vehicle" (yāna) refers to "a means of going to awakening". Hīnayāna was coined by Mahāyāna Buddhists as a disparaging term[1][2][3] for doctrines, practices, and texts of other Buddhists who reject the provenance of the Mahayana sutras, and which (according to Mahayana canon and commentary) are concerned only with an individual's path to the cessastion of suffering (Nirvana), as distinguished from a self-sacrificing path toward the ultimate attainment of Buddhahood. However, Tibetan Buddhists profess to use the term in a nonpejorative manner, for example to refer to their courses of study[4] in epistemology and monastic discipline. Hinayana has evolved to have a number of alternative meanings, nearly all of which remain the subject of controversy.

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[edit] Hīnayāna as a term for non-Mahayana Buddhist Sects

In western-language books, articles, and sermons, probably the most common usage of hīnayāna is as a term for one of two or three major existing denominations of Buddhism, along with Mahayana and sometimes Vajrayana. Such usage is common in popular, reference, and scholarly works[5][6][7][8] [9][10]. In this type of usage, hīnayāna refers to non-Mahayana Buddhist persons, practices, texts, and doctrines, such as those of the existing Theravada and Risshu denominations, and of a number of extinct early Buddhist schools. However, such usage contravenes the recommendation of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, which in 1950 declared that Hīnayāna is an inappropriate[11] term for Theravada, the dominant non-Mahayana Buddhist sect still in existence. Nevertheless, usage continues in the way declared inappropriate by the Fellowship. Apparently, few if any persons have ever referred to themselves as a member of a hinayana sect; thus such usage undoubtedly reflects a Mahayana POV that some non-Buddhists have adopted, knowingly or not. Significantly, some scholars and popular sources continue to express a POV that stipulates the pejorative origin of the term yet continues to identify hīnayāna with both rejection of the Mahayana texts and aspiration to inferior attainments[12][13][14].

[edit] Hinayana as a term for extinct Buddhist sects

Some authors affiliated with Theravada Buddhism occasionally use the term hīnayāna to refer to a number of early Buddhist sects that are said to be no longer in existence, excluding[15][16][17] contemporary Theravada. During the centuries following the death of the historical Buddha, schisms caused a number of sects to emerge. Sri Lankan historical records indicate that Theravada arose after a representative (see Mahinda) of one such sect (see Vibhajjavāda) served as a missionary to Sri Lanka during the 3rd century BCE. Thus, it's conceptually possible to justify a claim that Theravada is not identical with any of the extinct schools. Nevertheless, use of hīnayāna as a term that refers only to extinct sects is rare, and normally qualified by cautionary statements and/or placement within single-quote marks, e.g. `hīnayāna'.

[edit] Hinayana as a nonsectarian term for lesser attainments

Buddhist texts identify various degrees of attainments possible for practitioners, often dividing attainments into three categories. Among several enumerations of the three categories, a common variant refers to the sravaka, pratekyabuddha, and bodhisattva[18], in ascending order of attainment. Prominent Theravada-affiliated scholar Walpola Rahula asserted that these categories are logically independent of one's religious denomination[19]. In this sense hinayana refers to practices and doctrines that are concerned only with the first two of these attainments without reference to different branches of Buddhism, canon, nor geography. This definition implies that some Theravadins aim to be bodhisattvas, and some Mahayanists aim for lesser, hinayana attainments. It is possible that other scholars, Mahayanists, and Vajrayanists may agreecitation neededwith Dr. Rahula on this point.

[edit] Hinayana as a term of abuse

Asanga compares hinayāna with things that are best avoided, namely "poison, weapons, lightning bolts, and enemies" (from a translation edited by Robert Thurman)[20]. Some four centuries later, Huayen founder Fa-Tsang referred to the sect attributed to Asanga as hinayāna, in an unequivocally disparaging sense[21]. A number of Mahayana commentators apparently divorced the term from reference to specific sects or levels of attainment[22] They simply used the term to criticize doctrines and practices that they saw as deficient or worse.

[edit] Use of Hīnayāna as an indicator of Mahayana point of view

Some Buddhists and scholars express the attitude that statements containing the word hīnayāna are statements of Mahayana [23][24]or Vajrayana[25]doctrine. According to this view, statements containing the word hīnayāna necessarily express beliefs held by Mahayanists and Vajrayanists, rather than expressing objective statements about non-Mahayana Buddhists. Authors who see hīnayāna as an indicator of Mahayana (or Vajrayana) POV interpret statements containing the word "hinayana" in the sense that "Mahayana (or Vajjayana) Buddhists believe(d) thus-and-so about hinayana".

[edit] Etymology

The Sanskrit term Hina expresses a sense of being deficient [26]. Yana in hīnayāna typically refers to vehicle, although yana can also mean going or path. With respect to Indian tradition and literature, the various yanas (including hīnayāna ) often refer to the metaphor of a spiritual journey. See Yana (Buddhism) for more information.

Chinese texts typically render hīnayāna as 小乘 (xiăoshèng). In this rendering, he first character xiăo stands in place of hina and the second character shèng stands in place of yana (and is the same character found in 大乘 [dàshéng], the Chinese equivalent of Mahayana). According to the Unihan database, xiăo translates as "small, tiny, insignificant"[27]. But in Buddhist contexts, [28] xiăo often implies inferiority. Thus, common modern usage of xiăo does not necessarily convey the negative connotation expressed when xiăoshèng originally appeared.

[edit] Origins in Mahayana canonical literature

The term first appeared in Prajñāpāramitā literature[29][30]. The earliest recorded occurrence of the term Hīnayāna may be in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra ("Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines"). Chapter 11 ("Mara's Deeds")[31][32] depicts a conversation between Buddha and the Bodhisattva Subhuti, wherein Buddha admonishes those who disavow this sutra in favor of certain unnamed Buddhist sutras. In the following passage (as translated by Richard Babcock), Mara is the demon that Gautama Buddha was said to subdue just prior to his awakening.

Subhuti, do these Bodhisattvas appear to be very intelligent who, having obtained and met with the irreversible, the great vehicle, and then again abandon this, turn away from this, and prefer an inferior vehicle?
Subhuti: No, Lord!
The Lord: If a starving man refuses superior and excellent food, and prefers to eat inferior and stale food, is he using the full potential of his intelligence?
Subhuti: No, Lord!
The Lord: Just so, Subhuti, in the future some Bodhisattvas still refuse this perfection of wisdom, and prefer the Sutras associated with the level of Sravaka, the Disciple or Pratyekabuddha, and still seek all-knowledge through Sutras which welcome the level of Disciple or Pratyekabuddha. Do these Bodhisattvas use the full potential of their intelligence?
Subhuti: No, Lord!
The Lord: Also, this is -seen as- being done to these ones by Mara.

Thus, the seminal passage identifies hīnayāna as a vehicle of inferior stages of enlightenment for those who reject the Mahayana canon. But the sutra arguably reserves its criticism to those who have taken the bodhisattva vows and who subsequently backslided into a path toward inferior levels of attainment. In contrast, another (possibly slightly later) text, the Lotus Sutra, mentions hīnayāna in chapters 2 and 6; these passages criticize hinayana without reference to backsliding[33] as follows (wherein translator Burton Watson renders hīnayāna as "lesser vehicle").

  • Chapter 2: "there is only the Law of the one vehicle,
there are not two, there are not three...
The Buddhas appear in the world
solely for this one reason, which is true;
the other two are not the truth.
Never do they use a lesser vehicle
to save living beings and ferry them across
The Buddha himself dwells in this Great Vehicle...
If I used a lesser vehicle
to convert even one person,
I would be guilty of stinginess and greed,
but such a thing would be impossible."[34]
  • Chapter 6: (Subhuti and two other monks say in unison)
"...whenever we recall the errors of the Lesser Vehicle,
we do not know what we should do
to gain the Buddha's unsurpassed wisdom.
Though we hear the Buddha's voice
telling us that we will attain Buddhahood,
in our hearts we still harbor anxiety and fear.."[35]

Another fairly early use of hīnayāna occurs in the Vimalakirti Sutra, whose second chapter concerns the evangelism of the layman Vimalakirti. The text reads (as translated by Robert Thurman) "To turn people away from the Hinayana and to engage them in the Mahayana, he appeared among listeners and teachers of the Dharma."[36]. The Vimalakirti therefore implies that its author perceived that the listeners (sravaka) may have been swayed by inferior teachings. However, the text does not appear to establish a definitive correspondence between sravakayana and hīnayāna.

[edit] Usage in classical Mahayana commentary

[edit] Examples of contemporary usage

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "...Hinayana, inferior or lesser vehicle: pejorative for those Buddhists who did not accept the new Mahayana teaching..." from the glossary of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines & its Verse Summary, translated by Edward Conze, 1973, Four Seasons Foundation, San Francisco, p324.
  2. ^ "...the undoubted antagonism found in some Mahayana sutras toward those who fail to heed the message of the text. These people persistently continue to follow what the Mahayana sutras themselves term—using an intentionally polemical and abusive expression—an ˈInferior Wayˈ, a Hinayana...In some cases, perhaps increasing as time passed, this Great Way is contrasted with an Inferior Way (Hinayana) and sometimes this contrast is marked by the use of rather immoderate language. Followers of the Inferior Way are, as one Mahayana text puts it, ˈlike jackalsˈ...", Paul Williams, Buddhist Thought, 2000, Routledge, p96
  3. ^ "...originally a derogatory designation used by representatives of the Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”) for early Buddhism", A Glossary of Buddhist Terminology, adapted from The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Michael S. Diener, Franz-Karl Erhard, Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber, Translated by Michael H. Kohn, Shambhala Publications, 1991
  4. ^ See Reflections on Reality (subtitle) The Three Natures and Non-Natures in the Mind-Only School, Jeffrey Hopkins, 2002, University of California Press, p34-35: footnote h
  5. ^ e.g. "Hinayana Buddhism. A good introduction to the traditional Hinayana Buddhism is What the Buddha Taught, Walpola Rahula ... From a present point of view and written by two Westerners trained in the Theravada tradition, is ... Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, by Joseph Goldstein & Jack Kornfield ...", from the Bibliography of Buddha for Beginners, Jane Hope, 1995, quoted in "The Myth of Hinayana", Kare A. Lie, 2000, http://www.lienet.no/hinayan1.htm
  6. ^ e.g. of a world total of 325,275,000 "Buddhists. 56% Mahayana, 38% Theravada (Hinayana), 6% Tantrayana (Lamaism).", The World Almanac & Book of Facts 1998, K-111 Reference Corp., Mahwah, NJ, p654, source for figures given as (Encyclopedia) Britannica Book of the Year 1997, quoted at [1]
  7. ^ "…Hinayana, or Theravada, Buddhism, the form predominant in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Southeast Asia, and Mahayana Buddhism, the tradition predominant in East Asia." Encyclopedia Britannica online entry for Satyasiddhi-sastra, [2]
  8. ^ "Hinayana, 'Small Vehicle'; originally a derogatory designation used by representatives of the Mahayana ('Great Vehicle') for early Buddhism. The followers of Hinayana themselves usually refer to their teachings as the Theravada (Teachings of the Elders), in spite of the fact that strictly speaking, Theravada was one of the schools within Hinayana; it is, however, the only one still existing today. Hinayana is also referred to as Southern Buddhism, since it is prevalent chiefly in countries of southern Asia (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Kampuchea, Laos).", The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy & Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen, Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber et al, Shambhala, Boston (English: published 1994; original German: 1986), p129. quoted at [3]
  9. ^ e.g. "Hinayana... Southern School of Buddhism emphasizing salvation by objective attainment. Prevailing in Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, Laos, and Thailand, its only surviving sect is Theravada.", Zehavi, A.M. (editor) Handbook of the World's Religions. New York: Franklin Watts (1973); pg. 126., quoted at http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_305.html#1872
  10. ^ "We find the pfactice of the Hinayana path most commonly in Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Laos, and Cambodia. Here, practitioners are motivated by the desire to achieve liberation from their own suffering. Concerned for their own liberation alone...", Tenzin Gyatsu (fourteenth Dalai Lama), 7 October 1981, translated by Alexander Berzin, in Teachings from Tibet (subtitle) Guidance from Great Lamas, edited by Nicholas Ribush, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, Boston, 2005, pp109-118, available at [4]
  11. ^ "…in 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists inaugurated in Colombo unanimously decided that the term Hinayana should be dropped when referring to Buddhism existing today in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, etc.", Walpola Rahula, "Theravada-Mahayana Buddhism", from Gems of Buddhist Wisdom, Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lampur, 1996, quoted at [5]
  12. ^ e.g. Theravada or canonical Buddhism is essentially a discipline for personal salvation by the individual for himself.", Buddhism in China (subtitle) A Historical Survey, Kenneth K. S. Ch'en, Princeton University Press, 1964 (paperback 1972), p11; cf p12: "When the term "Hinayana" was first used, it embraced all these chools of early Buddhism, but in current usage it refers primarily to the Theravada school, which is the only one active at present."
  13. ^ e.g. "A Sanskrit word meaning “Lesser Vehicle” (because it is concerned with the individual's salvation), it was first applied pejoratively to the established Buddhist schools by followers of the more liberal Mahayana (“Greater Vehicle,” because it is concerned with universal salvation) tradition. The ancient Hinayana schools continued to prosper after the rise of the Mahayana in the 1st century AD, but Theravada Buddhism was the only Hinayana school that maintained a strong position after the collapse of Indian Buddhism in the 13th century.", Britannica Concise, available at[6]
  14. ^ "…the distinction of Mahayana and Hiinayaana Buddhism is preferable to all the rest, as far as our present knowledge of the development of Buddhism is concerned. Of course, this distinction recalls an historical odium, which it is best for modern scholars to avoid. Neglecting this latter objection, the term Mahayana is comprehensive and definite enough to include all those schools of Buddhism, in which the ideal of Bodhisattvahood is upheld in preference to the attainment of Arhatship, and whose geographical distribution covers not only the Northern parts of India but extends eastward.", The Awakening of Zen, D.T. Suzuki, Shambhala Publications, 1980, p2 (diacritical marks omitted); reprint of article written for the Buddhist Review, 1909; on p1 the editor of the reprint notes "Dr. Suzuki refers to the 'historical odium'" (of the term Hinayana) "...but retains it for convenience. I have done the same throughout and the article appears as first published."
  15. ^ e.g. "Hinayana sects developed in India and had an existence independent from the form of Buddhism existing in Sri Lanka.", "Theravada-Mahayana Buddhism", reprinted from Gems of Buddhist Wisdom, Walpola Rahula, Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lampur, 1996, available at http://www.watthai.net/bluws/ebud/ebdha125.htm and http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma3/theramaya.html
  16. ^ "...the Mādhyamika system with its ruthless attack on concepts in its dialectical ebullience. Thus much of the significant service rendered by that system of thought in exposing the futility of the preoccupation with concepts in `hīnayāna' circles, was ultimately offset by its own extravagances.", Concept and Reality (subtitle) in Early Buddhist Thought, Bhikkhu Ñānananda, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, 1971, p98; cf p103-4
  17. ^ "Kathavatthu ("Points of Controversy"). Another odd inclusion in the Abhidhamma, this book contains questions and answers that were compiled by Moggaliputta Tissa in the 3rd century BCE, in order to help clarify points of controversy that existed between the various "Hinayana" schools of Buddhism at the time.", "Abhidhamma Pitaka" (subtitle) "The Basket of Abhidhamma", apparently by John T. Bullitt (signed jtb), 2005 revised 2006, available at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/abhi/index.html
  18. ^ Notably, chapter Three of the Lotus Sutra makes abundant reference to śrāvakayānaṁ, pratyekabuddhayānaṁ, and bodhisattvayānamiti; see http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/Sutra/roman/Sutra%2036/Sutra36-3.html
  19. ^ "Bodhisattva Ideal in Buddhism" Walpola Rahula, from Gems of Buddhist Wisdom, Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1996; available at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha126.htm; The article mentions a number of Bodhisattvas in the Nikaya tradition. Dr. Rahula takes the position that Theravada "did not come into the scene of the Hinayana-Mahayana dispute that developed later in India. It seems therefore not legitimate to include Theravada in either of these two categories" and that "the state of a Sravaka or a Pratyekabuddha is inferior to that of a Bodhisattva. This is quite in keeping with the Theravada tradition". Therefore "anyone who aspires to become a Buddha is a Bodhisattva, a Mahayanist, though he may live in a country or in a community popularly and traditionally regarded as Theravada or Hinayana. Similarly, a person who aspires to attain Nirvana as a disciple is a Sravakayanika or Hinayanist though he may belong to a country or a community considered as Mahayana." Dr. Rahula therefore seems to say that some Theravadans are also Mahayanists while others are Hinayanists.
  20. ^ Chapter 15 of the Mahayanasutralamkara reads:yathā viṣācchastramahāśanād[ne] ripornivārayedātmahitaḥ svamāśrayaṃ nihinayānadvividhājjinātmajo nivārayetkarma tathā trayātmakaṃ. An edition edited by Robert Thurman translates this as: "Just as in self-protection one should keep one's body away from poison, weapons, lightning-bolts, and enemies, just so the victor-offspring should keep their three actions away from both individual vehicles" per Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (subtitle) Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra By Maitreyanātha/Āryasaṅga Together with its Commentary (Bhāşya) by Vasubandhu, translated from the Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese by L. Jamspal et al, editor-in-chief Robert A. F. Thurman, American Institute of Buddhist Studies/Center for Buddhist Studies/Tibet House US/Columbia University Press, 2004, Chapter 15, verse 4, p190
  21. ^ "The Defeat of Vijnaaptimatrataa In China" (subtitle) "Fa-Tsang On Fa-Hsing And Fa-Hsiang", Whalen Lai, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, v13, 1986, pp1-19, available at http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-JOCP/lai.htm; This article details the criticism of the Yogacara teaching in China—including the charge that Yogacara is a "Hinayana" teaching, made by the founder of the Huayen school in "Treatise Distinguishing and Harmonizing the Import of the Teachings in [the Spirit of] the Ekayaana of the Avatamsaka," a.k.a. Wu-chiao chang ("Treatise on the Five Teachings"). The sense of the word used clearly referred to "inferior" and apparently had nothing to do with sravakas or pratekyabuddhas. According to Lai, a modern work even "rationalized" the idea that Yogacara was "pro-Hinayana", cited in notes 1 and 5 as The Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy, Takakusu Junjiro, 1947, University of Hawaii press, pp82, 93-94; also according to Lai, the Chinese equivalent of the term "Hinayaana is being used as a blanket term depreciating the opponent's position. No one in Indian Buddhism would consider Yogaacaara Hinayanist". But evidently an eminent teacher of Chinese Buddhism as Fa-Tsang did so.
  22. ^ Salk in Williams, Buddhism
  23. ^ "The term Hinayana is legitimately used when working solely within the context of Mahayana doctrine, but not in reference to Buddhists of either ancient India or modern Southeast Asia", John McRae, Seeing Through Zen, p76
  24. ^ "This word was coined by Mahāyāna polemicists, who called their own doctrinal position 'the great vehicle/course' (the word yāna is ambiguous) and that of their more conservative opponents 'the lesser vehicle/course' or, more politely, 'the disciples' vehicle/course' (s~rāvakayāana)—the 'disciples' being those who personally heard the Buddha preach. It is unfortunate that the pejorative term gained currency in the west. Since Theravādins adhere to a pre-Mahāyana view of Buddhism, they are, from a Mahāyāna point of view, of the Hi~nayāna; but the term has neither the same meaning nor the same reference as Theravāda, and is best avoided.", Theravada Buddhism (subtitle) A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Columbo, Richard Gombrich, Routlege & Kegan Paul/Taylor & Francis, 1988, p112
  25. ^ "Hinayana is actually not a stream of Buddhism that is practised by anyone as such; it's merely a philosophical construct. Hinayana simply exists according to the Tibetan analysis of the range of Buddhist teaching…No one practices Hinayana", Ngak'chang Rinpoche, interviewed by Ngakpa Rig'dzin Dorje and Ngakma Shardröl Wangmo on the subject of Dzogchen, 6 June 1994, available at http://www.aroter.org/eng/teachings/dzogchen_int.htm
  26. ^ Entry for hina from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon version of the Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (alternatively, see the 260 kByte image scan of page 1296 at ibiblio.org; excerpt: "...left, abandoned, for saken...left behind, excluded or shut out from, lower or weaker than, inferior to...left out, wanting, omitted...defeated or worsted (in a lawsuit)...deficient, defective, faulty, insufficient, short, incomplete, poor, little, low, vile, bad, base, mean..."
  27. ^ [7]
  28. ^ "Small, little; mean, petty; inferior", according to the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms by Soothill and Houdous
  29. ^ "The termsHinayana (theg-dman, lesser vehicle, modest vehicle) and Mahayana (theg-chen, greater vehicle, vast vehicle) appeared first in the Prajnaparamita Sutras (Sher-phyin mdo, Sutras on Far-Reaching Discriminating Awareness, Perfection of Wisdom Sutras) in approximately the second century of the modern era.", from "The Terms Hinayana and Mahayana", Alexander Berzin, 24 February 2002, available at [8]
  30. ^ "Between the 1st Century B.C. to the 1st Century A.D., the two terms Mahayana and Hinayana appeared in the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra or the Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Law", from "Theravada - Mahayana Buddhism", Walpola Rahula, excerpted from From: Gems of Buddhist Wisdom, Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1996, available at [9]
  31. ^ The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines & Its Verse Commentary, translated by Edward Conze, Four Seasons Foundation, San Francisco, 1973, pp165-166; see also p156 of the version at [10]
  32. ^ The Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Lines, translated by Richard Babcock, not dated but http origin server indicates date last modified 13 February 2004, available at [11]
  33. ^ Sanskrit source per verses 55-57, chapter 2 and verse 13 of chapter 6 of Buddhist Sanskrit Texts No. 6 Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtram, edited by P. L Vaidya, The Mithila Institute, Darbhanga (India), available at [12] and [13]
  34. ^ exceprted from The Lotus Sutra, Burton Watson, 1993, Columbia University Press; available at [14]
  35. ^ exceprted from The Lotus Sutra, Burton Watson, 1993, Columbia University Press; available at [15]
  36. ^ The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti (subtitle) A Mahayana Scripture, edited and translated by Robert A. F. Thurman, 1976, Pennsylvania University Press, available at [16] and [17]