CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,

PATNA

PROJECT REPORT
ON
“ HINAYANA BUDDHISM”
(INDIAN HISTORY)

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dr. Priyadarshni Name: Piyush Sharma
Faculty of Indian History Roll no. :1948
Course : BA.LLB(Hons.)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The present project on the” HINAYANA BUDDHISM” has been able to get its final shape with
the support and help of people from various quarters. My sincere thanks go to all the members
without whom the study could not have come to its present state. I am proud to acknowledge
gratitude to the individuals during my study and without whom the study may not be completed.
I have taken this opportunity to thank those who genuinely helped me.

With immense pleasure, I express my deepest sense of gratitude to Priyadarshni Mam, Faculty
for Indian History , Chanakya National Law University for helping me in my project. I am also
thankful to the whole Chanakya National Law University family that provided me all the
material I required for the project. Not to forget thanking to my parents without the co-operation
of which completion of this project would not had been possible.

I have made every effort to acknowledge credits, but I apologies in advance for any omission
that may have inadvertently taken place.

Last but not least I would like to thank Almighty whose blessing helped me to complete the
project.

Thanking You.

NAME : PIYUSH SHARMA

ROLL NO. : 1948

COURSE : BA.LLB(HONS.), FIRST SEMESTER

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 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the work reported in the BA.LLB (Hons.) Project Report entitled
“HINAYANA BUDDHISM”submitted at Chanakya National Law University is an
authentic record of my work carried out under the supervision of Dr. Priyadarshni .
I have not submitted this work elsewhere for any other degree of diploma . I am fully
responsible for the contents of my project report.

SIGNATURE OF CANDIDATE

NAME OF CANDIDATE : PIYUSH SHARMA

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY , PATNA

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

S.No Topic Page No.

1 Acknowledgement 2
2 Research Methodology
a) Method of Research
b) Sources of Data
c) Method of Writing
d) Aims and objectives 5
e) Research questions
f) Limitations

3 Introduction
6 - 12

4 Hinayana Buddhism 13 -16

5 The Four Noble Truths
17 -23
6 Meditation in the Hinayana Buddhism 24 - 26
7 Practice in the Hinayana Path 27 - 28

8 Conclusion 29 - 30
9 Bibliography 31

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 RESEARCH METHODLOGY

Method of Research
The researcher has adopted a purely doctrinal method of research. The researcher has made
extensive use of the library at the Chanakya National Law University and also the internet
sources.

Sources of Data
The following secondary sources of data have been used in the project-

Secondary sources - Websites,Books,Magazines.

Method of Writing
The method of writing followed in the course of this research paper is primarily analytical.

Aims and objectives

1. To know about Buddhism.
2. To study the meditation and practices in the Hinayana Buddhism.

Research questions
1. What is Hinayana Buddhism?
2. What are the divison in Buddhism?
3. What are the meditation and practices in the Hinayana Buddhism?

Limitations
The presented research is confined to a time limit of 20 days and this research contains doctrinal
research.

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 INTRODUCTION
Buddhism, religion and philosphy that developed from the teachings of the Buddha a teacher
who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries BCE (before the
Common Era). Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan,
Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of Asia, and during
the 20th century it spread to the West.
Ancient Buddhist scripture and doctrine developed in several closely related literary languages of
ancient India, especially in Pali and Sanskrit. In this article Pali and Sanskrit words that have
gained currency in English are treated as English words and are rendered in the form in which
they appear in English-language dictionaries. Exceptions occur in special circumstancesas, for
example, in the case of the Sanskrit term dharma which has meanings that are not usually
associated with the term dharma as it is often used in English. Pali forms are given in the
sections on the core teachings of early Buddhism that are reconstructed primarily from Pali texts
and in sections that deal with Buddhist traditions in which the primary sacred language is Pali.
Sanskrit forms are given in the sections that deal with Buddhist traditions whose primary sacred
language is Sanskrit and in other sections that deal with traditions whose primary sacred texts
were translated from Sanskrit into a Central or East Asian language such as Tibetan or Chinese.
Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to Insight into the true nature of
reality. Buddhist practices like meditation are means of changing yourself in order to develop
the qualities of awareness, kindness, and wisdom. The experience developed within the Buddhist
tradition over thousands of years has created an incomparable resource for all those who wish to
follow a path — a path which ultimately culminates in Enlightenment or Buddhahood. An
enlightened being sees the nature of reality absolutely clearly, just as it is, and lives fully and
naturally in accordance with that vision. This is the goal of the Buddhist spiritual life,
representing the end of suffering for anyone who attains it.
Because Buddhism does not include the idea of worshipping a creator god, some people do not
see it as a religion in the normal, Western sense. The basic tenets of Buddhist teaching are
straightforward and practical: nothing is fixed or permanent; actions have consequences; change
is possible. So Buddhism addresses itself to all people irrespective of race, nationality, caste,
sexuality, or gender. It teaches practical methods which enable people to realise and use its
teachings in order to transform their experience, to be fully responsible for their lives.

Buddhism1 is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of
the global population, known as Buddhists. An Indian religion, Buddhism encompasses a variety
of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practiceslargely based on original teachings attributed to
Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies. Buddhism originated in ancient India as a
Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through much

1
Buddhist texts such as the Jataka tales of the Theravada Buddhist tradition, and early biographies such as
the Buddhacarita.

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of Asia. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by
scholars: Theravada and Mahayana.
All Buddhist traditions share the goal of overcoming suffering and the cycle of death & rebirth
either by the attainment of Nirvana or through the path of Buddhahood2. Buddhist schools vary
in their interpretation of the path to liberation, the relative importance and canonicity assigned to
the various Buddhist texts, and their specific teachings and practices. Widely observed practices
include taking refuge in the Buddh the Dharma and the Sangha, observance of
moral, monasticism, meditation, and the cultivation of the Paramitas (virtues).
Theravada Buddhism has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana,
which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren
Buddhism, Shingon and Tiantai (Tendai), is found throughout East Asia.
Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian adepts, may be viewed as a separate branch
or as an aspect of Mahayana Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana
teachings of eighth-century India, is practiced in the countries of the Himalayan
region, Mongolia, and Kalmykia.
Buddhism arose in northeastern India sometime between the late 6th century and the early 4th
century BCE, a period of great social change and intense religious activity. There is
disagreement among scholars about the dates of the Buddha’s birth and death. Many modern
scholars believe that the historical Buddha lived from about 563 to about 483 BCE. Many others
believe that he lived about 100 years later (from about 448 to 368 BCE). At this time in India,
there was much discontent with Brahmanic sacrifice and ritual. In northwestern India there
were ascetics who tried to create a more personal and spiritual religious experience than that
found in the Vedas (Hindu sacred scriptures). In the literature that grew out of this movement,
the Upanishads, a new emphasis on renunciation and transcendental knowledge can be found.
Northeastern India, which was less influenced by Vedic tradition, became the breeding ground of
many new sects. Society in this area was troubled by the breakdown of tribal unity and the
expansion of several petty kingdoms. Religiously, this was a time of doubt, turmoil, and
experimentation.
A proto-Samkhya group (i.e., one based on the Samkhya school of Hinduism founded by Kapila)
was already well established in the area. New sects abounded, including various skeptics (e.g.,
Sanjaya Belatthiputta), atomists (e.g., Pakudha Kaccayana), materialists (e.g., Ajita
Kesakambali), and antinomians (i.e., those against rules or laws—e.g., Purana Kassapa). The
most important sects to arise at the time of the Buddha, however, were the Ajivikas (Ajivakas),
who emphasized the rule of fate (niyati), and the Jains, who stressed the need to free
the soul from matter. Although the Jains, like the Buddhists, have often been regarded as
atheists, their beliefs are actually more complicated. Unlike early Buddhists, both the Ajivikas

2
Gethin 1998, pp. 27–28, 73–74.

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and the Jains believed in the permanence of the elements that constitute the universe, as well as
in the existence of the soul.
Despite the bewildering variety of religious communities, many shared the same vocabulary—
nirvana (transcendent freedom), atman (“self” or
“soul”), yoga (“union”), karma (“causality”), Tathagata (“one who has come” or “one who has
thus gone”), buddha (“enlightened one”), samsara (“eternal recurrence” or “becoming”),
and dhamma (“rule” or “law”)—and most involved the practice of yoga. According to tradition,
the Buddha himself was a yogi—that is, a miracle-working ascetic.
Buddhism, like many of the sects that developed in northeastern India at the time,
was constituted by the presence of a charismatic teacher, by the teachings this
leader promulgated, and by a community of adherents that was often made up of renunciant
members and lay supporters. In the case of Buddhism, this pattern is reflected in the Triratna—
i.e., the “Three Jewels” of Buddha (the teacher), dharma (the teaching), and sangha (the
community).
In the centuries following the founder’s death, Buddhism developed in two directions
represented by two different groups. One was called the Hinayana (Sanskrit: “Lesser Vehicle”), a
term given to it by its Buddhist opponents. This more conservative group, which included what
is now called the Theravada (Pali: “Way of the Elders”) community, compiled versions of the
Buddha’s teachings that had been preserved in collections called the Sutta Pitaka and the Vinaya
Pitaka and retained them as normative. The other major group, which calls itself
the Mahayana (Sanskrit: “Greater Vehicle”), recognized the authority of other teachings that,
from the group’s point of view, made salvation available to a greater number of people. These
supposedly more advanced teachings were expressed in sutras that the Buddha purportedly made
available only to his more advanced disciples.
As Buddhism spread, it encountered new currents of thought and religion. In some Mahayana
communities, for example, the strict law of karma (the belief that virtuous actions create pleasure
in the future and nonvirtuous actions create pain) was modified to accommodate new emphases
on the efficacy of ritual actions and devotional practices. During the second half of the 1st
millennium CE, a third major Buddhist movement, Vajrayana (Sanskrit: “Diamond Vehicle”;
also called Tantric, or Esoteric, Buddhism), developed in India. This movement was influenced
by gnostic and magical currents pervasive at that time, and its aim was to obtain spiritual
liberation and purity more speedily.
Despite these vicissitudes, Buddhism did not abandon its basic principles. Instead, they were
reinterpreted, rethought, and reformulated in a process that led to the creation of a great body of
literature. This literature includes the Pali Tipitaka (“Three Baskets”)—the Sutta Pitaka(“Basket
of Discourse”), which contains the Buddha’s sermons; the Vinaya Pitaka (“Basket of
Discipline”), which contains the rule governing the monastic order; and the Abhidhamma
Pitaka (“Basket of Special [Further] Doctrine”), which contains doctrinal systematizations and
summaries. These Pali texts have served as the basis for a long and very rich tradition of
commentaries that were written and preserved by adherents of the Theravada community. The

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Mahayana and Vajrayanatraditions have accepted as Buddhavachana (“the word of the Buddha”)
many other sutras and tantras, along with extensive treatises and commentaries based on these
texts. Consequently, from the first sermon of the Buddha at Sarnath to the most recent
derivations, there is an indisputable continuity—a development or metamorphosis around a
central nucleus—by virtue of which Buddhism is differentiated from other religions.
The teacher known as the Buddha lived in northern India sometime between the mid-6th and the
mid-4th centuries before the Common Era. In ancient India the title buddha referred to
an enlightened being who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from
suffering. According to the various traditions of Buddhism, buddhas have existed in the past and
will exist in the future. Some Buddhists believe that there is only one buddha for each historical
age, others that all beings will become buddhas because they possess the buddha nature
(tathagatagarbha).
The historical figure referred to as the Buddha (whose life is known largely through legend) was
born on the northern edge of the Ganges River basin, an area on the periphery of the ancient
civilization of North India, in what is today southern Nepal. He is said to have lived for 80 years.
His family name was Gautama (in Sanskrit) or Gotama (in Pali), and his given name was
Siddhartha (Sanskrit: “he who achieves his aim”) or Siddhatta (in Pali). He is frequently
called Shakyamuni, “the sage of the Shakya clan.” In Buddhist texts he is most commonly
addressed as Bhagavat (often translated as “Lord”), and he refers to himself as the Tathagata,
which can mean both “one who has thus come” and “one who has thus gone.” Traditional
sources on the date of his death—or, in the language of the tradition, his “passage
into nirvana”—range from 2420 to 290 BCE. Scholarship in the 20th century limited that range
considerably, with opinion generally divided between those who believed he lived from about
563 to 483 BCE and those who believed he lived about a century later.
Information about his life derives largely from Buddhist texts, the earliest of which were
produced shortly before the beginning of the Common Era and thus several centuries after his
death. According to the traditional accounts, however, the Buddha was born into the ruling
Shakya clan and was a member of the Kshatriya, or warrior, caste. His mother, Maha Maya,
dreamt one night that an elephant entered her womb, and 10 lunar months later, while she was
strolling in the garden of Lumbini, her son emerged from under her right arm. His early life was
one of luxury and comfort, and his father protected him from exposure to the ills of the world,
including old age, sickness, and death. At age 16 he married the princess Yashodhara, who
would eventually bear him a son. At 29, however, the prince had a profound experience when he
first observed the suffering of the world while on chariot rides outside the palace. He resolved
then to renounce his wealth and family and live the life of an ascetic. During the next six years,
he practiced meditation with several teachers and then, with five companions, undertook a life of
extreme self-mortification. One day, while bathing in a river, he fainted from weakness and
therefore concluded that mortification was not the path to liberation from suffering. Abandoning
the life of extreme asceticism, the prince sat in meditation under a tree and received
enlightenment, sometimes identified with understanding the Four Noble Truths. For the next 45

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years, the Buddha spread his message throughout northeastern India, established orders of monks
and nuns, and received the patronage of kings and merchants. At the age of 80, he became
seriously ill. He then met with his disciples for the last time to impart his final instructions and
passed into nirvana. His body was then cremated and the relics distributed and enshrined
in stupas (funerary monuments that usually contained relics), where they would be venerated.
The Buddha’s place within the tradition, however, cannot be understood by focusing exclusively
on the events of his life and time (even to the extent that they are known). Instead, he must be
viewed within the context of Buddhist theories of time and history. Among these theories is the
belief that the universe is the product of karma, the law of the cause and effect of actions. The
beings of the universe are reborn without beginning in six realms as gods, demigods, humans,
animals, ghosts, and hell beings. The cycle of rebirth, called samsara (literally “wandering”), is
regarded as a domain of suffering, and the Buddhist’s ultimate goal is to escape from that
suffering. The means of escape remains unknown until, over the course of millions of lifetimes, a
person perfects himself, ultimately gaining the power to discover the path out of samsara and
then revealing that path to the world.
A person who has set out to discover the path to freedom from suffering and then to teach it to
others is called a bodhisattva. A person who has discovered that path, followed it to its end, and
taught it to the world is called a buddha. Buddhas are not reborn after they die but enter a state
beyond suffering called nirvana (literally “passing away”). Because buddhas appear so rarely
over the course of time and because only they reveal the path to liberation from suffering, the
appearance of a buddha in the world is considered a momentous event.
The story of a particular buddha begins before his birth and extends beyond his death.
It encompasses the millions of lives spent on the path toward enlightenment and Buddhahood
and the persistence of the buddha through his teachings and his relics after he has passed into
nirvana. The historical Buddha is regarded as neither the first nor the last buddha to appear in the
world. According to some traditions he is the 7th buddha, according to another he is the 25th,
and according to yet another he is the 4th. The next buddha, Maitreya, will appear after
Shakyamuni’s teachings and relics have disappeared from the world.
Sites associated with the Buddha’s life became important pilgrimage places, and regions that
Buddhism entered long after his death—such as Sri Lanka, Kashmir, and Burma
(now Myanmar)—added narratives of his magical visitations to accounts of his life. Although the
Buddha did not leave any written works, various versions of his teachings were preserved orally
by his disciples. In the centuries following his death, hundreds of texts (called sutras) were
attributed to him and would subsequently be translated into the languages of Asia.

The teaching attributed to the Buddha was transmitted orally by his disciples, prefaced by the
phrase “evam me sutam” (“thus have I heard”); therefore, it is difficult to say whether or to what
extent his discourses have been preserved as they were spoken. They usually allude to the place
and time they were preached and to the audience to which they were addressed. Buddhist

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councils in the first centuries after the Buddha’s death attempted to specify which teachings
attributed to the Buddha could be considered authentic.

The Buddha based his entire teaching on the fact of human suffering and the ultimately
dissatisfying character of human life. Existence is painful. The conditions that make an
individual are precisely those that also give rise to dissatisfaction and suffering. Individuality
implies limitation; limitation gives rise to desire; and, inevitably, desire causes suffering, since
what is desired is transitory.

Living amid the impermanence of everything and being themselves impermanent, human beings
search for the way of deliverance, for that which shines beyond the transitoriness of human
existence—in short, for enlightenment. The Buddha’s doctrine offered a way to avoid despair.
By following the “path” taught by the Buddha, the individual can dispel the “ignorance” that
perpetuates this suffering.

According to the Buddha of the early texts, reality, whether of external things or the
psychophysical totality of human individuals, consists of a succession and concatenation of
microelements called dhammas (these “components” of reality are not to be confused with
dhamma meaning “law” or “teaching”). The Buddha departed from traditional Indian thought in
not asserting an essential or ultimate reality in things. Moreover, he rejected the existence of the
soul as a metaphysicalsubstance, though he recognized the existence of the self as the subject of
action in a practical and moral sense. Life is a stream of becoming, a series of manifestations and
extinctions. The concept of the individual ego is a popular delusion; the objects with which
people identify themselves—fortune, social position, family, body, and even mind—are not their
true selves. There is nothing permanent, and, if only the permanent deserved to be called the self,
or atman, then nothing is self.
To make clear the concept of no-self (anatman), Buddhists set forth the theory of the
five aggregates or constituents (khandhas) of human existence: (1) corporeality or physical forms
(rupa), (2) feelings or sensations (vedana), (3) ideations (sanna), (4) mental formations
or dispositions (sankhara), and (5) consciousness (vinnana). Human existence is only a
composite of the five aggregates, none of which is the self or soul. A person is in a process of
continuous change, and there is no fixed underlying entity.
KARMA
The belief in rebirth, or samsara, as a potentially endless series of worldly existences in which
every being is caught up was already associated with the doctrine of karma (Sanskrit: karman;
literally “act” or “deed”) in pre-Buddhist India, and it was accepted by virtually all Buddhist
traditions. According to the doctrine, good conduct brings a pleasant and happy result and creates
a tendency toward similar good acts, while bad conduct brings an evil result and creates a
tendency toward similar evil acts. Some karmic acts bear fruit in the same life in which they are

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committed, others in the immediately succeeding one, and others in future lives that are more
remote. This furnishes the basic context for the moral life.
The acceptance by Buddhists of the teachings of karma and rebirth and the concept of the no-self
gives rise to a difficult problem: how can rebirth take place without a permanent subject to be
reborn? Indian non-Buddhist philosophers attacked this point in Buddhist thought, and many
modern scholars have also considered it to be an insoluble problem. The relation between
existences in rebirth has been explained by the analogy of fire, which maintains itself unchanged
in appearance and yet is different in every moment—what may be called the continuity of an
ever-changing identity.
The aim of Buddhist practice is to be rid of the delusion of ego and thus free oneself from the
fetters of this mundane world. One who is successful in doing so is said to have overcome the
round of rebirths and to have achieved enlightenment. This is the final goal in most Buddhist
traditions, though in some cases (particularly though not exclusively in some Pure Land schools
in China and Japan) the attainment of an ultimate paradise or a heavenly abode is not clearly
distinguished from the attainment of release.
The living process is again likened to a fire. Its remedy is the extinction of the fire of illusion,
passions, and cravings. The Buddha, the Enlightened One, is one who is no longer kindled or
inflamed. Many poetic terms are used to describe the state of the enlightened human being—the
harbour of refuge, the cool cave, the place of bliss, the farther shore. The term that has become
famous in the West is nirvana, translated as passing away or dying out—that is, the dying out in
the heart of the fierce fires of lust, anger, and delusion. But nirvana is not extinction, and indeed
the craving for annihilation or nonexistence was expressly repudiated by the Buddha. Buddhists
search for salvation, not just nonbeing. Although nirvana is often presented negatively as
“release from suffering,” it is more accurate to describe it in a more positive fashion: as an
ultimate goal to be sought and cherished.
In some early texts the Buddha left unanswered certain questions regarding the destiny of
persons who have reached this ultimate goal. He even refused to speculate as to whether fully
purified saints, after death, continued to exist or ceased to exist. Such questions, he maintained,
were not relevant to the practice of the path and could not in any event be answered from within
the confines of ordinary human existence. Indeed, he asserted that any discussion of the nature of
nirvana would only distort or misrepresent it. But he also asserted with even more insistence that
nirvana can be experienced—and experienced in the present existence—by those who, knowing
the Buddhist truth, practice the Buddhist path.

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 HINAYANA BUDDHISM
Some say Tibetan Buddhism is the practice of mahayana3 Buddhism. Others say that Tibetan
Buddhism is actually the practice of vajrayana Buddhism. Really one cannot say that Tibetan
Buddhism is just mahayana or just vajrayana Buddhism. The teachings of dharma in Tibet are
called the “three immutables” or the “three-fold vajra” meaning the dharma of Tibet contains the
teachings of the hinayana, of the mahayana as well as of the vajrayana. More specifically,
Tibetan Buddhism has the outer practice of the hinayana, the inner motivation or bodhichitta of
the mahayana and the view and practice of the vajrayana known as the secret or essential view.
This is why it is necessary to study these three main levels or vehicles (Skt. yanas) of Buddhist
practice. One needs to understand that when the Buddha taught, he was not teaching as a great
scholar who wanted to demonstrate a particular philosophical point of view or to teach for its
own sake. His desire was to present the very essence of the deep and vast teachings of
realization. For this reason he gave teachings which matched the abilities of his disciples. All the
teachings he gave, some long and some short, were a direct and appropriate response to the
development of the disciples who came to listen to him. Of course, people have very different
capacities and different levels of understanding. They also have very different wishes and desires
to learn and understand the dharma. If the Buddha had taught only the very essence of his own
understanding of those vast and farreaching teachings, then apart from a small number of
disciples who had great intelligence and diligence, few people would have ever entered the path.
The Buddha taught whatever allowed a person to develop spiritually and progress gradually
towards liberation. When we analyze all the Buddha’s teachings, we see that they fall into three
main approaches or vehicles. The Buddha’s teachings helped each student in a way appropriate
for the level he or she was at. Because of that, one finds that on the relative level each student
received some benefit from what Buddha taught. On the absolute level, one finds all of the
Buddha’s teachings have the same goal. When one analyzes the Buddha’s teachings on the
relative level, one finds that there are three levels. But, when one examines them from the
absolute level, one sees there is only one level because all beings are directed towards the same
goal.

Hinayana is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "inferior vehicle".4 Tibetan teachers translate it
"smaller vehicle".The term was applied to the sarvakayana, the Buddhist path followed by
a sravaka who wished to become an arhat. This pejorative term appeared around the first or
second century. Hīnayāna was often contrasted with Mahayana, which means the "great vehicle".
In 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists declared that the term Hīnayana should not be used
when referring to any form of Buddhism existing today.
In the past, the term was widely used by Western scholars to cover "the earliest system of
Buddhist doctrine", as the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary put it. Modern Buddhist

3
Glashoff, Klaus. "Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit". spokensanskrit.org. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
4
Kalu Rinpoche (1995) Profound Buddhism From Hinayana To Vajrayana: p. 15

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scholarship has deprecated the pejorative term, and uses instead the term Nikaya Buddhism to
refer to early Buddhist schools.
Hinayana has also been used as a synonym for Theravada, which is the main tradition of
Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia; this is considered inaccurate and derogatory. Robert
Thurman writes, "'Nikaya Buddhism' is a coinage of Professor Masatoshi Nagatomi of Harvard
University, who suggested it to me as a usage for the eighteen schools of Indian Buddhism to
avoid the term 'Hinayana Buddhism,' which is found offensive by some members of
the Theravada tradition."
Within Mahayana Buddhism, there were a variety of interpretations as to whom or to what the
term Hinayana referred. Kalu Rinpochestated the "lesser" or "greater" designation "did not refer
to economic or social status, but concerned the spiritual capacities of the practitioner".
The Small Vehicle is based on becoming aware of the fact that all we experience in samsara is
marked by suffering. Being aware of this engenders the will to rid ourselves of this suffering, to
liberate ourselves on an individual level, and to attain happiness. We are moved by our own
interest. Renunciation and perseverance allow us to attain our goal.
The Chinese monk Yijing, who visited India in the 7th century, distinguished Mahayana from
Hinayana as follows:
Both adopt one and the same Vinaya, and they have in common the prohibitions of the five
offenses, and also the practice of the Four Noble Truths. Those who venerate (regard with great
respect) the bodhisattvas and read the Mahayana sutras are called the Mahayanists, while those
who do not perform these are called the Hinayanists.
According to Jan Nattier, it is most likely that the term Hinayana postdates the term Mahayana
and was only added at a later date due to antagonism and conflict between the bodhisattva and
sravaka ideals. The sequence of terms then began with the term Bodhisattvayana "bodhisattva-
vehicle", which was given the epithet Mahayana "Great Vehicle". It was only later, after attitudes
toward the bodhisattva teachings had become more critical, that the term Hinayana was created
as a back-formation, contrasting with the already established term Mahayana5 The earliest
Mahayana texts often use the term Mahayana as an epithet and synonym for Bodhisattvayāna,
but the term Hīnayāna is comparatively rare in early texts, and is usually not found at all in the
earliest translations. Therefore, the often-perceived symmetry between Mahayana and Hinayana
can be deceptive, as the terms were not actually coined in relation to one another in the same era.
According to Paul Williams, "the deep-rooted misconception concerning an unfailing, ubiquitous
fierce criticism of the Lesser Vehicle by the [Mahayana] is not supported by our texts."Williams
states that while evidence of conflict is present in some cases, there is also substantial evidence
demonstrating peaceful coexistence between the two traditions.

5
Nattier, Jan (2003), A few good men: the Bodhisattva path according to the Inquiry of Ugra: p. 174

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Although the 18–20 early Buddhist schools are sometimes loosely classified as Hinayana in
modern times, this is not necessarily accurate. There is no evidence that Mahayana ever referred
to a separate formal school of Buddhism but rather as a certain set of ideals, and later
doctrines. Paul Williams has also noted that the Mahayana never had nor ever attempted to have
a separate vinaya or ordination lineage from the early Buddhist schools, and
therefore bhiksus and bhiksunis adhering to the Mahayana formally adheres to the vinaya of an
early school. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage in East Asia and
the Mulasarvastivada ordination lineage in Tibetan Buddhism. Mahayana was never a separate
sect of the early schools. From Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that both Mahayana
and non-Mahayana monks in India often lived in the same monasteries side by side.
The Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim Yijing wrote about the relationship between the various
"vehicles" and the early Buddhist schools in India. He wrote, "There exist in the West numerous
subdivisions of the schools which have different origins, but there are only four principal schools
of continuous tradition." These schools are the Mahasaṃghika Nikaya, Sthavira nikaya,
Mulasarvastivaada Nikaya, and Saṃmitiya Nikaya. Explaining their doctrinal affiliations, he
then writes, "Which of the four schools should be grouped with the Mahayana or with the
Hinayana is not determined." That is to say, there was no simple correspondence between a
Buddhist school and whether its members learn "Hinayana" or "Mahayana" teachings.
To identify entire schools as "Hinayana" that contained not only sravakas
and pratyekabuddhas but also Mahayana bodhisattvas would be attacking the schools of their
fellow Mahayanists as well as their own. Instead, what is demonstrated in the definition
of Hinayana given by Yijing is that the term referred to individuals based on doctrinal
differences.
Scholar Isabelle Onians asserts that although "the Mahayana very occasionally referred to earlier
Buddhism as the Hinayana, the Inferior Way, the preponderance of this name in the secondary
literature is far out of proportion to occurrences in the Indian texts." She notes that the
term Śravakayana was "the more politically correct and much more usual" term used by
Mahayanists. Jonathan Silk has argued that the term "Hinayana" was used to refer to whomever
one wanted to criticize on any given occasion, and did not refer to any definite grouping of
Buddhists.

In the 7th century, the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang describes the concurrent existence of
the Mahavihara and the Abhayagiri vihara in Sri Lanka. He refers to the monks of the
Mahavihara as the "Hinayana Sthaviras" and the monks of Abhayagiri vihara as the "Mahayana
Sthaviras". Xuanzang further writes, "The Mahaviharavasins reject the Mahayana and practice
the Hinayana, while the Abhayagiriviharavasins study both Hinayana and Mahayana teachings
and propagate the Tripiṭaka."6

6
Hirakawa, Akira. Groner, Paul. A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna. 2007.

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Mahayanists were primarily in philosophical dialectic with the Vaibhaṣika school
of Sarvastivada, which had by far the most "comprehensive edifice of doctrinal systematics" of
the nikāya schools. With this in mind it is sometimes argued that the Theravada would not have
been considered a "Hinayana" school by Mahayanists because, unlike the now-
extinct Sarvastivada school, the primary object of Mahayana criticism, the Theravada school
does not claim the existence of independent dharmas; in this it maintains the attitude of early
Buddhism. Additionally, the concept of the bodhisattva as one who puts off enlightenment rather
than reaching awakening as soon as possible, has no roots in Theravada textual or cultural
contexts, current or historical. Aside from the Theravada schools being geographically distant
from the Mahayana, the Hinayana distinction is used in reference to certain views and practices
that had become found within the Mahayana tradition itself. Theravada, as well as Mahayana
schools stress the urgency of one's own awakening in order to end suffering. Some contemporary
Theravadin figures have thus indicated a sympathetic stance toward the Mahayana philosophy
found in the Heart Sutra and the Mulamadhyamakakarikā.7
The Mahayanists were bothered by the substantialist thought of the Sarvastivaa dins
and Sautrantikins, and in emphasizing the doctrine of sunyata , David Kalupahana holds that
they endeavored to preserve the early teaching. The Theravadins too refuted the Sarvastivadins
and Sautrantikins (and followers of other schools) on the grounds that their theories were in
conflict with the non-substantialism of the canon. The Theravada arguments are preserved in
the Kathavatthu.
Most western scholars regard the Theravada school to be one of the Hinayana schools referred to
in Mahayana literature, or regard Hinayana as a synonym for Theravada.8 These scholars
understand the term to refer to schools of Buddhism that did not accept the teachings of
the Mahayana sutras as authentic teachings of the Buddha.9 At the same time, scholars have
objected to the pejorative connotation of the term Hinayana and some scholars do not use it for
any school.

7
Donald S. Lopez and Dge-ʼdun-chos-ʼphel, The Madman's Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan
Monk Gendun Chopel. University of Chicago Press 2006, page 24.
8
Monier-Williams, M. (1889). Buddhism in Its Connexion with Brāhmanism and Hindūism: And in Its Contrast
with Christianity. John Murray. Retrieved 2015-06-13
9
Gombrich, Richard Francis. 1988. Theravāda Buddhism. P. 83

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 THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
The Four Noble truths comprise the essence of Buddha teachings, though they leave much left
unexplained. They are the truth of suffering , the truth of cause of suffering, the truth of the end
of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. More simply put,
suffering exists, it has a cause ; it has an end ; and it has a cause to bring about its end. The
notion of suffering is not intended to convey a negative world view , but rather, a pragmatic
perspective that deals with the world as it is , and attempts to rectify it.The concept of pleasure is
not denied but acknowledged as fleeting. Pursuit of pleasure can only continue what is ultimately
an unquenchable thirst. The same logic belies an understanding of happiness. In the end, only
aging, sickness, and death are certain and unavoidable.

For the Buddha to have taught his disciples principally by demonstrating his miraculous abilities
and powers would not have been the best way to establish them on the path of liberation. The
best way to bring them to that wisdom and liberation was to point out the very truth of things; to
point out the way things really are. So he taught the four noble truths and the two truths (relative
and absolute truth). By seeing the way things really are, the students learned how to eliminate
their mistakes and their delusions. Eliminating one’s mistakes and delusions automatically
destroys the causes of one’s suffering and hardships. This allows one to reach progressively the
state of liberation and great wisdom. That is why the four noble truths and the two truths are the
essence of the first teachings of the Buddha.

The First Noble Truth : Dukh or Suffering

The first noble truth is the full understanding of suffering. Of course, in an obvious way, people
are aware of suffering and know when they have unpleasant sensations such as hunger, cold, or
sickness. But the first noble truth includes awareness of all the ramifications of suffering because
it encompasses the very nature of suffering. This includes knowledge of the subtle and the
obvious aspects of suffering. The obvious aspect of suffering is immediate pain or difficulty in
the moment. Subtle suffering is more difficult to recognize because it begins with happiness. But
by its very nature this happiness must change because it can’t go on forever. Because it must
change into suffering, this subtle suffering is the impermanence of pleasure. For example, when I
went to Bhutan with His Holiness Karmapa, I was invited to the palace of the king of Bhutan.
The palace of the king was magnificent, the king’s chambers were beautiful, there were many
servants who showed complete respect and obedience. But we found that even though there was
so much external beauty, the king himself was suffering a great deal mentally. The king said that
he was quite relieved that His Holiness had come and emphasized how much the visit meant to
him because of the various difficulties with which he had been troubled. This is the subtle aspect
of suffering. One thinks that a particular situation will give one the most happiness one can ever
imagine, but actually, within the situation, there is a tremendous amount of anguish. If one thinks
of those who are really fortunate—gods or human beings with a very rich and healthy life—it

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seems as though they have nothing but happiness. It is hard to understand that the very root, the
very fiber of what is taking place is suffering because the situation is subject to change. What is
happiness? By its very nature it can often mean that there will be suffering later on. There is no
worldly happiness that lasts for a very long time. Worldly happiness includes an element of
change, of built-in suffering. For that reason the first noble truth of the awareness of suffering
refers not just to immediate suffering, but also to the subtle elements of suffering. The Buddha
taught the truth of suffering because everything that takes place on a worldly level is a form of
suffering. If one is suffering but is not aware of it, one will never have the motivation to
eliminate this suffering and will continue to suffer. When one is aware of suffering, one can
overcome it. With the more subtle forms of suffering, if one is happy and becomes aware that the
happiness automatically includes the seed of suffering, then one will be much less inclined to
become attached to this happiness. One will then think, “Oh, this seems to be happiness, but it
has built-in suffering.” Then one will want to dissociate from it. The first truth is that one should
be aware of the nature of suffering. Once one has a very clear picture of the nature of suffering,
one can really begin to avoid such suffering. Of course, everyone wants to avoid suffering and to
emerge from suffering, but to accomplish this one needs to be absolutely clear about its nature.
When one becomes aware that the nature of day-to-day existence is suffering, one doesn’t have
to be miserable with the thought that suffering is always present. Suffering doesn’t go on forever
because the Buddha came into our world, gave teachings, and demonstrated clearly what
suffering is. He also taught the means by which suffering can end and described a state of
liberation which is beyond suffering. One does not have to endure suffering and can, in fact, be
happy. Even though one cannot emerge immediately from suffering by practicing the Buddha’s
teachings, one can gradually eliminate suffering in this way, and move towards eventual
liberation. This fact in itself can establish peace even before one has actually emerged
completely from suffering. Applying the Buddha’s teachings, one can be happy in the relative
phase of one’s progress and then at the end one will gain wisdom and liberation and be happy in
the ultimate sense, as well. The first noble truth makes it clear that there is suffering. Once we
know what suffering is, we must eliminate that suffering. It is not a question of eliminating the
suffering itself, but of eliminating the causes of suffering. Once we remove the causes of
suffering, then automatically the effect, which is suffering, is no longer present. This is why to
eliminate this suffering, we must become aware of the second noble truth, the truth of universal
origination.

The Second Noble Truth : Dukh Samudaya

The truth of universal origination is an English translation of the name the Buddha gave to this
noble truth. It means “that which is the cause or origin of absolutely everything.” The truth of
universal origination indicates that the root cause of suffering is karma and the kleshas. Karma is
a Sanskrit word which means “activity” and klesha in Sanskrit means “mental defilement” or
“mental poison.” If we do not understand the Buddha’s teachings, we would most likely attribute
all happiness and suffering to some external cause. We might think that happiness and suffering

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come from the environment, or from the gods, and that everything that happens originates in
some source outside of one’s control. If we believe this, it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to
eliminate suffering and its causes. On the other hand, when we realize that the experience of
suffering is a product of what we have done, that is, a result of one’s actions, eliminating
suffering becomes possible. Once we are aware of how suffering takes place, then we can begin
to remove the causes of suffering. First we must realize that what we experience is not dependent
on external forces, but on what we have done previously. This is the understanding of karma.
Karma produces suffering and is driven by the defilements. The term “defilement” refers mainly
to our negative motivation and negative thoughts which produce negative actions.

The Third Noble Truth : Dukh Nirodh

The third noble truth is the cessation of suffering through which the causes of karma and the
defilements can be removed. We have control over suffering because karma and the defilements
take place within us— we create them, we experience them. For that reason, we don’t need to
depend on anyone else to remove the cause of suffering. The truth of universal origination is that
if we do unvirtuous actions, we are creating suffering. It also means that if we abandon
unvirtuous actions, we remove the possibility of experiencing suffering in the future. What we
experience is entirely in our hands. Therefore the Buddha has said that we should give up the
causes of karma and the defilements. Virtuous actions result in happiness and unvirtuous actions
result in suffering. This idea is not particularly easy to grasp because one can’t see the whole
process take place from beginning to end. There are three kinds of actions: mental, verbal, and
physical. These are subdivided into virtuous and unvirtuous physical actions, virtuous and
unvirtuous verbal actions, and virtuous and unvirtuous mental actions. If one abandons these
three types of unvirtuous actions, then one’s actions become automatically virtuous. There are
three unvirtuous physical actions: the harming of life, sexual misconduct, and stealing. The
results of these three unvirtuous actions can be observed immediately. For example, when there
is a virtuous relationship between a man and woman who care about each other, who help each
other, and have a great deal of love and affection for each other, they will be happy because they
look after each other. Their wealth will usually increase and if they have children, their love and
care will result in mutual love in the family. In the ordinary sense, happiness develops out of this
deep commitment and bond they have promised to keep. Whereas, when there is an absence of
commitment, there is also little care and sexual misconduct arises. This is not the ground out of
which love arises, or upon which a home in which children can develop happiness can be built.
One can readily see that a lack of sexual fidelity can create many kinds of difficulties. One can
also see the immediate consequences of other unvirtuous physical actions. One can see that those
who steal have difficulties and suffer; those who don’t steal experience happiness and have a
good state of mind. Likewise, those who kill create many problems and unhappiness for
themselves, while those who support life are happy. The same applies to one’s speech although it
is not so obvious. But on closer examination, one can also see how happiness develops out of
virtuous speech and unhappiness results from unvirtuous speech. At first, lying may seem to be

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useful because one might think that one can deceive others and gain some advantage. But the
Sakya Pandita said that this is not true. If one lies to one’s enemies or persons one doesn’t get
along with very well, because they are one’s enemies they are not going to take notice of what
one is saying anyway. It will be quite hard to deceive them. If they are one’s friends, one might
be able to deceive them at first by telling a lie. But after the first time, they won’t trust you any
more and may think that you have been a hypocrite. Lying doesn’t really work. Then if one looks
at the opposite, a person who takes pains to speak the truth will develop a reputation of being a
truthful person and out of this trust many good things will emerge. Once we have considered the
example of the consequences of lying, we can think of similar consequences relating to other
kinds of damaging speech: slander, and coarse, aggressive, and useless speech. Except for the
immediate and the short-termed consequences, virtuous speech produces happiness and
unvirtuous speech produces suffering. When we say “useless speech,” we mean speech that is
really useless, not just conversational. So, if we have a good mind and want someone to relax
and be happy, even though the words may not be of great meaning, our words are based on the
idea of benefit and goodness. By useless speech we mean chatter for no reason at all. Worse than
that is “chatter rooted in the defilements” when we say bad things about other people because of
a dislike or jealousy of them. One just gossips about the character of people. That is really
useless speech. Besides being useless, this very often causes trouble because it sets people
against each other and causes bad feelings. The same applies to “harmful speech.” If there is
really a loving and beneficial reason for talking, for example, scolding a child when the child is
doing something dangerous or scolding a child for not studying in school, that is not harmful
speech because it is devoid of the defilements, rather it is a skillful way of helping someone. If
there is that really genuine, beneficial attitude and love behind what one says, it is not harmful
speech. But if speech is related to the defilements such as aggression or jealousy, then it is
harmful speech and is something to give up. We can go on to examine the various states of mind
and see that a virtuous mind produces happiness and unvirtuous states of mind create
unhappiness. For instance, strong aggression will cause us to lose our friends. Because of our
aggressiveness, our enemies will become even worse enemies and the situation will become
inflamed. If we are aggressive and hurt others and they have friends, eventually those friends
will also become enemies. On the other hand, goodness will arise through our caring for our
loved ones and then extending this by wishing to help others. Through this they will become
close and helpful friends. Through the power of our love and care, our enemies and people we
don’t get along with will improve their behavior and maybe those enemies will eventually
become friends. If we have companions and wish to benefit others, we can end up with very
good friends and all the benefits which that brings. In this way we can see how cause and effect
operate, how a virtuous mind brings about happiness and how an unvirtuous mind brings about
suffering and problems. There are two main aspects of karma: one related to experience and one
related to conditioning. The karma relating to experience has already been discussed. Through
unvirtuous physical actions we will experience problems and unhappiness. Likewise, through
unvirtuous speech such as lying, we will experience unhappiness and sorrow. Through a

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unvirtuous state of mind, we will also experience unhappiness as was demonstrated by the
example of an aggressive attitude. All of this is related to the understanding that any unvirtuous
activity produces unhappiness and pain. The second aspect of karma relates to conditioning. By
acting unvirtuously with our body, speech, or mind, we habituate ourself to a certain style of
behavior. Unvirtuous physical or verbal behaviors add to the habit of doing things. For example,
each time one kills, one is conditioned to kill again. If one lies, that increases the habit of lying.
An aggressive mind conditions one’s mind so one becomes more aggressive. In later lives, that
conditioning will be reborn with a great tendency to kill, to lie, to engage in sexual misconduct,
and so on. These are the two aspects to karma. One is the direct consequence of an act and the
other is the conditioning that creates a tendency to engage in behavior of that kind. Through
these two aspects karma produces all happiness and suffering in life. Even though we may
recognize that unvirtuous karma gives rise to suffering and virtuous karma gives rise to
happiness, it is hard for us to give up unvirtuous actions and practice virtuous actions because the
defilements exercise a powerful influence on us. We realize that suffering is caused by
unvirtuous karma, but we can’t give up the karma itself. We need to give up the defilements
because they are the root of unvirtuous actions. To give up the defilements means to give up
unvirtuous actions of body (such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct), the unvirtuous
actions of speech (such as lying, slander and harmful and useless speech), and the unvirtuous
aspects of mind (such as aggression, attachment, or ignorance). Just wanting to give up the
defilements does not remove them. However, the Buddha in his great kindness and wisdom has
given us a very skillful way to eliminate the very root of all the defilements through the
examination of the belief in the existence of an ego or a self.

The Fourth Noble Truth : Dukh Nirodh Gramini Pratipada

The fourth noble truth is called “the truth of the path” because the path leads us to the ultimate
goal. We do this step by step, stage by stage, progressively completing our journey. The main
stages of Buddhism are called the “five paths” because by progressively traversing them we
eventually reach our destination which is cessation. This path of the Buddha can be analyzed
through its five main stages which are called the five paths . The names of the five paths are the
stage of accumulation, the stage of junction, the stage of insight, the stage of cultivation, and the
stage of nonstudy. Properly speaking, the first four of these are the path with the fifth one being
the fruition of the other four paths.

The first path is called the “path of accumulation” because we gather or accumulate a great
wealth of many things. This is the stage in which we try to gather all the positive factors which
enable us to progress. We try to cultivate diligence, the good qualities, and the wisdom which
penetrates more deeply into the meaning of things. We commit ourselves to accumulate all the
various positive aspects of practice. We gather the positive elements into our being while at the
same time working in many different ways to remove all the unwanted elements from one’s life.
We also apply various techniques to eliminate the various blockages and obstacles which are

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holding us back. This is called the stage of accumulation because we engage in this manifold
activity which gathers these new things into our life. In ordinary life we are caught up in the
level of worldliness. Even though we don’t want to be, we are still operating on a level of
conditioned existence (Skt. samsara) because we are still under the influence of the defilements.
They have a very strong habitual grip on our existence. We need to get rid of these defilements
in order to find our way out of samsara. Of course, we want to find happiness and peace and we
know it is possible. But even with the strongest will in the world, we cannot do it overnight. It is
like trying to dye a large cloth in that one needs to bring many different elements together to
change its coSo, first of all, in order to gain the good qualities, we need to work on creating all
the different conditions which will make these qualities emerge. To develop the various insights
of meditation and real wisdom, we need to develop great faith and confidence in the validity and
usefulness of this wisdom. Once we are convinced of its value, we need to change our habits so
that we have the diligence to do all the things necessary to make insight and wisdom emerge.
Therefore, there are many factors and conditions we must generate within our life to bring about
our happiness. To remove all the unwholesome factors binding us in samsara, we must uproot
belief in a solid self, eliminate the various defilements which hinder us, and bring together the
many different conditions that make this transformation and purification possible. We talk about
accumulation because we are assembling all the different conditions that make this
transformation possible. We won’t be able to progress in a significant manner until we have
gathered all these causes and conditions properly, completely and perfectly within ourselves. For
that reason the purpose of this stage of accumulation is to complete all the necessary conditions
by gathering them into our existence. Eventually, because of the complete gathering of favorable
conditions, we will reach the third path which is the “path of insight.” This is the stage during
which insight into the true nature of phenomena are developed. This insight is beyond the veil of
delusion. Linking the path of accumulation and the path of insight is the second path of junction.
Here our inner realization, the very way we perceive things, begins to link up with the truth of
the actual nature of phenomena because we are gathering all the favorable circumstances that
will eventually lead us to the actual insight itself. When we attain insight into the way things
really are and this insight develops beyond the level of delusion and mistaken views, we realize
that there is no self. Once there is no longer a belief in self, there are no longer any root
defilements of attachment, aggression, or ignorance associated with the false belief in a solid
self. Once there are no longer any defilements, we do nothing unvirtuous and have no more
suffering. Now, it is true that once we have that insight, all suffering is immediately removed,
but in another way, that is not true. This is because the delusion of a self is a habit which has
been built up for such a long time and is very, very hard to remove. For example, when we have
realized that an unchanging self is a delusion fabricated by our mind, still when we hit our finger
with a hammer, we experience pain. We still have the feeling, “I am suffering” because there is
an enduring built-up association of “I” with the flesh of our body. Removal of that long
established conditioning of self occurs through a long process of cultivating the truth of non-self.
This is the fourth stage of the cultivation of insight. The fourth stage is called the path of

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cultivation (gom lam in Tibetan). The word gom is usually translated as “meditation” but
actually means “to get used to something” or “to accustom oneself.”This is why it is translated
here as “the path of cultivation,” while other texts translate it as “the path of meditation.” But in
this stage its the insight into the nature of things and getting used to that insight. By becoming
more and more familiar with the truth of phenomena, we can remove the very fine traces of
defilements and the subconscious conditioning that still exist. Through gradual working on these,
the goal of enlightenment will be attained. Through the cultivation of insight we eventually reach
the goal of the fifth path which is called “the path of no more study.” Through cultivation we
remove even the subtlest causes of suffering. Once this is completed we have reached the highest
state and there are no more new paths to traverse making this “the path of no more study” or “the
path of no more practice.”

These four truths taught by the Buddha are very important. One can compare them to someone
who is sick. When someone is sick and has much discomfort, the first thing to do is to investigate
the nature of the problem. What is the sickness? Is it in the brain? In the heart? etc. One needs to
locate the actual problem and investigate the symptoms of the illness. Then in order to cure that
person one also needs to know what is producing the disease. Only by attacking the cause of the
symptoms can one actually cure the person. This is a very good analogy for the first two noble
truths. One needs to understand the nature of suffering and to know just what it entails. But just
understanding the problem is not enough to bring an end to the suffering because one also needs
to understand the causes of suffering, which are karma and the defilements. Then one needs to be
able to eradicate the causes. The inspiration to overcome illness is, of course, to understand all
the qualities of good health and to be free from the sickness. To continue the example, the
Buddha shows one all the qualities of cessation (enlightenment); that is a healthy and wonderful
thing. Once one knows that the remedy exists, then one applies the remedy to what has been
blocking the state of good health. One applies the very skillful remedies of the path making it
possible to deal with karma and the defilements in order to obtain that good mental health. For
that reason the last two truths are like the medicine whose result is cessation of suffering. The
order of working through the four noble truths is not a chronological order. They are ordered
logically to help us understand. The first two truths relate to suffering and its cause (samsara).
First of all, the character of suffering is explained. Once one understands the character of
suffering, one will want to know what causes it so the suffering can be eliminated. The second
two truths are related to nirvana. These are not arranged in order of experience because the cause
of suffering must obviously come before the suffering itself.

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 MEDITATION IN THE HINAYANA BUDDHISM
When one studies the hinayana, one studies it in the beginning from the viewpoint of intellectual
understanding. Then through meditation practice, one investigates the results that emerge. The
four noble truths, which are the heart of the hinayana are the view of the hinayana. The principle
focus of hinayana practice is the validity of the four noble truths. The actual practice of
meditation within the hinayana is a little bit different from the understanding of the truths
themselves. When one understands suffering and its causes, one realizes that as long as one is
involved with worldly affairs, one will continue creating the causes of suffering, which means
one will be reborn over and over again in this vortex of samsara. Therefore the way out is to cut
this attachment to samsara. There are several meditation practices which enable one to do this.

The principle practice which enables one to cut attachment to samsara is to meditate on the
impermanent nature of samsara. By meditating on impermanence, one will be less inclined to
become involved in worldly activities. Attachment becomes less attractive as one begins to
appreciate how quickly circumstances change. One can see that even though kings and heroes of
the past might have been very famous and wealthy, their fame and wealth did not go on forever
but eventually ended. In meditation one contemplates people and the changes they endure; one
contemplates objects and their changes and the ways in which they change. When one sees that
there is nothing that stays the same, one realizes activities and objects in samsara are not worth
that much involvement and attachment. The liberation of the mind then begins to take place. One
does not completely give up everything overnight but realizes that too much involvement and
attachment are not very beneficial. One realizes that it’s not worth spending much time with
samsaric conditioning. The second principle meditation practice is on the nature of suffering in
samsara. Previously, it has been explained how one can experience directly the actual emergence
of suffering. As explained before, things which seem quite pleasant initially, by their very nature,
must bring about suffering later. One realizes that suffering is inherent even in pleasant things.
Therefore this contemplation on suffering, which is part of all samsaric phenomena, is the second
point. It helps one realize not to spend so much time and involvement in worldly things. It also
helps one to realize that by devoting energy to these contemplations one can profit greatly. The
third main meditation is on emptiness and the fourth meditation is on the absence of ego or self.
As was explained previously, meditation on emptiness is mainly concerned with realizing that
the inner phenomena which one thinks of as “mine” and the outer phenomena which one thinks
of as “belonging to me” has no validity. The fourth meditation on non-self is concerned more
with the idea of the “self” itself, the owner of those things, and how this idea of self is a delusion.

One must separate the idea of self from the cause from which it springs. The idea of the self is
principally derived from a deluded apprehension of the skandhas or aggregates that amass from
different things. The various skandhas, of which we are composed, are made up of many, many
different individual elements. Because of the gross way in which we perceive, we can’t see all
the minute and brief elements which make up existence. We tend to lump them together and see

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them as just one thing. Once we see many things as one, we tend to name it, define it, and give it
an identity. So when we see things with our perception we do not see many minute, short-lived
components, but tend to see them as a whole and solidify them as real and existent. It is because
we relate to gross wholes and give them an identity that we develop this idea of a self.

We also have a problem with time. There is no point at which we could say, “At this point there
wasn’t that delusion and then at this point this mistaken view took place.” The mistake is
beginningless. When we first see this word “beginningless” in Buddhist texts, it seems a rather
unusual idea that a delusion could not have a beginning. However, if we examine almost
anything we find it is beginningless. For example, take a brass pot.5 It was probably made in
India, but that was not its beginning because in India it was made from brass. That brass came
from ore and we can trace the ore back through time by tracing all the minute particles of which
it is made up going back forever. Nearly everything we examine is beginningless. So it is the
same with the concept of self. If we trace it back, we keep going back and back and back. It is
not as though there is one point in which we were clear and in the next moment delusion
suddenly occurred. We can just never find the beginning. It is something happening all the time
because of the grossness of our perception and the mistaken consciousness that labels the objects
of perception. For instance, consider the example of a flower and its seed. This example
demonstrates that one thing originates from another. Now there is a flower but when we trace
back, we find there was a seed and the seed itself came from a flower and so on. The same with a
brass pot, we can trace it back to some geological time and never find a point where the pot
actually began. The point is that it is beginningless. When we examine our own existence, we
say there is suffering because of karma and that there is karma because of the defilements and
the defilements are there because of ignorance. But we cannot find one point where this process
began because if we trace it back we find that each step involves more history. We can keep
going back and back and each event has even more history behind it and so on. That is why we
say it is “beginningless” because we cannot answer the question, “What happened in the
beginning?” It is not as though there was one ignorant thought and that was the beginning of
everything. Ignorance is taking place continually and has been occurring since this beginning
without beginning. Ignorance is then a continuing mistaken perception of the minute aggregates.
We conceptualize the idea of a thing which isn’t there except in the mind of the observer. That is
the actual process of ignorance which takes place over and over again. Even though there are so
many different components in the skandhas, we conceive them as a mistaken “I.” Perceiving the
millions and millions of particles of the pot as a single idea of “a pot” is a mistaken perception.
This faulty perception continues into the future and we can trace it back into the past. The
inability to perceive correctly is continuous, that process occurs again and again. All the
problems have come from that ignorance. We can never find a beginning but it does have an end
because once we pierce this delusion and reach the truth, we can find liberation from this
deluded process.

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There is nothing wrong with worldly happiness and all the good and nice things in life per se. It
is very good to be happy and content and to gain happiness from life. The only problem comes
when we are trying to train ourselves for something higher, deeper, and more beneficial; if we
become too involved with happiness and the good things of life, then they will hold us back from
our training and development. It is like a young child. If the child is playing, the child and
parents are very happy There is nothing at all wrong with that. But if the child is going to grow
up, obviously the child has to learn his lessons and go to school. If the lessons are jeopardized
because the child is playing all the time, he or she will never develop and go onto something
useful and productive. Likewise, worldly things are not bad in themselves, but if we are aiming
for something deeper and beneficial, we do not take too much time being involved with worldly
things. The realization of the truth is very slow because we are apathetic. The remedy to this
apathy is to realize the four noble truths completely, not just a little. When we clearly see the first
truth of suffering and realize what it is and how much there is to it, we will really work to
remove the causes and actually traverse the path. It is the wisdom of seeing things as they are
which causes us to develop our practice. When the Buddhist teachings say that we need to leave
samsara, they point to the urgency of getting out of samsara. It is not that they are saying we
have to give up eating, wearing clothes, and other worldly things. Rather we should not have
great involvement and attachment to samsara. The understanding of the second noble truth of
universal origination involves two meditations. These two are realizing the existence of
interdependent origination and realizing the complete manifestation of interdependent
origination. For the first meditation one realizes that karma and the defilements are the cause of
all suffering and suffering doesn’t come from outer conditions, but rather from one’s previous
karma. For the second meditation one realizes that karma comes from the defilements, so one
realizes the universal origination of suffering. Then one sees how powerful karma is in one’s life
and this is the complete manifestation of origination. For the truth of cessation, one meditates to
appreciate what happens once all these difficulties and their causes have been removed. One
meditates on the cessation from the view of taking away all these blocks and veils so the good
qualities will emerge. One meditates on how one can eliminate suffering and the cause of
suffering. Through this one realizes the positive quality of this cessation which is the very best
peace for oneself. Realizing cessation is possible and these positive qualities will emerge and
inspire one to strive on the path and develop all the qualities of peace. There are four main points
to meditation on the fourth noble truth which is the path. One needs first to contemplate the
presence and validity of the path to develop an intelligent awareness of the path itself and to
realize that without the path of dharma one will never achieve complete liberation or freedom
from one’s problems. Next one needs to be very aware of the value of the path in relation to
other activities. Third, by realizing its value, one needs to actually put the path into practice.
Finally, one needs to contemplate how the path is a complete release from samsara. It is actually
the path which leads one to freedom from all the problems of samsara.

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 PRACTICE OF THE HINAYANA PATH
The key word in the practice of the hinayana path is the Vinaya which in Tibetan is dul wa which
means “taming oneself.” The word is very appropriate if we consider, for example, the taming of
an elephant. An elephant is very wild at first and if we want to ride it, to get it to do work, or lead
it somewhere, we can’t do it. But by gradually taming the elephant we can ride it, we can get it to
work, and we can lead it around. In fact, it becomes very docile and under our control. We can
apply this analogy to ourself. At first our mind, body, and speech are very coarse and wild too.
This means that just small physical irritations can cause us to flare up and fight. A little bit of
verbal irritation upsets us and we begin to shout, scream, and abuse others. Small mental
irritations make us think all sorts of nasty and aggressive things. So in the beginning, our mind is
very wild and out of control. Hinayana practice is designed to train our mind so that eventually it
becomes very docile and workable and we are able to cope properly with any situation. The
process of training is related to the commitments we make. We take certain vows and precepts to
train ourselves. We do this because we have become used to doing unvirtuous actions and to get
out of that habit, we make certain promises or commitments to do virtuous actions and bind
ourselves to that virtuous activity. This is a very practical way of training ourselves to refrain
from unvirtuous activities and accustoming ourselves gradually to virtuous activities. At first
glance we may think that the commitments and vows are really restrictive and difficult and this
keeps us from doing beneficial actions. It seems like being put into a straightjacket or a prison.
Actually, it is not like that at all. The Sanskrit word for this training which covers making vows
and commitments is Yila which means “coolness.” That was translated into Tibetan as tsultrim
which means “keeping one’s discipline” in the way taught by the Buddha. This idea of coolness
gives the impression of relaxation and easiness. This is a very good word because one can see
that when one maintains virtue, this virtue creates happiness and leads to a pleasant and good
situation. And when one practices unvirtuous activities of the body, it causes problems,
difficulties, and hardships. Likewise, when one practices improper speech, more and more
problems arise. By maintaining good and pure speech, very pleasant results emerge. The same
applies to the mind. When one keeps the mind very pure, it brings much happiness. So when one
thinks about it carefully, one can see that keeping the commitments, making promises, and
restricting one’s activities to virtuous ones is, in fact, the key to happiness. This is not at all a
restriction or a difficult situation because it is the key to happiness. This is why the Sanskrit word
Ÿila implies “calmness” or “pleasantness.” In order to understand the full power of the meaning
of “coolness” for “discipline,” one needs to think about its origins. The word comes from India
which is a very hot country in the summer. When we say “coolness” in the West it does not
strike us as a particularly good quality because it gets cold here. In Tibet they didn’t translate it
as “coolness” because Tibet is a very cold country. But in India coolness is a very valued quality.
When the weather is very hot, it is very uncomfortable and one can’t do what one wants. When
one finds coolness in a hot place, one feels very happy and comfortable and one is in control. So
when one is not committed to goodness, one has a lot of problems and is very uncomfortable and
is not really in control of the situation. When one has this commitment to virtue, it is the key to
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happiness and one controls one’s life. So that word “coolness” really gives a very vivid insight
into the whole nature of self-control and good conduct. The Buddha has given us certain
commitments and vows to develop our good qualities and give up our bad qualities. But if we
can’t give up all the bad things totally, we shouldn’t become depressed and think that there is no
way we can practice the dharma. The Buddha in his compassion has given us many different
kinds of commitments. We can take the vows of full ordination of a monk or nun and commit
ourself to a great deal of virtue and refrain from all unvirtuous things. If we can’t manage that,
there is the level of novice ordination. Then there are the eight layman’s vows called the genyan
vows in Tibetan to take all eight vows, but can take one, two, or however many we can manage
to practice. Even if we can’t manage these vows for our whole life, we can make them for
periods of time. We can observe the eight precepts for one day or a number of days such as while
we are in retreat. So it is a very flexible situation that can be adopted by different persons
according to their capacities. The motivation of the hinayana practitioner is mainly concerned
with working on his or her own happiness and liberation. At this level one is not especially
concerned with helping everyone. Nevertheless, working principally for one’s own emancipation
is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a very good thing because if one is not able to help everyone, at
least one is removing the suffering and its causes for oneself. There is nothing at all wrong with
that. Of course, if one can work helping everyone, that is very wonderful. Actually, wishing to
help others is not too workable until one has some degree of clarity and emancipation oneself.
Therefore, working towards one’s own purification is a very positive step on the journey towards
eventually helping others. It is very good especially for individuals beginning the spiritual path,
because it is much easier to think in terms of benefiting oneself. This is why the first wheel of
dharma was the phase of the Buddha’s teaching which was mainly concerned with showing the
way to self-liberation.

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 CONCLUSION
Buddhism is a religion that can adapt to the needs of changing times. During the agricultural
period, education and information were not widespread, thus simple teachings and practice
methods of Theravada Buddhism spread in such simple and stable environment. During the
commercial era, political power was above all. Mahayana Buddhism once valued by rulers
prevailed, historical records of Buddhism during China's Tang dynasty and the subsequent
dynasties are such examples. Leaping into the age of technology, advanced technology
overwhelms political, economic, military and cultural domains, there is no boundary between
countries, this change greatly influences the way human thinks and lives.

After the death of Buddha, Buddhism was divided into two sects namely Mahayana and
Hinayana. The terms Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle or Modest Vehicle) and Mahayana (Greater
Vehicle or Vast Vehicle) originated in The Prajnaparamita Sutras (The Sutras on Far-Reaching
Discriminating Awareness, The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras).

Hinayana follows the original teaching of Buddha. It emphasizes individual salvation through
self discipline and meditation.

Mahayana sect of Buddhism believes in the heavenliness of Buddha and believes in Idol
Worship. Mahayan sect spread from India to several other nations such as China, Korea, Japan,
Taiwan, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Mangolia. Mahayana believes in Mantras. Its main principles
were based on the possibility of universal liberation from suffering for all beings. That’ why, this
sect is called Mahayana (The Great Vehicle). Its principles are also based on the existence of
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas embodying Buddha nature. It allows salvation through having faith
and committing oneself to Buddha.

Mahayana worships the bodhisattvas and read the Mahayana sutras while Hinayanists do not
perform these.

Mahayana Buddhism followers think that The Buddha is a God because they think that the
Buddha came down to earth to help people cross the sea of life. So the Buddha can be
worshipped as a God because he is eternal and comes down to earth.

On the other hand Hinayana Buddhists think that The Buddha was a Human instead of a God
because they think The Buddha was simply a man who found a way to Nirvana.

Hinayana think that The Buddha is an ordinary person because he has many human-like
characteristics such as looking like a person, being born like a person, living like a person
besides if he was a God he would have already known about old-aged people, diseased people

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and dead people. So Siddhartha Gautama is an ordinary person who devoted most of his life to
finding the truth of life, to reach enlightenment. Also the fact that Siddhartha Gautama didn’t
know how to meditate before reaching the Meditation Masters suggests that Siddhartha Gautama
didn’t know how to meditate and so couldn’t have been a God.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
1. INDIAN ANCIENT PAST BY R.S SHARMA.
2. ANCIENT HISTORY BY ROMILA THAPAR.
3. HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA BY SATISH CHANDRA.
4. AN INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM TEACHING, HISTORY, AND
PRACTICES BY PETER HARVEY.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhist
2. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinayana
4. https://www.diamondway-buddhism.org/buddhism
5. https://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/buddhism/theravada-mahayana

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