Three Vehicles and Their Resulting Enlightenments in Buddhism
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humanities/philosophy
school essay
published 09/10/2007
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SummaryThe Buddhist path leading toward nirvana is one properly undertaken with the understanding that enlightenment is something coming in degrees, and perhaps without a finite ‘ending point.’ It is not unlike the mathematical concept of a limit. “The limit of ‘the function of x’ as x approaches infinity” illustrates the spiritual progress of a person on the Buddhist path. Though the infinity point might never be reached, except in the Buddha’s ultimate parinirvana, a practitioner can aim to approach the line nonetheless. Buddhism is thus a system of existential calculus. Accordingly, the Buddha’s teachings are divided into three vehicles customized to drive different sorts of people along the same path. The Hinayana constitutes the original teachings of the Shakyamuni Buddha to his monk followers. The Mahayana scriptures are composed of teachings that were transmitted to the Buddha’s more advanced students and thus constitute more refined knowledge. The Vajrayana tradition of terma mind-treasure allows for a continuous stream of new teachings to be uncovered by highly-realized practitioners beyond the time of the historical Buddha. The three yanas are thus skillful means (upaya) that allows all people to benefit from the teachings regardless of their current position along the curve towards enlightenment; each ‘yana’ assumes a different amount of life understanding and teaches accordingly. All teach, as summarized by aphorism 183 of the Dhammapadda, “not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one’s mind (Rahula, 131).
Table of Contents
- The Buddhist path leading toward nirvana is one properly undertaken with the understanding that enlightenment is something coming in degrees, and perhaps without a finite ‘ending point.?
- The Hinayana assumes no previous understanding of the ‘function' which processes an individual ‘x' along the path towards enlightenment.
- The ten stages of bodhisattva practice
- The Mahayana's school of Citta-Matra (mind-only) incorporates theories which allow for a practical application of selfless samadhi.
- The three yanas each produce enlightened masters of distinct personalities
- The Prajnaparamita Sutra decries the false-logic which could give rise to despair at the length of ‘time' required for enlightenment in the Mahayana paradigm.
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