Nine Vehicles of the Teachings
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The Nyingma tradition classifies the teachings of the Buddha according to a system of nine vehicles, or yanas. The yanas do not said to represent separate altogether different approaches; instead each of them is a step toward the next, which naturally includes the preceding ones. According to the Nyingma, the highest teaching is that of Atiyoga, or Dzogchen (rdzogs chen).
Before summarizing the main features of each of the nine vehicles, it is useful to first establish the distinction between worldly or mundane vehicles, which cannot take the practitioner beyond samsara, and supramundane vehicles, which can lead first to freedom from samsara and, ultimately, to enlightenment.