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Studies in Buddhadharma - On the Buddhayâna : the One Buddha Vehicle

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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"These three things, monks, are conducted in secret, not openly. What three ? Affairs of woman, the mantras of the Brahmins, and wrong view. But these three things, monks, shine openly, not in secret. What three ? The Moon, the Sun and the Dharma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathâgata."
- Ekottarâgama (Anguttara-nikâya), 3:129.
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Lesser Vehicle
Hînayâna

Hearer Vehicle

Śrâvakayâna

Middle Vehicle
Mâdhyamayâna

Solitary Realizer Vehicle

Pratyekabuddhayâna

Great Vehicle
Mahâyâna

Great Perfection Vehicle

Pâramitâyâna - Sûtrayâna - Bodhisattvayâna

Diamond Vehicle

Tantrayâna - Mantrayâna
Guhyamantrayâna - Vajrayana

Outer Tantras
Inner Tantras
Dzogchen (or Mahâsandhi) - Mahâmudrâ - Zen
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As a pragmatical & non-elitist religious philosophy, the Buddhadharma applies to everyday life as well as to abstract thought. It has "84.000 Dharma doors" leading to "nirvâna", the wisdom-mind of enlightenment attending to the ultimate nature of phenomena, emptiness.

"Nirvâna" is either (a) the bliss of liberation for oneself alone (as in the Hînayâna), (b) the final enlightenment of Buddhahood realized with Mahâyâna Bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, in particular "ultimate Bodhicitta", the wisdom-mind realizing the true nature of phenomena, emptiness or (c) the spontaneously self-perfected recognition of the inseparability of emptiness & clarity, as in Dzogchen.

Buddhadharma or Buddha's teachings on the Buddhayâna or "vehicle of enlightenment" is divided into Sûtra, Tantra and Dzogchen. Each of these has a different base, ground or view, a different path and thus a different fruit or result. Compare this to a three-tiered building.

In a general utilitarian sense, cognitive systems bringing benefits to a large number of sentient beings are worthy of respect. These "vehicles" or "paths" help the individual to cross the ocean of suffering and to find better physical, psychological, social, economical & spiritual conditions. Such increased happiness and surplus always benefits others as well.


The Buddhadharma points to three such vehicles ("yânas") :


  1. the human vehicles : invented by human beings for human beings, these secular systems try to guarantee their basic needs : food, housing, health care, education, family life, social services, a system of law, democracy, etc. Despite the many international organisations, humanity has not yet been able to establish a just human vehicle worldwide. Even today, when this should already be the case, it is shamefully not so !

On the contrary, the division between those who benefit from such systems and those who do not is becoming increasingly wider. Social injustice is rampant worldwide ! Hence, one may doubt the stand-alone effectiveness of these vehicles. It seems as if they incorporate the very causes of the suffering they intend to relief ;

  1. the Divine vehicle : invented by the gods for human beings, Buddha spoke of the "Brahma Vehicle", compromizing meditative techniques aiming to achieve the highest possible form of life within "samsâra". In particular, the Divine vehicle promotes the concentrations & absorptions of the form and formless realms of cyclic, conditioned existence, aiming at the highest "Jhâna", the so-called "Peak of Samsâra" (or cosmic consciousness).

References to these states are found in all spiritual systems and religions. This vehicle leads to Divine states of consciousness and, according to the Buddha, rebirth as a "Deva" or Deity in the God-realm of cyclic existence. However, the Buddha experienced why these states, although extremely blissful & lasting for a very long time, are, at the end of the day, also transient & painful and so not the result sought.

Indeed, Buddhists wish to attain the lasting peace of "nirvâna", i.e. a condition which effectively never ends ! So in final analysis, the power of death must be eradicated, implying one is able to control one's rebirth or stop rebirth altogether, which belongs to liberation & Buddhahood ;


  1. the Buddha Vehicle : the Triyâna or "Three Vehicles" taught by Buddha Śâkyamuni are actually one vehicle, the Buddhayâna or Buddha Vehicle. In other words, the Individual or Lesser Vehicle ("Hînayâna"), the Great Vehicle ("Mahâyâna") and the Diamond Vehicle ("Vajrayâna") are three aspects of the one Buddha Vehicle, leading those gone for Refuge in the Three Jewels to lasting, true peace or "nirvâna", i.e. "passing beyond suffering".


This is no longer a samsaric, mundane state of mind (secular or Divine), but an ineffable, totally transcendent, supramundane "Body of Truth" or "Dharmakâya", introduced by direct experiential recognition only.

The Buddha Vehicle accommodates various types of seekers and can be seen as a three-tiered building, each with its view, path & fruit. Reformulating these divisions in more operational terms, classifying the teachings from "lesser" to "highest", we arrive at :

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Hînayâna :
personal
liberation

Hearer view : Selflessness of persons

path : purification
fruit : liberation of Arhathood

Solitary Buddha
Arhat or Foe Destroyer

Mahâyâna :
enlightenment
of all sentient
beings

Sûtrayâna view : Mâdhyamaka / Yogâchâra

path of renunciation
fruit : distant Buddhahood

Tantrayâna view : Śûnyâtâyâna

path of transformation
fruit : near Buddhahood

Dzogchen view : total primordial purity

path of self-liberation
fruit : immediate Buddhahood

So, depending on their ability to realize a view & its concordant path, the Buddha Vehicle forsees each type of practitioners to generate his or her own co-relative spiritual fruit :

Source

bodhi.sofiatopia.org