Hinayana

/hee'neuh yah"neuh/, n.

earlier of the two great schools of Buddhism, still prevalent in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia, emphasizing personal salvation through one's own efforts. Also called Theravada. Cf. Mahayana.

[1865-70; < Skt, equiv. to hina lesser, inferior + yana vehicle]

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Name given to the more conservative schools of Buddhism.

A Sanskrit word meaning "Lesser Vehicle" (because it is concerned with the individual's salvation), it was first applied pejoratively to the established Buddhist schools by followers of the more liberal Mahayana ("Greater Vehicle," because it is concerned with universal salvation) tradition. The ancient Hinayana schools continued to prosper after the rise of the Mahayana in the 1st century AD, but Theravada Buddhism was the only Hinayana school that maintained a strong position after the collapse of Indian Buddhism in the 13th century.

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▪ Buddhism

      (Sanskrit: “Lesser Vehicle”), the more orthodox, conservative schools of Buddhism; the name Hīnayāna was applied to these schools by the followers of the Mahāyāna (Mahayana) Buddhist tradition in ancient India. The name reflected the Mahāyānists' evaluation of their own tradition as a superior method, surpassing the others in universality and compassion; but the name was not accepted by the conservative schools as referring to a common tradition.

      In one sense, all of the so-called 18 schools of ancient Buddhism are Hīnayānist, in that they predate the emergence of Mahāyāna ideas as a separate doctrine. The modern upholders of the ancient Hīnayāna tradition are the Theravādins (followers of the Way of the Elders), who are but one of the 18 ancient schools. See Theravāda (Theravada).

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