HinaYana Buddhism ― When used in reference to a MetaPhysical Orientation as to Tradition, Culture or Preferred Flavour, is primarily defined, usually selfdefined by its members and/or adherents as such, and holding the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, and/or interpolations thereon as a primary or critical parameter of their Spiritual Paradigm. (also see: the complete entry on Buddhism.) The first movement Hinayana, or "Lesser Vehicle" has its origins around 500BC which developed into Theravada. As the ancient form of Buddhism, it is still found in Sri Lanka and most of the continental Southeast Asia. The emphasis in this movement is on monastic life, where one becomes an arhat who tries to reach individual saintliness and extinction at the end of his life. According to the teachings, Buddha was a mortal teacher who reached nirvana, and ultimately ceased to remain at our level of existence. The term Hinayana refers to the group of Buddhist schools or sects that appeared before the common era and those directly derived from them. The word Hinayana, which means "small vehicle," that is, "lesser means of progress" toward liberation. Some postulate that there is no monolithic Buddhism as such, but that there are Buddhisms such as Sinhala Buddhism or more precisely Sinhala Theravada Buddhism, Siam or Thai Buddhism, Myanmar or Amarapura Buddhism and so forth. Indeed, the Mahayana charged those of Hinayana with selfishly pursuing only their own personal salvation, whereas they themselves claimed an interest in the liberation of all beings and vowed to postpone their own deliverance until the end of time. In other words, the ideal of the practitioners of the Hinayana was the arhat (Pali, arahant), the saint who has attained nirvana, while that of the Mahayana was the bodhisattva, the all-compassionate hero who, resolving to become a Buddha in some far-distant future, dedicated the course of his innumerable lives to saving being of all kinds. It would be more correct to give the name "Early Buddhism" to what is called Hinayana, for the term denotes the whole collection of the most ancient forms of Buddhism: those earlier than the rise of Mahayana and those that share the same inspiration as these and those that share inspiration as these and have the same ideal, namely the arhat. Although it is directly descended from the earliest Buddhism - that originally peached by the Buddha himself, this early Buddhism is distinguished from it by the continual additions and reformulation of its adherents and teachers in their desire to deepen and perfect the interpretation of the ancient teaching. This constant, and quite legitimate, effort gave rise to many debates, controversies, and divisions that resulted in the appearance of a score of sects or schools. The actual original teaching of the Buddha is accessible to us only through the canonic texts of these schools, texts that were set down in writing only about the beginning of the common era and reflect the divergence that already existed among these sects. Moreover, only a very small part in this vast canonic literature has survived, either in its original Indian language or in Chinese or Tibetan translation, and for this reason our knowledge of the doctrine taught by the Buddha himself still remains rather vague and conjectural. The many differences that exist between canonic texts involve not only their wording or written form but also a certain number of doctrinal elements and rules of monastic discipline. Despite the disaggregative pressures to which they were exposed, despite their geographical expansion and sometimes considerable dispersion, notwithstanding the vicissitudes of history, which often posed new problems for them, most of the schools preserved a remarkable internal cohesiveness throughout several centuries. Still, schisms did occur within many of them, leading to the formation of new schools. However, the relations among these various groups were generally good. Their disputes remained at a level of more or less lively discussion and degenerated into more serious conflicts only when involving questions of economics or politics. Several factors account for these divisions and for the formation of the abovementioned sects or schools. First of all, the Buddhist monastic community never know a supreme authority, imposing its unity by powerful and diverse methods, as was long the case in Christianity with its papacy. If we believe some canonic texts that seem to faithfully reflect reality, the Buddha himself was probably faced with several instances of insubordination on the part of certain groups of his monks and was not always able to overcome them. The oldest traditions, furthermore, agree that he did not designate a successor to head the community but only counseled his followers to remain faithful to his Doctrine (Dharma). This is a fragile defence against the forces that tried to break up the community once it was "orphaned" by the death of its founder. For at least five centuries, the Buddha's teaching was actually preserved by oral transmission alone, very probably in different, through related, dialects. This, and the absence of an authoritative ecclesiastical hierarchy in the samgha, constitute two obvious sources of progressive distortion and alternation of the message left by the Blessed One to his immediate disciples. Furthermore, this message was not entirely clear or convincing to everyone it addressed, leading Buddhist preachers to furnish explanations and interpretations of the teaching. Finally, the teaching given by the Buddha was far from a complete system containing solutions to all the problems that might occur to the minds of people as diverse as those it was destined to reach. Precisely two months after His Enlightenment on the Asalha (July) full moon day the Buddha delivered His first discourse to the five monks that attended on Him. Dhammacakka is the name given to this first discourse of the Buddha. It is frequently represented as meaning "The Kingdom of Truth." "The Kingdom of Righteousness." "The Wheel of Truth." According to the commentators Dhamma here means wisdom or knowledge, and Cakka means founding or establishment. Dhammacakka therefore means the founding or establishment of wisdom. Dhammacakkappavattana means The Exposition of the Establishment of Wisdom. Dhamma may also be interpreted as Truth, and cakka as wheel. Dhammacakkappavattana would therefore mean -- The Turning or The Establishment of the Wheel of Truth. In this most important discourse the Buddha expounds the Middle Path which He Himself discovered and which forms the essence of His new teaching. He opened the discourse by exhorting the five monks who believed in strict asceticism to avoid the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification as both do not lead to perfect Peace and Enlightenment. The former retards one's spiritual progress, the latter weakens one's intellect. He criticized both views as He realized by personal experience their futility and enunciated the most practicable, rational and beneficial path, which alone leads to perfect purity and absolute Deliverance. This discourse was expounded by the Buddha while He was residing at the Deer Park in Isipatana near Benares. The intellectual five monks who were closely associated with the Buddha for six years were the only human beings that were present to hear the sermon. Books state that many invisible beings such as Devas and Brahmas also took advantage of the golden opportunity of listening to the sermon. As Buddhists believe in the existence of realms other than this world, inhabited by beings with subtle bodies imperceptible to the physical eye, possibly many Devas and Brahmas were also present on this great occasion. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Buddha was directly addressing the five monks and the discourse was intended mainly for them. At the outset the Buddha cautioned them to avoid the two extremes. His actual words were:-- "There are two extremes (anta) which should not be resorted to by a recluse (pabbajitena)," Special emphasis was laid on the two terms "anta" which means end or extreme and "pabbajita" which means one who has renounced the world. One extreme, in the Buddha's own words, was the constant attachment to sensual pleasures (kamasukhallikanuyoga). The Buddha described this extreme as base, vulgar, worldly, ignoble, and profitless. This should not be misunderstood to mean that the Buddha expects all His followers to give up material pleasures and retire to a forest without enjoying this life. The Buddha was not so narrow minded. Whatever the deluded sensualist may feel about it, to the dispassionate thinker the enjoyment of sensual pleasures is distinctly short-lived, never completely satisfying, and results in unpleasant reactions. Speaking of wordly happiness, the Buddha says that the acquisition of wealth and the enjoyment of possessions are two sources of pleasure for a layman. An understanding recluse would not however seek delight in the pursuit of these fleeting pleasures. To the surprise of the average man he might shun them. What constitutes pleasure to the former is a source of alarm to the latter to whom renunciation alone is pleasure. The other extreme is the constant addiction to self-mortification (attakilamathanuyoga). Commenting on this extreme, which is not practised by the ordinary man, the Buddha remarks that it is painful, ignoble, and profitless. Unlike the first extreme this is not described as base, worldly, and vulgar. The selection of these three terms is very striking. As a rule it is the sincere recluse who has renounced his attachment to sensual pleasures that resorts to this painful method, mainly with the object of gaining his deliverance from the ills of life. The Buddha, who has had painful experience of this profitless course, describes it as useless. It only multiplies suffering instead of diminishing it. The Buddhas and Arahants are described as Ariyas meaning Nobles. Anariya (ignoble) may therefore be construed as not characteristic of the Buddha and Arahants who are free from passions. Attha means the ultimate Good, which for a Buddhist is Nibbana, the complete emancipation from suffering. Therefore anatthasamhita may be construed as not conducive to ultimate Good. The Buddha at first cleared the issues and removed the false notions of His hearers. When their troubled minds became pliable and receptive the Buddha related His personal experience with regard to these two extremes. The Buddha says that He (the Tathagata), realizing the error of both these two extremes, followed a middle path. This new path or way was discovered by Himself. The Buddha termed His new system Majjhima Patipada -- the Middle Way. To persuade His disciples to give heed to His new path He spoke of its various blessings. Unlike the two diametrically opposite extremes this middle path produces spiritual insight and intellectual wisdom to see things as they truly are. When the insight is clarified and the intellect is sharpened everything is a seen in its true perspective. Furthermore, unlike the first extreme which stimulates passions, this Middle Way leads to the subjugation of passions which results in Peace. Above all it leads to the attaintment of the four supramundane Paths of Sainthood, to the understanding of the four Noble Truths, and finally to the realization of the ultimate Goal, Nibbana. Now, what is the Middle Way? The Buddha replies: It is the Noble Eightfold Path. The eight factors are then enumerated in the discourse. The first factor is Right View, the keynote of Buddhism. The Buddha started with Right View in order to clear the doubts of the monks and guide them on the right way. Right View deals with the knowledge of oneself as one really is; it leads to Right Resolve or renunciation (nekkhammasamkappa), loving-kindness (avyapada samkappa), and harmlessness (avihimsa samhappa), which are opposed to selfishness, illwill, and cruelty respectively. Right Resolve result in Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood, which three factors perfect one's morality. The sixth factor is Right Effort which deals with the elimination of evil states and the development of good states in oneself. This self-purification is best done by a careful introspection, for which Right Mindfulness, the seventh factor, is essential. Effort, combined with Mindfulness, produces Right Concentration or one-pointedness of the mind, the eighth factor. A one-pointed mind resembles a polished mirror where everything is clearly reflected with no distortion. Prefacing the discourse with the two extremes and His newly discovered Middle Way, the Buddha expounded the Four Noble Truths in detail. Sacca is the Pali term for Truth which means that which is. Its Samskrit equivalent is satya which denotes an incontrovertible fact. The Buddha enunciates four such Truths, the foundations of His teaching, which are associated with the so-called being. Hence His doctrine is homocentric, opposed to theocentric religions. It is introvert and not extrovert. Whether the Buddha arises or not these Truths exist, and it is a Buddha that reveals them to the deluded world. They do not and cannot change with time, because they are eternal truths. The Buddha was not indebted to anyone for His realization of them, as He Himself remarked in this discourse thus: "With regard to things unheard before, there arose in me the eye, the knowledge, the wisdom, the insight and the light." These words are very significant because they testify to the originality of His new Teaching. Hence there is no justification in the statement that Buddhism is a natural outgrowth of Hinduism, although it is true that there are some fundamental doctrines common to both systems. These Truths are in Pali termed Ariya Saccani. They are so called because they were discovered by the Greatest Ariya, that is, one who is far removed from passions.

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Capital A with ring aboveÅ   Capital A with macronĀ   Capital A with breveĂ   Capital A with diaeresisÄ   Capital A with circumflex   Capital A with dot aboveȦ   Capital A with inverted breveȂ   Capital A with tildeà   Capital A with ogonekĄ   Capital AE ligatureÆ   Capital AE ligature with tildeÆ̃   Capital Glottal Stop⦾   Capital Palatoalveolar Click⊛   Regular English AA   Script Capital Lℒ   Capital L with macron aboveL̅   Capital L with dot belowḶ   Capital L with stroke, Dark L Ł   Regular English LL   Capital WHω   Capital W with macron aboveW̅   Capital W with dot belowẈ   Regular English WW   Capital Slide H with reverse solidusℋ⃥   Capital H with macron aboveH̅   Capital H with dot belowḤ   Aspirate^○   Slight Pause⚫   Very Slight Pause⚬   Regular English HH   Capital S with macron aboveS̅   Capital S with dot aboveṠ   Capital SH sign∫   Capital SKΣ   Regular English SS   Hard and Deep Capital DД   High and Light Capital D∇   Regular English DD   Capital O with ring aboveO̊   Capital O with macronŌ   Capital O with breveŎ   Capital O with diaeresisÖ   Capital O with solidusØ   Capital OE ligatureŒ   Capital O with Cyrillic Round OmegaѺ   Capital OIꙔ   Capital O with ogonekǪ   Capital O with double oo topტ   Regular English OO   Capital EZJHʑ   Capital Z with macron belowẔ   Capital Z with dot aboveŻ   Regular English ZZ   Capital K with macron aboveК̅   Capital K with dot below К̣   Capital Hard KHχ   Capital KHƙ   Regular English KK   Capital V with macron aboveV̅   Capital V with dot belowṾ   Regular English VV   Capital G with macronḠ   Capital G with dot aboveĠ   Capital GNΓ   Capital GRЖ   Capital GW   Capital Uvular Voiced ImplosiveϘ   Regular English GG   Capital rolled R with macronЯ̅   Capital rolled R with dot aboveЯ̇   Capital R with macron aboveR̅   Capital R with dot above Ṙ   Capital R with ogonek R̨   Regular English RR   Capital C with cedillaÇ   Capital CHЧ   Regular English CC   Capital N with macron aboveN̅   Capital N with dot belowṆ   Capital N with tildeÑ   Capital NGŋ   Capital NG with macron aboveŋ̅   Regular English NN   Capital Y with macron above Ȳ   Capital Y with dot aboveẎ   Capital Y with yaw aboveЎ   Regular English YY   Capital J with macron aboveЈ̅   Capital J with dot belowЈ̣   Regular English JJ   Capital U with a ring aboveŮ   Capital U with macronŪ   Capital U with breveŬ   Capital U with circumflex aboveÛ   Capital U with diaeresisÜ   Regular English UU   Capital F with macron aboveF̅   Capital F with dot aboveḞ   Regular English FF   Capital Q with macron aboveQ̅   Capital Q with dot aboveQ̇   Regular English QQ   Capital B with macronB̅   Capital B with dot belowḄ   Trilled B   Regular English BB   Capital M with macronM̅   Capital M with dot belowṂ   Capital M with tilde M̃   Capital MB   Capital MGⱮ   Regular English MM   Capital X with macron aboveX̅   Capital X with dot aboveẊ   Regular English XX   Capital I with macronĪ   Capital I with breveĬ   Regular English II   Capital T with macron aboveT̅   Capital T with dot belowṬ   Capital TH voicedΘ   Capital TH voicelessÞ   Capital TSЦ   Capital TSCHЩ   Regular English TT   Capital E with macronĒ   Capital E with breveĔ   Capital E with circumflexÊ   Capital schwa Ə   Regular English EE   Capital P with macron aboveP̅   Capital P with dot aboveṖ   Capital pT   Regular English PP

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