[Buddha-l] three vehicles.

[Michael Essex]

It's pretty common to see the three vehicles, in the Tibetan traditions, described as:
	[DGT] [NDS] [KPC] give as: 1) nyan thos kyi theg pa Shravakayana"Hearer's vehicle"; 2) rang sangs rgyas kyi theg pa Prayekabuddhayana"Self-made buddha vehicle"; and 3) theg pa chen po Mahayana "Great vehicle".  However, these are the three vehicles when given in respect to the sūtra division of the great vehicle.  When taken from the perspective of the vajra division of the great vehicle, the first vehicle is the theg pa dman pa Hinayana "Low Vehicle"; the second is the theg pa chen po Mahayana "Great Vehicle"; and the third is the rdo rje theg pa Vajrayana "Vajra Vehicle".
adapted from the Illuminator dictionary
Mike
quote:I had always come across the three yanas as hinayana, mahayana
and vajrayana. 
This cluster you cite--shravakayana, mahayana and mantrayana--
is news to me.  
Also, I never saw shravakayana before-what's that?
Since when did mantrayana become a separate practice? 
Why can't one just use Tibetan Buddhism or Mongolian Buddhism to
apply to the various schools & locations of, leaving scholars to
reference precise differences in Tibetan or Mongolian?

Joanna