//during Buddha's
time, there were no Theravada or Mahayana, nor Vajrayana or
Hinayana. these are labels.//
This statement is
partly true. I am also aware of a
certain inclination in this forum but I will speak my mind,
nevertheless.
During Buddha’s
lifetime, there was one sangha. After
his death, schism occurred within the Buddha-sangha. His original disciples split, went to different
regions and formed their own sanghas.
After decades, roughly two major divisions emerged – northern and
southern schools (just like martial art!). The difference lies in the ‘yana’ or vehicle
to take one to Nirvana or Nibbana. The
‘major’ schools further split into sub-schools, culminating in more
or less 18 sects, not all of which survived today. There are names to identify these sects, and it is
simplistic to dismiss the various sects as mere labels.
There are differences – large or small,
for sure. As a matter of fact, new
Buddhist sects were being surreptitiously formed the last couple of
centuries!
Hinayana means
‘inferior vehicle’, a term used to describe pre-Mahayana school of
Buddhism. Mahayana means ‘great way’, a
school developed some 500 years after the death of
Buddha.
Looking at Buddhist
sects today, one can say that there are those which fall under
pre-Mahayana (there was no original term Hinayana because Hinayana
was coined by Mahayanists) such as Theravada, and those which fall
under Mahayana such as Chan, Zen, etc. or variations of Buddhism as
practiced in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Taiwan. Mahayana
reflects distinct influence of Hinduism and as it later adopted
more Hindu concepts led to yet another movement –
Vajrayana.
Vajrayana use
esoteric text and mantras. It too
spread to many countries but remained predominantly in Tibet,
Bhutan and Mongolia.
Theravada originated
from Sri Lanka (trace back to Rev Mahinda, a son of King Asoka),
based on Pali Tipitaka which developed at the Mahavihara, a
monastery in Anuradhapura, ancient capital of Sri
Lanka. The Mahayanists considered
Theravada as Hinayana.
It is necessary to
know these backgrounds, the historical facts and developments so
that you know where you are coming from when you ‘embrace’ a
particular school, not just labels.
Having said this, it is also necessary to know the differences
between Hinayana and Mahayana in greater detail and there are many
scholastic literatures.
For this thread in
particular, Mahayana claims that their
ideal practitioner, the bodhisattva, strives to liberate all
beings. Mahayana considered the arahat
is intent to liberate himself/herself only.