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Hīnayāna is a Sanskrit term literally meaning: the "Smaller Vehicle",〔Kalu Rinpoche (1995) ''Profound Buddhism From Hinayana To Vajrayana'': p. 15〕 applied to the ''Śrāvakayāna'', the Buddhist path followed by a śrāvaka who wishes to become an arhat. The term appeared around the first or second century. Hīnayāna is often contrasted with Mahāyāna, which means the "Great Vehicle." There are a variety of interpretations as to who or what the term Hīnayāna refers. Kalu Rinpoche stated the "lesser" or "greater" designation "does not refer to economic or social status, but concerns the spiritual capacities of the practitioner".〔 The Chinese monk Yijing, who visited India in the 7th century, distinguished Mahāyāna from Hīnayāna as follows:〔Williams, Paul (2008) ''Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations'': p. 5〕 The term was widely used in the past by Western scholars to cover "the earliest system of Buddhist doctrine", as the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary put it.〔Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (Oxford, 1899), ''Proper Noun: "simpler or lesser vehicle. Name of the earliest system of Buddhist doctrine (opposite to the later Mahayana; see Yana)."〕 It has been used as a synonym for the Theravada tradition, which continues as the main form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, but some scholars deny that the term included Theravada Buddhism. In 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists declared that the term Hīnayana should not be used when referring to any form of Buddhism existing today. ==Etymology== The word Hīnayāna is formed of ''hīna'': "little," "poor," "inferior," "abandoned," "deficient," "defective;" and ''yāna'' (यान): "vehicle", where "vehicle" means "a way of going to enlightenment". The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary (1921–25) defines ''hīna'' in even stronger terms, with a semantic field that includes "poor, miserable; vile, base, abject, contemptible," and "despicable." The term was translated by Kumārajīva and others into Classical Chinese as "small vehicle" (小 meaning "small", 乘 meaning "vehicle"), although earlier and more accurate translations of the term also exist. In Mongolian (''Baga Holgon'') the term for Hinayana also means "small" or "lesser" vehicle,〔''It is also certain that Buddhist groups and individuals in China (including Tibet), Korea, Vietnam, and Japan have in the past, as in the very recent present, identified themselves as Mahayana Buddhists, even if the polemical or value claim embedded in that term was only dimly felt, if at all.'', Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 492〕 while in Tibetan there are at least two words to designate the term, ''theg chung'' meaning "small vehicle" and ''theg dman'' meaning "inferior vehicle" or "inferior spiritual approach". Thrangu Rinpoche has emphasized that "hinayana" is in no way implying "inferior". In his translation and commentary of Asanga's ''Distinguishing Dharma from Dharmata'', he writes, "all three traditions of hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana were practiced in Tibet and that the hinayana which literally means "lesser vehicle" is in no way inferior to the mahayana."〔Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. ''Distinguishing Dharma and Dharmata.'' 1999. p. 113〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hinayana」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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