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Although all the Buddha’s
teachings form one unified body, they may be
separated into different layers of the same entity.
Buddhists refer to these layers as “vehicles”, which
may be defined as systems of practice by which one
progresses to higher spiritual states.
Not everyone has the same emotional, intellectual,
or spiritual capacities. We are the product of our
past thoughts and actions, of Karma, and since our
Karma varies, so do our inherent abilities. It is
with these differences in mind that the Buddha
propagated his various teachings. That is, he did
not teach everyone in the same way. To some he
taught simple truths, to others more complex ones,
and even the simple and the complex had their own
gradations. That does not mean, however, that his
teachings were ever contradictory. Rather, they
graduated from simplicity to complexity, even while
dealing with the same subject.
Bhutanese Buddhists believe that the three main
vehicles of Buddhism can be arranged in their
increasing order or complexity and advancement as
follows:
Hinayana or the Lesser Vehicle, which is dedicated
to the proposition that each person has to work out
his own salvation through monastic self-discipline.
Hinayana has been compared to a slow but fruitful
walk towards a state of liberation from cyclic
existence, which, however, falls short of Buddha
hood.
Mahayana or the Great Vehicle, which proposes
salvation for the entire universe through the
intervention of Bodhisattvas potentially divine
Buddha’s who, out of compassion; refuse to enter
Nirvana until all sentient beings have been saved.
Mahayana has been compared to traveling in a car,
were progress is quicker but at the same time; an
accident can be more serious.
Tantrayana, or Vajrayana, or the Secret Mantra
Vehicle, which may be said to be a higher expression
of Mahayana, and is both esoteric in nature and the
quickest path to enlightenment, affording precise
techniques to advanced and initiated pupils for
attaining the supreme spiritual goal in a single
life time. Tantrayana has been compared to taking a
trip on a supersonic plane an intoxicating
experience granting that no accident occurs, which
may very well prove fatal.
Buddhist scholar-saints have brought out the
interdependence of the three “years “in the
following observation:
Outward conduct is practiced in accordance with
Vinaya (Hinayana). Inwardly, mental activity is
practiced with Bodhimind (Mahayana). Practiced in
secrecy is Tantra (Vajrayana).
The state religion of Bhutan is Buddhism of the
Mahayana tradition, including Vajrayana. In the
light of what has been said above, it may be added
that, from the Mahayana point of view, it is
erroneous to talk, as many non-practicing scholars
do, in such terms as “original Buddhism”. It may
also be noted that Buddhists do not normally speak
of their own religion as “Buddhism,” but usually
refer to it as the “Dharma” a Sanskrit word that in
this context, means “to hold one back from impending
disaster.” |
