To know these views is something important for those who wish to practice the dharma and for those who just have an interest in understanding what the dharma teachings are about.

The way to understand the Buddha’s teachings is to see that they are divided into either the three yanas or the four philosophical tenets. First I will explain the three yanas. The first of the yanas is the Shravakayana, the vehicle of the hearers, and the main teaching of the Shravakayana is the view of selflessness; the view of the emptiness of the self of the individual. So they determine and meditate on that. Then the second yana is the Pratyekabuddhayana, the vehicle of the solitary Buddhas. The followers of these teachings meditate on the selflessness of the individual and they also determine the emptiness of perceived phenomenon. Everything that is an object of perception, they understand to be empty of true existence. It is said that they understand the emptiness of the individual and half the emptiness of phenomena because they know that the outer objects are empty. Then the third yana is the Mahayana or the Bodhisattvayana. Followers of these teachings determine both the emptiness of the individual and the emptiness of phenomena, thoroughly. Meaning they understand that both the outer objects that are perceived and the inner perceiving subjects, are empty of true existence.

The presentation of there being three yanas, is a presentation made by the Mahayana itself. This is also something you have to know. The Mahayana also divides the vehicles into two; the lesser and the greater. In this division, the lesser would be the Shravakayana and the Pratyekabuddhayana and of course Mahayana, the greater. The Mahayana is the greater one because they are the ones making the division. (laughter).

Then there is the division into three: the Shravakayana and the Pratyekabuddhayana into the Hinayana, second the Mahayana and third the Vajrayana. This is a Vajrayana presentation and in the Vajrayana tradition then the most profound teachings are the Vajrayana teachings because they are the ones making the division (laughter).

Then there is the Dzogchen presentation of there being nine yanas and in fact, there can be said to be limitless yanas or vehicles. This the Buddha said in the teachings because he said that since there are limitless concepts, then each concept has it’s own specific method for pacifying it. So there are therefore limitless yanas, one yana for each concept that there could be. In the sutra of the Travel to Lanka, the Lankavatarra sutra, the Buddha said that for as long as mind is active then the number of vehicles will be limitless. For as long as mind is thinking about things and conceptualising then there will be different yanas as specific remedies for each mode of mind’s conceptual engagement. So when we say yana or vehicle then what we mean is something that is a remedy for concepts, something that is a remedy that tames concepts in a specific way.

Then if we look at things from the perspective of the philosophical tenets, in the Shravakayana there are two; first, the Particularist school or Vaibhashika and second the Sutra school or Sautrantika. Then in the Mahayana, there are the Mind-only or the Cittamatra and the Middle-way or the Madhyamaka. For those who wish to know the view of the philosophy of Buddhism then the best way to learn it is to know the differences between the views of these four philosophical schools. And when Buddhists talk to non-Buddhists who are interested in learning the Buddha’s teaching, then the best thing for them to talk about if people express an interest in Buddhist philosophy, are these four philosophical schools. And if for one’s own benefit, one wishes to know the view in an increasingly subtle way, then the best way to begin to study the view is through studying the views of the four philosophical schools because if one just starts out with what one believes is a very high view and thinks “well now I’ve learned the high view I don’t need to learn the lower views”, then one will be thinking that one has a high view without really knowing why it’s high, because one has nothing to compare it to. So for that reason it’s good to progress step by step.

From among all of the proponents of whatever philosophical tenet it might be, there is no-one who thinks that they have an inferior view to somebody else. So according to any specific follower of any tenet, they are always going to say that their view is the most profound because if one thinks that one’s own view is inferior to something else’s, one won’t be very enthusiastic about listening to teachings about it and meditating on it. Therefore, when we hear this presentation of the philosophical views, it’s really up to us to make the decision of what we think is the most profound presentation. When the Buddha made these presentations of the different philosophical views, the point was to allow people to investigate with their own intelligence the various teachings and in that way to become very skilled in the different philosophical views and to be able to learn how to analyse things for themselves.

© Copyright Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche & Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications 2002.