The Yana reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
(provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Yana

For thoughtful child sponsors
For the Native American Yana tribe see Yana (native American tribe).

Yana is a Sanskrit word meaning vehicle and which has been used in a number of schematicizations of the Buddhist teachings in which there have been one, three, five, six, and nine vehicles.

Table of contents
1 The one yana
2 The three yanas
3 The four yanas
4 The five yanas
5 The six yanas
6 The nine yanas
7 The twelve yanas
8 Western Buddhism : a new yana?
9 External links

The one yana

This idea comes from the late Mahayana and refers to teachings contained in texts such as the White Lotus Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra which claim to unite all the different teachings into a single great way. Hence they are callled Ekayana which is Sanskrit for 'one vehicle'

The three yanas

Two different schema's of three yanas are used:

Firstly is the three yanas from the point of view of the Mahayana which classified earlier teachings as culminating in the lesser goals of Arahant or Solitary Buddha (Pratyekabuddha), that is an indidividual who achieves liberation, but does not teach other beings.

A second better known classification came into use with the rise of the Vajrayana, which created a hierarchy of the teachings with the Vajrayana being the highest path. The Vajrayana itself become multilayered especially in Tibetan Buddhism.

In this list each yana is also talked about as a "turning of the wheel" which is a traditional India reference to the teaching of the Dharma. In the Pali Canon the first teaching is called the Dhammacakkappavatana Sutta or the First Turning of the Wheel of the Buddhist Teaching. The Mahayana then styled itself as a second, turning of the wheel, and the Vajrayana a third.

The four yanas

The four yanas are the two different schemes of the three yanas subsumed:

The five yanas

This is a Mahayana list which is found in East Asian Buddhism.

The six yanas

The five yanas plus the Vajrayana. This schema is associated with Shingon Buddhism in Japan. It was invented by Kukai in order to help to differentiate the Vajrayana teachings that he imported from China in the early 9th century. Kukai wanted to show that the new teachings were entirely new.

The nine yanas

The Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism has nine yanas, a list made by combining the first type of three yanas, and adding the six classes of tantras.

The twelve yanas

  1. Sravakayana
  2. Pratyekabuddhayana
  3. Bodhisattvayana
  4. Kriyayoga
  5. Charyayoga, or Upayoga
  6. Yogatantra
  7. Mahayoga
  8. Anuyoga
  9. Atiyoga, or Mahasandhiyoga; in Tibetan, Dzogpa Chenpo
  10. Semde
  11. Longde
  12. Mengagde

Western Buddhism : a new yana?

There is some talk that western Buddhism will come to represent a new yana - a new 'turning of the wheel' in Buddhist terminology. However it is probably a little early to tell whether this will be so.

Westerners are increasingly ecumenical, and often eschew the traditional forms of Eastern Buddhism. The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order may be the most radical move in this direction, but other Buddhist groups are questioning whether aspects of Eastern Buddhism are truly Buddhist, or merely conventional and cultural. This type of approach is typified in writing by Stephen Batchelor's book Buddhism without Belief which argues for a kind of agnostic Buddhism where nothing is accepted "on faith". This is actually close to the Buddha's original message, so far as that can be assertained, but in practice Eastern Buddhists do tend to accept teachings such as karma and rebirth as literally true, and without question.

See also: Buddhist polemics, Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana

External links

This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.