Hinayana

Hīnayāna (Sanskrit: /ˌhiːnəˈjɑːnə/, हीनयान), literally meaning "Small Vehicle" or "Lesser Vehicle", is an umbrella term for the early Buddhist schools, at one time used by the Mahāyāna school to refer to the pre-Mahāyāna Buddhist paths to liberation. Specifically, it encompasses the Śrāvakayāna ("Listeners Vehicle") and Pratyekabuddhayāna ("Solitary-Realizers Vehicle") paths. Mahāyāna Buddhists consider the Hīnayāna as the first, preliminary, and individual-focused (hīna) pathway or "vehicle" (yāna) towards liberation offered by the Buddha's teachings, in contrast to the greater (mahā) vehicle (yāna): the second path, which Mahāyāna Buddhists esteem more highly as it is devoted to helping all beings seek enlightenment, not just oneself.

Western scholars used the term Hīnayāna to describe the early teachings of Buddhism, as the Mahāyāna teachings were generally given later. Modern Buddhist scholarship has deprecated the term as derogatory and polemical, and instead uses the term Nikāya referring to the early Buddhist schools. Hīnayāna has also been inappropriately used as a synonym for the Theravāda Buddhist school, which is the main tradition of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.