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Pratyekabuddhayāna (Sanskrit: प्रत्येकबुद्धयान;traditional Chinese:緣覺乘; ; pinyin:Yuánjué Chéng) is aBuddhist term for the mode orvehicle ofenlightenment of apratyekabuddha orpaccekabuddha (Sanskrit andPali respectively), a term which literally means "solitary buddha" or "a buddha on their own" (prati- each,eka-one). Thepratyekabuddha is an individual who independently achievesliberation without the aid of teachers or guides and without teaching others to do the same.Pratyekabuddhas may give moral teachings but do not bring others to enlightenment. They leave nosangha (i.e. community) as a legacy to carry on theDhamma (e.g. Buddha's teachings).
At least some of the early Buddhist schools used the concept of three vehicles including Pratyekabuddhayāna. For example, theVaibhāṣikaSarvāstivādins are known to have employed the outlook of Buddhist practice as consisting of the Three Vehicles:[1]
TheDharmaguptakas regarded the path of a pratyekabuddha (pratyekabuddhayāna) and the path of abodhisattva (bodhisattvayāna) to be separate. One of their tenets reads, "The Buddha and those of the Two Vehicles, although they have one and the same liberation, have followed different noble paths."[2]
In the Ekottarika-āgama parallel to the Isigili-sutta, where five hundred Paccekabuddhas live in the same aeon as theBuddha Gotama and only pass away shortly before his birth (Analayo).
Pratyekabuddhas are said to achieve enlightenment on their own, without the use of teachers or guides, according to some traditions by seeing and understandingdependent origination. They are said to arise only in ages where there are no Buddhas and the Buddhist teachings (Sanskrit:Dharma; Pāli:Dhamma) are lost. "The idea of a Paccekabuddha … is interesting, as much as it implies that even when the four truths are not preached they still exist and can be discovered by anyone who makes the necessary mental and moral effort".[3] Many may arise at a single time.
According to theTheravada school, paccekabuddhas ("one who has attained to supreme and perfect insight, but who dies without proclaiming the truth to the world")[4] are unable to teach the Dhamma, which requires[5] the omniscience and supreme compassion of a sammāsambuddha, who may even hesitate to attempt to teach.[6]
Pratyekabuddhas (e.g. Darīmukha J.378, Sonaka J.529) appear as teachers of Buddhist doctrine in pre-Buddhist times in several of theJataka tales.
In the fourth-century Mahayanaabhidharma work, theAbhidharma-samuccaya,Asaṅga describes followers of the Pratyekabuddhayāna as those who dwell alone like arhinoceros or as solitary conquerors (Skt.pratyekajina) living in small groups.[7] Here they are characterized as utilizing the same canon of texts as theśrāvakas, the Śrāvaka Piṭaka, but having a different set of teachings, the "Pratyekabuddha Dharma", and are said to be set on their own personal enlightenment.[7]
A very early sutra, theRhinoceros Sutra, uses the exact metaphor of Asaṅga. TheRhinoceros Sutra is one of theGandhāran Buddhist texts, which are the oldest Buddhist texts known.[8] This text is also present in thePāli Canon; in theSutta Pitaka, aPaliRhinoceros Sutta is the third sutta in theKhuddaka Nikaya'sSutta Nipata's first chapter (Sn 1.3).[9]
In the work written byGampopa (1074-1153 C.E.), "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, The Wish-fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings", the ‘Pratyekabuddha family’ are characterized as secretive about their teachers, live in solitude, are afraid of Samsara, yearn for Nirvana and have little compassion. They are also characterized as arrogant.
They cling to the idea that the unsullied meditative absorption they experience is Nirvana, when it's more like an island to find rest on the way to their actual goal. Rather than let them feel discouraged, the Buddha taught the Sravaka and Pratyekabuddha paths for rest and recuperation. After finding rest in states of meditative absorption, they are encouraged and awakened by the Buddha's body, speech, and mind to reach final Nirvana. Inspired by the Buddha, they then cultivateBodhicitta and practice theBodhisattva path.[10]
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