TO BE OR NOT TO BE, THAT IS THE BUDDHIST QUESTION

Whether or not to be engaged in the world is the perennial question for Buddhists.

The approach in Hinayana Buddhism is to not be engaged, to be the lone rhino on the plain, so-called, to be a pratyeka-buddha, one who is in it for himself alone.  Seek out your own salvation with diligence, was the Buddha's message.  Hinayana, called the Lesser Way, the Lesser Vehicle, or the Little Raft, claims to be the only form that follows the original teachings of the Buddha.

 Since Hinayana is oriented solely toward the individual, it is viewed negatively by Buddhists of other schools, such as Mahayana Buddhism.  Hinayana these days is termed Theravada Buddhism, meaning the Teaching of the Elders, or the Old School of Wisdom. 

Called the Greater Vehicle, Mahayana Buddhism is other-oriented.  Their ideal is the Bodhisattva, the buddha who refuses final nirvana in order to return to the world to teach others how to become enlightened themselves.  Mahayana Buddhists offer the world salvation through knowledge, and by example.