Hinayana
Hinayana (Sanskrit: हीनयान hīnayāna "small vehicle, inferior vehicle") is a pejorative term coined by followers of Mahayana Buddhism for all non-Mahayana schools of Buddhism, especially Theravada. The accusation is that the followers of these other schools only strive for their own individual salvation, whereas Mahayana is characterised by the bodhisattva ideal, according to which the strivers, although already worthy of their final salvation, voluntarily incarnate again and again on earth until all people are redeemed through their help. This is sharply rejected by the followers of Theravada. In fact, the bodhisattva ideal is also central here. In terms of content, however, the Thervada, in contrast to the Mahayana, is based almost exclusively on the Pali canon, the oldest collection of the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama's teachings that has been handed down in a coherent form, whereas in the Mahayana no generally binding canon was established.
