Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s4.7

c7.s4.7

This position of the Hīnayānists with regard to the Āryasatyas is logical, for their cardinal tenet is that a being suffers by wrongly assuming the existence of a self, and thus conceiving himself as a separate entity, standing in some form of relation to every other being or thing of the world, to which again he ascribes an individuality similar to his own. The chief aim of Hīnayāna teaching is to expel from one’s mind all ideas of individuality, whether of himself or of any other being or thing of the world, and this can only be effected by an examination of the things of this world under the four aspects mentioned above. Scrutinizing everything in this way, a being gets rid of his wrong assumption and sees things as they really are. This is called sammādiṭṭhi (right view) or vijjā (true knowledge). Once this is reached he can be said to have attained freedom from misery, or Nirvāṇa.