Editing Hinayana (section)

==Mahāyāna members of the early Buddhist schools==

Although the 18–20 [[early Buddhist schools]] are sometimes loosely classified as Hīnayāna in modern times, this is not necessarily accurate. There is no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school of Buddhism but rather as a certain set of ideals, and later doctrines.{{sfn|Nattier|2003|pp=193-194}} [[Paul Williams (philosopher)|Paul Williams]] has also noted that the Mahāyāna never had nor ever attempted to have a separate [[vinaya]] or ordination lineage from the early Buddhist schools, and therefore [[bhikkhu|bhikṣu]]s and [[bhikkhuni|bhikṣuṇī]]s adhering to the Mahāyāna formally adheres to the vinaya of an early school. This continues today with the [[Dharmaguptaka]] ordination lineage in East Asia and the [[Mulasarvastivada|Mūlasarvāstivāda]] ordination lineage in [[Tibetan Buddhism]]. Mahāyāna was never a separate sect of the early schools.{{sfn|Williams|2009|pp=4-5}} From Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in India often lived in the same monasteries side by side.{{sfn|Williams|2000|p=97}}

The seventh-century Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]] wrote about the relationship between the various "vehicles" and the early Buddhist schools in India. He wrote, "There exist in the West numerous subdivisions of the schools which have different origins, but there are only four principal schools of continuous tradition." These schools are the [[Mahāsāṃghika]] Nikāya, [[Sthavira nikāya]], Mūlasarvāstivāda Nikāya, and [[Saṃmitīya]] Nikāya.<ref>Walser, Joseph (2005) ''Nagarjuna in Context: Mahayana Buddhism and Early Indian Culture'': pp. 41</ref> Explaining their doctrinal affiliations, he then writes, "Which of the four schools should be grouped with the Mahāyāna or with the Hīnayāna is not determined." That is to say, there was no simple correspondence between a Buddhist school and whether its members learn "Hīnayāna" or "Mahāyāna" teachings.<ref>Walser, Joseph (2005) ''Nagarjuna in Context: Mahayana Buddhism and Early Indian Culture'': pp. 41-42</ref>

To identify entire schools as "Hīnayāna" that contained not only śrāvakas and [[pratyekabuddha]]s but also Mahāyāna bodhisattvas would be attacking the schools of their fellow Mahāyānists as well as their own. Instead, what is demonstrated in the definition of ''Hīnayāna'' given by Yijing is that the term referred to individuals based on doctrinal differences.{{sfn|Williams|2009|p=5}}