The Difference between Sutrayana & Vajrayana

by Buddhist Center Miami Florida

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 10:10am

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The Sutrayana (the path of study and learning), which includes both the Hinayana and common Mahayana vehicles, is also known as the path of inference. What does this mean? In the Sutrayana we establish the true nature of all phenomena through inferential arguments. For example, the reasoning of "neither one nor many" goes as follows: no matter what we observe, there is nothing that cannot be broken down into parts, therefore no matter what we observe, there are no single wholes. Now, since there are no single things anywhere, there cannot be many things either since "many" is necessarily a collection of "single" items. Ergo, no matter what we observe, it is neither a single thing nor is it a collection of many things. It's nature is simply beyond words and concepts. In this way, we have just inferred the true nature of things via reasoning and argument. However, this is just a mere intellectual understanding. Just because we can infer the true nature of things in this way does not necessarily mean we haveexperienced that true nature. Thus, the Sutrayana is considered a slower path because it is only after 3 incalculable eons of lives spent on this path that our understanding eventually becomes experiential.  

The Vajrayana, however, is the path of direct experience. What does this mean? Unlike the Sutrayana path which takes 3 incalculable eons of familiarizing ourselves with inferential arguments, in the Vajrayana the guru points out the true nature directly and nakedly. Once one has found a true guru who holds the blessings of the lineage, and once one has developed devotion, the guru gives a special empowerment called "the pointing out instructions." If the conditions are right, through the guru's blessings, the fortunate student will experience a glimpse of his or her own true nature of mind. The student then takes this initial glimpse as the basis for the path. Slowly but surely, through becoming familiar with that experience again and again by meditating on the guru's pointing out instructions, the student attains a stability that eventually blossoms into full blown Buddhahood. This path is much more direct and faster because in this way, enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime. This is the unique specialty of our tradition.