Sutrayana

sutrayana (Skt. sūtrayāna, T. mdo'i theg pa མདོའི་ཐེག་པ་) — is a classification used in the vajrayana tradition to refer to non-tantric texts.

In this two-fold classification scheme, the teachings are divided into:

• sutrayana
• tantrayana

In this context, the Sutrayana encompasses the teachings of both Hinayana and Mahayana, and it is known as the ‘Causal Vehicle’, because the path is followed in order to establish the cause for attaining enlightenment. The six perfections, thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, and a variety of ethical and intellectual disciplines are practised as causes for achieving the final result. Buddhahood emerges as the result when all such causes are complete. In Sutrayana the mind will gather the two accumulations of wisdom and merit, which are the respective causes for the attainments of dharmakaya and rupakaya. The mind is thus considered the cause of this attainment.

See also

• yana
• tantrayana