Hinayana (Skt)
Literally, Small, or Lesser, Vehicle. It is one of the two general divisions of Buddhism. The Hinayana practitioner's motivation for following the Dharma path is principally the intense wish for personal liberation from conditioned existence, or samsara. Two types of Hinayana practitioner are identified: the hearer (Skt: shravaka) and the solitary realizer (Skt: pratyekabuddha). Cf Mahayana; see also Theravada.