Pratyekabuddha

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Pratyekabuddha

A Pratyekabuddha (Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
) or Paccekabuddha (Pali

Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
), literally "a lone buddha" , "a buddha on their own" or "a private buddha", is one of three types of enlightened

Bodhi

Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
. The other two types are the Sravakabuddhas and Samyaksambuddhas. They are said to achieve enlightenment on their own, without the use of teachers or guides, according to some traditions by contemplating the principle of dependent arising

Pratitya-samutpada

The doctrine of pratityasamutpada , often translated as "dependent arising," is an important part of Buddhist Phenomenology and, some argue, metaphysics....
.

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A Pratyekabuddha (Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
) or Paccekabuddha (Pali

Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
), literally "a lone buddha" , "a buddha on their own" or "a private buddha", is one of three types of enlightened

Bodhi

Buddhism

Pratitya-samutpada

The doctrine of pratityasamutpada , often translated as "dependent arising," is an important part of Buddhist Phenomenology and, some argue, metaphysics....
. They are said to arise only in ages where there is no Buddha and the Buddhist teachings (Sanskrit: dharma
Dharma

The term , is an Indian Indian philosophy and Indian religions term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term....
; Pali: dhamma) are lost. Many may arise at a single time. Unlike Supreme Buddhas (see bodhi

Bodhi

Bodhi is both the Pali and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English language as "enlightenment." The word "Buddhahood" means "one who has achieved bodhi." Bodhi is also frequently translated as "awakening."...
), their enlightenment is not foretold.

Some schools assert that pratyekabuddhas are not omniscient, while others say that they are the same (in realisation) as Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva

In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment "....
Buddhas, but do not have the will to teach the entire Dharma. They do give moral teachings, but do not bring others to enlightenement. A pratyekabuddha leaves no

Sangha

Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose....
as a legacy to carry on the Dharma.

Pratyekabuddhas (e.g. Darimukha J.378, Sonaka J.529,) appear as teachers of Buddhist doctrine in pre-Buddhist times in several of the Jataka

Jataka

The Jataka Tales also known in other languages refer to a voluminous body of folklore-like literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Gotama Buddha....
s. The experiences and enlightenment-verses uttered by Pratyekabuddhas are narrated in the Khaggavisana-sutta of the Sutta Nipata

Sutta Nipata

The Sutta Nipata is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose....
.

The yana

Yana

Things and people known as Yana include:* Yana Gupta, an Indian model.* Yana , a Buddhist term .* Yana River, a river in eastern Russia.* Yana, Sierra Leone, a town in western Africa....
or vehicle by which pratyekabuddhas achieve enlightenment is called the pratyekayana, the "on-one's-own vehicle", in Mahayana tradition.

In the Majjhima Nikaya

Majjhima Nikaya

The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
of the Pali Canon

Pali Canon

The Pali Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, as preserved in the Pali. It is the only completely surviving Early Buddhist schools canon, and one of the first to be written down....
(Theravada

Theravada

Theravada...
Buddhist scriptures) it says that offerings to Pratyekabuddhas are superior to offerings to Arhat

Arhat

In the shramana traditions of ancient India arhat or arahant signified a spiritual practitioner who had?to use an expression common in the tipitaka?"laid down the burden"?and realised the goal of nirvana, the culmination of the spiritual life ....
s and also that offerings to Tathagata

Tathagata

Tathagata in Pali and Sanskrit means, confusingly perhaps, both one who has thus gone and one who has thus come . Others assert that the name means one who has found the truth....
s are superior to offerings to Pratyekabuddhas. This may imply that Pratyekabuddhas are superior to arhats but inferior to Tathagatas in realization.

Pratyekabuddha

See also