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Many Buddhists in Nikaya, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions consider that there are three type of Buddha, and generally accept their definitions as follows:
- Samyaksam-Buddhas (Pali:Samma-Sambuddha): (also known in the Mahayana as Bodhisattva-Buddhas) gain Nirvana by their own efforts, without a teacher of the entire path. They may then lead others to enlightenment by teaching the Dharma in a time or world where it has been forgotten or has not been taught before, because a Samyaksam-Buddha does not depend upon a tradition that stretches back to a previous Samyaksam-Buddha, but instead discovers the path anew. The Historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, was a Samyaksam-Buddha.
- Pratyeka-Buddhas (Pali:Pacceka-Buddha): are similar to Samma-Sambuddha, in that they attain Nirvana, but are unqualified to teach. In Mahayana traditions, Pratyeka-Buddhas may remain silent, keeping the discovered Dharma to themselves.
- Sravaka-Buddhas (Pali:Savaka-Buddhas): gain Nirvana, but attain Enlightenment by hearing the Dharma as initially taught by a Samyaksam-Buddha. Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings hold that, after attaining enlightenment, Sravaka-Buddhas might also lead others to enlightenment, but cannot teach the Dharma in a time or world where it has been forgotten or has not been taught before, because they depend upon a tradition that stretches back to a Samyaksam-Buddha.
All three types of Buddha achieve Nirvana, and may be called Arhats, or foe destroyers, but within the Mahayana tradition some people reserve the term Arhat for Sravaka-Buddhas.
Skillful Means (Upaya) Rather than Ultimate Teaching
Significantly, the three types of Buddha appear only rarely in Theravada texts, while in contrast Mahayana literature frequently invokes these three archetypes. However, even within Mahayana traditions, the three types of Buddha do not necessarily correspond to an ultimate teaching, but rather one that fits within a program of skillful means (upaya) or expedient practices. Notably, chapter 3 of the Mahayana Lotus Sutra, compares the three types of Buddha to three vehicles, namely a goat-cart, a deer cart, and an oxcart. That discussion is followed by the statement that Buddha "First...preaches the three vehicles to attract and guide living beings, but later he employs just the Great Vehicle to save them." That is, the Mahayana (which translates from the Sanskrit as great vehicle) transcends the three types of Buddha, rather than corresponding to a method for attaining status as one of the types. In short, while the three-Buddhas archetype remains popular, it is not universal among Buddhists, some of whom maintain a tradition of ekayana, the single vehicle or direct path to awakening.
References
Simile and Parable (http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Buddhism/LotusSutra/text/Chap03.htm), chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra, translated by Burton Watson, 1994, Columbia University Press, online edition courtesy Sokka-Gakkai International
The Bodhisattva Ideal in Theravada (http://www.buddhistinformation.com/bodhisattva_ideal_in_theravada.htm), Jeffrey Samuels, Philosophy East and West, v47, n3, July 1997, pp399-415
The Ten Perfections (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/perfections.html), Thanissaro Bhikku, 1999; the first paragraph outlines the Theravada understanding of the Three Buddhas
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