The Hinayana System, or School of the “Little Vehicle,” is of very ancient
growth; while the Mahayana is of a later period, having originated after the
death of Buddha. Yet the tenets of the latter are as old as the hills that have
contained such schools from time immemorial, and the Hinayana and Mahayana
Schools (the latter, that of the “Great Vehicle”) both teach the same doctrine
in reality. Yana, or Vehicle (in Sanskrit, Vahan) is a mystic
expression, both “vehicles” inculcating that man may escape the sufferings of
rebirths and even the false bliss of Devachan, by obtaining Wisdom and
Knowledge, which alone can dispel the Fruits of Illusion and Ignorance.