Yana (Buddhism) - Introduction and Qualification of The Term Yana

Introduction and Qualification of The Term Yana

The Bodhipathapradīpa of Atisha (980-1054 CE), quoted in Gampopa's (1079-1153 CE) Jewel Ornament of Liberation rendered into English by Günther, makes reference to people of three capacities:

Man is to be known in three ways:
As inferior, mediocre and excellent.

He who by any means whatsoever
Provides for the pleasures of Saṃsāra
For himself alone,
Is called an inferior man.

He who turns his back to the pleasures of the world
And abstains from evil deeds,
But provides only for his own peace,
Is called a mediocre man.

He who seriously wants to dispel
All the misery of others,
Because in the stream of his own being he has understood the nature of misery,
Is an excellent man.

Yana is determined by capacity and propensity of the "precious human body" wrought by merit, not by a specific teaching or lineage, as Gampopa states:

Therefore, because of the difficulty of its attainment, of the uneasiness of its breaking down, and of its great usefulness, we should think of the body as a boat and by its means escape from the ocean of Saṃsāra. As is written:

Standing in the boat of the human body,

You should cross the great flood of misery.

Since later this boat is difficult to get,

Do not sleep now, you fool.

Empowerment, initiation, intention and endeavour may leaven capacity and propensity as may a graceful benediction of a person (in the sense of mindstream), object or place endowed or invested with holiness. In the teaching story abovementioned, Shakyamuni Buddhi and his sangha traverse the continuum directly in the body of their own experience rather than constructing a gradual vehicle for passage.