..續本文上一頁ened Buddha for the welfare of the world, for the happiness of the world.
有些人臆測，以爲小乘是自私的，因爲它告訴人們應該尋求自救。但是，一個自私的人怎麼可能得到覺悟呢？兩派皆承認有叁種乘(Yanas)或叁種菩提(Bodhis)，其中以菩薩的理想爲最高。大乘創造了不少神秘的菩薩，而上座部則認爲菩薩只是我們人類中之一員，他/她一生致力于完善自己，希望最終以成爲佛陀，爲世間帶來快樂與福祉。
Three Types of Buddhahood
叁種覺者(Three Types of Buddhahood)
There are three types of Buddhahood: the Samma Sambuddha who gains full Enlightenment by his own effort, the Pacceka Buddha who has lesser qualities than the Samma Sambuddha, and the Savaka Buddha who is an Arahant disciple. The attainment of Nibbana between the three types of Buddhahood is exactly the same. The only difference is that the Samma Sambuddha has many more qualities and capacities than the other two.
有叁種覺者：(一)無上正等正覺或正等覺者(Samma Sambuddha)，即我們所稱之佛陀，他們靠自力成就完滿的覺悟；(二)緣覺覺者(Pacceka Buddha)，他們的品德比正等覺者少一些；(叁)聲聞覺者(Savaka Buddha)，他/她們皆是阿羅漢的弟子。此叁種覺者所成就的涅槃(Nibbana)都是完全一樣的，相異之點只不過是：正等覺者(佛陀)有很多品德和能力是其他二種覺者所無的。
Some people think that Voidness or Sunyata discussed by Nagarjuna is purely a Mahayana teaching. It is based on the idea of Anatta or non-self, on the Paticcasamuppada or the Dependent Origination, found in the original Theravada Pali texts. Once Ananda asked the Buddha, "People say the word Sunya. What is Sunya
" The Buddha replied, "Ananda, there is no self, nor anything pertaining to self in this world. Therefore, the world is empty." This idea was taken by Nagarjuna when he wrote his remarkable book, "Madhyamika Karika". Besides the idea of Sunyata is the concept of the store-consciousness in Mahayana Buddhism which has its seed in the Theravada texts. The Mahayanists have developed it into a deep psychology and philosophy.
Ven. Dr. W. Rahula
有些人以爲龍樹(Nagarjuna)所言的空(Voidness or Sunyata)純粹是大乘所教的，其實空源于無我或緣起的道理，它們在上座部巴利文的經典中都可以找到。(例如在SN35.85 Sunna Sutta之中：)
一次，阿難問佛：「人們都在說空(Sunya)這個字，到底什麼是空？」
佛答：「阿難！世間沒有我，也沒有屬于我的任何東西，因此，世間是空的。」
此概念爲龍樹所用，寫了他出色的中觀論頌(Madhyamika Karika)。除了空的概念外，大乘也有藏識(第八識或阿賴耶)之說，而此說也是源自上座部之經文的，大乘只不過把它發展成爲一套深奧的心理學和哲學而已。
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《上座部與大乘佛教 Theravada - Mahayana Buddhism》全文閱讀結束。