Yāna (Sanskrit: यान and Pāli: "vehicle") refers to a mode or method of spiritual practice in Buddhism.
[1] In form, yāna is a neuter noun derived from the Sanskrit root yā- meaning to "go to" or "move" or "reach".
"Vehicle" is often used as a preferred translation as the word that provides the least in the way of presuppositions about the mode of travel.
[6] 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.
[6] 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: 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[8] of their own experience rather than constructing a gradual vehicle for passage.
The first verse of the Ṛgveda's burial hymn (10.18) translates approximately as "O Death, take the other path, which is distinct from the way of the gods" (paraṃ mṛtyo anu parehi panthāṃ yaste sva itaro devayānāt).
The phrase translates approximately to " Sacred Vedas - intonation - (is the) one journey/destination", in the same sense that a river's journey is to the ocean.
Thus, metaphorical usage of yāna in the sense of a vehicle (as distinct from a path) emerged from a Buddhist context, and it did so relatively early in the evolution of Buddhism.
The tradition of Mahayana texts employing the image of different types of vehicles and conveyances as salient metaphor for the journey of novice to the awakening of adept may have begun with the Lotus Sūtra.
The Lotus Sūtra holds a parable of a devoted father with three small children entranced in childhood play within the family home, oblivious that tongues of flame are ravenously engulfing the house.
[13] Katō et al. render thus into English a tract of the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka pertaining to the cart of expedient means and the parable of the burning house: "Śāriputra!
Even as that elder, though with power in body and arms, yet does not use it but only by diligent tact resolutely saves [his] children from the calamity of the burning house and then gives each of them great carts made of precious things, so it is with the Tathāgata; though he has power and fearlessness, he does not use them, but only by his wise tact does he remove and save all living creatures from the burning house of the triple world, preaching the three vehicles: the śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and Buddha vehicle.
[14] In the parable, the carts are explicitly identified as corresponding to the three types of Buddha: the goat-cart represents the practices leading to the attainment of Arhatship; the deer-cart, Pratyekabuddhahood; and the bullock-cart, Samyaksambuddhahood.
Their purpose is to direct people toward ekayāna, the one vehicle, depicted in the parable as a jeweled cart driven by a white ox.
Tamura et al. render a section of the Innumerable Meanings Sutra (Wu-liang-i ching) that relates the relationship of the Law (Dharma) and various teachings as fundamentally determined by the audience and context: "Good sons!
Therefore, they have had no chance to make contact with genuine, ultimate reality as it is (rnal ma'i de kho na nyid).