Shravaka / Sravaka: Pali Savaka - Sound Hearer - Auditor - Listener - Direct Disciple of the Buddha

The sravaka Sangha,
Both men and women,
Contemplate and practice the Four Holy Truths,
Concealing the real and displaying the provisional.
(TD 33)

Sravaka is Sanskrit and literally means "one who hears or listens." It is traditionally explained as referring to those who "hear the sound of the Buddha's teaching and awaken to the Way."

"They become enlightened as soon as they hear the Buddha speak the Dharma of the Four Holy Truths. They are one of the Two Vehicles. They feel that everything in this world is suffering, empty, without a self, and impermanent, and so are determined to end birth and death. They have the outlook that:

The Three Realms are like a prison.
Birth and death are like hateful enemies.

To them the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm seem like a penitentiary, and they detest birth and death. Their attitude is, 'I absolutely must end birth and death, and until I do, I won't rest for even a day.' Therefore, they cultivate all kinds of ascetic practices to cast offf birth and death--which is the attachment of Sound-Hearers (sravaka). . . .

Sound-Hearers are basically Arhats who have certified to the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Fruits. Yet they too fail to recognize the Thus Come One's Treasury, for they only know the emptiness of people, unlike commoners who are attached in every respect to views of self and what belongs to a self saying, 'This is mine; this belongs to me.' Those of the two Vehicles are not attached to self, but they are attached to dharmas. They don't understand that:

One has to put down all dharmas, how much more what is not in accord with Dharma. But for them dharmas are not yet empty, and so they still have attachments and are of the Small Vehicle." (FASÄ PII(2) 57)

The first sravakas were the five former companions of the Buddha who became enlighted after hearing the Buddha explain the Four Holy Truths (see entry) in the Deer Park at Varanasi.

'Because the roots of those in the two categories of the fixed and those of overweening pride have not yet ripened,' they cannot become Buddhas.

"Fixed Sound Hearers are simply withered sprouts and sterile seeds and are self-ending Arhats who only know about themselves and do not know about teaching and transforming living beings. Sound Hearers of Overweening Pride always feel they are higher than anyone else. For example, the five thousand Bhikshus who withdrew when the Buddha spoke the Dharma Flower Sutra were all Sound Hearers of Overweening Pride. There are also Sound Hearers who once resolved their minds on Bodhi and practiced the Bodhisattva Way--for awhile. But then they stopped and turned back, like Shariputra, who decided to walk the Bodhiattva Path but met someone who wanted his eyes. He concluded it was too hard, and so he gave up his resolve for Bodhi. He brought forth the Bodhi mind 20,000 Buddhas ago, yet to this day he is still a Sound Hearer--one who has retreated from the Bodhi Mind. . . . And so cultivation is not easy.

"There are several well-known examples of Transformationally Responding Sound Hearers:

Inside concealing their Bodhisattva conduct,
Outside manifesting Sound Hearer bodies.

One such is Purnamaitreyaniputra, who, although a Sound Hearer on the outside, inside is walking the Bodhisattva Way. Another is the Venerable Ananda, who has vowed to go and be the attendant of any of the countless Buddhas who appear in the world. The vow made by Rahula is that he will be the eldest son for anyone who becomes a Buddha throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time. The roots of the first two categories--Fixed Sound Hearers and Those of Overweening Pride--are not yet mature." (FAS-PII(2) 134-135)

1) Chinese Mandarin: sheng wen ; 2) Sanskrit: sravaka; 3) Pali: savaka; 4) Alternate translations: Sound-Hearer, Hearer, auditor, listener, disciple.

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: DFS II 299; TD 33; S42 1, 3-9; FAS-PII(1) 115-116; FAS-PII(2) 57, 134-135.

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings
(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

Nalanda Online University's teachings are based especially on the Dharma Flower Lotus Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Vajra Sutra, the Prajna Paramita Hridayam Sutra, the Guhyasamaja, the Kalachakra and their commentaries (shastras) by the above Arya Tripitakacharya Dharma Masters.

At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

1. Teaching School (Mahayana Sutrayana - Paramitayana - Hua Yan and Tian Tai, Yogachara, Nalanda Prasangika Madhyamika, Theravada Sutta)

See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

2. Moral Regulations School (Vinaya Pratimoksha Shila - Bodhisattva Pranidhana - Vajrayana-Samaya - Yogic Yama)

3. Esoteric School (Vajrayana - Mantrayana - Tantrayana - Dharani - Secret School of the Mahayana)

4. Meditation School (Indian Dhyana Samadhi - Shamatha - Vipassana, Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen,
        Tibetan Mahamudra of Kagyupa, and Tibetan Dzogchen of Nyingmapa)

5. Pure Land Devotional School (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
         Manjushri-Kalarupa Great Wisdom, Maitreya Great Loving-Kindness, Mahasthamaprapta Great Strength,
         Ksitigarbha - Earth Store Great Vows, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva,
         Chandraprabha Moonlight Radiance, Suryaprabha Sunlight Radiance, Medicine King Bodhisattva, Medicine Superior Bodhisattva
         and others Dharma Protecting Dharmapala Lokapala Bodhisattvas, Gods and Goddesses)

Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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To increase by 100,000 times the merit created:
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Sarva Mangalam.
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Arya Bhikshu Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara says:
Just as Manjushri works
To fulfill the aims of all limited beings
To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
Dispelling the sufferings of wandering beings.

(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
May all of them ripen on me,
And through the Bodhisattva assembly,
May wandering beings enjoy happiness.

May the teachings,
the sole medicine for the sufferings of wandering beings
And the source of all happiness,
Continue to endure for a very long time,
With material support and shows of respect.

Updated May 10, 2008