--SourceTheravada means the ‘doctrine of the elders’. The term
Hinayana has also been used for this form of Buddhism, but it is
a misnomer. This term has been used by the Mahayana Buddhists,
who reckoned that they were followers of the ‘greater vehicle’.
The Mahayanists to differentiate themselves from the Theravadins
called the latter Hinayana, the lesser vehicle. In the pre-
Mahayana period there was truly a collateral sect called the
Hinayana, but this sect is not the Theravada of today. This
confusion was unfortunate, and therefore, it is better to avoid
the term Hinayana altogether. Any attempt to label two different
forms of Buddhism as ‘greater’ and ‘lesser’ is odious. This is
confusing to me. The term "Hinayana" was used before the break-
up of the Sangha by Theravadan practitioners? What does it mean
that the "Hinayana" of that time was different from the
Theravada of today? I've always thought that the term Hinayana
was only pejorative. But I once saw Retro mention that there are
appropriate uses for