Meditation way of the hearers (Buddhism)

to deliverance from cyclic existence. It leads to the conscious states of the bodhisattvas but, being equivalent to the [hinayana]

path, results in becoming an arhat rather than a fully enlightened bodhisattva. This is the first of the three vehicles, that of the student who gains insight into the four noble truths and the non-reality of phenomena through hearing the teaching with the aim of achieving [nirupadhisesa nirvana]

, nirvana with no remainder or taint of earth. The other vehicles are those of the [pratyekabuddhas]

- solitary realizers - and of the bodhisattvas.