Pratyekabuddha

The pratyekabuddha, or 'solitary realiser' (rang sangyé [Tib.]), is another state of enlightenment, different from the arhat of the shravaka vehicle and the buddhas. Pratyekabuddhas have like the shravaka arhats destroyed the root of samsara.

There are two kinds of solitary realisers: those who live in communities, like parrots, and those who live alone, like rhinoceroses. They first hear the teachings of the Buddha. They study and reflect upon the twelve links of interdependent origination, and they accumulate merit for a hundred kalpas. They pray to be reborn at a time and in a place when there is no buddha, and they become self-realised at that time. They usually teach visually rather than verbally. For example, they display miracles such as when the upper part of their body becomes fire, and the lower part becomes water.

They are considered a higher form of enlightenment than the shravakas for two reasons: their accumulation of merit, and their accumulation of wisdom. The fastest shravakas usually accumulate merit for three lifetimes, whereas pratyekabuddhas accumulate merit for a hundred kalpas. In their accumulation of wisdom, shravakas only realise one type of selflessness – the selflessness of the ego – whereas pratyekabuddhas also realise half of the selflessness of phenomena. For the same reasons, pratyekabuddhas are considered less enlightened than someone who followed the bodhisattva path. A bodhisattva accumulates merit for three countless aeons and fully realises both types of selflessness.