Page "Hinayana" Paragraph 14

Some Theravada Buddhists have opposed the identification of Theravada with Hinayana, as it is seen as more of a derogatory term.

As Walpola Rahula noted in his Gems of Buddhist Wisdom: We must not confuse Hīnayāna with Theravāda because the terms are not synonymous.

Theravāda Buddhism went to Sri Lanka during the 3rd Century BC when there was no Mahāyāna at all.

Hīnayāna sects developed in India and had an existence independent from the form of Buddhism existing in Sri Lanka.

Today there is no Hīnayāna sect in existence anywhere in the world.

Therefore, in 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists inaugurated in Colombo unanimously decided that the term Hīnayana should be dropped when referring to Buddhism existing today in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, etc.

This is the brief history of Theravāda, Mahayāna and Hīnayāna.