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'''Pratyekabuddhas''' (Skt.; Tib. རང་སངས་རྒྱས་, ''rang sangyé''; Wyl. ''rang sangs rgyas''), or 'solitary realisers', are followers of the [[basic vehicle]] who attain the level of a pratyekabuddha [[arhat]] by themselves, in solitude. They first hear the teachings of the [[Buddha]], then study and reflect upon the [[twelve links of interdependent origination]], and accumulate [[merit]] for a hundred [[kalpa]]s. They pray to be reborn in a world to which no buddha has come, and they attain realization without relying on a teacher. They usually teach visually rather than verbally; for example, by displaying miracles such as transforming the upper part of their bodies into fire, and the lower part into water.

==='Intermediate Buddhas'===
They are sometimes referred to as 'intermediate buddhas' and their enlightenment is considered to be a higher form of realization than that of [[shravaka]]s for two reasons: their accumulation of [[merit]], and their accumulation of [[wisdom]].

The shravakas accumulate merit for up to sixteen 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 individual]] – whereas pratyekabuddhas also realise half of the [[selflessness of phenomena]]. For the same reasons, the pratyekabuddhas' realization is considered inferior to the  full enlightenment of those following the [[bodhisattva]] path. A bodhisattva accumulates merit for three countless aeons and fully realises both types of selflessness.

===Types of Pratyekabuddha===
There are two kinds of solitary realisers: 
*those with duller faculties who live in communities, like parrots,<ref>They are called ‘parrot-like’ because they remain together in groups, unlike the ‘rhinoceros-like’ pratyekabuddha arhats who stay by themselves.</ref> and 
*those with sharper faculties who live alone, like rhinoceroses.

==Alternative Translations==
*hermit buddhas (Gyurme Dorje)
*self-realized ones ([[Geshe Thupten Jinpa]])

==Notes==
<small><references/></small>

==Internal links==
*[[Pratyekabuddha yana]]


[[Category:Key Terms]]
[[Category:Buddhas and Deities]]
[[Category:Paths and Stages]]
[[Category:Basic Yana]]