[Mr Andrews]

Is this term still in use? Yes, we can see it used here:



"But in order to break from samsara, it is necessary to understand samsara. That is what the arhats have done, those who have completed the Hinayana path of personal liberation. Those of us within samsara would view them as incredible, heroic beings, because they have dared to look at samsara fully. They have not just dared to leave it; they have dared to stop and really see what is going on. It takes tremendous courage to do that, because when we look at samsara we are looking at ourselves-it's hard not to take it too personally. It takes a strong mind, a courageous mind, to look at samsara and say, "I will learn this lesson. I will not flinch. I won't try to manipulate it. I will just look at it."

However, from the point of view of the Mahayana, the path of the bodhisattva, the arhats are taking only a small step. Certainly it is a heroic step, like the first step of a child, and a very important step that one has to take. But it is still said to be only a small step towards liberation.

The bodhisattva is different from the Hinayana practitioner in several ways. First, the understanding of truth, of reality, is very different in the Mahayana. According to the bodhisattva, the Mahayana teachings are the real words of the Buddha. Because of the students' capacity the Buddha mostly taught Hinayana-and very sensibly so, because people were suffering-but he also asked, "Do you just want a release from suffering, or do you want to understand the truth?"

When we get to Mahayana, it is the truth. The truth of the Mahayana is the most profound truth there is. When the Buddha-the one who sees the whole of the truth-speaks, he speaks about emptiness and luminosity, form and emptiness, emptiness and form. As practitioners, we find ourselves going back and forth between Hinayana and Mahayana view.

The other key aspect that separates Mahayana from Hinayana is motivation. The Hinayana practitioner feels the pain of samsara and says, "I can't take it anymore. What can I do about it?" And having understood what samsara is, we can all sympathize with the Hinayana practitioner. It is a worthy approach. We are not belittling it.

But the Mahayana practitioner takes a much more radical approach. The Mahayana practitioner wakes up one morning and realizes, "Sentient beings from endless time have been roaming in samsara." Here, we not only understand the pain of samsara and how we have been involved in it; we are also able to see what samsara is doing to all sentient beings."

source:

http://shambhala-europe.org/index.php?id=1423