C. (Buswell R.E. ed. 2004). However it was not only until a few centuries later (29 B.C.) when the first Buddhist teachings were written down in the first Tripitaka (Buddhist canons of scriptures) – the Sutra Pitaka.
Rahula W. (1974) gives quite a clear idea of what kind of being Buddha was and what his teachings were by giving a number of quotes from the Buddha himself. Buddha was a very compassionate being and treated every single life form with great care. Violence of any kind is absolutely against the nature of Buddha, he says: 'Never by hatred is hatred appeased, but it is appeased by kindness. This is an eternal truth.' (p.86). Also if looking at the Noble Eightfold Path and their brief explanations, which Buddha gives, it is not hard to realize that in short, Buddha is telling people to change their negative views and doings to positive, change hatred to love etc. (pp. 47-49). From these short examples one can see that the enlightenment, which Buddha has attained, is not only about being able to see 'things as they are', but also about opening your heart towards others.
After the death of Buddha, Buddhism has split into two major schools: Hinayana (it is also referred to as Theravada) and Mahayana. As mentioned before, the first teachings that were written down were in the 1st century B.C. and it is hard to say exactly when the split between the schools has happened. According to Rahula W. both terms (Hinayana and Mahayana) first appear between 1st century B.C. and 1st century A.D. (Buddhist Missionary Society n.d.). .
So what do the terms Hinayana and Mahayana mean? It is said that there are two terms even older than Hinayana and Mahayana – "Sravakayana" (vehicle of the listener), which was later substituted with Hinayana and "Bodhisattvayana" (vehicle of the bodhisattva) turned into Mahayana. These terms are pretty self-explanatory, the goal of the Hinayana practitioners was to attain enlightenment for oneself.