"Seeds of the Four Philosophical Schools by Khenpo Ngawang Palzang Homage to the glorious noble master, who possesses vast, non-referential compassion! Here, I shall briefly explain the seeds of the four philosophical schools. 1. Vaibhāṣika First, there are the two truths (or levels of reality) according to the śrāvaka school of Vaibhāṣika. The Treasury of Abhidharma says: Things which, when destroyed or mentally dissected, Can no longer be identified by the mind, Such as pots or water, are relative; All else besides is ultimately existent. [1] As this indicates, any coarse entity that could either be smashed to pieces with an object such as a hammer or mentally dissected, so that a mind apprehending the coarse appearance would no longer identify it as such, belongs to the relative level of reality. As concerns the ultimate, any given material thing or state of consciousness may be divided into component particles or moments, and the ultimate constituents of coarse matter are partless particles, while the ultimate constituents of cognitive phenomena are indivisible moments of consciousness. Neither can be further divided by the apprehending mind; they thus correspond to ultimate reality. 2. Sautrāntika The Commentary on Valid Cognition says: That which can perform a function Is here said to be ultimately existent. That which cannot perform a function Is said to be relatively existent. These are the specifically and generally characterized.[2] Thus, when investigating an ultimately real, functional entity to see whether it has unique conventional characteristics, the followers of this tradition say that any specifically characterized, functional entity is ultimately real. By contrast, whatever is generally characterized and incapable of functioning is relatively real. This presentation of the two levels of reality relates only to this analysis of the presence or absence of specific conventional characteristics; it does not imply that the school has no other means of classifying the two levels of reality." Läs hela artikeln här: http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/ngawang-palzang/seeds-of-philosophical-schools