Why Do We Think Differently From Others?

Why do we think differently from others?
Conversely, why do we think like others?
Only the Yanas or vehicles can explain this.

The Bodhipathapradīpa of Atisha (980-1054 CE), quoted in Gampopa’s (1079-1153 CE)
Jewel Ornament of Liberation, makes reference to people of three capacities:

“People are to be known in three ways:
As inferior, mediocre and excellent.

“Those who by any means whatsoever
Provide for the pleasures of Saṃsāra
For themselves alone,
Are called an inferior person.

“Those who turn their back to the pleasures of the world
And abstain from evil deeds
But provide only for their own peace,
Are called a mediocre person.

“Those who seriously want to dispel
All the misery of others
Because, in the stream of their own being, they have understood the nature of misery,
Are an excellent person.”

The Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism has nine yanas, a list made by combining the first three yanas, and adding the six classes of tantras:

Hīnayāna
Śrāvakayāna
Pratyekabuddhayāna
Mahāyāna consisting of:
Bodhisattvayāna
Vajrayāna, consisting of:
Outer Tantras
Kriyatantra
Upatantra
Yogatantr
Inner Tantras
Mahāyoga
Anuyoga
Atiyoga (Dzogchen)

The head of the Nyingma school, Dudjom Rinpoche, emphasises that the eight lower vehicles are intellectually fabricated and contrived:

“The eight lower levels have been intellectually fabricated and contrived due to fleeting thoughts that never experience what truly is.

“They apply antidotes to and reject that which is not to be rejected.

“They refer to as flawed that in which there is nothing to be purified, with a mind that desires purification.

“They have created division with respect to that which cannot be obtained by their hopes and fears that it can be obtained elsewhere.

“And they have obscured wisdom, which is naturally present, by their efforts in respect to that which is free from effort and free from needing to be accomplished.

“Therefore, they have had no chance to make contact with genuine, ultimate reality as it is.”

Misunderstanding is the reason why there is evil in the world.