Buddhism
Theravada
The way of the eldsrs
Three Vehicles
Theravada (Southeast Asia) Mhayana (East Asia) Vajrayana (Tibet/Nepal)
vihara
a Buddhist monastery
Dharmapala
"Dharma protector"; deities who have pledged to defend the Buddhist teachings
Abhidharma
"Higher Dharma" A list classifying the various doctrinal terms found in the early Mainstream Sûtras into orderly categories.
Tripitaka
"Three baskets" Collection of early buddhist writings, written in Pali, forming the canon for Theraveda Buddhists. Sutra contains teaches attributed to the Buddha, the Vinya contains rules of monastic discipline, the abhidharma contains philosophical and doctrinal arguments
Sangha
"assemblage" - the Buddhist community of monks and nuns; one of the Three Jewels of Buddhism.
nirvana
"blowing out" - the ultimate goal of all Buddhists, the extinction of desire and any sense of individual selfhood, resulting in liberation from samsara and its limiting conditions.
cakravartin
"wheel-turning king;" an ideal Buddhist ruler who is compassion, just, and virtuous; a ruler who helps create a peaceful, harmonious, prosperous society that is free of poverty
karma
(Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation
Ashoka
(r.268-232 BCE) The Mauryan emperor who can be compared to Constantine and who promoted Buddhism throught his empire.
Four Noble Truths
1) All life is full of suffering, pain, and sorrow. 2) The cause of suffering is nonvirtue, or negative deeds and mindsets such as hated and desire. 3) The only cure for suffering is to overcome nonvirture. 4) The way to overcome nonvirtue is to follow the Eightfold Path
Eightfold Path
A Buddhist doctrine calling for right belief, right resolve, right speech, right behavior, right occupation, right effort, right contemplation, and right meditation.
Middle Way
A basic Buddhist teaching that rejects both the pleasures of sensual indulgence and the self-denial of asceticism, focusing instead on a practical approach to spiritual attainment.
Nichiren
A form of Japanese Buddhism which places its trust in the Lotus Sutra. It teaches that one can invoke the power of the sutra by saying the name of the Lotus Sutra itself; parallels Japanese nationalism at the time of Mongol invasions.
Tantra
A group of texts and associated practices that focus on non-duality and the interrelatedness of everything (ex: the five forbidden things)
mudra
A pose or gesture in artistic representations of Buddha figures. Different mudras have conventionalized symbolic meanings
Soka Gakkai
A religion in Japan that is a new religion, unquestioning faith in Lotus Sutra, promises health and prosperity, Buddha-hood possible in this life, not allowed to participate in other sects.
mandala
A religious symbol associated with meditation, usually created with geometric patterns and shapes
Lotus position
A sitting position in which legs are crossed over and bent in on themselves so that the heel of each foot is placed on top of the opposite thigh. This position encourages breathing and physical discipline conducive to deep meditation.
Protestant Buddhism
A term signifying a pattern of reform in which Buddhists protested colonial rule yet adopted perspectives and missionary techniques of Protestant Christianity
Wheel of Life
An important symbol of Buddhism. It represents the endless cycle of life through reincarnation.
Shakyamuni
Another name for the Buddha, translating as "Sage of the Shakyas."
Major events in the Buddha's life
Born to warrior caste
Eisai
Brought Rinzai Zen which concerned meditation in action to the Samurai
Three Jewels
Buddha, Dharma, Sangha
Three Refuges
Buddha, dharma, sangha
Heart Sutra
Buddhist scripture that forms the foundation of the Mahayana belief of "emptiness"
Sutras
Buddhist scriptures
Three Marks of Existence
Characteristics that summarize the changing nature of reality: anatta (no-self), anicca (impermanence), and dukkha (suffering).
Rinzai Zen
Founded by Eisai. This form of Buddhism uses riddles (koan) to concentrate the mind during meditation. Riddles helped to achieve enlightenment by showing the limits of rational thought. Taught that anyone could live the life of the Buddha. Sitting meditation (zanzen) was emphasized as the main practice that allowed one to remove their "layers of desire" and achieve an inner awakening.
Six Realms of Rebirth
Gods asuras (Titans) humans hungry ghosts animals hell-dwellers
Eight Conditions
Labha: gain Alabha: loss Yasa: fame Ayasa: obscurity Ninda: blame Pasamsa: praise Sukha: happiness Dukkha: pain
anatman
No eternal self
Lotus Sutra
One of the earliest and most influential Mahayana Buddhist texts, which reveals the cosmological nature of a Buddha and the universal character of Buddhist truth.
Vinaya
Part of the Tripitaka. Is about the proper conduct of Buddhist monks and nuns.
parinirvana
The final nirvana, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening (bodhi)
Mahayana
The great vehicle
Dalai Lama
The spiritual leader of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism, believed to be an incarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
arhats
Those who have attained enlightenment and the early disciples of the Buddha. Must overcome all 10 fetters to reach nirvana
Parable of the raft
Three rafts (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana) to reach the "other side", nirvana.
Vajrayana
Thunderbolt vehicle
thangka
Tibetan Buddhist religious painting
uposatha
Twice per month, lay people learn dharma from monks
Upaya
Useful means. may be useful for you to believe in god to get ready to accept Anatma
Thich Nhat Hanh
Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in France. Joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate
hungry ghosts
What spirits become when proper rituals aren't performed
D.T. Suzuki
Writer who spread interest in Zen and Shin Buddhism
Storehouse consciousness
Yogacara concept of depth of consciousness that contains the impure seeds of karmic existence along with pure seeds of enlightenment; bodymind, physical, and mental manifestation of one's existence
bhikkuni
a Buddhist nun
mantra
a commonly repeated word or phrase
mizuko
a new form of Kannon devotionalism in Japan organized to seek the forgiveness of the spirits of aborted fetuses, until they fulfill their destiny and continue on to another human rebirth
bodhisattva
a person who has attained enlightenment but who has postponed nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment
Engaged Buddhism
a reformist movement among global Buddhists seeking to relate the teachings to contemporary suffering
Gelugpa
a school under the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, that came to rule Tibet in 1642, concentrating secular and religious power in its large, land-owning monastaries.
Dependent origination
a twelve part formula explaining how individuals are bound to future rebirth until they destroy desire and ignorance
zendo
a zen meditation hall
Manjushri
bodhisattva of wisdom
Thich Quang Duc
buddhist monk who burned himself in the middle of a busy road while protesting the buddhist persecution in vietnam
Avalokiteshvara/Guanyin
celestial Bodhisattva of compassion, said to reincarnate in the Dalai Lama
Perfection of Wisdom
central concept in Mahayana Buddhism: wisdom of emptiness
yab-yum
father/mother image
Nagarjuna
founder of Mahayana Buddhism
Bodhidharma
founder of Zen
Soto Zen
gradual awakening through meditation (slow)
Tibetan Book of the Dead
guide to dying and through the in-between time between death and rebirth
Three poisons
ignorance, attachment, and aversion
Maya
illusion; that which keeps us from seeing the world correctly
Bardo
in Tibetan Buddhism, that hallucinatory realm that one is said to enter at the time of death, there to be haunted and terrified by demonic forms that are, if one could only see properly, simply manifestations of the Light of pure Mind or Consciousness
visualization meditation
internal, purely mental single-mindedness
pratimoksa
list of rules governing behavior of monks and nuns - recited twice a month and those who commited infractions are expected to confess selves
Vipassana
meditation based on watching one's own thoughts, emotions, and actions
punya
merit, or the good karma that enters into the content of an individual's life, earned in Buddhist doctrine by moral practices, learning, and meditation
Chogyam Trungpa
monk who became lay teacher, crazy wisdom (sex with students, drinking)
Shila
morality. Right speech, right action, right livelihood.
Five Precepts
no destroying life no stealing no sexual misconduct no false speech no intoxicants
Consciousness Only
our experience of reality is only in our consciousness
koans
paradoxical riddles to bring awakening
Henry Steele Olcott
raised questions about the relics; saw them as superstitious; saw relics as the essence of Buddhism
Madhyamaka
refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of philosophy founded by Nāgārjuna, clear away attachment to words
shikan taza
sitting meditation, Japanese for zazen
sadhana
spiritual discipline or practice
Therigatha
stories of buddhist nuns, to be contrasted with the theragatha which are the stories of buddhist monks. These stories are special for women practicing buddhist life. "verses of the elder nuns"
shunyata
the Mahayana notion of emptiness, meaning that the universe is empty of permanent reality
Sakya
the clan name of the Buddha, found in Mahayana tradition
Dana
the giving of alms
Bodhicitta
the intention to achieve omniscient Buddhahood.
Nenbutsu
the key prayer of the Pure Land traditions: Namu Amida Butsu (praise to the Amida Buddha)
Panchen Lama
the lama next in rank to the Dalai Lama
Mara
the personification of death, delusion, and temptation
prajna
the spiritual wisdom or insight necessary for enlightenment
Buddha-nature
the teaching that all sentient beings have the capacity for fully awakened consciousness and enlightenment
trikaya
the three bodies of the buddha- the dharmakaya (cosmic buddha nature), the nirmanakaya (historical buddhas), and the sambhogakaya (celestial buddhas)
Sakya Pandita
tibetan spiritual leader that was the 4th of the sakya masters. emenation of bodditsatva of wisdom Manjushri.
samatha
tranquility, focus on one thing to still your mind (like a dot in the distance)
Paramita
virtues; six Buddhist perfections (for bodhisattvas) 1. generosity 2. moral discipline 3. forbearance 4. courage 5. meditation 6. insight/wisdom
shramana
wandering ascetics known at the time of the Buddha
Dogen
was a Zen Japanese Buddhist who founded the Soto school of Zen in Japan. The school stresses more than anything to let go. He lived from 1200-1258., Introduced Soto Zen; suggested that using the koan doesn't lead to enlightenment, but only hints at it; you need to sit and meditate.
dhyana
"Meditation"; focusing of the mind; sometimes, stages of trance
Esoteric
(adj.) intended for or understood by only a select few, private, secret
Ch'an/Zen Buddhism
A denomination of Buddhism that stresses exacting spiritual and physical discipline as the path to enlightenment.
stupa
A large, mound-shaped Buddhist shrine.
Sinhalese
Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka
bhikkhu
Buddhist monk
Five Aggregates
Form- our bodies Feelings- arise from the senses Perceptions- attach good/evil/natural to sensory conduct (what we like or don't like) Habitual mental dispositions- stem from karma Consciousness- a sense of self
Maitreya Buddha
In Chinese Buddhism, the next Buddha to enter the world in the future, or the Buddha of the future.
Shinran
Japanese Pure Land master that lived from 1173 to 126
Tamil
Muslim minority; Southern India civilization
zazen
Seated meditation
Duhka
Suffering
Siddhartha
The Buddha whose teachings founded Buddhism
Padmasambhava/Guru Rinpoche
The Second Buddha, who—with his consort Yeshé Tsogyel—established Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet in the Eighth Century
Amitabha Buddha
The main deity presiding in the Pure Land of the West
Pure Land
The place where Amida Buddha has vowed to have reborn those who call on his name ten times at death