Buddhism

Mandala

typically a circular diagram representing the entire universe, often used as an aid in meditation

Buddha

A fully enlightened being, and the historical person from the 6th century BCE. From "budh" meaning "awake".

Kuan Yin

Bodhisattva/Goddess of Mercy in East Asia, and a male deity of compassion in South Asia.

Upaya

literally, "skillful means"; the creative application of wisdom in helping others to ease their suffering or cultivate insight; the point is ti take into consideration the needs, interests, and awareness of those with whom one interacts. For example, the Lotus Sutra tells of one monk who appears to others in the form they are most receptive to, such as either a king, monk, or boy or girl, etc. Upaya is a good reminder to promote others' happiness by adapting our speech and actions to the needs, interests, and awareness of others.

Meditation

comes in two forms: samatha (calm abiding, focusing awareness on a single object; the focal point is the breath, or any object that matters - the things and not its false essence; focused awareness stabilizes the mind and makes it less easily disturbed by the disruptive influences or thoughts and feelings) and vipassana ("mindfulness meditation" or "insight meditation", in other words, awareness itself; begins by focusing on the breath to focus concentration and stabilize the mind; then one moves beyond the thoughts, feelings, daydreams, and other phenomena in order to calmly observe the unfolding of all mental and physical sensations - neither obsessing, reacting, nor judging...but simply allowing them to be; the practioner gains insight into the working of compulsive, restless thoughts and moves past the suffering they cause)

Dukkha

dis-ease of the mind, body, or spirit usually translated as "suffering," but is very expansive and includes anxiety, cancer, fear, trauma, physical and mental illness

Sutra

discourses or sermons of the Buddha preserved in Buddhist scriptures

Lama

in Tibet, a spiritual teacher of the dharma as in the Dalai Lama

(Inter)dependent Origination

the doctrine that reality is a complex web of interrelated and interdependent phenomena in which nothing exists independently; instead, the origination of all things depends on other things. All things are constituted of elements of toehr things and nothing exists in and of itself. Buddha identified twelve casual factors ( like ignorance, desire, and rebith) that bring about a comint-into-existence once any one of them is set in motion.

Anatman

the doctrine that there is no independent, eternal self or soul underlying personal existence; also called No-self (Sanskrit).

Skandhas

the five components that give rise to a (false) sense of "self" : body, perceptions, feelings, innate tendencies, and thought

Five Precepts

the five most important ethical principles for Buddhist laypeople: 1) not killing or causing harm to living beings; 2) not stealing; 3) not engaging in sexual misconduct; 4) not lying; and 5) not using intoxicants. Monks follow additional precepts including not gossiping about the sanga; not praising oneself; not being stingy; not being angry; not speaking ill of the Buddha. But more commonly, the five additional precepts for monks includes: no snacking; no music or dancing or entertainment; no perfume or jewelry or tattoos; no sleeping on a bed; no money.

Four Noble Truths

the four truths that form the basis of the Dharma: 1) suffering (dukkha) is inherent in human life; 2) suffering (dukkha) is caused by desire/attachment/craving; 3) there can be an end to desire; 4) the way to end desire is the Noble Eightfold Path

Parinirvana

the full entry into nirvana that occurs at the death of one who has achieved nirvana in his or her lifetime. Buddha passed into parinirvana, but the Dharma would always be humanity's guide.

Bodhichitta

an "awakened thought" in Sanskrit. In Mahayana Buddhism, the wise and compassionate intention to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all other sentient beings.

Manjushri

Boddhisattva of Wisdom holds a flaming sword of discrimination and a copy of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in the blooming lotus of enlightenment.

Maitreya

"The Laughing Buddha" with a large belly who is popular in China, where his fatness symbolizes prosperity and joy. Buddhists rub his belly for good luck. When yous ee his statue, remember he is not the original Buddha who first attained enlightenment (Siddhartha the prince, 563-483 BCE). This is the prosperous Buddha of the future, as in the next Buddha who will arise in the world.

Theravada

"The Way of the Elders" is the oldest form of Buddhism most prominent in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Theravada views itself as the original and authentic teaching of the Buddha (while Mahayana says it penetrates the Buddha's teaching more deeply as "the Greater Vehicle" and calls Theravada "the Lesser Vehicle." Theravada emphasizes one's individual effort (primarily through meditation and being a monk in the sanga of a monastery) in attaining nirvana after becoming an enlightened arhat (not a bodhisattva, which is the benevolent goal of Mahayana Buddhism). There are ten times as many male monks than female nuns in Theravada, and this is the only path to enlightenment.

The Four Sights

In the 6th century BCE, Siddhartha was a prince sheltered by his father, who received a prophecy that Siddhartha would rule kingdoms, or souls. His father expected Siddhartha to rule on the throne. So Siddhartha grew up with luxury and married his cousin and had a son, but he grew restless at age 29 and ventured outside the palace walls with his charioteer. The sheltered Siddhartha saw four things for the first time...that changed his life. First, an old man. The charioteer told Siddhartha he, too, would grow old and frail. Second, a sick man. The servant told Siddhartha that sickness is also a part of life. Third, a corpse being cremated, and the servant told Siddhartha no one can escape death. Fourth, a wandering ascetic yogi, homeless, but content. So Siddhartha followed the Hindu ascetic for five years. (Then he heard the music lesson that led him to the Middle Path, rejecting asceticism of Hindu yogis, and sat under the Bodhi Tree until he was enlightened!)

Ashoka (272-231 BCE)

India's emperor who was a successful, violent conqueror, but converted to Buddhist ethics and promoted moral purification, self-awareness, nonviolence, and respect for all religions in edicts carved on stone pillars across his empire. Ashoka's rock edicts are the earliest evidence for the widespread promotion of Buddhist ideals. Ashoka convened the Third Buddhist Council when 1,000 Buddhist missionaries were sent to other countries; disputes about interpreting Dharma were discussed, giving rise to Theravada Buddhism.

Bodhisattva

Literally, an "enlightened being," like the Buddha in the lives he lived prior to that in which he achieved enlightenment, as well as to future Buddhas. In Mahayana Buddhism, one who has taken a "Bodhisattva vow" to remain in samsara in order to work for the enlightenment of all sentient beings. Moved by compassion since suffering affects all living beings, a Bodhisattva lives to encourage others to follow the path that will lead to their won enlightenment and liberation from suffering. Bodhisattvas can be people who take a Bodhisattva vow to help others and Bodhisattvas practice the "six Prefections" (generosity, morality, patience, nrg, meditation, wisdom). Other Bodhisattvas have special powers of a Buddha: pithy wisdom, psychic powers, and skillful magic. Some no longer require human bodies but dwell in celestial realms and appear to those who pray to them. Buddhists have statues/idols of bodhisattvas and pray to them (against the Buddha's own teaching no to pray to gods since they don;t help people' people help themselves).

Zen Buddhism

One of two Mahayana schools (along with Pure Land) which was brought to China in the 5th century CE and then spread to East Asia (Japan!), and to the U.S. where it became popular. Zen emphasizes practice over doctrine and aims for sudden enlightenment called satori. Any form of attachment, even to the Buddha, is an obstacle so one of many Zen sayings is, "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." Zen koans (sayings) like "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" or "What was the appearance of your face before your ancestors were born?" present the mind with paradoxes to bypass logic and reason...and attain enlightened wisdom through direct intuition of reality. Zen Buddhists use artistic media like poetry, calligraphy, and garden to gain insights in meditation and convey them without rhetoric/language. Zen is deeply ingrained in humor and was popular with the Beat Generation of the 1950's (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder). Zen is the most radically self-reliant Buddhist tradition, seeking personal insight into the true nature of things (unlike Pure Land's dependence on the Buddha's compassion for salvation, for example).

Noble Eightfold Path

The Buddha's prescription for a way of life that leads to enlightenment. Based on the principle of the Middle Way, it is also defined by eight virtues; sort of a "Ten Commandments" of Buddhism. The first is to accept a correct view of reality and strive for goals consistent with this understanding, living according to corresponding ethical principles. The Eightfold Path enables Buddhists to cultivate awareness and concentration that leads to enlightenment and an end to suffering.

Middle Way

The Buddha's principle of the path between extremes of asceticism and self-indulgence that leads to enlightenment. When Siddhartha was an ascetic (a practicing Hindu yogi) before his enlightenment, after a long day of fasting, he was in the first and head a music teacher instructing a student how to tune his instrument: winding a strings too tight would cause it to snap; winding it too loosely would make no sound at all; so wind it in between the two extremes. After Buddha heard this lesson, a woman offered him a bowl or porridge, and he ate it, and abandoned Hindu asceticism (the extreme life of a yogi)...and sat under the Bodhi Tree...and the rest is history (of his enlightenment).

Pali Canon (Tripitaka)

The collection of three baskets (or collections of texts) of the Threavadan Buddhists collected four centuries after the Buddha's death by monks who committed Buddha's teachings to writing for the first time! This original canon of Buddhist texts consists of three "baskets" (or collections) of sutras: the "Discipline Basket" (hundreds of monastic rules; "discourse Basket" (Buddha's sutras - sermons and teachings); and the "Abhidharma" (the texts about the Dharma: consciousness, epistemology, cosmology and meditation). Why "baskets"? Early manuscripts were written on palm leaves and stored in baskets.

Three Refuges ("Three Jewels")

The core of the Buddhist identity; the most fundamental ritual practice and the closest things Buddhism has to a creed. Buddha's first converts (the five yogi ascetics he initially followed) recited the Three Refuges: I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha. Taking refuge in the Buddha is to acknowledge the Buddha as the supreme example of the potential of human life (but not to worship him as a god, since he is a man). To take refuge in the Dharma is to recognize it as the path to enlightenment and an end to suffering. To take refuge in the sangha is to recognize one's reliance on the Buddhist community as the custodian of the Dharma, responsible for its preservation and transmission.

Lotus Sutra

The most revered Buddhist text from the 2nd century CE emphasizing "skillful means," the thoughtful application of knowledge and insight in making decisions related to ethics and spiritual progress. The Lotus Sutra also teaches that the death of the Buddha did not bring about his absolute dissolution; he is an eternal entity who remains in the cycle of samsara to benefit those who still suffer (i.e. the majority! as in everyone who is not an arhat or bodhisattva)

Karma

action; also the consequences of actions

Pure Land Buddhism

Zen and Pure Land are the two prominent Mahayana schools of Buddhism (remember Buddhism has three paths: Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana; and Pure Land is a type of Mahayana). The Pure Land Sutra (their most important scripture from 2nd century CE) descrives Amitabha Buddha, "The Buddha of Boundless Light," who brings those who call upon him to rebirt in his Buddha Realm, "the Pure Land" (a kind of heaven where the faithful enjoy happiness and affluence).

Bhikku

a Buddhist monk. Buddha and his bhikkus wandered without owning any property or having a home. Early Buddhists continued to wander and only had to take shelter during the rainy season, but centuries after the Buddha's death, more monks and nuns needed permanent monastic communities so monasteries and convents were established.

Dhammapada

a collection of sayings of the Buddha found in the Pali Canon teaching that we are responsible for our own thought, as in the verses: "Mind is a forerunner of all actions. All deeds are led by mind, created by mind. If one speaks or acts with corrupt mind, suffering follows, as the wheel follows the hoof of an ox pulling a cart. If one speaks or acts with a serene mind, happiness follows, As surely as one's shadow." Also, "The rain could turn to gold and still your thirst would not be slaked. Desire is unquenchable or it ends in tears, even in heaven." And " Animosity does not eradicate animosity. Only by loving kindness is animosity dissolved. This law is ancient and eternal."

Stupa

a reliquary (burial) mound in which the relics of the Buddha or a Buddhist saint are buried and venerated; becomes a pilgrimage site. Stories vary about what happened to the Buddha's remains: some say they were divided into eight portions and distributed; others say they were divided into 84,000 portions and distributed to all parts of India. Most stupas are impressive hemispherical structures with symbolic meaning of attaining enlightenment that inspire and empower pilgrims.

Mantra

a sacred sound or syllable used as a focus for meditation, as an invocation of a deity, or as a protective spell. Mantras have a great variety of forms: some are entire Buddhist sutras (teachings), while other focus on key passages (verses) in particular philosophical texts. And remember, "Lokah Samastah Sukino Bavantu" ("may all beings everywhere be happy and free"). The Buddhist practice of "visualization" involves the mental contemplation of a mandala, or of the body of the Buddha, so the practitioner's mind comes to embody the deity.

Dharma

a term referring to the Buddhist teaching and Buddhism as a religion; dharma is ultimate reality or reality as it is (rather than as it is usually "misperceived"). The Buddha said after hid death, his teaching would serve as his "Dharma-body." The wheel of the dharma was set in motion at Deer Park, where the Buddha gave his first sermon to the five yogis he once followed (now they became his disciples, the first Buddhists in the first sanga—community of Buddhists). Ironically, considering all the popular Buddha statues everywhere (seated in lotus position with eyes and mouth closed), the Buddha told his followers NOT to make statues of him, since the dharma is his life's work.

Vajrayana

one of the three main paths of Buddhism along with Theravada and Mahayana; also known as the "Diamond Vehicle and "Thunderbolt Vehicle" for claiming it can transport an ordinary person to the level of an advanced bodhisattva in a single lifetime rather than in many eons! This is the most prominent form of Buddhism in Tibet and Nepal incorporating both Mahayana (the bodhisattva ideal) and Tantric ideas (secret teachings about controlling the world's divine energy and breaking through the ego) and practices, although Vajrayana Buddhists claim their tradition dates back to the Buddha himself. Their most common practice is "deity yoga": visualizing oneself as a deity so one becomes the deity with heightened awareness. Another is "death yoga," when a dying person's mind is especially clear and meditates on the emptiness of everything to attain enlightenment.

Arhat

one who has attained enlightenment in Theravada Buddhism (rule of the elders, the oldest, most conservative and orthodox Buddhist school); the ultimate goal for a Theravada Buddhist is personal enlightenment and becoming an arhat - which is only possible as a monk or nun (and there are ten times as many male monks as female nuns in Theravadan Buddhism).

Impermanence

the Buddha's doctrine that all phenomena are in a constant state of change and flux, without any underlying or enduring essence or identity.

Three Marks of Existence

the Buddha's teachings on impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and No-Self (anatman, the non-existence of an eternal unchanging self or soul). Buddha taught anicca: things are always changing and are never the same, not even for a moment; everything is in a state of becoming. Buddha taught dukkha: "I taught one thing and one thing only: suffering and the cessation of suffering." And Buddha taught anatman: of all the things we desire, our greatest attachment is to our notion of self; while Hinduism taught about the atman (the eternal soul or self that survives death and becomes one with Brahman), Buddha rejected this idea. Clearly, you exist, but only as "five skandhas" (body, perception, feelings, innate tendencies, thought) which are always in flux, and separate at one's death! This gives relief when one lives without the false notion of self and from clinging to things that cannot be held.

Samsara

the continuing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; also, the this-worldly realm in which they cycle recurs; very similar to the view in Hinduism

Mahayana

the largest of the Buddhist traditions also known as the "Great Vehicle" (as in "Buddhism for the masses," a large and accommodating tradition). The form of Buddhism most prominent in China, Japan, Mongolia, Tibet, and Korea. Unlike Theravada Buddhists ("rule of the elders"), Mahayana understands that everyone is capable of attaining nirvana, not just monks and nuns (arhats of Theravada). Theravada sees the Buddha as an extraordinary man, while Mahayana sees the Buddha as the earthly expression of ultimate reality on three levels: >the "earth body" (Siddhartha the man) >the "bliss body" (Buddha the teacher whose wisdom is beyond time and space) >and the "truth body" of indifferentiated, impersonal, absolute reality (void, consciousness, Nirvana, Buddha-Nature, Buddha-Mind)

Vesak

the most important Buddhist holiday commemorating the day in May on which the Buddha was born, enlightened, and died (all on the same day of the year, in different years, obviously). Buddhists hear a dharma talk, meditate, and bathe statues of the Buddha using ladles to pour water with herbs and rose petals

Bodhi tree

the tree under which the Buddha sat to attain enlightenment, known as "the Enlightenment Tree." It is located in a monastery in Bodh Gaya in India today, where monks gather to meditate and pilgrims visit.

Nirvana

the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice: the extinguishing of desire and the suffering it causes, like a candle flame being blown out. The Buddha said very little about nirvana, as it is something that must be experienced to be understood.

Sangha

the worldwide community of Buddhists in general; more specifically, a particular Buddhist congregation of monks and laypeople.