Buddhism Midterm
Arhat
: one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved nirvana Significance: Mahayana Buddhist traditions have used the term for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood
King Ashoka
: His vigorous patronage of Buddhism during his reign (c. 265-238 BCE; also given as c. 273-232 BCE) furthered the expansion of that religion throughout India. Following his successful but bloody conquest of the Kalinga country on the east coast, Ashoka renounced armed conquest and adopted a policy that he called "conquest by dharma" Significance: he resolved to live according to, and preach, the dharma and to serve his subjects and all humanity
sutta/sūtra
: refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text. Sutras are a genre of ancient and medieval Indian texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism Significance: In Buddhism, sutras, also known as suttas, are canonical scriptures, many of which are regarded as records of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. They are not aphoristic, but are quite detailed, sometimes with repetition. This may reflect a philological root of sukta (well spoken), rather than sutra (thread)
Māra
: the demonic celestial king who tempted Prince Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha) by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters Significance: Mara is associated with death, rebirth and desire.[2] Nyanaponika Thera has described Mara as "the personification of the forces antagonistic to enlightenment
Vinaya
: the division of the Buddhist canon (Tripitaka) containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha. Significance: The Vinaya-Pitaka, or "basket of discipline," is the first of three parts of the Tipitaka, a collection of the earliest Buddhist texts. The Vinaya records the Buddha's rules of discipline for monks and nuns. It also contains stories about the first Buddhist monks and nuns and how they lived
Tripitaka
: traditional term for the Buddhist scriptures.[1][2] The version canonical to Theravada Buddhism is generally referred to in English as the Pali Canon Significance: It is thought to be the oldest complete canon within Buddhism. The contents of the canon, said to largely represent the words of the Buddha (born c. 6th-4th century BCE), were transmitted orally and first written down in Pali within the Theravadan communities Other Notes: division of buddha texts into three baskets: sutras(teachings), vinayas(disciplinary codes), abhidharma(higher analysis of dharmas/commentaries)
Upāya
: translated "skillful means" or "expedient means." Very simply, upaya is any activity that helps others realize enlightenment Significance: The most important points are that the action is applied with wisdom and compassion and that it is appropriate in its time and place
Stupa
Buddhist commemorative monument usually housing sacred relics associated with the Buddha or other saintly persons Significance: The whole of the Great Stupa is encircled by a railing and four gateways, which are richly decorated with relief sculpture depicting Jataka tales, events in the life of the Buddha, and popular mythological figures
Sangha
Buddhist monastic order, traditionally composed of four groups: monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen Significance: The sangha is a part—together with the Buddha and the dharma (teaching)—of the Threefold Refuge, a basic creed of Buddhism
Six Realms (Paths) of Rebirth
Heavens Asuras (demigods) Humans Animals Hungry ghosts Hells Significance: All beings within the six realms are doomed to death and rebirth in a recurring cycle over countless ages -- unless they can break free from desire and attain enlightenment. Further, upon death, all beings are reborn into a lower or a higher realm depending on their actions while still alive. This involves the concept of Karma and Karmic Retribution. The lowest three states are called the three evil paths, or three bad states
Budda
Meaning: (the awakened one, someone who has achieved awakening) founder of Buddhism, was awakened to the cycle of rebirth, taught the spiritual path to enlightenment Significance: Buddhist community compiled his teachings,
Shramana/śramana
Meaning: An ancient Indian religious movement that began as an offshoot of the Vedic religion and focused on ascetic lifestyle and principles. Significance: The Sramana movement gave rise to Jainism and Buddhism. Sramanas were those who practiced an ascetic, or strict and self-denying, lifestyle in pursuit of spiritual liberation. They are commonly known as monks.
Gautama Siddhārtha
Meaning: Buddha's real name Significance: Upon becoming aware of human suffering, he left his kingdom to become an ascetic. He then developed the Middle Way—a moderate path between self-mortification and self-indulgence—and soon attained enlightenment into the causes of and solutions to human suffering at age 35
Five Aggregates (skandha)
Meaning: Form (Pali, rupa)—the physical world Sensation or Feeling (vedana)— not "sensations" or "feelings" as they're meant in ordinary English usage, but our simplest responses to experience: like, dislike, or indifference Perception (sanna)—again, not "perception" as conveyed by ordinary English, but the recognition or interpretation of sense objects followed by mental labeling. Mental formations (sankharas)— volitional mental actions, triggered by some object, that produce karma Consciousness (vinnana)—cognizance, including thoughts, which this system views as sense objects perceived through the "sense gate" of the mind Significance: the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. Suffering is extinguished by relinquishing attachments to aggregates
Four Noble Truths
Meaning: The truth of suffering (Dukkha) The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya) The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha) The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga) Significance: The Four Noble Truths contain the essence of the Buddha's teachings. It was these four principles that the Buddha came to understand during his meditation under the bodhi tree.
Pratītya-samutpāda
Meaning: commonly translated as dependent origination, or dependent arising, is a key doctrine of Buddhist philosophy, which states that all dharmas ("phenomena") arise in dependence upon other dharmas: "if this exists, that exists; if this ceases to exist, that also ceases to exist" Significance: The principle is expressed in the links of dependent origination in Buddhism, a linear list of twelve elements from the Buddhist teachings which arise depending on the preceding link//impermanance, everything causes and conditions, chained to samsara
Samsara
Meaning: cycle of rebirth Significance: All suffering is locked in samsara and the purpose of pursuing nirvana is to escape it
Six sense organs
Meaning: eye and visible objects[5] ear and sound nose and odor tongue and taste body and touch mind[6] and mental objects[7] Significance: the six sense organs are regarded as the source of earthly desires. The Lotus Sutra says that one can purify the workings of the six sense organs by embracing and reciting the sutra
Śākyamuni
Meaning: one of Buddha's names, "Sage of the Shakyas" Significance: he was born into the Shakya clan of Eastern India
Karma
Meaning: refers to action driven by intention (cetanā) which leads to future consequences Significance: Those intentions are considered to be the determining factor in the kind of rebirth in samsara, the cycle of rebirth
Atman
Meaning: term in Hinduism that means inner self, spirit, or soul Significance: in order to attain liberation, a human being must first realize that one's true self (Atman) is identical with the transcendent self Brahman//opposite is anatman
(Noble) Eightfold Path
Right understanding (Samma ditthi) Right thought (Samma sankappa) Right speech (Samma vaca) Right action (Samma kammanta) Right livelihood (Samma ajiva) Right effort (Samma vayama) Right mindfulness (Samma sati) Right concentration (Samma samadhi) Significance: The eight parts of the path to liberation are grouped into three essential elements of Buddhist practice—moral conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom. The Buddha taught the eightfold path in virtually all his discourses, and his directions are as clear and practical to his followers today as they were when he first gave them
"In entering into government administration, he safeguarded everyone. In entering into the lecture halls, he led people by means of the Mahayana. In entering the schools, he inspired the children. In entering the brothels, he revealed the transgressions [that arise from] desire. In entering the wine shops, he was able to maintain (lit., "establish") his [good] intention" (N, p. 306).
Text: A Layman Humbles the Monks This passage describes Vimalikriti, who was a lay disciple of the Buddha. Vimalakiriti was a very successful disciple who truly cared for every sentient beings. This passage exmpahsizes how everywhere Vimalikriti went, he had succeeded in trying to care for the sentient being and create moral situations out of every environment.//This passage exmpahsizes how everywhere Vimalikriti went, he had succeeded in trying to care for the sentient being and create moral situations out of every environment.
"Oh, see this beautified image; / A mass of sores erected. / Full of illness, highly fancied, / Permanence it has not—or constancy" (N, p. 210).
Text: Dhammapada From the Dhammapada, Talking about the body from a series of texts. Talking about impermanence and the body decays sand suffering of old age. Non Attachment to the body because it will bring us great suffering. We shouldn't be attached to impermanence because it will bring suffering when the thing fades away; help teach the core of many buddhism/ideas story of losing his eyes, he is not attached to his body, no lasting value.
"Again, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, a skeleton with flesh and blood, held together with sinews . . . a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood . . . . disconnected bones scattered in all directions . . . . a bhikkhu compares this same body with it thus: 'This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate'" (N, p. 197).
Text: Establishment of Mindfulness Impermanence of body, this realization helps to detach his own body and separate from it...... Breaking down the human body into its most pure and impure, simplistic forms in order to deliver the idea of bodily impermanence. Helps one realize the perpetually changing features of the body and their resulting suffering, and therefore helps in those removing themselves from all attachment to it.
"And the Lord said: 'Enough, Ananda, do not weep and wail! Have I not already told you that all things that are pleasant and delightful are changeable, subject to separation and becoming other? So how could it be, Ananda—since whatever is born, become, compounded is subject to decay—how could it be that it should not pass away?'" (N, p. 169)
Text: Great Discourse on the Final Nirvana Buddha teaches Ananda impermanence; all bodies deteriorate. Even buddha cannot escape impermanence
"When I consider the fragility of all things and reflect upon the counsel of my masters, I no longer tremble, friend, at the idea of this torture; for I know that my eyes are something perishable" (N, p. 243).
Text: Legend of Ashoka Someone who has cultivated buddhism wisdom has no longer attached his body/useless for attaching to it, but using bodies to help others is a higher level function of our body/incostant body brings . When Kunala is thinking about the prediction that he will lose his precious eyes he does not originally understand that he should not be attached to his eyes. He must understand impermanence and embrace the fact that all of his body parts he can live without, he must only make sure to purify his soul through his devotion to Buddhism. He explains that he has dealt with the predicament and is no longer afraid. Rather, he understands that the eye is just another worldly pleasure that he can live without. Kunala views losing his eyes as a consequence and a privilege. It is a consequence because his actions in past lives (removing the eyes from several animals so he can hunt them all at his own pace without them being able to run away) have given him bad Karma and this is how he must pay for his actions. On the other hand, Kunala views losing his eyes as a privilege because without his eyes, Kunala is better able to focus on his religious practice and his devotion to Buddhism.Kunala realizes that the physical body is useless because it is impermanent and because we humans are too attached to it. The body is not valuable, however, it takes on value IF we can use it to help others.
"When you are angry at him, what is it you are angry with? Is it head hairs you are angry with? Or body hairs? Or nails? . . . Or is it urine you are angry with? Or alternatively, is it the earth element in the head hairs, etc., you are angry with? Or the water element? Or the fire element? Or is it the air element you are angry with? . . . ." (N, p. 260).
Text: Path of Purification The idea of anatman and dependent uprising. If you are angry at someone, what are you angry at? Meaninglessness of being angry. If the concept is tru them can you be angry. That person and emotion is constantly shifting.
"Bhikkhus, it is not easy to find a being who has not formerly been your mother . . . your father . . . your brother . . . your sister. . . your son . . . your daughter" (N, p. 259).
Text: Path of Purification emptiness and that Buddhist belief that we are unable to separate ourselves as individuals but instead have radical interconnectedness//This is a plea for compassion for fellow sentient beingsEvery being should be treated as if they were one's own kin because they probably have been in a past lifeBecause of the cycle of reincarnation, the Buddha says that it is likely that you have been related to every being at some pointConnects to modern concept of interbeing
"I have indeed seen that blessed one; this is the last body; journeying-on from rebirth to rebirth has been completely eliminated; there is now no renewed existence" (N, p. 235).
Text: Songs of Females Elders Significance (at least 4 sentences): The Buddha's caretaker is the speaker (woman who raised him after his mother died and was also a spouse of his father); she is regarded in the Buddhist tradition as the founder of the Buddhist nuns; she begged the Buddha to allow her and her followers into his sangha; because of the Buddhist teachings I have managed to free myself from samsara I will not be reborn again because I have attained nirvana thanks to the blessed one.
"Therefore the Realized One preaches, 'All dharmas are Buddha-dharmas. As far as 'all dharmas' are concerned, Subhuti, all of them are dharma-less. That is why they are called 'all dharmas'" (N, p. 336).
Text: The Diamond Sutra (thunderbolt) The text challenges the common belief that inside each and every one of us is an immovable core, or soul—in favor of a more fluid and relational view of existence. All dharmas are marked by "emptiness", it means that they all have something in common. X is not X in an ultimate sense, but in a conventional sense. There can't be a real difference between non-buddha-dharmas and buddha-dharmas, because that fails to take emptiness into account.//uses the same structure, a table is empty of tableness- there is no enduring thing as tableness?(thats why we call it a table)//dharmas (all phenomena that exists)
"This Dharma is extremely profound; / Only a few will be able to believe it. / Since long ago we have frequently heard / The teaching of the Bhagavat, / Yet we have never before heard / Such a profound and supreme teaching" (N, p. 287).
Text: The Lotus Sutra Buddha's disciples revered the teachings of the Buddha. They are in the presence of the Buddha and his teachings had awed them. Shariputra has now acclaimed this knowledge from the Buddha as well. Shariputra is being told how the Buddha's teaching can lead to nirvana.
"Open for them are the doors to the Deathless / Let those with ears now show their faith. / Thinking it would be troublesome, O Brahma, / I did not speak the Dhamma subtle and sublime" (N, p. 127).
Text: The Noble Search having attained nirvana, Buddha doesn't want to teach and has to be convinced to teach by a brahma; people are not ready for sophisticated teachings; idea that we sentient beings are often not so receptive to difficult and profound teachings (reiterated in Mahayana texts such as Lotus Sutra); talk about the Buddhas journey to nirvana and his decision to teach
"One should avoid an evil companion, who does not see the goal, (who has entered upon bad conduct. One should not oneself associate with one who is intent (upon wrong views, and is) negligent. One should wander solitary as a rhinoceros horn" (N, p. 230).
Text: The Rhinoceros Sutra if you are searching for nirvana, you should stay away from someone who is not a good moral compass for you because they might lead you down the wrong path. In order to avoid this, to attain enlightenment, you should take this path of attaining enlightenment alone. This is different to Mahayana Buddhism where surrounding yourself with different people will teach you patience.
"Realizing that such pain overcame him because of a flaw in him, his affection, and for no other reason, and certain that that affection must be banished and equanimity developed, he plucked out that dart of grief by the power of his knowledge, and sat down in his usual position" (N, p. 118).
Text: The Vessentara Jataka There is an evil Brahim figure who is testing the resolve of others. He's asked to give away his children for the greater good of human beings/sentient beings. He starts to feel some regret and is tempted to get them back.He experiences his grief in a very physical way, but he realizes that this pain had overcome him because of his "weakness" of affection. Developing equanimity goes back to the idea of feeling neutral and "the same" for all people.
The Three Jewels
The Buddha, the fully enlightened one The Dharma, the teachings expounded by the Buddha The Sangha, the monastic order of Buddhism that practice Dharmas Significance: The ideals at the heart of Buddhism are collectively known as the 'Three Jewels', or the 'Three Treasures'. These are the Buddha (the yellow jewel), the Dharma (the blue jewel), and the Sangha (the red jewel). It is by making these the central principles of your life that you become a Buddhist.
Three Councils
The First Council (or Rajagriha Council) right after Buddha's death (Ananda was the main counsel, had a really good memory) The Second Council (or Vaishali Council) The Third Council (or Pataliputra Council) Significance: It is by means of three councils that after the Buddha passed into parinirvana, his teachings were preserved without any alteration or loss. Buddhist monastic communities have periodically convened to settle doctrinal and disciplinary disputes and to revise and correct the contents of the sutras//venue where they could dispute what the Buddha actually taught; criteria was given by the Buddhya himself
Tathāgata
The most generally adopted interpretation is "one who has thus (tatha) gone (gata)" or "one who has thus (tatha) arrived (agata)," implying that the historical Buddha was only one of many who have in the past and will in the future experience enlightenment and teach others how to achieve it Significance: one of the titles of a buddha and the one most frequently employed by the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, when referring to himself
"In the same way I see that all sentient beings, without exception, are like golden figures covered with clay; [their] outside crusts are the sheaths of the defilements, but inside there is the buddha-knowledge" (N, p. 355).
Title: Discourse on the Buddha Nature The Buddha explains how we overlook the inner qualities of sentient beings and monks. He gives multiple examples of how the outside may be filled with defilements and poorly taken care of but every sentient beings minds are the inner jewels. The mind is what will achieve the greatest happiness. Buddha is present within all sentient beings, however not everyone can see it. Connects to one of the main ideas of Mahayana Tradition in that all beings will eventually become buddha because they all have a part of buddha within them.
"Oh Shariputra! What do you think about this? This affluent man gave to his children equally a large cart decorated with precious treasures. Has he deceived them or not?" (N, p. 290).
Title: Lotus Sutra There is a burning house and the man lies and offers animal carts to encourage his children to leave the building. When they exit the building they receive a better cart than what he promised. Not deception, because it's considered skillful means. Skillful means is teaching the Dharma using creative methods.//"power of expedient means" The Tathagata does the same, and he is without falsehood. First he preaches the three vehicles to attract and guide living beings, but later he employs just the Great Vehicle to save them.
"Shariputra, a son of good lineage or a daughter of good lineage should perceive things in this way: form is empty; emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form; form is not other than emptiness" (N, p. 364).
Title: The Heart Sutra The essence of all perfection of wisdom sutras. Emptiness is key term in the sutras, physical and mental constituents of the person are devoid of self (lack any essence or enduring nature)--bodhisattva must perceive their emptiness in order to become a buddha//emptiness and impermanence
"This knowledge and vision arose in me: 'My deliverance is unshakeable; this is my last birth; now there is no renewal of being" (N, p. 125).
Title: The Noble Search about reaching nirvana, and escaping the cycle of birth, suffering, old age, and death and becoming "deathless"//This passage (The Noble Search) speaks of when the Buddha has realized that he found the way to attain nibbana. The Buddha is telling the bhikkhus of his path to finding nibbana and he went through a great deal of teachers and was unsatisfied with everyone. Eventually, the Buddha looked within and discovered his own way of achieving nibbana by pulling knowledge from all of his past teachers.
Pāramitās
a Buddhist term often translated as "perfection". It is described in Buddhist commentaries as noble character qualities generally associated with enlightened beings Significance: Pāramitā, in Mahāyāna ("Greater Vehicle") Buddhism, any of the perfections, or transcendental virtues, practiced by bodhisattvas ("Buddhas-to-be") in advanced stages of their path toward enlightenment. The six virtues are: Generosity (dāna-pāramitā) Morality (śīla-pāramitā) Perseverance (kṣānti-pāramitā) Vigour (vīrya-pāramitā) Meditation, or concentration (dhyāna-pāramitā) Wisdom (prajñā-pāramitā)
Bhikkhu
an ordained male monastic ("monk") in Buddhism, means beggar Significance: For historical reasons, the full ordination of women has been unavailable to Theravada and Vajrayana practitioners, although recently the full ordination for women has been reintroduced to many areas
Causes and conditions
arise at particular moments in time -> reality Significance: this reality will change as the underlying causes and conditions shift = impermanence All processes are interdependent The self is a product of particular causes and conditions are arise at a particular place and time
Jātaka tales
body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form Significance: The future Buddha may appear in them as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant—but, in whatever form, he exhibits some virtue that the tale thereby inculcates.
Dharma
dharma is the doctrine, the universal truth common to all individuals at all times, proclaimed by the Buddha Significance: Among the three jewels of buddha, dharma and sangha in which all Buddhists take refuge, the dharma is pre-eminent. It is a realization of the dharma that produces buddhas and it is the dharma that provides the pretext for the sangha (community) and binds it together
Four Sights / Omens
events described in the legendary account of Gautama Buddha's life which led to his realization of the impermanence and ultimate dissatisfaction of conditioned existence: Old age Sickness Death Mendicancy Significance: However, his first venture out of the palace affected him deeply and made him realize the sufferings of all humans, and compelled him to begin his spiritual journey as a wandering ascetic, which eventually led to his enlightenment
Mahāyāna
one of two main existing branches of Buddhism Significance: Mahāyāna Buddhists teach that enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime, and this can be accomplished even by a layperson
Bodhisattva
one who seeks awakening (bodhi)—hence, an individual on the path to becoming a buddha Significance: In the Early Buddhist schools as well as modern Theravada Buddhism, a bodhisattva (Pali: bodhisatta) refers to anyone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will be so. In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated bodhicitta, a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Pāli canon
texts written in Pali, that were essential to the tradition, and it includes all of these three baskets above. Similar to Tripitaka Significance: same as Tripitaka
Hīnayāna
the Buddhist path followed by a śrāvaka who wished to become an arhat Significance: Hīnayāna was often contrasted with Mahāyāna, which means the "great vehicle" Means "lesser vehicle" Don't use this term Use "Mainstream Buddhism" or "Theravada Buddhism" instead//more orthodox, conservative schools of Buddhism; the name Hīnayāna was applied to these schools by the followers of the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition in ancient India. The name reflected the Mahāyānists' evaluation of their own tradition as a superior method, surpassing the others in universality and compassion;
"Thus have I heard"
the common translation of the first line of the standard introduction (Pāli and Sanskrit: nidāna) of Buddhist discourses Significance: This phrase serves to confirm that the discourse is coming from the Buddha himself, as a "seal of authenticity"
Emptiness/śūnyatā
the voidness that constitutes ultimate reality; sunyata is seen not as a negation of existence but rather as the undifferentiation out of which all apparent entities, distinctions, and dualities arise Significance: The term sunyata may also be used as a recognition of anattā, or the absence of any self apart from the five skandhas (mental and physical elements of existence)
