RLG100 Buddhism & Jainism test

Pali

ancient language used to create the pali canon

Xenophobic

anti-foreign/foreigner

the Buddha

- this is what Siddhartha becomes after he decides he's ready for death and reaches enlightenment - a title, not a person

Tripitaka

3 baskets of the pali canon -sutras -vinaya -abhidharma

Zazen

"just sitting", the practice of mediation from 8-10 hours usually

Laity

- common people

Samurai

feudal warriors in japan

Anitya

impermanence

Pure Land

other power type buddhism, claims that we need help from a higher power to get us to the afterlife/ the "pure land" aka heaven

karma

our actions perpetuate our movement in the world

himalayan buddhism

follows the tantric traditions and is found in the regions of Tibet, Mongolia, and Nepal

Shoguns

like feudal chiefs in japan

Dyana

meditation, in sanskrit

Sallekhana

- to expire out of the world with as little fanfare as possible - fasting to death, essentially

anadi

"beginningless", the world was never created, has always existed

pratitya samutpada

"dependent origination" -if everything is changing, where is the order? -> WELL things dont just change randomly, there have to be the right conditions for things to happen and change

Anatman

"no self" -> extension of the idea of impermanence (just as the world is changing, so are we) -THIS IS THE REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUDDHISM AND OTHER VEDIC TRADITIONS -> we are the result of our decisions, parts, sensations, etc. NOT a soul that just like floats between bodies or whatever

jiva

- "the soul" in jainism

3 jewels of Jainism

- bright knowledge -> acquiring wisdom - bright insight -> the experience that sets us on the path to Jainism: the epiphany - bright action -> the MOST IMPORTANT THING!

Buddhism

- came from the sramana tradition - popular for a lil bit in India but then became REALLY popular in china - a missionary tradition - believes in enlightenment - 4 noble truths - 3 jewels

Vedic Traditions

- centered around sacrifice - circular: all aspects of the cosmos are interconnected - hierarchy was created based off of the professional sacrificers called Brahmins

Jain view of Karma

- karma is like a physical thing, like a dust that settles on our souls - obscures the light of the soul - we're trying to get rid of it so that our spirits can shine without being dimmed

Bodisvhata

- pledge to be enlightened - become teachers - stay on this earth past enlightenment, unlike the Arhants

Mahayana

- sect of Buddhism that believes that Arhants are allowed to make mistakes and are not the same as the Buddha aka they can fall from grace and the Buddha is THE BUDDHA - majority

Upaya

- skill - enlightenment can happen to anyone who is taught by a good teacher - makes it accessible for the laity

Arhant

- someone who becomes enlightened

Sakyas/Sakyamuni

- the clan that Siddhartha belonged to

Siddhartha Gautama

- this prince from India who's like super spoiled and shit - he is spoiled bc his parents were given a prophecy before he was born that was like he's either going to become a great conqueror or a great monk and his dad was like f*ck monks i'll give him all the good shit in life so that he won't wanna resign all of it to live in a stinky cave or something - so he gets older and is only surrounded by beautiful things - and then one day he goes out and he sees old age, disease, and death - BUT he also sees a monk thats like totally chill bc hes a monk or something idk - then he's like "i cant go back to all those luxuries when all this suffering is happening" so he follows a life of asceticism and then he's like nope cant do this either - so he follows a Middle Path - and he just like sat under a tree for so long

Syadvada

- to speak ONLY for yourself - done so to respect other peoples opinions (i.e. not make assumptions for anyone else or speak for someone) - like even for stupid shit you can only speak in terms of how you feel or think

Theravada

- traditionalist camp - thinks the arhant is just as Good as the Buddha! - think you have to be a monk or nun to reach enlightenment - centered in Sri Lanka/southeast asian areas

Avekantavada

-"many-pointedness" - there are many different perspectives on every thing - recognize the pluralism of the world and respect it

Digambara

-"sky clad" - aka naked - sect of Jainism - believed that Mahavira was naked as well, therefore they should be - think that clothes are just another way of conforming to society, shame and ego - believed that women couldn't reach enlightenment

Svetambara

-"white clad" - wear white - sect of Jainism - thought that women could reach enlightenment, just like men

5 vows

-ahimsa -> dont injure -satya -> dont lie -asteya -> dont steal -brahmachrya -> celibacy -aparigraha -> renounce attachments

Mahavira

-founder of jainism -pulled out all his hair - went to live a life of asceticism - thought he was hurting his mother in the womb? - went back from the woods to teach people then died at like 70

King Ashoka

-kinda like the Indian constantine - decided to spread Buddhism throughout India and other places so he sent missionaries

Swastika

-most important symbol used in Jainism -the four legs could represent the four types of people -> monks -> nuns -> laymen -> laywomen COULD ALSO BE the four realms of existence -> gods -> animals -> humans -> ghosts - the 3 dots are known as the 3 jewels of Jainism - the arc represents the aspiration for freedom (reaching for the dot in the middle)

The Sramana Movement

-movement in the Vedic traditions that was the first shift, caused by corruption of the Brahmins. -People just like... went into the woods - pretty much the violence of the sacrifices and the alienation caused by the brahmins led to this movement - led to BUDDHISM and JAINISM!

Jainism

-one of the oldest movements in the Vedic traditions - Conquering our attachment to the world is the most difficult of all battles but for people of this religion it is the only battle worth engaging. - non-violent -> concerned with minimizing harm to other organisms - "even thought it's nearly impossible to completely eradicate harm, it's possible to try your hardest" - monks and nuns shave their head/cover their heads to not focus on external things -ascetic and monastic

Mauryan Empire

-the empire in which Buddhism became popular during - around the 3rd century BCE

desire

-what holds us back and leads us to a life of constant dissatisfaction -directly related to karma

tenets of the Indic World View

1) anadi 2) kala 3) punarjanma 4) samsara 5) karma 6) moksha

4 Noble Truths

1) no living being can escape suffering 2) suffering comes from excessive desire, craving, attachment 3) if you get rid of desire, you get rid of suffering 4) the EIGHTFOLD PATH

3 Jewels of Buddhism

1) take shelter in the dharma 2) take shelter in the buddha 3) take shelter in the samgha

Padma Sambhava

Indian monk that brings Buddhism to Tibet, well educated in Tantra

3 Bodies of the Buddha

Mahayana thing 1) Phenomenal (historic form) 2) Body of Bliss (easier Buddhism that's reached after rebirth) 3) Buddhanature (we have potential)

gelupa

a group that the Dalai Lama belongs to -educated -tantrically practiced

Tendai

a type of buddhism that blends Chan, Pureland, scholastic, and tantric buddisms brought back to japan during the Heian period

tantra

based in the idea of homology, found in all vedic traditions but is more important in tibetan buddhism -emphasizes meditation, visualization through mandalas, and mantras

Pali Canon

buddhist scripture

Stupas

burial mounds that became popular as buddhism spread

The Silk Road

carried buddhism and spread the religion all over asia

Linchi

chan-zen buddhist monk that believed that enlightenment was an epiphany and could be sparked by anything- later becomes rinzai in japan

Tsao-tung

chan-zen buddisht monk that believed that enlightenment was to be reached slowly, and that it requires loads of meditation- later becomes soto in japan

Samgha

community of other believers in Buddhism

Vinaya

discipline -the rules of the samgha

Abhidharma

discussion/extension of the dharma

Scholasticism

helped overcome the language barrier that kept Hindu buddhism from being accessible to the chinese, involved learning sanskrit and pali to understand the religion

Experience + Practice

helped overcome the language barrier that kept Hindu buddhism from being accessible to the chinese, involved mixing chinese traditions with the traditions of buddhism

Srinram

monk who was associated w the japanese pureland sect of jodo shinshu, believed that everything was out of our hands and completely up to the amidha buddha's grace, disliked the idea of the piousness of monasticism- decided to let monks marry and stuff in order to kill the ego or like hierarchy associated w their holiness or whatever

moksha

nirvana, freeing yourself from the circle of life after learning every possible thing and living every type of life

Koan

nonsense riddles or puzzles used to spark enlightenment in chan-zen buddhism

Ahimsa

not causing harm

samsara

our experience in the world is constantly changing, which causes stress and anxiety

yugas

phases of a cyclical kala 1) infancy/innocence: pure, good 2) negative outweighs the positive 3) gets worse 4) gets so bad you can't salvage it

Mappo Age

pretty much the time where everything has gone to shit, chaos, whatever and we cant reach enlightenment ourselves

punarjanma

rebirth/reincarnation- our spirits travel through different bodies over time THE LADDER OF EXISTENCE: -humans -animals -gods -ghosts

Madhyamaka

sect of mahayana buddhism that claims that things around you are all empty

Yogacara

sect of mahayana buddhism that claims things around you are in your mind

Jodoshu

sect of pureland buddhism in japan that believes in nembutsu and the Amidha buddha, associated with the monk Honen

Jodo Shinshu

sect of pureland buddhism in japan that believes there's no hope at all and lets people do whatever they want, associated with Honen's disciple Srinram

Rinzai

sect of zen Buddhism that believed in harsh enlightenment and the teacher linchi, called "heroic chan" because of fierce methods and is usually associated with samurais

Soto

sect of zen buddhism that believed in gradual enlightenment and the teacher Tsao-tung, called "farmers zen" because the tsao-tung considered it to be serene and like the growing of a plant

Chan-zen

self power type buddhism, mind to mind communication that happens when one drops the ego, lots of meditation, popular in japan

Duhka

suffering/anxiety caused by change

Syncretism

the blending of multiple religions, done in china with buddhism and confucianism

Amitabha

the buddha who directs us to the afterlife in pure land tradition

bon

the existing belief system in Tibet before buddhism came along, similar to Tantric buddhism

kala

the idea of time's non-linear nature: how do you mark time in infinity? - seen differently in different indic traditions -> jainism it's seen in waves of evolving and decaying -> hinduism/buddhism it's seen as cyclical. these phases of the cycle are called yugas

homology

the idea that microcosms are identical to macrocosms, therefore understanding and manipulating your body is equal to understanding and manipulating the universe

kaligula

the last indic yuga phase that claims that there's no point of return so the universe must be destroyed and reborn

Dengyo Daishi

the later name of monk Saicho

Saicho

the monk that sparked the Heian period in japan, went to the mt. Hiei and China to find a true buddhism, took these influences and created Tendai buddhism

Sonam Gyatso

the monk who became the third Dalai Lama by impressing the Mongol King who was ruling over the area at the time

Bodhidharma

the monk who founded chan-zen buddhism

Honen

the monk who introduced the idea of nembutsu

Buddha Nature

the natural state of a person that allows them to be able to reach enlightenment

Nara

the oldest period of buddhism in japan - scholastic - traditional - elite, governmental involvement - lil bit corrupt considering the monastic community was a branch of the gvmt

Confucianism

the religion that was seen in china before buddhism took hold, very collectivistic and concerned with the Now and focussing on the life you're living

Dalai Lama

the religious and political leader of Tibetan Buddhism

Heian

the second period of buddhism in japan - associated w the monk Saicho who disliked the corruption of the Nara period - created tendai buddhism -the gvmt pays them off so they couldn't escape the corruption - monasteries has like armies and stuff - culturally active time in japan

Dharma

the teachings of the Buddha

vajrayana

the third type of buddhism, associated with Tibetan/Himalayan buddhism

Conditioned existence

there are certain things that condition our lives - anitya - duhkha - anatman

Kamakura

third period of buddhism in japan - complete opposition from corruption - time of shoguns - characterized by 5 major schools of buddhism

Prince Shokotu

this prince that decided to integrate buddhism into japanese society, mostly for the elite class

Sutras

threads - the central teachings of buddhism

Nembutsu

when you give up your ego and say the name of the Amitabha to be carried over into heaven

Mt. Hiei

where monk Saicho went to seek the true meaning of buddhism

Sri Lanka

where the pali canon was compiled