Asian Religions Final: Key Terms

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Sutra

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Buddhist sacred texts, Buddha's talks/lectures remembered and written down, stories about himself, legendary accounts; 20-30 standard talks

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Gautama

Back 2

Family name of Buddha

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Siddhartha

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Buddha's given name

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Shakyamuni

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Another name for Buddha (Shakya=tribe name in Nepal, muni=wise man)

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Maya

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Buddha's mother's name; gave birth through immaculate conception, died 7 days after

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Bodhi

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a tree; symbolizes Buddha and enlightenment

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Asceticism

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Religious renunctiation, expose yourself to difficulties

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Mara

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Hindu devil; puts Buddha to 3 temptations (seducing maids, scary army, power contest)

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Varanasi/Benares

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Holy city by Ganges River that Buddha travelled to

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Sangha

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Monastic lifestyle- leaving home, meditation, no work, no family

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Arhats

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Enlightened followers of Buddha; Theravada monk/nun, not enlightened if ordinary

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Tripitaka

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3 categories of Buddhist sacred texts (Sutra, Vinaya, Abhidharma)

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Vinaya

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List of rules for monks/nuns, part of Tripitaka

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Abhidharma

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Written commentaries on Sutras, written for hundreds of years in Sanskrit and Pali

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Theravada

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aka Hinayana, branch of Buddhism, "way of the elders", Southern, conservative, "Small Vehicle", uses Pali texts

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Mahayana

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"Big Vehicle", Northern, open & growing, uses Sanskrit texts

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Dharma

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Teachings contained in Sutras

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Dukkha

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Life is suffering, unsatisfaction, something (enlightenment) always missing

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Dependent Arising

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Everything is what it is, everything dependent on other things, how things come to be

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AnAtman

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There is no self, no soul or permanent core because you're dependent on outside forces

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Samatha

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Calming meditation, attention to breathing and concentration

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Equanimity

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Balance in mind and body

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Vipassana

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Thought meditation, "insight", openness of mind

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Samsara

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Ordinary life leads to desire and dissappointment

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Bodhisattva

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Enlightened being in Mahayana, compassion and wisdom

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Trikaya

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3 images of Buddha (Siddhartha, Divine, Reality)

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Upaya

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Skilled-in-means

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Vow

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Care about enlightenment of others as much as your own, you don't leave for nirvana until everybody else does

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Emptiness

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Wisdom's realization, own being, self-nature, essence of impermanence

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Non-duality

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Everything is connected, no one thing

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Openness

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Another meaning of emptiness

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Shang

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Early Chinese dynasty founded by Ti & T'ien, focused on ancestry and family

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Ti

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One of founding deities of Shang dynasty

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T'ien

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One of founding deities of Shang dynasty, heaven, ritual sacrifices, no gender

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Mandate

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Political right to be King and rule China; if things were well and you ruled with justice, you had mandate of T'ien

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Chou

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Early Chinese dynasty, dug up in early 20th century; 11th-4th century BCE

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I Ching

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Change in classic literature, "Book of Changes", divided everything into 64 moments, cyclical

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Yin

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Pole of electricity; fertile, cold, wet, north, earth

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Yang

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Pole of electricity; masculine, activity, sun, south, fire

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Dao

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aka Tao, "The Way", how nature unfolds

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Analects

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Confucius' sayings rememberd by students and written down after death ~400BCE

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Han

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Dynasty ~200BCE, Confucianism main ideology in aristocracy

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Chun-Tzu

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Offspring of nobility, "noble son", merit more important than birth

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De

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aka Te; Power of Goodness

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Jen

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Goodness/humaneness, non-self-centered, non-egotistical, "Golden Rule", all benevolent

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Li

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Ritual sacrifices to spirits, proper procedure, program of socialization

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Yi

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"Right action", humane person has self-knowledge/self-rule/self-change

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Polarity

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Yin dark, Yang light, circle = everything not fully one thing

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Dao De Jing

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Cryptic & hard to decipher poem, by Laozi, most translated book to English after Bible

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Chaung-Tzu

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Long funny stories in prose form, always a particular angle (no one point of view)

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Wu-Wei

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"Not Doing", Daoist political advice, swim with the current

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Zen

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aka Chan/Son; 8th century, Monastic Buddhism, goal to be Zen Master

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Satori

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Enlightenment (Awakening)

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Samurai

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Swordsmen, aristocratic soldiers, monks began to practice martial arts

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Zazen

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Seated meditation

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Zendo

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Walking meditation

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Roshi

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Zen master, profound & eccentric, helps bring about Satori in disciples

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Koan

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Short cryptic sayings assigned to disciples to bring about enlightenment

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Rinzai

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Form of Zen Buddhism; Koans & discipline, everything done a form of meditation

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Soto

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Form of Zen Buddhism; focus on Buddhist Sutras & Zazen and the present

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DT Suzuki

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1st person to write about Rinzai Zen

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Shunryu Suzuki

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Wrote about Soto Zen