Buddhism

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Siddhartha Gautama

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(Sakyamuni)- the Buddha. Lived in northeastern India. Time of birth and death are uncertain. The Buddha was the son of the ruler of the Sakya kingdom. Birth is described as a descent from Tushita heaven , where he had been residing as a result of his good deeds in his previous lives. Birth was miraculous and painless. The court brahmans predicted he would become either a great leader and or a Buddha. Father did his best to protect his son from death, sickness, and decay. Siddhartha is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.

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Maya

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“illusion” or “enchantment” in Sanskrit. the Buddha’s mother. Queen of the Sakya clan. At the time of the Buddha’s conception, she had a dream that a white elephant pierced her side with its tusks. Went to Lumbini Grove and gave birth from her side standing up. 2 days later, she dies of happiness and joy.

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Suddhodana

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the Buddhas father. The king of the Sakya clan. Tried to protect the Buddha from the evils of the world so that the Buddha wouldn’t renounce his throne.

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Dukkha

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“unsteady;” a term that refers to suffering or the unhappiness ultimately characteristic of unawakened, worldly life. The focus of the “Four Noble Truths.” Everything is unsatisfactory/impermanent.

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Rahula

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the Buddha’s son. “something that binds.”

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Bodhi tree

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the tree under which the Buddha chose to sit in meditation. Under his tree, he reached enlightenment.

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Dharmachakrapravartana Sutra

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“turning of the wheel of dharmasutra.” The first sermon of the Buddha. Preached to the 5 disciples after he obtains nirvana.

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Nirvana

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“extinction” or “extinguishing”. The state gained by Buddha and by any being who is able to extinguish all attachments and defilements. Though gained in and through meditation, affects all of one’s life. Said to be indescribable, though wonderful. At death, one who has gained nirvana does not become reborn. The end of suffering, or dukkha.

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samasara

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cycle of reincarnation or rebirth. Can be escaped only through enlightenment. Antithesis of nirvana.

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Mahaparinibbana Sutta

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one of the major texts of Mahayana Buddhism. a voluminous and major Mahayana scripture which purports to enshrine the Buddha's "final explanation" of his Doctrine, an explanation characterised by "exhaustive thoroughness" and allegedly delivered on the last day and night before his parinirvana

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Five skandhas

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are the five "aggregates" which categorize or constitute all individual experience. Physical form; feelings or sensations; ideations—with which we label and understand those feelings; mental formations or dispositions—the likes, dislikes and impulses we have about those ideas; and consciousness, the awareness of any or all of these elements.

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the Four Noble Truths

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) Dukkha- everything is unsatisfactory/ impermanent. Suffering. so long as life continues, suffering can not be avoided. 2) Samudaya- the arising of suffering. The cause of this suffering. desire and craving (tanha/trishna). Craving is an ever present force that drives the life process forward, and in this life process every object of desire that is gained is, because of its inherent impermanence, ultimately lost. 3) Nirodha- cessation of suffering. a solution is available. Nirvana. When the mid no longer grasps and craves what is by nature impermanent, suffering ends. 4) Marga- medecine. The so called Noble Eightfold path—as expressed by the Buddha in his first sermon: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

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Three Baskets

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the meaning of the words referring to the Buddhist canon of scripture. Refer to the three main divisions of the canon. The sutras are known as the Triple Basket, which came to form the core of Buddhist scriptures.establishment of the three baskets allowed for Buddhism to compete with other religions.
• The Vinaya Pitaka, containing disciplinary rules for the Sanghas of Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as a range of other texts including explanations of why and how rules were instituted, supporting material, and doctrinal clarification.
• The Sūtra Pitaka (Pāli: Sutta Pitaka), contains the actual discourses of the Buddha.
• The Abhidharma Pitaka (Pāli: Abhidhamma Pitaka) contains commentaries or systematic expositions of the Buddha's teachings.

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Triple Refuge

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Way in which people convert to Buddhism.

Buddham Saranam Gacchami- teacher

Dharmmam Saranam Gaccami- teaching
Sangham Saranam Gacchami- the community

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Arahant

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member of the community who were thought to have obtained enlightenment through the teachings of the Buddha. One to be respected. Therevada Buddhism

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Ananda

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one of the Buddha’s followers. A chief disciple. Ascetic. Monk. Cousin of the Buddha. Personal attendant. Supposedly never obtained enlightenment.

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Pali

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an ancient language of Buddhist text. the liturgical language in which the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism

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Sangha

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This term literally means "group" or "congregation," but when it is used in Buddhist teaching the word refers to one of two very specific kinds of groups: either the community of Buddhist monastics (bhikkhus and bhikkhunis), or the community of people who have attained at least the first stage of Awakening (Sotapanna (pali) — one who has entered the stream to enlightenment). According to some modern Buddhists, it also consists of laymen and laywomen, the caretakers of the monks, those who have accepted parts of the monastic code but who have not been ordained as monks or nuns.

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Asoka

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Emperor in the third century BCE. Sent Buddhist emissaries to the Himalayan regions in the north and northwest, south and southeast. Buddhism soon took root both in the northwest and in Sri Lanka.

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Nagarjuna

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a teacher who probably lived in South India in the first century CE. Foundation of the Madhyamika school is based on him. Ngarjuna’s most frequently employed argument is from absurdity: followed through to its logical conclutsion, any view of reality that is taken as absolute, as the one and only view of reality, has absurd consequences and must therefore be abandoned. Only emptiness, he claimed, which was not itself a view but the “purgative” of views, did not result in absurd conclusions. arguably the most influential Buddhist thinker after the Gautama Buddha himself. The first king to link most of the country.

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Stupa

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established sites for Buddhist pilgrimages around India. Burial remains of Buddhist teachers.

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Sunya/sunyata

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generally translated into English as "Emptiness" or "Voidness", is a concept of central importance in the teaching of the Buddha, as a direct realization of Sunyata is required to achieve liberation from the cycle of existence (samsara) and full enlightenment.

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Madhyamika

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school that focused on logic, dialectic, and debate. Based on a group of sutras called The Perfection of Wisdom.” Founded by Nagarjuna. Mahayana

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Pure Land

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a branch of Mahayana Buddhism and currently one of the more popular schools of Buddhism in East Asia. It is a devotional or "faith"-oriented branch of Buddhism focused on Amitabha Buddha. Central practice is mantra using Amitabha’s name. developed in China. Proponents maintained that the world was in a state of decline and that the epoch in which they lived was thoroughly degenerate. Easier methods to salvation were needed. These easier methods involved dependence on the “other power” of the Buddha.

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Bodhisattva

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a being who is dedicated to assisting all sentient beings in achieving complete Buddhahood. Path of bodhisattva is maintained by the six paramitas (perfections).
• Generosity- giving material things including body, transferment, any practice that produces good merit, transfer that merit to all other beings.
• Moral conduct- no killing, coveting.
• Patience- willingness to endure hardship and manifest forgiveness towards others.
Courage or energy- unlimited zeal in doing good for others.
Meditation- mastering mental discipline.
Wisdom- understanding of the truth (suffering)

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Amitabha Buddha

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Buddha of “infinite light”. Made vow when was a bodhisattva. “If I do not stand beside these who call upon my name with a pure mind @ death and bring them to paradise, may I never become a Buddha.” Know that vow works because he is a Buddha.Basis of Pure Land Buddhism

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Lotus Sutra

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is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sutras in East Asia. Part of the new Mahayana sutras body of literature. Most known. The ultimate truth as preached by the Buddha.

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Bodhidharma

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founder of the Chan school. Popularized the practice of formless—neither visualizing nor intellectualizing—meditation

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Avalokitesvara

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the bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is the most widely revered bodhisattva in Buddhism. In India is male. In china, assimilates some local cults of goddess worship→ avlokitesvara becomes a female (Guan Yin). One of the most important figures within Chinese and east asian Buddhism.

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Bon/Bon Po

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Often described as the shamanistic and animistic tradition of the Himalayas prior to Buddhism's rise to prominence in the 7th century. Bonpo (a person, or people, who follow(s) the path of Bön)

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Ch’an/Zen

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a form of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Established by Bodhidharma. The Chinese Chan masters concentrated on evoking a direct insight into the Buddha nature. Many Chan masters went so far as to challenge the usefulness of scriptures, images,a nd other elements traditionally associated with Buddhist belief. Placed a positive value on manual work, cultivation of the arts, and the practice of military skills. De-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of what it terms a "special transmission outside the scriptures" that points to each individual practitioner's inherent Buddha-nature.

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Lama/Dalai Lama

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a title for a Tibetan religious teacher. Similar to the Sanskrit term guru. Highly accomplished and venerated leaders. Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama to be one of innumerable incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.

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Anatta/anatman

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- refers to "non-self" or "absence of separate self.” In early Buddhism, the denial of the existence of an ultimate substantial soul. One is a series of processes that together perceive, categorize, and act. The individual is made up of the five skandhas.

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Guan yin/Kwan yin

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- is the bodhisattva of compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. She is also known as the Chinese Boddhisattva of Compassion.

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The Tibetan Book of the Dead

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describes the experiences of the consciousness after death during the interval known as bardo between death and rebirth. Recited by lamas over a dying or recently deceased person, or sometimes over an effigy of the deceased.

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Bardo

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"intermediate state." refers to the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth.
1. the chikhai bardo or "bardo of the moment of death"
2. the chonyid bardo or "bardo of the experiencing of reality"
3. the sidpa bardo or "bardo of rebirth"