Buddhism Vocab K-R

Front 1

Karuna

Back 1

Pity, compassionate love

Front 2

Koan

Back 2

A device, usually in the form of a question, used in Zen Buddhist training to force the practitioner to “turn off” the logical reasonable mind. Very often, there is no real answer to the questions that the koan presents.

Front 3

Lama

Back 3

“superior one,” a monk, a spiritual preceptor in Tibetan Buddhism

Front 4

Lotus position

Back 4

cross-legged position most approved for meditation practice.

Front 5

Lotus sutra

Back 5

The central scripture of the T’ien-tai school. The Lotus Sutra was begun in India, but reached its most profound development in China.

Front 6

Madhyamika

Back 6

the “middle” (between being and non being) doctrine of Magarjuna, allowing a conditional distinction between samsara and Nirvana, but asserting that in perfected wisdom all dharmas are empty

Front 7

Mahayana

Back 7

“the Great Vehicle” School of Buddhism which predominates in China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.

Front 8

Mandala

Back 8

A sacred drawing or design which provides the practitioner with a sort of “road map” of Reality. Much used in Tibetan Buddhist practices.

Front 9

Mantra

Back 9

sacred formula used in some forms of Buddhist meditation. While common to all forms of Buddhism, it is particularly utilized in Tibetan practices.

Front 10

Manushi Buddhas

Back 10

Buddhas who, like Gautama, have taken form as human beings, taught the liberating Dharma, and gone on to Nirvana.

Front 11

Milarepa

Back 11

popular “cotton clad” Tibetan poet-saint, second patriarch of the Kargyupa sect, 11th-12th c.

Front 12

Mindfulness

Back 12

The foundation for all Buddhist spiritual practice. The idea that one must “wake up” and live life consciously and deliberately.

Front 13

Mondo

Back 13

question-answer,” Zen training material in dialogue format

Front 14

Mudra

Back 14

gestures; particularly important in Tibetan Budhist ritual.

Front 15

Nembutsu

Back 15

contraction of “Namu Amida Butsu” (Hail, Amida Buddha), mantra of the Japanese Jodo sect

Front 16

Nichiren

Back 16

Sun Lotus,” the name taken by the 14th c. founder of an aggressive and a nationalistic Japanese sect centered on the Lotus Sutra

Front 17

Nirvana

Back 17

The opposite of samsara, the world which we inhabit at present. The goal of Buddhist practice. Other than its being different in every way from anything experienced in this world, the Buddhists are hesitant to try to describe Nirvana.

Front 18

Pagoda

Back 18

a multi-storey tower characteristic of SE and E Asian Buddhism

Front 19

Pali

Back 19

A dialect of Sanskrit. Pali is the language of the oldest collection of Buddhist scriptures and the sacred language of Theravada Buddhism.

Front 20

Parinirvana

Back 20

“final” or “complete” Nirvana, for example, the Buddha in the last hours of his final departure from the world of phenomena.

Front 21

Phurba

Back 21

A ritual dagger used to cut off “ignorance” in Tibetan Buddhist rituals

Front 22

Poya days

Back 22

The “Sundays” of Theravada Buddhism. They happen twice each lunar month on the day of the full and new moons. On these days, pious Buddhists perform a variety of religious actions including giving food to the monks, listening to sermons, and strictly adhering to the Five Precepts.

Front 23

Prajna

Back 23

wisdom, a quiescent complement of upaya (skill in benevolent action)

Front 24

Pratitya-Samutpada

Back 24

The Buddhist concept that the world is not solid, but made up of an endless series of interlocking events.

Front 25

Puja

Back 25

In Hinduism and Buddhism, a ceremony designed to honor divine figures

Front 26

Punya

Back 26

The idea that good actions produce merit. This merit, in Theravada Buddhism at least, can be “traded” to the gods in return for material favors.

Front 27

Pure Land Sutras

Back 27

collection of texts which describe the Pure Land. The scriptural foundation of the various Pure Land schools.

Front 28

Reincarnation

Back 28

The idea, common to all Indic religions, that human beings are “recycled” for lifetime after lifetime. Far from being a good thing, it is seen as something to be escaped from at all costs.

Front 29

Rinzai

Back 29

One of the two predominant schools of Zen Buddhism. The Rinsai school makes extensive us of koans in its training.