Buddhist Terms 2 A-O

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72,000 Channels

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According to Buddhist Tantra, they are physiological components of the human body which are similar to neural/vascular systems but they are invisible to western science.

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Abhirati

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"Utter Joy" Pure Land which Buddha Akśobhya dwells in; women could be reborn as women there

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Abhiśeka

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Ritual of consecration in Vajrayāna which involves the literal anointing (with water) of a candidate for buddhahood.

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Akṣobhya

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Buddha of the East who dwelled in the Pure Land Abhirati; one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas

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Ālayavijñāna

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The eighth form of consciousness, the 'storehouse consciousness,' which is devoid of purposive activity and only indistinctly aware of objects. Included in the Yogācāra Doctrines.

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Amitābha

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One of the heavenly Buddhas, the 'Limitless Light,' could meet him “there/now” through visualization or “there/later” by being reborn in his Pure Land known as the "Land of Bliss"

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Asanga

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Co-founded the Yogācāra school with his half-brother, Vasubandhu; originally a Mainstream Buddhist before being converted to Mahayana

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Avatamaska

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Buddhist doctrines which hold the concept that, instead of emptying the dharmas, it fills them up and shows how they totally interpenetrate each other

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Bardo

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Intermediate state, according to the Tibetan tradition, which one enters before rebirth; potential opportunity for enlightenment

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Bhaiṣajyaguru

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The Medicine Buddha (guard against disease and other calamities) who was imagined to dwell in the Pure Land, Lapis Lazuli, which was also far to the east

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Bodhicitta

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The compassionate mind set of the realization of emptiness; AKA generating in onesfel the desire and determination to attain Buddhahood.

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Bodhidharma

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The so-called first Chinese patriarch who is credited with bringing Chan (Zen) from India

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Bodhisattva

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Refers either to Sakyamuni in one of his previous lifetimes while he was still working his way towards buddhahood, or to Maitreya who is doing the same in the present time; word means "being set on buddhahood"

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Buddha nature

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The uncreated and deathless nature, the tathāgatagarbha that exists within all beings; it is called the "true Self" (atman); we can't see it due to our defilements

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Candrakīrti

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Indian scholar and magician who could demonstrate to his disciples the mind-made empty nature of things by, for example, walking through walls

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Decline of the Dharma

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Notion that people's abilities to know the Buddha's teaching and to attain enlightenment have been progessively declining ever since the Buddha's parinirvana

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Dharmākara

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Bodhisattva who established a place where all beings can attain enlightenment

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Dharmakāya

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i.e. Vairocana; one of the three bodies of the Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism; commonly thought to manifest itself in this world in three modes defined as the Buddha's body, speech and mind

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Dōgen

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Great Japanese Zen master and philosopher who reinterpreted the line in the latter part of the Nirvāṇa sūtra that read "all sentient beings have the buddha-nature," and interpreted it as meaning "all beings (Living and non-living) are the buddha-nature."; founder of the Zen Sõtõ school

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Dzokchen

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"Great Perfection" Tantric practice which aims at cutting through the ordinary operations of discursive thought to achieve a direct perception of the pure luminosity of the mind, so that "compassion and wisdom become spontaneous"

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Emptiness and Compassion

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Emptiness represents a middle way between two binary opposites -- the existence and non-existence of dharmas; compassion represents working for the benefit of others

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Guanyin - Mount Putuo

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Chinese name for Avalokiteśvara, perhaps the best known boddhisattva of all time who is famous for his relief of those who call upon him to ease their suffering; his mantra is Om mani padme hum

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Hakuin

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Japanese master who was responsible for revivifying and systematizing kōan practice which was first introduced into Japan in the 12th century

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Heart Sūtra

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One of the shortest and most well-known of the perfection of wisdom texts

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Huayan

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Buddhist systematic school which was named after the "Flower Garland" (=Avataṃsaka) sūtra, and famed for its doctrine of interpenetration

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Icchantika

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Person who does not possess the Buddha nature and cannot realize buddhahood

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Indestructible zygote

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The zygote inherited from one's parents, which is white (=semen) on top and red (=blood) at the bottom; it lasts from one's birth to one's death

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Jewel net of Indra

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Image in the Avataṃsaka sūtra which illustrates the doctrine of interpenetration; at each knot of the net, there is a multifaceted jewel that reflects and is reflected in all the other jewels, all of which do not merely reflect one another, but reflect one another's reflections and re-reflections, etc.

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Jizo

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Japanese name for Kṣitigarbha, which means "Earth-Womb,"; he is associated with Mount Jiuhua in the South of China; he came to be known as the guardian of all beings journeying on the pathways of rebirth into the six realms

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Kamalaśīla

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Indian master who propounded a kind of synthesis between Yogācāra and Madhyamaka; him and his supporters represented the gradualist position and argued that much analytic wisdom and much effort in clearing away mental and moral defilement obstructing one's realization are needed to attain Buddhahood

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Kōan

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A story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and test a student's progress in Zen practice

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Kṣitigarbha- Mount Jiuhua

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Known as Jizo in Japanese (see Jizo)

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Lotus Sūtra

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Middle way school of Mahayana Buddhist thought founded by Nāgārjuna which was split into two branches: the Svātantrika ("Autonomists") and Prāsangika ("Consequentialists")-- which differed primarily on their use of logic and the kind of augementation they were willing to accept in propounding the view of emptiness

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Mahāmūdra

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means "great symbol"; refers to a Vajrayana meditational practice which uses mindfulness and śamatha (tranquility) meditations to control and observe the processes of the mind in an effort to calm it and silence it and get back to one's innate naturally enlightened state

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Manḍala

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Literally "circles"; they are sacred enclosures which consist of a series of concentric circles, set within squares; they typically contain an image of the principle "lord" of the mandala in the innermost circle

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Mañjuśrī- Mount Wu-tai

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Bodhisattva most associated with the Buddha's quality of wisdom; typically, he is depicted as carrying a sword that cuts through ignorance, and a book -- a copy of the Perfection of Wisdom sūtra

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Nāgārjuna

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Philosopher who was one of the great systematizers and clarifiers of the perfection of wisdom's doctrine of emptiness; major philosophical work was "Root Verses on the Middle Way"

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Nirmāṇakāya

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A magically fashioned body with which the Buddha appears in our world; an incarnate lama

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Nirvāṇa Sūtra

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Became, in East Asia, a Mahayana text of great importance which teaches of the Buddha nature and the possibility for all sentient beings to attain buddhahood

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Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ

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Avalokiteśvara's famous mantra which is used to call on him for assistance for oneself or others; six syllables of the mantra are each thought to correspond to one of the six realms of rebirth