Lyn Miller Buddhism

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Upaya

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Skillful means in teaching and practicing the dharma

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Tantras

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n. Ritual manuals, or ritual performances that use imagination and enactment to transform energies and appearances

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Prajna

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Wisdom; a primary aim of the Eightfold Path

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Maitreya

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Final form of the Buddha who will come in the future to save all beings

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Kuan-yin

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East Asian Goddess of compassion (female form of Avalokiteśvara)

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Nembutsu

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Mantra chanted by practitioners of Pure Land Buddhism

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Tanha

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Thirst, craving; the origin of suffering

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Vinaya

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Monastic code or discipline; one of the three Theravadan “baskets”

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Samsara

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o. Cycle of birth-and-death created by ignorance and clinging

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Abhidharma

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Theravadan body of analysis of the basic factors of existence; first of the three “baskets”

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Sila

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Morality; one of the three main categories of the Eightfold Path

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Arhat

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Theravada sage who has attained nirvana and extinguished rebirth

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Tathagata

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“Thus Come” or “Thus Gone”; name for realized Buddha

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Jataka

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Tales of the life of the Buddha used for teaching and entertainment

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Trikaya

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The three bodies of the Buddha: historical (form), imaginal (formless form), and ultimate truth (beyond physical and mental forms)

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Mudra

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“Sign”; sacred gesture of fingers and hands in Buddhist iconography & ritual

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Sunyata

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Emptiness; doctrine that existing things lack enduring essence

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Stupa

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Sacred structure typically housing relics of the Buddha or bodhisattvas

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Samadhi

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State of deep meditation when “body and mind fall away”

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Skandhas (khandas)

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Five aggregates that make up the self: form, feeling, perceptions, impulses, consciousness

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The Four Noble Truths

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The Four Noble Truths come from the Theravadan tradition. The first is “life is suffering,” suffering falls into three categories according to Buddhist sources: biological, suffering due to change, and suffering due to formations. According to Buddhism, suffering is unavoidable. The second truth is that “suffering is caused by craving.” Because of this craving which is caused by the human tendency toward attachment, and the eventual end of all things, humans suffer. But the third noble truth explains that “suffering can have an end.” And the forth truth directs us to the means by which we are able to achieve end suffering, “there is a path which can lead to the end of suffering.” The path which to which it refers is the Eightfold path, which is also known as the middle way, because it avoids both a life of indulgence and harsh austerity. The Eightfold path consists of eight factors which can end suffering: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation.

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The Three Marks of Existence

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The concept of the three marks of existence comes from the Theravadan tradition. The three marks of existence were pondered by the Buddha to describe all phenomena outside Nirvana. The first mark of existence is suffering, because the Buddha believed that nothing in the physical/psychological realm can bring permanent satisfaction. The second mark of existence is impermanence, explaining both the cycle of rebirth and death (samsara) and the state of living things at any point in life. The third mark of existence is non-self, because of the ever-changing state of living things, there never truly exists a core, impermanent self. The concept of self merely describes the combination of physical and/psychological component which make up beings.

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Six Realms

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The six realms of beings are Gods, Angry/Jealous Gods, Humans, Hungry Ghosts, Animals and Hell.
- Tibetan mahayan Buddhism
- Karma- bad= greed hatred delusion (3 poisons) perpetuate samsara
- Wheel of life: unfortunate, pleasant
- Realms of samsara

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Four Foundations of Mindfulness

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body, feelings, mind, mental state
-theravadan
-in order to achieve right mindfulness (part of the 8-fold path) one must develop constant awareness in all of these areas
- it also means eliminating the five hindrances: desire for sensual pleasure, ill-will, sloth, worry, nagging doubts.
- the four foundations emphasize the Buddhist idea that correct awareness is dependent on all aspects of the self.

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Boddhisattva

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Buddha-in-the-making who renounces full release (chooses continual rebirth) till all sentient beings have been liberated
-Mahayana
-motivated by extreme compassion and tempered by the perfection of wisdom
-the bodhisattva completes 3 basic prerequisites
- then he embarks on a path called the bodhisattva path: traversing 10 stages

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Zen

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meditation practice which seeks to bring the mind under control, eventually leading to enlightenment
- does not depend on sacred texts
- provides the potential for direct realization
- also depends on Buddha nature
- sprung from the belief that Buddhism needs to be rened every once in a while
- two kinds soto (sitting) and rinzai (koan)

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Pure Land

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aka shin
- practitioners repeat a mantra “nembutsu” – strengthen faith in amida
- take refuge in immeasurable light and light of the Buddha
- founded by honen
- other power approach to enlightenment
- began during mappo- period of dharma decline

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Tantra

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Way of the Thunderbolt, or express way to Enlightenment via visualization of desires; also called Tantric Buddhism)
- uses desire positively
- arose within Mahayana Buddhism
- teaching aimed at lay practitioners in particular, rather than monks/nuns
- aims to transform the practitioner into an embodiment of the diving in this lifetime
- makes use of mandalas (circular diagrams), mudras (hand gestures), mantras (magic words), and dharanis (spells), as concrete expressions of nature and reality.