Buddhism beliefs Flashcards
Arhat
for Theravada Buddhists, someone who has become enlightened.
Bodhisattva
For Mahayana Buddhists, someone who has become enlightened but chooses to remain in the cycle of samsara (suffering) to help others to achieve enlightenment as well.
The Four sights
old age, illness, death and a holy man.
Jataka
the jataka tales are popular stories about the life the Buddha
Ascetic
living a simple and strict lifestyles with few pleasures and possessions.
Meditation
A practice of calming and focusing the mind, and reflecting deeply on specific teachings to penetrate there true meanings.
Enlightenment
The gaining of true knowledge about God, self of the nature of reality, usually through meditation and self discipline.
Mara
A demon that represents spiritual obstacles, especially temptation.
The three watches of the night
The three realisations that the Buddha made in order to achieve enlightenment.
The 5 ascetics
The Buddhas first 5 students:5 monks who followed ascetic practices.
Dhamma
The Buddhas teachings
Pali
language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures.
Sanskrit
language used in later Buddhist texts.
Dependent arising
the idea that all things arise in dependence of conditions.
The Tibetan wheel of life
an image that symbolises samsara often found in Tibetan Buddhists monasteries and temples.
Dukkha
the 1st noble truth that is that there is suffering.
Annica
Impermanence; Change
Anatta
the idea that people do not have a permanent, fixed self or seal.
the five aggregates
the 5 aspects that makes up a person; mental formations, sensations, consciousness, form, perception
Theravada Buddhism
the school of the elders: an ancient Buddhist tradition found in Southern Asia.
Mahayana Buddhism
an umbrella term for later Buddhist traditions.
Sunyata
emptiness; the concept that nothing has to be separate independent soul or self.
Buddha-Nature
The idea that everyone has the essence of the Buddha inside them.
Buddhahood
when someone achieves enlightenment and becomes enlightened.
Pureland Buddhists
a Mahayana form of Buddhism based on the belief of Amitabha Buddhism
Amitabha Buddha
the Buddha worshipped by pure land buddhists
Sukhavti
paradise where Amitabha Buddha lives, and where pure land buddhists want to be reborn
Tanha
craving
The 4 noble truths
The 4 key truths that the buddha knew about suffering and how to end it.
