Buddhist Definitions Flashcards
What is Amitabha Buddha?
The Buddha worshipped by Pure Land Buddhists
What is Anatta?
no-self/no permanent identity
What is Anicca?
impermanence
What is Arhat?
One who has become enlightened; the ideal type for Theravada Buddhism
What is ascetic?
someone who gives up worldly pleasures to pursue a religion
What is a Bodhisattva?
a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings.
What is a Buddha?
enlightened one
What is a Buddha rupa?
A statue of the Buddha, often sitting cross-legged in a meditation pose
What is Buddhahood?
When someone achieves enlightenment and becomes a Buddha
What is chanting?
Reciting from the Buddhist scriptures
What is dependent arising?
The idea that all things arise in dependence upon conditions
What is Dhamma (Dharma)?
Buddha’s teachings
What is Dukkha?
Suffering
What is Engaged Buddhism?
Buddhist movement that intertwines traditional mindfulness practice with active civil disobedience
What is ethics (sila)?
A section of threefold way that emphasises the importance of skilful action as the basis for spiritual progress
What is a festival?
A day or period of celebration for religious reasons
What is a Gompa?
A hall or building where Tibetan Buddhists meditate
What is greed?
Selfish desire for something
What is Jataka?
The Jataka tales are popular stories about the lives of the Buddha
what is kamma/karma?
A persons actions, good (skilful) actions result in happiness and unskillful ones result in suffering
What is karuna?
compassion
What is Magga?
The path to end suffering
What is Mahayana Buddhism?
Newer form of Buddhism, more varied, incorporates ideas from other religions, others support is necessary to reach Nirvana; Spread to Japan, China, Tibet, and Korea
What is Mala?
Prayer beads that are used to count the number of recitations in a mantra
What is mandala?
An intricate, colourful, sacred circle-shaped pattern
What is mantra?
A short sequence of sacred syllables
What is Mara?
A demon that represents spiritual obstacles, especially temptation
What is mediation?
A practice of calming and focusing the mind and reflect deeply on specific teaching to penetrate their true meaning
What is mediation (samadhi)?
A section of threefold way that emphasises the role of mediation in the process of spiritual development
What is metta?
loving kindness
What is mindfulness of breathing?
A meditation practice focusing on the experience of breathing
What is a monastery (vihara)?
A place where Buddhist monks and nuns live
What is Nibbana (Nirvana)?
A state of complete enlightenment, happiness and peace
What is Nidanas?
12 factors that is illustrate the process of birth, death and rebirth
What is Nirodha?
The truth of the end of suffering
What is pali?
The language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures
What is parinirvana day?
a Mahayana festival that commemorates the Buddha’s passing away
What is puja?
the act of worship
What is Pure Land Buddhism?
A Mahayana form of Buddhism based on belief in Amitabha Buddha
What is retreat?
a period of time spent away from everyday life in order to focus on meditation practice
What is Samatha meditation?
a type of meditation that involves calming the mind and developing a deeper concentration
What is samsara?
the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth
What is Samudaya?
The truth of the cause of suffering
What is sanskrit?
The language used in later Indian Buddhist texts
What is a shrine?
An area with a statue of a Buddha or Bodhisattva, which provides Buddhists with a focal point for meditation and devotion
What is stupa?
A small building in a monastery that sometimes contains holy relics
What is Sukhavati?
The paradise where Amitabha Buddha lives, and where Pure Land Buddhists aim to be reborn
What is Sunyata?
emptiness
What is Tanha?
Selfish desire, cravings
What is temple?
A place where Buddhists come together to practice
What is a thangka?
A detailed painting of a Buddha or Bodhisattva
What is the eightfold path?
eight aspects that Buddhists practise and live by in order to achieve enlightenment
What are the “five aggregates”?
The five aspects that make up a person
What are the five ascetics?
The Buddhas first five students; five monks who followed ascetic practices
What are five moral precepts?
The five basic rules that Buddhists always try to follow to live ethically and morally
What is the Four Noble Truths?
These truths offer Buddhists a way to understand and overcome suffering.
What are the four sights?
Old age, illness, death and a holy man
What are the four sublime states?
The four qualities of love, compassion, sympathetic, joy and equanimity which the Buddha taught that Buddhists should develop
What are the six perfections?
The six qualities or virtues that Mahayana Buddhist try to develop in order to live as Bodhisattva
What are the three poisons?
greed, hatred, ignorance - main cause of suffering
What are the three watches of the night?
The three realisations that the Buddha made in order to achieve enlightenment
What is the threefold way?
The Eightfold Path grouped into the three sections of ethics, meditation and wisdom
What is the Tibetan Wheel of Life?
An image that symbolises samsara, often found in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples
What is Theravada Buddhism?
school of elders - an ancient Buddhist tradition found in Southern Asia
What is unskillful?
Bad, ethical actions or behaviour
What is Vipassana meditation?
A type of meditation that involves developing understanding of the nature of reality.
What is visualisation?
Imagining or ‘seeing’ an object in one’s mind
What is Wesak?
A Theravada festival that celebrates the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing away
What is Wisdom (panna)?
A section of the threefold that deals with Buddhist approaches to understanding the nature of reality
What is zazen meditation?
A type of meditation in Zen Buddhism that involves awareness of the present moment.
