Final Exam Vocab

Question 1

Theravada

Answer 1

Theravada is the oldest school of Buddhism. The goal of Theravada Buddhism is to become an arhat who escapes samsara and attains nirvana. Theravada Buddhism is based on the texts of the Pali canon, which are the oldest Buddhist texts. The school was born in India and is popular in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

Question 2

Mahayana

Answer 2

Mahayana is the largest school of Buddhism. It is heavily based on the Sanskrit texts and was inspired by the emergence of the Prajnaparamita scriptures. Mahayana translates to “great vehicle” and the goal of the school is to become a bodhisattva who helps all beings achieve Buddhahood. This school is popular in countries such as China and Korea.

Question 3

Vajrayana

Answer 3

Vajrayana is a school of Buddhism that emerged from the Mahayana tradition. The Vajrayana movement occurred between the 6th and 11th century CE. The goal of members of the school is to become a Buddha in this very lifetime. Tibetan Buddhism is a lineage of Vajrayana Buddhism. Vajrayana art often depicts consort relationships.

Question 4

Zen

Answer 4

Zen is a form of Buddhism that became very popular in Japan. It has a strong emphasis on simplicity and meditation. At times, it may even advise practitioners to not meditate but to just sit. Zen Buddhism is a school that became popular in the US.

Question 5

Pali

Answer 5

Pali is an ancient language from the indian subcontinent. It is the language of the Buddhist Pali Canon which was written down according to tradition in the first century BCE. The Pali Canon originated from teh Buddha and his early disciples, according to Buddhists. Pali is the sacred language of Theravada Buddhism.

Question 6

Sanskrit

Answer 6

Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language. Many Mahayana texts were written down in Sanskrit. The Heart Sutra was written in Sanskrit. Many fundamental Buddhist terms come from the Sanskrit language, including karma, sunyata, and prajna.

Question 7

Siddhartha / Gotama / Shakyamuni

Answer 7

These are the names of the Buddha while he was still a bodhisattva. When he was born, he took 7 steps and a wise man declared he would be a religious or political leader. Siddhartha was born into a princely life of luxury but after he saw the 4 sights he renounced that life and practiced severe austerity for 6 years. He achieved enlightenment under the bodhi tree at age 35 then was a teacher until he passed into nirvana at age 80.

Question 8

the middle way

Answer 8

The Buddha taught the middle way to a group of 5 monks after reaching enlightenment. He experienced a life of riches then engaged in complete self-affliction but neither led to awakening. Thus, he says to avoid the two extremes: the extremes devoted to sensual pleasures and the extremes devoted to self-affliction. The middle way leads to calm, direct knowledge, self-awakening, and Unbinding. The middle way produces vision and knowledge.

Question 9

Mara

Answer 9

The literal meaning of Mara is obstacle maker. He is connected with the god of death and was the being that tried to tempt the Buddha as he achieved awakening under the bodhi tree. Mara was the negative force who tried to stop the Buddha from reaching awakening but the Buddha pushed through.

Question 10

Brahma

Answer 10

Brahma was the being that encouraged the Buddha to teach whereas Mara was the being that tried to distract the Buddha. He is the creator god in ancient Indian mythology, but in Buddhism, according to Patrul Rinpoche, Brahma is the ruler of the gods of the world of form.

Question 11

“Thus have I heard”

Answer 11

“Thus have I heard” is the opening to most sutras in the Mahayana tradition. It does not appear in Tanahashi’s version of the heart sutra but it appears in the long version. The phrase makes this long version into a full sutra.

Question 12

Avalokiteshvara

Answer 12

Avalokiteshvara is a bodhisattva and is the main character of the heart sutra. Avalokiteshvara is referred to as male in the Indo-Tibet region but is considered female throughout East Asia. She is the embodiment of loving-kindness and is heavily associated with compassion. Avalokiteshvara was not a real person but can be embodied and invoked. She is known by many names.

Question 13

Shariputra

Answer 13

Shariputra is one of the first chief disciples of the Buddha. He is mainly associated with the Theravada tradition, but he is relevant in Mahayana, as well, because he is the character who asks questions to Avalokiteshvara in the heart sutra.

Question 14

Guanyin

Question 15

Emptiness

Question 16

Wisdom

Question 17

Perfection

Question 18

Suffering

Question 19

Nirvana / Samsara

Answer 19

Nirvana is a state of profound serenity and complete calmness only Buddhas can experience. It is the highest state achievable by practitioners. Those who reach nirvana are called Arhats. Samsara is the chain of birth, death, and rebirth. Nirvana is seen as the release from samsara, though Mahayana tradition does not necessarily view nirvana as separate from samsara.

Question 20

karma

Question 21

Buddha

Answer 21

Buddha is a title, not a personal name. It means one who is awakened. The personal name of the first Buddha is Gautama or Siddhartha. Scholars do not agree about the actual year in which the Buddha himself was born but it is generally estimated to have been around the 6th to 4th century BCE.

Question 22

dharma

Answer 22

Dharma often means the truth in the Buddhist tradition, though sometimes it can mean all phenomena. It is also often considered to be the teaching of the Buddha. There are two aspects of the dharma teachings: the dharma of transmission and the dharma of realization. Dharma is one of the three jewels.

Question 23

sangha

Question 24

mantra

Answer 24

It is a specialized sacred formula according to Tanahashi. The sounds of a mantra help us just be instead of making us think. The sound is one of the most important components. Reciting mantras can help gather the mind, body, and heart. Mantras are primarily associated with particular practices. A notable mantra appears at the end of the heart sutra.

Question 25

bodhisattva

Answer 25

A bodhisattva is one who helps all to awaken. In the mahayana tradition, bodhisattvas are those who strive for the awakening of other beings. Rather than relishing in their own awakening, they prioritize the awakening of others. There are 10 bodhisattva levels and a sublime bodhisattva is one who has achieved one of the 10 levels.

Question 26

mahasattva

Question 27

bodhicitta

Answer 27

Bodhicitta means the mind of awakening or the mind of enlightenment. The term “bodhi” means awakening or enlightenment and “citta” means mind. Bodhicitta is the motivation to and the quality of wanting to help other beings reach enlightenment. Generally, developing compassion leads to the development of bodhicitta which leads to attaining Buddhahood.

Question 28

Bhagavan

Answer 28

Bhagavan is an epithet for Buddha and specifically refers to Shakyamuni Buddha. It can be translated as the blessed one or the holy one. It is a Sanskrit term and appears in the heart sutra, though not in Tanahashi’s translation. Bhagavan possesses all the qualities of realization and is beyond nirvana and samsara.

Question 29

samadhi

Answer 29

Samadhi refers to a state of profound meditation. It is a profound concentration that is not for ordinary people. High-level practitioners can enter this state and it is referenced in the long version of the heart sutra.

Question 30

tathagata

Answer 30

Tathagata is an epithet for buddhas and is usually plural. It is a Sanskrit term but it appears in the Pali canon, too. Tatha means there and gata means gone. The translation of the term is thus gone one and it refers to those who have gone to awakening.

Question 31

five aggregates

Question 32

four noble truths

Answer 32

The four noble truths are suffering, arising, cessation, and path. The first truth says life is suffering, the second says the cause of suffering is craving, the third says there is an end to suffering, and the fourth explains how to end suffering. Suffering is what is wrong with the world and its cause is craving. However, suffering is not the whole picture. Just as craving causes suffering, the path causes cessation.

Question 33

12 links of dependent arising

Answer 33

The 12 links of dependent arising include ignorance, mental formation, consciousness, name and form, the six senses, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, old age and death. The links describe the cycle of life and rebirth. The Heart Sutra mentions the first link and the final link asserting boundlessness is free of both of them and thus free of the entire cycle.

Question 34

6 modes of change

Answer 34

The six modes of change include arising, perishing, staining, purifying, increasing, and decreasing. The six modes of change appear in the Heart Sutra which asserts these modes of change do not exist within emptiness. Tanahashi’s translation says boundlessness is free of arising and perishing, staining and purifying, and increasing and decreasing.

Question 35

6 sense organs, 6 sense objects, 6 senses of consciousness

Question 36

atman / anatman

Answer 36

Atman is the Sanskrit word for self and anatman is the philosophical negation of the self. Atman is similar to the idea of the soul with the properties of being eternal and changeless. Buddhism gets its start from questioning the idea of Atman. Instead, it upholds the idea of anatman, believing atman does not exist.

Question 37

nagarjuna

Answer 37

Nagarjuna lived around the 2nd-3rd centuries CE and was one of the most influential radical Mahayana philosophers. He was said to have retrieved the prajna paramita scriptures from the land of the naga. He was important for the development of the Madhyamaka philosophy. Nagarjuna was a philospher of emptiness and his teachings were mostly negative (no, no, no).

Question 38

madhyamaka

Answer 38

Madhyamaka is known for its doctrine of the ultimate emptiness and conventional reality of all phenomena. It is also known for treating the mind and external objects in parallel. It was heavily influenced by Nagarjuna and it believes everything is empty; the mind, all phenomena, all objects, etc are empty.

Question 39

Xuanzang

Question 40

journey to the west

Question 41

yogachara

Answer 41

Yogacara is known for its apparent idealism with a denial of the reality of the external world. It has an affirmation of the fundamental status of the mind or consciousness. It is a mind-only philosophy and believes that objects are empty but the mind is real whereas Madhyamaka believes in total emptiness.

Question 42

sera khandro

Answer 42

Sera Khandro is the main character in Sarah Jacoby’s book about autobiographical writings of the tibetan buddhist visionary. She composed her own autobiography. She was born into the aristocracy and was assigned to get married at 12. Instead, she attempted suicide and then decided to follow a group of lamas at age 15. She became a consort of one of the lamas, a treasure revealer, and one of the main tibetan buddhist teachers of the time.

Question 43

patrul rinpoche

Question 44

words of my perfect teacher

Question 45

teacher, guru, lama

Question 46

padmasambhava

Answer 46

Padmasambhava is the second buddha of oddiyana. He lived in the 8th century during King Trising Detsen’s rule and was known as Guru Rinpoche in Tibet. He is one of the figures that brought Buddhism to Tibet, specifically vajrayana Buddhism, and he hid many spiritual treasures for the sake of future generations.

Question 47

yeshe tsogyal

Answer 47

Yeshe Tsogyal was a dakini and chondroma. She was considered the ultimate dakini and the enlightened mother of dakinis. She was the consort of Padmasambhava. She brought Buddhism to Tibet with Trisong Detsen and Padmasamba. She was a historical figure as she was the queer of Tibet in the 8th century.

Question 48

trisong detsen

Question 49

jigme lingpa

Answer 49

Jigme Lingpa lived in the 18th century. He is considered to be a combined emanation of Vimalamitra, King Trisong Detsen, and Gyalse Lharje. He was a treasure revealer and he revealed the heart essence of the vast expanse.

Question 50

heart essence of the vast expanse

Question 51

treasure revelation

Question 52

precious human life

Question 53

impermanence

Question 54

refuge

Question 55

vajrasattva

Question 56

guru yoga

Answer 56

In Guru Yoga practitioners pray to their teacher, relying on him alone and considering him to be a real buddha. Practitioners are to merge their minds with their teacher and their realization will happen by the power of the teacher’s blessings. The path of guru yoga awakens the realization of the natural state and brings liberation.

Question 57

mandala

Answer 57

The practice of the mandala is to simulate creating the universe then offering the universe to the buddhas. The mandala represents the whole universe and the practice is meant to be done with good intentions. The material of the mandala depends on your means and it can even be made with your hands.

Question 58

severence

Answer 58

Severence is the offering of the body. Practitioners picture their consciousness above their head becoming the Wrathful Black True Mother. The practitioner becomes the deity and the main point of the practice is to sever one’s attachment with one’s own body. The practice of cho is important for severance and it means to cut.

Question 59

transference

Question 60

6 classes of beings

Question 61

jetsun mila

Answer 61

Jetsun Mila, also known as Milarepa, was a great Tibetan yogi and poet and he lived during the 11th century. His biography and spiritual songs are some of the most loved works in Tibetan Buddhism. He is a prominent disciple of Marpa.

Question 62

3 jewels

Question 63

3 roots

Question 64

3 bodies

Answer 64

The three bodies refer to the three forms the buddha appears in. the first is the truth body which only buddhas can perceive. The second is the enjoyment body which is only visible to very advanced practitioners. The final body is the emanation body which is the version seen in the ordinary world.