Final Exam Vocabulary

Question 0

Avalokiteshvara

Answer 0

A bodhisattva who gradually assumed a greater importance in Buddhism, finally arriving at a position in which his image was found along with the Buddha’s, or even standing alone as the sole recipient of reverence. Referred to frequently in Mahayana texts, he is one if the most important celestial figures

Question 1

Amida/Amitabha

Answer 1

The Buddha of “eternal light” presiding over the Western Paradise

Question 2

Bodhicitta

Answer 2

The “thought of enlightenment”. It is with this initial step that the bodhisattva begins the path to complete, perfect enlightenment

Question 3

Bodhidharma

Answer 3

The first patriarch of Chan Buddhism. Said to have come to china around 520 c.e, it is from Bodhidharma that the Chan lineage begins with his translation of the Lankavatara Sutra

Question 4

Bodhisattva

Answer 4

A “Buddha to be” or “enlightenment being”. Before becoming a Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama was held to be a Bodhisattva , generally taken to mean a future Buddha. Where as the Nikaya Buddhist sects there to be one bodhisattva - Siddhartha- the Mahayanistd adopt this concept as the ideal type around which to model religious practice. In Mahayana, the bodhisattva (which now any person can be) holds off entering final nirvana out if compassion, and attempts to lead all sentient brigs to complete, perfect enlightenment

Question 5

Brahma-vihara

Answer 5

A series of four Buddhist virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them. They are also known as the 4 immeasurables

Question 6

Buddhaghosa

Answer 6

Probably the greatest of all Theravada exegetical writers. Coming from South India to Sri Lanka in 4th century c.e his classic visuddhimagga or “ path of purity” and his numerous commentAries establish him in virtually all aspects if Buddhism

Question 7

Dharmakaya

Answer 7

In the Larger Sukāvatīvyūha Sūtra, a monk who hears the Dharma from the Buddha Lokeśvararāja. He takes a series of forty-six vows aimed at establishing a pure land. Ultimately, Dharmākara reveals himself to Amitābha, and the discourse ends with a magnificent vision of this Buddha

Question 8

Hakuin

Answer 8

Japanese Zen Buddhist monk (1686–1769) who strongly exemplified the very finest ideals of compassion during the stagnant and degenerate Tokugawa Period.

Question 9

Huineng

Answer 9

Chinese Buddhist monk of the Southern Chan school who became the Sixth Patriarch after a long and bitter controversy with his rival Shenxiu of Northern Chan. The Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch is attributed to Huineng.

Question 10

Jhana

Answer 10

The Pāli counterpart of the Sanskrit technical term dhyāna. Dhyana-Technical term used to denote the states experienced in meditation. Intraditional Nikāya Buddhism, as outlined in many sources, these are held to be fourfold

Question 11

Kensho

Answer 11

is an initial insight or awakening, not full Buddhahood.[5] It is to be followed by further training to deepen this insight, and learn to express it in daily life - is a Japanese term from the Zen tradition. Kenmeans “seeing,” shō means “nature, essence”

Question 12

Koan

Answer 12

Literally ‘public records’ or authenticated cases of dialogue of Zen masters. These seemingly insoluble and confusing statements, sometimes resembling riddles, were aimed at bringing the student to the full realization of enlightenment.

Question 13

Madhyamika

Answer 13

A Mahāyāna Buddhist school, founded by Nāgārjuna, which purported to represent (as the title indicates) ‘the middle way’

Question 14

Mahayana

Answer 14

• Literally, the ‘Great Vehicle’; a school of Buddhism which arose gradually several hundred years after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. More liberal socially and more speculative philosophically than the traditional, orthodox Buddhists of the time, the new group emphasized the bodhisattva path, the concepts of emptiness (śūnyatā), three bodies of the Buddha (trikāya), and ‘suchness’ (tathatā), as well as sparking a new creative drive in the production of Buddhist literature.

Question 15

Mahasamghika

Answer 15

One of the first Buddhist sects. Its name means ‘Great Assembly’, reflecting the fact that it was the ‘majority party’ at the time of the split. Scholars initially believed this group to be progressive, liberal, and lax with respect to discipline, but this presumption has proved to be false.

Question 16

Maitreya

Answer 16

The future Buddha. Legend suggests that he dictated many of the Yogācāra texts to Asaṅga, and these are listed under the name Maitreyanātha.

Question 17

Manjushri

Answer 17

A bodhisattva, gradually gaining importance in Buddhism, to the point where his image was often found along with that of the Buddha, or in some cases, standing alone as the sole recipient of reverence. He is one of the prime interlocutors in the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra.

Question 18

Mantra

Answer 18

In tantric Buddhism, a ‘tool for thinking’ (in Anagarika Govinda’s words) which uses the symbolic power in sounds as a means for directly experiencing things as they really are.

Question 19

Mudra

Answer 19

• is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism.[1] While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers.[2] A mudrā is a spiritual gesture and an energetic seal of authenticity employed in the iconography and spiritual practice of Indian religions and traditions of Dharma andTaoism.

Question 20

Nagarjuna

Answer 20

Buddhist philosopher who probably lived in the second or third century C.E. and founded the Mādhyamika school of Buddhism. He was a clever dialectician, a mystic of high attainment, and among the very greatest of Buddhist thinkers.

Question 21

Nichiren

Answer 21

Japanese Buddhist (1222–1282) who founded a school of Buddhism bearing his name. After originally studying Tendai Buddhism, he was not satisfied with Buddhist methods, but was convinced about the efficacy of the Lotus Sūtra, and developed a practice based on this text.

Question 22

Nirmanakaya

Answer 22

The ‘Apparition Body’; that term used by Mahāyānists to signify the historical Buddha. It is the first of the ‘Three Bodies of the Buddha’, the others being Sambhogakāya and Dharmakāya.

Question 23

Prajna-paramita

Answer 23

The ‘Perfection of Wisdom Discourses’; that class of Buddhist scriptures which mark the rise of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The sūtras often feature the Buddha’s famous disciples as interlocutors. The texts frequentlycontrast mundane and ultimate reality, using emptiness (śūnyatā) as a striking epistemological tool.

Question 24

Rinzai

Answer 24

Japanese branch of Zen Buddhism derived from the Linji branch of Chinese Chan Buddhism. Brought to Japan by Eisai, it emphasizes the use of kōans and the doctrine of subitism.

Question 25

Sadhana

Answer 25

literally “a means of accomplishing something”,[1] is an ego-transcending spiritual practice.[2] It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist[3]and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives

Question 26

Samatha

Answer 26

Literally ‘calming down’; that portion of the Buddhist meditation program aimed at quieting the mind as a prerequisite to the careful observation of events called vipassanā or ‘insight’. The two practices are part and parcel of the meditational schema outlined in Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga

Question 27

Sambhogakaya

Answer 27

According to Mahāyāna, the second of the three bodies of the Buddha. This body, literally meaning ‘Enjoyment Body’ or ‘Reward Body’ is the preacher of the Mahāyāna sūtras and is seen by those on the bodhisattva path.

Question 28

Sariputra

Answer 28

or Sāriputta (Pāli) was one of two chief male disciples of the Buddha along withMaudgalyayana (Pali: Moggallāna), counterparts to the nuns Khema and Uppalavanna, named the two chief female disciples. He became an Arhat “foremost in wisdom” renowned for his teaching and is depicted in theTheravada tradition as one of the most important disciples of the Buddha.

Question 29

Satori

Answer 29

Japanese technical term for enlightenment

Question 30

Santideva

Answer 30

was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist monk and scholar atNalanda and an adherent of the Madhyamaka philosophy ofNagarjuna

Question 31

Siddhi

Answer 31

are spiritual, magical, supranormal, paranormal, or supernatural powers acquired through asadhana (spiritual practices), such as meditation and yoga.[1] People who have attained this state are formally known as siddhas.[2]

Question 32

Soto

Answer 32

Japanese school of Zen Buddhism, derived from the Chinese Caodong Chan tradition. It was introduced to Japan by Dōgen, and emphasizes shikantaza (‘just sitting’) and gradualism

Question 33

Sthavira

Answer 33

• Literally ‘Elder’; that title applied to the early schools of Buddhism which broke from the unified community and opposed the Mahāsāṃghikas

Question 34

Sunyata

Answer 34

The doctrine of ‘emptiness’ or voidness’, stressed in many Mahāyāna sūtras.It goes beyond the early Buddhist position of anātman (not-self) in stating that even dharmas have no existence in their own right. One must be careful to understand that śūnyatā itself is not an ontological state, and that even emptiness is empty.

Question 35

Tara

Answer 35

also known as Jetsun Dolma (Tibetan language:rje btsun sgrol ma) in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva inMahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha inVajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the “mother of liberation”, and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. In Japan she is known as Tara Bosatsu

Question 36

Trikaya

Answer 36

The doctrine of the ‘Three Bodies of the Buddha’. They include the apparitional body (nirmāṇakāya), enjoyment body (sambhogakāya), and the essence body (dharmakāya).

Question 37

Upaya

Answer 37

Literally ‘skill in means’ or ‘skillful device’; those means by which the Buddha or bodhisattvas make the complex and difficult teachings of Buddhism understandable to persons of varying mental faculties. Sometimes cited as upāya-kauśalya.

Question 38

Vajrayana

Answer 38

is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra,Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Way orThunderbolt Way. Vajrayāna is a complex and multifaceted system of Buddhist thought and practice which evolved over several centuries

Question 39

Vipassana

Answer 39

Literally ‘insight’; the second half of Buddhist meditational practice (the first being samatha) which leads to the experience of the four trances.

Question 40

Visuddhimagga

Answer 40

The ‘Path of Purity’, a classic Buddhist text written by Buddhaghosa. It has become a standard guide to Theravāda meditation and, as a compendium of doctrine, includes precepts, legends, miracle stories, etc., all of which glorify arhantship. It ranks in brilliance with Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa

Question 41

Zazen

Answer 41

• Literally ‘sitting in meditation’; with the notion that the person is already a Buddha, this realization being clouded only by ignorance. Zazen provides an opportunity in which one’s inherent Buddha nature may manifest itself.