Key Terms Flashcards
Ahisma
The ethical principle of not causing harm to other living things
Almsgibing
The early morning procession by monks past the homes of lay Buddhists, who put food into their alms bowl. Such charitable almsgiving (Dana) provides the laity with an opportunity to gain merit
Anatman
One of the thre marks of existence
No-self
-there is noting permanent in existence
Animistic
Abounding in deities/spirits both benevolent and malevolent
Arhat
“Worthy one”is the highest attainment
Asceticism
Severe self-discipline and avoidance of all dorm of indulgence
Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni
A fully ordained Buddhist monk and member of the Sangam. Monos conduct their lives in accord with the rules laid out in the Vinaya Pitaka
And fully ordained bud nun, subjected to stricter regulations
Bodhi tree
Tree of awaking, sacred fig tree, where the Buddha attained enlightenment
Bodhicitta
enlightenment-mind” or “the thought of awakening”), is the mind (citta) that is aimed at awakening (bodhi), with wisdom and compassion for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Bodhisattva
(in Mahayana Buddhism) a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings.
bon
Tibetan religion
- indigenous religion came to be called bon
- initially hostile to Buddhism
Dependent arising
- reveals the origin of our sense of self
- it depends in part on our perceptions, our ignorance and our desires
- each created self is dependent on a vast array of related phenomena
- all these are impermanent
- so are our many psychologically created selves
- as these “grow old and die” we experience suffering
Dharma
One of the three jewels
- teachings
Dharma chakra (wheel of dharma)
A wheel with eight spokes that symbolizes the FOur Noble Truths and the Noble eightfold Path. It also symbolizes the spread and development of Buddhism
Duhkha/Dukkha
Suffering/disease
East Asian buddhism
Buddhism entered China via the Silk Roads in the 1st century CE (Kushana Empire in C.A.).
• Initially encountered resistance due to Confucian values (this-worldly).
• Grew popular after the fall of the Han Dynasty (c. 200 BCE - 200 CE).
• Gained power and popularity during the T’ang Dynasty (618-906 CE).
Esoteric
intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest.
Five precepts
No killing
No stealing
No sex
No lying
No intoxicants
Four noble thruths
- Suffering/ duhkha
- Origin/cause
- End of duhkha
- The noble 8-fold path
Four great sights
Aging
Illness
Dying
Sramana (renunciation)
Great renunciation
Basic Tenets
• The Great Renunciation
• Spiritual Teachers and Ascetic Practices
• The Middle Way
• Awakening/Enlightenment & Nirvana
Impermanence
Anitya one of the three marks of existence
Lama
A religious master. The term is often used as a polite form of address for any Tibetan monk. The honorific title Rinpoche is applied to highly attained teachers or monks
Lay community
Lay People. Common forms of Buddhist practice for lay persons include visiting temples to pray, burn incense, place offerings of fruit or flowers at altars, and observe rituals performed by monks, such as the consecration of new images or the celebration of a Buddhist festival.
Life story off the buddha
Lotus
A kind if water lily, symbolizing that the Buddha nature emerges undefined from the middy depths of worldly existence (samsara). In iconography it may be used as the Buddha’s seat or throne
Mahayana
Great vehicle. Form of Buddhism that emerged in the first century BCE and spread from northern India to china and japan. It is characterized by the ideal of the bodhisattva, one who strives to bring all beings to nirvana
Middle way
Middle way is not living in luxury but not living destitute but in the middle
Mudra
mudra is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers
Nirvana
Nirvana is “blowing out” or “quenching” of the activities of the worldly mind and its related suffering. Nirvana is the goal of the Buddhist path, and marks the soteriological release from worldly suffering and rebirths in saṃsāra
Noble eightfold path
The Eightfold Path (Pali: ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga; Sanskrit: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)[1] is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth,[2][3] in the form of nirvana.[4][5]
The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi (‘meditative absorption or union’; alternatively, equanimous meditative awareness)
Parinirvana
Parinirvana is a Mahayana Buddhist festival that marks the death of the Buddha. It is also known as Nirvana Day and is celebrated on February 15th. Buddhists celebrate the death of the Buddha, because they believe that having attained Enlightenment, he achieved freedom from physical existence and its sufferings
Patron-priest relationship
The priest and patron relationship, also written as priest-patron or cho-yon (Tibetan: མཆོད་ཡོན་, Wylie: mchod yon; Chinese: 檀越关系; pinyin: Tányuè Guānxì), is the Tibetan political theory that the relationship between Tibet and China referred to a symbiotic link between a spiritual leader and a lay patron, such as the historic relationship between the Dalai Lama and the Qing emperor. They were respectively spiritual teacher and lay patron rather than subject and lord. Chöyön is an abbreviation of two Tibetan words: chöney, “that which is worthy of being given gifts and alms” (for example, a lama or a deity), and yöndag, “he who gives gifts to that which is worthy” (a patron).[1]
Perfections
Six Perfections:
• Giving
• Morality (includes 10 good actions)
• Patience
• Vigor
• Meditation (dhyana)
• Wisdom (prajna)
Skillful means (upaya)
• Vows
• Power
• Omniscient Knowledge
• Ten Stages correspond to these perfections
Pure land
A school of Mahayana bud characterized by faith in the compassion of the Buddha amitabha. Adherents hope to be reborn in amitabha’s pure land, also known as the western paradise.
Rebirth and realms of existence
Buddhist cosmology typically identifies six realms of rebirth and existence: gods, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and hells.
Samadhi
Meditative absorption
Samsara
Saṃsāra in Buddhism and Hinduism is the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again
Sangha
The three jewels
- community
Siddha and siddhi
siddha (Sanskrit: Meaning, “one who is accomplished”) refers to perfected spiritual masters who have transcended the ahamkara (ego, or I-maker) and transformed themselves into spiritual beings. Siddhas are described in Hindu, Buddhist, and Tantric texts.
Stupa
Stupas contain relics, sacred texts or are symbolic representations of Buddha consciousness. They serve as facial points for veneration or meditation
Tantra
body, mind, speech
• mudra, mandala, mantra
• enlightenment in this life
• siddha (accomplished person)
• guru initiates one into esoteric ritual
• meditation on yidam (tutelary deity)
Theravada
Doctrine of the elders. The only surviving branch of the non-Mahayana Buddhist groups. It is the dominant form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Myanmar. Thailand and other part of Southeast Asia. It is characterized by the pursuit of nirvana
Three jewels/refuges
Lay Buddhists express a commitment to the three jewels or refuges: the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha
Three marks of existence
Duhkha (dissatisfactoriness) •
Anitya (impermanence) •
Anatman (no-self)
Trishna
ignorance + craving
Tulju
These caves are one of the earliest caves of Junnar, excavated around 50 B.C. This Buddhist cave group consist of 11 cave
Upaya
Skillful means
Vajra
In the tantric traditions of Buddhism, the vajra is a symbol for the nature of reality, or sunyata, indicating endless creativity, potency, and skillful activity. The vajra and bell are used in many rites by a lama or any Vajrayana practitioner of sadhana.
Vajrayana
Diamon/thunderbird vehicle. Form of bud, characterized by tantric practices, which became dominant in Tibet and later spread to Mongolia and back into India
Vesak
Commemorates th Buddha’s birth. Enlightenment, and Parinirvana; celebrated in Theravada countries on the full moon in may, with special pujas (worship rituals) and Dharma teachings.
Zen
Known as Chan in china. A Mahayana bud tradition that emphasizes meditation in the attainment of nirvana. In japan two main schools of zen emergency, the rinzai and the Soto