Rels 204 Buddhism Key Terms Flashcards
Amitabha
heavenly Buddha who presides over the Pure Land Buddha realm
arhat
(Pali: arahant) “worthy one,” a perfected saint who has reached nirvana and will be released from samsara at death.
Ashoka
great Buddhist king in India (r. ca. 272-236 B.C.E.), the “second founder” of Buddhism
bhikku, bhikkuni
Pali terms for Buddhist monk and nun (Sanskrit, bhikshu, bhikshuni)
Birthday of the Buddha
joyful festival usually celebrated in May (in April in Japan). See also Vesakha
Bodh Gaya
The place where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment
Bodhisattva
being who is intent on becoming fully enlightened; in Mahayana Buddhism, one who reaches enlightenment but vows to continue rebirths in samsara to assist others.
Buddha
“Enlightened one”; Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 536-483 B.C.E.) became the Buddha for our present age
Chan
school of meditation Buddhism in China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan (Zen in Japan), influential in the arts
Dalai Lama
head of the Geluk Tibetan Buddhist school, traditionally recognized as spiritual and political leader of Tibetans; the current Dalai Lama (b. 1935) is the fourteenth.
dependent co-arising (pratiya-samutpada)
central Buddhist teaching that everything is conditioned by something else, that all reality is interdependent
Dharma
in Buddhist usage, the truth; the teaching of the Buddha
dharmas
the most basic constituents of all phenomena
Dukkha
“sorrow,” characteristic of all conditioned reality as stated in the First Noble Truth of Buddhism
Eightfold path
the fundamental path toward nirvana as taught by the Buddha, involving eight interrelated practices: right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
emptiness
See shunyata (“emptiness,” Mahayana Buddhist teaching that all things are devoid of any substantial or independent reality
First Council of Buddhism
held at Rajagriha shortly after the Buddha’s parinirvana, where, according to tradition, the Buddha’s sayings were recited and compiled
Five Precepts
the basic Buddhist moral precepts: to refrain from destroying life, from taking what is not given, from wrongful sexual behaviour, from wrongful speech, and from drugs and liquor.
Four Noble Truths
basic teachings presented in the Buddha’s first sermon: the truths of sorrow, of the cause of sorrow, of the overcoming of sorrow, and of the path to follow.
Four Sights
sickness, old age, death, and a wandering hermit; seeing these motivated Siddhartha Gautama to seek enlightenment.
Hinayana
See Theravada - “lesser vehicle,” a pejorative term that Mahayana Buddhists applied to the early Buddhist sects.
Huayan
A Chinese school of Mahayana Buddhism based on the Garland Sutra
impermanence
basic Buddhist doctrine that change is characteristic of everything that arise
karma
“action,” law that all deeds and thoughts, according to one’s intentions, will have set consequences, including rebirth