A
Amitabha: Sanskrit; Amida (Japanese); one
of the major buddhas of Mayahana school; His Pure Land is
free from suffering. the devotee is reborn there by sincerely
calling out his name.
Arhat: Sanskrit; literally, "worthy
one"; one who has attained the highest level in the
Theravada school; the fruition of arhatship is nirvana.
Avalokitesvara: Sanskrit; Kannon
(Japanese), Chen Resig (Tibetan), Kwan Um (Korean); the
bodhisattva of compassion.
B
Bodhidharma: (ca. 470-543) Considered the
first patriarch of Zen Buddhism; according to legend, he was
the "Barbarian from the West" who brought Zen from
India to China; "Why did Bodhidharma come from the
West?" is a famous koan in Zen Buddhism.
Bodhisattva: Sanskrit; Bosatsu (Japanese),
Bosal (Korean); one who postpones his or her own
enlightenment in order to help liberate other sentient beings
from the cycle of birth and death. Compassion, or karuna, is
the central characteristic of the bodhisattva; important
bodhisattvas include Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, and Jizo.
Buddha: Sanskrit; literally, "awakened
one"; a person who has been released from the world of
birth and death (within samsara) and attained liberation from
desire, craving, and attachment in nirvana; according to the
Theravadins, Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, is considered
to be the first Buddha of this age and was preceded by many
others. He will be followed by Maitreya; Mahayanists believe
that there are countless Buddhas for every age.
D
Dharma: The laws of the mind to which the
Buddha was awakened; the laws governing the existence with
which each person is endowed. While each person is still
individually different, each also has a unifying,
undifferentiated mind.
Dogen: (1200-1253) Credited with bringing
the Soto Sect of Zen Buddhism to Japan; he stressed shikan
taza, or just sitting, as the means to enlightenment.
Dzogchen: Tibetan; literally, "great
perfection"; the supreme teachings of the Nyingmapa
school of Tibetan Buddhism; its adherents believe these
teachings are the highest and therefore that no other means
are necessary; also known as ati-yoga.
Dojo: A Zen monastery; a place to clarify
the Buddha nature.
E
Enlightenment: The word used to translate
the Sanskrit term bodhi ("awakened"); generally
used by Mahayanists instead of the Theravada term nirvana; it
connotes an awakening to the true nature of reality rather
than the extinguishing of desire implied by the term nirvana.
J
Jodo-shin-shu: literally, "True School
of the Pure Land"; a school of Japanese Buddhism founded
by Shinran; it has no monastic aspect and is purely a lay
community; its emphasis on relying on the power of Amida
Buddha (Amitabha) for salvation is more extreme than that of
the Jodo-shu school; it is the largest school of Buddhism in
Japan today.
Jodo-shu: literally, "School of the
Pure Land"; a school of Japanese Buddhism derived from
the ideas of the Pure Land School of China which were brought
to Japan in the ninth century; it was officially founded by
Honen in the twelfth century as a means to open up an
"easy path" to liberation by calling out the name
of Amida Buddha (Amitabha); in contrast to the Jodo-shin-shu
school, its adherents enter the monastic life and consider
calling out the name of Amida to be an act of gratitude
rather than a means to strengthen trust in Amida.
K
Karma: Sanskrit; literally,
"action"; universal law of cause and effect which
governs rebirth and the world of samsara.
Kensho: Enlightenment; the awakening to
one's true nature, prior to ego. Ego is like the transient
waves on the water's surface; one's Buddha nature is the
entire body of water.
Ki: A universal force that constitutes,
binds, and moves all things. In the human body it manifests
as vitality. This vitality may be enhanced by good nutrition
and breath work, through Tanden breathing and other
exercises.
Koan: Specific words and experiences of the
ancients that cannot be solved by logic or rational thought.
People of Zen training use them to cut dualistic thinking,
awaken to their Buddha nature, and rid themselves of ego.
M
Mahayana: Sanskrit; literally, "the
Great Vehicle"; one of the three major schools of
Buddhism which developed in India during the first century.;
it is called the "Great Vehicle" because of its
all-inclusive approach to liberation as embodied in the
bodhisattva ideal and the desire to liberate all beings; the
Mahayana school is also known for placing less emphasis on
monasticism than the Theravada school and for introducing the
notion of sunyata.
Maitreya: the Buddha expected to come in
the future as the fifth and last of the earthly Buddhas; it
is believed that he will reside in the Tushita heaven until
then (about 30,000 years from now); the cult of Maitreya is
widespread in Tibetan Buddhism.
N
Nirvana: Sanskrit; literally,
"extinction, blowing out"; the goal of spiritual
practice in Buddhism; liberation from the cycle of rebirth
and suffering.
Nichiren: (1222-1282) Japanese monk who
believed in the supreme perfection of the Lotus Sutra; he
advocated the devout recitation of "Namu myoho renge
kyo, " the title of the sutra, in order to attain
instantaneous enlightenment.
O
Osesshin: One week of continuous Zazen with
breaks only for sutras, eating, and sleeping. Its purpose is
to enable the practiser to cut away all the normal
distinctions of daily life in order to clarify one's true
nature.
P
Pure Land: A realm free from suffering in
which it is easier to attain nirvana; the most famous one,
Sukhavati, is the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha and requires
only calling out his name in order to be reborn in it;
"Pure Land Buddhism" refers to this devotion
directed towards Amitabha.
R
Rinzai: Japanese; Lin-chi (Chinese); one of
the two major schools of Zen Buddhism; it was founded by the
Chinese master Lin-chi I-hsuan (Japanese; Rinzai Gigen) and
brought to Japan by Eisai Zenji at the end of the twelfth
century; it stresses koan Zen as the means to attain
enlightenment.
S
Samadhi: States in which the persistent
mentation associated with daily life are dropped enabling the
practiser to become and circumstances; becoming one with what
one is doing; that which comes forth when one lives each
moment fully.
Samsara: Sanskrit; the cyclic existence of
birth, death and rebirth from which nirvana provides
liberation.
Sangha: Sanskrit; a term for the Buddhist
monastic community which has recently come to include the
entire community of Buddhist practitioners; it is considered
one of the three jewels of Buddhism (along with the Buddha
and the Dharma).
Shakyamuni: (ca. 563-422) The historical
Buddha; Theravadins believe that he was the first to attain
enlightenment in this age.
Shinran: (1173-1262) Founder of the
Jodo-shin-shu school of Japanese Buddhism; he taught that
attempting to attain enlightenment through one's own effort
is futile; instead liberation can be attained exclusively
through the help and grace of the Buddha Amida (Amitabha); he
advocated calling out the name of Amida as the only practice
necessary in order to be reborn in his Pure Land.
Soto: Japanese; Ts'ao-tung (Chinese); one
of the two major schools of Zen Buddhism; it was brought to
Japan by Dogen in the thirteenth century; it emphasizes
zazen, or sitting meditation, as the central practice in
order to attain enlightenment.
Sunyata: Sanskrit; sunnata (Pali);
literally, "emptiness"; a central Buddhist idea
which states that all phenomena are "empty," i.e.
dependent and conditioned on other phenomena and therefore
without essence; Theravadins applied this idea to the
individual to assert the non-existence of a soul; Mahayanists
later expanded on this idea and declared that all existence
is empty; emptiness became the focus of the Madhyamika school
of Mahayana Buddhism; the notion of emptiness has often led
to Buddhism being wrongfully confused with a nihilistic
outlook.
Sussokukan: This method of Zazen of
involves counting one's breath.
Sutra: Sanskrit; a discourse attributed to
the Buddha; sutras comprise the second part of the Buddhist
canon, or Tripitaka; they traditionally begin with the phrase
"Thus have I heard. . . " and are believed to have
been written down by the Buddha's disciple Ananda one hundred
years after his death.
T
Tanden: A point in the body, approximately
one and a half inches below the navel and one and a half
inches deep, considered the physiological, psychic, and
spiritual center. Tanden cultivation is closely related to
breath and mind-intent for the development of Ki.
V
Vajrayana: Sanskrit; literally, "the
Diamond Vehicle"; one of the three major schools of
Buddhism; this form of Buddhism developed out of the Mahayana
teachings in northwest India around 500 CE and spread to
Tibet, China and Japan; it involves esoteric visualizations,
rituals, and mantras which can only be learned by study with
a master; also known as Tantric Buddhism due to the use of
tantras, or sacred texts.
Z
Zazen: Meditation; sitting in which one
cuts all connections with the external world and lets go of
all concerns within.
Zen: Japanese; Ch'an (Chinese); a branch of
Mahayana Buddhism which developed in China during the sixth
and seventh centuries after Bodhidharma arrived; it later
divided into the Soto and Rinzai schools; Zen stresses the
importance of the enlightenment experience and the futility
of rational thought, intellectual study and religious ritual
in attaining this; a central element of Zen is zazen, a
meditative practice which seeks to free the mind of all
thought and conceptualization.
Zendo: The meditation hall in which monks
live and people practice Zazen.