A Buddhist Glossary (©2004 by Tricycle, the Buddhist Journal)

Amitabha: Sanskrit; Amida (Japanese); the Buddha of infinite light and life, symbolizing wisdom and compassion. Amitabha is one of the major buddhas of the Mahayana school; he created a Pure Land free from suffering in which one can attain rebirth by calling out his name.

Anatman: Sanskrit; the doctrine that there is no permanent, indwelling self, such as a soul.

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), Chenrezig (Tibetan), Kwan Um (Korean); Guanyin (Chinese); the great bodhisattva of compassion.

Bhikshu: Sanskrit; a fully ordained monk.

Bhikshuni: Sanskrit; a fully ordained nun.

Bodhidharma: (ca. 470-543) Considered the first patriarch of Chan (Zen) Buddhism; according to legend, he was the "Barbarian from the West" who brought Chan from India to China; "Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?" is a famous koan in Zen Buddhism.

Bodhicitta: Sanskrit; the mind that strives to realize enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. Sometimes also synonymous with the enlightened mind itself.

Bodhisattva: Sanskrit; Bosatsu (Japanese), Bosal (Korean); one who postpones his or her own enlightenment in order to help liberate other sentient beings from cyclic existence; compassion, or karuna, is the central characteristic of the bodhisattva; important bodhisattvas include Avalokitesvara, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra.

Bodhisattva Vow: the vow taken by all those who wish to achieve full Buddhahood and liberate all sentient beings. It commonly has four parts: 1) Beings are numberless, I vow to save them. 2) Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them. 3) Dharma teachings are boundless, I vow to master all of them. 4) The Buddha‚s way is unsurpassable, I vow to attain it.

Buddha: Sanskrit; literally, "awakened one"; a person who has been released from the world of cyclic existence (samsara) and attained liberation from desire, craving, and attachment in nirvana; according to Theravadins, Gotama, the historical Buddha, is considered to be the Buddha of this age who was preceded by many others and will be followed by Maitreya; Mahayanists believe that there are countless Buddhas for every age.

Buddha-nature: the natural capacity that all beings have to achieve Buddhahood. According to the Mahayana school, all beings possess Buddha-nature.

Dalai Lama: The spiritual and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Seen as a manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, the Dalai Lama is believed to seek rebirth life after life in order to continue assisting Tibetans and all other beings. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the fourteenth.

Dana: Sanskrit; charity, one of the paramitas. Charity must be perfected in order to achieve Buddhahood. The term dana is often used to refer to giving food to members of the monastic sangha.

Dependent Co-origination: the doctrine that all things arise interdependently with one another, based on their causes, so that nothing exists in isolation from the rest of the universe.

Dharma: Sanskrit; dhamma (Pali); the central notion of Buddhism; it is the cosmic law underlying all existence and therefore the teaching of the Buddha; it is considered one of the three "jewels" of Buddhism; it is often used as a general term for Buddhism.

Dogen: (1200-1253) Credited with bringing the Soto school of Zen Buddhism to Japan; he stressed shikantaza, or just sitting, as the means to enlightenment.

Duhkha: Sanskrit; suffering, stress. The root word of duhkha implies the axle of a wheel that is out of place, so that the wheel wobbles and creates inappropriate stresses on the axle. Thus duhkha is the pain and dissatisfaction in life that arises from thoughts, speech, and actions which are out of alignment with true

Dzogchen: Tibetan; literally, "great perfection"; the supreme teachings of the Nyingma 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.

Eightfold Path: the Buddha's system for achieving enlightenment. It consists of right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation.

Eisei: (1141-1215) Originally a Tendai monk, Eisai traveled to China twice and practiced Chan in the Lin-chi school. In Japan he became the first teacher of Zen Buddhism. His descendants organized the Rinzai school, and he is often given credit as its founder.

Gelug: One of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism; His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama is considered the spiritual head of this school.

Gotama: the family name of the historical Buddha.

Enlightenment: word used to translate the Sanskrit term bodhi ("awakened"); it connotes an awakening to the true nature of reality rather than the extinguishing of desire implied by the term nirvana.

Five Lay Precepts: Lay Buddhists typically strive to embody five basic codes of morality. They are: 1) do not kill living beings, 2) do not steal, 3) do not commit sexual misconduct, 4) do not lie, 5) do not indulge in intoxicants.

Four Noble Truths: the core insights of Buddhism, pronounced by the Buddha at his first public teaching. They are: 1) all life includes suffering, 2) suffering is caused by clinging to attachments, 3) there is an end to suffering, 4) the method to ending suffering is to follow the eightfold path.

Gassho: Japanese; palms together. The common gesture of prayer or respect, formed by bringing the palms together in front of the chest and bowing. This gesture is found in all types of Buddhism and is especially employed when greeting a teacher or bowing to a Buddha statue.

Honen: (1133-1212) Honen founded the Jodo Shu, the first fully independent school of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism. His teaching that all one had to do was practice the nembutsu was revolutionary: it spread like wildfire among the oppressed classes and soon provoked stiff persecution from those in power. His doctrines profoundly influenced other Kamakura era reformers, including his disciple Shinran, founder of Jodo shin-shu, and Nichiren.

Jataka: Pali; a tale that relates a previous life of the Buddha, usually illustrating a point of doctrine or morality. There are approximately 550 jatakas in the accepted Pali canon, as well as a great many more non-canonical folktales.

Jodo Shinshu: Japanese; True School of Pure Land. A school founded by Shinran in thirteenth-century Japan. It rejected monastic Buddhism and taught a path to enlightenment for all lay followers. The awakening to the boundless compassion of Amida Buddha nullifies all our egoistic impulses (with deep karmic roots) in our ethical and religious strivings. They are transformed by the working of compassion into the contents of what it means to be truly human.

Jodo Shu: Japanese; School of Pure Land. Established as an independent school by Honen in 1175 C.E., it opened the gates of enlightenment to all who had been excluded from the monastic paths, including women of all classes, hunters, butchers, fisherman, peasants, merchants. The practice is to call on the Name of Amida as a response to the deeper call of enlightenment in the process of which the deeply-rooted ego-self loses its binding powers.

Kagyu: One of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism; the teaching was brought to Tibet in the 11th century by Marpa; the school places strong emphasis on the transmission of knowledge from master to student.

Kalpa: Sanskrit; a kalpa is a unit of time, but of such magnitude that it cannot be easily imagined by the human mind. Common estimates of the duration of a kalpa in human years include 10 followed by 51 or 62 zeroes.

Karma: Sanskrit; action. Universal law of cause and effect which governs rebirth and the world of samsara.

Koan: A seemingly paradoxical riddle or statement that is used as a training device in Zen practice to force the mind to abandon logic and dualistic thought.

Kshitigarbha: Sanskrit; Dizhang (Chinese), Jizo (Japanese) Kshitigarbha is one of the celestial bodhisattvas, who was entrusted by the Buddha to watch over those in suffering rebirths until the coming of Maitreya. He is often associated with attempts to save beings trapped in the hellish or hungry ghost realms.

Lama: Tibetan; a term for a guru (teacher).

Mahayana: Sanskrit; Great Vehicle. One of the three major schools of Buddhism which developed in India during the first century C.E.; 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 introducing the notion of sunyata.

Maitreya: the Buddha who is expected to come in the future as the fifth and last of the earthly Buddhas; he is believed to reside in the Tushita heaven until then (about 30,000 years from now); the cult of Maitreya is widespread in Tibetan and Theravada Buddhism.

Mala: Sanskrit; a string of beads or other objects used to count mantras. Malas may also be word as decoration or used as reminders of the Buddha during daily activities. Malas often have 108 units and are frequently carved from wood or bone.

Mandala: a colorful geometric pattern, usually circular, that represents the body, speech, and mind of a Buddha. Mandalas typically depict symbolic representations of the universe or a Buddha-land. They are used for meditation, for initiations, to sanctify holy spaces, and other related purposes.

Manjushri: one of the celestial bodhisattvas, Manjushri represents the perfection of wisdom. He is often depicted riding a lion.

Mantra: phrases composed of holy syllables, representing the speech (and mind) of a Buddha or bodhisattva. Mantras may be used as meditation aids, as prayers, to generate good karma, or other purposes.

Mara: Sanskrit; literally "murder;" Mara is the Buddhist figure of temptation and evil.

Meditation: an important form of Buddhist practice, held by some sects to be the sole avenue for achieving enlightenment. Meditation as a term actually covers a very wide range of mental exercises, including counting one‚s breaths, observing sensations in the body, and concentrating on an object or concept.

Metta: Pali; lovingkindness. Metta is an attitude of compassion and empathy for other beings (and oneself), highly esteemed in Buddhism. It is sometimes cultivated through metta meditation, a form of prayer that involves progressively wishing that oneself, one's family, one's friends, one's neighbors, one's enemies, and the whole world experience peace, health, and freedom from suffering.

Mudra: Sanskrit; symbolic hand gestures that represent doctrines, mental states, or important concepts in Buddhism.

Nembutsu: Japanese; nienfo (Chinese), the Pure Land practice of reciting "Namu Amida Butsu;" "I take refuge in Amitabha Buddha." Depending on one's sect of Pure Land, this chant is seen as a prayer, a meditation, an expression of joy and thanksgiving, a way of generating good karma, or the speech of the Buddha himself.

Nirvana: Sanskrit; extinction, blowing out. The goal of spiritual practice in Buddhism; liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering.

Nichiren: (1222-1282) A charismatic Japanese monk who believed in the bodhisattva teaching of the Lotus Sutra and advocated its complete embodiment in each practitioner. According to Nichiren, the repetitive vocal utterance of "Namu myoho renge kyo," the title containing the essence of the Lotus Sutra, is both the means to and the manifestation of bodhisattva practice.

Nichiren Shu: The primary school of Buddhism that traces its lineage to the 13th century Buddhist reformer Nichiren. The central practices of Nichiren Shu are studying the Lotus Sutra and chanting "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo;" "I take refuge in the Lotus Sutra."

Nyingma: One of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism; the Dzogchen teachings are considered to be the supreme embodiment of this school.

Om Mani Padme Hum: Sanskrit; the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, chanted to invoke the bodhisattva's compassionate mind or to generate good karma.

Padmasambhava: the semi-mythical 8th century tantric master who was instrumental in bringing Buddhism to Tibet. Padmasambhava is regarded as a founding teacher by the Nyingma school, and many legends of his magical deeds and battles with demons have been passed down in folklore.

Paramita: Sanskrit; perfection. Mahayana Buddhism typically counts six paramitas which must be achieved in order to reach Buddhahood. They are charity, morality, patience, courage, meditation, and wisdom.

Prajnaparamita: Sanskrit; perfection of wisdom. This collection of early Mahayana texts, including the well-known Diamond and Heart Sutras, advocates the bodhisattva ideal and the doctrine of sunyata.

Preta: Sanskrit; hungry ghost. The hungry ghost realm is one of the six realms of rebirth. It is regarded as a negative place where people with excessive greed are reborn. Hungry ghosts have bloated stomachs and tiny necks that make it impossible to swallow adequate food. What food or water they do manage to consume turns to fire in their bellies. Hungry ghosts represent the psychological state of excessive attachment and greed.

Pure Land: A realm purified of blind passions which produce sufferings, in contrast to our world of pain, driven by greed, hatred and ignorance. It has twofold significance: first, as the ultimate goal on the path of enlightenment, and second, as an awakening to be realized here and now in the midst of the cyclic life of delusion.

Pure Land School: Pure Land is the largest and most widespread tradition within Mahayana Buddhism. It centers on the story of Amitabha Buddha, but often includes other important figures, such as Avalokitshvara or Kshitigarbha. Pure Land ideas and practices are found in virtually all Mahayana and Vajrayana sects, but in East Asia particularly specific Pure Land schools are found. The most common Pure Land practice is nembutsu.

Rinpoche: Tibetan; precious one. An honorific bestowed upon lamas as a sign of respect.

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 practice as the means to attain enlightenment.

Roshi: Japanese; venerable master. A title bestowed upon advanced teachers, especially in Zen.

Sadhana: an important form of tantric practice, sadhanas involve visualizing a particular enlightened figure and then merging with the image, which is then dissolved into emptiness. Sadhanas are commonly found in Vajrayana Buddhism.

Saicho: (767-822) founder of the Tendai school in Japan, based on the Chinese Tiantai school. Saicho was an important monk of the emperor‚s court and held both scholarly and esoteric Buddhist lineages.

Sakya: One of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism; it is named after the Sakya Monastery in southern Tibet and had great political influence in Tibet during the 13th and 14th centuries .

Samantabhadra: Sanskrit; Samantabhadra is a celestial bodhisattva representing the power of vows. He is often depicted riding a white elephant with six tusks. In some forms of Tibetan Buddhism, Samantabhadra is also the name of the primordial Buddha.

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).

Sensei: Japanese; teacher.

Shakyamuni: (ca. 563-422 BCE) The historical Buddha; Theravadins believe that he was the first to attain enlightenment in this age. See The Life of the Buddha for an account of his life.

Shamata: Sanskrit; calming. A primary form of Buddhist meditation, shamata involves focusing on an object (either physical or mental) so that the mind becomes completely concentrated.

Shambhala: a mythical kingdom believed to exist somewhere to the north of Tibet. Also the name of the organization of practice centers founded in the West by the late Chogyam Trungpa.

Shikantaza: Japanese; just sitting. Shikantaza, a form of zazen advocated by the Soto school of Zen, involves simply sitting in bare awareness, neither concentrating on anything nor cut off from the world.

Shingon: a school of Japanese Vajrayana founded by the great monk Kukai in the early ninth century. Shingon practice is based around the Diamond Realm and Womb World mandalas. Many subdivisions of Shingon, with their own differing styles, exist.

Shinran: (1173-1263): Founder of Jodo Shinshu, he clarified the illumination of boundless compassion which awakens each person to radical finitude, the focus of the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha. This is summed up in the calling of "amida-butsu" or Amida Buddha, never to be abandoned.

Siddha: Siddhas are great tantric masters who have developed magical powers through the strength of their meditation and insight. They serve as role models and sources of colorful folklore in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition.

Siddhartha: The first name of the historical Buddha.

Sila: Sanskrit; morality. Sila is a basic part of all Buddhist paths.

Soka Gakkai: a major new form of Japanese Buddhism which began in the pre-World War II era. For most of its history Soka Gakkai was a lay- wing of the previously obscure Nichiren Shoshu sect, but it is now fully independent. The central practice of Soka Gakkai is chanting "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo; ˜I take refuge in the Lotus Sutra.

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.

Stupa: Sanskrit; stupas are religious monuments that often house the relics of Buddhas or saints.

Sunyata: Sanskrit; sunnata (Pali); 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 nonexistence 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 the Mahayana Buddhism; the notion of emptiness has often led to Buddhism being wrongfully confused with a nihilistic outlook.

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 traditionally believed to have been written down by the Buddha's disciple Ananda one hundred years after his death.

Tantra: tantra originates form a cycle of texts and teachings that stress esoteric practices, combining mantras, mudras, mandalas, sadhanas, and other implements to achieve the body, speech, and mind of an enlightened being. Tantra is often seen as a short-cut to Buddhahood, but because its teachings are easily misunderstood they are typically confined to close master-pupil relationships.

Tara: an important female deity in Himalayan Buddhism, who is often considered an emanation of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara.

Tathagata: an honorific title for Buddhas, meaning "one who has thus come' or "one who has thus gone." Tathagata expresses the way in which Buddhas dwell in true reality, completely seeing into the nature of all things.

Tendai: one of the most historically important schools of Japanese Buddhism, Tendai was founded in the late seventh century by the great monk Saicho. Based on the teachings of the Chinese Tiantai school, Tendai combines a wide range of scholarly, meditative, devotional, and esoteric practices.

Thangka: a type of Tibetan painting that depicts important Buddhist figures, or sometimes mandalas.

Theravada: Pali; the School of the Elders. One of the three major schools of Buddhism which is widely practiced in the countries of Southeast Asia; its teachings focus on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

Tripitaka: Sanskrit; the three baskets. This term is commonly used for the Buddhist canon, which consists of three parts: the Vinaya, or monastic code; the Sutras; and the Abhidharma, or Buddhist philosophical treatises.

Tsongkhapa: (1357-1419) the founder of the Gelug school, Tsongkhapa was an important reformer and systematizer of Tibetan Buddhism.

Tulku: Tibetan; emanation body. Tulkus are highly advanced lamas who choose to return life after life in order to continue their teaching career and aid suffering beings. They are most often identified while children and raised in a monastic environment to fill the role of their predecessor.

Vajrayana: Sanskrit; 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.

Vinaya: the rules by which fully ordained Buddhist monks and nuns live. The Vinaya is also the name for the collection of texts that include these rules; the texts also contain many events from the lives of the early Buddhist monastics.

Vipassana: Pali; insight, clear seeing; intuitive cognition of the three marks of existence (trilakshana), namely, the impermanence (anitya), suffering (duhkha), and no-self (anatman) of all physical and mental phenomena. In Mahayana Buddhism, vipassana is seen as analytical examination of the nature of things that leads to insight into the true nature of the world˜emptiness (shunyata). Such insight prevents the arising of new passions. Vipassana is one of the two factors essential for the attainment of enlightenment (bodhi); the other is shamatha (calming the mind). In modern times Vipassana is also the name of a meditation-oriented reform movement within Theravada Buddhism.

Wesak: Theravadin holiday, typically held in late springtime, that celebrates the birth, nirvana, and death of the Buddha.

Zazen: Japanese; seated meditation.

Zen: Japanese; Ch'an (Chinese); a branch of Mahayana Buddhism which developed in China during the sixth and seventh centuries; it later divided into the Soto and Rinzai schools; Zen often 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.

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