GLOSSARY OF TERMS

 

ARHAN, ARAHAN or ARHAT - The ideal of Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhism; one who has freed himself from all ego cravings and thus attained Enlightenment.

 

AVALOKITESHVARA - The Bodhisattva of Compassion. Chinese name Kwan Yin. In China usually represented in the feminine aspect as the 'Goddess of Mercy'.

 

BODHI - Perfect Wisdom or knowledge of the ultimate nature of Reality. Enlightenment.

 

BODHISATTVA - Bodhi: see above. Sattva: someone motivated by universal compassion. Bodhisattva is thus the aspiration to practice infinite compassion with infinite wisdom. In Mahayana Buddhism, one who having attained enlightenment (bodhi) is on his way to Buddhahood but postpones his goal to keep a vow to help all living beings attain salvation.

 

BRAHMA -   God as Creator - Hindu.

 

BRAHMIN - The name given to Hindu priestly caste or class.

 

BUDDHA - An Awakened One. Refers usually to Siddhartha Gautama Sakyamuni, the Indian prince who became an All-Enlightened Being, the historic founder of Buddhism some 2,500 years ago.

 

COMPASSION - In Buddhism not only a feeling of pity or mercy, but implies also a positive sense of universal connectedness with and responsibility for others.

 

DHARMA - Sanskrit word (Dhamma in Pali) used in both Hinduism and Buddhism, meaning variously, according to context, the Way, the Law, Righteousness, Reality. In Buddhism specifically the Dharma refers to the Buddhist Way or Buddha's Teachings. (See Triple Gems).

 

DHARMA-ENDING AGE - According to some ancient sutras, there are three periods in every Buddhadharma Age, spanning the introduction, growth, decline and demise of the Dharma from a region or a planet. The first is the Proper-Dharma Age, where the Dharma flourishes and many people obtain great benefits. It is followed by the Dharma-Image Age, where much effort is applied to externals such as the construction of temples, rituals, worshipping images, etc., where people seek blessings rather than wisdom. These two ages each last for approximately 500-1000 years. The Dharma-Ending Age lasts for 10,000 years, and is marked by war and strife. We are living in the Dharma-Ending Age, the final age which will see the decline and disappearance of the Dharma from earth.

 

DRAGONS - In Asia, a heavenly mystical creature and Dharma-Protector. Also, a symbol of success, prosperity, expansion, power and general good fortune. 

 

ENLIGHTENMENT - In Buddhist useage, refers to the experiencing of one's own essential or true nature, and therefore awakening to the nature of all existence - as in the Buddha's Awakening.

 

EVIL LEVELS - The three lower levels of animals, hungry ghosts and hell beings.

 

GHOSTS - The realm inhabited by the disembodied beings usually referred to as 'hungry ghosts'. Hungry because they are restless, tortured and their yearnings for rebirth in a favorable existence are never realized. The hordes of lesser ghosts are ruled over by ghost kings who have great occult powers and who are generally malevolent and ill-disposed towards humans. Some ghost kings however are helpful to humans.

 

HINAYANA BUDDHISM - The 'Lesser Vehicle', as compared to the 'Greater Vehicle' of Mahayana. Hinayana is a more literal interpretation of the Buddha's doctrine than the more permissive Mahayana. Also known as Theravada Buddhism - the southern school of Buddhism found in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia. (See Mahayana.)

 

KALPA - An aeon, a vast period of time that encompasses the creation and dissolution of a universe.

 

KARMA - Literally 'action' in Sanskrit. The law of cause and effect. Actions and the results of those actions - each moment that we live today has been brought into being by past actions, and just as inevitably each moment of the future will be determined by the so-called present. "All that we are is made up of our thoughts". Karma is also, however, opportunity. Man, through his unique gift of free will and his heightened powers of perception, has the chance to alter his behavior, and thus his life situation.

 

KSHATRIYA - Hindu aristocratic warrior caste.

 

MAHASATTVA - A term used for great Bodhisattvas.

 

MAHAYANA - Buddhist term meaning 'Great Vehicle', applied in general to the northern Buddhism of Tibet, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan. (See Hinayana).

 

MAITREYA - The Buddha of the Future.

 

MANJUSHRI - The Bodhisattva of Wisdom.

 

MERIT - Buddhist term used in connection with the performance of good deeds.

 

NAMO - Sanskrit word meaning praise, or homage to, take refuge in, etc.

 

NIRVANA - Sanskrit word meaning 'to extinguish'. What is extinguished are craving, ignorance, the endless round of birth and death, and finally, the ego - the false separate sense of self that prevents us from experiencing our true nature, and the nature of all existence. The attainment of Enlightenment.

 

PRAJNA - Supreme or Transcendental Wisdom.

 

PRATYEKABUDDHAS - Solitary enlightened ones.

 

REALM OF DESIRE - The lowest of the three-part division of the world. It is comprised of beings from the hells and lower gods and is characterized by the presence of coarse desire. It includes the realm of humans.

 

REALM OF FORM - The second of the three realms. It is characterized by the presence of form but lack of desire. Inhabited by numerous kinds of divine beings.

 

REALM OF FORMLESSNESS - The third of the three realms. Characterized by lack of any form at all. Inhabited by higher gods and sages.

 

RETRIBUTION - In the Buddhist sense means to reap what one has sown.

 

SAHA WORLD - The name of the world system in which we live.

 

SAKYAMUNI - Sakya: the clan Siddhartha Gautama belonged to. Muni: sage. The Sage of the Sakya clan. One of the Buddha's various titles.

 

SAMANTABHADRA - Bodhisattva of Great Meritorious Deeds.

 

SANGHA - The Buddhist monastic order. Also, more generally, any community practicing the Buddhist way. (See Triple Gems).

 

SHAKRA - Chief god of Trayastrimsa Heaven, also known as Indra.

 

THE SIX REALMS or SIX PATHS - The Six Realms of existence are (1) the god realm, (2) the realm of the demi-gods, (3) the human realm, (4) animals, (5) the hungry ghosts, (6) the hell beings. To be reborn in any of the lower three planes is considered to be an unfortunate rebirth, and is the result of karmic actions.

 

SOUND-HEARERS - The Buddha's disciples, so-called because they hear the sound of the Buddha's voice and understand the Way.

 

SUMERU - The axial mountain in the centre of every world system.

 

SUTRA - Sanskrit word for Buddhist scriptures, meaning a discourse by the Buddha, or a disciple, accepted as authoritative teaching.

 

'THUS I HAVE HEARD' - The traditional opening phrase of Buddhist sutras to show their credibility and authenticity.

 

TRAYASTRIMSA HEAVEN - The second of the six heavens in the realm of desire. It is the heaven in which this sutra was taught.

 

TRIPLE GEMS or THREE TREASURES - The Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. The Buddha taught his followers to repeat a simple three-part formula to take refuge in the Triple Gems: "I take my refuge in the Buddha. I take my refuge in the Dharma. I take my refuge in the Sangha." They are the three pillars of Buddhism. Here however the Buddha should not be understood to mean a particular person, but to take refuge in the 'Gem' of Buddha: the principle of Enlightenment itself - the Buddha-nature inherent in every individual. Similarly the Dharma is not meant to be a particular teaching, but to take refuge in the Truth, or the Law of the Universe - to move in harmony with the Natural Law. And the Sangha can be understood in its wider sense as the quality of all saintly and enlightened persons - their example; and even wider - as the brotherhood of Man.

 

TRIPLE WORLD - World of desire, world of form, and formless world.

 

WHEEL-TURNING KING - A world-ruling monarch who uses his power to help turn the Wheel of Dharma in the world.