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Agama (Skt.): The earliest collection of Buddha Shakyamuni's fundamental teachings.
Baizhang Huaihai (720-814): A Chinese Chan master of the Tang Dynasty, a disciple of Mazu Daoyi and teacher of Huangbo Xiyun. Noted for establishing an early set of rules for Chan monastic discipline, called the Pure Rules of Baizhang.
Bodhichitta (Skt.): Literally, "awakened mind." The mind of one who aspires to enlightenment but who at the same time is guided by the intention to help sentient beings.
Bodhi-mind: Synonymous with Bodhichitta.
Bodhisattva (Skt.): Literally, "awakened being," a follower of the Mahayana path who vows to help sentient beings over attaining personal enlightenment.
Buddha-nature: The nature or potentiality for Buddha hood; synonym for nature of emptiness, Tathagatagarbha, and True Suchness. See Tathagatagarbha.
Caodong Gap. Soto): Pronounced "Tsao dong." One of the two major surviving schools of Chan Buddhism, the other being the Linji Gap. Rinzai).
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Consciousness-Only School (Chn. Weishi): Also known as the Indian Yogachara School, this school holds that all things exist only as presentations or phenomenal appearances that are manifestations of our consciousness.
Delusion (Skt. Avidya): Also known as fundamental ignorance. It is a mental state that arises from the mistaken perception of reality due to an attachment to a sense of self.
Dharma (Skt.): Dharmahas two basic meanings. Dharma with an upper case "D" means the Buddhist teaching. Dharma with the lower case "d" simply refers to a thing, an object, and physical or mental phenomenon.
Dhyana (Skt.): Meditative concentration, transliterated by the Chinese as Chan'na. In a specific sense, Dhyana refers to the four absorptions, or stages of meditation. In the first, the practitioner dwells in the joy of abandoning coarse desires. In the second, the practitioner dwells solely in the joy of concentration. In the third, the practitioner attains exquisite bliss surpassing that of ordinary concentration. In the fourth, the practitioner dwells in equanimity of mind free from various sensations of pain and pleasure. See Samadhi.
rdzogs-chen (Tib.): An advanced meditation practice from the Tibetan Nyingma tradition that focuses on the natural empty and luminous quality of mind called rigpa.
Diamond or the Vajracchedika Sutra (Skt.): One of the most popular teachings on the nature of emptiness and the conduct of a bodhisattva.
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Eight consciousnesses: A central idea from the Indian Yogachara School or the Chinese Consciousness-Only School, which divides consciousness into eight modes of operation. The first five consciousnesses refer to the "knowing" that arises from contacts between the sense faculties and their corresponding sense objects. The sixth consciousness refers to the faculty of discrimination. The seventh consciousness refers to the reality of self - clinging. The eighth consciousness refers to a kind of repository that contains all experiences as Karmically charged seeds waiting for conditions to ripen as actions of body, speech, and thought. See karma and Consciousness-Only School.
Five methods of stilling the mind: The five methods are contemplating on I) breath, 2) impurity, 3) loving-kindness, 4) causes and conditions [selflessness], and 5) the boundaries of sense faculties, sense data, and sense consciousness.
Gelugpa (Tib.): One of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Sakyapa, Nyingmapa, and Kagyupa.
gongan (Chn.): A meditative method in Chan to help students bring their mind to the state of "great doubt" as a precondition for experiencing one's Buddha-nature. In Zen, this practice is known as koan.
Hinayana (Skt.): Literally, "Lesser Vehicle," the Buddhist path of personal liberation, contrasted to the Mahayana, or the "Great Vehicle", in which the bodhisattva ideal is espoused. The use of this term in Chinese Buddhism is not necessarily pejorative, nor does it refer to any specific practice tradition or region. The term came into being with the development of Mahayana Buddhism and has since been used to distinguish the bodhisattva aspiration to liberate others before liberating oneself.
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Hoshang (Chn.): Not a person, as sometimes thought by Tibet Buddhists, but a common term for a Chinese Buddhist monastic.
Huatou (Chn.): Sometimes used interchangeably with gongan, a Chan method of meditation. See gongan.
Huayan (Chn.): A major school of Chinese Buddhism, active during the end of the Sui and the beginning of the Tang dynasties, based on the Flower Ornament Scripture, or the Avatamsaka Sutra. The central teaching of this school is that of "totality"-that all things in the universe interpenetrate in mutual identity.
Kagyupa (Tib.): One of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Sakyapa, Nyingmapa, and Gelugpa.
Karma (Skt.): Literally, "action." The Buddhist teaching that all our actions have consequences that carry into the future. As sentient beings we experience consequences from actions performed in previous lives. Similarly, our actions in our current life lay the foundation for consequences in a future life. It should be noted that it is not the self [since there is no "self"] that transmigrates from one life to the next, but the karmic store of conditions, which can mature into consequences in a future life.
KleshtlS (Skt.): Literally "poisons or defilements." Sometimes translated as vexations or afflictions. Kleshas are attributes of mind that lead to unwholesome actions and attachments. Among the pervasive kleshas are desire, anger, and delusion.
Lam Rim (1ib.): Asystematic presentation of the path to enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism that begins from commitment to a teacher to
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the higher learning of Shamata and Vipashyana. The most famous one is perhaps the Lam Rim Chen Mo, or the Great Stages of the Path, by Lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419).
Lankavatara Sutra (Skt.): A scripture propounding various Mahayana theories, such as eight consciousnesses and Tathagatagarbha or Buddha- nature. It also served as a scriptural basis for the Indian Yogachara School. See eight consciousnesses.
Linji Gap. Rinzai): One of the two great schools of Chan Buddhism, the other being the Caodong Gap. Soto) School. This school is named after its founder, Master Linji, who sometimes used startling methods, such as shouting and beating, to bring his students to awakening.
Lotus Sutra or the Saddharmapandarika Sutra (Skt.): A Mahayana scripture known for its concept of the unification of the different vehicles of Buddhism and for its extensive instruction on the use of "expedient means," mostly in the form of parables.
Madhyamika (Skt.): A major school of Mahayana philosophy that expounds the truth of causes and conditions and emptiness, founded by the Indian saint Nagarjuna (circa 2nd-3rd century CE). The teachings of Madhyamika were transmitted to China as the Three- Treatise (Chn. Sanlun) School through texts such as the Treatise of the Middle Way, or Madhyamikakarika.
Mahamudra (Skt.): A special practice of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, in which one trains to directly experience the empty and luminous nature of mind.
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Commentary on the Sutra of the Great Transcendent Wisdom or Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra: A commentary in 100 fascicles, on the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra, or the Scripture of Great Transce~dent Wisdom, attributed to Nargarjuna.
Mahayana (Skt.): Literally, "Great Vehicle," the Buddhist path of the bodhisattva contrasted to the Hinayana path of personal liberation. See Bodhisattva, Hinayana.
Maitreya (Skt.): The future Buddha who is believed to now dwell in the Tushita Heaven, awaiting his next incarnation.
Nyingmapa (Tib.): One of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Sakyapa, Kagyupa, and Gelugpa.
Nirvana (Skt.): Literally, "extinction." State of ultimate liberation in which one is liberated from vexations [Skt. kleshas], suffering, and the cycle of birth and death. In the Hinayana, nirvana is defined as a state free from rebirth; in the Mahayana, nirvana attained by bodhisattvas is sometimes conceived as a liberation within the cycle of birth and death-a nirvana without a specific location.
paramitas (Skt.): Literally, "perfections," often referred to as the Six Paramitas, practices followed in fulfillment of the bodhisattva path and consisting of generosity (Skt. dana), discipline (Skt. shila), patience (Skt. kshanti), effort (Skt. virya), meditation (Skt. dhyana), and wisdom (Skt. prajna).
Platform Sutra: Although called a "sutra," this text is really a record of the sayings and doings of Huineng (638-713 CE) the Sixth Patriarch of Chan. The text emphasizes sudden enlightenment, the inseparability
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of Samadhi and Prajna, and other key concepts that contributed to the formation of the Chan tradition, as well as formlessness, non-thought, and non-abiding.
Prajna (Skt.): Literally, "wisdom." In Buddhism, Prajna is a fundamental quality, along with compassion, of enlightened mind. In terms of Buddhist realization, Prajna is the directly perceived insight into phenomena as "empty."
Sakyapa (Tib.): One of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Kagyupa, Nyingmapa, and Gelugpa.
Samadhi (Skt.): State of deep meditative absorption characterized by a focused awareness of the mind itself. In traditional Buddhist understanding, Samadhi is related to Prajna but not identical with it. In Chan, Samadhi and Prajna are inseparable.
Sam Sara (Skt.): The cycle of birth and death that sentient beings experience, until they achieve ultimate enlightenment, nirvana. See Rurvana.
Sentient being: Any being who possesses a mind that is contaminated by delusion (Skt. Avidya) and other vexations (Skt. Kleshas) .It is a term used to djstinguish an ordinary person from a Buddha. On a Noumenon level, a sentient being is equal to a Buddha. However, on a phenomenon level, a Buddha cannot really be referred to as an ordinary sentient being.
Shamata (Skt.): Meditative practice that focuses on stilling the mind in order to reach meditative equipoise, often associated with Vipashyana or "insight" meditation that gives rise to the wisdom of emptiness. The Tiantai School is noted for its teachings on Shamata and Vipashyana
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meditation in both the "gradual and progressive" and "perfect and sudden" approaches.
shastra (Skt.): Treatise written by followers of Buddhism, usually being a commentary on one of the sutras, or a synthesis of Buddhist concepts. See surra.
Shunyata (Skt.): Literally, "emptiness or void," the experience of the fundamental emptiness of phenomena, including the "self." Shunyata is therefore considered the experience of one's own Buddha-nature.
stupa: a pagoda-like building that contains sacred relics of Buddha or great practitioners.
sutra (Skt.): Buddhist scripture, as expounded by the Shakyamuni Buddha during forty-five years of teaching following his own enlightenment. Originally transmitted orally, the sutras were not written until several centuries after the Buddha's nirvana. See shastra.
Tantrayana (Skt.): The esoteric and yogic path in Tibetan Buddhism, with emphasis on meditation, visualization, and the study of Tantric texts. Tantrayana primarily teaches the path to awakening through purification and transformation. Synonymous with Vajrayana and Mantrayana.
Tathagatagarbha (Skt.): The supreme Buddha principle, indwelling in all sentient beings, providing the potential ground to become enlightened.
Ten Stages of the Bodhisattva Scripture or the Dasabhumika Sutra (Skt.): A scripture that explains the ten stages of the bodhisattva path.
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In Chinese Buddhism, this scripture is absorbed into the larger version of the Avatamsaka Sutra.
Tetralemma (Skt.): Nagarjuna's fourfold method of analyzing reality through 1) affirmation, 2) negation, 3) both affirmation and negation, 4) neither affirmation nor negation. Nagarjuna shows how all propositions are ultimately unable to describe reality. Therefore, all propositions or conceptions of reality are false.
Tiantai School: a Chinese Mahayana school, based on the Lotus Sutra, established by Great Master Zhiyi (538-597). The hallmark of the school is its development and delineation of the systems of calming and insight meditations. See Shamata and Vipashyana.
Treasure of Manifest Knowledge or the Abhidharmakoshabhashyam (Skt.): Treatise by Vasubandhu (400-480 CE) summarizing the doctrines of Hinayana. This text includes detailed analysis of human consciousness in its relationship to the environment, as well as the transformations that occur in meditation practice.
Tri-song-Deutsen (Tib.): Tibetan king under whose reign Buddhism spread with great zeal after he had invited the Abbot Shantarakshita and Acharya Padmasambhava to Tibet and the Buddha's teachings were translated.
Tsongkhapa (1357-1419): Lama (teacher) and founder of the Gelugpa or Ganden School of Tibetan Buddhism that based its doctrines on the Kadampa school of Tibet established by the great Indian master Atisha (982-1054) .
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twelve links of dependent origination: In Buddhism, the twelve stages in the cycle of birth and death, beginning with delusion arising from karmic conditions, ending with death, and starting the cycle again. See delusion.
Vajrayana (Skt.): See Tantrayana.
Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra (Skt.): Major scripture that expounds the profound principle of Mahayana and refutes the Hinayana view through the protagonist, the layman Bodhisattva Vimalakirti.
Vinaya School: School of Buddhist studies, especially active in the early period of transmission of Buddhism in China, specializing in researching and interpreting the Buddhist codes of discipline called Vlnaya.
Vipashyana (Skt.): Insight meditation. Lhagthong in Tibetan. See shamata.
Yogachara (Skt.): See Consciousness-Only School.
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