Vocabulary A-H
Bodhgaya- A temple that commemorates the grove where the Buddha found enlightenment. The Buddha moved into the grove where he found a papal tree where he could find isolation. He practiced a form of meditation that didn�t cause the body pain. He became enlightened under the Bo Tree, which cleansed his mind and helped concentrate on his goals, values, and life.
Arhat- An enlightened, holy person. This consisted of five ascetics that joined the Buddha, which was composed of fifty-five men that were from good families. The men were structures in dharma, teachings, enlightenment, and would not be reborn. They became the vanguards of monks that wandered across the countryside, towns, and villages.
Bodhisattvas- In Buddhism, they were the people who have qualified to enter Nirvana, but who, out of compassion for others, remain available to help others. They were a Mahayana group that believed in heavenly beings who can assist human beings in escape form suffering here to beautiful lives beyond the grave and death.
Asanga- Was a king that made famous in the fourth century, the Yogacara school of Buddhist philosophy that was founded by the Maitreyanatha. He believed the individual mind and mental constructs of the phenomenal world are not real. The human consciousness is not the ultimate reality because human beings can�t comprehend it.
Ashoka- A king, who reigned in India from 273-232 BCE, and sponsored Buddhist missionary activities. He was the grandson of Chandragupta and had the strength to expand his empire by conquest. He began to feel remorse and guilt as he conquered more and more empires. To escape his guilt he initiated a program of contrition that had five steps.
1.) He displayed his guilt on stone carvings in search of peace.
2.) He eliminated killing animals for sport or food.
3.) He carved rules, values, and guidelines of morality that each person should follow on stone.
4.) He required servants to teach laypeople the dharma and supervise their conducts.
5.) He promoted Buddhism as an international religion by sending representatives all over the world.
Amitabha- The Buddha who presides over Western Paradise. After each Buddha is incarnated and has attained Nirvana, his dharma gradually declines until the hope of salvation lies only in faith. The Pure Land believers believe only one person is saved by faith rather than by works, so they call on the Amitabha Buddha. An example of an Amitabha is Hozo Bosatsu. He is a legendary Japanese monk who took a vow to become Buddha if his merits could be used to help others. When he fulfilled his 48 vows be became Amitabha.
Bodhidharma- The monk who brought meditative Buddhism to Chine. He ended up inspiring Chan (Zen) Buddhism. His teachings were based on Lankavatara Sutra and emphasized meditation over scripture writings. The Chan School emphasized that through meditation alone can a person come to Truth by discovering his or her own nature, a person becomes a Buddha.
Bon- The official ancient religion of Tibet. The religion worshipped spirits that were in nature. In 630 CE, a ruler of Lhasa sent an invitation to the Tibetans for them to conform to Buddhism. The Tibetans rejected the invite and remained true to their native religion that means �murmuring spells.� The Tibetans didn�t conform to a type of Buddhism until the eight century when Tantrism was introduced. The new religion allowed men and women to experience the religion in a sexual way through yoga, cosmic forces, and meditation.
Anicca- The Buddhist doctrine that there are no permanent entities. All phenomena continuously change. This belief of the Buddha caused people to think he was an atheist. Through scripture writings and conversations with his monks people found out that the Buddha had not had an experience with a god that was worth describing or remembering. In actuality, he did not denounce belief in gods, rather he taught that belief in gods was not essential to his mission of finding release from suffering.
Anatta- The Pali word for no soul, or Sanskirt for no Atman. This is the Buddhist doctrine for no soul, which went against Hinduism, which denied human beings had no soul. It also said that human bodies are not permanent because karma influences each life. He believed a person must live memories of the past, however, choice can change the outcome of the future and present. If a person can get rid of passion, aversion, and confusion he or she can get rid of birth, ageing, and dying.
Dukkha - the Buddhist term of the suffering of humans and other sentient beings
Eightfold path - the fourth Noble Truth, the path of deliverance in Buddhism
Chan (Ch’an)-the Chinese Buddhist School of meditation founded by Bodhidharma.
Genku (Honen Shonin) - Twelfth-century C.E. founded of the Jodo Buddhist sect in Japan. He was the monk Genku, who had been trained at Tendai monasteries on Mt. Hiei.
Hozo Bosatsu - In shinran Buddhism, a meritorious person who became Amida Buddha.
Dhyana - In Buddhism, mental concentration. It is the term for Buddhist meditation.
Gelugpa - The Buddhists of Tibet known as Yellow Hats. They reformed the practices of the Nyingmapa, or Red Hat Buddhists
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