Property:Glossary-DefinitionPDB
From Buddha-Nature
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a
See page 20 - 21: In Sanskrit, “nonduality”; one of the common synonyms for the highest teachings of Buddhism and one of the foundational principles of the Mahāyāna presentation of doctrine. Nonduality refers to the definitive awareness achieved through enlightenment, which transcends all of the conventional dichotomies into which compounded existence is divided (right and wrong, good and evil, etc.). Most specifically, nondual knowledge (advayajñāna) transcends the subject-object bifurcation that governs all conventional States of consciousness and engenders a distinctive type of awareness that no longer requires an object of consciousness. +
See page 33: In Sanskrit, “immaculate consciousness”; a ninth level of consciousness posited in certain strands of the Yogācāra school, especially that taught by the Indian translator and exegete Paramārtha . The amalavijñāna represents the intrusion of tathāgatagarbha (womb or embryo of buddhahood) thought into the eight-consciousnesses theory of the Yogācāra school. The amalavijñāna may have antecedents in the notion of immaculate gnosis (amalajñāna) in the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' and is claimed to be first mentioned in Sthiramati’s school of Yogācāra, to which Paramārtha belonged. The term is not attested in Sanskrit materials, however, and may be of Chinese provenance. +
In Sanskrit, “subsequent yoga” or “further yoga,” the eighth of the nine vehicles (theg pa dgu) of Buddhism according to the Rnying ma sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Here, the system of practice described elsewhere as Anuttarayogatantra is divided into three: m a h ä y o g a , anuyoga, and atiyoga, with anuyoga corresponding to the practices of the “stage of completion” (nispannakrama), mahäyoga to the stage of generation (utpattikram a) and atiyoga to the great completion (rdzogs chen) and the spontaneous achievement of buddhahood. Thus, such stage of completion practices as causing the winds ( p r ä n a ) to move through the channels (nädI) to the cakras are set forth in anuyoga. In Rnying ma, anuyoga is also a category of texts in the Rnying ma’i rgyud ’bum, divided under the following headings: the four root sütras (rtsa ba’i mdo bzhi), the six tantras clarifying the six limits (mtha’ drug gsal bar byed p a i rgyud drug), the twelve rare tantras (dkon rgyud bcu gnyis), and the seventy written scriptures (lung gi yi ge bdun bcu). +
See page 42: In Sanskrit, “no self” or “nonself” or more broadly “insubstantiality”; the third of the “three marks” (trilakṣaṇa) of existence, along with impermanence (anitya) and suffering (duḥkha). The concept is one of the key insights of the Buddha, and it is foundational to the Buddhist analysis of the compounded quality (samskrta) of existence: since all compounded things are the fruition (phala) of a specific set of causes (hetu) and conditions (pratyaya), they are therefore absent of any perduring substratum of being. +
(P. arahant; T. dgra bcom pa; C. aluohan/yinggong; J. arakan/ögu; K. arahan/ünggong PījBiSI/JøSffi). In Sanskrit, “worthy one”; one who has destroyed the afflictions (kleśa) and all causes for future rebirth and who thus will enter nirväna at death; the Standard Tibetan translation dgra bcom pa (drachompa) (“foe-destroyer”) is based on the paronomastic gloss ari (“enemy”) and han (“to destroy”). The arhat is the highest of the four grades of Buddhist saint or “noble person” (Aryapudgala) recognized in the mainstream Buddhist schools; the others are, in ascending order, the SROTAApanna or “stream- enterer” (the first and lowest grade), the sakrdAgämin or “once- returner” (the second grade), and the a n ä g ä m i n or “nonreturner” (the third and penultimate grade). The arhat is one who has completely put aside all ten fetters (samyojana) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth: namely, (1) belief in the existence of a perduring seif (satkàyadrsti); (2) skeptical doubt (about the efficacy of the path) (vicikitsA); (3) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (śIlavrataparàm arśa) ; (4) sensual craving (kämaräga); (3) malice (vyäpäda); (6) craving for exis tence as a divinity ( d e v a ) in the realm o f subtle materiality (rüparäga); (7) craving for existence as a divinity in the imma terial realm (Arüpyaräga); (8) pride (mAna); (9) restlessness (auddhatya); and (10) ignorance (avidyä). Also described as one who has achieved the extinction of the contaminants (Asravaksaya), the arhat is one who has attained nirväna in this life, and at death attains final liberation (parinirvàna) and will never again be subject to rebirth. Although the arhat is regarded as the ideal spiritual type in the mainstream Buddhist traditions, where the Buddha is also described as an arhat, in the MahAyäna the attainment of an arhat pales before the far- superior achievements of a buddha. Although arhats also achieve enlightenment ( b o d h i ) , the Mahâyäna tradition pre- sumes that they have overcome only the first of the two kinds of obstructions, the afflictive obstructions (kleśAvarana), but are still subject to the noetic obstructions (jńeyàvarana); only the buddhas have completely overcome both and thus realize
complete, perfect enlightenment (anuttarasamyaksambodhi). Certain arhats were selected by the Buddha to remain in the world until the coming of M aitreya. These arhats (called LUOHAN in Chinese, a transcription of arhat), who typically numbered sixteen (see sodaśasthavira), were objects of specific devotion in East Asian Buddhism, and East Asian monasteries will often contain a separate shrine to these luohans. Although in the Mahāyāna sūtras, the bodhisattva is extolled over the arhats, arhats figure prominendy in these texts, very often as members of the assembly for the Buddha’s discourse and sometimes as key figures. For example, in the SaddharmapundarIkasütra (“Lotus Sütra”), Śàriputra is one of the Buddha’s chief interlocutors and, with other arhats, receives a prophecy of his future buddha hood; in the V ajracchedikàprajñApAramitAsūtra, S ubhüti is the Buddha’s chief interlocutor; and in the VimalakIrtinirdeśa, Säriputra is made to play the fool in a conversation with a goddess.
In Sanskrit, “sur- passing yoga”; the ninth and most advanced of the nine vehicles according to the Rnying ma sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Here, the system of practice described elsewhere as anuttarayo- GATANTRA is divided into three: mahäyoga, anuyoga, and atiyoga, with atiyoga referring to the practice of the great com- pletion (rdzogs chen) in which all the phenomena of samsära and nirvAna appear as the sport ofself-arisen wisdom. +
See page 86: In Sanskrit, “ignorance”; the root cause of suffering (duḥkha) and one of the key terms in Buddhism. Ignorance occurs in many contexts in Buddhist doctrine. For example, ignorance is the first link in the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) that sustains the cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra); it is the condition that creates the predispositions (saṃskāra) that lead to rebirth and thus inevitably to old age and death. Ignorance is also listed as one of the root afflictions (S. mūlakleśa) and the ten “fetters” (saṃyojana) that keep beings bound to samsāra. Avidyā is closely synonymous with “delusion” (moha), one of the three unwholesome roots (akuśalamūla). When they are distinguished, moha may be more of a generic foolishness and benightedness, whereas avidyā is instead an obstinate misunderstanding about the nature of the person and the world. +
b
See page 116: In Sanskrit, lit. “ground”; deriving from an abhidharma denotation of bhūmi as a way or path (mārga), the term is used metaphorically to denote a “stage” of training, especially in the career of the bodhisattva or, in some contexts, a śrāvaka... +
In Sanskrit, “buddha-element,” or “buddha-nature”; the inherent potential of all sentient beings to achieve buddhahood. See page 151. +
See page 159: In Tibetan, “the five books of Maitreya” said to have been presented to Asaṅga by the bodhisattva Maitreya in the Tuṣita heaven; they are the Māhayāna-sūtrālaṃkāra, Abhisamayālaṃkāra, Madhyāntavibhāga, Dharmadharmatāvibhāga, and the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra). +
See page 119: In Sanskrit, “seed,” a term used metaphorically in two important contexts: (1) in the theory of ''karman'', an action is said to plant a “seed” or “potentiality” in the mind, where it will reside until it fructifies as a future experience or is destroyed by wisdom; (2) in tantric literature, many deities are said to have a “seed syllable” or seed mantra that is visualized and recited in liturgy and meditation in order to invoke the deity. +
c
See page 195: In Sanskrit, lit. “mind-only”; a term used in the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' to describe the notion that the external world of the senses does not exist independently of the mind and that all phenomena are mere projections of consciousness. Because this doctrine is espoused by the Yogācāra, that school is sometimes referred to as cittamātra. The doctrine is closely associated with the eight consciousness (vijñāna) theory set forth in the ''Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī'' of the ''Yogācārabhūmiśāstra'' and in the ''Mahāyānasaṃgraha'' and ''Abhidharmasamuccaya'' that are supplemental to that work. +
d
See page 246: In Sanskrit, often translated as “truth body,” one of the
two (along with the rūpakāya) or three (along with the saṃbhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya) bodies of a buddha. In early discussions of the true nature of the Buddha, especially regarding the person of the Buddha to whom one goes for refuge (saraņa), the term dharmakāya seems to have been coined to refer to the corpus or collection (kāya) of the auspicious qualities (dharma) of the Buddha, including his wisdom, his compassion, his various powers, etc.; it also referred to the entire corpus (kāya) of the Buddha’s teachings (dharma). In the Mahāyāna, the term evolved into a kind of cosmic principle that was regarded as the true nature of the Buddha and the source from which his various other forms derived.... +
See page 252: In Sanskrit, “the nature of reality,” or “the nature of things,” interpreted in Chinese as the “dharma-nature”; the intrinsic nature (svabhāva) of dharmas, which is constant (nitya) and transcends all discriminative phenomena. Dharmatā is also sometimes used to mean “the way things are,” and is used interchangeably with other terms that have the connotation of “the real nature of things,” such as “suchness,” or “things as they are” (tathatā), dharma realm (dharmadhātu), emptiness (śūnyatā), the “real end” (bhūtakoṭi ), ultimate truth (paramārthasatya), etc., and is sometimes used in compound with those terms. +
See page 254: In Sanskrit and Pāli, “element”; a polysemous term with wide application in Buddhist contexts.
In epistemology, the dhātus refer to the eighteen elements through which sensory experience is produced: the six sense bases, or sense organs (indriya; viz., eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind); the six corresponding sense objects (ālambana; viz., forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tangible objects, and mental phenomena); and the six sensory consciousnesses that result from contact (sparśa) between the corresponding base and object (vijñāna; viz., visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental consciousnesses). As this list makes clear, the eighteen dhātus also subsume the twelve āyatana (sense-fields). The dhātus represent one of the three major taxonomies of dharmas found in the sūtras (along with skanda and āyatana), and represent a more primitive stage of dharma classification than the elaborate analyses found in much of the mature abhidharma literature (but cf. Dharmaskandha).
In a physical sense, dhātu is used to refer to the constituent elements of the physical world, of which four are usually recognized in Buddhist materials: earth, water, fire, and wind. Sometimes two additional constituents are added to the list: space (ākāśa) and consciousness (vijñāna).
In the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', dhātu is synonymous with gotra, the final element that enables all beings to become buddhas. +
e
See page 281: In Sanskrit, lit. “one vehicle” or “single vehicle.” “Vehicle” literally means “conveyance” or “transportation,” viz., the conveyance that carries sentient beings from saṃsāra to nirvāṇa; the term may also refer to the actual person who reaches the destination of the path. The doctrine of a single vehicle is set forth in certain Mahāyāna sūtras , most famously, the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra'' (“Lotus Sūtra”), which declares that the three vehicles of the śrāvaka (disciple), pratyekabuddha (solitary buddha), and bodhisattva are actually just three expedient devices (upāyakauśalya) for attracting beings to the one buddha vehicle, via which they all become buddhas. +
g
See page 325:
In Sanskrit, “family” or “lineage,” used in a figurative sense. The vinaya explains that those in a noble family or line are those monks who are content with their robes, with whatever they receive in their begging bowls, and with low-quality bedding, and who take pleasure in forsaking the unwholesome (akuśala) and cultivating the wholesome (kuśala). In the Pāli abhidhamma, the moment when one’s concentration or insight moves from one “family” to another is called “change of lineage” (gotrabhū). In Mahāyāna literature (especially that associated with the Yogācāra), gotra refers to a destiny, almost in the sense of a spiritual disposition, that prompts one to follow a particular path to enlightenment. There is typically a list of five such spiritual destinies (pańcagotra) found in Yogācāra literature: (1) the tathāgata lineage, for those destined to become buddhas; (2) the pratyekabuddha lineage, for those destined to become arhats via the pratyekabuddhayāna; (3) the Śrāvaka lineage, for those who will become arhats via the śrāvakayāna; (4) those of indefinite (aniyata) lineage, who may change from any of three vehicles to another; and (5) those without lineage (agotra), who are ineligible for liberation or who have lost the prospect of becoming enlightened by being “incorrigibles” (icchantika). Another division of lineage is into Prakṛtisthagotra (naturally present) and samudānitagotra (developed). According to the Yogācārabhūmiśāstra, the former refers to one’s innate potential for spiritual achievement; the latter refers to the specific individual habits one can develop that will help speed the mastery of that potential. See also Faxiang zong; Śrāvakabhūmi. +
See page 336: In Sanskrit and Päli, lit. “string,” or “strand,” by extension a “quality” or “spiritual virtue.” +
See page 337: In Sanskrit, “the perfection of qualities,” referring to the four salutary qualities of the tathāgatagarbha: permanence, purity, bliss, and self, as described in the Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra . These qualities are in distinction to the four perverted views (viparyāsa), where ignorant sentient beings regard the conditioned realm of saṃsāra as being permanent, pure, blissful, and self when in fact it is impermanent (anitya), impure (aśubha), suffering (duḥkha ), and not-self (anātman). +
i
See page 370: In Sanskrit, “incorrigibles”; a term used in the Mahāyāna tradition to refer to a class of beings who have lost all potential to achieve enlightenment or buddhahood. The term seems to derive from the present participle icchant (desiring), and may be rendered loosely into English as something like “hedonist” or “dissipated” (denotations suggested in theTibetan rendering 'dod chen (po), “subject to great desire”). (The Sinographs are simply a transcription of the Sanskrit.) +
