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1234>| Characters | Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
佛 see styles |
fó fo2 fo hotoke ほとけ |
More info & calligraphy: Buddhism / Buddha(surname) Hotoke Buddha, from budh to "be aware of", "conceive", "observe", "wake"; also 佛陀; 浮圖; 浮陀; 浮頭; 浮塔; 勃陀; 勃馱; 沒馱; 母馱; 母陀; 部陀; 休屠. Buddha means "completely conscious, enlightened", and came to mean the enlightener. he Chinese translation is 覺 to perceive, aware, awake; and 智 gnosis, knowledge. There is an Eternal Buddha, see e.g. the Lotus Sutra, cap. 16, and multitudes of Buddhas, but the personality of a Supreme Buddha, an Ādi-Buddha, is not defined. Buddha is in and through all things, and some schools are definitely Pan-Buddhist in the pantheistic sense. In the triratna 三寳 commonly known as 三寳佛, while Śākyamuni Buddha is the first "person" of the Trinity, his Law the second, and the Order the third, all three by some are accounted as manifestations of the All-Buddha. As Śākyamuni, the title indicates him as the last of the line of Buddhas who have appeared in this world, Maitreya is to be the next. As such he is the one who has achieved enlightenment, having discovered the essential evil of existence (some say mundane existence, others all existence), and the way of deliverance from the constant round of reincarnations; this way is through the moral life into nirvana, by means of self-abnegation, the monastic life, and meditation. By this method a Buddha, or enlightened one, himself obtains Supreme Enlightenment, or Omniscience, and according to Māhāyanism leads all beings into the same enlightenment. He sees things not as they seem in their phenomenal but in their noumenal aspects, as they really are. The term is also applied to those who understand the chain of causality (twelve nidānas) and have attained enlightenment surpassing that of the arhat. Four types of the Buddha are referred to: (1) 三藏佛the Buddha of the Tripiṭaka who attained enlightenment on the bare ground under the bodhi-tree; (2) 通佛the Buddha on the deva robe under the bodhi-tree of the seven precious things; (3) 別佛the Buddha on the great precious Lotus throne under the Lotus realm bodhi-tree; and (4) 圓佛the Buddha on the throne of Space in the realm of eternal rest and glory where he is Vairocana. The Hīnayāna only admits the existence of one Buddha at a time; Mahāyāna claims the existence of many Buddhas at one and the same time, as many Buddhas as there are Buddha-universes, which are infinite in number. |
禪 禅 see styles |
shàn shan4 shan yuzuri ゆずり |
More info & calligraphy: Zen / Chan / Meditation(out-dated kanji) (1) (Buddhist term) dhyana (profound meditation); (2) (abbreviation) Zen (Buddhism); (surname) Yuzuri To level a place for an altar, to sacrifice to the hills and fountains; to abdicate. Adopted by Buddhists for dhyāna, 禪 or 禪那, i.e. meditation, abstraction, trance. dhyāna is 'meditation, thought, reflection, especially profound and abstract religious contemplation'. M.W. It was intp. as 'getting rid of evil', etc., later as 靜慮 quiet meditation. It is a form of 定, but that word is more closely allied with samādhi, cf. 禪定. The term also connotes Buddhism and Buddhist things in general, but has special application to the 禪宗 q.v. It is one of the six pāramitās, cf. 波. There are numerous methods and subjects of meditation. The eighteen brahmalokas are divided into four dhyāna regions 'corresponding to certain frames of mind where individuals might be reborn in strict accordance with their spiritual state'. The first three are the first dhyāna, the second three the second dhyāna, the third three the third dhyāna, and the remaining nine the fourth dhyāna. See Eitel. According to Childers' Pali Dictionary, 'The four jhānas are four stages of mystic meditation, whereby the believer's mind is purged from all earthly emotions, and detached as it were from his body, which remains plunged in a profound trance.' Seated cross-legged, the practiser 'concentrates his mind upon a single thought. Gradually his soul becomes filled with a supernatural ecstasy and serenity', his mind still reasoning: this is the first jhāna. Concentrating his mind on the same subject, he frees it from reasoning, the ecstasy and serenity remaining, which is the second jhāna. Then he divests himself of ecstasy, reaching the third stage of serenity. Lastly, in the fourth stage the mind becomes indifferent to all emotions, being exalted above them and purified. There are differences in the Mahāyāna methods, but similarity of aim. |
超 see styles |
chāo chao1 ch`ao chao wataru わたる |
More info & calligraphy: Super(prefix) (1) (ちょう only) super-; ultra-; hyper-; extreme; (prefix) (2) (colloquialism) extremely; really; totally; absolutely; (suffix noun) (3) (ちょう only) (after a number or counter) over; more than; (given name) Wataru vikrama. Leap over, surpass; exempt from; to save.; Two ways of passing over (to bliss): 豎 the lengthwise, or long way (of Hīnayāna); and 橫 the crosswise, or short way of Mahāyāna. |
身 see styles |
shēn shen1 shen mi み |
More info & calligraphy: Body(1) one's body; one's person; (2) oneself; one's appearance; (3) one's place (in society, etc.); one's position; (4) main part; meat (as opposed to bone, skin, etc.); wood (as opposed to bark); blade (as opposed to its handle); container (as opposed to its lid); (surname) Misaki kāya; tanu; deha. The body; the self.; Two forms of body; there are numerous pairs, e. g. (1) (a) 分段身 The varied forms of the karmic or ordinary mortal body, or being; (b) 變易身 the transformable, or spiritual body. (2) (a) 生身 The earthly body of the Buddha; (b) 化身 hinirmāṇakāya, which may take any form at will. (3) (a) 生身 his earthly body; (b) 法身 his moral and mental nature—a Hīnayāna definition, but Mahāyāna takes his earthly nirmāṇakāya as the 生身 and his dharmakāya or that and his saṃbhogakāya as 法身. (4) 眞應二身 The dharmakāya and nirmāṇakāya. (5) (a) 實相身 The absolute truth, or light, of the Buddha, i. e. the dharmakāya; (b) 爲物身 the functioning or temporal body. (6) (a) 眞身 the dharmakāya and saṃbhogakāya; (b) 化身 the nirmāṇakāya. (7) (a) 常身 his permanent or eternal body; (b) 無常身 his temporal body. (8) (a) 實身 and 化身 idem 二色身. |
五行 see styles |
wǔ xíng wu3 xing2 wu hsing gogyou / gogyo ごぎょう |
More info & calligraphy: Five Elements(1) (See 五大・ごだい・1) the five elements (in Chinese philosophy: wood, fire, earth, metal and water); the five phases; wu xing; (2) {Buddh} five practices of the Bodhisattvas; (3) (See 六信五行) the five pillars of Islam; (surname, given name) Gogyou The five lines of conduct. I. According to the 起信論 Awakening of Faith they are almsgiving; keeping the commandments; patience under insult; zeal or progress; meditation. II. According to the 涅槃經 Nirvana Sutra they are saintly or bodhisattva deeds; arhat, or noble deeds; deva deeds; children's deeds (i. e. normal good deeds of men, devas, and Hinayanists); sickness conditions, e. g. illness, delusion, etc.; — into all these lines of conduct and conditions a Bodhisattva enters. III. The five elements, or tanmātra— wood, fire, earth, metal, and water; or earth, water, ire, air, and ether (or space) as taught by the later Mahāyāna philosophy; idem 五大. |
十戒 see styles |
shí jiè shi2 jie4 shih chieh jukkai じゅっかい |
More info & calligraphy: Ten Commandments(1) (Buddhist term) the 10 precepts; (2) Ten Commandments; Decalogue; Decalog; (surname) Jukkai Śikṣāpada. The ten prohibitions (in Pāli form) consist of five commandments for the layman: (1) not to destroy life 不殺生 pāṇātipātāveramaṇi; (2) not to steal 不倫盜 adinnādānāver; (3) not to commit adultery 不婬慾 abrahmacaryaver.; (4) not to lie 不妄語musāvādāver.; (5) not to take intoxicating liquor 不飮酒 suramereyya-majjapamādaṭṭhānāver. Eight special commandments for laymen consist of the preceding five plus: (6) not to eat food out of regulated hours 不非時食 vikāla-bhojanāver.; (7) not to use garlands or perfumes 不著華鬘好香塗身 mālā- gandha-vilepana-dhāraṇa-maṇḍana-vibhūṣanaṭṭhānā; (8) not to sleep on high or broad beds (chastity) 不坐高廣大牀 uccāsayanā-mahāsayanā. The ten commandments for the monk are the preceding eight plus: (9) not to take part in singing, dancing, musical or theatrical performances, not to see or listen to such 不歌舞倡伎不往觀聽 nacca-gīta-vādita-visūkadassanāver.; (10) to refrain from acquiring uncoined or coined gold, or silver, or jewels 不得捉錢金銀寶物 jātarūpa-rajata-paṭīggahaṇāver. Under the Māhayāna these ten commands for the monk were changed, to accord with the new environment of the monk, to the following: not to kill, not to steal, to avoid all unchastity, not to lie, not to slander, not to insult, not to chatter, not to covet, not to give way to anger, to harbour no scepticism. |
十法 see styles |
shí fǎ shi2 fa3 shih fa jippō |
More info & calligraphy: Ten perfect Mahayana rules |
菩薩 菩萨 see styles |
pú sà pu2 sa4 p`u sa pu sa bosatsu(p); bosachi(ok) ぼさつ(P); ぼさち(ok) |
More info & calligraphy: Bodhisattva(n,n-suf) (1) {Buddh} bodhisattva; one who has reached enlightenment but vows to save all beings before becoming a buddha; (n,n-suf) (2) High Monk (title bestowed by the imperial court); (n,n-suf) (3) (See 本地垂迹説) title bestowed to Shinto kami in manifestation theory; (surname) Mizoro bodhisattva, cf. 菩提薩埵. While the idea is not foreign to Hīnayāna, its extension of meaning is one of the chief marks of Mahāyāna. 'The Bodhisattva is indeed the characteristic feature of the Mahāyāna.' Keith. According to Mahāyāna the Hinayanists, i.e. the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, seek their own salvation, while the bodhisattva's aim is the salvation of others and of all. The earlier intp. of bodhisattva was 大道心衆生 all beings with mind for the truth; later it became 大覺有情 conscious beings of or for the great intelligence, or enlightenment. It is also intp. in terms of leadership, heroism, etc. In general it is a Mahayanist seeking Buddhahood, but seeking it altruistically; whether monk or layman, he seeks enlightenment to enlighten others, and he will sacrifice himself to save others; he is devoid of egoism and devoted to helping others. All conscious beings having the Buddha-nature are natural bodhisattvas, but require to undergo development. The mahāsattva is sufficiently advanced to become a Buddha and enter nirvāṇa, but according to his vow he remains in the realm of incarnation to save all conscious beings. A monk should enter on the arduous course of discipline which leads to Bodhisattvahood and Buddhahood. |
大乘無上法 大乘无上法 see styles |
dà shèng wú shàng fǎ da4 sheng4 wu2 shang4 fa3 ta sheng wu shang fa daijō mujō hō |
More info & calligraphy: The Supreme Mahayana Truth |
乘 see styles |
shèng sheng4 sheng jō |
(archaic) four horse military chariot; (archaic) four; generic term for history books Yāna 衍; 野那 a vehicle, wain, any means of conveyance; a term applied to Buddhism as carrying men to salvation. The two chief divisions are the 小乘 Hīnayāna and 大乘 Mahāyāna; but there are categories of one, two, three, four, and five sheng q.v., and they have further subdivisions. |
大 see styles |
dài dai4 tai dai だい |
see 大夫[dai4 fu5] (pref,adj-na,n) (1) large; big; great; huge; vast; major; important; serious; severe; (prefix) (2) great; prominent; eminent; distinguished; (suffix) (3) -sized; as big as; the size of; (suffix noun) (4) (abbreviation) (See 大学・1) university; (5) large (e.g. serving size); large option; (6) (abbreviation) (See 大の月) long month (i.e. having 31 days); (given name) Yutaka Maha. 摩訶; 麼賀. Great, large, big; all pervading, all-embracing; numerous 多; surpassing ; mysterious 妙; beyond comprehension 不可思議; omnipresent 體無不在. The elements, or essential things, i.e. (a) 三大 The three all-pervasive qualities of the 眞如 q.v. : its 體, 相 , 用 substance, form, and functions, v. 起信論 . (b) 四大 The four tanmātra or elements, earth, water, fire, air (or wind) of the 倶舍論. (c)五大 The five, i.e. the last four and space 空, v. 大日經. (d) 六大 The six elements, earth, water, fire, wind, space (or ether), mind 識. Hīnayāna, emphasizing impersonality 人空, considers these six as the elements of all sentient beings; Mahāyāna, emphasizing the unreality of all things 法空, counts them as elements, but fluid in a flowing stream of life, with mind 識 dominant; the esoteric sect emphasizing nonproduction, or non-creation, regards them as universal and as the Absolute in differentiation. (e) 七大 The 楞嚴經 adds 見 perception, to the six above named to cover the perceptions of the six organs 根. |
我 see styles |
wǒ wo3 wo ga が |
I; me; my (1) {Buddh} obstinacy; (2) atman; the self; the ego I, my, mine; the ego, the master of the body, compared to the ruler of a country. Composed of the five skandhas and hence not a permanent entity. It is used for ātman, the self, personality. Buddhism takes as a fundamental dogma 無我, i.e. no 常我, no permanent ego, only recognizing a temporal or functional ego. The erroneous idea of a permanent self continued in reincarnation is the source of all illusion. But the Nirvana Sutra definitely asserts a permanent ego in the transcendental world, above the range of reincarnation; and the trend of Mahāyāna supports such permanence; v. 常我樂淨. |
祈 see styles |
qí qi2 ch`i chi motomu もとむ |
to implore; to pray; to request (given name) Motomu yācñā. Pray; prayer is spoken of as absent from Hīnayāna, and only known in Mahāyāna, especially in the esoteric sect. |
藏 see styles |
zàng zang4 tsang kura くら |
storehouse; depository; Buddhist or Taoist scripture (surname) Kura Treasury, thesaurus, store, to hide; the Canon. An intp. of piṭaka, a basket, box, granary, collection of writings. The 二藏 twofold canon may be the sutras and the vinaya; or the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna scriptures. The 三藏 or tripiṭaka consists of the sutras, vinaya, and śāstras (abhidharma). The 四藏 fourfold canon adds a miscellaneous collection. The 五藏 fivefold collection is sutras, vinaya, abhidharma, miscellaneous, and spells, or, instead of the spells, a bodhisattva collection. There is also an esoteric fivefold canon, the first three being the above, the last two being the prājñāpāramitā and the dhāraṇīs. |
衍 see styles |
yǎn yan3 yen hiroshi ひろし |
to spread out; to develop; to overflow; to amplify; superfluous (given name) Hiroshi Overflow, inundate; abundant; ample; superfluous; fertile; used in 摩訶衍 Mahāyāna. |
一道 see styles |
yī dào yi1 dao4 i tao ichidou / ichido いちどう |
together one road; ray (of hope); (given name) Kazumichi One way, the one way; the way of deliverance from mortality, the Mahāyāna. Yidao, a learned monk of the Pure-land sect. |
三乘 see styles |
sān shèng san1 sheng4 san sheng minori みのり |
(surname) Minori Triyāna, the three vehicles, or conveyances which carry living beings across saṁsāra or mortality (births-and-deaths) to the shores of nirvāṇa. The three are styled 小,中, and 大. Sometimes the three vehicles are defined as 聲聞 Śrāvaka, that of the hearer or obedient disciple; 緣覺Pratyeka-buddha, that of the enlightened for self; these are described as 小乘 because the objective of both is personal salvation; the third is 菩薩Bodhisattva, or 大乘 Mahāyāna, because the objective is the salvation of all the living. The three are also depicted as 三車 three wains, drawn by a goat, a deer, an ox. The Lotus declares that the three are really the One Buddha-vehicle, which has been revealed in three expedient forms suited to his disciples' capacity, the Lotus Sūtra being the unifying, complete, and final exposition. The Three Vehicles are differently explained by different exponents, e.g. (1) Mahāyāna recognizes (a) Śrāvaka, called Hīnayāna, leading in longer or shorter periods to arhatship; (b) Pratyeka-buddha, called Madhyamayāna, leading after still longer or shorter periods to a Buddhahood ascetically attained and for self; (c) Bodhisattva, called Mahayana, leading after countless ages of self-sacrifce in saving others and progressive enlightenment to ultimate Buddhahood. (2) Hīnayāna is also described as possessing three vehicles 聲, 緣, 菩 or 小, 中, 大, the 小 and 中 conveying to personal salvation their devotees in ascetic dust and ashes and mental annihilation, the 大 leading to bodhi, or perfect enlightenment, and the Buddha's way. Further definitions of the Triyāna are: (3) True bodhisattva teaching for the 大; pratyeka-buddha without ignorant asceticism for the 中; and śrāvaka with ignorant asceticism for the 小. (4) (a) 一乘 The One-Vehicle which carries all to Buddhahood: of this the 華嚴 Hua-yen and 法華 Fa-hua are typical exponents; (b) 三乘法 the three-vehicle, containing practitioners of all three systems, as expounded in books of the 深密般若; (c) 小乘 the Hīnayāna pure and simple as seen in the 四阿合經 Four Āgamas. Śrāvakas are also described as hearers of the Four Truths and limited to that degree of development; they hear from the pratyeka-buddhas, who are enlightened in the Twelve Nidānas 因緣; the bodhisattvas make the 六度 or six forms of transmigration their field of sacrificial saving work, and of enlightenment. The Lotus Sūtra really treats the 三乘. Three Vehicles as 方便 or expedient ways, and offers a 佛乘 Buddha Vehicle as the inclusive and final vehicle. |
三印 see styles |
sān yìn san1 yin4 san yin san'in |
The three signs or proofs of a Hīnayāna sutra— non-permanence, non-personality, nirvāṇa; without these the sūtra is spurious and the doctrine is of Māra; the proof of a Mahāyāna sūtra is the doctrine of 一實 ultimate reality, q. v. Also 三法印. |
三惑 see styles |
sān huò san1 huo4 san huo sanwaku; sannaku さんわく; さんなく |
{Buddh} three mental disturbances A Tiantai classification of the three delusions, also styled 三煩惱; 三漏; 三垢; 三結; trials or temptations, leakages, uncleannesses, and bonds. The first of the following three is common to all disciples, the two last to bodhisattvas. They arise from (a) 見, 思, 惑 things seen and thought, i.e. illusions from imperfect perception, with temptation to love, hate, etc.; to be rid of these false views and temptations is the discipline and nirvāṇa of ascetic or Hīnayāna Buddhists. Mahāyāna proceeds further in and by its bodhisattva aims, which produce their own difficulties, i.e. (b) 塵沙惑 illusion and temptation through the immense variety of duties in saving men; and (c) 無明惑 illusions and temptations that arise from failure philosophically to understand things in their reality. |
三教 see styles |
sān jiào san1 jiao4 san chiao sankyou; sangyou / sankyo; sangyo さんきょう; さんぎょう |
the Three Doctrines (Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism) (1) Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism; the three religions; (2) Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism; (3) Buddhism, Shinto and Christianity; (given name) Mitsunori The three teachings, i.e. 儒, 佛 (or 釋), and 道Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism; or, 孔, 老, 釋 Confucianism, Taoism (aIso known as 神敎), and Buddhism. In Japan they are Shinto, Confucianism, and Buddhism. In Buddhism the term is applied to the three periods of Śākyamuni's own teaching, of which there are several definitions: (1) The Jiangnan 南中 School describe his teaching as (a) 漸progressive or gradual; (b) 頓 immediate, i.e. as one whole, especially in the 華嚴經; and (c) 不定 or indeterminate. (2) 光統 Guangtong, a writer of the Iater Wei dynasty, describes the three as (a) 漸 progressive for beginners, i.e. from impermanence to permanence, from the void to reality, etc.; (b) 頓 immediate for the more advanced; and (c) 圓complete, to the most advanced, i.e. the Huayan as above. (3) The 三時敎q.v. (4) The 南山 Southern school deals with (a) the 性空of Hīnayāna; (b) 相空of Mahāyāna; and (c) 唯識圓 the perfect idealism. v. 行事鈔中 4. Tiantai accepts the division of 漸, 頓, and 不定 for pre-Lotus teaching, but adopts 漸 gradual, 頓 immediate, and 圓 perfect, with the Lotus as the perfect teaching; it also has the division of 三藏敎 , 通敎 , and 別敎 q.v. |
三業 三业 see styles |
sān yè san1 ye4 san yeh sangou / sango さんごう |
{Buddh} (See 身口意) three activities (action, speech and thought) trividha-dvāra. The three conditions, inheritances, or karma, of which there are several groups. (1) Deed, word, thought, 身, 口, 意. (2) (a) Present-1ife happy karma; (6) present-life unhappy karma; (c) 不動 karma of an imperturbable nature. (3) (a) Good; (b) evil; (c) neutral karma. (4) (a) 漏業 Karma of ordinary rebirth; (6) 無漏業 karma of Hīnayāna nirvana; (c) 非漏非無漏 karma of neither, independent of both, Mahāyāna nirvana. (5) (a) Present deeds and their consequences in this life; (b) present deeds and their next life consequences; (c) present deeds and consequences after the next life, There are other groups of three. |
三病 see styles |
sān bìng san1 bing4 san ping sanbyō |
The three ailments: (1) (a) 貪 lust, for which the 不淨觀 meditation on uncleanness is the remedy; (b) 瞋 anger, or hate, remedy 慈悲觀 meditation on kindness and pity; (c) 癡 stupidity, or ignorance, remedy 因緣觀 meditation on causality. (2) (a) 謗 Slander of Mahāyāna; (b) 五逆罪 the five gross sins; (c) to be a "heathen" or outsider; the forms recorded seem to be icchantika, ecchantika, and aicchantika. Cf. 三毒. |
三身 see styles |
sān shēn san1 shen1 san shen sanjin; sanshin さんじん; さんしん |
{Buddh} trikaya (three bodies of the Buddha); (surname) Sanmi trikāya. 三寶身 The threefold body or nature of a Buddha, i.e. the 法, 報, and 化身, or dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya. The three are defined as 自性, 受用, and 變化, the Buddha-body per se, or in its essential nature; his body of bliss, which he "receives" for his own "use" and enjoyment; and his body of transformation, by which he can appear in any form; i.e. spiritual, or essential; glorified; revealed. While the doctrine of the trikāya is a Mahāyāna concept, it partly results from the Hīnayāna idealization of the earthly Buddha with his thirty-two signs, eighty physical marks, clairvoyance, clairaudience, holiness, purity, wisdom, pity, etc. Mahāyāna, however, proceeded to conceive of Buddha as the Universal, the All, with infinity of forms, yet above all our concepts of unity or diversity. To every Buddha Mahāyāna attributed a three-fold body: that of essential Buddha; that of joy or enjoyment of the fruits of his past saving labours; that of power to transform himself at will to any shape for omnipresent salvation of those who need him. The trinity finds different methods of expression, e.g. Vairocana is entitled 法身, the embodiment of the Law, shining everywhere, enlightening all; Locana is 報身; c.f. 三賓, the embodiment of purity and bliss; Śākyamuni is 化身 or Buddha revealed. In the esoteric sect they are 法 Vairocana, 報 Amitābha, and 化 Śākyamuni. The 三賓 are also 法 dharma, 報 saṅgha, 化 buddha. Nevertheless, the three are considered as a trinity, the three being essentially one, each in the other. (1) 法身 Dharmakāya in its earliest conception was that of the body of the dharma, or truth, as preached by Śākyamuni; later it became his mind or soul in contrast with his material body. In Mādhyamika, the dharmakāya was the only reality, i.e. the void, or the immateria1, the ground of all phenomena; in other words, the 眞如 the tathāgatagarbha, the bhūtatathatā. According to the Huayan (Kegon) School it is the 理or noumenon, while the other two are氣or phenomenal aspects. "For the Vijñānavāda... the body of the law as highest reality is the void intelligence, whose infection (saṃkleҫa) results in the process of birth and death, whilst its purification brings about Nirvāṇa, or its restoration to its primitive transparence" (Keith). The "body of the law is the true reality of everything". Nevertheless, in Mahāyāna every Buddha has his own 法身; e.g. in the dharmakāya aspect we have the designation Amitābha, who in his saṃbhogakāya aspect is styled Amitāyus. (2) 報身Sambhogakāya, a Buddha's reward body, or body of enjoyment of the merits he attained as a bodhisattva; in other words, a Buddha in glory in his heaven. This is the form of Buddha as an object of worship. It is defined in two aspects, (a) 自受用身 for his own bliss, and (b) 他受用身 for the sake of others, revealing himself in his glory to bodhisattvas, enlightening and inspiring them. By wisdom a Buddha's dharmakāya is attained, by bodhisattva-merits his saṃbhogakāya. Not only has every Buddha all the three bodies or aspects, but as all men are of the same essence, or nature, as Buddhas, they are therefore potential Buddhas and are in and of the trikāya. Moreover, trikāya is not divided, for a Buddha in his 化身 is still one with his 法身 and 報身, all three bodies being co-existent. (3) 化身; 應身; 應化身 nirmāṇakāya, a Buddha's transformation, or miraculous body, in which he appears at will and in any form outside his heaven, e.g. as Śākyamuni among men. |
三車 三车 see styles |
sān chē san1 che1 san ch`e san che sansha |
triyāna. 三乘 or 三乘法門 (1) The three vehicles across saṃsāra into nirvāṇa, i.e. the carts offered by the father in the Lotus Sutra to lure his children out of the burning house: (a) goat carts, representing śrāvakas; (b) deer carts, pratyekabuddhas; (c) bullock carts, bodhisattvas. (2) The three principal schools of Buddhism— Hīnayāna, Madhyamayāna, Mahāyāna. |
上乘 see styles |
shàng chéng shang4 cheng2 shang ch`eng shang cheng jōjō |
first-class; best quality; also pr. [shang4 sheng4] Mahāyāna; also 上衍, 大乘 q. v. |
上衍 see styles |
shàng yǎn shang4 yan3 shang yen jōen |
Mahāyāna, 上乘; v. 大乘. |
中乘 see styles |
zhōng shèng zhong1 sheng4 chung sheng chūjō |
The middle vehicle to nirvana, includes all intermediate or medial systems between Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna. It also corresponds with the state of a pratyekabuddha, who lives chiefly for his own salvation but partly for others, like a man sitting in the middle of a vehicle, leaving scarcely room for others. It is a definition made by Mahayanists unknown to Hīnayāna. |
九部 see styles |
jiǔ bù jiu3 bu4 chiu pu kubu |
(九部經) Nine of the Hīnayāna twelve classes of sūtras, that is, all except the 方廣, 授記 and 無門自說. Generally the term is thus interpreted, but there is also a Mahāyāna division of nine of the twelve sūtras, i.e. all except the 緣起, 譬喩, 論議. These are: sūtras, the Buddha's sermons; geyas, metrical pieces; vyākaraṇas, prophecies; gāthās, chants or poems; udāṇas, impromptu or unsolicited addresses; ityuktas, or itivṛttakas, marratives; jātakas, stories of former lives of Buddha, etc.; vaipulyas, expanded sūtras, etc.; adbhutadharmas, miracles, etc.; v. 十二部經. |
事教 see styles |
shì jiào shi4 jiao4 shih chiao jikyō |
Teaching dealing with phenomena. The characterization by Tiantai of the Tripiṭaka or Hīnayāna teaching as 界内事教 within the three realms of desire, form, and formlessness; and the 別教 'different teaching' as 界外事教 outside or superior to those realms; the one dealt with the activities of time and sense, the other transcended these but was still involved in the transient; the 別教 was initial Mahāyāna incompletely developed. |
二乘 see styles |
èr shèng er4 sheng4 erh sheng nijō |
dviyāna. The two vehicles conveying to the final goal. There are several definitions: (1) Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. (2) 聲聞 and 緣覺 or 聲覺二乘 . Śrāvaka and Pratyekabuddha. (3) 二乘作佛 The Lotus Sūtra teaches that śrāvakas and pratyekas also become Buddhas. (4) 三一二乘 The "two vehicles" of "three" and "one", the three being the pre-Lotus ideas of śrāvaka, pratyeka, and bodhsattva, the one being the doctrine of the Lotus Sūtra which combined all three in one. |
二始 see styles |
èr shǐ er4 shi3 erh shih nishi |
The two beginnings, i.e. of Hīnayāna, by the preaching of the 阿含 Āgama sūtras; and of Mahāyāna by the preaching of the 華嚴 Avataṁsaka sūtra. |
二教 see styles |
èr jiào er4 jiao4 erh chiao nikyō |
Dual division of the Buddha's teaching. There are various definitions: (1) Tiantai has (a) 顯教 exoteric or public teaching to the visible audience, and (b) 密教 at the same time esoteric teaching to an audience invisible to the other assembly. (2) The 眞言 Shingon School by "exoteric" means all the Buddha's preaching, save that of the 大日經 which it counts esoteric. (3) (a) 漸教 and (b) 頓教 graduated and immediate teaching, terms with various uses, e.g. salvation by works Hīnayāna, and by faith, Mahāyāna, etc.; they are applied to the Buddha's method, to the receptivity of hearers and to the teaching itself. (4) Tiantai has (a) 界内教 and (b) 界外教 teachings relating to the 三界 or realms of mortality and teachings relating to immortal realms. (5) (a) 半字教 and (b) 滿字教 Terms used in the Nirvāṇa sūtra, meaning incomplete word, or letter, teaching and complete word teaching, i.e. partial and complete, likened to Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna. (6) (a) 捃收教 and (b) 扶律談常教 of the Nirvāṇa sūtra, (a) completing those who failed to hear the Lotus; (b) "supporting the law, while discoursing on immortality," i.e. that the keeping of the law is also necessary to salvation. (7) Tiantai's division of (a) 偏教 and (b) 圓教 the partial teaching of the 藏, 通, and schools as contrasted with the perfect teaching of the 圓 school. (8) Tiantai's division of (a) 構教 and (6) 實教 temporary and permanent, similar to the last two. (9) (a) 世間教 The ordinary teaching of a moral life here; (b) 出世間教 the teaching of Buddha-truth of other-worldly happiness in escape from mortality. (10) (a) 了義教 the Mahāyāna perfect or complete teaching, and (b) 不了義教 Hīnayāna incompleteness. (11) The Huayan division of (a) 屈曲教 indirect or uneven teaching as in the Lotus and Nirvāṇa sūtras, and (b) 平道教 direct or levelled up teaching as in the Huayan sūtra. (12) The Huayan division of (a) 化教 all the Buddha's teaching for conversion and general instruction, and (b) 制教 his rules and commandments for the control and development of his order. |
二藏 see styles |
èr zàng er4 zang4 erh tsang nizō |
The two piṭakas or tripiṭakas, i.e. the Buddhist canon: (a) 聲聞藏 the Śrāvaka, or Hīnayāna canon: (b) 菩薩藏 the Bodhisattva, or Mahāyanā canon. |
二際 二际 see styles |
èr jì er4 ji4 erh chi nisai |
The two borders, or states: according to Hīnayāna, nirvana and mortality; according to Mahāyāna the two are one. |
五位 see styles |
wǔ wèi wu3 wei4 wu wei goi ごい |
(1) fifth court rank; (2) (abbreviation) (See 五位鷺) black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax); night heron; (3) {Buddh} five ranks; five stages; (place-name, surname) Goi The five categories, or divisions; there are several groups, e. g. (1) Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna have groupings of all phenomena under five heads, i. e. Hīnayāna has 75 法 which are 11 色法, 1 心法, 46 心所法, 14 不相離法, and 3 無爲法; Mahāyāna has 100 法 which are 8 心, 51 心所, 11 色, 24 不相因, and 6 無爲法. (2) The five divisions of 唯識 are 資糧位, 加行位, 通達位, 修習位, and 究竟 or 佛位. (3) The five evolutions in the womb are: kalalaṃ, embryo-initiation; arbudaṃ, after 27 days; peśī, 37; ghana, 47; praśākha, 57 days when form and organs are all complete. (4) Certain combinations of the 八卦 Eight Diagrams are sometimes styled 五位君臣 five positions of prince and minister. |
五宗 see styles |
wǔ zōng wu3 zong1 wu tsung goshū |
The five great schools of Mahāyāna, i. e. 天台, 華嚴法相, 三論, and 律宗. There are other classes, or groups. |
五教 see styles |
wǔ jiào wu3 jiao4 wu chiao gokyō |
The five division of Buddhism according to the Huayan School, of which there are two That of 杜順 Dushun down to 賢首 Xianshou is (1) 小乘教 Hīnayāna which interprets nirvana as annihilation; (2) 大乘始教 the primary stage of Mahāyāna, with two sections the 相始教 and 空 始教 or realistic and idealistic, (3) 大乘終教 Mahāyāna in its final stage, teaching the 眞如 and universal Buddhahood; (4) 頓教 the immediate, direct, or intuitive school, e. g. by right concentration of thought, or faith, apart from 'works'; (5) 圓教 the complete or perfect teaching of the Huayan, combining all the rest into one all-embracing vehicle. The five are now differentiated into 十宗 ten schools. The other division, by 圭峯 Guifeng of the same school, is (1) 人天教 rebirth as human beings for those who keep the five commandments and as devas those who keep the 十善 as 相始教 above; (4) 大乘破相教 as 空始教 above; and (5) 一乘顯性教 the one vehicle which reveals the universal Buddha-nature; it includes (3), (4), and (5) of the first group. See also 五時教. |
五時 五时 see styles |
wǔ shí wu3 shi2 wu shih goji |
(五時教) The five periods or divisions of Śākyamuni's teaching. According to Tiantai they are (1) 華嚴時 the Avataṃsaka or first period in three divisions each of seven days, after his enlightenment, when he preached the content, of this sutra; (2) 鹿苑時 the twelve years of his preaching the Āgamas 阿含 in the Deer Park; (3) 方等時 the eight years of preaching Mahāyāna-cum-Hīnayāna doctrines, the vaipulya period; (4) 般若時 the twenty-two years of his preaching the prajñā or wisdom sutras; (5) 法華涅槃時 the eight years of his preaching the Lotus Sutra and, in a day and a night, the Nirvana Sutra. According to the Nirvana School (now part of the Tiantai) they are (1) 三乘別教 the period when the differentiated teaching began and the distinction of the three vehicles, as represented by the 四諦 Four Noble Truths for śrāvakas, the 十二因緣 Twelve Nidānas for pratyekabuddhas, and the 六度 Six Pāramitās for bodhisattvas; (2) 三乘通教 the teaching common to all three vehicles, as seen in the 般若經; (3) 抑揚教 the teaching of the 維摩經, the 思益梵天所問經, and other sutras olling the bodhisattva teaching at the expense of that for śrāvakas; (4) 同歸教 the common objective teaching calling all three vehicles, through the Lotus, to union in the one vehicle; (5) 常住教 the teaehmg of eternal life i. e. the revelation through the Nirvana sutra of the eternity of Buddhahood; these five are also called 有相; 無相; 抑揚; 曾三歸—; and 圓常. According to 劉虬 Liu Chiu of the 晉 Chin dynasty, the teaching is divided into 頓 immediate and 漸 gradual attainment, the latter having five divisions called 五時教 similar to those of the Tiantai group. According to 法寶 Fabao of the Tang dynasty the five are (1) 小乘; (2) 般着 or 大乘; (3) 深密 or 三乘; (4) 法華 or 一乘; (5) 涅槃 or 佛性教. |
五逆 see styles |
wǔ nì wu3 ni4 wu ni gogyaku ごぎゃく |
(1) {Buddh} five cardinal sins (killing one's father, killing one's mother, killing an arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, causing a schism within the sangha); (2) (hist) crime of killing one's master, father, grandfather, mother, or grandmother pañcānantarya; 五無間業 The five rebellious acts or deadly sins, parricide, matricide, killing an arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, destroying the harmony of the sangha, or fraternity. The above definition is common both to Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna. The lightest of these sins is the first; the heaviest the last. II. Another group is: (1) sacrilege, such as destroying temples, burning sutras, stealing a Buddha's or a monk's things, inducing others to do so, or taking pleasure therein; (2) slander, or abuse of the teaching of śrāvaka s, pratyekabuddhas, or bodhisattvas; (3) ill-treatment or killing of a monk; (4) any one of the five deadly sins given above; (5) denial of the karma consequences of ill deeds, acting or teaching others accordingly, and unceasing evil life. III. There are also five deadly sins, each of which is equal to each of the first set of five: (1) violation of a mother, or a fully ordained nun; (2) killing a bodhisattva in a sangha; (5) destroying a Buddha's stūpa. IV. The five unpardonable sin of Devadatta who (1) destroyed the harmony of the community; (2) injured Śākyamuni with a stone, shedding his blood; (3) induced the king to let loose a rutting elephant to trample down Śākyamuni; (4) killed a nun; (5) put poison on his finger-nails and saluted Śākyamuni intending to destroy him thereby. |
人空 see styles |
rén kōng ren2 kong1 jen k`ung jen kung ningū |
Man is only a temporary combination formed by the five skandhas and the twelve nidānas, being the product of previous causes, and without a real self or permanent soul. Hīnayāna is said to end these causes and consequent reincarnation by discipline in subjection of the passions and entry into nirvana by the emptying of the self. Mahāyāna fills the "void" with the Absolute, declaring that when man has emptied himself of the ego he realizes his nature to be that of the absolute, bhūtatathatā; v. 二空. |
他力 see styles |
tā lì ta1 li4 t`a li ta li tariki たりき |
(1) outside help; help from without; (2) {Buddh} salvation by faith; (surname) Tariki Another's strength, especially that of a Buddha, or bodhisattva, obtained through faith in Mahāyāna salvation. |
但空 see styles |
dàn kōng dan4 kong1 tan k`ung tan kung tankū |
Only non-existence, or immateriality, a term used by Tiantai to denote the orthodox Hīnayāna system. 不但空 denotes the 通教 intermediate system between the Hīnayāna and the Mahāyāna; v. 空. |
佛刹 see styles |
fó chà fo2 cha4 fo ch`a fo cha bussetsu |
buddhakṣetra. 佛紇差怛羅 Buddha realm, land or country; see also 佛土, 佛國. The term is absent from Hīnayāna. In Mahāyāna it is the spiritual realm acquired by one who reaches perfect enlightenment, where he instructs all beings born there, preparing them for enlightenment. In the schools where Mahāyāna adopted an Ādi-Buddha, these realms or Buddha-fields interpenetrated each other, since they were coexistent with the universe. There are two classes of Buddhakṣetra: (1) in the Vairocana Schools, regarded as the regions of progress for the righteous after death; (2) in the Amitābha Schools, regarded as the Pure Land; v. McGovern, A Manual of Buddhist Philosophy, pp. 70-2. |
修道 see styles |
xiū dào xiu1 dao4 hsiu tao shuudou / shudo しゅうどう |
to practice Daoism (n,vs,vi) learning; studying the fine arts; (given name) Nagamichi To cultivate the way of religion; be religious; the way of self-cultivation. In the Hīnayāna the stage from anāgāmin to arhat; in Mahāyāna one of the bodhisattva stages. |
偏圓 偏圆 see styles |
piān yuán pian1 yuan2 p`ien yüan pien yüan hen en |
Partial and all-embracing, relative and complete, e. g. Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna, also the intermediate schools (between Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna) and the perfect school of Tiantai. |
偏眞 see styles |
piān zhēn pian1 zhen1 p`ien chen pien chen henshin |
偏空, 單空The Hīnayāna doctrine of unreality, a one-sided dogma in contrast with the transcendental reality of Mahāyāna. |
元藏 see styles |
yuán zàng yuan2 zang4 yüan tsang ganzō |
The Yuan tripiṭaka, compiled by order of Shih Tsu (Kublai), founder of the Yuan dynasty, and printed from blocks; begun in 1277, the work was finished in 1290, in 1, 422 部 works, 6, 017 卷 sections, 558 凾 cases or covers. It contained 528 Mahayanist and 242 Hinayanist sutras; 25 Mahāyāna and 54 Hīnayāna vinaya; 97 Mahāyāna and 36 Hīnayāna śāstras; 108 biographies; and 332 supplementary or general works. In size, and generally, it was similar to the Sung edition. The 元藏目錄 or Catalogue of the Yuan tripiṭaka is also known as 大普寧寺大藏經目錄. |
光宅 see styles |
guāng zhái guang1 zhai2 kuang chai Kōtaku |
Kuang-chai, name of the temple where 法雲 Fa-yun early in the sixth century wrote his commentary on the Lotus Sutra, which is known as the 光宅疏; 光宅 became his epithet. He made a division of four yāna from the Burning House parable, the goat cart representing the śrāvaka, the deer cart the pratyekabuddha, the ox-cart the Hīnayāna bodhisattva, and the great white ox-cart the Mahāyāna bodhisattva; a division adopted by T'ien-t'ai. |
內凡 内凡 see styles |
nèi fán nei4 fan2 nei fan naibon |
The inner or higher ranks of ordinary disciples as contrasted with the 外凡 lower grades; those who are on the road to liberation; Hīnayāna begins the stage at the 四善根位 also styled 內凡位; Mahāyāna with the 三賢位 from the 十住 upwards. Tiantai from the 相似卽 of its 六卽 q. v. |
兩權 两权 see styles |
liǎng quán liang3 quan2 liang ch`üan liang chüan ryōgon |
The two temporary vehicles, śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, as contrasted with the 實 complete Bodhisattva doctrine of Mahāyāna. |
八教 see styles |
bā jiào ba1 jiao4 pa chiao hakkyō |
The eight Tiantai classifications of Śākyamuni's teaching, from the Avataṁsaka to the Lotus and Nirvāṇa sūtras, divided into the two sections (1) 化法四教 his four kinds of teaching of the content of the Truth accommodated to the capacity of his disciples; (2) 化儀四教 his four modes of instruction. (1) The four 化法教 are: (a) 三藏教 The Tripiṭaka or Hīnayāna teaching, for śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, the bodhisattva doctrine being subordinate; it also included the primitive śūnya doctrine as developed in the Satyasiddhi śāstra. (b) 教通His later "intermediate" teaching which contained Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna doctrine for śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva, to which are attributed the doctrines of the Dharmalakṣaṇa or Yogācārya and Mādhyamika schools. (c) 別教 His differentiated , or separated, bodhisattva teaching, definitely Mahāyāna. (d) 圓教 His final, perfect, bodhisattva, universal teaching as preached, e.g. in the Lotus and Nirvāṇa sūtras. (2) The four methods of instruction 化儀 are: (a) 頓教 Direct teaching without reserve of the whole truth, e.g. the 華嚴 sūtra. (b) 漸教 Gradual or graded, e.g. the 阿含, 方等, and 般若 sūtras; all the four 化法 are also included under this heading. (c) 祕密教 Esoteric teaching, only understood by special members of the assembly. (d) 不定教 General or indeterminate teaching, from which each hearer would derive benefit according to his interpretation. |
六宗 see styles |
liù zōng liu4 zong1 liu tsung rokumune ろくむね |
(surname) Rokumune The six schools, i. e. 三論宗; 法相宗; 華嚴宗; 律宗; 成實宗, and 倶舍宗 q. v.; the last two are styled Hīnayāna schools. Mahāyāna in Japan puts in place of them 天台宗 and 眞言宗 Tendai and Shingon. |
勝乘 胜乘 see styles |
shèng shèng sheng4 sheng4 sheng sheng shōjō |
The victorious vehicle, i.e. Mahāyāna. |
十地 see styles |
shí dì shi2 di4 shih ti juuji / juji じゅうじ |
{Buddh} dasabhumi (forty-first to fiftieth stages in the development of a bodhisattva); (place-name) Jūji daśabhūmi; v. 十住. The "ten stages" in the fifty-two sections of the development of a bodhisattva into a Buddha. After completing the十四向 he proceeds to the 十地. There are several groups. I. The ten stages common to the Three Vehicles 三乘 are: (1) 乾慧地 dry wisdom stage, i. e. unfertilized by Buddha-truth, worldly wisdom; (2) 性地 the embryo-stage of the nature of Buddha-truth, the 四善根; (3) 八人地 (八忍地), the stage of the eight patient endurances; (4) 見地 of freedom from wrong views; (5) 薄地 of freedom from the first six of the nine delusions in practice; (6) 離欲地 of freedom from the remaining three; (7) 巳辨地 complete discrimination in regard to wrong views and thoughts, the stage of an arhat; (8) 辟支佛地 pratyeka-buddhahood, only the dead ashes of the past left to sift; (9) 菩薩地 bodhisattvahood; (10) 佛地 Buddhahood. v. 智度論 78. II. 大乘菩薩十地 The ten stages of Mahāyāna bodhisattva development are: (1) 歡喜地 Pramuditā, joy at having overcome the former difficulties and now entering on the path to Buddhahood; (2) 離垢地 Vimalā, freedom from all possible defilement, the stage of purity; (3) 發光地 Prabhākarī, stage of further enlightenment; (4) 焰慧地 Arciṣmatī, of glowing wisdom; (5) 極難勝地 Sudurjayā, mastery of utmost or final difficulties; (6) 現前地 Abhimukhī, the open way of wisdom above definitions of impurity and purity; (7) 遠行地 Dūraṁgamā, proceeding afar, getting above ideas of self in order to save others; (8) 不動地 Acalā, attainment of calm unperturbedness; (9) 善慧地 Sādhumatī, of the finest discriminatory wisdom, knowing where and how to save, and possessed of the 十力 ten powers; (10) 法雲地 Dharmamegha, attaining to the fertilizing powers of the law-cloud. Each of the ten stages is connected with each of the ten pāramitās, v. 波. Each of the 四乘 or four vehicles has a division of ten. III. The 聲聞乘十地 ten Śrāvaka stages are: (1) 受三歸地 initiation as a disciple by receiving the three refuges, in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; (2) 信地 belief, or the faith-root; (3) 信法地 belief in the four truths; (4) 内凡夫地 ordinary disciples who observe the 五停心觀, etc.; (5) 學信戒 those who pursue the 三學 three studies; (6) 八人忍地 the stage of 見道 seeing the true Way; (7) 須陀洹地 śrota-āpanna, now definitely in the stream and assured of nirvāṇa; (8) 斯陀含地 sakrdāgāmin, only one more rebirth; (9) 阿那含地 anāgāmin, no rebirth; and (10) 阿羅漢地 arhatship. IV. The ten stages of the pratyekabuddha 緣覺乘十地 are (1) perfect asceticism; (2) mastery of the twelve links of causation; (3) of the four noble truths; (4) of the deeper knowledge; (5) of the eightfold noble path; (6) of the three realms 三法界; (7) of the nirvāṇa state; (8) of the six supernatural powers; (9) arrival at the intuitive stage; (10) mastery of the remaining influence of former habits. V. 佛乘十地 The ten stages, or characteristics of a Buddha, are those of the sovereign or perfect attainment of wisdom, exposition, discrimination, māra-subjugation, suppression of evil, the six transcendent faculties, manifestation of all bodhisattva enlightenment, powers of prediction, of adaptability, of powers to reveal the bodhisattva Truth. VI. The Shingon has its own elaborate ten stages, and also a group 十地十心, see 十心; and there are other groups. |
十恩 see styles |
shí ēn shi2 en1 shih en jūon |
Ten kinds of the Buddha's grace: his (1) initial resolve to universalize (his salvation); (2) self-sacrifice (in previous lives); (3) complete altruism; (4) his descent into all the six states of existence for their salvation; (5) relief of the living from distress and mortality; (6) profound pity; (7) revelation of himself in human and glorified form; (8) teaching in accordance with the capacity of his hearers, first hīnayāna, then māhayāna doctrine; (9) revealing his nirvāṇa to stimulate his disciples; (10) pitying thought for all creatures, in that dying at 80 instead of at 100 he left twenty years of his own happiness to his disciples; and also the tripiṭaka for universal salvation. |
十智 see styles |
shí zhì shi2 zhi4 shih chih jū chi |
The ten forms of understanding. I. Hīnayāna: (1) 世俗智 common understanding; (2) 法智 enlightened understanding, i.e. on the Four Truths in this life; (3) 類智 ditto, applied to the two upper realms 上二界; (4), (5), (6), (7) understanding re each of the Four Truths separately, both in the upper and lower realms, e.g. 苦智; (8) 他心智 understanding of the minds of others; (9) 盡智 the understanding that puts an end to all previous faith in or for self, i.e. 自信智; (10) 無生智 nirvāṇa wisdom; v. 倶舍論 26. II. Mahāyāna. A Tathāgatas ten powers of understanding or wisdom: (1) 三世智 perfect understanding of past, present, and future; (2) ditto of Buddha Law; (3) 法界無礙智 unimpeded understanding of the whole Buddha-realm; (4) 法界無邊智 unlimited, or infinite understanding of the whole Buddha-realm; (5) 充滿一切智 understanding of ubiquity; (6) 普照一切世間智 understanding of universal enlightenment; (7) 住持一切世界智 understanding of omnipotence, or universal control; (8) 知一切衆生智 understanding of omniscience re all living beings; (9) 知一切法智 understanding of omniscience re the laws of universal salvation; (10) 知無邊諸佛智 understanding of omniscience re all Buddha wisdom. v. 華嚴経 16. There are also his ten forms of understanding of the "Five Seas" 五海 of worlds, living beings, karma, passions, and Buddhas. |
半字 see styles |
bàn zì ban4 zi4 pan tzu hanji |
Half a character'; a letter of the alphabet. Hīnayāna is likened to half-word, Mahāyāna to a 滿字 complete word; hence 半字教 is Hīnayāna. |
命根 see styles |
mìng gēn ming4 gen1 ming ken meikon / mekon めいこん |
lifeblood; the thing that one cherishes most in life; (coll.) family jewels (male genitals) life A root, or basis for life, or reincarnation, the nexus of Hīnayāna between two life-periods, accepted by Mahāyāna as nominal but not real. |
四執 四执 see styles |
sì zhí si4 zhi2 ssu chih shishū |
The four erroneous tenets; also 四邪; 四迷; 四術; there are two groups: I. The four of the 外道 outsiders, or non-Buddhists, i. e. of Brahminism, concerning the law of cause and effect: (1) 邪因邪果 heretical theory of causation, e. g. creation by Mahesvara; (2) 無因有果 or 自然, effect independent of cause, e. g. creation without a cause, or spontaneous generation; (3) 有因無果 cause without effect, e. g. no future life as the result of this. (4) 無因無果 neither cause nor effect, e. g. that rewards and punishments are independent of morals. II. The four erroneous tenets of 內外道 insiders and outsiders, Buddhist and Brahman, also styled 四宗 the four schools, as negated in the 中論 Mādhyamika śāstra: (1) outsiders, who do not accept either the 人 ren or 法 fa ideas of 空 kong; (2) insiders who hold the Abhidharma or Sarvāstivādāḥ tenet, which recognizes 人空 human impersonality, but not 法空 the unreality of things; (3) also those who hold the 成實 Satyasiddhi tenet which discriminates the two meanings of 空 kong but not clearly; and also (4) those in Mahāyāna who hold the tenet of the realists. |
四宗 see styles |
sì zōng si4 zong1 ssu tsung shishū |
The four kinds of inference in logic— common, prejudged or opposing, insufficiently founded, arbitrary. Also, the four schools of thought I. According to 淨影 Jingying they are (1) 立性宗 that everything exists, or has its own nature; e. g. Sarvāstivāda, in the 'lower' schools of Hīnayāna; (2) 破性宗 that everything has not a nature of its own; e. g. the 成實宗 a 'higher' Hīnayāna school, the Satyasiddhi; (3) 破相宗 that form has no reality, because of the doctrine of the void, 'lower' Mahāyāna; (4) 願實宗 revelation of reality, that all comes from the bhūtatathatā, 'higher ' Mahāyāna. II. According to 曇隱 Tanyin of the 大衍 monastery they are (1) 因緣宗, i. e. 立性宗 all things are causally produced; (2) 假名宗, i. e. 破性宗 things are but names; (3) 不眞宗, i. e. 破相宗, denying the reality of form, this school fails to define reality; (4) 眞宗, i. e. 顯實宗 the school of the real, in contrast with the seeming. |
四德 see styles |
sì dé si4 de2 ssu te shitoku |
four Confucian injunctions 孝悌忠信 (for men), namely: piety 孝 to one's parents, respect 悌 to one's older brother, loyalty 忠 to one's monarch, faith 信 to one's male friends; the four Confucian virtues for women of morality 德[de2], physical charm 容, propriety in speech 言 and efficiency in needlework 功 The four nirvana virtues, or values, according to the Mahāyāna Nirvana Sutra: (1) 常德 permanence or eternity; (2) 樂德 joy; (3) 我德 personality or the soul; (4) 淨德 purity. These four important terms, while denied in the lower realms, are affirmed by the sutra in the transcendental, or nirvana-realm. |
四食 see styles |
sì shí si4 shi2 ssu shih shijiki |
The four kinds of food, i. e. 段食 or 摶食 for the body and its senses; 觸食 or 樂食 for the emotions; 思食 or 念食 for thought; and 識食 for wisdom, i. e. the 六識 of Hīnayāna and the 八識 of Mahāyāna, of which the eighth, i. e. ālayavijñāna, is the chief. |
圓教 圆教 see styles |
yuán jiào yuan2 jiao4 yüan chiao engyō |
The complete, perfect, or comprehensive doctrine; the school or sect of Mahāyāna which represents it. The term has had three references. The first was by 光統 Guangtong of the Later Wei, sixth century, who defined three schools, 漸 gradual, 頓 immediate, and 圓 inclusive or complete. The Tiantai called its fourth section the inclusive, complete, or perfect teaching 圓, the other three being 三藏 Hīnayāna, 通 Mahāyāna-cum-Hīnayāna, 別 Mahāyāna. The Huayan so called its fifth section, i.e. 小乘; 大乘始; 大乘終; 頓 and 圓. It is the Tiantai version that is in general acceptance, defined as a perfect whole and as complete in its parts; for the whole is the absolute and its parts are therefore the absolute; the two may be called noumenon and phenomenon, or 空 and 假 (or 俗), but in reality they are one, i.e. the 中 medial condition. To conceive these three as a whole is the Tiantai inclusive or 'perfect' doctrine. The Huayan 'perfect' doctrine also taught that unity and differentiation, or absolute and relative, were one, a similar doctrine to that of the identity of contraries. In Tiantai teaching the harmony is due to its underlying unity; its completeness to the permeation of this unity in all phenomena; these two are united in the medial 中 principle; to comprehend these three principles at one and the same time is the complete, all-containing, or 'perfect' doctrine of Tiantai. There are other definitions of the all-inclusive doctrine, e.g. the eight complete things, complete in teaching, principles, knowledge, etc. 圓教四門 v. 四門. |
堅意 坚意 see styles |
jiān yì jian1 yi4 chien i keni けんい |
(personal name) Ken'i 堅慧 Sthiramati of firm mind, or wisdom. An early Indian monk of the Mahāyāna; perhaps two monks. |
大乗 see styles |
daijou / daijo だいじょう |
(1) {Buddh} (See 小乗・しょうじょう) Mahayana (Buddhism); the Great Vehicle; (2) (on street signs) large passenger vehicle; (given name) Daijō |
大乘 see styles |
dà shèng da4 sheng4 ta sheng oonori おおのり |
Mahayana, the Great Vehicle; Buddhism based on the Mayahana sutras, as spread to Central Asia, China and beyond; also pr. [Da4 cheng2] (surname) Oonori Mahāyāna; also called 上乘; 妙乘; 勝乘; 無上乘; 無上上乘; 不惡乘; 無等乘, 無等等乘; 摩訶衍 The great yāna, wain, or conveyance, or the greater vehicle in comparison with the 小乘 Hīnayāna. It indicates universalism, or Salvation for all, for all are Buddha and will attain bodhi. It is the form of Buddhism prevalent in Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan, and in other places in the Far East. It is also called Northern Buddhism. It is interpreted as 大教 the greater teaching as compared with 小教 the smaller, or inferior. Hīnayāna, which is undoubtedly nearer to the original teaching of the Buddha, is unfairly described as an endeavour to seek nirvana through an ash-covered body, an extinguished intellect, and solitariness; its followers are sravakas and pratyekabuddhas (i.e. those who are striving for their own deliverance through ascetic works). Mahāyāna, on the other hand, is described as seeking to find and extend all knowledge, and, in certain schools, to lead all to Buddhahood. It has a conception of an Eternal Buddha, or Buddhahood as Eternal (Adi-Buddha), but its especial doctrines are, inter alia, (a) the bodhisattvas 菩薩 , i.e. beings who deny themselves final Nirvana until, according to their vows, they have first saved all the living; (b) salvation by faith in, or invocation of the Buddhas or bodhisattvas; (c) Paradise as a nirvana of bliss in the company of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, saints, and believers. Hīnayāna is sometimes described as 自利 self-benefiting, and Mahāyāna as 自利利他 self-benefit for the benefit of others, unlimited altruism and pity being the theory of Mahāyāna. There is a further division into one-yana and three-yanas: the trīyāna may be śrāvaka, pratyeka-buddha, and bodhisattva, represented by a goat, deer, or bullock cart; the one-yāna is that represented by the Lotus School as the one doctrine of the Buddha, which had been variously taught by him according to the capacity of his hearers, v. 方便. Though Mahāyāna tendencies are seen in later forms of the older Buddhism, the foundation of Mahāyāna has been attributed to Nāgārjuna 龍樹. "The characteristics of this system are an excess of transcendental speculation tending to abstract nihilism, and the substitution of fanciful degrees of meditation and contemplation (v. Samādhi and Dhyāna) in place of the practical asceticism of the Hīnayāna school."[Eitel 68-9.] Two of its foundation books are the 起信論and the 妙法蓮華經 but a larnge numberof Mahāyāna sutras are ascribed to the Buddha。. |
大天 see styles |
dà tiān da4 tian1 ta t`ien ta tien daiten だいてん |
(surname) Daiten Mahādeva. 摩訶提婆. (1) A former incarnation of Śākyamuni as a Cakravartī. (2) A title of Maheśvara. (3) An able supporter of the Mahāsāṃghikaḥ, whose date is given as about a hundred years after the Buddha's death, but he is also described as a favorite of Aśoka, with whom he is associated as persecutor of the Sthavirāḥ, the head of which escaped into Kashmir. If from the latter school sprang the Mahāyāna, it may account for the detestation in which Mahādeva is held by the Mahāyānists. An account of his wickedness and heresies is given in 西域記 3 and in 婆沙論 99. |
大戒 see styles |
dà jiè da4 jie4 ta chieh daigai |
The complete commandments of Hīnayāna and Mahayana, especially of the latter. |
大機 大机 see styles |
dà jī da4 ji1 ta chi daiki だいき |
(surname, given name) Daiki The great opportunity, or Mahāyāna method of becoming a bodhisattva. |
大法 see styles |
dà fǎ da4 fa3 ta fa daihou / daiho だいほう |
(1) {Buddh} great teachings (of the Buddha); (2) {Buddh} teachings of the Mahayana; (3) {Buddh} most important ritual (in esoteric Buddhism); (given name) Taihou The great Dharma, or Law (of Mahāyāna salvation). |
大空 see styles |
dà kōng da4 kong1 ta k`ung ta kung oozora おおぞら |
wide open sky; the blue; heavens; firmament; (male given name) Masataka The great void, or the Mahāyāna parinirvāṇa, as being more complete and final than the nirvāṇa of Hīnayāna. It is used in the Shingon sect for the great immaterial or spiritual wisdom, with its esoteric symbols; its weapons, such as the vajra; its samādhis; its sacred circles, or maṇḍalas, etc. It is used also for space, in which there is neither east, west, north, nor south. |
大船 see styles |
dà chuán da4 chuan2 ta ch`uan ta chuan oobune(p); oofune; taisen おおぶね(P); おおふね; たいせん |
large boat; (given name) Daisen The great ship of salvation — Mahāyāna. |
大車 大车 see styles |
dà chē da4 che1 ta ch`e ta che ooguruma おおぐるま |
(surname) Ooguruma The great bullock-cart in the parable of the burning house, i.e. Mahāyāna, v. Lotus Sutra. |
天親 天亲 see styles |
tiān qīn tian1 qin1 t`ien ch`in tien chin amachika あまちか |
one's flesh and blood (surname) Amachika Vasubandhu, 伐蘇畔度; 婆藪槃豆 (or 婆修槃豆) (or 婆修槃陀) 'akin to the gods ', or 世親 'akin to the world'. Vasubandhu is described as a native of Puruṣapura, or Peshawar, by Eitel as of Rājagriha, born '900 years after the nirvana', or about A. D. 400; Takakusu suggests 420-500, Peri puts his death not later than 350. In Eitel's day the date of his death was put definitely at A. D. 117. Vasubandhu's great work, the Abhidharmakośa, is only one of his thirty-six works. He is said to be the younger brother of Asaṅga of the Yogācāra school, by whom he was converted from the Sarvāstivāda school of thought to that of Mahāyāna and of Nāgārjuna. On his conversion he would have 'cut out his tongue' for its past heresy, but was dissuaded by his brother, who bade him use the same tongue to correct his errors, whereupon he wrote the 唯識論 and other Mahayanist works. He is called the twenty-first patriarch and died in Ayodhya. |
妙典 see styles |
miào diǎn miao4 dian3 miao tien myouden / myoden みょうでん |
(place-name) Myōden The classics of the wonderful dharma, i.e. Mahāyāna. |
妙覺 妙觉 see styles |
miào jué miao4 jue2 miao chüeh myōgaku |
The wonderful enlightenment of Mahāyāna, or self-enlightenment to enlighten others. |
妙趣 see styles |
miào qù miao4 qu4 miao ch`ü miao chü myoushu / myoshu みょうしゅ |
witty; clever; amusing exquisite beauty or charms The wonderful destiny or metempsychosis, i.e. that of Mahāyāna. |
始教 see styles |
shǐ jiào shi3 jiao4 shih chiao shikyō |
According to Tiantai, the preliminary teaching of the Mahāyāna, made by the Avataṃsaka (Kegon) School; also called 相始教; it discussed the nature of all phenomena as in the 唯識論, 空始教; and held to the immateriality of all things, but did not teach that all beings have the Buddha-nature. |
宗派 see styles |
zōng pài zong1 pai4 tsung p`ai tsung pai shuuha / shuha しゅうは |
sect (1) sect; denomination; (2) school (e.g. of poetry) Sects (of Buddhism). In India, according to Chinese accounts, the two schools of Hīnayāna became divided into twentysects. Mahāyāna had two main schools, the Mādhyamika, ascribed to Nāgārjunaand Āryadeva about the second century A. D., and the Yogācārya, ascribed toAsaṅga and Vasubandhu in the fourth century A. D. In China thirteen sectswere founded: (1) 倶舍宗 Abhidharma or Kośa sect, representing Hīnayāna,based upon the Abhidharma-kosa-śāstra or 倶舍論. (2) 成實宗 Satyasiddhi sect, based on the 成實論 Satyasiddhi-śāstra,tr. by Kumārajīva; no sect corresponds to it in India; in China and Japan itbecame incorporated in the 三論宗. (3) 律宗 Vinaya or Discipline sect, basedon 十誦律, 四分律, 僧祗律, etc. (4) 三論宗 The three śāstra sect, based on theMādhyamika-śāstra 中觀論 of Nāgārjuna, theSata-śāstra 百論 of Āryadeva, and theDvādasa-nikāya-śāstra 十二門論 of Nāgārjuna; this schooldates back to the translation of the three śāstras by Kumārajīva in A. D. 409. (5) 涅槃宗 Nirvāṇasect, based upon the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra 涅槃經 tr. byDharmaraksa in 423; later incorporated in Tiantai, with which it had much incommon. (6) 地論宗 Daśabhūmikā sect, based on Vasubandhu's work on the tenstages of the bodhisattva's path to Buddhahood, tr. by Bodhiruci 508,absorbed by the Avataṃsaka school, infra. (7) 淨土宗 Pure-land or Sukhāvatīsect, founded in China by Bodhiruci; its doctrine was salvation throughfaith in Amitābha into the Western Paradise. (8) 禪宗 dhyāna, meditative or intuitional sect, attributed toBodhidharma about A. D. 527, but it existed before he came to China. (9) 攝論宗, based upon the 攝大乘論 Mahāyāna-saṃparigraha-śāstra byAsaṅga, tr. by Paramārtha in 563, subsequently absorbed by the Avataṃsakasect. (10) 天台宗 Tiantai, based on the 法華經 SaddharmapuṇḍarīkaSūtra, or the Lotus of the Good Law; it is aconsummation of the Mādhyamika tradition. (11) 華嚴宗 Avataṃsaka sect, basedon the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, or Gandha-vyūha 華嚴經 tr. in 418. (12) 法相宗 Dharmalakṣaṇa sect, established after thereturn of Xuanzang from India and his trans. of the important Yogācāryaworks. (13) 眞言宗 Mantra sect, A. D. 716. In Japan twelve sects are named:Sanron, Hossō, Kegon, Kusha, Jōjitsu, Ritsu, Tendai, Shingon; these areknown as the ancient sects, the two last being styled mediaeval; therefollow the Zen and Jōdo; the remaining two are Shin and Nichiren; at presentthere are the Hossō, Kegon, Tendai, Shingon, Zen, Jōdo, Shin, and Nichirensects. |
寶乘 宝乘 see styles |
bǎo shèng bao3 sheng4 pao sheng hōjō |
The precious vehicle of the Lotus Sutra; the Mahāyāna. |
寶車 宝车 see styles |
bǎo chē bao3 che1 pao ch`e pao che hōsha |
The precious cart (in the Lotus Sutra), i.e. the one vehicle, the Mahāyāna. |
小乘 see styles |
xiǎo shèng xiao3 sheng4 hsiao sheng shōjō |
Hinayana, the Lesser Vehicle; Buddhism in India before the Mayahana sutras; also pr. [Xiao3 cheng2] Hīnayāna 希那衍. The small, or inferior wain, or vehicle; the form of Buddhism which developed after Śākyamuni's death to about the beginning of the Christian era, when Mahāyāna doctrines were introduced. It is the orthodox school and more in direct line with the Buddhist succession than Mahāyānism which developed on lines fundamentally different. The Buddha was a spiritual doctor, less interested in philosophy than in the remedy for human misery and perpetual transmigration. He "turned aside from idle metaphysical speculations; if he held views on such topics, he deemed them valueless for the purposes of salvation, which was his goal" (Keith). Metaphysical speculations arose after his death, and naturally developed into a variety of Hīnayāna schools before and after the separation of a distinct school of Mahāyāna. Hīnayāna remains the form in Ceylon, Burma, and Siam, hence is known as Southern Buddhism in contrast with Northern Buddhism or Mahāyāna, the form chiefly prevalent from Nepal to Japan. Another rough division is that of Pali and Sanskrit, Pali being the general literary language of the surviving form of Hīnayāna, Sanskrit of Mahāyāna. The term Hīnayāna is of Mahāyānist origination to emphasize the universalism and altruism of Mahāyāna over the narrower personal salvation of its rival. According to Mahāyāna teaching its own aim is universal Buddhahood, which means the utmost development of wisdom and the perfect transformation of all the living in the future state; it declares that Hīnayāna, aiming at arhatship and pratyekabuddhahood, seeks the destruction of body and mind and extinction in nirvāṇa. For arhatship the 四諦Four Noble Truths are the foundation teaching, for pratyekabuddhahood the 十二因緣 twelve-nidānas, and these two are therefore sometimes styled the two vehicles 二乘. Tiantai sometimes calls them the (Hīnayāna) Tripiṭaka school. Three of the eighteen Hīnayāna schools were transported to China: 倶舍 (Abhidharma) Kośa; 成實 Satya-siddhi; and the school of Harivarman, the律 Vinaya school. These are described by Mahāyānists as the Buddha's adaptable way of meeting the questions and capacity of his hearers, though his own mind is spoken of as always being in the absolute Mahāyāna all-embracing realm. Such is the Mahāyāna view of Hīnayāna, and if the Vaipulya sūtras and special scriptures of their school, which are repudiated by Hīnayāna, are apocryphal, of which there seems no doubt, then Mahāyāna in condemning Hīnayāna must find other support for its claim to orthodoxy. The sūtras on which it chiefly relies, as regards the Buddha, have no authenticity; while those of Hīnayāna cannot be accepted as his veritable teaching in the absence of fundamental research. Hīnayāna is said to have first been divided into minority and majority sections immediately after the death of Śākyamuni, when the sthāvira, or older disciples, remained in what is spoken of as "the cave", some place at Rājagṛha, to settle the future of the order, and the general body of disciples remained outside; these two are the first 上坐部 and 大衆部 q. v. The first doctrinal division is reported to have taken place under the leadership of the monk 大天 Mahādeva (q.v.) a hundred years after the Buddha's nirvāṇa and during the reign of Aśoka; his reign, however, has been placed later than this by historians. Mahādeva's sect became the Mahāsāṅghikā, the other the Sthāvira. In time the two are said to have divided into eighteen, which with the two originals are the so-called "twenty sects" of Hīnayāna. Another division of four sects, referred to by Yijing, is that of the 大衆部 (Arya) Mahāsaṅghanikāya, 上座部 Āryasthavirāḥ, 根本說一切有部 Mūlasarvāstivādaḥ, and 正量部 Saṃmatīyāḥ. There is still another division of five sects, 五部律. For the eighteen Hīnayāna sects see 小乘十八部. |
小空 see styles |
xiǎo kōng xiao3 kong1 hsiao k`ung hsiao kung kosora こそら |
(place-name) Kosora The Hīnayāna doctrine of the void, as contrasted with that of Mahāyāna. |
廻心 迴心 see styles |
huí xīn hui2 xin1 hui hsin eshin かいしん |
(noun/participle) conversion To turn the mind or heart towards (Mahāyāna). |
心識 心识 see styles |
xīn shì xin1 shi4 hsin shih shinshiki |
The mind and cognition; mind and its contents; the two are considered as identical in the Abhidharma-kośa, but different in Mahāyāna. |
忍智 see styles |
rěn zhì ren3 zhi4 jen chih ninchi |
Patience and wisdom. In the Hīnayāna, patience is cause, wisdom effect; in Mahāyāna, the two are merged, though patience precedes wisdom. |
戒壇 戒坛 see styles |
jiè tán jie4 tan2 chieh t`an chieh tan kaidan かいだん |
ordination platform in a Buddhist temple {Buddh} ordination platform The altar at which the commandments are received by the novice; the 方等戒壇 is the Mahāyāna altar. |
攝論 摄论 see styles |
shè lùn she4 lun4 she lun Shōron |
The collected śāstras, v. supra. |
文殊 see styles |
wén shū wen2 shu1 wen shu monju もんじゅ |
Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of keen awareness (Buddhist term) Manjushri; Manjusri; Bodhisattva that represents transcendent wisdom; (p,s,f) Monju (文殊師利) Mañjuśrī 滿殊尸利 -later 曼殊室利. 文殊 is also used for Mañjunātha, Mañjudeva, Mañjughoṣa, Mañjuṣvara, et al. T., hjamdpal; J., Monju. Origin unknown; presumably, like most Buddhas and bodhisattvas, an idealization of a particular quality, in his case of Wisdom. Mañju is beautiful, Śrī; good fortune, virtue, majesty, lord, an epithet of a god. Six definitions are obtained from various scriptures: 妙首 (or 頭 ) wonderful or beautiful) head; 普首 universal head; 濡首 glossy head (probably a transliteration); 敬首 revered head; 妙德 wonderful virtue (or power); 妙吉祥 wonderfully auspicious; the last is a later translation in the 西域記. As guardian of wisdom 智慧 he is often placed on Śākyamuni's left, with 普顯 on the right as guardian of law 理, the latter holding the Law, the former the wisdom or exposition of it; formerly they held the reverse positions. He is often represented with five curls or waves to his hair indicating the 五智 q. v. or the five peaks; his hand holds the sword of wisdom and he sits on a lion emblematic of its stern majesty: but he has other forms. He is represented as a youth, i. e. eternal youth. His present abode is given as east of the universe, known as 淸涼山 clear and cool mountain, or a region 寶住 precious abode, or Abode of Treasures, or 寶氏 from which he derives one of his titles, 寶相如來. One of his dhāraṇīs prophesies China as his post-nirvāṇa realm. In past incarnations he is described as being the parent of many Buddhas and as having assisted the Buddha into existence; his title was 龍種上佛 the supreme Buddha of the nāgas, also 大身佛 or 神仙佛; now his title is 歡喜藏摩尼寶精佛 The spiritual Buddha who joyfully cares for the jewel: and his future title is to be 普現佛 Buddha universally revealed. In the 序品 Introductory Chapter of the Lotus Sutra he is also described as the ninth predecessor or Buddha-ancestor of Śākyamuni. He is looked on as the chief of the Bodhisattvas and represents them, as the chief disciple of the Buddha, or as his son 法王子. Hīnayāna counts Śāriputra as the wisest of the disciples, Mahāyāna gives Mañjuśrī the chief place, hence he is also styled 覺母 mother, or begetter of understanding. He is shown riding on either a lion or a peacock, or sitting on a white lotus; often he holds a book, emblem of wisdom, or a blue lotus; in certain rooms of a monastery he is shown as a monk; and he appears in military array as defender of the faith. His signs, magic words, and so on, are found in various sutras. His most famous centre in China is Wu-tai shan in Shansi. where he is the object of pilgrimages, especially of Mongols. The legends about him are many. He takes the place in Buddhism of Viśvakarman as Vulcan, or architect, of the universe. He is one of the eight Dhyāni-bodhisattvas, and sometimes has the image of Akṣobhya in his crown. He was mentioned in China as early as the fourth century and in the Lotus Sutra he frequently appears, especially as the converter of the daughter of the Dragon-king of the Ocean. He has five messengers 五使者 and eight youths 八童子 attending on him. His hall in the Garbhadhātu maṇḍala is the seventh, in which his group numbers twenty-five. His position is northeast. There are numerous sutras and other works with his name as title, e. g. 文殊師利問菩提經 Gayaśīrṣa sūtra, tr. by Kumārajīva 384-417: and its 論 or .Tīkā of Vasubandhu, tr. by Bodhiruci 535. see list in B. N. |
斷肉 断肉 see styles |
duàn ròu duan4 rou4 tuan jou danniku |
To forbid flesh; meat was permitted by the Buddha under the Hīnayāna cult, but forbidden in Mahāyāna under the bodhisattva cult, and also by Hīnayāna. |
方便 see styles |
fāng biàn fang1 bian4 fang pien houben / hoben ほうべん |
convenient; suitable; to facilitate; to make things easy; having money to spare; (euphemism) to relieve oneself (1) means; expedient; instrument; (2) {Buddh} upaya (skillful means, methods of teaching); (surname) Houben upāya. Convenient to the place, or situation, suited to the condition, opportune, appropriate; but 方 is interpreted as 方法 method, mode, plan, and 便 as 便用 convenient for use, i. e. a convenient or expedient method; also 方 as 方正 and 便 as 巧妙, which implies strategically correct. It is also intp. as 權道智 partial, temporary, or relative (teaching of) knowledge of reality, in contrast with 般若智 prajñā, and 眞實 absolute truth, or reality instead of the seeming. The term is a translation of 傴和 upāya, a mode of approach, an expedient, stratagem, device. The meaning is— teaching according to the capacity of the hearer, by any suitable method, including that of device or stratagem, but expedience beneficial to the recipient is understood. Mahāyāna claims that the Buddha used this expedient or partial method in his teaching until near the end of his days, when he enlarged it to the revelation of reality, or the preaching of his final and complete truth; Hīnayāna with reason denies this, and it is evident that the Mahāyāna claim has no foundation, for the whole of its 方等 or 方廣 scriptures are of later invention. Tiantai speaks of the 三乘 q. v. or Three Vehicles as 方便 expedient or partial revelations, and of its 一乘 or One Vehicle as the complete revelation of universal Buddhahood. This is the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, which itself contains 方便 teaching to lead up to the full revelation; hence the terms 體内 (or 同體 ) 方便, i. e. expedient or partial truths within the full revelation, meaning the expedient part of the Lotus, and 體外方便 the expedient or partial truths of the teaching which preceded the Lotus; see the 方便品 of that work, also the second chapter of the 維摩經. 方便 is also the seventh of the ten pāramitās. |
方典 see styles |
fāng diǎn fang1 dian3 fang tien masanori まさのり |
(personal name) Masanori A term covering the whole of the Mahāyāna sutras, idem 方等經典. |
方廣 方广 see styles |
fāng guǎng fang1 guang3 fang kuang hōkō |
vaipulya, 毘佛略 expansion, enlargement, broad, spacious. 方 is intp. by 方正 correct in doctrine and 廣 by 廣博 broad or wide; some interpret it by elaboration, or fuller explanation of the doctrine; in general it may be taken as the broad school, or wider teaching, in contrast with the narrow school, or Hīnayāna. The term covers the whole of the specifically Mahāyāna sutras. The sutras are also known as 無量義經 scriptures of measureless meaning, i. e. universalistic, or the infinite. Cf. 方等. |
方等 see styles |
fāng děng fang1 deng3 fang teng hōdō |
vaipulya; cf. 方廣. 方 is interpreted as referring to the doctrine, 等 as equal, or universal, i. e. everynwhere equally. An attempt is made to distinguish between the two above terms, 方廣 being now used for vaipulya, but they are interchangeable. Eitel says the vaipulya sutras 'are distinguished by an expansion of doctrine and style (Sūtras developées, Burnouf). They are apparently of later date, showing the influence of different schools; their style is diffuse and prolix, repeating the same idea over and over again in prose and in verse; they are also frequently interlarded with prophecies and dhāraṇīs'; but the two terms seem to refer rather to the content than the form. The content is that of universalism. Chinese Buddhists assert that all the sutras from the 華嚴 Huayan onwards are of this class and therefore are Mahāyāna. Consequently all 方等 or 方廣 sutras are claimed by that school. Cf. 方便. |
有教 see styles |
yǒu jiào you3 jiao4 yu chiao yuukyou / yukyo ゆうきょう |
(given name) Yūkyō The realistic school as opposed to the 空教 teaching of unreality; especially (1) the Hīnayāna teaching of the 倶舍宗 Abhidharmakośa school of Vasubandhu, opposed to the 成實宗 Satya-siddhi school of Harivarman; (2) the Mahāyāna 法相宗 Dharma-lakṣana school, also called the 唯識宗, founded in China by Xuanzang, opposed to the 三論宗 Mādhyamika school of Nāgārjuna. |
沓婆 see styles |
tà pó ta4 po2 t`a p`o ta po Tōba |
沓婆摩羅 Dravya Mallaputra, an arhat who was converted to the Mahāyāna faith. |
法性 see styles |
fǎ xìng fa3 xing4 fa hsing hosshou; houshou / hossho; hosho ほっしょう; ほうしょう |
{Buddh} (See 法相・ほっそう・1) dharmata (dharma nature, the true nature of all manifest phenomena); (personal name) Hosshou dharmatā. Dharma-nature, the nature underlying all thing, the bhūtatathatā, a Mahāyāna philosophical concept unknown in Hīnayāna, v. 眞如 and its various definitions in the 法相, 三論 (or法性), 華嚴, and 天台 Schools. It is discussed both in its absolute and relative senses, or static and dynamic. In the Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra and various śāstras the term has numerous alternative forms, which may be taken as definitions, i. e. 法定 inherent dharma, or Buddha-nature; 法住 abiding dharma-nature; 法界 dharmakṣetra, realm of dharma; 法身 dharmakāya, embodiment of dharma; 實際 region of reality; 實相 reality; 空性 nature of the Void, i. e. immaterial nature; 佛性 Buddha-nature; 無相 appearance of nothingness, or immateriality; 眞如 bhūtatathatā; 如來藏 tathāgatagarbha; 平等性 universal nature; 離生性 immortal nature; 無我性 impersonal nature; 虛定界: realm of abstraction; 不虛妄性 nature of no illusion; 不變異性 immutable nature; 不思議界 realm beyond thought; 自性淸淨心 mind of absolute purity, or unsulliedness, etc. Of these the terms 眞如, 法性, and 實際 are most used by the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. |
法相 see styles |
fǎ xiàng fa3 xiang4 fa hsiang hossou / hosso ほっそう |
(1) {Buddh} (See 法性) dharmalaksana (dharma characteristics, the specific characteristics of all manifest phenomena); (2) (abbreviation) (See 法相宗) Hosso sect of Buddhism The aspects of characteristics of things-all things are of monad nature but differ in form. A name of the 法相宗 Faxiang or Dharmalakṣaṇa sect (Jap. Hossō), called also 慈恩宗 Cien sect from the Tang temple, in which lived 窺基 Kuiji, known also as 慈恩. It "aims at discovering the ultimate entity of cosmic existence n contemplation, through investigation into the specific characteristics (the marks or criteria) of all existence, and through the realization of the fundamental nature of the soul in mystic illumination". "An inexhaustible number" of "seeds" are "stored up in the Ālaya-soul; they manifest themselves in innumerable varieties of existence, both physical and mental". "Though there are infinite varieties. . . they all participate in the prime nature of the ālaya." Anesaki. The Faxiang School is one of the "eight schools", and was established in China on the return of Xuanzang, consequent on his translation of the Yogācārya works. Its aim is to understand the principle underlying the 萬法性相 or nature and characteristics of all things. Its foundation works are the 解深密經, the 唯識論, and the 瑜伽論. It is one of the Mahāyāna realistic schools, opposed by the idealistic schools, e.g. the 三論 school; yet it was a "combination of realism and idealism, and its religion a profoundly mystic one". Anesaki. |
涅槃 see styles |
niè pán nie4 pan2 nieh p`an nieh pan nehan ねはん |
nirvana (Buddhism) (1) {Buddh} nirvana; supreme enlightenment; (2) {Buddh} death; death of Buddha nirvāṇa, 'blown out, gone out, put out, extinguished'; 'liberated-from existence'; 'dead, deceased, defunct.' 'Liberation, eternal bliss'; '(with Buddhists and Jainas) absolute extinction or annihilation, complete extinction of individual existence.' M.W. Other forms are 涅槃那; 泥日; 泥洹; 泥畔 Originally translated 滅 to extinguish, extinction, put out (as a lamp or fire), it was also described as 解脫 release, 寂滅 tranquil extinction; 無爲 inaction, without effort, passiveness; 不生 no (re)birth; 安樂 calm joy; 滅度transmigration to 'extinction'. The meaning given to 'extinction' varies, e.g. individual extinction; cessation of rebirth; annihilation of passion; extinction of all misery and entry into bliss. While the meaning of individual extinction is not without advocates, the general acceptation is the extinction or end of all return to reincarnation with its concomitant suffering, and the entry into bliss. Nirvāṇa may be enjoyed in the present life as an attainable state, with entry into parinirvāṇa, or perfect bliss to follow. It may be (a) with a 'remainder', i.e. the cause but not all the effect (karma), of reincarnation having been destroyed; (b) without 'remainder', both cause and effect having been extinguished. The answer of the Buddha as to the continued personal existence of the Tathāgata in nirvāṇa is, in the Hīnayāna canon, relegated 'to the sphere of the indeterminates' (Keith), as one of the questions which are not essential to salvation. One argument is that flame when blown out does not perish but returns to the totality of Fire. The Nirvāṇa Sutra claims for nirvāṇa the ancient ideas of 常樂我淨 permanence, bliss, personality purity in the transcendental realm. Mahāyāna declares that Hīnayāna by denying personality in the transcendental realm denies the existence of the Buddha. In Mahāyāna final nirvāṇa is transcendental, and is also used as a term for the absolute. The place where the Buddha entered his earthly nirvāṇa is given as Kuśinagara, cf. 拘. |
深經 深经 see styles |
shēn jīng shen1 jing1 shen ching jinkyō |
深藏 The profound sutras, or texts, those of Mahāyāna. |
Entries with 2nd row of characters: The 2nd row is Simplified Chinese.
This page contains 100 results for "mahayana" in Chinese and/or Japanese.Information about this dictionary:
Apparently, we were the first ones who were crazy enough to think that western people might want a combined Chinese, Japanese, and Buddhist dictionary.
A lot of westerners can't tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese - and there is a reason for that. Chinese characters and even whole words were borrowed by Japan from the Chinese language in the 5th century. Much of the time, if a word or character is used in both languages, it will have the same or a similar meaning. However, this is not always true. Language evolves, and meanings independently change in each language.
Example: The Chinese character 湯 for soup (hot water) has come to mean bath (hot water) in Japanese. They have the same root meaning of "hot water", but a 湯屋 sign on a bathhouse in Japan would lead a Chinese person to think it was a "soup house" or a place to get a bowl of soup. See this: Japanese Bath House
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Chinese Buddhist terms come from Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms by William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous. This is commonly referred to as "Soothill's'". It was first published in 1937 (and is now off copyright so we can use it here). Some of these definitions may be misleading, incomplete, or dated, but 95% of it is good information. Every professor who teaches Buddhism or Eastern Religion has a copy of this on their bookshelf. We incorporated these 16,850 entries into our dictionary database ourselves (it was lot of work).
Combined, these cover 1,007,753 Japanese, Chinese, and Buddhist characters, words, idioms, names, placenames, and short phrases.
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