Buddhism Vocabulary 8.20.09

Interfaith Speakers Bureau Vocabulary List for Buddhism

• Abhidharma: collection of Buddhist sacred texts which consists of commentaries and explanations of the sutras by Buddhist masters

• Arhat: a Buddhist saint within the Theravada tradition; one who is free from desires, anger, and ignorance; one who has attained nirvana

• Bodhisattva path: the practice of the Six Perfections which leads to the liberation of not only oneself, but also an immeasurable number of other sentient beings

• Bodhisattva: ideal being in Mahayana Buddhism, one who has attained enlightenment but renounces nirvana for the sake of helping all sentient beings to liberation

• Buddha’s birthday: one of the most important holy days for a Buddhist, also known as “Vesak Day”, celebrated on April 8th or May 15th on the lunar calendar

• The Buddha: a title that literally means “Enlightened One.” It generally refers to the historical person known as Siddhārtha Gautama and Shakyamuni ("sage of the Shakyas"), as he was born a chief of the Shakya clan. He is considered to be the founder of Buddhism. The period of his lifetime is debated, but one range of dates suggests his birth in c. 563 BCE and his death in 483 BCE.

• Buddhahood: the state of ultimate enlightenment

• Buddhist: someone who practices Buddhism

• Dalai Lama: historically the spiritual and political leader of Tibet; Dalai means “ocean (of wisdom)”; Lama means “teacher” and “guru”

• Dependent Origination: all phenomena we observe in this world arise from a certain set of causal conditions, having no inherent, permanent existence

• Dharma: the teachings of the Buddha

• Emptiness: because of dependent origination and impermanence, all things have no intrinsic, unchanging characteristics

• The Five Precepts: the core of Buddhist ethics. These are the precepts that laity takes (ordained Buddhists have hundreds of precepts): no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying / improper speech, and no intoxicants (including alcohol)

• Four Noble Truths: 1. All human beings suffer in the course of their lives; 2. The causes of all suffering are from our mind (in particular, greed, anger, and ignorance) and actions so generated; 3. The complete extinction of suffering (nirvana) is attainable by everyone; 4. The path to nirvana is by following the Noble Eightfold Path

• Impermanence: since each causal condition is changing every moment, all things are Impermanent

• Karma: the principle of causality: all actions we perform, beneficial or harmful, effect ourselves and/or other sentient beings; in due time, beneficial actions will bring blessings to the doer;

Page 1 whereas, harmful actions will bring suffering to the doer. All Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) share this philosophy of the law of cause and effect for this life and those to come. This law or principle explains why bad things and good things happen

• Mahayana Buddhism: more liberal in its interpretation of the precepts, with many more Mahayana scriptures which elaborate on the bodhisattva way and the practice of Six Perfections. Mahayana is often understood to emphasize compassion, whereas Theravada tradition emphasizes the goal of liberation.

• Meditation: methods of disciplining the mind, which helps calm the mind and clear it of unwanted thoughts so that the mind can have an unbiased perception of reality

• The Middle Way: a philosophy of life developed by the Buddha which rejects both a life of opulence and a life of ascetic, self-denial. The path in between these extremes, the Buddha taught, is most effective for a spiritual path

• Monastic precepts: numbering from 250 to 500, they are very extensive and cover all aspects of a Buddhist monk and nun’s life, including proper conduct, eating, dressing, walking, living abode, possession, etc.

• Monk: an ordained Buddhist who observes the strict monastic precepts; monks observe celibacy, have no personal wealth, and are devoted to the study, practice, and teaching of Buddhism; “bhiksu” (male) or “bhiksuni” (female) in Sanskrit

• Nirvana: the complete extinction of suffering; ultimate peace and bliss

• The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought (or intention), right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right samadhi (meditation)

• Pure Land Buddhism: a school of the Mahayana tradition which perceives Nirvana (liberation, awakening, salvation) as having become increasingly difficult to attain in this world and time. They teach that through devotion to Amitābha Buddha one can be reborn in the Pure Land, a perfect realm in which enlightenment is guaranteed. Followers single-mindedly chant the name of Amitābha Buddha’s to attain purity of mind and to be reborn in the Pure Land

• Sangha: the Buddhist monastic community

• The Six Perfections: perfection of charity, morality, tolerance, diligence, meditation, and wisdom; necessary practice to become a Buddha; perfection of charity means to achieve the “Triple Emptiness”

• The Sutras: Buddhist scriptures which are the Buddha’s words

• Theraveda Buddhism: “the elders”; more closely in line with the way of life during Buddha’s Time. It focuses on the practice of the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Paths, becoming an arhat, and the attainment of nirvana

• The Three Jewels: traditionally, the first step in most Buddhist schools requires taking refuge in the Three Jewels as the foundation of one's religious practice. These are the sangha (the monastic community), the Buddha (the Enlightened One), and the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha)

• Tripitaka: three Collections of sacred texts (Sutras, Vinaya, Abhidharma)

• Vajrayana: a school of the Mahayana tradition; to many Westerners, it is synonymous with Tibetan Buddhism because it is the only form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet

Page 2 • Vinaya: part of the collection of Buddhist sacred texts which provide the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community or sangha; it consists of monastic and lay precepts and ethical codes

• Zen Buddhism: a school of the Mahayana tradition that emphasizes meditation to directly realize the mind of the Buddha; known as “Chan” Buddhism in China. The word “Zen” comes from Japan.

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