TERMS STARTING WITH
Japamaala: Rosary (to count the number of repetitio done).
Japa must come in a live push carrying the Joy or the light of the thing in it,
Japan and Korea
Japanese Colonial Period 1910-1945
Japanese cosmogony says that “out of the chaotic mass, an egg-like nucleus appears, having within itself the germ and potency of all the universal as well as of all terrestrial life” (SD 1:216).
Japanese Cross-References
Japanese Historical Periods
Japarahitadhyana: Meditation without repetition of a Mantra.
Japa: Repetition of God's Name again and again; repetition of a Mantra.
Japasahitadhyana: Meditation with the repetition a Mantra.
Japa (Sanskrit) Japa [from the verbal root jap to murmur, whisper] The practice of certain yogis of repeating in a murmuring tone passages from the scriptures or mantras, or the names of a deity.
Japa: Sanskrit for invocation.
JAPA. ::: Japa is usually successful only on one of two condi- tions ::: if it is repeated with a sense of its significance, a dwelling of something in the mind on the nature, power, beauty, attrac- tion of the Godhead it signifies and is to bring into the cons- ciousness, — - that is the mental way ; or if it comes up from the heart or rings in it with a certain sense or feeling of bhak'ti making it alive, — that is the emotional way. Either the mind or the vital has to give it support or sustenance. But if it makes the mind dry and the vital restless, it must be missing that sup- port and sustenance. There « of course a third way, the reliance on the power of the Mantra or name in itself ; but then one has to go on till that power has sufficiently impressed its vibra- tion on the inner being to make it at a given moment suddenly open to the Presence or the Touch. But Jf there is a struggling or insistence for the result, then this c/Tect which needs a quiet receptivity In the mind is impeded.
japa. ::: incantation; a spiritual discipline involving the meditative repetition of the Lord's name or a mantra as a means to a continual recollection of His presence; uttering the names of the gods or sacred mantras, like OM, either mentally or spoken softly as a method of spiritual practice
japamālā
japamālā. (T. bzlas brjod kyi 'phreng ba; C. shuzhu/nianzhu; J. juzu/nenju; K. suju/yomju 數珠/念珠). In Sanskrit and Pāli, lit. "garland for recitation," thus "prayer beads" or "rosary"; a string of beads held usually in the right hand and fingered by adherents to keep count of the number of recitations made in the course of a worship service, MANTRA recitation, or meditation session. The beads are often made from sandalwood or seeds of the BODHI TREE (Ficus religiosa), the tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment, although rosaries made from a range of other materials are also common; in some tantric practices, a rosary with beads made from human bone is used. The number of beads on a rosary varies widely. The most common number is 108, the significance of which receives widely varying explanations. One common interpretation is that this number refers to a list of 108 afflictions (KLEsA); fingering all 108 beads in the course of a recitation would then be either a reminder to remain mindful of these afflictions or would constitute their symbolic purification. Alternatively, this 108 can refer to all of phenomenal existence, i.e., the eighteen elements (DHĀTU), viz., the six sense bases, six sense objects, and six sensory consciousnesses, in all of the six states of existence (GATI) (18 × 6 = 108). In Tibetan Buddhism, the number 111 is sometimes used, based on the assumption that for each ten mantras recited, one will be mistaken and need to be repeated, thus adding an additional ten beads for 110. An additional bead is then added to account for the mistaken recitation among the additional ten. Thus, although a mantra might be recited 111 times, only 100 are counted. The Chinese PURE LAND advocate DAOCHUO (562-645) is famous for having used small beans (xiaodou) to keep track of the number of times he had recited the buddha AMITĀBHA's name (see NIANFO); some believe his habit of using such counting beans is the origin of the East Asian japamālā. In many Buddhist traditions, carrying a rosary serves almost as a symbol of the faith. In East Asia, Buddhist monks and nuns, and even many lay adherents, will commonly wear the full-length rosary around their necks. Rosaries of abbreviated lengths, which are more typically worn around the wrist, are sometimes designated duanzhu (J. tanju; K. tanju), or "short rosary." These rosaries will be a maximum of fifty-four beads in length (half the usual length), which would require two repetitions to complete a full round of recitation, and a minimum of nine beads, which would take twelve repetitions. In Tibetan Buddhism, a short rosary is sometimes worn around the right hand while doing prostrations. The CHAN school often uses a short rosary with eighteen beads, requiring six repetitions. See also JAPA.
japanese ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Japan, or its inhabitants. ::: n. sing. & pl. --> A native or inhabitant of Japan; collectively, the people of Japan.
The language of the people of Japan.
japanned ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Japan ::: a. --> Treated, or coated, with varnish in the Japanese manner.
japanner ::: n. --> One who varnishes in the manner of the Japanese, or one skilled in the art.
A bootblack.
japanning ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Japan ::: n. --> The art or act of varnishing in the Japanese manner.
japannish ::: a. --> After the manner of the Japanese; resembling japanned articles.
japan ::: n. --> Work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner; also, the varnish or lacquer used in japanning. ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Japan, or to the lacquered work of that country; as, Japan ware.
japa ::: [repetition of a mantra or a name of God].
japa
japa. (T. bzlas brjod; C. niansong; J. nenju; K. yomsong 念誦). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "recitation"; usually oral recitations of invocations or MANTRAs, often counted by fingering a rosary (JAPAMĀLĀ). The various merits forthcoming from specific numbers of such recitations are related in different scriptures. The number of such recitations to be performed in a single sitting is often related to specific numerical lists, such as varying rosters of stages on the BODHISATTVA path. The recitation would then constitute a reenactment of the path, or a process of purification. Perhaps the most common number across traditions is 108, but these numbers range from as few as seven, to fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-seven, thirty-six, forty-two, or fifty-four, up to as many as 1,080. The common figure of 108 is typically said to correspond to a list of 108 proclivities or afflictions (see KLEsA), although other texts say it refers instead to lists of 108 enlightened ones or 108 SAMĀDHIs; 1,080 would then constitute these 108 across all the ten directions (DAsADIs). (See also other explanations in JAPAMĀLĀ, s.v.)
japa ::: whispering, muttering; softly reciting scriptures or prayers.
TERMS ANYWHERE
25. Japanese Buddhist writings (vols. 56-84)
abhidharma. (P. abhidhamma; T. chos mngon pa; C. apidamo/duifa; J. abidatsuma/taiho; K. abidalma/taebop 阿毘達磨/對法). In Sanskrit, abhidharma is a prepositional compound composed of abhi- + dharma. The compound is typically glossed with abhi being interpreted as equivalent to uttama and meaning "highest" or "advanced" DHARMA (viz., doctrines or teachings), or abhi meaning "pertaining to" the dharma. The SARVASTIVADA Sanskrit tradition typically follows the latter etymology, while the THERAVADA PAli tradition prefers the former, as in BUDDHAGHOSA's gloss of the term meaning either "special dharma" or "supplementary dharma." These definitions suggest that abhidharma was conceived as a precise (P. nippariyAya), definitive (PARAMARTHA) assessment of the dharma that was presented in its discursive (P. sappariyAya), conventional (SAMVṚTI) form in the SuTRAS. Where the sutras offered more subjective presentations of the dharma, drawing on worldly parlance, simile, metaphor, and personal anecdote in order to appeal to their specific audiences, the abhidharma provided an objective, impersonal, and highly technical description of the specific characteristics of reality and the causal processes governing production and cessation. There are two divergent theories for the emergence of the abhidharma as a separate genre of Buddhist literature. In one theory, accepted by most Western scholars, the abhidharma is thought to have evolved out of the "matrices" (S. MATṚKA; P. mAtikA), or numerical lists of dharmas, that were used as mnemonic devices for organizing the teachings of the Buddha systematically. Such treatments of dharma are found even in the sutra literature and are probably an inevitable by-product of the oral quality of early Buddhist textual transmission. A second theory, favored by Japanese scholars, is that abhidharma evolved from catechistic discussions (abhidharmakathA) in which a dialogic format was used to clarify problematic issues in doctrine. The dialogic style also appears prominently in the sutras where, for example, the Buddha might give a brief statement of doctrine (uddesa; P. uddesa) whose meaning had to be drawn out through exegesis (NIRDEsA; P. niddesa); indeed, MAHAKATYAYANA, one of the ten major disciples of the Buddha, was noted for his skill in such explications. This same style was prominent enough in the sutras even to be listed as one of the nine or twelve genres of Buddhist literature (specifically, VYAKARAnA; P. veyyAkarana). According to tradition, the Buddha first taught the abhidharma to his mother MAHAMAYA, who had died shortly after his birth and been reborn as a god in TUsITA heaven. He met her in the heaven of the thirty-three (TRAYASTRIMsA), where he expounded the abhidharma to her and the other divinities there, repeating those teachings to sARIPUTRA when he descended each day to go on his alms-round. sAriputra was renowned as a master of the abhidharma. Abhidharma primarily sets forth the training in higher wisdom (ADHIPRAJNAsIKsA) and involves both analytical and synthetic modes of doctrinal exegesis. The body of scholastic literature that developed from this exegetical style was compiled into the ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, one of the three principal sections of the Buddhist canon, or TRIPItAKA, along with sutra and VINAYA, and is concerned primarily with scholastic discussions on epistemology, cosmology, psychology, KARMAN, rebirth, and the constituents of the process of enlightenment and the path (MARGA) to salvation. (In the MAHAYANA tradition, this abhidharmapitaka is sometimes redefined as a broader "treatise basket," or *sASTRAPItAKA.)
AbhirupA NandA. In PAli, "NandA the Lovely"; one of three prominent nuns named NandA mentioned in the PAli canon (the others being JANAPADAKALYAnĪ NANDA and SUNDARĪ NANDA), all of whom share similar stories. According to PAli sources, AbhirupA NandA was said to be the daughter of the SAkiyan (S. sAKYA) chieftain Khemaka and lived in Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU). She was renowned for her extraordinary beauty, for which she was given the epithet AbhirupA (Lovely). So popular was she that her parents became vexed by the many suitors who sought her hand in marriage. As was the SAkiyan custom, NandA was entitled to choose her future husband, but on the day she was to wed, her fiancé died and her parents forced her into the monastic order against her will. Exceedingly proud of her beauty and having no real religious vocation, she avoided visiting the Buddha lest he rebuke her for her vanity. Learning of her reluctance, the Buddha instructed MahApajApatī (S. MAHAPRAJAPATĪ), his stepmother and head of the nuns' order, to arrange for every nun in her charge to come to him for instruction. NandA, in fear, sent a substitute in her place but the ruse was uncovered. When NandA was finally compelled to appear before the Buddha, he created an apparition of lovely women standing and fanning him. NandA was enthralled by the beauty of the conjured maidens, whom the Buddha then caused to age, grow decrepit, die, and rot, right before her eyes. The Buddha then preached to her about the fragility of physical beauty. Having been given a suitable subject of meditation (KAMMAttHANA), NandA eventually gained insight into the impermanence (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and lack of self (ANATMAN) of all conditioned things and attained arahatship. The source for the stories related to AbhirupA NandA is the commentarial note to verses nineteen and twenty of the PAli THERĪGATHA, a text only known to the PAli tradition.
Abraxas, Abrasax (Gnostic) Mystical term used by the Gnostics to indicate the supreme entity of our cosmic hierarchy or its manifestation in the human being which they called the Christos. Abraxas has the value of 365, based on numerical equivalents of the Greek alphabet. Because 365 represents the cycle of one revolution of our planet around the sun, they held that in Abraxas were mystically contained the full number of families of entities composing a hierarchy. These entities received from their supreme illuminator, Abraxas, the streams of life and inspiration governing their existence. Thus in a sense Abraxas is the cosmic Oversoul, the creative or Third Logos, Brahma. The Basilidean Gnostics taught that from this supreme God was created nous (mind). Abraxas also was identified with the Hebrew ’Adonai, the Egyptian Horus, and the Hindu Prajapati.
AcalanAtha-VidyArAja. (T. Mi g.yo mgon po rig pa'i rgyal po; C. Budong mingwang; J. Fudo myoo; K. Pudong myongwang 不動明王). In Sanskrit, a wrathful DHARMAPALA of the VAJRAYANA pantheon and the chief of the eight VIDYARAJA. As described in the MAHAVAIROCANABHISAMBODHISuTRA, he is the NIRMAnAKAYA of VAIROCANA, a protector of boundaries and vanquisher of obstacles. A late Indian deity, AcalanAtha-VidyArAja possibly originated from the YAKsA form of VAJRAPAnI, with whom he is associated in his form of AcalavajrapAni. Indian forms of the god from the eleventh century show him kneeling on his left leg, holding a sword (khadga). VajrayAna images show him standing with one or three faces and varied numbers of pairs of hands, identified by his raised sword, snare, and ACALASANA. The cult of AcalanAtha-VidyArAja entered China during the first millennium CE, and was brought to Japan by KuKAI in the ninth century, where the wrathful deity (known in Japanese as Fudo myoo) became important for the Shingon school (SHINGONSHu), even being listed by it as one of the thirteen buddhas. In East Asian iconography, AcalanAtha-VidyArAja holds the sword and a snare or lasso (pAsa), with which he binds evil spirits.
AcArya. (P. Acariya; Thai AchAn; T. slob dpon; C. asheli; J. ajari; K. asari 阿闍梨). In Sanskrit, "teacher" or "master"; the term literally means "one who teaches the AcAra (proper conduct)," but it has come into general use as a title for religious teachers. In early Buddhism, it refers specifically to someone who teaches the supra dharma and is used in contrast to the UPADHYAYA (P. upajjhAya) or "preceptor." (See ACARIYA entry supra.) The title AcArya becomes particularly important in VAJRAYANA Buddhism, where the officiant of a tantric ritual is often viewed as the vajra master (VAJRACARYA). The term has recently been adopted by Tibetan monastic universities in India as a degree (similar to a Master of Arts) conferred upon graduation. In Japan, the term refers to a wise teacher, saint, holy person, or a wonder-worker who is most often a Buddhist monk. The term is used by many Japanese Buddhist traditions, including ZEN, TENDAI, and SHINGON. Within the Japanese Zen context, an ajari is a formal title given to those who have been training for five years or more.
According to the Aitareya-Brahmana, Brahma as Prajapati (lord of beings) manifests himself first of all as twelve bodies or attributes, which are represented by the twelve gods, symbolizing 1) fire; 2) the sun; 3) soma, which gives omniscience; 4) all living beings; 5) vayu, or ether; 6) death, or breath of destruction — Siva; 7) earth; 8) heaven; 9) Agni, the immaterial fire; 10) Aditya, the immaterial and invisible sun; 11) mind; and 12) the great infinite cycle, “which is not to be stopped.” Brahma in one of his phases therefore is the visible universe, every atom of which is essentially himself.
AdhyardhasatikAprajNApAramitAsutra/PrajNApAramitAnayasatapaNcasatikA. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i tshul brgya lnga bcu pa; C. Shixiang bore boluomi jing/Bore liqu fen; J. Jisso hannya haramitsukyo/Hannya rishubun; K. Silsang panya paramil kyong/Panya ich'wi pun 實相般若波羅蜜經/般若理趣分). In Sanskrit, "Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines." The basic verses (in Sanskrit) and a commentary describing the ritual accompanying its recitation (originally in Khotanese), are found together as two YOGA class tantras, the srīparmAdhya (T. Dpal mchog dang po) and srīvajramandalAlaMkAra (T. Dpal rdo rje snying po rgyan). In Japan, AMOGHAVAJRA's version of the text (called the Rishukyo) came to form an integral part of the philosophy and practice of the Japanese Shingon sect (SHINGONSHu).
Adi-buddha (Sanskrit) Ādi-buddha [from ādi first, original + the verbal root budh to awaken, perceive, know] First or primeval buddha; the supreme being above all other buddhas and bodhisattvas in the later Mahayana Buddhism of Tibet, Nepal, Java, and Japan. In theosophical writings, the highest aspect or subentity of the supreme Wondrous Being of our universe, existing in the most exalted dharmakaya state.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. "company" (AMD) A US manufacturer of {integrated circuits}, founded in 1969. AMD was the fifth-largest IC manufacturer in 1995. AMD focuses on the personal and networked computation and communications market. They produce {microprocessors}, {embedded processors} and related peripherals, memories, {programmable logic devices}, circuits for telecommunications and networking applications. In 1995, AMD had 12000 employees in the USA and elsewhere and manufacturing facilities in Austin, Texas; Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan; Bangkok, Thailand; Penang, Malaysia; and Singapore. AMD made the {AMD 2900} series of {bit-slice} {TTL} components and clones of the {Intel 80386} and {Intel 486} {microprocessors}. {AMD Home (http://amd.com/)}. Address: Sunnyvale, CA, USA. (1995-02-27)
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ::: (company) (AMD) A US manufacturer of integrated circuits, founded in 1969. AMD was the fifth-largest IC manufacturer in 1995. AMD focuses on the programmable logic devices, circuits for telecommunications and networking applications.In 1995, AMD had 12000 employees in the USA and elsewhere and manufacturing facilities in Austin, Texas; Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan; Bangkok, Thailand; Penang, Malaysia; and Singapore.AMD made the AMD 2900 series of bit-slice TTL components and clones of the Intel 80386 and Intel 486 microprocessors. .Address: Sunnyvale, CA, USA. (1995-02-27)
Agonshu. (阿含宗). In Japanese, "AGAMA School"; a Japanese "new religion" structured from elements drawn from esoteric Buddhism (MIKKYo) and indigenous Japanese religions; founded in 1970 by Kiriyama Seiyu (born Tsutsumi Masao in 1921). Kiriyama's teachings are presented first in his Henshin no genri ("Principles of Transformation"; 1975). Kiriyama believed he had been saved by the compassion of Kannon (AVALOKITEsVARA) and was told by that BODHISATTVA to teach others using the HOMA (J. goma) fire rituals drawn from Buddhist esoteric (MIKKYo) traditions. Later, while Kiriyama was reading the Agama (J. agon) scriptures, he realized that Buddhism as it was currently constituted in Japan did not correspond to the original teachings of the Buddha. In 1978, Kiriyama changed the name of his religious movement to Agon, the Japanese pronunciation of the transcription of Agama, positing that his teachings derived from the earliest scriptures of Buddhism and thus legitimizing them. His practices are fundamentally concerned with removing practitioners' karmic hindrances (KARMAVARAnA). Since many of these hindrances, he claims, are the result of neglecting one's ancestors or are inherited from them, much attention is also paid in the school to transforming the spirits of the dead into buddhas themselves, which in turn will also free the current generation from their karmic obstructions. Spiritual power in the school derives from the shinsei busshari (true sARĪRA [relics] of the Buddha), a sacred reliquary holding a bone fragment of the Buddha himself, given to Kiriyama in 1986 by the president of Sri Lanka. Individual adherents keep a miniature replica of the sarīra in their own homes, and the relic is said to have the transformational power to turn ancestors into buddhas. A "Star Festival" (Hoshi Matsuri) is held in Kyoto on each National Foundation Day (February 11), at which time two massive homa fires are lit, one liberating the spirits of the ancestors (and thus freeing the current generation from inherited karmic obstructions), the other helping to make the deepest wishes of its adherents come true. Adherents write millions of prayers on wooden sticks, which are cast into the two fires.
agyo. (C. xiayu; K. hao 下語). In Japanese, "appended words" or "granted words." Although the term is now used generally to refer to the instructions of a ZEN master, agyo can also more specifically refer to a set number of stereotyped sayings, often a verse or phrase, that were used in KoAN (C. GONG'AN) training. Unlike the literate monks of the medieval GOZAN monasteries, monks of the RINKA, or forest, monasteries were usually unable to compose their own Chinese verses to express the insight that they had gained while struggling with a koan. The rinka monks therefore began to study the "appended words" or "capping phrases" (JAKUGO) of a koan text such as the BIYAN LU, which summarized or explained each segment of the text. The agyo are found in koan manuals known as MONSAN, or Zen phrase manuals, such as the ZENRIN KUSHu, where they are used to explicate a koan.
aino ::: n. --> One of a peculiar race inhabiting Yesso, the Kooril Islands etc., in the northern part of the empire of Japan, by some supposed to have been the progenitors of the Japanese. The Ainos are stout and short, with hairy bodies.
Aizen Myoo. (愛染明王) (S. RAgavidyArAja). In Japanese, lit. "Bright King of the Taint of Lust"; an esoteric deity considered to be the destroyer of vulgar passions. In stark contrast to the traditional Buddhist approach of suppressing the passions through various antidotes or counteractive techniques (PRATIPAKsA), this VIDYARAJA is believed to be able to transform attachment, desire, craving, and defilement directly into pure BODHICITTA. This deity became a principal deity of the heretical Tachikawa branch (TACHIKAWARYu) of the SHINGONSHu and was considered the deity of conception. As an emanation of the buddha MAHAVAIROCANA or the bodhisattva VAJRASATTVA, Aizen Myoo was favored by many followers of Shingon Buddhism in Japan and by various esoteric branches of the TENDAISHu. Aizen Myoo was also sometimes held to be a secret buddha (HIBUTSU) by these traditions. The NICHIRENSHu was the last to adopt him as an important deity, but he played an important role in the dissemination of its cult. Aizen Myoo is well known for his fierce appearance, which belies the love and affection he is presumed to convey. Aizen Myoo usually has three eyes (to see the three realms of existence) and holds a lotus in his hand, which is symbolic of the calming of the senses, among other things. Other attributes of this deity are the bow and arrows, VAJRAs, and weapons that he holds in his hands.
Ajapa (Sanskrit) Ajapa [from a not + the verbal root jap to speak in a low voice] One who does not use orthodox prayers; a reciter of heterodox mantras or works. Ajapa is the form of mantra called hamsa, consisting of a series of inhalations and exhalations.
AjAtasatru. (P. AjAtasattu; T. Ma skyes dgra; C. Asheshi wang; J. Ajase o; K. Asase wang 阿闍世王). In Sanskrit, "Enemy While Still Unborn," the son of King BIMBISARA of Magadha and his successor as king. According to the PAli account, when BimbisAra's queen VAIDEHĪ (P. Videhī) was pregnant, she developed an overwhelming urge to drink blood from the king's right knee, a craving that the king's astrologers interpreted to mean that the son would eventually commit patricide and seize the throne. Despite several attempts to abort the fetus, the child was born and was given the name AjAtasatru. While a prince, AjAtasatru became devoted to the monk DEVADATTA, the Buddha's cousin and rival, because of Devadatta's mastery of yogic powers (ṚDDHI). Devadatta plotted to take revenge on the Buddha through manipulating AjAtasatru, whom he convinced to murder his father BimbisAra, a close lay disciple and patron of the Buddha, and seize the throne. AjAtasatru subsequently assisted Devadatta in several attempts on the Buddha's life. AjAtasatru is said to have later grown remorseful over his evil deeds and, on the advice of the physician JĪVAKA, sought the Buddha's forgiveness. The Buddha preached to him on the benefits of renunciation from the SAMANNAPHALASUTTA, and AjAtasatru became a lay disciple. Because he had committed patricide, one of the five most heinous of evil deeds that are said to bring immediate retribution (ANANTARYAKARMAN), AjAtasatru was precluded from attaining any degree of enlightenment during this lifetime and was destined for rebirth in the lohakumbhiya hell. Nevertheless, Sakka (S. sAKRA), the king of the gods, described AjAtasatru as the chief in piety among the Buddha's unenlightened disciples. When the Buddha passed away, AjAtasatru was overcome with grief and, along with other kings, was given a portion of the Buddha's relics (sARĪRA) for veneration. According to the PAli commentaries, AjAtasatru provided the material support for convening the first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST) following the Buddha's death. The same sources state that, despite his piety, he will remain in hell for sixty thousand years but later will attain liberation as a solitary buddha (P. paccekabuddha; S. PRATYEKABUDDHA) named Viditavisesa. ¶ MahAyAna scriptures, such as the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA and the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING ("Contemplation Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life"), give a slightly different account of AjAtasatru's story. BimbisAra was concerned that his queen, Vaidehī, had yet to bear him an heir. He consulted a soothsayer, who told him that an aging forest ascetic would eventually be reborn as BimbisAra's son. The king then decided to speed the process along and had the ascetic killed so he would take rebirth in Vaidehī's womb. After the queen had already conceived, however, the soothsayer prophesized that the child she would bear would become the king's enemy. After his birth, the king dropped him from a tall tower, but the child survived the fall, suffering only a broken finger. (In other versions of the story, Vaidehī is so mortified to learn that her unborn son will murder her husband the king that she tried to abort the fetus, but to no avail.) Devadatta later told AjAtasatru the story of his conception and the son then imprisoned his father, intending to starve him to death. But Vaidehī kept the king alive by smuggling food to him, smearing her body with flour-paste and hiding grape juice inside her jewelry. When AjAtasatru learned of her treachery, he drew his sword to murder her, but his vassals dissuaded him. The prince's subsequent guilt about his intended matricide caused his skin break out in oozing abscesses that emitted such a foul odor that no one except his mother was able to approach him and care for him. Despite her loving care, AjAtasatru did not improve and Vaidehī sought the Buddha's counsel. The Buddha was able to cure the prince by teaching him the "NirvAna Sutra," and the prince ultimately became one of the preeminent Buddhist monarchs of India. This version of the story of AjAtasatru was used by Kosawa Heisaku (1897-1968), one of the founding figures of Japanese psychoanalysis, and his successors to posit an "Ajase (AjAtasatru) Complex" that distinguished Eastern cultures from the "Oedipal Complex" described by Sigmund Freud in Western psychoanalysis. As Kosawa interpreted this story, Vaidehī's ambivalence or active antagonism toward her son and AjAtasatru's rancor toward his mother were examples of the pathological relationship that pertains between mother and son in Eastern cultures, in distinction to the competition between father and son that Freud posited in his Oedipal Complex. This pathological relationship can be healed only through the mother's love and forgiveness, which redeem the child and thus reunite them.
aji gatsurinkan. (阿字月輪觀). In Japanese, "contemplation of the letter 'A' in the moon-wheel." See AJIKAN.
aji honpusho. (阿字本不生). In Japanese, "the letter 'A' that is originally uncreated." See AJIKAN.
ajikan. (阿字観). In Japanese, "contemplation of the letter ‛A'"; a meditative exercise employed primarily within the the Japanese SHINGON school of esoteric Buddhism. The ajikan practice is also known as the "contemplation of the letter 'A' in the moon-wheel" (AJI GATSURINKAN). The letter "A" is the first letter in the Sanskrit SIDDHAM alphabet and is considered to be the "seed" (BĪJA) of MAHAVAIROCANA, the central divinity of the esoteric traditions. The letter "A" is also understood to be the "unborn" buddha-nature (FOXING) of the practitioner; hence, the identification of oneself with this letter serves as a catalyst to enlightenment. In ajikan meditation, the adept draws a picture of the full moon with an eight-petaled lotus flower at its center. The Siddham letter "A" is then superimposed over the lotus flower as a focus of visualization. As the visualization continues, the moon increases in size until it becomes coextensive with the universe itself. Through this visualization, the adept realizes the letter "A" that is originally uncreated (AJI HONPUSHo), which is the essence of all phenomena in the universe and the DHARMAKAYA of MAHAVAIROCANA Buddha.
Aksobhya. (T. Mi bskyod pa; C. Achu fo; J. Ashuku butsu; K. Ach'ok pul 阿閦佛). In Sanskrit, "Immovable" or "Imperturbable"; the name given to the buddha of the East because he is imperturbable in following his vow to proceed to buddhahood, particularly through mastering the practice of morality (sĪLA). Aksobhya is one of the PANCATATHAGATA (five tathAgatas), the buddha of the vajra family (VAJRAKULA). There are references to Aksobhya in the PRAJNAPARAMITA sutras and the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"), suggesting that his cult dates back to the first or second century of the Common Era, and that he was popular in India and Java as well as in the HimAlayan regions. The cult of Aksobhya may have been the first to emerge after the cult of sAKYAMUNI, and before that of AMITABHA. In the Saddharmapundarīkasutra, Aksobhya is listed as the first son of the buddha MahAbhijNA JNAnAbhibhu, and his bodhisattva name is given as JNAnAkara. His cult entered China during the Han dynasty, and an early text on his worship, the AKsOBHYATATHAGATASYAVYuHA, was translated into Chinese during the second half of the second century. Although his cult was subsequently introduced into Japan, he never became as popular in East Asia as the buddhas AMITABHA or VAIROCANA, and images of Aksobhya are largely confined to MAndALAs and other depictions of the paNcatathAgata. Furthermore, because Aksobhya's buddha-field (BUDDHAKsETRA) or PURE LAND of ABHIRATI is located in the East, he is sometimes replaced in mandalas by BHAIsAJYAGURU, who also resides in that same direction. Aksobhya's most common MUDRA is the BHuMISPARsAMUDRA, and he often holds a VAJRA. His consort is either MAmakī or LocanA.
akunin shoki. (惡人正機). In Japanese, lit. "evil people have the right capacity"; the emblematic teaching of the JoDO SHINSHu teacher SHINRAN (1173-1263), which suggests that AMITABHA's compassion is directed primarily to evildoers. When AmitAbha was still the monk named DHARMAKARA, he made a series of forty-eight vows (PRAnIDHANA) that he promised to fulfill before he became a buddha. The most important of these vows to much of the PURE LAND tradition is the eighteenth, in which he vows that all beings who call his name will be reborn in his pure land of SUKHAVATĪ. This prospect of salvation has nothing to do with whether one is a monk or layperson, man or woman, saint or sinner, learned or ignorant. In this doctrine, Shinran goes so far as to claim that if a good man can be reborn in the pure land, so much more so can an evil man. This is because the good man remains attached to the delusion that his virtuous deeds will somehow bring about his salvation, while the evil man has abandoned this conceit and accepts that only through AmitAbha's grace will rebirth in the pure land be won.
A-law "standard" The {ITU-T} {standard} for {nonuniform quantising logarithmic compression}. The equation for A-law is | A | ------- (m/mp) |m/mp| =" 1/A | 1+ln A y = | | sgn(m) | ------ (1 + ln A|m/mp|) 1/A =" |m/mp| =" 1 | 1+ln A Values of u=100 and 255, A=87.6, mp is the Peak message value, m is the current quantised message value. (The formulae get simpler if you substitute x for m/mp and sgn(x) for sgn(m); then -1 "= x "= 1.) Converting from {u-LAW} to A-LAW introduces {quantising errors}. u-law is used in North America and Japan, and A-law is used in Europe and the rest of the world and international routes. [The Audio File Formats FAQ] (1995-02-21)
A-law ::: (standard) The ITU-T standard for nonuniform quantising logarithmic compression.The equation for A-law is | A| -- -- -- - (m/mp) |m/mp| = 1/A simpler if you substitute x for m/mp and sgn(x) for sgn(m); then -1 = x = 1.)Converting from u-LAW to A-LAW introduces quantising errors. u-law is used in North America and Japan, and A-law is used in Europe and the rest of the world and international routes.[The Audio File Formats FAQ] (1995-02-21)
Allies ::: The nations, including the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, as well as the Free French of Charles De Gaulle, that joined in the war against Germany and the other Axis nations. The Soviet Union was an ally of the Nazis between August 23, 1939, when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed, and June 22, 1941, when Hitler attacked Russia. Britain became an ally of the Soviet Union only after Stalin and Hitler went to war. The United States became an ally of the Soviet Union only after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Hitler, allied to Japan, declared war on the United States.
Ame No Mi Naka Nushi No Kami (Japanese) Divine monarch of the central heaven; the first of three arupa (formless) spiritual beings to appear from kon-ton (chaos) in Japanese cosmogony (SD 1:214).
Amida. Japanese pronunciation of the Sinographic transcripton of the name AMITABHA, the buddha who is the primary focus of worship in the PURE LAND traditions of Japan. See JoDOSHu; JoDO SHINSHu.
Amitabha of the West, whose Tibetan name is Wod-pag-med (O-pa me) is the ruling deity of Sukhavati (the western paradise or pure land) and in China and Japan is universally worshiped as Amida-buddha. Esoterically, there are seven dhyani-buddhas (five only have manifested thus far) who represent “both cosmic entities and the rays or reflections of these cosmic originals which manifest in man as monads” (FSO 507; cf SD 1:108).
AmitAbha. (T. 'Od dpag med/Snang ba mtha' yas; C. Amituo fo/Wuliangguang fo; J. Amida butsu/Muryoko butsu; K. Amit'a pul/Muryanggwang pul 阿彌陀佛/無量光佛). In Sanskrit, "Limitless Light," the buddha of the western PURE LAND of SUKHAVATĪ, one of the most widely worshipped buddhas in the MAHAYANA traditions. As recounted in the longer SUKHAVATĪVYuHASuTRA, numerous eons ago, a monk named DHARMAKARA vowed before the buddha LOKEsVARARAJA to follow the BODHISATTVA path to buddhahood, asking him to set forth the qualities of buddha-fields (BUDDHAKsETRA). DharmAkara then spent five KALPAS in meditation, concentrating all of the qualities of all buddha-fields into a single buddha field that he would create upon his enlightenment. He then reappeared before LokesvararAja and made forty-eight specific vows (PRAnIDHANA). Among the most famous were his vow that those who, for as few as ten times over the course of their life, resolved to be reborn in his buddha-field would be reborn there; and his vow that he would appear at the deathbed of anyone who heard his name and remembered it with trust. DharmakAra then completed the bodhisattva path, thus fulfilling all the vows he had made, and became the buddha AmitAbha in the buddha-field called sukhAvatī. Based on the larger and shorter versions of the SukhAvatīvyuhasutra as well as the apocryphal GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING (*AmitAyurdhyAnasutra), rebirth in AmitAbha's buddha-field became the goal of widespread Buddhist practice in India, East Asia, and Tibet, with the phrase "Homage to AmitAbha Buddha" (C. namo Amituo fo; J. NAMU AMIDABUTSU; K. namu Amit'a pul) being a central element of East Asian Buddhist practice. AmitAbha's Indian origins are obscure, and it has been suggested that his antecedents lie in Persian Zoroastrianism, where symbolism of light and darkness abounds. His worship dates back at least as far as the early centuries of the Common Era, as attested by the fact that the initial Chinese translation of the SukhAvatīvyuhasutra is made in the mid-second century CE, and he is listed in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") as the ninth son of the buddha MahAbhijNA JNAnAbhibhu. The Chinese pilgrims FAXIAN and XUANZANG make no mention of him by name in their accounts of their travels to India in the fifth and seventh centuries CE, respectively, though they do include descriptions of deities who seem certain to have been AmitAbha. Scriptures relating to AmitAbha reached Japan in the seventh century, but he did not become a popular religious figure until some three hundred years later, when his worship played a major role in finally transforming what had been previously seen as an elite and foreign tradition into a populist religion. In East Asia, the cult of AmitAbha eventually became so widespread that it transcended sectarian distinction, and AmitAbha became the most popular buddha in the region. In Tibet, AmitAbha worship dates to the early propagation of Buddhism in that country in the eighth century, although it never became as prevalent as in East Asia. In the sixteenth century, the fifth DALAI LAMA gave the title PAn CHEN LAMA to his teacher, BLO BZANG CHOS KYI RGYAL MTSHAN, and declared him to be an incarnation of AmitAbha (the Dalai Lama himself having been declared the incarnation of Avalokitesvara, AmitAbha's emanation). ¶ The names "AmitAbha" and "AmitAyus" are often interchangeable, both deriving from the Sanskrit word "amita," meaning "limitless," "boundless," or "infinite"; there are some intimations that Amita may actually have been the original name of this buddha, as evidenced, for example, by the fact that the Chinese transcription Amituo [alt. Emituo] transcribes the root word amita, not the two longer forms of the name. The distinction between the two names is preserved in the Chinese translations "Wuliangguang" ("Infinite Light") for AmitAbha and Wuliangshou ("Infinite Life") for AmitAyus, neither of which is used as often as the transcription Amituo. Both AmitAbha and AmitAyus serve as epithets of the same buddha in the longer SukhAvatīvyuhasutra and the Guan Wuliangshou jing, two of the earliest and most important of the sutras relating to his cult. In Tibet, his two alternate names were simply translated: 'Od dpag med ("Infinite Light") and Tshe dpag med ("Infinite Life"). Despite the fact that the two names originally refer to the same deity, they have developed distinctions in ritual function and iconography, and AmitAyus is now considered a separate form of AmitAbha rather than just a synonym for him. ¶ AmitAbha is almost universally shown in DHYANASANA, his hands at his lap in DHYANAMUDRA, though there are many variations, such as standing or displaying the VITARKAMUDRA or VARADAMUDRA. As one of the PANCATATHAGATA, AmitAbha is the buddha of the padma family and is situated in the west. In tantric depictions he is usually red in color and is shown in union with his consort PAndarA, and in East Asia he is commonly accompanied by his attendants AVALOKITEsVARA (Ch. GUANYIN) and MAHASTHAMAPRAPTA. See also JINGTU SANSHENG; WANGSHENG.
AmitAyus. (T. Tshe dpag med; C. Wuliangshou fo; J. Muryoju butsu; K. Muryangsu pul 無量壽佛). In Sanskrit, the buddha or bodhisattva of "Limitless Life" or "Infinite Lifespan." Although the name originally was synonymous with AMITABHA, in the tantric traditions, AmitAyus has developed distinguishing characteristics and is now sometimes considered to be an independent form of AmitAbha. The Japanese SHINGON school, for example, uses Muryoju in representations of the TAIZoKAI (garbhadhAtumandala) and Amida (AmitAbha) in the KONGoKAI (vajradhAtumandala). AmitAyus is often central in tantric ceremonies for prolonging life and so has numerous forms and appellations in various groupings, such as one of six and one of nine. He is shown in bodhisattva guise, with crown and jewels, sitting in DHYANASANA with both hands in DHYANAMUDRA and holding a water pot (kalasa) full of AMṚTA (here the nectar of long life); like AmitAbha, he is usually red.
AmoghapAsa (Lokesvara). (T. Don yod zhags pa; C. Bukong Juansuo; J. Fuku Kenjaku; K. Pulgong Kyonsak 不空羂索). A popular tantric form of AVALOKITEsVARA, primarily distinguished by his holding of a snare (pAsa); his name is interpreted as "Lokesvara with the unfailing snare." Like Avalokitesvara, he is worshipped as a savior of beings, his snare understood to be the means by which he rescues devotees. His worship seems to have developed in India during the sixth century, as evidenced by the 587 Chinese translation of the AmoghapAsahṛdayasutra (the first chapter of the much longer AmoghapAsakalparAjasutra) by JNAnagupta. Numerous translations of scriptures relating to AmoghapAsa by BODHIRUCI, XUANZANG, and AMOGHAVAJRA and others up into the tenth century attest to the continuing popularity of the deity. The earliest extant image of AmoghapAsa seems to be in Japan, in the monastery of ToDAIJI in Nara, dating from the late seventh century. There are many extant images of the god in northwest India from the ninth and tenth centuries; some earlier images of Avalokitesvara from the eighth century, which depict him holding a snare, have been identified as AmoghapAsa, although the identification remains uncertain. Tibetan translations of the AmoghapAsahṛdayasutra and the AmoghapAsakalparAjasutra are listed in the eighth-century LDAN DKAR MA catalogue, though it is later translations that are included in the BKA' 'GYUR, where they are classified as kriyAtantras. (The Tibetan canon includes some eight tantras concerning AmoghapAsa.) Numerous images of AmoghapAsa from Java dating to the early second millennium attest to his popularity in that region; in the Javanese custom of deifying kings, King Visnuvardhana (d. 1268) was identified as an incarnation of AmoghapAsa. AmoghapAsa can appear in forms with any number of pairs of hands, although by far the most popular are the six-armed seated and eight-armed standing forms. Other than his defining snare, he often carries a three-pointed staff (tridanda) but, like other multiarmed deities, can be seen holding almost any of the tantric accoutrements. AmoghapAsa is depicted in bodhisattva guise and, like Avalokitesvara, has an image of AMITABHA in his crown and is occasionally accompanied by TARA, BHṚKUTĪ, SudhanakumAra, and HAYAGRĪVA.
Ananda. (T. Kun dga' bo; C. Anan[tuo]; J. Anan[da]; K. Anan[da] 阿難[陀]). In Sanskrit and PAli, literally "Bliss," the name of the Buddha's cousin, longtime attendant, and one of his chief disciples. According to tradition, in his previous life, he was a god in the TUsITA heaven, who was born on the same day and into the same sAKYA clan as the BODHISATTVA and future buddha who was born as prince SIDDHARTHA. Ananda was born as the son of Amṛtodana, the brother of king sUDDHODANA. He was thus the Buddha's cousin and the brother of DEVADATTA. When the Buddha returned to his home town of KAPILAVASTU in the second year after his enlightenment, many of the sAkyan men, such as Ananda and Devadatta, wished to renounce the householder life and become the Buddha's disciples as monks. Not long after his ordination, Ananda became a SROTAAPANNA upon hearing a sermon by PuRnA. The Buddha did not have a personal attendant for the first twenty years after his enlightenment, with various monks occasionally offering various services to him. But after two decades of these ad hoc arrangements, the Buddha finally asked for someone to volunteer to be his personal attendant; all the monks volunteered except Ananda, who said that he did not do so because the Buddha would choose the correct person regardless of who volunteered. The Buddha selected Ananda, who accepted on the following conditions: the Buddha was never to give him any special food or robes that he had received as gifts; the Buddha was not to provide him with a special monk's cell; and the Buddha was not to include him in dining invitations he received from the laity. Ananda made these conditions in order to prevent anyone from claiming that he received special treatment because of serving as the Buddha's attendant. In addition, he asked to be allowed to accept invitations on behalf of the Buddha; he asked to be allowed to bring to the Buddha those who came from great distances to see him; he asked to be able to bring any questions he had to the Buddha; and he asked that the Buddha repeat to him any doctrine that had been taught in his absence. Ananda saw these latter conditions as the true advantages of serving the Buddha. For the next twenty-five years, Ananda served the Buddha with great devotion, bringing him water, sweeping his cell, washing his feet, rubbing his body, sewing his robes, and accompanying him wherever he went. He guarded the Buddha's cell at night, carrying a staff and a torch, in order to make sure that his sleep was not disturbed and to be ready should the Buddha need him. As the Buddha grew older and more infirm, Ananda provided devoted care, despite the fact that the two were exactly the same age. Because Ananda was constantly in the Buddha's presence, he played a key role in many famous events of the early dispensation. For example, it was Ananda who, on behalf of MAHAPRAJAPATI, requested that women be allowed to enter the SAMGHA as nuns, persisting in his request despite the Buddha's initial refusal. He is therefore remembered especially fondly by the order of BHIKsUnĪs, and it is said that he often preached to nuns. In a famous tale reproduced in various sources, the daughter of a woman named MAtangī attempted to seduce Ananda with the help of her mother's magical powers, only to come to realize her wrongdoing with the intervention of the Buddha. Toward the end of his life, the Buddha mentioned to Ananda that a buddha could live for a KALPA or until the end of the kalpa if he were asked to do so. (See CAPALACAITYA.) Ananda, distracted by MARA, failed to request the Buddha to do so, despite the Buddha mentioning this three times. Ananda was chastised for this blunder at the first council (see infra). Ananda figures prominently in the account of the Buddha's last days in the MAHAPARINIBBANASUTTA, weeping at the knowledge that the Buddha was about to die and being consoled by him. Ananda was known for his extraordinary powers of memory; he is said to have heard all 84,000 sermon topics (82,000 taught by the Buddha and 2,000 taught by other disciples) and was able to memorize 15,000 stanzas without omitting a syllable. He therefore played a key role in the recitation of the Buddha's teachings at the first council (SAMGĪTI; see COUNCIL, FIRST) held at RAJAGṚHA shortly after the Buddha's death. However, MAHAKAsYAPA, who convened the council, specified that all five hundred monks in attendance must be ARHATs, and Ananda was not. On the night before the opening of the council, Ananda achieved the enlightenment of an arhat as he was lying down to sleep, as his head fell to the pillow and his feet rose from the ground. He is therefore famous for achieving enlightenment in none of the four traditional postures (ĪRYAPATHA): walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. As an arhat, Ananda was welcomed to the council, where he recounted all the words of the Buddha (except those concerning the VINAYA, or monastic rules, which were recited by UPALI). For this reason, most SuTRAs open with the words, "Thus have I heard" (EVAM MAYA sRUTAM); the "I" is usually Ananda. (For this reason, Ananda is also known in China as Duowen Diyi, "First in Vast Hearing" or "He Who Heard the Most.") After the Buddha's death, the order of monks brought five charges against Ananda: (1) the Buddha had said that after his passing, the monks could disregard the minor precepts, but Ananda failed to ask him which those were; thus, all the precepts had to be followed; (2) Ananda had once stepped on the Buddha's robe when sewing it; (3) Ananda had allowed women to honor the Buddha's naked body after his death and their tears had fallen on his feet; (4) Ananda failed to ask the Buddha to live on for the rest of the kalpa; and (5) Ananda urged the Buddha to admit women to the order. Ananda replied that he saw no fault in any of these deeds but agreed to confess them. According to FAXIAN, when Ananda was 120 years old, he set out from MAGADHA to VAIsALĪ in order to die. Seeking his relics (sARĪRA), AJATAsATRU followed him to the Rohīni River, while a group from VaisAlī awaited him on the other bank. Not wishing to disappoint either group, Ananda levitated to the middle of the river in the meditative posture, preached the dharma, and then meditated on the TEJOKASInA, which prompted his body to burst into flames, with the relics dividing into two parts, one landing on each bank of the river. Ananda has long been one of the most beloved figures in the history of Buddhism, in part because he was not the wisest of the Buddha's disciples but showed unstinting devotion to the Buddha, always seeking to understand him correctly and to bring his teachings to as many people as possible.
Ancestor worship: A religious system based on the belief that the spirits of the dead linger about their earthly habitations, have powers of protecting and blessing those responsible for their care, and of avenging their neglect. The doctrine and practice is observed and followed in various parts of the world, notably in China and Japan.
anchin kokkaho. (安鎭國家法). In Japanese, the "technique for pacifying the state." Japanese TENDAI priests often performed this ritual in the palace at the request of the emperor. Offerings were made to the deity fudo myoo (S. ACALANATHA-VIDYARAJA), who in return would quell the demons who were disturbing the peace of the state. A simplified version of this ritual known as kachin or chintaku is now commonly performed for laity at their homes.
Angaja. (T. Yan lag 'byung; C. Yinjietuo; J. Inkatsuda; K. In'get'a 因陀). The Sanskrit name of the thirteenth of the sixteen ARHAT elders (sOdAsASTHAVIRA), who were charged by the Buddha with protecting his dispensation until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. He is said to reside on Guangxie Mountain with thirteen hundred disciples. According to the Chinese tradition, Angaja had been a snake wrangler before he was ordained, so whenever he went into the mountains, he carried a cloth bag with him to catch snakes, which he would release after removing their fangs so they would not injure people. For this reason, he earned the nickname "Cloth-Bag Arhat" (BUDAILUOHAN/heshang). In CHANYUE GUANXIU's standard Chinese depiction, Angaja leans against a staff, with his head lowered, reading a SuTRA that he holds in his left hand, his right hand counting recitation beads (JAPAMALA).
Angels of the Presence In Christianity, the seven Virtues or personified attributes of God, which were created by him and became the archangels. Equivalent to the seven manus produced by the ten prajapatis created by Brahma. “As it is the Lipika who project into objectivity from the passive Universal Mind the ideal plan of the universe, upon which the ‘Builders’ reconstruct the Kosmos after every Pralaya, it is they who stand parallel to the Seven Angels of the Presence, whom the Christians recognise in the Seven ‘Planetary Spirits’ or the ‘Spirits of the Stars;’ for thus it is they who are the direct amanuenses of the Eternal Ideation” or of Plato’s divine thought (SD 1:104) (SD 2:237, 573).
Angiras (Sanskrit) Aṅgiras [from the verbal root aṅg to go, move tortuously (cf agni)] One of the Saptarshis (seven rishis) or manasaputras (mind-born sons of Brahma) of the first manvantara; a secondary projection of Brahma’s mind and will because his first “mind-engendered progeny . . . did not multiply themselves (VP 1:7; SD 2:78). Hence Angiras is one of the prajapatis or progenitors whose sons and daughters people the earth in succeeding manvantaras, mankind included in their progeny.
ango. (S. vArsika; P. vassa; C. anju; K. an'go 安居). In Japanese, "peaceful dwelling"; also known as gegyo ("summer dwelling"), zage ("sitting in the summer"), zaro ("sitting age"), etc. The term is used in ZEN monasteries to refer either to the summer rainy season retreat, which usually lasts for three months, or to an intensive period of meditative training during the summer rain's retreat. The beginning of this period is known as kessei (C. JIEZHI), but this term is also occasionally used in place of ango to refer to the meditation retreat. In the Soto Zen tradition (SoToSHu), ango is often used as a means of measuring the dharma age, or horo (C. FALA), of a monk. A monk who completes his first summer retreat is known as "one who has entered the community," five retreats or more a "saint," and ten retreats or more a "master." See also VARsA.
anjitsu. (C. anshi; K. amsil 庵室). In Japanese "hut" or "hermitage"; the term is used for a small residence often used by monks to further their training away from the company of others. According to various sources, such as the SHASEKISHu, an anshitsu was preferably built deep in the mountains, far away from the hustle and bustle of cities and towns, which might distract monks from their practice. See also AN.
ankokuji. (安國寺). In Japanese, "temples for the pacification of the country." After the Ashikaga shogunate took over control of the capital of Kyoto from the rapidly declining forces of Emperor Godaigo (1288-1339) between the years 1336 and 1337, they sought to heal the scars of civil war by following the suggestions of the ZEN master MUSo SOSEKI and building pagodas and temples in every province of Japan. By constructing these temples, the shogunate also sought to subsume local military centers under the control of the centralized government, just as the monarch Shomu (r. 724-749) had once done with the KOKUBUNJI system. These pagodas were later called rishoto, and the temples were given the name ankokuji in 1344. Many of these temples belonged to the lineages of the GOZAN system, especially that of Muso and ENNI BEN'EN.
Annen. (安然) (841-889?). Japanese TENDAI (C. TIANTAI) monk considered to be the founder of Japanese Tendai esoterism and thus also known as Himitsu daishi. Annen studied under ENNIN and initiated a reform of the Japanese Tendai tradition by incorporating new teachings from China called MIKKYo, or esoteric Buddhism. He received the bodhisattva precepts at ENRYAKUJI on Mt. Hiei (HIEIZAN) in 859 and by 884 had become the main dharma lecturer at Gangyoji. He subsequently was the founder of a monastery called Godaiin and is therefore often known to the tradition as "master Godaiin" (Godaiin daitoku or Godaiin ajari). Over one hundred works are attributed to Annen on both the exoteric and esoteric teachings of Tendai as well as on Sanskrit SIDDHAM orthography; dozens are extant, including texts that are considered primary textbooks of the Japanese Tendai tradition, such as his Hakke hiroku, Kyojijo, and Shittanzo. Annen is especially important for having examined comprehensively the relationship between precepts associated with the esoteric tradition and the Buddhist monastic precepts, including the bodhisattva precepts (BODHISATTVAsĪLA); his ultimate conclusion is that all precepts ultimately derive from specific sets of esoteric precepts.
Anthropolatry: (Gr.) The worshipping or cult of a human being conceived as a god, and conversely of a god conceived as a human being. The deification of individual human beings was practiced by most early civilizations, and added much colour to the folklore and religion of such countries as Egypt, Greece, India and Japan. The human origin of anthropolatry is illustrated by the failure of Alexander the Great to obtain divine honours from his soldiers. In contrast, the Shinto religion in Japan still considers the emperor as a "visible deity", and maintains shrines devoted to brave warriors or heroes. Monotheistic religions consider anthropolatry as a superstition. -- T.G.
Apart from the remarkable learning that these earlier works display, two things are noteworthy about them. The first is that they are principally based on a single source language or Buddhist tradition. The second is that they are all at least a half-century old. Many things have changed in the field of Buddhist Studies over the past fifty years, some for the worse, some very much for the better. One looks back in awe at figures like Louis de la Vallée Poussin and his student Msgr. Étienne Lamotte, who were able to use sources in Sanskrit, PAli, Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan with a high level of skill. Today, few scholars have the luxury of time to develop such expertise. Yet this change is not necessarily a sign of the decline of the dharma predicted by the Buddha; from several perspectives, we are now in the golden age of Buddhist Studies. A century ago, scholarship on Buddhism focused on the classical texts of India and, to a much lesser extent, China. Tibetan and Chinese sources were valued largely for the access they provided to Indian texts lost in the original Sanskrit. The Buddhism of Korea was seen as an appendage to the Buddhism of China or as a largely unacknowledged source of the Buddhism of Japan. Beyond the works of "the PAli canon," relatively little was known of the practice of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. All of this has changed for the better over the past half century. There are now many more scholars of Buddhism, there is a much higher level of specialization, and there is a larger body of important scholarship on each of the many Buddhist cultures of Asia. In addition, the number of adherents of Buddhism in the West has grown significantly, with many developing an extensive knowledge of a particular Buddhist tradition, whether or not they hold the academic credentials of a professional Buddhologist. It has been our good fortune to be able to draw upon this expanding body of scholarship in preparing The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.
Apas or Ap is the name of the rakshasa associated with the month Karttika (October) (VP 2:10, p.5n); Apas is listed also as a prajapati of the second manvantara, son of Vasishtha (VP 3:1, n1).
apati ::: Manu as the first Prajapati, "a part of Mahavishnu Himself descended into the mental plane in order to conduct the destinies of the human race".
Apava (Sanskrit) Āpava [from ap water] Water-mover; associated with Narayana, “he who moves in or on the waters of space,” and hence with Vishnu and Brahma. In the Harivamsa, Apava performed the office of Brahma: dividing himself into male and female he produced Vishnu, who produced Viraj, who in turn brought the first manu, Manu Svayambhuva, into being. This manu then brought forth the ten prajapatis, the progenitors of the manifested world (cf VP 1:7). In the Mahabharata, a name of the prajapati Vasishtha.
ardhaparyanka. (T. skyil krung phyed pa; C. ban jiafuzuo; J. hankafuza; K. pan kabujwa 半跏趺坐). In Sanskrit, the "half cross-legged" posture (ASANA). This particular posture may be formed in a number of ways. As a seated pose, either foot rests on the opposite thigh with the remaining leg bent forward. Alternatively, both shins may be loosely crossed at the ankles while resting or crouching on the seat. As a standing pose, it may form a dancing posture sometimes described as NṚTYASANA. Some standing Japanese images described as being in ardhaparyanka may show a raised foot lifted straight up off the ground, as if about to stomp down. See also VAJRAPARYAnKA; ARDHAPADMASANA.
Arnold, Edwin. (1832-1904). Sir Edwin Arnold was educated at Oxford and served as principal of a government college in Pune, India, from 1856 to 1861, during which time he studied Indian languages and published translations from the Sanskrit. He eventually returned to England, due primarily to the death of a child and his wife's illness. Upon his return, he became a writer for The Daily Telegraph newspaper, where he was appointed chief editor in 1873. He wrote his most famous work, The Light of Asia, during this period. After leaving his editorial position, he traveled widely in Asia, especially in Japan, and published popular accounts of his travels. Although largely forgotten today, The Light of Asia was in its own time a foundational text for anyone in the English-speaking world interested in Buddhism. First published in 1879, The Light of Asia was a poetic rendering of the life of the Buddha. Arnold used as his chief source a French translation of the LALITAVISTARA, one of the more ornate and belletristic Indian biographies of the Buddha. Arnold, however, added his own embellishments and deployed important scenes from the life of the Buddha differently than had previous authors in order to intensify the narrative. Despite the animosity it aroused in many Christian pulpits, the book was a favorite of Queen Victoria, who subsequently knighted Arnold. Although it has long been rendered obsolete, The Light of Asia played a seminal role in introducing the history and belief systems of Buddhism to the West. Arnold also played an important role in rallying support worldwide for the restoration of the important Buddhist pilgrimage site of BODHGAYA, the place where the Buddha achieved enlightenment. He and Reverend SUMAnGALA sent a petition to the Queen of England requesting permission to buy the land and the temple from the Hindus and restore the neglected site. Although unsuccessful, his efforts eventually came to fruition after Indian independence in 1949, when the Indian government returned control of BodhgayA to the Buddhists.
Arya. (P. ariya; T. 'phags pa; C. sheng; J. sho; K. song 聖). In Sanskrit, "noble" or "superior." A term appropriated by the Buddhists from earlier Indian culture to refer to its saints and used technically to denote a person who has directly perceived reality and has become a "noble one." In the fourfold path structure of the mainstream schools, an Arya is a person who has achieved at least the first level of sanctity, that of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA), or above. In the fivefold path system, an Arya is one who has achieved at least the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), or above. The SARVASTIVADA (e.g., ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA) and THERAVADA (e.g., VISUDDHIMAGGA) schools of mainstream Buddhism both recognize seven types of noble ones (Arya, P. ariya). In e.g., the VISUDDHIMAGGA, these are listed in order of their intellectual superiority as (1) follower of faith (P. saddhAnusAri; S. sRADDHANUSARIN); (2) follower of the dharma (P. dhammAnusAri; S. DHARMANUSARIN); (3) one who is freed by faith (P. saddhAvimutta; S. sRADDHAVIMUKTA); (4) one who has formed right view (P. ditthippatta; S. DṚstIPRAPTA), by developing both faith and knowledge; (5) one who has bodily testimony (P. kAyasakkhi; S. KAYASAKsIN), viz., through the temporary suspension of mentality in the equipoise of cessation (NIRODHASAMAPATTI); (6) one who is freed by wisdom (P. paNNAvimutta; S. PRAJNAVIMUKTA), by freeing oneself through analysis; and (7) one who is freed both ways (P. ubhatobhAgavimutta; S. UBHAYATOBHAGAVIMUKTA), by freeing oneself through both meditative absorption (P. jhAna; S. DHYANA) and wisdom (P. paNNA; S. PRAJNA). In the AbhidharmakosabhAsya, the seven types of Arya beings are presented in a slightly different manner, together with the list of eight noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA) based on candidates for (pratipannika) and those who have reached the result of (phalastha) stream-enterer (srotaApanna), once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIN), nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), and ARHAT; these are again further expanded into a list of twenty members of the Arya VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA and in MahAyAna explanations into forty-eight or more ARYABODHISATTVAs. The Chinese character sheng, used to render this term in East Asia, has a long indigenous history and several local meanings; see, for example, the Japanese vernacular equivalent HIJIRI. It is also the name of one of two Indian esoteric GUHYASAMAJATANTRA traditions, receiving its name from Arya NAgArjuna, the author of the PANCAKRAMA.
As a general rule, we provide multiple language equivalencies only for terms that were traditionally known in the other languages. For this reason, many late tantric terms known only in India and Tibet will not have East Asian equivalents (even though equivalents were in some cases created in the twentieth century); Chinese texts not translated into Tibetan will give only Japanese and Korean equivalencies; Japanese and Korean figures and texts not generally known in China will have only Japanese and Korean transcriptions, and so forth.
As a proper noun, name of a prajapati (progenitor); also of an attendant of the sun. Its feminine form, adharma, personifies the bride of death.
"As for the spectator and the coils of the dragon, it is the Chino-Japanese image for the world-force extending itself in the course of the universe and this expresses the attitude of the witness seeing it all and observing in its unfolding the unrolling of the play of the Divine Lila.” Letters on Yoga
“As for the spectator and the coils of the dragon, it is the Chino-Japanese image for the world-force extending itself in the course of the universe and this expresses the attitude of the witness seeing it all and observing in its unfolding the unrolling of the play of the Divine Lila.” Letters on Yoga
astamahopaputra. (T. nye ba'i sras chen brgyad; C. ba da pusa; J. hachidai bosatsu; K. p'al tae posal 八大菩薩). In Sanskrit, the "eight great associated sons"; a group of eight bodhisattvas also known as the AstAMAHABODHISATTVA or "eight great bodhisattvas"; they are KsITIGARBHA, AKAsAGARBHA, AVALOKITEsVARA, VAJRAPAnI, MAITREYA, SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN, SAMANTABHADRA, and MANJUsRĪ. Textual evidence for the grouping is found as early as the third century, the date of ZHI QIAN's Chinese translation of the Astabuddhakasutra (Fo shuo ba jixiangshen zhoujing). In earlier representations, they flank either sAKYAMUNI or AMITABHA. Their roles are laid out in the Astamandalakasutra, where the aims of their worship are essentially mundane-absolution from transgressions, fulfillment of desires, and protection from ills. The grouping is known throughout Asia, from northern India, where they first appeared in ELLORA, Ratnagiri, and NALANDA, and from there as far east as Japan and Indonesia-indeed, virtually anywhere MAHAYANA and tantric Buddhism flourished. They figure as a group in TANTRAs of various classes, where their number of arms corresponds to the main deity of the MAndALA and their colors correspond to the direction in which they are placed. In the mandala of the GUHYASAMAJATANTRA, they flank the central figure AKsOBHYA, who appears in the form of Vajradhṛk and his consort SparsavajrA. When each has a consort, the females are called the astapujAdevī ("eight offering goddesses"). There are four in the GuhyasamAjatantra mandala: RupavajrA, sabdavajrA, GandhavajrA, and RasavajrA. In the vajradhAtu mahAmandala, the group of bodhisattvas is expanded to sixteen.
A striking similarity is present in the mythology of the Algonquin Indians of North America; their chief deity was a mighty hare known as Menabosho or Michabo, to whom they went at death. One account places him in the east, another in the west. The ancient Germanic and Scandinavian peoples used the hare as a symbol, being sacred to the nature goddess Freyja; likewise to the Anglo-Saxon Ostara, goddess of springtime. This is believed to be the basis for the present-day association of the rabbit or hare with Easter. The anthropomorphic idea is found also among other races, very frequently among the Mongolians, Chinese, Japanese, and other Far Eastern peoples. It was considered to be androgynous, thus typifying an attribute of the creative Logos.
Asukadera. (飛鳥寺) In Japanese, "Asuka Temple"; also known as Hokoji ("Monastery of the Flourishing Dharma"), the Asukadera was built during the ASUKA period on a site known as the Amakashi no Oka by the Asuka River near Nara, Japan. Shortly after the death of Emperor Yomei in 587, the powerful vassals Mononobe no Moriya (d. 587), who represented the indigenous ritual specialists, and Soga no Umako (551?-626), a supporter of Buddhism who came from the Korean peninsula, found themselves caught in battle over imperial succession. In celebration of the Soga clan's victory over the Mononobe and the death of Moriya, the Soga commenced the construction of the first complete monastic compound in Japan, which they named Hokoji in 588. Hokoji was completed nine years later in 596 and for more than a century served as the central monastic complex of the Yamato court. The large monastic compound contained a central hall or KONDo and a central pagoda flanked by two other halls. A large lecture hall flanked by a belfry and SuTRA repository was located behind the main monastic complex. According to the NIHON SHOKI ("Historical Records of Japan"), Empress Suiko commissioned two sixteen-feet gilt-bronze icons of the Buddha to be made by Tori Busshi for installment in Hokoji. When the capital was moved from Fujiwarakyo to Heijokyo (modern-day Nara) in 710, the major monasteries including Hokoji were moved as well. Hokoji, otherwise known as Asukadera, was subsequently renamed Gangoji.
Asuka. (飛鳥). Japan's first historical epoch, named after a region in the plains south of modern NARA. Until the eighth century (710) when the capital was moved to Nara, a new palace, and virtually a new capital, was built every time a new ruler succeeded to the throne. One of the earliest capitals was located in the region of Asuka. The Asuka period is characterized by the rise of powerful aristocratic clans such as the Soga and Mononobe and attempts such as the Taika reform (646) to counteract the rise of these clans and to strengthen the authority of the emperor. According to the NIHON SHOKI ("Historical Records of Japan"), the inception of Buddhism occurred in the Japanese isles during this period, when Emperor Kimmei (r. 532-571) received an image of the Buddha from the King Songmyong of the Korean kingdom of Paekche in 552 (var. 538). Buddhism became the central religion of the Asuka court with the support of such famous figures as Prince SHoTOKU, Empress Suiko (r. 593-628), and Empress Jito (r. 686-697). After the establishment of the grand monastery ASUKADERA by the descendants of a Korean clan, other temples modeled after early Chinese monastery campuses, such as HoRYuJI, were also constructed during this period. These temples enshrined the magnificent sculptures executed by Tori Busshi.
Atharva Veda (Sanskrit) Atharva Veda One of the principal Vedas, commonly known as the fourth; attributed to Atharvan or Atharva. The Rig-Veda states that he was the first to “draw forth fire” and institute its worship, as well as the offering of soma and prayers. Mythologically, Atharvan is represented as a prajapati, Brahma’s eldest son, instructed by his father in brahma-vidya: thus was he inspired to compose the Veda bearing his name. At a later period he is associated with Angiras and called the father of Agni. The Atharva-Veda, considered of later origin than the other three Vedas, comprises about 6000 verses, 760 being hymns, consisting of formulas and spells or incantations for counteracting diseases and calamities. The hymns are of slightly different character from those in the other Vedas: in addition to reverencing the gods, the worshiper himself is exalted and is supposed to receive benefits by reciting the mantras.
A. The first vowel and letter in the Sanskrit alphabet. The phoneme "a" is thought to be the source of all other phonemes and its corresponding letter the origin of all other letters. As the basis of both the Sanskrit phonemic system and the written alphabet, the letter "a" thus comes to be invested with mystical significance as the source of truth, nondifferentiation, and emptiness (suNYATA), or even of the universe as a whole. The PRAJNAPARAMITASARVATATHAGATAMATA-EKAKsARA, the shortest of the perfection of wisdom scriptures, also describes how the entirety of the perfection of wisdom is subsumed by this one letter. The letter in the Sanskrit SIDDHAM alphabet gained special significance within the esoteric Buddhist traditions in Japan (MIKKYo), such as Shingon (see SHINGONSHu), which considered it to be the "seed" (BĪJA) of MAHAVAIROCANA, the central divinity of esoteric Buddhism, and used it in a distinctive type of meditation called AJIKAN ("contemplation of the letter 'a'"). The letter "a," which is said to be originally uncreated (AJI HONPUSHo), is interpreted to be the essence of all phenomena in the universe and the DHARMAKAYA of the buddha MahAvairocana. In the East Asian CHAN traditions, the letter "a" is also sometimes understood to represent the buddha-nature (FOXING, S. BUDDHADHATU) of all sentient beings.
At more than one million words, this is the largest dictionary of Buddhism ever produced in the English language. Yet even at this length, it only begins to represent the full breadth and depth of the Buddhist tradition. Many great dictionaries and glossaries have been produced in Asia over the long history of Buddhism and Buddhist Studies. One thinks immediately of works like the MahAvyutpatti, the ninth-century Tibetan-Sanskrit lexicon said to have been commissioned by the king of Tibet to serve as a guide for translators of the dharma. It contains 9,565 entries in 283 categories. One of the great achievements of twentieth-century Buddhology was the Bukkyo Daijiten ("Encyclopedia of Buddhism"), published in ten massive volumes between 1932 and 1964 by the distinguished Japanese scholar Mochizuki Shinko. Among English-language works, there is William Soothill and Lewis Hodous's A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, published in 1937, and, from the same year, G. P. Malalasekera's invaluable Dictionary of PAli Proper Names. In preparing the present dictionary, we have sought to build upon these classic works in substantial ways.
Atri (Sanskrit) Atri [from the verbal root ad to eat] Devourer; one of the seven great rishis or maharshis, to whom many of the Vedic hymns are attributed. He is considered one of the ten prajapatis or lords of creation, the seven great rishis and ten prajapatis being intimately connected in mythologic history. He is married to Anusuya, a daughter of Daksha, their son being Durvasas. He is also represented as one of the seven mind-born sons of Brahma, who are also referred to as the seven rishis of the third manvantara (which may refer both to the third round and to the third root-race in the fourth round). The key to these shifting connections is analogy.
Avalokitesvara. (T. Spyan ras gzigs; C. Guanshiyin/Guanyin; J. Kanzeon/Kannon; K. Kwanseŭm/Kwanŭm 觀世音/觀音). In Sanskrit, "Lord who Looks Down [in Empathy]"; the BODHISATTVA of compassion, the most widely worshipped of the MAHAYANA bodhisattvas and one of the earliest to appear in Buddhist literature. According to legend, Avalokitesvara was produced from a beam of light that radiated from the forehead of AMITABHA while that buddha was deep in meditation. For this reason, Buddhist iconography often depicts AmitAbha as embedded in Avalokitesvara's crown. His name dates back to the beginning of the Common Era, when he replaced the Vedic god BRAHMA as the attendant to sAKYAMUNI Buddha, inheriting in turn BrahmA's attribute of the lotus (PADMA). Images of Avalokitesvara as PADMAPAnI LOKEsVARA ("Lord with a Lotus in his Hand"), an early name, are numerous. Avalokitesvara is the interlocutor or main figure in numerous important MahAyAna sutras, including the PRAJNAPARAMITAHṚDAYASuTRA ("Heart Sutra"). His cult was introduced to China in the first century CE, where his name was translated as Guanshiyin ("Perceiver of the Sounds of the World") or GUANYIN ("Perceiver of Sounds"); his cult entered Korea and Japan with the advent of Buddhism in those countries. Avalokitesvara was once worshipped widely in Southeast Asia as well, beginning at the end of the first millennium CE. Although the MahAyAna tradition eventually faded from the region, images of Avalokitesvara remain. Avalokitesvara is also the patron deity of Tibet, where he is said to have taken the form of a monkey and mated with TARA in the form of a local demoness to produce the Tibetan race. Tibetan political and religious leaders have been identified as incarnations of him, such as the seventh-century king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO (although that attribution was most likely a later addition to the king's legacy) and, notably, the DALAI LAMAs. The PO TA LA Palace, the residence of the Dalai Lamas, in the Tibetan capital of LHA SA is named for Avalokitesvara's abode on Mount POTALAKA in India. In China, Avalokitesvara as Guanyin underwent a transformation in gender into a popular female bodhisattva, although the male iconographic form also persists throughout East Asia. PUTUOSHAN, located off the east coast of China south of Shanghai, is said to be Potalaka. Avalokitesvara is generally depicted in the full raiments of a bodhisattva, often with an image of AmitAbha in his crown. He appears in numerous forms, among them the two-armed PadmapAni who stands and holds a lotus flower; the four-armed seated Avalokitesvara, known either as Caturbhuja Avalokitesvara [CaturbhujAvalokitesvara] or CintAmani Avalokitesvara [CintAmanyavalokitesvara], who holds the wish-fulfilling jewel (CINTAMAnI) with his central hands in ANJALIMUDRA, and a lotus and crystal rosary in his left and right hands, respectively; the eleven-armed, eleven-faced EKADAsAMUKHA; and the thousand-armed and thousand-headed SAHASRABHUJASAHASRANETRAVALOKITEsVARA (q.v. MAHAKARUnIKA). Tradition holds that his head split into multiple skulls when he beheld the suffering of the world. Numerous other forms also exist in which the god has three or more heads, and any number of arms. In his wrathful form as AstabhayatrAnAvalokitesvara (T. Spyan ras gzigs 'jigs pa brgyad skyob), "Avalokitesvara who Protects against the Eight Fears," the bodhisattva stands in ARDHAPARYAnKA ("half cross-legged posture") and has one face and eight hands, each of which holds a symbol of one of the eight fears. This name is also given to eight separate forms of Avalokitesvara that are each dedicated to protecting from one of the eight fears, namely: AgnibhayatrAnAvalokitesvara ("Avalokitesvara Who Protects from Fear of Fire") and so on, replacing fire with Jala (water), SiMha (lion), Hasti (elephant), Danda (cudgel), NAga (snake), dAkinī (witch) [alt. PisAcī]; and Cora (thief). In addition to his common iconographic characteristic, the lotus flower, Avalokitesvara also frequently holds, among other accoutrements, a jeweled rosary (JAPAMALA) given to him by Aksamati (as related in chapter twenty-five of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA), or a vase. In East Asia, Avalokitesvara often appears in a triad: the buddha AmitAbha in the center, flanked to his left and right by his two bodhisattva attendants, Avalokitesvara and MAHASTHAMAPRAPTA, respectively. In Tibet, Avalokitesvara is part of a popular triad with VAJRAPAnI and MANJUsRĪ. As one of the AstAMAHOPAPUTRA, Avalokitesvara also appears with the other bodhisattvas in group representation. The tantric deity AMOGHAPAsA is also a form of Avalokitesvara. The famous mantra of Avalokitesvara, OM MAnI PADME HuM, is widely recited in the MahAyAna traditions and nearly universally in Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to the twenty-fifth chapter of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra, the KARAndAVYuHA is also devoted to him. See also BAIYI GUANYIN; GUANYIN; MIAOSHAN; MAnI BKA' 'BUM.
Axis ::: Enemies of the Allied forces in WWII. The Axis forces originally included Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan who signed a pact in Berlin on September 27, 1940. They were later joined by Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Ayuthaya. [alt. Ayutthaya]. There are two important places called Ayuthaya in the Buddhist tradition. ¶ Ayuthaya was a city in north-central India, prominent in early Buddhist texts, that is identified as the ancient city of SAKETA; it was said to be the birthplace of the Indian divine-king RAma. ¶ Ayuthaya is the name of a major Thai kingdom and its capital that flourished between 1350 and 1767 CE. The city of Ayuthaya was built on an island at the confluence of the Chao Phraya, Pasak, and Lopburi rivers and grew in importance as the power of its neighbor, the Thai kingdom of SUKHOTHAI, waned. Strategically located and easy to defend, Ayuthaya was accessible to seagoing vessels and commanded the northward trade of the entire Menam basin, whence it grew rapidly into a major Asian entrepôt. Merchant ships from China, Java, Malaya, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Persia, Portugal, Holland, France, and England regularly docked at its port. One of the world's wealthiest capitals, Ayuthaya contained hundreds of gilded monasteries, temples, and pagodas within its walls and was traversed by grand canals and waterways that served as avenues. Strong Khmer influence is evident in the architecture of Ayuthaya, which developed a distinctive stepped-pyramidal pagoda form called prang. The city's magnificence was extolled in the travelogues of European and Asian visitors alike. Soon after the city's founding, Ayuthaya's kings became enthusiastic patrons of reformed Sinhalese-style THERAVADA Buddhism, inviting missionaries from their stronghold in Martaban to reform the local sangha. The same form of Buddhism was adopted by neighboring Thai states in the north, the Mon kingdom of Pegu, and later the Burmese, making it the dominant form of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. In 1548, the Burmese king, Tabin Shwehti, invaded the kingdom of Ayuthaya and laid siege to its capital, initiating more than two centuries of internecine warfare between the Burmese and the Thai kingdoms, which culminated in the destruction of Ayuthaya in 1767 and the building of a new Thai capital, Bangkok, in 1782.
Baiyi Guanyin. (S. PAndaravAsinī; T. Gos dkar mo; J. Byakue kannon; K. Paegŭi Kwanŭm 白衣觀音). In Chinese, "White-Robed GUANYIN (Perceiver of Sounds)." An esoteric form of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA (known as Guanyin in Chinese), who became a popular focus of cultic worship in East Asia. The cult of Baiyi Guanyin began around the tenth century in China, whence it spread to Korea and Japan. Several indigenous Chinese scriptures praise the compassion and miraculous powers of White-Robed Guanyin. According to the various Baiyi Guanyin APOCRYPHA, she was also a grantor of children, as was Songzi Guanyin. Many testimonials from literati are appended to these scriptures, which attest to Baiyi Guanyin's ability to ensure the birth of sons, although it is also said that she granted children of both genders. Like many other Guanyin-related texts, the White-Robed Guanyin texts frequently invoke esoteric Buddhist terminology such as DHARAnĪ, MUDRA, and MANTRA. Beginning in the tenth century, Baiyi Guanyin's cult was associated with the founding of temples, as well as the production of countless images commissioned by both religious and laity. Many worshippers, especially monastics and royalty, had visions of White-Robed Guanyin. These dreams range from being promised children in return for a residence (such as the Upper Tianzhu monastery outside of Hangzhou, later also associated with Princess MIAOSHAN), to enlarging existing structures or even restoring them once a vision or dream of White-Robed Guanyin occurred. In such visions and dreams, White-Robed Guanyin appeared as a female, thus differentiating this form of the bodhisattva from SHUIYUE GUANYIN (Moon-in-the-Water Avalokitesvara), who was similarly dressed in a white robe, but appeared as a male. Some miracle tales highlighting the donors' names were also produced in honor of Baiyi Guanyin, lending further credence to the accounts of the bodhisattva's miraculous powers.
Bankei Yotaku. (盤珪永琢) (1622-1693). Japanese ZEN master of the Tokugawa period; also known as Eitaku. Bankei was born in the district of Hamada in present-day Hyogo prefecture. According to his sermons, Bankei was dissatisfied with the standard explanations of the concept of "bright virtue" (mingde) found in the CONFUCIAN classic Daxue ("Great Learning"), and sought explanations elsewhere. His search eventually brought him to the temple of Zuioji, the residence of Zen master Unpo Zensho (1568-1653). After he received ordination and the dharma name Yotaku from Unpo, Bankei left his teacher to perform a long pilgrimage (angya) to various temples and hermitages. After what he describes in sermons as an awakening at the age of twenty-six, Bankei continued his post-awakening training under Unpo's senior disciple, Bokuo Sogyu (d. 1694), and perfected the teaching of FUSHo ZEN ("unborn Zen"). Upon hearing of the arrival of the Chinese monk DAOZHE CHAOYUAN in Nagasaki (1651), Bankei traveled to Sofukuji where Daozhe was residing and furthered his studies under the Chinese master. Bankei spent the rest of his life teaching his "unborn Zen" to both lay and clergy in various locations. He also built and restored a great number of temples and hermitages, such as Ryumonji in his native Hamada. In 1672 he was appointed the abbot of the RINZAI monastery of MYoSHINJI in Kyoto.
bantam work ::: --> Carved and painted work in imitation of Japan ware.
Baojing sanmei. (J. Hokyo sanmai/zanmai; K. Pogyong sammae 寶鏡三昧). In Chinese, "Jeweled-Mirror SAMADHI"; a definitive poem on enlightenment and practice from the standpoint of the Chinese CAODONG ZONG; otherwise known as the Baojing sanmei ge, or "GATHA of the Jeweled-Mirror SamAdhi." This lengthy Chinese song is attributed to the Chan master DONGSHAN LIANGJIE and, along with the CANTONG QI, is revered in the Chinese Caodong and Japanese SoTo schools of CHAN and ZEN as the foundational scripture of their tradition. Although the song is traditionally attributed to Dongshan, a number of sources note that Dongshan secretly received this song from his teacher Yunyan Tansheng (780-841), and Dongshan in turn transmitted it to his head disciple CAOSHAN BENJI. The earliest version of this song appears in the entry on Caoshan in the CHANLIN SENGBAO ZHUAN, written in 1123. The Baojing sanmei emphasizes the "inherent enlightenment" (BENJUE; cf. HONGAKU) of sentient beings and the futility of seeking that enlightenment through conscious reflection. Instead, the song urges its audience to allow one's inherently pure enlightened nature to "silently illuminate" itself through meditation (MOZHAO CHAN), as the Buddha did under the BODHI TREE. Numerous commentaries on this song are extant.
Bassui Tokusho. (拔隊得勝) (1327-1387). Japanese monk of the Hotto branch of the RINZAISHu of ZEN; also known as Bassui Zenji. Ordained at the age of twenty-nine, Bassui subsequently began a pilgrimage around the Kanto area of Japan in search of enlightened teachers. He eventually met Koho Kakumyo (1271-1361) of Unjuji in Izumo, and received from him the name Bassui, which means "well above average," lit., "to rise above the rank-and-file." Their relationship, however, remains unclear. After taking leave from Koho, Bassui continued traveling on pilgrimage until he settled down in Kai, where his local patrons established for him the monastery of Kogakuji ("Facing Lofty Peaks Monastery"). Bassui's teachings stress the importance of KoAN (C. GONG'AN) training and especially the notion of doubt (see YIJING; YITUAN). Bassui was also extremely critical of SoTo teachers of his day, despite the fact that his own teacher Koho was once a Soto monk, and he was strongly critical of their use of koan manuals called MONSAN in their training. Although his teacher Koho employed Soto-style "lineage charts" (see KECHIMYAKU SoJo) as a means of attracting lay support, Bassui rejected their use and instead stressed the importance of practice.
beidou qixing. (J. hokuto shichisho; K. puktu ch'ilsong 北斗七星). In Chinese, "seven stars of the Northern Dipper" (viz., the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major); Daoist divinities that are also prominent in Korean Buddhism, where they are typically known as the ch'ilsong. The cult of the seven stars of the Big Dipper developed within Chinese Buddhist circles through influence from indigenous Daoist schools, who worshipped these seven deities to guard against plague and other misfortunes. The apocryphal Beidou qixing yanming jing ("Book of the Prolongation of Life through Worshipping the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper"), suggests a correlation between the healing buddha BHAIsAJYAGURU and the Big Dipper cult by addressing the seven-star TATHAGATAs (qixing rulai) with names that are very similar to Bhaisajyaguru's seven emanations. This indigenous Chinese scripture (see APOCRYPHA), which derives from an early Daoist text on Big Dipper worship, is certainly dated no later than the late thirteenth or early fourteenth centuries but may have been composed as early as the middle of the eighth century; it later was translated into Uighur, Mongolian, and Tibetan, as part of the Mongol Yuan dynasty's extension of power throughout the Central Asian region. Thanks to this scripture, the seven-star cult became associated in Buddhism with the prolongation of life. We know that seven-star worship had already been introduced into esoteric Buddhist ritual by at least the eighth century because of two contemporary manuals that discuss HOMA fire offerings to the seven stars: VAJRABODHI's (671-741) Beidou qixing niansong yigui ("Ritual Procedures for Invoking the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper") and his disciple AMOGHAVAJRA's (705-774) Beidou qixing humo miyao yigui ("Esoteric Ritual Procedure for the Homa Offering to the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper"). Renderings of DHARAnĪ sutras dedicated to the tathAgata TEJAPRABHA (Qixingguang Rulai), who is said to be master of the planets and the twenty-eight asterisms, are also attributed to Amoghavajra's translation bureau. Worship of the seven stars within esoteric Buddhist circles was therefore certainly well established in China by the eighth century during the Tang dynasty and probably soon afterward in Korean Buddhism. ¶ The worship of the Big Dipper in Korea may date as far back as the Megalithic period, as evidenced by the engraving of the Big Dipper and other asterisms on dolmens or menhirs. In the fourth-century Ji'an tombs of the Koguryo kingdom (37 BCE-668 CE), one of the traditional Three Kingdoms of early Korea, a mural of the Big Dipper is found on the north wall of tomb no. 1, along with an accompanying asterism of the six stars of Sagittarius (sometimes called the Southern Dipper) on the south wall; this juxtaposition is presumed to reflect the influence of the Shangqing school of contemporary Chinese Daoism. Court rituals to the seven stars and the tathAgata Tejaprabha date from the twelfth century during the Koryo dynasty. By at least the thirteen century, the full range of texts and ritual practices associated with the seven-star deities were circulating in Korea. At the popular level in Korea, the divinities of the Big Dipper were thought to control longevity, especially for children, and the ch'ilsong cult gained widespread popularity during the Choson dynasty (1392-1910). This popularization is in turn reflected in the ubiquity in Korean monasteries of "seven-stars shrines" (ch'ilsonggak), which were typically located in less-conspicuous locations along the outer perimeter of the monasteries and were worshipped primarily by the nonelite. Inside these shrines were hung seven-star paintings (T'AENGHWA), which typically depict the tathAgatas of the seven stars, with the tathAgata Tejaprabha presiding at the center. There are also several comprehensive ritual and liturgical manuals compiled during the Choson dynasty and Japanese colonial period in Korea that include rituals and invocations to the seven stars and Tejaprabha, most dedicated to the prolongation of life. Along with the mountain god (sansin), who also often has his own shrine in the monasteries of Korea, the role of the ch'ilsong in Korean Buddhism is often raised in the scholarship as an example of Buddhism's penchant to adapt beliefs and practices from rival religions. Although ch'ilsong worship has declined markedly in contemporary Korea, the ch'ilsokche, a worship ceremony dedicated to the tathAgata Tejaprabha, is occasionally held at some Buddhist monasteries on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, with lay believers praying for good fortune and the prevention of calamity.
Bendoho. (辨道法). In Japanese, "Techniques for Pursuing the Way"; a work devoted to the rules of the SAMGHA hall (see C. SENGTANG), written by DoGEN KIGEN. Primarily during his stays at the monasteries Daibutsuji and EIHEIJI, Dogen wrote a number of related manuals on monastic rules (C. QINGGUI), of which the Bendoho is perhaps most important. These manuals, including the Bendoho, were later collected and published together as a single text known as the EIHEI SHINGI. Dogen modeled his regulations after those found in an earlier code of monastic rules produced in China, the CHANYUAN QINGGUI. The Bendoho was therefore heavily influenced by the Chinese Chan master CHANGLU ZONGZE's manual of meditation, ZUOCHAN YI, which was embedded in the Chanyuan qinggui. The text includes guidelines for all of the activities of the saMgha hall, from sitting, walking, sleeping, and cleaning to the practice of seated meditation (J. zazen; C. ZUOCHAN). The Bendoho also contains a version of Dogen's FUKAN ZAZENGI.
Bendowa. (辨道話). In Japanese, "A Talk on Pursuing the Way"; a short essay written in vernacular Japanese by the SoTo ZEN monk DoGEN KIGEN in 1231. Dogen's earliest extant work, the Bendowa contains a brief description of the orthodox transmission to the East of the "true dharma" (shobo; S. SADDHARMA) of the Buddha and also a succinct explanation of Zen in a series of eighteen questions and answers. The Bendowa was later incorporated into Dogen's magnum opus, the SHoBoGENZo. The teachings on Zen meditation found in the Bendowa are similar to those of Dogen's FUKAN ZAZENGI.
Benkenmitsu nikyoron. (辯顯密二教論). In Japanese, literally "Distinguishing the Two Teachings of the Exoteric and Esoteric"; a relatively short treatise composed by the Japanese SHINGON monk KuKAI in the early ninth century. The text is commonly known more simply as the Nikyoron. As the title suggests, the central theme of the Benkenmitsu nikyoron is the elaboration of the difference between the exoteric and esoteric teachings of Buddhism and the demonstration of the latter's superiority. The text begins with a brief introduction, followed by a series of questions and answers, and a short conclusion. The Benkenmitsu nikyoron describes the relation between the exoteric teachings preached by the NIRMAnAKAYA of the Buddha and the esoteric teachings preached by his DHARMAKAYA as that between provisional words spoken according to the different capacities of sentient beings and ultimate truth. By meticulously citing scriptural references, such as the LAnKAVATARASuTRA, the Benkenmitsu nikyoron shows that the dharmakAya, like the nirmAnakAya and SAMBHOGAKAYA, can indeed preach and that it does so in a special language best articulated in such esoteric scriptures as the MAHAVAIROCANABHISAMBODHISuTRA. Whereas the nirmAnakAya speaks the DHARMA with reference to the six perfections (PARAMITA), the dharmakAya employs the language of the three mysteries: the body, speech, and mind of MAHAVAIROCANA expressed in MUDRA, MANTRA, and MAndALA. Like many of kukai's other writings, the arguments presented in his Benkenmitsu nikyoron helped him legitimize the introduction and installment of the new teachings, now known as MIKKYo or esoteric Buddhism, which he had brought back from China. There are several commentaries on the text, including those composed by Seisen (1025-1115), Raiyu (1226-1304), Yukai (1345-1416), and Kaijo (1750-1805).
benlai mianmu. (J. honrai no menmoku; K. pollae myonmok 本來面目). In Chinese, "original face"; an expression used in the CHAN school to describe the inherent state of enlightenment and often synonymous with buddha-nature (BUDDHADHATU; C. FOXING). The term is best known in the GONG'AN attributed by the tradition to the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) HUINENG (638-713), "Not thinking of good, not thinking of evil, at this very moment, what is your original face before your parents conceived you?" (The last line is often found translated as "what is your original face before your parents were born," but the previous rendering is preferred.) This gong'an is often one of the first given to RINZAI ZEN neophytes in Japan as part of their meditation training; the term, however, does not appear in the earlier DUNHUANG version of the LIUZU TAN JING ("Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch"), but only in later Song-dynasty recensions, suggesting it is actually a Song-period locution.
betsuji nenbutsu. (別時念佛). In Japanese, lit. "special-time recitation of the Buddha's name," also known as nyoho nenbutsu; a term for an intensive nenbutsu (C. NIANFO) practice, usually the chanting of the name of the buddha AMITABHA, as mentioned in the oJo YoSHu and SHASEKISHu. This type of recitation is mainly practiced among the followers of the JoDOSHu for a special period of one, seven, ten, or ninety days as a means of overcoming torpor and sluggishness.
Bhadra-KapilAnī. (P. BhaddA-KapilAnī; C. Batuoluo Jiabeiliye; J. Batsudara Kahiriya; K. Palt'ara Kabiriya 跋陀羅迦卑梨耶). A female ARHAT whom the Buddha declared to be foremost among his nun disciples in her ability to recall former lives (PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI). According to PAli sources, she was the daughter of a wealthy man named Kapila and was married to Pipphali, a landlord's son who later was to become the great arhat MahAkassapa (S. MAHAKAsYAPA). It is said that Pipphali was inclined toward renunciation and only agreed to his parents' request that he marry on the condition that it be a woman as lovely as a beautiful statue he had crafted. BhaddA was found to be the equal of the statue in beauty and arrangements were made for their wedding. But BhaddA too was similarly inclined toward renunciation and, although she and Pipphali finally consented to marry for the sake of their parents, they chose not to consummate their marriage. Pipphali was master of a grand estate and one day, while observing a plowman plow one of his fields, saw birds eating worms turned up by the plow. At the same time, BhaddA witnessed crows eating insects as they scurried among sesame seeds drying in the sun. Filled with pity and remorse for indirectly causing the death of those creatures, the couple resolved to renounce the world and take up the life of mendicancy. After shaving their heads and donning the yellow robes of mendicants, Pipphali and BhaddA abandoned their estate and wandered forth into homelessness, parting company at a fork in the road. Pipphali met the Buddha and was ordained as MahAkAssapa and soon attained arhatship. BhaddA took up residence in a hermitage near the JETAVANA Grove named TitthiyArAma. There she dwelled for five years, unable to take ordination because the nuns' (BHIKsUnĪ) order had not yet been established. When MAHAPRAJAPATĪ GAUTAMĪ was finally granted permission to begin a nuns' order, BhaddA took ordination from her and quickly attained arhatship. BhaddA KapilAnī became a famous preacher, though several of her disciples are recorded as having been unruly and ill disciplined.
BhadrapAla. (T. Bzang skyong; C. Xianhu/Batuoboluo; J. Kengo/Batsudahara; K. Hyonho/Palt'abara 賢護/跋陀波羅) In Sanskrit, "Auspicious Protector"; a lay (GṚHAPATI) BODHISATTVA who is listed as one of the eight great bodhisattvas (S. AstAMAHOPAPUTRA), who have vowed to protect and propagate the true dharma (S. SADDHARMA) in the age of decline (S. SADDHARMAVIPRALOPA; C. MOFA) after sAKYAMUNI Buddha's death and to guard sentient beings. He is also listed in the DAZHIDU LUN (*MahAprajNApAramitAsAstra) as one of the sixteen great bodhisattvas who have remained a householder. In the RATNAKutASuTRA, BhadrapAla is described as the son of a wealthy merchant (gṛhapati) whose enjoyments surpassed even those of INDRA, the king of the gods, himself. In the Banzhou sanmei jing (PRATYUTPANNABUDDHASAMMUKHAVASTHITASAMADHISuTRA), BhadrapAla appears together with his five hundred attendant bodhisattvas to ask the Buddha how bodhisattvas can obtain wisdom that is as deep and broad as the ocean. In the twentieth chapter of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"), BhadrapAla is identified as someone who slighted the Buddha in a previous lifetime and as a result fell into AVĪCI hell. After suffering there for a thousand eons (KALPA) and requiting his offenses, BhadrapAla was again able to encounter the Buddha and finally accept his teaching. He is also mentioned as one of the eighty thousand bodhisattvas who attended the assembly on Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKutAPARVATA) where sAkyamuni preached in the opening chapter of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra. BhadrapAla eventually became a buddha who attained enlightenment through the contemplation of water. Drawing on this experience, the Chinese apocryphal *suRAMGAMASuTRA (Shoulengyan jing) says that BhadrapAla became enlightened as he entered the bathhouse; hence, the Chinese CHAN tradition enshrined an image of BhadrapAla in the monastic bathhouse and some Japanese Buddhist schools similarly considered him to be the patron of the temple bathhouse.
Bhadra. (P. Bhadda; T. Bzang po; C. Batuoluo zunzhe; J. Batsudara sonja; K. Palt'ara chonja 跋陀羅尊者). The Sanskrit name of the sixth of the sixteen ARHAT elders (sOdAsASTHAVIRA), who are charged by the Buddha with protecting his dispensation until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. He is said to reside in Sri Lanka with nine hundred disciples. His mother gave birth to him under the bhadra (auspicious) tree, hence his name. A cousin of the Buddha, he served as his attendant and was famed for his clear exposition of the teachings. In the Chinese tradition, he is charged with matters related to bathing and his image is therefore enshrined in bath houses in some mountain monasteries. In CHANYUE GUANXIU's standard Chinese depiction, Bhadra typically sits on a rock in meditation. His forehead is high, his cheeks plump, and his gaze is turned slightly upward. His right hand is hidden under his robes and his left hand rests on his knee, holding prayer beads (JAPAMALA). Some East Asian images also show him accompanied by a tiger. In Tibetan iconography, he holds his left hand at his chest in VITARKAMUDRA, his right at his lap in DHYANAMUDRA.
Bhaisajyaguru. (T. Sman bla; C. Yaoshi rulai; J. Yakushi nyorai; K. Yaksa yorae 藥師如來). In Sanskrit, "Medicine Teacher"; the "Healing Buddha" or "Medicine Buddha," who was the focus of an important salvific cult in the early MAHAYANA tradition. According to his eponymous scripture, the BHAIsAJYAGURUSuTRA, he has a body more brilliant than the sun, which was the color of lapis lazuli (vaiduryamani) and possessed the power to heal illness and physical deformities; his pure land of VaiduryanirbhAsa is located in the east. The origin of Bhaisajyaguru and his healing cult is unclear, although his worship seems to have arisen contemporaneously with the rise of the MahAyAna. BHAIsAJYARAJA and Bhaisajyasamudgata, two bodhisattvas mentioned in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"), are likely antecedents, and similarities with other "celestial" buddhas like AMITABHA and AKsOBHYA also suggest possible influence from those rival cults. The Bhaisajyagurusutra was translated into Chinese in the seventh century, during the Tang dynasty, when his worship finally achieved the wide recognition that it continues to enjoy within the Chinese tradition. The Bhaisajyagurusutra is also cited in the eighth-century tantric text, MANJUsRĪMuLAKALPA, indicating that his cult had by then achieved widespread acclaim throughout Asia. Bhaisajyaguru was one of the earliest buddhas to gain popularity in Japan, although initially he was familiar only within the imperial court, which constructed monasteries in his honor beginning in the sixth century. By the eighth century, his cult had spread throughout the country, with Bhaisajyaguru being invoked both to cure illness and to ward off dangers. The worship of Bhaisajyaguru seems to have entered Tibet during the eighth century, two versions of the Bhaisajyagurusutra having been translated into Tibetan by the prolific YE SHES SDE and others. Early in the development of his cult, Bhaisajyaguru was divided into a group of eight medicine buddhas (asta-bhaisajyaguru), made up of seven of his emanations plus the principal buddha. Their names vary according to source, and none save Bhaisajyaguru are worshipped individually. Two of these emanations-Suryaprabha and Candraprabha-are often depicted in a triad with Bhaisajyaguru. Further, Bhaisajyaguru is also said to command twelve warriors (YAKsA) related to various astrological categories and to wage war on illness in the name of their leader. Indic images of Bhaisajyaguru are rare, but his depictions are common across both the East Asian and Tibetan cultural spheres. East Asian images are almost uniform in depicting him seated, with his right hand in the gesture of fearlessness (ABHAYAMUDRA) or the gesture of generosity (VARADAMUDRA), his left in his lap, occasionally holding a medicine bowl. In Tibet, he is also shown holding the fruit of the medicinal myrobalan plant.
bhiksunī. (P. bhikkhunī; T. dge slong ma; C. biqiuni; J. bikuni; K. piguni 比丘尼) In Sanskrit, "beggar (female)," commonly translated as "nun." A bhiksunī holds full ordination in her VINAYA lineage and is distinguished from a novice nun (sRAMAnERIKA) or a probationary postulant (sIKsAMAnA) who both accept only the preliminary training rules. The bhiksunī is enjoined to observe the full set of rules of monastic discipline, or PRATIMOKsA, governing fully ordained nuns, which vary from 311 in the PAli vinaya to 364 in the MuLASARVASTIVADA vinaya followed in Tibet (although the order of bhiksunī was never established there). These rules mirror closely those also incumbent on monks (BHIKsU) (although there are substantially greater numbers of rules in all categories of the bhiksunī prAtimoksa); an important exception, however, is that nuns are also required to adhere to the eight "weighty" or "deferential" "rules" (GURUDHARMA), a set of special rules that nuns alone are enjoined to follow, which explicitly subordinate the bhiksunī to the bhiksu SAMGHA. Upon receiving higher ordination (UPASAMPADA), the new nun is required to remain under the guidance (NIsRAYA; P. nissaya) of her preceptor (UPADHYAYA; P. upajjhAyA) for at least two years until she becomes skilled in dharma and vinaya. After ten years, the nun becomes an elder (sthavirī; P. therī) in the bhiksunī saMgha and, after another two years, may act as a preceptor and ordain new nuns into the order. In South Asia, the formal upasaMpadA ordination of nuns is thought to have died out sometime during the medieval period, and there is little evidence that a formal bhiksunī saMgha was ever established in Southeast Asia. The only surviving bhiksunī ordination lineages are in China, Korea, and Taiwan. Apart from East Asia, most Buddhist women known as "nuns" are actually only ordained with the eight, nine, or ten extended lay precepts (as in Southeast Asia), as srAmanerikA (as in Tibet), or else take the East Asian bodhisattva precepts of the FANWANG JING (as in Japan). In recent years there has been a concerted effort to reintroduce the bhiksunī ordination to countries where it had died out or was never established.
Bhrigu (Sanskrit) Bhṛgu [from bhrajj to be hot, brilliantly glowing, or bhrāj to be shining] One of the most celebrated of the Vedic rishis (sages), regarded as the ancestor of the Bhargavas, enumerated as one of the ten primeval maharshis created by the first manu; he is also regarded as one of the seven or ten prajapatis (progenitors) of mankind and other beings, “which is equivalent to identifying him with one of the creative gods, placed by the Puranas in Krita Yug, or the first age, that of purity” (TG 57). Some hymns in the Rig-Veda are attributed to him. The planet Sukra (Venus) is associated with Bhrigu, being one of its names, and Bhrigu is often a term designating the equivalent of Friday, which is consecrated to the planet Venus. Venus is also sometimes called the son of Bhrigu.
Bhṛkutī. (T. Khro gnyer can; C. Pijuzhi; J. Bikutei; K. Piguji 毘胝). In Sanskrit, lit. "She who Frowns"; a wrathful deity understood to be a form of TARA, who is reputed to have been born from a frown of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA. An alternate account is that she arose from a ray of light emanating out of Avalokitesvara's left eye at the same time TArA was born from the right eye. Bhṛkutī is sometimes said to be an emanation of the buddha AMITABHA as well, particularly in Japan, and often appears with an image of AmitAbha in her crown. Although she can appear in peaceful form, she is generally depicted as a wrathful deity, most commonly with one face with three eyes, and four arms holding a trident, vase, and rosary and displaying the VARADAMUDRA, and either standing in ALĪdHA posture or sitting in LALITASANA. ¶ Bhṛkutī is also the name of the Nepali princess who married SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO. According to the MAnI BKA' 'BUM, she was the daughter of the Nepalese king AMsuvarman and was brought to Tibet by the famed minister Mgar stong btsan after Srong btsan sgam po saw her in a prophetic dream. The Nepalese king initially refused to send her, deriding Tibet as a land of savagery, lacking not only the teachings of the Buddha but basic civil laws as well. Mgar convinced the king that Srong btsan sgam po was sincere in desiring the DHARMA, and was able to return with her, after which he set out to China to bring back the Tang princess WENCHENG. Bhṛkuti is said to have brought with her to Tibet the statue of sAKYAMUNI called JO BO MI BSKYOD RDO RJE, which was eventually housed in RA MO CHE. The historicity of both Bhṛkuti and her father has been called into question by recent scholarship. The Nepalese princess is said to have also brought a sandalwood statue of BhṛkutĪ to Tibet, but (if it ever existed) it had disappeared by the seventeenth century, when the fifth DALAI LAMA, in his guidebook to the temples of LHA SA, reported it missing.
Biyan lu. (J. Hekiganroku; K. Pyogam nok 碧巖録). In Chinese, "Emerald Grotto Record" or, as it is popularly known in the West, the "Blue Cliff Record"; compiled by CHAN master YUANWU KEQIN; also known by its full title of Foguo Yuanwu chanshi biyan lu ("Emerald Grotto Record of Chan Master Foguo Yuanwu"). The Biyan lu is one of the two most famous and widely used collection of Chan cases (GONG'AN), along with the WUMEN GUAN ("The Gateless Checkpoint"). The anthology is built around XUEDOU CHONGXIAN's Xuedou heshang baice songgu, an earlier independent collection of one hundred old Chan cases (GUCE) with verse commentary; Xuedou's text is embedded within the Biyan lu and Yuanwu's comments are interspersed throughout. Each of the one hundred cases, with a few exceptions, is introduced by a pointer (CHUISHI), a short introductory paragraph composed by Yuanwu. Following the pointer, the term "raised" (ju) is used to formally mark the actual case. Each case is followed by interlinear notes known as annotations or capping phrases (ZHUOYU; J. JAKUGO) and prose commentary (PINGCHANG), both composed by Yuanwu. The phrase "the verse says" (song yue) subsequently introduces Xuedou's verse, which is also accompanied by its own capping phrases and prose commentary, both added by Yuanwu. The cases, comments, and capping phrases found in the Biyan lu were widely used and read among both the clergy and laity in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam as an contemplative tool in Chan meditation practice and, in some contexts, as a token of social or institutional status. A famous (or perhaps infamous) story tells of the Chan master DAHUI ZONGGAO, the major disciple of Yuanwu, burning his teacher's Biyan lu for fear that his students would become attached to the words of Xuedou and Yuanwu. The Biyan lu shares many cases with the Wumen guan, and the two texts continue to function as the foundation of training in the Japanese RINZAI Zen school.
Japa must come in a live push carrying the Joy or the light of the thing in it,
Japan and Korea
Japanese Colonial Period 1910-1945
Japanese cosmogony says that “out of the chaotic mass, an egg-like nucleus appears, having within itself the germ and potency of all the universal as well as of all terrestrial life” (SD 1:216).
Japanese Cross-References
Japanese Historical Periods
Japa (Sanskrit) Japa [from the verbal root jap to murmur, whisper] The practice of certain yogis of repeating in a murmuring tone passages from the scriptures or mantras, or the names of a deity.
Japa: Sanskrit for invocation.
Blyth, Reginald H. (1898-1964). An early English translator of Japanese poetry, with a particular interest in ZEN Buddhism. Blyth was born in Essex; his father was railway clerk. He was imprisoned for three years during the First World War as a conscientious objector. In 1925, he traveled to Korea, then a Japanese colony, where he taught English at Keijo University in Seoul. It was there that he developed his first interest in Zen through the priest Hanayama Taigi. After a brief trip to England, he returned to Seoul and then went to Japan, where he taught English in Kanazawa. With the outbreak of the Pacific War, Blyth was interned as an enemy alien, despite having expressed sympathy for the Japanese cause. Although he remained interned throughout the war, he was allowed to continue his studies, and in 1942 published his most famous work, Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics, which sought to identify Zen elements in a wide range of literature. After the war, Blyth served as a liaison between the Japanese imperial household and the Allies, later becoming a professor of English at Gakushuin University, where one of his students was the future emperor Akihito (b. 1933). After the war, he published a four-volume collection of his translations of Japanese haiku poetry, which was largely responsible for European and American interest in haiku during the 1950s, among the Beat Poets and others, and the writing of haiku in languages other than Japanese. Subsequent scholarship has questioned the strong connection that Blyth saw between Zen and haiku. Blyth died in Japan and is buried in Kamakura next to his friend D. T. SUZUKI.
Boar One of the avataras of Vishnu or Brahma as Prajapati; in Hindu symbology the boar “which plunges into the ‘waters’ of space and lifts up the earth upon his tusks, and so bears it for the remainder of the manvantara, signifies not only the fourth-plane physical vitality, but likewise the cosmical vitality which infills and sustains the earth, rooted as this vitality is in the spiritual life of the god of our solar system” (FSO 493). See also AVATARA
bodaiji. (菩提寺). In Japanese, literally "BODHI temple"; also known as bodaiin, bodaisho, or DANNADERA. Bodaiji are temples that flourished mainly during the Edo period under the parish system (DANKA SEIDO) established by the Tokugawa shogunate. Parishioners, known as danka or DAN'OTSU, were required to register at these local temples. By establishing the danka and terauke ("temple support") system, the early Tokugawa shogunate hoped to eradicate the threat of Christianity as they had witnessed it in the Christian-led Shimabara Uprising of 1637. During the Edo period, the bodaiji primarily offered funerary and memorial services for the ancestors of its parishioners and in many cases came to function as cemeteries. Festivals for the dead such as bon (see YULANBEN) and higan were also held annually at these temples. Although the danka system was abolished during the Meiji period, the bodaiji continue to function as memorial temples in modern Japan.
BodhgayA. (S. BuddhagayA). Modern Indian place name for the most significant site in the Buddhist world, renowned as the place where sAKYAMUNI Buddha (then, still the BODHISATTVA prince SIDDHARTHA) became a buddha while meditating under the BODHI TREE at the "seat of enlightenment" (BODHIMAndA) or the "diamond seat" (VAJRASANA). The site is especially sacred because, according to tradition, not only did sAkyamuni Buddha attain enlightenment there, but all buddhas of this world system have or will do so, albeit under different species of trees. BodhgayA is situated along the banks of the NAIRANJANA river, near RAJAGṚHA, the ancient capital city of the MAGADHA kingdom. Seven sacred places are said to be located in BodhgayA, each being a site where the Buddha stayed during each of the seven weeks following his enlightenment. These include, in addition to the bodhimanda under the Bodhi tree: the place where the Buddha sat facing the Bodhi tree during the second week, with an unblinking gaze (and hence the site of the animesalocana caitya); the place where the Buddha walked back and forth in meditation (CAnKRAMA) during the third week; the place called the ratnagṛha, where the Buddha meditated during the fourth week, emanating rays of light from his body; the place under the ajapAla tree where the god BRAHMA requested that the Buddha turn the wheel of the dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA) during the fifth week; the lake where the NAGA MUCILINDA used his hood to shelter the Buddha from a storm during the sixth week; and the place under the rAjAyatana tree where the merchants TRAPUsA and BHALLIKA met the Buddha after the seventh week, becoming his first lay disciples. ¶ Located in the territory of MAGADHA (in modern Bihar), the ancient Indian kingdom where the Buddha spent much of his teaching career, BodhgayA is one of the four major pilgrimage sites (MAHASTHANA) sanctioned by the Buddha himself, along with LUMBINĪ in modern-day Nepal, where the Buddha was born; the Deer Park (MṚGADAVA) at SARNATH, where he first taught by "turning the wheel of the dharma" (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA); and KUsINAGARĪ in Uttar Pradesh, where he passed into PARINIRVAnA. According to the AsOKAVADANA, the emperor AsOKA visited BodhgayA with the monk UPAGUPTA and established a STuPA at the site. There is evidence that Asoka erected a pillar and shrine at the site during the third century BCE. A more elaborate structure, called the vajrAsana GANDHAKUtĪ ("perfumed chamber of the diamond seat"), is depicted in a relief at BodhgayA, dating from c. 100 BCE. It shows a two-storied structure supported by pillars, enclosing the Bodhi tree and the vajrAsana, the "diamond seat," where the Buddha sat on the night of his enlightenment. The forerunner of the present temple is described by the Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG. This has led scholars to speculate that the structure was built sometime between the third and sixth centuries CE, with subsequent renovations. Despite various persecutions by non-Buddhist Indian kings, the site continued to receive patronage, especially during the PAla period, from which many of the surrounding monuments date. A monastery, called the BodhimandavihAra, was established there and flourished for several centuries. FAXIAN mentions three monasteries at BodhgayA; Xuanzang found only one, called the MahAbodhisaMghArAma (see MAHABODHI TEMPLE). The temple and its environs fell into neglect after the Muslim invasions that began in the thirteenth century. British photographs from the nineteenth century show the temple in ruins. Restoration of the site was ordered by the British governor-general of Bengal in 1880, with a small eleventh-century replica of the temple serving as a model. There is a tall central tower some 165 feet (fifty meters) in height, with a high arch over the entrance with smaller towers at the four corners. The central tower houses a small temple with an image of the Buddha. The temple is surrounded by stone railings, some dating from 150 BCE, others from the Gupta period (300-600 CE) that preserve important carvings. In 1886, EDWIN ARNOLD visited BodhgayA. He published an account of his visit, which was read by ANAGARIKA DHARMAPALA and others. Arnold described a temple surrounded by hundreds of broken statues scattered in the jungle. The MahAbodhi Temple itself had stood in ruins prior to renovations undertaken by the British in 1880. Also of great concern was the fact that the site had been under saiva control since the eighteenth century, with reports of animal sacrifice taking place in the environs of the temple. DharmapAla visited BodhgayA himself in 1891, and returned to Sri Lanka, where he worked with a group of leading Sinhalese Buddhists to found the MAHABODHI SOCIETY with the aim of restoring BodhgayA as place of Buddhist worship and pilgrimage. The society undertook a series of unsuccessful lawsuits to that end. In 1949, after Indian independence, the BodhgayA Temple Act was passed, which established a committee of four Buddhists and four Hindus to supervise the temple and its grounds. The Government of India asked AnagArika Munindra, a Bengali monk and active member of the MahAbodhi Society, to oversee the restoration of BodhgayA. Since then, numerous Buddhist countries-including Bhutan, China, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam-have constructed (or restored) their own temples and monasteries in BodhgayA, each reflecting its national architectural style. In 2002, the MahAbodhi Temple was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bodhidharma. (C. Putidamo; J. Bodaidaruma; K. Poridalma 菩提達磨) (c. late-fourth to early-fifth centuries). Indian monk who is the putative "founder" of the school of CHAN (K. SoN, J. ZEN, V. THIỀN). The story of a little-known Indian (or perhaps Central Asian) emigré monk grew over the centuries into an elaborate legend of Bodhidharma, the first patriarch of the Chan school. The earliest accounts of a person known as Bodhidharma appear in the Luoyang qielan ji and XU GAOSENG ZHUAN, but the more familiar and developed image of this figure can be found in such later sources as the BAOLIN ZHUAN, LENGQIE SHIZI JI, LIDAI FABAO JI, ZUTANG JI, JINGDE CHUANDENG LU, and other "transmission of the lamplight" (CHUANDENG LU) histories. According to these sources, Bodhidharma was born as the third prince of a South Indian kingdom. Little is known about his youth, but he is believed to have arrived in China sometime during the late fourth or early fifth century, taking the southern maritime route according to some sources, the northern overland route according to others. In an episode appearing in the Lidai fabao ji and BIYAN LU, after arriving in southern China, Bodhidharma is said to have engaged in an enigmatic exchange with the devout Buddhist emperor Wu (464-549, r. 502-549) of the Liang dynasty (502-557) on the subject of the Buddha's teachings and merit-making. To the emperor's questions about what dharma Bodhidharma was transmitting and how much merit (PUnYA) he, Wudi, had made by his munificent donations to construct monasteries and ordain monks, Bodhidharma replied that the Buddha's teachings were empty (hence there was nothing to transmit) and that the emperor's generous donations had brought him no merit at all. The emperor seems not to have been impressed with these answers, and Bodhidharma, perhaps disgruntled by the emperor's failure to understand the profundity of his teachings, left for northern China, taking the Yangtze river crossing (riding a reed across the river, in a scene frequently depicted in East Asian painting). Bodhidharma's journey north eventually brought him to a cave at the monastery of SHAOLINSI on SONGSHAN, where he sat in meditation for nine years while facing a wall (MIANBI), in so-called "wall contemplation" (BIGUAN). During his stay on Songshan, the Chinese monk HUIKE is said to have become Bodhidharma's disciple, allegedly after cutting off his left arm to show his dedication. This legend of Bodhidharma's arrival in China is eventually condensed into the famous Chan case (GONG'AN), "Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?" (see XILAI YI). Bodhidharma's place within the lineage of Indian patriarchs vary according to text and tradition (some list him as the twenty-eighth patriarch), but he is considered the first patriarch of Chan in China. Bodhidharma's name therefore soon became synonymous with Chan and subsequently with Son, Zen, and Thièn. Bodhidharma, however, has often been confused with other figures such as BODHIRUCI, the translator of the LAnKAVATARASuTRA, and the Kashmiri monk DHARMATRATA, to whom the DHYANA manual DAMODUOLUO CHAN JING is attributed. The Lidai fabao ji, for instance, simply fused the names of Bodhidharma and DharmatrAta and spoke of a BodhidharmatrAta whose legend traveled with the Lidai fabao ji to Tibet. Bodhidharma was even identified as the apostle Saint Thomas by Jesuit missionaries to China, such as Matteo Ricci. Several texts, a number of which were uncovered in the DUNHUANG manuscript cache in Central Asia, have been attributed to Bodhidharma, but their authorship remains uncertain. The ERRU SIXING LUN seems to be the only of these texts that can be traced with some certainty back to Bodhidharma or his immediate disciples. The legend of Bodhidharma in the Lengqie shizi ji also associates him with the transmission of the LankAvatArasutra in China. In Japan, Bodhidharma is often depicted in the form of a round-shaped, slightly grotesque-looking doll, known as the "Daruma doll." Like much of the rest of the legends surrounding Bodhidharma, there is finally no credible evidence connecting Bodhidharma to the Chinese martial arts traditions (see SHAOLINSI).
Bodhisena. (C. Putixianna; J. Bodaisenna; K. Porisonna 菩提僊那) (704-760). Indian monk who traveled first to Southeast Asia and China starting in 723 and subsequently continued on to Japan in 736 at the invitation of the Japanese emperor Shomu (r. 724-749), where he resided at DAIANJI in Nara. Bodhisena was instrumental in helping to introduce the teachings of the HUAYAN (Kegon) school of Buddhism to Japan. Shomu also asked Bodhisena to perform the "opening the eyes" (KAIYAN; NETRAPRATIstHAPANA) ceremony for the 752 dedication of the great buddha image of VAIROCANA (see NARA DAIBUTSU; Birushana Nyorai) at ToDAIJI. At forty-eight feet high, this image remains the largest extant gilt-bronze image in the world and the Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall) where the image is enshrined is the world's largest surviving wooden building.
Bodhi tree. (S. bodhidruma [alt. bodhivṛksa; bodhiyasti; bodhivata]; P. bodhirukkha; T. byang chub shing; C. puti shu; J. bodaiju; K. pori su 菩提樹). The name for the sacred tree under which each buddha achieves enlightenment (BODHI), according to the standard hagiographies; sometimes abbreviated as the "bo tree" in English. The Bodhi tree is one of the elements in all stories of a buddha's enlightenment and each buddha has a specific type of tree associated with him. In the case of the current buddha, GAUTAMA or sAKYAMUNI, the tree under which he sat when he attained enlightenment is a pipal, or fig, tree (Ficus religiosa). The original Bodhi tree was located at the "seat of enlightenment" (BODHIMAndA, VAJRASANA) in BODHGAYA, in northern India, but cuttings from it have throughout history been replanted at Buddhist sites around Asia, and now the world. It is said that the Buddha authorized a seed from the tree to be planted in JETAVANA. Its veneration and protection are a common theme in Buddhist literature, figuring prominently, for example, in the story of AsOKA. The tree was cut, burned, and uprooted by various Hindu kings, including SasAnka of Bengal in the seventh century. It was subsequently replaced by a seedling derived from a cutting that had been taken to Sri Lanka in the third century BCE. The PAli MAHABODHIVAMSA (c. tenth-eleventh century CE) tells the history of the Bodhi tree, the arrival of a cutting from it in Sri Lanka, and the beginnings of the Sinhalese worship of the tree as a Buddhist relic. The large seeds of the Bodhi tree are commonly used to make Buddhist rosaries (JAPAMALA).
bokuseki. (墨蹟). In Japanese, "ink traces"; generally referring to any sort of calligraphy executed by an ink brush on paper or silk. The Japanese monk Murata Juko (1422-1502) is said to have hung in his tea room the calligraphy of the Song-dynasty CHAN master YUANWU KEQIN, which he had received from his teacher IKKYu SoJUN, a practice that seems to have had no precedent in Japan. Following his lead, monks largely from the GOZAN lineage began to collect the calligraphy of eminent Song-dynasty Chan masters such as DAHUI ZONGGAO and XUTANG ZHIYU to display in their private quarters and tea rooms. From the time of the Zen and tea master Sen no Rikyu (Soeki Rikyu; 1521-1591), the calligraphy of Japanese Zen monks such as MYoAN EISAI, DoGEN KIGEN, and MUSo SoSEKI began to be seen as valuable commodities. The calligraphy of Zen masters belonging to the DAITOKUJI lineage such as SoHo MYoCHo, Ikkyu Sojun, and TAKUAN SoHo also came to be highly prized. Beginning with Sen no Rikyu, the practice of collecting relatively simple calligraphy, comprised largely of a single, horizontally executed line, came to be favored over those containing longer poems or sermons written in vertical lines.
bonze. (J. bonso/bosso 凡僧). An early English term for a Buddhist monk, especially in East Asia, deriving from the Portuguese pronunciation of the Japanese bonso ("ordinary cleric"). Although occasionally still used in reference to Japanese Buddhist priests, this sixteenth-century term is long outmoded and should be discarded.
Book titles are generally given in the language of original provenance, e.g., Saddharmapundarīkasutra, in Sanskrit, with cross-references to Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean; Dasheng qixin lun, in Chinese, with cross-references to a putative Sanskrit reconstruction of the title, and Japanese and Korean. We also include some main entries to indigenous terms, book titles, personal names, or place names in other Asian languages, e.g.: Burmese, Thai, Lao, Nepalese, Sinhalese, Mongolian, and Vietnamese.
Borland Software Corporation ::: (company) A company that sells a variety of PC software development and database systems. Borland was founded in 1983 and initially became famous for their low-cost software, particularly Turbo Pascal, Turbo C, and Turbo Prolog.Current and past products include the Borland C++ C++ and C developement environment, the Paradox and dBASE databases, Delphi, JBuilder, and InterBase.Borland has approximately 1000 employees worldwide and has operations in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.Borland sold Quattro Pro to Novell in 1994 for $100M. Novell later sold the product to Corel Corporation, who also bought Paradox. dBASE was sold in March(?) 1999 to dBase Inc.In Febuary 1998 Borland bought Visigenic Software, Inc..The company changed its name to Inprise Corporation on 1998-04-29 and then on 2000-11-14 they announced they were changing it back to Borland from the first quarter of 2001.Quarterly sales $69M, profits $61M (Aug 1994). $56M, $6.4M (July 2001) .Headquarters: 100 Borland Way, Scotts Valley, CA, 95066, USA. Telephone: +1 (408) 431 1000.(2002-03-16)
Borland Software Corporation "company" A company that sells a variety of {PC} software development and {database} systems. Borland was founded in 1983 and initially became famous for their low-cost software, particularly {Turbo Pascal}, {Turbo C}, and {Turbo Prolog}. Current and past products include the {Borland C++} C++ and C developement environment, the {Paradox} and {dBASE} {databases}, {Delphi}, {JBuilder}, and {InterBase}. Borland has approximately 1000 employees worldwide and has operations in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Borland sold {Quattro} Pro to {Novell} in 1994 for $100M. Novell later sold the product to {Corel Corporation}, who also bought {Paradox}. dBASE was sold in March(?) 1999 to {dBase Inc.} In Febuary 1998 Borland bought {Visigenic Software, Inc.}. The company changed its name to Inprise Corporation on 1998-04-29 and then on 2000-11-14 they announced they were changing it back to Borland from the first quarter of 2001. Quarterly sales $69M, profits $61M (Aug 1994). $56M, $6.4M (July 2001) {(http://borland.com/)}. Headquarters: 100 Borland Way, Scotts Valley, CA, 95066, USA. Telephone: +1 (408) 431 1000. (2002-03-16)
Bosatsu: In Japanese Buddhist terminology, the equivalent of Bodhisattva (q.v.).
Brahmadikas (Sanskrit) Brahmādika-s The earliest emanations from Brahman; also a general name for the higher solar pitris or dhyani-chohans, whether of the solar system, planetary chain, or even individual globes, who take charge of their respective spheres for the course of its life cycle. As spiritual prajapatis, producers or emanators of hierarchical classes or families, they in a sense are identified with the manus. (SD 1:442; 2:142)
Brahma-Prajapati (Sanskrit) Brahmā-prajāpati [brahmā as prajāpati] Progenitor or lord of beings, synthesis of all the cosmic prajapati or formative forces, which infill, make, and in a sense are the visible universe, every atom of which is essentially Brahman.
Brahmaputra (Sanskrit) Brahmaputra [from brahman + putra son] In the Vedas, the son of a Brahmin, a member of the priestly caste. Also a son of Brahma, applied particularly to the prajapatis, the mind-born sons of Brahma, usually enumerated as seven. Blavatsky uses the term in a slightly different sense, referring to the Sons of God in connection with a certain Sacred Island in Central Asia (SD 1:209).
Brahmarshi or Brahma-rishi, (Sanskrit) Brahmarṣi [from brahman + ṛṣi sage] A class of sages, commonly regarded as being of the Brahmanical or priestly class and associated with the prajapatis or mind-born sons of Brahma. Strictly speaking, the “descendants of those Rishis who were the founders of gotras of Brahmans, or caste-races” (SD 2:502). Used interchangeably with prajapati.
Brahma “symbolizes personally the collective creators of the World and Men — the universe with all its numberless productions of things movable and (seemingly) immovable. He is collectively the Prajapatis, the Lords of Being; and the four bodies typify the four classes of creative powers or Dhyan Chohans . . .” (SD 2:60), these four bodies being ratri (night) associated with the creation of the asuras; ahan (day) associated with the gods; sandhya (evening twilight) associated with the pitris; and jyotsna (dawn or light) associated with the creation of men.
broadcast quality video "communications, multimedia" Roughly, {video} with more than 30 frames per second at a {resolution} of 800 x 640 {pixels}. The quality of moving pictures and sound is determined by the complete chain from camera to receiver. Relevant factors are the colour temperature of the lighting, the balance of the red, green and blue vision pick-up tubes to produce the correct display colour temperature (which will be different) and the {gamma} pre-correction to cancel the non-linear characteristic of {cathode-ray tubes} in television receivers. The {resolution} of the camera tube and video coding system will determine the maximum number of {pixels} in the picture. Different colour coding systems have different defects. The NTSC system (National Television Systems Committee) can produce {hue} errors. The PAL system (Phase Alternation by Line) can produce {saturation} errors. Television modulation systems are specified by ITU CCIR Report 624. Low-resolution systems have {bandwidths} of 4.2 MHz with 525 to 625 lines per frame as used in the Americas and Japan. Medium resolution of 5 to 6.5 MHz with 625 lines is used in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia. {High-Definition Television} (HDTV) will require 8 MHz or more of bandwidth. A medium resolution (5.5 MHz in UK) picture can be represented by 572 lines of 402 pixels. Note the ratio of pixels to lines is not the same as the {aspect ratio}. A {VGA} display (480n lines of 640 pixels) could thus display 84% of the height of one picture frame. Most compression techniques reduce quality as they assume a restricted range of detail and motion and discard details to which the human eye is not sensitive. Broadcast quality implies something better than amateur or domestic video and therefore can't be retained on a domestic video recorder. Broadcasts use quadriplex or U-matic recorders. The lowest frame rate used for commercial entertainment is the 24Hz of the 35mm cinema camera. When broadcast on a 50Hz television system, the pictures are screened at 25Hz reducing the running times by 4%. On a 60Hz system every five movie frames are screened as six TV frames, still at the 4% increased rate. The six frames are made by mixing adjacent frames, with some degradation of the picture. A computer system to meet international standard reproduction would at least VGA resolution, an interlaced frame rate of 24Hz and 8 bits to represent the luminance (Y) component. For a component display system using red, green and blue (RGB) electron guns and phosphor dots each will require 7 bits. Transmission and recording is different as various coding schemes need less bits if other representations are used instead of RGB. Broadcasts use YUV and compression can reduce this to about 3.5 bits per pixel without perceptible degradation. High-quality video and sound can be carried on a 34 Mbaud channel after being compressed with {ADPCM} and {variable length coding}, potentially in real time. (1997-07-04)
brunswick black ::: --> See Japan black.
Budai. (J. Hotei; K. P'odae 布袋) (d. 916). A legendary Chinese monk, whose name literally means "Hemp Sack"; also occasionally referred to as Fenghua Budai, Changtingzi, and Budai heshang. He is said to have hailed from Fenghua county in Ningbo prefecture of Zhejiang province. Budai is often depicted as a short figure with an enormous belly and a staff or walking stick on which he has hung a hemp bag or sack (budai), whence derives his name. Budai wandered from one town to the next begging for food, some of which he saved in his sack. This jolly figure is remembered as a thaumaturge who was particularly famous for accurately predicting the weather. On his deathbed, Budai left the following death verse, which implied he was in fact a manifestation of the BODHISATTVA MAITREYA: "Maitreya, true Maitreya, / His thousands, hundreds, and tens of millions of manifestations, / From time to time appear among his fellow men, / But remain unrecognized by his fellow men." Budai is also associated in China with AnGAJA, the thirteenth of the sixteen ARHATs (see sOdAsASTHAVIRA) who serve as protector figures. Angaja had been a snake wrangler before he ordained, so whenever he went into the mountains, he carried a cloth bag with him to catch snakes, which he would release after removing their fangs so they would not injure people. For this reason, he earned the nickname "Cloth-Bag Arhat" (Budai luohan/heshang). In Zhejiang province, many images of Budai were made for worship, and an image of Budai installed in the monastery of MANPUKUJI on Mt. obaku in Japan is still referred to as that of the bodhisattva Maitreya. The local cult hero and thaumaturge Budai was quickly appropriated by the CHAN community as a trickster-like figure, leading to Budai often being as called the "Laughing Buddha." In Japan, Budai is also revered as one of the seven gods of virtue (see SHICHIFUKUJIN). It is Budai who is commonly depicted in all manner of kitschy knickknacks and called the "Fat Buddha." He has never been identified with, and is not to be mistaken for, sAKYAMUNI Buddha.
buddhAnusmṛti. (P. buddhAnussati; T. sangs rgyas rjes su dran pa; C. nianfo; J. nenbutsu; K. yombul 念佛). In Sanskrit, "recollection of the Buddha"; one of the common practices designed to develop concentration, in which the meditator reflects on the meritorious qualities of the Buddha, often through contemplating a series of his epithets. The oldest list of epithets of the Buddha used in such recollection, which is found across all traditions, is worthy one (ARHAT), fully enlightened (SAMYAKSAMBUDDHA), perfect in both knowledge and conduct (vidyAcaranasampanna), well gone (SUGATA), knower of all worlds (lokavid), teacher of divinities (or kings) and human beings (sAstṛ devamanusyAnaM), buddha, and BHAGAVAT. BuddhAnusmṛti is listed among the forty meditative exercises (KAMMAttHANA) discussed in the VISUDDHIMAGGA and is said to be conducive to gaining access concentration (UPACARASAMADHI). In East Asia, this recollection practice evolved into the recitation of the name of the buddha AMITABHA (see NIANFO) in the form of the phrase namo Amituo fo ("homage to AmitAbha Buddha"; J. NAMU AMIDABUTSU). This recitation was often performed in a ritual setting accompanied by the performance of prostrations, the burning of incense, and the recitation of scriptures, all directed toward gaining a vision of AmitAbha's PURE LAND (SUKHAVATĪ), which was considered proof that one would be reborn there. Nianfo practice was widely practiced across schools and social strata in China. In Japan, repetition of the phrase in its Japanese pronunciation of namu Amidabutsu (homage to AmitAbha Buddha) became a central practice of the Japanese Pure Land schools of Buddhism (see JoDOSHu, JoDO SHINSHu).
buddhapAtramudrA. (T. sangs rgyas kyi lhung bzed phyag rgya; C. foboyin; J. buppatsuin; K. pulbarin 佛鉢印). In Sanskrit, "the gesture of the Buddha's begging bowl." In this symbolic posture or gesture (MUDRA), the Buddha holds a begging bowl (PATRA) that sits in his lap. In some variations, the hands hold a jewel, or ornate treasure box, instead. In esoteric rituals, variations of this mudrA may be used for a number of different outcomes. For example, one Chinese indigenous SuTRA (see APOCRYPHA) suggests that forming and holding this gesture will cure stomach ailments. In another Japanese ritual, this mudrA is used to invite autochthonous deities to join the audience in attendance. The buddhapAtramudrA is typically associated with images of the Buddha AMITABHA, whose begging bowl is filled with the nectar of immortality (AMṚTA).
Buddhism: The multifarious forms, philosophic, religious, ethical and sociological, which the teachings of Gautama Buddha have produced, and which form the religion of hundreds of millions in China, Japan, etc. They center around the main doctrine of the arya satyani, the four noble truths (q.v.), the last of which enables one in eight stages to reach nirvana (q.v.): Right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
Bunkyo hifuron. (文鏡秘府論). In Japanese, "A Mirror on Literature and a Treasury of Marvels Treatise"; a work on classical Chinese poetics and prosody, composed by the Japanese SHINGONSHu monk KuKAI, probably in the early ninth century. The work was intended to serve as a vade mecum on classical Chinese writing style and literary allusions for Japanese ranging from novice monks who needed to know how to parse Buddhist MANTRAs and DHARAnĪs to diplomats or scribes who had to compose elegant Chinese prose and verse. The treatise is titled a "mirror on literature" because it describes correct Chinese style and a "treasury of marvels" because it serves as a literary compendium and thesaurus. The text is significant not only because of its impact on the development of Japanese classical-Chinese writing, but also because its extensive extracts of original Chinese sources (most now lost) stand as a valuable resource for the study of Tang literature.
butsudan. (佛壇). In Japanese, literally "buddha platform"; a platform on which an image of a buddha and/or BODHISATTVA is placed and worshipped; also known as SHuMIDAN ("SUMERU platform"). A butsudan can be made of stone, clay, or wood and can take the shape of a lotus platform, niche, or portable shrine. According to the BAIZHANG QINGGUI, a butsudan houses the image of the SAMBHOGAKAYA of the Buddha. The Nihon shoki also notes that the practice of making butsudan had spread widely among Japanese commoners as early as the Nara and Heian periods. Nowadays, butsudan are owned by most households and take the form of a portable shrine that houses icons, sacred objects of a particular school or sect, and mortuary tablets, known as ihai, for deceased family members. They are thus used primarily for private worship and mortuary practice.
Byodoin. (平等院). A famous Japanese temple located in Uji, south of Kyoto, now associated with the TENDAISHu and JoDOSHu sects. Byodoin is especially famous for its Phoenix Hall (Hoodo), which houses a magnificent image of AMITABHA made by the artist Jocho (d. 1057). The hall, the statue, and fifty-two other small sculptures of BODHISATTVAs making offerings of music to the central AmitAbha statue have been designated as national treasures. The Byodoin AmitAbha image is highly regarded as a representative piece of the refined art of the Fujiwara period (894-1185). Byodoin was originally a villa that belonged to the powerful regent Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1027). The private villa was later transformed by Michinaga's son Yorimichi (992-1074) into a temple in 1052, and the Phoenix Hall was constructed the following year. Many halls dedicated to the buddha AmitAbha were built in this period by powerful aristocrats who were influenced by the growing belief in the notion of mappo (see MOFA), or "the demise of the dharma," wherein the only means of salvation was the practice of nenbutsu, the recitation of AmitAbha's name (see also NIANFO; BUDDHANUSMṚTI). The monk Myoson (d. 1063), originally the abbot of another temple called ONJoJI, was installed as the first abbot of Byodoin.
cankrama. (P. cankama; T. 'chag pa; C. jingxing; J. kyogyo/kinhin; K. kyonghaeng 經行). In Sanskrit, lit. "walking"; referring to both the physical act of walking itself and, by extension, composed, meditative walking, as well as the mendicant life of wandering as a vocation. Cankrama is the most active of the four postures (ĪRYAPATHA), and is one of the specific objects of mindfulness of the body (see SMṚTYUPASTHANA). Cankrama also refers to walking in a calm, collected manner, while maintaining one's object of meditation. Finally, cankrama refers to the wandering, "homeless" life (see PRAVRAJITA) of the Indian recluse, which was the model for the Buddhist SAMGHA. In East Asia, in addition to walking meditation per se, the term is also used to describe short periods of walking that break up extended periods of seated meditation (ZUOCHAN). In Korean meditation halls, for example, a three-hour block of meditation practice will be divided into three fifty-minute blocks of seated meditation, punctuated by ten-minutes of walking meditation. The Japanese ZEN tradition reads these Sinographs as kinhin.
Cantong qi. (J. Sandokai; K. Ch'amdong kye 参同契). A famous verse attributed to the Chinese CHAN master SHITOU XIQIAN. Along with the BAOJING SANMEI, the Cantong qi is revered in the Chinese CAODONG ZONG and Japanese SoToSHu traditions as the foundational scripture of the tradition. The Cantong qi is relatively short (forty-four five-character stanzas, for a total of 220 Sinographs), but Shitou's verse is praised for its succinct and unequivocal expression of the teaching of nonduality. The Sinograph "can" in the title means to "consider," "compare," or "differentiate"; it thus carries the connotation of "difference" and is said to refer to the myriad phenomena. The Sinograph "tong" means "sameness" and is said to refer to the oneness of all phenomena. The Sinograph "qi" means "tally" and is said to refer to the tallying of oneself and all phenomena. The title might be alluding to an earlier verse bearing the same title, which is attributed to the renowned Daoist master Wei Boyang. The Cantong qi also seems to be the root source from which were derived core concepts in the "five ranks" (WUWEI) doctrine, an emblematic teaching of the mature Caodong school.
Caodong zong. (J. Sotoshu; K. Chodong chong 曹洞宗). One of the so-called "five houses and seven schools" (WU JIA QI ZONG) of the mature Chinese CHAN tradition. The school traces its own pedigree back to the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) HUINENG via a lineage that derives from QINGYUAN XINGSI and SHITOU XIQIAN, but its history begins with the two Tang-dynasty Chan masters who lend their names to the school: DONGSHAN LIANGJIE and his disciple CAOSHAN BENJI. The name of this tradition, Caodong, is derived from the first characters of the two patriarchs' names, viz., Caoshan's "Cao" and Dongshan's "Dong." (The disciple's name is said to appear first in the school's name purely for euphonic reasons.) One of the emblematic teachings of the Caodong tradition is that of the "five ranks" (WUWEI), taught by Dongshan and further developed by Caoshan, which was a form of dialectical analysis that sought to present the full panoply of MAHAYANA Buddhist insights in a compressed rubric. During the Song dynasty, the Caodong school also came to be associated with the contemplative practice of "silent illumination" (MOZHAO CHAN), a form of meditation that built upon the normative East Asian notion of the inherency of buddhahood (see TATHAGATAGARBHA) to suggest that, since enlightenment was the mind's natural state, nothing needed to be done in order to attain enlightenment other than letting go of all striving for that state. Authentic Chan practice therefore entailed only maintaining this original purity of the mind by simply sitting silently in meditation. The practice of silent illumination is traditionally attributed to HONGZHI ZHENGJUE (see MOZHAO MING) and ZHENGXIE QINGLIAO, who helped revive the moribund Caodong lineage during the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries and turned it into one of the two major forces in mature Song-dynasty Chan. The silent-illumination technique that they championed was harshly criticized by teachers in the rival LINJI ZONG, most notably Hongzhi's contemporary DAHUI ZONGGAO. In Japan, the ZEN master DoGEN KIGEN is credited with transmitting the Caodong lineage to the Japanese isles in the thirteenth century, where it is known as the SoToSHu (the Japanese pronunciation of Caodong zong); it became one of the three major branches of the Japanese Zen school, along with RINZAISHu and oBAKUSHu. In Korea, just one of the early Nine Mountains schools of SoN (see KUSAN SoNMUN), the Sumisan school, is presumed to trace back to a teacher, Yunju Daoying (d. 902), who was also a disciple of Dongshan Liangjie; the Caodong school had no impact in the subsequent development of Korean Son, where Imje (C. Linji zong) lineages and practices dominated from the thirteenth century onwards.
Chan. (J. Zen; K. Son; V. Thièn 禪). In Chinese, the "Meditation," or Chan school (CHAN ZONG); one of the major indigenous schools of East Asian Buddhism. The Sinograph "chan" is the first syllable in the transcription channa, the Chinese transcription of the Sanskrit term DHYANA (P. JHANA); thus chan, like the cognate term chanding (chan is a transcription and ding a translation, of dhyAna), is often translated in English simply as "meditation." For centuries, the title CHANSHI (meditation master) was used in such sources as the "Biography of Eminent Monks" (GAOSENG ZHUAN) to refer to a small group of elite monks who specialized in the art of meditation. Some of these specialists adopted the term chan as the formal name of their community (Chan zong), perhaps sometime during the sixth or seventh centuries. These early "Chan" communities gathered around a number of charismatic teachers who were later considered to be "patriarchs" (ZUSHI) of their tradition. The legendary Indian monk BODHIDHARMA was honored as the first patriarch; it was retrospectively claimed that he first brought the Chan teachings to China. Later Chan lineage histories (see CHUANDENG LU) reconstructed elaborate genealogies of such patriarchs that extended back to MAHAKAsYAPA, the first Indian patriarch, and ultimately to the Buddha himself; often, these genealogies would even go back to all of the seven buddhas of antiquity (SAPTABUDDHA). Six indigenous patriarchs (Bodhidharma, HUIKE, SENGCAN, DAOXIN, HONGREN, and HUINENG) are credited by the established tradition with the development and growth of Chan in China, but early records of the Chan school, such as the LENGQIE SHIZI JI and LIDAI FABAO JI, reveal the polemical battles fought between the disparate communities to establish their own teachers as the orthodox patriarchs of the tradition. A particularly controversial dispute over the sixth patriarchy broke out between the Chan master SHENXIU, the leading disciple of the fifth patriarch Hongren, and HEZE SHENHUI, the purported disciple of the legendary Chinese monk Huineng. This dispute is often referred to as the "sudden and gradual debate," and the differing factions came to be retrospectively designated as the gradualist Northern school (BEI ZONG; the followers of Shenxiu) and the subitist Southern school (NAN ZONG; the followers of Huineng). The famous LIUZU TANJING ("Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch"), composed by the followers of this putative Southern school, is an important source for the history of this debate. Following the sixth patriarch, the Chan lineage split into a number of collateral lines, which eventually evolved into the so-called "five houses and seven schools" (WU JIA QI ZONG) of the mature Chan tradition: the five "houses" of GUIYANG (alt. Weiyang), LINJI, CAODONG, YUNMEN, and FAYAN, and the subsequent bifurcation of Linji into the two lineages of HUANGLONG and YANGQI, giving a total of seven schools. ¶ The teachings of the Chan school were introduced to Korea perhaps as early as the end of the seventh century CE and the tradition, there known as SoN, flourished with the rise of the Nine Mountains school of Son (KUSAN SoNMUN) in the ninth century. By the twelfth century, the teachings and practices of Korean Buddhism were dominated by Son; and today, the largest Buddhist denomination in Korea, the CHOGYE CHONG, remains firmly rooted in the Son tradition. The Chan teachings were introduced to Japan in the late twelfth century by MYoAN EISAI (1141-1215); the Japanese tradition, known as ZEN, eventually developed three major sects, RINZAISHu, SoToSHu, and oBAKUSHu. The Chan teachings are traditionally assumed to have been transmitted to Vietnam by VINĪTARUCI (d. 594), a South Indian brAhmana who is claimed (rather dubiously) to have studied in China with the third Chan patriarch SENGCAN before heading south to Guangzhou and Vietnam. In 580, he is said to have arrived in Vietnam and settled at Pháp Van monastery, where he subsequently transmitted his teachings to Pháp Hièn (d. 626), who carried on the Chan tradition, which in Vietnamese is known as THIỀN. In addition to the Vinītaruci lineage, there are two other putative lineages of Vietnamese Thièn, both named after their supposed founders: VÔ NGÔN THÔNG (reputedly a student of BAIZHANG HUAIHAI), and THẢO ĐƯỜNG (reputedly connected to the YUNMEN ZONG lineage in China). Chan had a presence in Tibet during the early dissemination (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism, and the Chan monk MOHEYAN was an influential figure at the Tibetan court in the late eighth century, leading to the famous BSAM YAS DEBATE.
Chanlin sengbao zhuan. (J. Zenrin soboden; K. Sollim sŭngbo chon 禪林僧寶傳). In Chinese, "Chronicles of the SAMGHA Jewel in the Forests of CHAN"; compiled in the twelfth century by the "lettered Chan" (WENZI CHAN) monk JUEFAN HUIHONG (1071-1128). Huihong intended for this chronicle to serve as a supplement to his own "Biographies of Eminent Monks" (GAOSENG ZHUAN), which is no longer extant. Huihong collected the biographies of over a hundred eminent Chan masters who were active in the lettered Chan movement between the late Tang and early Song dynasties, appending his own comments to each biography. Huihong's collection is said to have been pared down to eighty-one biographies by the Chan master DAHUI ZONGGAO. Later, Dahui's disciple Jinglao (d.u.) of Tanfeng added a biography of WUZU FAYAN, the teacher of Dahui's own master YUANWU KEQIN, and two other masters to the conclusion of Huihong's text, giving a total of eighty-four biographies in the extant collection. A postscript by XUTANG ZHIYU appears at the end of the compilation. Unlike Chan "lamplight histories" (CHUANDENG LU), which are typically arranged according to principal and collateral lineages, the monks treated in this compilation are listed according to their significance in the origin and development of the "lettered Chan" movement; Huihong's treatment undermines the neat charts of master-disciple connections deriving from the lamplight histories, which have become so well known in the literature. In Japan, a copy of the Chanlin sengbao zhuan was published as early as 1295 and again in 1644.
Ch’an school of Buddhism: The Chinese equivalent of the Japanese Zen Buddhism (q.v.).
chanshi. (J. zenji; K. sonsa 禪師). In Chinese, lit. "DHYANA master," "meditation master," and, later, "CHAN master." Various "biographies of eminent monks" (GAOSENG ZHUAN) collections mention specialists of meditation known as chanshi, many of whom appear in a section typically entitled "practitioners of meditation" (xichan). Teachers of the TIANTAI, PURE LAND, and SANJIE JIAO are often referred to as chanshi. After the rise of the CHAN school in China, the term typically referred more specifically to the eminent teachers of this specific tradition. Often the formal title of chanshi (Chan master) was bestowed upon exceptional teachers by the monarchs of China, Korea, and Japan.
Chanyuan qinggui. (J. Zen'on shingi; K. Sonwon ch'onggyu 禪苑清規). In Chinese, "Pure Rules of the Chan Garden"; compiled by the CHAN master CHANGLU ZONGZE, in ten rolls. According to its preface, which is dated 1103, the Chanyuan qinggui was modeled on BAIZHANG HUAIHAI's legendary "rules of purity" (QINGGUI) and sought to provide a standardized set of monastic rules and an outline of institutional administration that could be used across all Chan monasteries. As the oldest extant example of the qinggui genre, the Chanyuan qinggui is an invaluable source for the study of early Chan monasticism. It was the first truly Chinese set of monastic regulations that came to rival in importance and influence the imported VINAYA materials of Indian Buddhism and it eventually came to be used not only in Chan monasteries but also in "public monasteries" (SHIFANG CHA) across the Chinese mainland. The Chanyuan qinggui provides meticulous descriptions of monastic precepts, life in the SAMGHA hall (SENGTANG), rites and rituals, manners of giving and receiving instruction, and the various institutional offices at a Chan monastery. A great deal of information is also provided on the abbot and his duties, such as the tea ceremony. Semi-independent texts such the ZUOCHAN YI, a primer of meditation, the Guijing wen, a summary of the duties of the monastic elite, and the Baizhang guisheng song, Zongze's commentary on Baizhang's purported monastic code, are also appended at the end of the Chanyuan qinggui. The Japanese pilgrims MYoAN EISAI, DoGEN KIGEN, and ENNI BEN'EN came across the Chanyuan qinggui during their visits to various monastic centers in China and, upon their return to Japan, they used the text as the basis for the establishment of the Zen monastic institution. Copies of a Chinese edition by a certain Yu Xiang, dated 1202, are now housed at the Toyo and Kanazawa Bunko libraries. The Chanyuan qinggui was also imported into Korea, which printed its own edition of the text in 1254; the text was used to reorganize Korean monastic institutions as well.
Chengshi lun. (S. *Tattvasiddhi; J. Jojitsuron; K. Songsil non 成實論). In Chinese, "Treatise on Establishing Reality"; a summary written c. 253 CE by the third century CE author HARIVARMAN of the lost ABHIDHARMA of the BAHUsRUTĪYA school, a branch of the MAHASAMGHIKA. (The Sanskrit reconstruction *Tattvasiddhi is now generally preferred over the outmoded *SatyasiddhisAstra). The Tattvasiddhi is extant only in KUMARAJĪVA's Chinese translation, made in 411-412, in sixteen rolls (juan) and 202 chapters (pin). The treatise is especially valuable for its detailed refutations of the positions held by other early MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS; the introduction, for example, surveys ten different grounds of controversy separating the different early schools. The treatise is structured in the form of an exposition of the traditional theory of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, but does not include listings for different factors (DHARMA) that typify many works in the abhidharma genre. The positions advocated in the text are closest to those of the STHAVIRANIKAYA and SAUTRANTIKA schools, although, unlike the SthaviranikAya, the treatise accepts the reality of "unmanifest materiality" (AVIJNAPTIRuPA) and, unlike SautrAntika, rejects the notion of an "intermediate state" (ANTARABHAVA) between existences. Harivarman opposes the SARVASTIVADA position that dharmas exist in past, present, and future, the MahAsAMghika view that thought is inherently pure, and the VATSĪPUTRĪYA premise that the "person" (PUDGALA) exists. The Chengshi lun thus hones to a "middle way" between the extremes of "everything exists" and "everything does not exist," both of which it views as expediencies that do not represent ultimate reality. The text advocates, instead, the "voidness of everything" (sarvasunya) and is therefore sometimes viewed within the East Asian traditions as representing a transitional stage between the mainstream Buddhist schools and MahAyAna philosophical doctrine. The text was so widely studied in East Asia, especially during the fifth and sixth centuries, that reference is made to a *Tattvasiddhi school of exegesis (C. Chengshi zong; J. Jojitsushu; K. Songsilchong); indeed, the Jojitsu school is considered one of the six major schools of Japanese Buddhist scholasticism during the Nara period.
Cheng weishi lun shu ji. (J. Joyuishikiron jukki; K. Song yusik non sulgi 成唯識論述). In Chinese, "Explanatory Notes on the CHENG WEISHI LUN" (*VijNaptimAtratAsiddhi); by the Chinese YOGACARA monk KUIJI and probably compiled sometime between 659 and 682. In his preface, Kuiji praises VASUBANDHU and his TRIMsIKA, DHARMAPALA's *VijNaptimAtratAsiddhi (C. Cheng weishi lun) and XUANZANG for translating DHARMAPALA's text. Then, as do most commentaries of that period, Kuiji expounds upon the title of DharmapAla's text. In his subsequent introduction, Kuiji largely divides his commentary into five sections. In the first section, he ascertains the period in the Buddha's life to which the teachings belong (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI; PANJIAO) and discusses its audience, the BODHISATTVAs. In the second section, Kuiji discusses the tenets of the Cheng weishi lun, which he subsumes under the notion of "mind-only" (CITTAMATRA). In third section, Kuiji demonstrates that the Cheng weishi lun belongs to the "one vehicle" (EKAYANA) and the BODHISATTVAPItAKA. In the fourth section, short biographies and dates of the ten masters of the YOGACARA are provided. Kuiji then provides a detailed analysis of the Cheng weishi lun itself in the last section. Several commentaries on Kuiji's text have been written throughout the ages in East Asia. The Cheng weishi lun shu ji also exerted a considerable amount of influence on Silla-period Korean Buddhism and among the Nara schools of early Japanese Buddhism (see NARA BUDDHISM, SIX SCHOOLS OF).
Chikchisa. (直指寺). In Korean, "Direct Pointing Monastery"; the eighth district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located on Mount Hwangak in North Kyongsang province. The monastery purports to have been founded in 418 CE by the Koguryo monk Ado (fl. c. 418). There are three different stories about how the monastery got its name. The first version states that the name originated when Ado pointed directly at Mount Hwangak and said, "At that place, a large monastery will be established." The second story says that a monk called Nŭngyo (fl. c. 936) laid out the monastery campus using only his hands and without using any other measuring devices; hence, the monastery was given the name "Direct Measuring" (chikchi). A third story connects the name to the famous line concerning the soteriological approach of the SoN or CHAN school: "direct pointing to the human mind" (K. chikchi insim; C. ZHIZHI RENXIN). With the support of the Koryo king Taejo (r. 918-943), Nŭngyo restored the monastery in 936; major renovations followed in the tenth century and again during the Choson dynasty. In 1595, during the Japanese Hideyoshi invasions, all its buildings except the Ch'onbul Chon (Thousand Buddhas Hall), Ch'onwang Mun (Heavenly Kings Gate), and Chaha Mun (Purple-Glow Gate) were burned to the ground. The monastery was rebuilt in a massive construction project that began in 1602 and lasted for seventy years. The monastery enshrines many treasures, including a seated figure of the healing buddha BHAIsAJYAGURU and a hanging picture of a Buddha triad (Samjonbul T'AENGHWA). Two three-story stone pagodas are located in front of the main shrine hall (TAEUNG CHoN) and other three-story pagodas are located in front of the Piro chon (VAIROCANA Hall).
chinyong. (C. zhenying; J. shin'ei 眞影). In Korean, lit. "true image"; viz., a "monk's portrait." Although the term is known throughout the East Asian Buddhist traditions, it is especially associated with Korea; the related term DINGXIANG (J. chinzo, lit. "head's appearance") is more typically used within the Chinese and Japanese traditions. The employment of the term chinyong in Korea is a late Choson dynasty development; different terms were used in Korea before that era to refer to monk's portraits, including chinhyong ("true form"), sinyong ("divine image"), chinyong ("true appearance") and yongja ("small portrait image"). "Chin" ("true") in the compound refers to the inherent qualities of the subject, while "yong" ("image") alludes to his physical appearance; thus, a chinyong is a portrait that seeks to convey the true inner spirituality of the subject. Images of eminent masters who had been renowned patriarchs of schools, courageous monk soldiers, or successful fund-raisers were enshrined in a monastery's portrait hall. These portraits were painted posthumously-and, unlike Chinese dingxiang portraits, typically without the consent of the subjects-as one means of legitimizing the dharma-transmission lineage of their religious descendants; this usage of portraits is seen in both meditation (SoN) and doctrinal (KYO) monasteries. Korean monk portraits were not given out to individual disciples or lay adherents, as occurred in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, where dozens and even hundreds of portraits were produced by and for a variety of persons. In the context of the Korean Son school, the pictures additionally enhanced the Son Buddhist emphasis on the direct spiritual transmission (see YINKE) between master and disciple. The development of monk portraiture was closely tied to annual commemorative practices in Buddhist monasteries, which sought to maintain the religious bonds between the dharma ancestors and their descendants.
Chion'in. (知恩院). In Japanese, "Knowing Beneficence Cloister"; the headquarters of the JoDOSHu, or PURE LAND school of Japanese Buddhism, which was founded by HoNENs (1133-1212); located in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. Chion'in was the site where Honen taught and where he died after a long period of fasting. His disciple Genchi (1183-1238) built the complex in his honor in 1234 and, still today, a statue of Honen is enshrined in the founder's hall. Most of the monastery was destroyed by fire in 1633, but the third Tokugawa shogun rebuilt the monastery in the middle of the seventeenth century with the structures present today. These include the main gate, or sanmon, built in 1619 and the largest gate of this type in Japan at seventy-nine feet tall. The oldest building on the monastery campus is the hondo, or main Buddha hall, built in 1633, which can hold three thousand people. Guesthouses from 1641 are roofed in the Irimoya style, and the roof beams on many of the buildings are capped with the Tokugawa three-hollyhock leaf crest. Various hallways in the monastery have also been built with "nightingale floors" (J. uguisubari)-floorboards with metal ends that rub on metal joints when someone walks across them, making them extremely squeaky. This flooring was specifically designed to sound an alarm in case any assassin might try to sneak into the sleeping quarters when the Tokugawa family stayed over at the monastery. The monastery's bell was cast in 1633 and weighs seventy-four tons; it is so massive that it takes seventeen monks to ring it when it is rung annually on New Year's Day.
Chodang chip. (C. Zutang ji; J. Sodoshu 祖堂集). In Korean, "Patriarchs' Hall Collection"; one of the earliest "lamplight histories" (CHUANDENG LU), viz., lineage records, of the CHAN tradition, compiled in 952 by the monks Jing (K. Chong) (d.u.) and Yun/Jun (K. Un/Kyun) (d.u.) of the monastery of Chaojingsi in Quanzhou (in present-day Fujian provine). The Chodang chip builds on an earlier Chan history, the BAOLIN ZHUAN, on which it seems largely to have been based. According to one current theory, the original text by Jing and Yun was a short work in a single roll, which was expanded into ten rolls early in the Song dynasty and subsequently reissued in twenty rolls in the definitive 1245 Korean edition. The anthology includes a preface by the compilers' teacher and collaborator Zhaoqing Shendeng/Wendeng (884-972), also known as the Chan master Jingxiu, who also appends verse panegyrics after several of the biographies in the collection. The Chodang chip provides biographies of 253 figures, including the seven buddhas of the past (SAPTATATHAGATA), the first Indian patriarch (ZUSHI) MAHAKAsYAPA up to and including the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) of Chan in China, HUINENG, and monks belonging to the lineages of Huineng's putative disciples QINGYUAN XINGSI and NANYUE HUAIRANG. In contrast to the later JINGDE CHUANDENG LU, the Chodang chip mentions the lineage of Qingyuan before that of Nanyue. In addition to the biographical narrative, the entries also include short excerpts from the celebrated sayings and dialogues of the persons it covers. These are notable for including many features that derive from the local vernacular (what has sometimes been labeled "Medieval Vernacular Sinitic"); for this reason, the text has been the frequent object of study by Chinese historical linguists. The Chodang chip is also significant for containing the biographies of several Silla-dynasty monks who were founders of, or associated with, the Korean "Nine Mountains School of Son" (KUSAN SoNMUN), eight of whom had lineage ties to the Chinese HONGZHOU ZONG of Chan that derived from MAZU DAOYI; the anthology in fact offers the most extensive body of early material on the developing Korean Son tradition. This emphasis suggests that the two compilers may themselves have been expatriate Koreans training in China and/or that the extant anthology was substantially reedited in Korea. The Chodang chip was lost in China after the Northern Song dynasty and remained completely unknown subsequently to the Chinese Chan and Japanese Zen traditions. However, the 1245 Korean edition was included as a supplement to the Koryo Buddhist canon (KORYo TAEJANGGYoNG), which was completed in 1251 during the reign of the Koryo king Kojong (r. 1214-1259), and fortunately survived; this is the edition that was rediscovered in the 1930s at the Korean monastery of HAEINSA. Because the collection is extant only in a Koryo edition and because of the many Korean monks included in the collection, the Chodang chip is often cited in the scholarly literature by its Korean pronunciation.
Chogye chong. (曹溪宗). In Korean, the "Chogye order"; short for Taehan Pulgyo Chogye chong (Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism); the largest Buddhist order in Korea, with and some fifteen thousand monks and nuns and over two thousand monasteries and temples organized around twenty-five district monasteries (PONSA). "Chogye" is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese Caoxi, the name of the mountain (CAOXISHAN) where the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) of CHAN, HUINENG, resided; the name is therefore meant to evoke the order's pedigree as a predominantly Chan (K. SoN) tradition, though it seeks also to incorporate all other major strands of Korean Buddhist thought and practice. The term Chogye chong was first used by the Koryo monk ŬICHoN to refer to the "Nine Mountains school of Son" (KUSAN SoNMUN), and the name was used at various points during the Koryo and Choson dynasties to designate the indigenous Korean Son tradition. The Chogye order as it is known today is, however, a modern institution. It was formed in 1938 during the Japanese colonial administration of Korea, a year after the monastery of T'aegosa was established in central Seoul and made the new headquarters of Choson Buddhism (Choson Pulgyo ch'ongbonsan). This monastery, later renamed CHOGYESA, still serves today as the headquarters of the order. The constitution of the order traces its origins to Toŭi (d. 825), founder of the Kajisan school in the Nine Mountains school of Son; this tradition is said to have been revived during the Koryo dynasty by POJO CHINUL, who provided its soteriological grounding; finally, the order's lineage derives from T'AEGO POU, who returned to Korea at the very end of the Koryo dynasty with dharma transmission in the contemporary Chinese LINJI ZONG. In 1955, following the end of the Korean War, Korean Buddhism entered into a decade-long "purification movement" (chonghwa undong), through which the celibate monks (pigu sŭng) sought to remove all vestiges of Japanese influence in Korean Buddhism, and especially the institution of married monks (taech'o sŭng). This confrontation ultimately led to the creation of two separate orders: the Chogye chong of the celibate monks, officially reconstituted in 1962, and the much smaller T'AEGO CHONG of married monks.
Chogyesa. (曹溪寺). In Korean, "Chogye Monastery"; the administrative headquarters of the CHOGYE CHONG, the largest Buddhist order in contemporary Korea, and its first district monastery (PONSA). In an attempt to unify Korean Buddhist institutions during the Japanese colonial period, Korean Buddhist leaders prepared a joint constitution of the SoN and KYO orders and established the Central Bureau of Religious Affairs (Chungang Kyomuwon) in 1929. Eight years later, in 1937, the Japanese government-general decided to help bring the Buddhist tradition under centralized control by establishing a new headquarters for Choson Buddhism (Choson Pulgyo Ch'ongbonsan) in the capital of Seoul. With financial and logistical assistance from the Japanese colonial administration, the former headquarters building of a proscribed Korean new religion, the Poch'on'gyo, was purchased, disassembled, and relocated from the southwest of Korea to the site of Kakhwangsa in the Chongno district of central Seoul. That new monastery was given the name T'aegosa, after its namesake T'AEGO POU, the late-Koryo Son teacher who received dharma transmission in the Chinese LINJI ZONG. After the split in 1962 between the celibate monks of the Chogye chong and the married monks (taech'o sŭng), who organized themselves into the T'AEGO CHONG, T'aegosa was renamed Chogyesa, from the name of the mountain where the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) of Chan, HUINENG, resided (see CAOXISHAN). This monastery continues to serve today as the headquarters of the Chogye chong. In addition to the role it plays as the largest traditional monastery in the city center of Seoul, Chogyesa also houses all of the administrative offices of the order.
Ch'ongho Hyujong. (清虚休静) (1520-1604). Korean SoN master of the Choson dynasty; best known to Koreans by his sobriquet Sosan taesa (lit. the Great Master "West Mountain," referring to Mt. Myohyang near present-day P'yongyang in North Korea). Hyujong was a native of Anju in present-day South P'yongan province. After losing his parents at an early age, Hyujong was adopted by the local magistrate of Anju, Yi Sajŭng (d.u.), and educated at the Songgyun'gwan Confucian academy. In 1534, Hyujong failed to attain the chinsa degree and decided instead to become a monk. He was ordained by a certain Sungin (d.u.) on CHIRISAN in 1540, and he later received the full monastic precepts from Hyuong Ilson (1488-1568). Hyujong later became the disciple of the Son master Puyong Yonggwan (1485-1571). In 1552, Hyujong passed the clerical exams (SŬNGKWA) revived by HoŮNG POU, who later appointed Hyujong the prelate (p'ansa) of both the SoN and KYO traditions. Hyujong also succeeded Pou as the abbot of the monastery Pongŭnsa in the capital, but he left his post as prelate and spent the next few years teaching and traveling throughout the country. When the Japanese troops of Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1536/7-1598) invaded Korea in 1592, Hyujong's disciple Kiho Yonggyu (d. 1592) succeeded in retaking the city of Ch'ongju, but died shortly afterward in battle. Hyujong himself was then asked by King Sonjo (r. 1567-1608) to lead an army against the invading forces. His monk militias (ŭisŭnggun) eventually played an important role in fending off the Japanese troops. When the king subsequently gave Hyujong permission to retire, the master left his command in the hands of his disciple SAMYoNG YUJoNG; he died shortly thereafter. Hyujong is said to have had more than one thousand students, among whom Yujong, P'yonyang Ŭn'gi (1581-1644), Soyo T'aenŭng (1562-1649), and Chonggwan Ilson (1533-1608) are best known. Hyujong left a number of writings, including the SoN'GA KWIGAM, which is one of the most widely read works of the Korean Buddhist tradition. Other important works include the Samga kwigam, Son'gyo sok, Son'gyo kyol, and Solson ŭi. In these works, Hyujong attempted to reconcile the teachings of the Son and Kyo traditions of Buddhism, as well as the doctrines of Buddhism and Confucianism.
chongjong. (宗正). In Korean, "supreme patriarch" (lit. "primate of the order"); the spiritual head of the CHOGYE CHONG (Chogye order) of Korean Buddhism. The term chongjong first began to be used in Korean Buddhism during Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) and has continued to be employed since 1954 when the celibate monks (pigu sŭng) established an independent Chogye order, which eventually excluded the married monks (taech'o sŭng) who had dominated monastic positions during the colonial period. A Korean Supreme Court ruling in 1962 ultimately gave the celibate monks title to virtually all the major monasteries across the nation and led to the Chogye order's official re-establishment as the principal ecclesiastical institution of Korean Buddhism, with the chongjong serving as its primate. The married monks subsequently split off from the Chogye order to form the independent T'AEGO CHONG. ¶ To be selected as chongjong, a candidate must be a minimum of sixty-five years of age and have been a monk for at least forty-five years; his rank in the Chogye order must be that of Taejongsa (great master of the order), the highest of the Chogye order's six ecclesiastical ranks. To select the chongjong, a committee of seventeen to twenty-five monks is appointed, which includes the Chogye order's top executive (ch'ongmuwonjang), council representative (chonghoe ŭijang), and head vinaya master (hogye wiwonjang); the selection is finalized through a majority vote of the committee members. The chongjong is initially appointed for a five-year term and is eligible for reappointment for one additional term. The contemporary Chogye order counts Wonmyong Hyobong (1888-1966), appointed in 1962, as its first chongjong.
Ch'ont'ae sagyo ŭi. (C. Tiantai sijiao yi; J. Tendai shikyogi 天台四教儀). In Korean, the "Principle of the Fourfold Teachings of the Tiantai [School]," composed by the Korean monk Ch'egwan (d. 970); an influential primer of TIANTAI ZONG (K. Chont'ae chong) doctrine. The loss of the texts of the Tiantai tradition in China after the chaos that accompanied the fall of the Tang dynasty prompted the king of the Wuyue kingdom to seek copies of them elsewhere in East Asia. King Kwangjong (r. 950-975) of the Koryo dynasty responded to the Wuyue king's search by sending the monk Ch'egwan to China in 961. In order to summarize the major teachings of the Tiantai school, Ch'egwan wrote this one-roll abstract of TIANTAI ZHIYI's Sijiao yi, which also draws on other of Zhiyi's writings, including his FAHUA XUANYI. Ch'egwan's text is especially known for its summary of Zhiyi's doctrinal classification schema (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI) on the different (chronological) stages of the Buddha's teaching career and the varying methods he used in preaching to his audiences; these are called the "five periods and eight teachings" (WUSHI BAJIAO). The five periods correspond to what the Tiantai school considered to be the five major chronological stages in the Buddha's teaching career, each of which is exemplified by a specific scripture or type of scripture: (1) HUAYAN (AVATAMSAKASuTRA), (2) AGAMA, (3) VAIPULYA, (4) PRAJNAPARAMITA, and (5) SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA and MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA. The different target audiences of the Buddha's message lead to four differing varieties of content in these teachings (huafa): (1) the PItAKA teachings, which were targeted at the two-vehicle adherents (ER SHENG) of disciples (sRAVAKA) and solitary buddhas (PRATYEKABUDDHA); (2) the common teachings, which were intended for both two-vehicle adherents and neophyte bodhisattvas of the MAHAYANA; (3) the distinct teachings, which targeted only bodhisattvas; (4) the perfect or consummate teachings (YUANJIAO), which offered advanced bodhisattvas an unvarnished assessment of Buddhist truths. In speaking to these audiences, which differed dramatically in their capacity to understand his message, the Buddha is said also to have employed four principal techniques of conversion (huayi), or means of conveying his message: sudden, gradual, secret, and indeterminate. Ch'egwan's text played a crucial role in the revitalization of the Tiantai tradition in China and has remained widely studied since. The Ch'ont'ae sagyo ŭi was also influential in Japan, where it was repeatedly republished. Numerous commentaries on this text have also been written in China, Korea, and Japan.
Chonŭnsa. (泉隱寺). In Korean, "Monastery of the Hidden Fount"; one of the three major monasteries located on the Buddhist sacred mountain of CHIRISAN. The monastery is said to have been founded in 828 by an Indian monk named Togun (d.u.) and was originally named Kamnosa (either "Sweet Dew Monastery" or "Responsive Dew Monastery"), after a spring there that would clear the minds of people who drank its ambrosial waters. During the Koryo dynasty, Chonŭnsa was elevated to the status of first Son monastery of the South, during the rule of Ch'ŭngnyol wang (r. 1275-1308). Most of the monastery was destroyed during the Japanese Hideyoshi invasion (1592-1598). In 1679, a Son monk named Tanyu (d.u.) rebuilt the monastery, but changed the name to Chonŭn (Hidden Fount), because the spring had disappeared after a monk killed a snake that kept showing up around it. Subsequently, fires of unknown origin repeatedly occurred in the monastery, which stopped only after hanging up a board with the name of the monastery written in the "water" calligraphic style by Won'gyo Yi Kwangsa (1705-1777), one of the four preeminent calligraphers of the Choson dynasty.
chopstick ::: n. --> One of two small sticks of wood, ivory, etc., used by the Chinese and Japanese to convey food to the mouth.
chosan. (朝参). In Japanese, lit. "morning meditation"; the morning-period ZAZEN that begins the day at a Japanese ZEN monastery.
Choson Pulgyo t'ongsa. (朝鮮佛教通史). In Korean, "A Comprehensive History of Choson Buddhism"; compiled by the Buddhist historian Yi Nŭnghwa (1868-1943). Yi's Choson Pulgyo t'ongsa is the first modern attempt to write a comprehensive history of Korean (or Choson as it was then known) Buddhism. The text was first published by Sinmun'gwan in 1918. The first volume narrates the history of Korean Buddhism from its inception during the Three Kingdoms period up until the time of the Japanese occupation. Information on the temples and monasteries established by Koreans and a report on the current number of monks and nuns are also appended to end of this volume. The second volume narrates the history of Buddhism in India after the Buddha's death. The compilation of the canon (TRIPItAKA; DAZANGJING) and the formation of the various schools and traditions are provided in this volume. The third and final volume provides a commentary on some of the more important events described in volume one. Yi relied heavily on biographies of eminent monks and stele inscriptions. Yi's text is still considered an important source for studying the history of Korean Buddhism.
Choson Pulgyo yusin non. (朝鮮佛教唯新論). In Korean, "Treatise on the Reformation of Korean Buddhism"; composed by the Korean monk-reformer HAN YONGUN in 1910. While sojourning in Japan, Han personally witnessed what to him seemed quite innovative ways in which Japanese Buddhists were seeking to adapt their religious practices to modern society and hoped to implement similar ideas in Korea. This clarion call for Buddhist reform was one of the first attempts by a Korean author to apply Western liberalism in the context of Korean society. Han attributed many of the contemporary problems Korean Buddhism was facing to its isolation from society at large, a result of the centuries-long persecution Buddhism had suffered in Korea at the hands of Confucian ideologues during the previous Choson dynasty (1392-1910). To help restore Buddhism to a central place in Korean society and culture, Han called for what were at the time quite radical reforms, including social and national egalitarianism, the secularization of the SAMGHA, a married clergy, expanded educational opportunities for monks, the transfer of monasteries from the mountains to the cities, and economic self-reliance within the monastic community. Both the Japanese government-general and the leaders of the Korean Buddhist community rebuffed most of Han's proposals (although several of his suggestions, including a married clergy, were subsequently co-opted by the Japanese colonial administration), but the issues that he raised about how to make Buddhism relevant in an increasingly secularized and capitalist society remain pertinent even to this day.
chukai. (抽解). In Japanese, "to take off"; referring to the rest period between meditation periods for monks practicing in the sodo, or SAMGHA hall. In between meditation sessions, monks are allowed to leave the SAMGHA hall and take off their robes to lie down and rest.
CJK ::: (character) In internationalisation, a collective term for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.The characters of these languages are all partly based on Han characters (i.e., hanzi or kanji), which require 16-bit character encodings. CJK character encodings should consist minimally of Han characters plus language-specific phonetic scripts such as pinyin, bopomofo, hiragana, hangul, etc.CJKV is CJK plus Vietnamese. .(2001-01-01)
CJK "character" In {internationalisation}, a collective term for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The characters of these languages are all partly based on {Han characters} (i.e., "hanzi" or "{kanji}"), which require 16-bit {character encodings}. CJK character encodings should consist minimally of {Han characters} plus language-specific phonetic scripts such as pinyin, bopomofo, hiragana, hangul, etc. {CJKV} is CJK plus {Vietnamese}. {(ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/examples/nutshell/ujip/doc/cjk.inf)}. (2001-01-01)
CJKV ::: (character) CJK plus Vietnamese. Vietnamese, like the other three CJK languages, requires 16-bit character encodings but it does not use Han characters.[CJKV Information Processing: Chinese, Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese Computing, Ken Lunde, pub. O'Reilly 1998, ].(2001-03-18)
CJKV "character" {CJK} plus {Vietnamese}. Vietnamese, like the other three CJK languages, requires 16-bit {character encodings} but it does not use {Han characters}. ["CJKV Information Processing: Chinese, Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese Computing", Ken Lunde, pub. O'Reilly 1998, {(http://oreilly.com/catalog/cjkvinfo/)}]. (2001-03-18)
Clipper ::: 1. (hardware, cryptography) An integrated circuit which implements the SkipJack algorithm. The Clipper is manufactured by the US government to encrypt Phil Zimmerman (inventor of PGP) remarked, This doesn't even pass the sniff test (i.e. it stinks). .alt.privacy.clipper2. A compiled dBASE dialect from Nantucket Corp, LA. Versions: Winter 85, Spring 86, Autumn 86, Summer 87, 4.5 (Japanese Kanji), 5.0. It uses the Xbase programming language.(2004-09-01)
Clipper 1. "hardware, cryptography" An {integrated circuit} which implements the {SkipJack} {algorithm}. The Clipper is manufactured by the US government to encrypt telephone data. It has the added feature that it can be decrypted by the US government, which has tried to make the chip compulsory in the United States. Phil Zimmerman (inventor of {PGP}) remarked, "This doesn't even pass the sniff test" (i.e. it stinks). {(http://wired.com/clipper/)}. {news:alt.privacy.clipper} 2. A compiled {dBASE} dialect from Nantucket Corp, LA. Versions: Winter 85, Spring 86, Autumn 86, Summer 87, 4.5 (Japanese Kanji), 5.0. It uses the {Xbase} programming language. (2004-09-01)
CompuServe Information Service "company" (CIS, CompuServe Interactive Services). An ISP and on-line service {portal} based in Columbus, Ohio, USA; part of {AOL} since February 1998. CIS was founded in 1969 as a computer {time-sharing service}. Along with {AOL} and {Prodigy}, CIS was one of the first pre-Internet, on-line services for consumers, providing {bulletin boards}, on-line conferencing, business news, sports and weather, financial transactions, {electronic mail}, {Usenet} news, travel and entertainment data and on-line editions of computer publications. CIS was originally run by {CompuServe Corporation}. In 1979, CompuServe was the first service to offer {electronic mail} and technical support to personal computer users. In 1980 they were the first to offer {real-time} {chat} with its CB Simulator. By 1982, the company had formed its Network Services Division to provide wide-area networking to corporate clients. Initially mostly serving the USA, in 1986 they developed a Japanese version called NIFTYSERVE. In 1989, they expanded into Europe and became a leading {Internet service provider}. In 2001 they released version 7.0 of their client program. {CompuServe home (http://compuserve.com/)}. (2009-04-02)
coolie ::: n. --> Same as Cooly.
An East Indian porter or carrier; a laborer transported from the East Indies, China, or Japan, for service in some other country.
corchorus ::: n. --> The common name of the Kerria Japonica or Japan globeflower, a yellow-flowered, perennial, rosaceous plant, seen in old-fashioned gardens.
Cosmocratores (Greek) Kosmokratores [from kosmos world + kratores lords] World lords; it occurs in Orphic literature, and in the New Testament Paul uses it of evil powers. In theosophy it is applied to the planetary regents who fabricated the solar system and who were hierarchically superior to the ones who fabricated our material earth (SD 2:23). The word is especially used in reference to three principal groups, corresponding to similar groups of dhyan-chohans and lipikas. The first group rebuilds worlds after pralaya, the second builds our planetary chain, and the third are the progenitors of humanity. Collectively they are the formative Logos, grouped under various names among different peoples, such as Osiris, Brahma-prajapati, Elohim, Adam-Qadmon, and Ormuzd. Again, “the Ases of Scandinavia, the rulers of the world which preceded ours, whose name means literally the ‘pillars of the world,’ its ‘supports,’ are thus identical with the Greek Cosmocratores, the ‘Seven Workmen or Rectors’ of Pymander, the seven Rishis and Pitris of India, the seven Chaldean gods and seven evil spirits, the seven Kabalistic Sephiroth synthesized by the upper triad, and even the seven Planetary Spirits of the Christian mystics” (SD 2:97). Following the plan of divine ideation they fashion systems out of primordial material, called aether, ilus, protyle, etc. The cosmocratores, as the Masons of the World, work in the vehicular or matter side of nature and receive the impress for their work from the hierarchy that works in the spirit side, the dhyani-buddhas or architects.
CSK Corporation "company" The japanese company that owns {CSK Software} and {Sega}. CSK Corp. is the largest independent japanese software company. (2003-05-13)
CSK Corporation ::: (company) The japanese company that owns CSK Software and Sega. CSK Corp. is the largest independent japanese software company.(2003-05-13)
CSK Software ::: (company) An international software company formed by the merger of Quay Financial Software and Micrognosis, and fully owned by CSK Corporation, Japan.CSK Software is based in Frankfurt/Main (Germany) with offices in London (UK), Zurich (Switzerland), Madrid (Spain), and Singapore. Products segments are RDD: Enterprise Application Integration, main product is XGen, an universal message converter with GUI and connections also to SWIFT (SWIFT gold label). .E-mail: .Address: CSK Software AG, Opernplatz 2, D-60313 Frankfurt, Germany.Tel: +49 (69) 509 520. Fax: +49 (69) 5095 2333.(2003-05-13)
CSK Software "company" An international software company formed by the merger of {Quay Financial Software} and {Micrognosis}, and fully owned by {CSK Corporation}, Japan. CSK Software is based in Frankfurt/Main (Germany) with offices in London (UK), Zurich (Switzerland), Madrid (Spain), and Singapore. Products segments are RDD: Real-time data delivery, main product is {Slingshot} for delivering real-time data over the Internet (real push technology). ETS: Electronic Trading Systems, price calculation and automatic trading (with connections to {XONTRO} and {XETRA}). EAI: {Enterprise Application Integration}, main product is {XGen}, a universal message converter with {GUI} and connections also to {SWIFT}. {(http://csksoftware.com/)}. E-mail: "info@csksoftware.com". Address: CSK Software AG, Opernplatz 2, D-60313 Frankfurt, Germany. Tel: +49 (69) 509 520. Fax: +49 (69) 5095 2333. (2003-05-13)
Cundī. (T. Skul byed ma; C. Zhunti; J. Juntei; K. Chunje 准提). In Sanskrit, the name Cundī (with many orthographic variations) probably connotes a prostitute or other woman of low caste but specifically denotes a prominent local ogress (YAKsInĪ), whose divinized form becomes the subject of an important Buddhist cult starting in the eighth century. Her worship began in the Bengal and Orissa regions of the Indian subcontinent, where she became the patron goddess of the PAla dynasty, and soon spread throughout India, and into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and Tibet, eventually making its way to East Asia. Cundī was originally an independent focus of cultic worship, who only later (as in the Japanese SHINGONSHu) was incorporated into such broader cultic practices as those focused on the "womb MAndALA" (see TAIZoKAI). Several scriptures related to her cult were translated into Chinese starting in the early eighth century, and she lends her name to both a MUDRA as well as an influential DHARAnĪ: namaḥ saptAnAM samyaksaMbuddhakotīnAM tadyathA: oM cale cule cunde svAhA. The dhAranī attributed to Cundī is said to convey infinite power because it is in continuous recitation by myriads of buddhas; hence, an adept who participates in this ongoing recitation will accrue manifold benefits and purify himself from unwholesome actions. The efficacy of the dhAranī is said to be particularly pronounced when it is recited before an image of Cundī while the accompanying Cundī mudrA is also being performed. This dhAranī also gives Cundī her common epithet of "Goddess of the Seventy Million [Buddhas]," which is sometimes mistakenly interpreted (based on a misreading of the Chinese) as the "Mother of the Seventy Million Buddhas." The texts also provide elaborate directions on how to portray her and paint her image. In Cundī's most common depiction, she has eighteen arms (each holding specific implements) and is sitting atop a lotus flower (PADMA) while being worshipped by two ophidian deities.
Dahui Pujue chanshi shu. (J. Daie Fukaku zenji sho; K. Taehye Pogak sonsa so 大慧普覺禪師書). In Chinese, "CHAN Master Dahui Pujue's Letters"; also known as the Dahui shumen, DAHUI SHUZHUANG, SHUZHUANG, and Dahui shu. Its colophon is dated to 1166. In reply to the letters he received from his many students, both ordained and lay, the Chan master DAHUI ZONGGAO wrote back with detailed instructions on meditation practice, especially his signature training in "observing the meditative topic," or more freely "questioning meditation" (KANHUA CHAN); after his death, his letters were compiled and edited in two rolls by his disciples Huiran and Huang Wenchang. Numerous editions of this collection were subsequently printed in China, Korea, and Japan. Many practitioners of Chan, SoN, and ZEN favored the Dahui Pujue chanshi shu for its clarity, intelligibility, and uniquely personal tone. The text was especially influential in the writings of the Korean Son master POJO CHINUL (1158-1210), who first learned about the Chan meditative technique of kanhua Chan from its pages and who attributed one of his three awakenings to his readings of Dahui. Dahui's letters were formally incorporated into the Korean Son monastic curriculum by at least the seventeenth century, as one of books in the "Fourfold Collection" (SAJIP), where it is typically known by its abbreviated title of "Dahui's Letters" (K. TAEHYE SoJANG) or just "Letters" (K. SoJANG; C. Shuzhuang). The Japanese monk and historian MUJAKU DoCHu (1653-1744) also wrote an important commentary to the text, known as the Daiesho koroju.
Daianji. (大安寺). In Japanese, "Great Peace Monastery"; one of the seven great monasteries of the ancient Japanese capital of Nara (NANTO SHICHIDAIJI). Daianji was founded in the Asuka area and, according to internal monastery records, was originally the Kudara no odera (Great Paekche Monastery) that was founded by Emperor Jomei in 639. When this monastery burned down in 642, Empress Kogyoku had it rebuilt and renamed it Daianji. If this identification with Kudara no odera is correct, Daianji has the distinction of being the first monastery in Japan founded by the court. The monastery moved to Nara in 716, following the relocation of the capital there in 710. The Koguryo monk Tohyon (J. Togen, fl. c. seventh century) lived at Daianji during the seventh century, where he wrote the Nihon segi, an early historical chronicle, which is no longer extant. Daianji was also the residence of the Indian monk BODHISENA (704-760), who lived and taught there until the end of his life. Bodhisena performed the "opening the eyes" (C. KAIYAN; J. KAIGEN; NETRAPRATIstHAPANA) ceremony for the 752 dedication of the great buddha image of Vairocana (NARA DAIBUTSU; Birushana Nyorai) at ToDAIJI, another of the great Nara monasteries. Daianji was also home to the Korean monk SIMSANG (J. Shinjo, d. 742) from the Silla kingdom, who was instrumental in introducing the teachings of the Kegon (C. HUAYAN; K. Hwaom) school of Buddhism to Japan. Since the time of another famous resident, KuKAI (774-835), Daianji has been associated with the SHINGONSHu of Japanese Buddhism. Daianji was at times quite grand, with two seven-story pagodas and many other buildings on its campus. After a fire destroyed much of the monastery in the 1200s, rebuilding was slow and the renovated structures were damaged once again by an earthquake in 1449. Daianji's fireproof treasury holds nine wooden images from the eighth century, including three different representations of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA, including both his representations as AMOGHAPAsA (J. Fuku Kenjaku) and his thousand-armed manifestation (SAHASRABHUJASAHASRANETRAVALOKITEsVARA), as well as two of the four heavenly kings (S. CATURMAHARAJAKAYIKA; J. shitenno). The monastery also retains two famous images that are brought out for display for one month each year: in March, HAYAGRĪVA, and in October, the eleven-headed Avalokitesvara (Juichimen Kannon).
daibutsu. (大佛). In Japanese, "great buddha"; referring to colossal wooden or cast-bronze buddha images, such as the forty-eight-foot-high image of VAIROCANA enshrined at ToDAIJI and the image of AMITABHA in KAmakura. As a specific example, see NARA DAIBUTSU.
dai-gohonzon. (大御本尊). In Japanese, lit. "great object of devotion"; the most important object of worship in the NICHIREN SHoSHu school of Japanese Buddhism. The dai-gohonzon is a plank of camphor wood that has at its center an inscription of homage to the title of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra")-NAMU MYoHo RENGEKYo, as well as the name of NICHIREN (1222-1282), surrounded by a cosmological chart (MAndALA) of the Buddhist universe, written in Nichiren's own hand in 1279. By placing namu Myohorengekyo and his name on the same line, the school understands that Nichiren meant that the teachings of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra and the person who proclaimed those teachings (Nichiren) are one and the same (ninpo ikka). The dai-gohonzon has been enshrined at TAISEKIJI, the administrative head temple of Nichiren Shoshu, since the temple's foundation in 1290; for this reason, the temple remains the major pilgrimage center for the school's adherents. The dai-gohonzon itself, the sanctuary (kaidan) where it is enshrined at Kaisekiji, and the teaching of namu Myohorengekyo, are together called the "three great esoteric laws" (SANDAI HIHo), because they were hidden between the lines of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra until Nichiren discovered them and revealed them to the world. Transcriptions of the mandala, called simply GOHONZON, are inscribed on wooden tablets in temples or on paper scrolls when they are enshrined in home altars. See also DAIMOKU.
Daigu Sochiku. (大愚宗築) (1584-1669). Japanese ZEN master of the RINZAISHu lineage. Daigu was born in Mino, present-day Gifu prefecture. In his twenties, Daigu went on a pilgrimage around the country with several other young monks, including GUDo ToSHOKU and Ungo Kiyo (1582-1659), in search of a teacher. In his thirties, Daigu built the monastery of Nansenji in the capital Edo, which he named after his home temple in Mino. He also founded the monasteries of Enkyoji in Kinko (present-day Shiga prefecture) and Enichiji in Tanba (present-day Hyogo prefecture). Daigu was active in restoring dilapidated temples. In 1656, he was invited as the founding abbot of the temple Daianji in Echizen (present-day Fukui prefecture). During the Tokugawa period, temples were mandated by the bakufu to affiliate themselves with a main monastery (honzan), thus becoming a branch temple (matsuji). The temples that Daigu built or restored became branch temples of MYoSHINJI. Daigu's efforts thus allowed the influence of Myoshinji, where he once served as abbot, to grow. Along with Gudo, Daigu also led a faction within Myoshinji that rejected the invitation of the Chinese Chan master YINYUAN LONGQI to serve as abbot of the main temple.
daimio ::: n. --> The title of the feudal nobles of Japan.
daimoku. (題目). In Japanese, lit. "title" of a scripture; the term comes to be used most commonly in the NICHIRENSHu and associated schools of Japanese Buddhism to refer specifically to the title of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"). The title is presumed to summarize the gist of the entire scripture, and the recitation of its title in its Japanese pronunciation (see NAMU MYoHoRENGEKYo) is a principal religious practice of the Nichiren and SoKKA GAKKAI schools. Recitation of the title of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra is called specifically the "diamoku of the essential teaching" (honmon no daimoku) in the Nichiren school. The Japanese reformer NICHIREN (1222-1282) advocated recitation of this daimoku as one of the "three great esoteric laws" (SANDAI HIHo), and he claimed it exemplified mastery of wisdom (PRAJNA) in the three trainings (TRIsIKsA).
Dainichi(bo) Nonin. (大日[房]能忍) (d.u.). Japanese monk of the late Heian and early Kamakura eras; his surname was Taira. Nonin is the reputed founder of the short-lived ZEN sect known as the DARUMASHu, one of the earliest Zen traditions to develop in Japan. Nonin was something of an autodidact and is thought to have achieved awakening through his own study of scriptures and commentaries, rather than through any training with an established teacher. He taught at the temple of Sanboji in Suita (present-day osaka prefecture) and established himself as a Zen master. Well aware that he did not have formal authorization (YINKE) from a Chan master in a recognized lineage, Nonin sent two of his disciples to China in 1189. They returned with a portrait of BODHIDHARMA inscribed by the Chan master FOZHAO DEGUANG (1121-1203) and the robe of Fozhao's influential teacher DAHUI ZONGGAO. Fozhao also presented Nonin with a portrait of himself (see DINGXIANG), on which he wrote a verse at the request of Nonin's two disciples. Such bestowals suggested that Nonin was a recognized successor in the LINJI lineage. In 1194, the monks of HIEIZAN, threatened by Nonin's burgeoning popularity, urged the court to suppress Nonin and his teachings as an antinomian heresy. His school did not survive his death, and many of his leading disciples subsequently became students of other prominent teachers, such as DoGEN KIGEN; this influx of Nonin's adherents introduced a significant Darumashu component into the early SoToSHu tradition. Nonin was later given the posthumous title Zen Master Shinpo [alt. Jinho] (Profound Dharma).
Daitokuji. (大德寺). A famous Japanese ZEN monastery in Kyoto; also known as Murasakino Daitokuji. After his secluded training at the hermitage of Ungoan in eastern Kyoto in 1319, the Japanese RINZAI Zen master SoHo MYoCHo, or Daito Kokushi, was invited by his uncle Akamatsu Norimura to Murasakino located in the northeastern part of Kyoto. There a dharma hall was built and inaugurated by Daito in 1326. Daito was formally honored as the founding abbot (kaizan; C. KAISHAN) and he continued to serve as abbot of Daitokuji until his death in 1337. In an attempt to control the influential monasteries in Kyoto, Emperor Godaigo (1288-1339), who was a powerful patron of Daito and Daitokuji, decreed in 1313 that only those belonging to Daito's lineage could become abbot of Daitokuji and added Daitokuji to the official GOZAN system. Two years later, Daitokuji was raised to top rank of the gozan system, which it shared with the monastery NANZENJI. These policies were later supported by retired Emperor Hanazono (1297-1348), another powerful patron of Daito and his monastery. Daitokuji was devastated by a great fire in 1453 and suffered further destruction during the onin War (1467-1477). The monastery was restored to its former glory in 1474, largely through the efforts of its prominent abbot IKKYu SoJUN. A famous sanmon gate was built by the influential tea master Sen no Rikyu. During its heyday, Daitokuji had some twenty-four inner cloisters (tatchu), such as Ikkyu's Shinjuan and Rikyu's Jukoin and over 173 subtemples (matsuji).
dAkinī. (T. mkha' 'gro ma; C. tuzhini; J. dakini; K. tojini 荼枳尼). In Sanskrit, a cannibalistic female demon, a witch; in sANTIDEVA's BODHICARYAVATARA, a female hell guardian (narakapAlA); in tantric Buddhism, dAkinīs, particularly the vajradAkinī, are guardians from whom tAntrikas obtain secret doctrines. For example, the VAJRABHAIRAVA adept LAlitavajra is said to have received the YAMANTAKA tantras from vajradAkinīs, who allowed him to bring back to the human world only as many of the texts as he could memorize in one night. The dAkinī first appears in Indian sources during the fourth century CE, and it has been suggested that they evolved from local female shamans. The term is of uncertain derivation, perhaps having something to do with "drumming" (a common feature of shamanic ritual). The Chinese, Japanese, and Korean give simply a phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit. In Tibetan, dAkinī is translated as "sky goer" (mkha' 'gro ma), probably related to the Sanskrit khecara, a term associated with the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA. Here, the dAkinī is a goddess, often depicted naked, in semi-wrathful pose (see VAJRAYOGINĪ); they retain their fearsome element but are synonymous with the highest female beauty and attractiveness and are enlightened beings. They form the third of what are known as the "inner" three jewels (RATNATRAYA): the guru, the YI DAM, and the dAkinīs and protectors (DHARMAPALA; T. chos skyong). The archetypical Tibetan wisdom or knowledge dAkinī (ye shes mkha' 'gro) is YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL, the consort of PADMASAMBHAVA. dAkinīs are classified in a variety of ways, the most common being mkha' 'gro sde lnga, the female buddhas equivalent to the PANCATATHAGATA or five buddha families (PANCAKULA): BuddhadAkinī [alt. AkAsadhAtvīsvarī; SparsavajrA] in the center of the mandala, with LocanA, MAmakī, PAndaravAsinī, and TARA in the cardinal directions. Another division is into three: outer, inner, and secret dAkinīs. The first is a YOGINĪ or a YOGIN's wife or a regional goddess, the second is a female buddha that practitioners visualize themselves to be in the course of tantric meditation, and the last is nondual wisdom (ADVAYAJNANA). This division is also connected with the three bodies (TRIKAYA) of MahAyAna Buddhism: the NIRMAnAKAYA (here referring to the outer dAkinīs), SAMBHOGAKAYA (meditative deity), and the DHARMAKAYA (the knowledge dAkinī). The word dAkinī is found in the title of the explanation (vAkhyA) tantras of the yoginī class or mother tantras included in the CakrasaMvaratantra group.
daksa (Daksha) ::: [Ved.]: strength generally; mental power; the power of judgment, discernment, discrimination; Daksa: a god, master of the works of unerring right discernment. [Purana]: one of the Prajapatis, the original progenitors.
Daksha (Sanskrit) Dakṣa [from dakṣ to be able, strong] Adroit, able, intelligent, clever; used as a proper noun, intelligent power or ability. One of the chief prajapatis, cosmic creative intelligences, spiritual entities; the synthesis or aggregate of the terrestrial progenitors, including the pitris.
danka seido. (檀家制度). In Japanese, "parish-household system"; danka (parish household) is synonymous with DANNA, and the more common form after the mid-Tokugawa period. See DANNA.
dannadera. (J) (檀那寺). In Japanese, "parish temple"; a Japanese Buddhist institutional system that reached its apex in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. See DANNA.
danna. (檀那). This Japanese term is originally a transcription of the Sanskrit term DANA, or "giving." When referring to a patron of a monk, nun, or monastery, the term danna is used with reference to a "donor" (J. dan'otsu, dan'ochi, dannotsu; S. DANAPATI) or "parish temple" (DANKA). During the Tokugawa period (1603-1868), the Japanese shogunate required every family to register at and support a local temple, called the DANNADERA, which in turned entitled that family to receive funerary services from the local priest. The dannadera, also called the BODAIJI and dankadera, thus served as a means of monitoring the populace and preventing the spread in Japan of subversive religions, such as Christianity and the banned Nichiren-Fuju-Fuse sect of the NICHIREN school. By requiring each Japanese family to be registered at a specific local temple and obligating them to provide for that temple's economic support and to participate in its religious rituals, all Japanese thus became Buddhist in affiliation for the first time in Japanese history.
Daochuo. (J. Doshaku; K. Tojak 道綽) (562-645). Chinese monk and putative second patriarch of the JINGTU (pure land) tradition; also known as Chan Master Xihe (West River). Daochuo was a native of Bingzhou in present-day Shanxi province. He left home at an early age and studied the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA. According to legend, in 609, Daochuo is said to have been inspired by TANLUAN's epitaph to continue the latter's efforts to further PURE LAND thought and practice. Daochuo is then said to have devoted himself to the practice of NIANFO, the invocation of the name of the buddha AMITABHA, and the daily recitation of the SUKHAVATĪVYuHASuTRA. Daochuo is perhaps more famous than even Tanluan for advocating the practice of recitation of the Buddha's name (NIANFO) over all other practices. He is also known for using small beans (xiaodou) to keep count of the number of recitations; some believe his habit of using counting beans is the origin of rosaries (JAPAMALA) in China. The influential pure land treatise ANLE JI is attributed to Daochuo.
Daozhe Chaoyuan. (J. Dosha Chogen; K. Toja Ch'owon 道者超元) (1630-1698). Chinese CHAN and ZEN master in the LINJI lineage. Daozhe was a native of Xinghua prefecture in present-day Fujian province. He became a student of Gengxin Xingmi (1603-1659), a direct disciple of the Chan master FEIYIN TONGRONG and, after inheriting Gengxin's lineage, became a dharma cousin of the renowned Chan master YINYUAN LONGQI. In 1651, Daozhe traveled to Nagasaki, Japan, where he served as abbot of the monastery Sofukuji for the next five years. During his stay in Japan, a number of important Buddhist figures visited him for instruction, including the monks Dokuan Genko (1630-1698), Kengan Zen'etsu (1618-1690), EGOKU DoMYo, Choon Dokai (1628-1695), and BANKEI YoTAKU. Unlike his compatriot Yinyuan, who continued to reside in Japan, Daozhe returned to China in 1658 and died shortly thereafter. Daozhe played an important role in preparing the ground for Yinyuan's later establishment of the oBAKUSHu in Japan.
Dari jing shu. (J. Dainichikyosho; K. Taeil kyong so 大日經疏). In Chinese, "Commentary on the MAHAVAIROCANASuTRA"; dictated by sUBHAKARASIMHA and committed to writing with additional notes by his disciple YIXING. After Yixing's death, the Dari jing shu was further edited and expanded by the monks Zhiyan (d.u.) and Wengu (d.u.), and this new edition is known as the DARI JING YISHI. Both editions were transmitted to Japan (the Dari jing shu by KuKAI, Dari jing yishi by ENNIN) and they seem to have circulated without a determinate number of volumes or fixed title. SAICHo, for example, cites a fourteen-roll edition of the Dari jing shu, and Kukai cites a twenty-roll edition; Ennin cites a fourteen-roll edition of the Dari jing yishi, and ENCHIN cites a ten-roll edition. Those belonging to the Tomitsu line of Kukai's SHINGON tradition thus began to exclusively paraphrase the twenty-roll edition of the Dari jing shu, while those of the Taimitsu line of the TENDAI tradition relied solely on the version Ennin had brought back from China. The exact relation between the two editions remains a matter for further study. The first two rolls of the Dari jing shu, known more popularly in Japan as the "Kuchi no sho," provide notes and comments on the first chapter of the MAHAVAIROCANABHISAMBODHISuTRA and serve as an important source for the study of the MahAvairocanasutra's central doctrines. Numerous studies and commentaries on the Kuchi no sho exist. The rest of Yixing's commentary, known as the "Oku no sho," is largely concerned with matters of ritual and art (see MAndALA). Further explanations of the Oku no sho were primarily transmitted from master to disciple as an oral tradition in Japan; twelve such oral traditions are known to exist. The Dari jing shu played an important role in the rise of esoteric Buddhism (see TANTRA) in East Asia, and particularly in Japan.
Dari jing yishi. (J. Dainichikyo gishaku; K. Taeil kyong ŭisok 大日經義釋). In Chinese, "Interpretation of the Meaning of the MAHAVAIROCANABHISAMBODHISuTRA." The monks Zhiyan (d.u.) and Wengu (d.u.) further edited and expanded upon the famous commentary on the MahAvairocanAbhisaMbodhisutra, the DARI JING SHU. The Dari jing shu was dictated by sUBHAKARASIMHA and written down by his disciple YIXING, with further notes. Both texts were transmitted to Japan (the Dari jing shu by KuKAI and Dari jing yishi by ENNIN); monks connected with the Taimitsu strand of the TENDAI tradition exclusively relied on the Dari jing yishi that Ennin had brought back from China. The eminent Japanese monk ENCHIN paid much attention to the Dari jing yishi and composed a catalogue for the text known as Dainichigyo gishaku mokuroku, wherein he details the provenance of the text and the circumstances of its arrival in Japan. Enchin also discusses three different points on which the Dari jing yishi was superior to the Dari jing shu. These points were further elaborated in his other commentaries on the Dari jing yishi. Few others besides Enchin have written commentaries on this text. In China, the Liao dynasty monk Jueyuan (d.u.) composed a commentary entitled the Dari jing yishi yanmi chao.
Darumashu. (達摩宗). In Japanese, the "BODHIDHARMA sect"; one of the earliest Japanese Buddhist ZEN sects, established in the tenth century by DAINICHI NoNIN; the sect takes its name from the putative founder of the CHAN tradition, Bodhidharma. Little was known about the teachings of the Darumashu until the late-twentieth century apart from criticisms found in the writings of its contemporary rivals, who considered the school to be heretical. Criticisms focused on issues of the authenticity of Nonin's lineage and antinomian tendencies in Nonin's teachings. A recently discovered Darumashu treatise, the Joto shogakuron ("Treatise on the Attainment of Complete, Perfect Enlightenment"), discusses the prototypical Chan statement "mind is the buddha," demonstrating that a whole range of benefits, both worldly and religious, would accrue to an adept who simply awakens to that truth. As a critique of the Darumashu by Nonin's rival MYoAN EISAI states, however, since the school posits that the mind is already enlightened and the afflictions (KLEsA) do not exist in reality, its adherents claimed that there were therefore no precepts that had to be kept or practices to be followed, for religious cultivation would only serve to hinder the experience of awakening. The Darumashu also emphasized the importance of the transmission of the patriarchs' relics (J. shari; S. sARĪRA) as a mark of legitimacy. Although the Darumashu was influential enough while Nonin was alive to prompt other sects to call for its suppression, it did not survive its founder's death, and most of Nonin's leading disciples affiliated themselves with other prominent teachers, such as DoGEN KIGEN. These Darumashu adherents had a significant influence on early SoToSHu doctrine and self-identity and seem to have constituted the majority of the Sotoshu tradition into its third generation of successors. ¶ Darumashu, as the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese term Damo zong (Bodhidharma lineage), can also refer more generally to the CHAN/SoN/ZEN school, which traces its heritage back to the founder and first Chinese patriarch, Bodhidharma.
Dasheng fayuan yilin zhang. (J. Daijo hoon girinjo; K. Taesŭng pobwon ŭirim chang 大乗法苑義林章). In Chinese, "(Edited) Chapters on the Forest of Meaning of the Dharma-Garden of MAHĀYĀNA"; composed by the eminent Chinese monk KUIJI. This treatise consists of twenty-nine chapters in seven rolls, but a thirty-three chapter edition is known to have been transmitted to Japan in the second half of the twelfth century. Each chapter is concerned with an important doctrinal matter related to the YOGĀCĀRABHuMIsĀSTRA. Some chapters, for instance, discuss the various canons (PItAKA), two truths (SATYADVAYA), five faculties (INDRIYA), the sixty-two views (DṚstI), eight liberations (AstAVIMOKsA), and buddha-lands (BUDDHAKsETRA), to name but a few. Because of its comprehensive doctrinal coverage, the Dasheng fayuan yilin zhang has served as an invaluable source of information on early YOGĀCĀRA thought in China.
data driven ::: A data driven architecture/language performs computations in an order dictated by data dependencies. Two kinds of data driven computation are dataflow and demand driven.From about 1970 research in parallel data driven computation increased. Centres of excellence emerged at MIT, CERT-ONERA in France, NTT and ETL in Japan and Manchester University.
data driven A data driven architecture/language performs computations in an order dictated by data dependencies. Two kinds of data driven computation are {dataflow} and {demand driven}. From about 1970 research in parallel {data driven} computation increased. Centres of excellence emerged at {MIT}, {CERT-ONERA} in France, {NTT} and {ETL} in Japan and {Manchester University}.
date ::: (convention, data) A string unique to a time duration of 24 hours between 2 successive midnights defined by the local time zone. The specific e.g., Gregorian, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew etc. as well as local ordering conventions such as UK: day/month/year, US: month/day/year.Inputting and outputting dates on computers is greatly complicated by these localisation issues which is why they tend to operate on dates internally in some unified form such as seconds past midnight at the start of the first of January 1970.Many software and hardware representations of dates allow only two digits for the year, leading to the year 2000 problem.Unix manual page: date(1), ctime(3). (1997-07-11)
date "convention, data" A string unique to a time duration of 24 hours between 2 successive midnights defined by the local time zone. The specific representation of a date will depend on which calendar convention is in force; e.g., Gregorian, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew etc. as well as local ordering conventions such as UK: day/month/year, US: month/day/year. Inputting and outputting dates on computers is greatly complicated by these {localisation} issues which is why they tend to operate on dates internally in some unified form such as seconds past midnight at the start of the first of January 1970. Many software and hardware representations of dates allow only two digits for the year, leading to the {year 2000} problem. {Unix manual page}: date(1), ctime(3). (1997-07-11)
David-Néel, Alexandra. (1868-1969). A famous traveler to Tibet. Born Alexandra David to a bourgeois family in Paris, she was educated in a Calvinist convent before studying Indian and Chinese philosophy at the Sorbonne and the Collège de France. In 1888, she traveled to London, where she became interested in Theosophy. In 1891, she journeyed to Ceylon and India (where she studied Vedānta) and traveled as far as Sikkim over eighteen months. Upon returning to France, she began a career as a singer and eventually was offered the position of female lead in the Hanoi Opera. Some years later, in Tunis, she met and married a railroad engineer, Philippe Néel, who insisted that she retire from the stage. She agreed to do so if he would finance a one-year trip to India for her. He ended up not seeing his wife again for another fourteen years. David-Néel became friends with THOMAS and CAROLINE RHYS DAVIDS in London, leading scholars of THERAVĀDA Buddhism, and corresponded with the ZEN scholar DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI, before publishing her first book on Buddhism in 1911, entitled, Le modernisme bouddhiste et le bouddhisme du Bouddha. She continued to Sikkim, where she met the thirteenth DALAI LAMA in Darjeeling in 1912, while he was briefly in residence there after fleeing a Chinese invasion of Tibet. David-Néel spent two years in retreat receiving instructions from a RNYING MA hermit-lama. In 1916, the British expelled her from Sikkim, so she traveled to Japan, where she was the guest of D. T. Suzuki. From there she went to China, traveling west in the company of a young Sikkimese monk named Yongden. Disguised as a pilgrim, she arrived in LHA SA in 1924, presumably the first European woman to reach the Tibetan capital. She returned to France as a celebrity the following year. She published the best-selling book My Journey to Lhasa, followed by a succession of books based on her travels in Tibet and her study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism. She built a home in Digne, which she named Samten Dzong, "Fortress of Concentration." David-Néel made one final trip to Asia as World War II began, but spent the rest of her life writing in Digne, where she died at the age of one hundred.
Daxiu Zhengnian. (J. Daikyu Shonen; K. Taehyu Chongnyom 大休正念) (1215-1289). Chinese CHAN master in the LINJI ZONG. A native of Wenzhou in present-day Zhejiang province, Daxiu began his training under the CAODONG master Donggu Miaoguang (d. 1253) of Linyinsi, and later became the disciple of Shiqi Xinyue (d. 1254). In 1269, Daxiu left for Japan, where he received the patronage of the powerful regent Hojo Tokimune (1251-1284). In Kamakura, Daxiu established the monastery Jochiji, which came to be ranked fourth in the Kamakura GOZAN system. Daxiu also served as abbot of the monasteries ZENKoJI, Juhukuji, and KENCHoJI. In 1288, Daxiu became the abbot of ENGAKUJI, but passed away the next year in 1289. He was given the posthumous title Zen Master Butsugen ("Source of the Buddhas"). His teachings can be found in the Daikyu osho goroku.
Denkoroku. (傳光録). In Japanese, "Record of the Transmission of the Light"; a text also known by its full title, Keizan osho denkoroku ("A Record of the Transmission of the Light by Master Keizan"). The anthology is attributed by Soto tradition to KEIZAN JoKIN, but was most probably composed posthumously by his disciples. The Denkoroku is a collection of pithy stories and anecdotes concerning fifty-two teachers recognized by the Japanese SoToSHu as the patriarchs of the school, accompanied by the author's own explanatory commentaries and concluding verses. Each chapter includes a short opening case (honsoku), which describes the enlightenment experience of the teacher; a longer section (called a kien) offering a short biography and history of the teacher, including some of his representative teachings and exchanges with students and other teachers; a prose commentary (teisho; C. TICHANG) by the author; and a concluding appreciatory verse (juko). The teachers discussed in the text include twenty-seven Indian patriarchs from MAHĀKĀsYAPA to PrajNātāra; six Chinese patriarchs from BODHIDHARMA through HUINENG; seventeen Chinese successors of Huineng in the CAODONG ZONG, from QINGYUAN XINGSI to TIANTONG RUJING; and finally the two Japanese patriarchs DoGEN KIGEN and Koun Ejo (1198-1280). The Denkoroku belongs to a larger genre of texts known as the CHUANDENG LU ("transmission of the lamplight records"), although it is a rigidly sectarian lineage history, discussing only the single successor to each patriarch with no treatment of any collateral lines.
Devadatta. (T. Lhas sbyin; C. Tipodaduo; J. Daibadatta; K. Chebadalta 提婆達多). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name for a cousin and rival of the Buddha; he comes to be viewed within the tradition as the embodiment of evil for trying to kill the Buddha and split the SAMGHA (SAMGHABHEDA). Devadatta is said to have been the brother of ĀNANDA, who would later become the Buddha's attendant. According to Pāli sources, when Gotama (GAUTAMA) Buddha returned to Kapalivatthu (KAPILAVASTU) after his enlightenment to preach to his native clan, the Sākiyans (sĀKYA), Devadatta along with ĀNANDA, Bhagu, Kimbila, BHADDIYA-KĀlIGODHĀPUTTA, Anuruddha (ANIRUDDHA), and UPĀLI were converted and took ordination as monks. Devadatta quickly attained mundane supranormal powers (iddhi; S. ṚDDHI) through his practice of meditation, although he never attained any degree of enlightenment. For a period of time, Devadatta was revered in the order. Sāriputta (sĀRIPUTRA) is depicted as praising him, and the Buddha lists him among eleven chief elders. Devadatta, however, always seems to have been of evil disposition and jealous of Gotama; in the final years of the Buddha's ministry, he sought to increase his influence and even usurp leadership of the saMgha. He used his supranormal powers to win over the patronage of Prince Ajātasattu (AJĀTAsATRU), who built for him a monastery at Gayāsīsa (Gayāsīrsa). Emboldened by this success, he approached the Buddha with the suggestion that the Buddha retire and pass the leadership of the saMgha to him, whereupon the Buddha severely rebuked him. It was then that Devadatta conceived a plan to kill the Buddha even while he incited Ajātasattu to murder his father BIMBISĀRA, king of MAGADHA, who was the Buddha's chief patron. At Devadatta's behest, Ajātasattu dispatched sixteen archers to shoot the Buddha along a road, but the Buddha, using his supranormal powers, instead converted the archers. Later, Devadatta hurled a boulder down the slope of Mt. Gijjhakuta (GṚDHRAKutAPARVATA) at the Buddha, which grazed his toe and caused it to bleed. Finally, Devadatta caused the bull elephant NĀLĀGIRI, crazed with toddy, to charge at the Buddha, but the Buddha tamed the elephant with the power of his loving-kindness (P. mettā; S. MAITRĪ). Unsuccessful in his attempts to kill the Buddha, Devadatta then decided to establish a separate order. He approached the Buddha and recommended that five austere practices (DHUTAnGA) be made mandatory for all members of the saMgha: forest dwelling, subsistence only on alms food collected by begging, use of rag robes only, dwelling at the foot of a tree, and vegetarianism. When the Buddha rejected his recommendation, Devadatta gathered around him five hundred newly ordained monks from Vesāli (VAIsĀLĪ) and, performing the fortnightly uposatha (UPOsADHA) ceremony separately at Gayāsīsa, formally seceded from the Buddha's saMgha. When the five hundred Vesāli monks were won back to the fold by Sāriputta (sĀRIPUTRA) and Moggallāna (MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA), Devadatta grew sick with rage, coughing up blood, and never recovered. It is said that toward the end of his life, Devadatta felt remorse and decided to journey to see the Buddha to ask him for his forgiveness. However, spilling the blood of a Buddha and causing schism in the saMgha are two of the five "acts that brings immediate retribution" (P. ānantariyakamma; S. ĀNANTARYAKARMAN), viz., rebirth in hell. In addition, Devadatta is said to have beaten to death the nun UTPALAVARnĀ when she rebuked him for attempting to assassinate the Buddha. She was an arhat, and killing an arhat is another of the "acts that bring immediate retribution." When Devadatta was on his way to visit the Buddha (according to some accounts, to repent; according to other accounts, to attempt to kill him one last time by scratching him with poisoned fingernails), the earth opened up and Devadatta fell into AVĪCI hell, where he will remain for one hundred thousand eons. His last utterance was that he had no other refuge than the Buddha, an act that, at the end of his torment in hell, will cause him to be reborn as the paccekabuddha (PRATYEKABUDDHA) Atthissara. In many JĀTAKA stories, the villain or chief antagonist of the BODHISATTVA is often identified as a previous rebirth of Devadatta. In the "Devadatta Chapter" of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"), the Buddha remarks that in a previous life, he had studied with the sage Asita, who was in fact Devadatta, and that Devadatta would eventually become a buddha himself. This statement was used in the Japanese NICHIREN school as proof that even the most evil of persons (see ICCHANTIKA; SAMUCCHINAKUsALAMuLA) still have the capacity to achieve enlightenment. In their accounts of India, both FAXIAN and XUANZANG note the presence of followers of Devadatta who adhered to the austere practices he had recommended to the Buddha.
Developed countries - The higher-income countries of the world, including the United States, Canada, most of Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and South Africa.
Dewa sanzan. (出羽三山). In Japanese, the "three mountains of Dewa"; referring to Mount Haguro, Mount Gassan, and Mount Yudono in what was once known as Dewa province (in modern-day Yamagata prefecture). The region is particularly important in SHUGENDo and has long been a place of pilgrimage; it was visited by BASHo.
DFC ::: A dataflow language.[Data Flow Language DFC: Design and Implementation, S. Toshio et al, Systems and Computers in Japan, 20(6):1- 10 (Jun 1989)].
DFC A {dataflow} language. ["Data Flow Language DFC: Design and Implementation", S. Toshio et al, Systems and Computers in Japan, 20(6):1- 10 (Jun 1989)].
Dhanus (Sanskrit) Dhanus Bow; the ninth zodiacal sign, Sagittarius. According to some Hindu mystical thinkers, this sign represents the nine Brahmas or prajapatis who assisted in building the material universe. Nine is the number of becoming or change.
Dharmodgata. (T. Chos 'phags; C. Faqi pusa; J. Hoki bosatsu; K. Popki posal 法起菩薩). In Sanskrit, "Elevated Dharma," or "Dharma Arising," the name of a BODHISATTVA whom the AVATAMSAKASuTRA describes as residing in the Diamond (S. VAJRA) Mountains. According to the Chinese translations of the AvataMsakasutra, Dharmodgata lives in the middle of the sea in the Diamond Mountains (C. Jingangshan; J. KONGoSAN; K. KŬMGANGSAN), where he preaches the dharma to his large congregation of fellow bodhisattvas. The AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ also says that Dharmodgata (his name there is transcribed as C. Tanwujian, J. Donmukatsu, and K. Tammugal) preaches the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ three times daily at the City of Fragrances (S. Gandhavatī; C. Zhongxiangcheng; J. Shukojo; K. Chunghyangsong), now used as the name of one of the individual peaks at the Korean KŬMGANGSAN. Since the Chinese Tang dynasty and the Korean Silla dynasty, East Asian Buddhists have presumed that Dharmodgata resided at the Diamond Mountains, just as the bodhisattva MANJUsRĪ lived at WUTAISHAN. In his HUAYAN JING SHU, CHENGGUAN's massive commentary to the AvataMsakasutra, Chengguan explicitly connects the sutra's mention of the Diamond Mountains to the Kŭmgangsan of Korea. At Kŭmgangsan, there are many place names associated with Dharmodgata and several legends and stories concerning him have been transmitted. Records explain that P'YOHUNSA, an important monastery at Kŭmgangsan, at one time had an image of Dharmodgata enshrined in its main basilica (although the image is now lost). According to the Japanese ascetic tradition of SHUGENDo, the semilegendary founder of the school, EN NO OZUNU (b. 634), is considered to be a manifestation of Dharmodgata, and his principal residence, Katsuragi Mountain in Nara prefecture, is therefore also sometimes known as the Diamond Mountains (KONGoSAN).
Dhṛtarāstra. (P. Dhatarattha; T. Yul 'khor srung; C. Chiguo Tian; J. Jikokuten; K. Chiguk Ch'on 持國天). In Sanskrit, "He whose Empire is Unyielding," or "He who Preserves the Empire"; one of the four "great kings" of heaven (CATURMAHĀRĀJA), who are also known as "world guardians" (LOKAPĀLA); he is said to be a guardian of the DHARMA and of sentient beings who are devoted to the dharma. Dhṛtarāstra guards the gate that leads to the east at the midslope of the world's central axis of Mount SUMERU; this gate leads to purvavideha (see VIDEHA), one of the four continents (dvīpa), which is located in the east. Dhṛtarāstra and his fellow great kings reside in the first and lowest of the six heavens of the sensuous realm of existence (KĀMADHĀTU), the heaven of the four great kings (CATURMAHĀRĀJAKĀYIKA). Dhṛtarāstra is a vassal of sAKRO DEVĀNĀM INDRAḤ (see INDRA; sAKRA), the king of the gods, who is lord of the heaven of the thirty-three divinities (TRĀYASTRIMsA), the second of the six sensuous-realm heavens, which is located at the peak of Mount SUMERU. Among the eight classes of demigods, Dhṛtarāstra rules over the "heavenly musicians" (GANDHARVA) and the "stinking hungry demons" (putana). Dhṛtarāstra and the four heavenly kings were originally indigenous Indian or Central Asian deities, who were eventually "conquered" by the Buddha and incorporated into Buddhism; they seem to have been originally associated with royal (KsATRIYA) lineages, and their connections with royal warfare are evidenced in the suits of armor they come to wear as their cult is transmitted from Central Asia to China, Korea, and Japan. According to the Dhāranīsamuccaya, Dhṛtarāstra is to be depicted iconographically with his sword in his left hand and his right fist akimbo on his waist.
dianyan. (J. tengen; K. choman 點眼). In Chinese, lit. "dotting the eyes," also known as "opening the eyes" (KAIYAN; T. spyan phye); a consecration ceremony for a buddha image (BUDDHĀBHIsEKA) that serves to make the icon come alive. The term refers to a ceremony, or series of ceremonies, that accompanies the installation of a buddha image or painting, which specifically involves dotting the pupils onto the inert eyes of the icon in order to animate it. Until this ceremony is performed, the icon remains nothing more than an inert block of wood or lump of clay; once its eyes are dotted, however, the image is thought to become invested with the power and charisma of a living buddha. The related term kaiyan has the same denotation, but may in some contexts it refer more broadly to "opening up the eyes" of an image by ritually dropping eye drops into its eyes. Both dianyan or kaiyan occurred in conjunction with esoteric Buddhist rituals. The Yiqie rulai anxiang sanmei yigui jing provides an elaborate set of instructions on how to consecrate buddha images, in which "dotting the eyes" accompanies the performance of other esoteric practices, such as MANTRA and MUDRĀ. When a bodhisattva wonders why buddha images are installed if the DHARMAKĀYA of a buddha has no physical form, the Buddha replies that images are used as an expedient for guiding neophytes who have first aroused the thought of enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPĀDA). In Korea, where this term choman is typically used for this ceremony rather than kaean (C. kaiyan), there were different "dotting the eyes" consecrations for different types of Buddhist images and requisites, including images of a buddha, ARHAT, the ten kings of hell (shiwang), and the kings of heaven, as well as in conjunction with ceremonies for erecting a STuPA or offering robes (KAsĀYA). Through these choman ceremonies, Buddhist artifacts are transformed from mere physical objects into spiritually sanctioned religious items imbued with spiritual efficacy. The Korean Chinon chip ("Mantra Anthology"), extant in several editions of which the oldest is dated 1476, includes a "mantra for dotting the eyes" (choman mun) along with its Sanskrit and Chinese transliterations. In Japan, this ceremony is usually called kaigen (C. kaiyan) rather than tengen. In Chinese CHAN texts, "dotting the eyes" of a buddha image is also sometimes used as a metaphor for a Chan adept's final achievement of awakening. See also NETRAPRATIstHĀPANA.
dianzuo. (J. tenzo; K. chonjwa 典座). In Chinese, lit. "in charge of seating"; the term that comes to be used for a cook at a Buddhist monastery, who supervises the preparation and distribution of meals. In Indian VINAYA texts, the term was used to designate a "manager," the service monk (S. VAIYĀPṚTYA[KARA]; P. veyyāvaccakara) who assigned seating at assemblies and ceremonies and arranged for the distribution of material objects or donations in addition to food. In the pilgrimage records of YIJING in India and ENNIN in China, the term always referred to a "manager," not someone who worked in the monastic kitchen. But sometime after the tenth century, during the Northern Song dynasty, the term came to be used in Chinese monasteries to refer to the cook. In East Asian CHAN monasteries, the cook and five other officers, collectively known as the ZHISHI (J. chiji), oversaw the administration of the monastic community. Typically, the dianzuo position was considered a prestigious position and offered only to monks of senior rank. The Japanese Zen monk DoGEN KIGEN wrote a famous essay on the responsibilities of the cook entitled Tenzo kyokun ("Instructions to the Cook"). Cf. DRAVYA MALLAPUTRA.
Digital Versatile Disc "storage" (DVD, formerly "Digital Video Disc") An optical storage medium with improved capacity and bandwidth compared with the {Compact Disc}. DVD, like CD, was initally marketed for entertainment and later for computer users. [When was it first available?] A DVD can hold a full-length film with up to 133 minutes of high quality video, in {MPEG-2} format, and audio. The first DVD drives for computers were read-only drives ("DVD-ROM"). These can store 4.7 GBytes - over seven times the storage capacity of CD-ROM. DVD-ROM drives read existing {CD-ROMs} and music CDs and are compatible with installed sound and video boards. Additionally, the DVD-ROM drive can read DVD films and modern computers can decode them in software in {real-time}. The DVD video standard was announced in November 1995. Matshusita did much of the early development but Philips made the first DVD player, which appeared in Japan in November 1996. In May 2004, Sony released the first dual-layer drive, which increased the disc capacity to 8.5 GB. Double-sided, dual-layer discs will eventually increase the capacity to 17 GB. Write-once DVD-R ("recordable") drives record a 3.9GB DVD-R disc that can be read on a DVD-ROM drive. Pioneer released the first DVD-R drive on 1997-09-29. By March 1997, {Hitachi} had released a rewritable DVD-RAM drive (by false analogy with {random-access memory}). DVD-RAM drives read and write to a 2.6 GB DVD-RAM disc, read and write-once to a 3.9GB DVD-R disc, and read a 4.7 GB or 8.5 GB DVD-ROM. Later, DVD-RAM discs could be read on DVD-R and DVD-ROM drives. {Background (http://tacmar.com/dvd_background.htm)}. {RCA home (http://imagematrix.com/DVD/home.html)}. (2006-01-07)
dingxiang. (J. chinzo; K. chongsang 頂相). In Chinese, lit. "mark on the forehead" or "head's appearance." The term dingxiang was originally coined as the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit term UsnĪsA, but the term also came to be used to refer to a portrait or image of a monk or nun. Written sources from as early as the sixth century, such as the GAOSENG ZHUAN ("Biographies of Eminent Monks"), recount the natural mummification of eminent Buddhist monks, and subsequently, the making of lifelike sculptures of monks made from ashes (often from cremation) mixed with clay. The earliest extant monk portraits date from the ninth century and depict the five patriarchs of the esoteric school (C. Zhenyan; J. SHINGONSHu); these portraits are now enshrined in the collection of ToJI in Kyoto, Japan. Another early example is the sculpture of the abbot Hongbian in cave 17 at DUNHUANG. Dingxiang portraits were largely, but not exclusively, used within the CHAN, SoN, and ZEN traditions, to be installed in special halls prepared for memorial and mortuary worship. After the rise of the SHIFANGCHA (monasteries of the ten directions) system in the Song dynasty, which guaranteed the abbacy to monks belonging to a Chan lineage, portraits of abbots were hung in these image halls to establish their presence in a shared spiritual genealogy. The portraits of the legendary Indian monk BODHIDHARMA and the Chan master BAIZHANG HUAIHAI were often placed at the center of these arrangements, symbolizing the spiritual and institutional foundations of Chan. The practice of inscribing one's own dingxiang portrait before death also flourished in China; inscribed portraits were presented to disciples and wealthy supporters as gifts and these portraits thus functioned as highly valued commodities within the Buddhist religious community. The practice of preparing dingxiang portraits was transmitted to Japan. Specifically noteworthy are the Japanese monk portrait sculptures dating from the Kamakura period, known for their lifelike appearance. The making of dingxiang portraits continues to flourish even to this day. In Korea, the related term CHINYoNG ("true image") is more commonly used to refer to monks' portraits.
Directed Oc "language" (Doc) A language related to {Oc}. ["Programming Language Doc and Its Self-Description, or 'X=X Is Considered Harmful'", M. Hirata, Proc 3rd Conf Japan Soc Soft Sci Tech, pp. 69-72, 1986]. (1999-10-08)
Directed Oc ::: (language) (Doc) A language related to Oc.[Programming Language Doc and Its Self-Description, or 'X=X Is Considered Harmful', M. Hirata, Proc 3rd Conf Japan Soc Soft Sci Tech, pp. 69-72, 1986]. (1999-10-08)
Dogen Kigen. (道元希玄) (1200-1253). Japanese ZEN monk who is regarded as the founder of the SoToSHu. After losing both his parents at an early age, Dogen became the student of a relative, the monk Ryokan (d.u.), who lived at the base of HIEIZAN, the headquarters of the TENDAI school (C. TIANTAI) in 1212; Ryokan subsequently recommended that Dogen study at the famed training center of Senkobo. The next year, Dogen was ordained by Koen (d.u.), the abbot of the powerful Tendai monastery of ENRYAKUJI. Dogen was later visited by the monk Koin (1145-1216) of Onjoji, who suggested the eminent Japanese monk MYoAN EISAI as a more suitable teacher. Dogen visited Eisai at his monastery of KENNINJI and became a student of Eisai's disciple Myozen (1184-1225). In 1223, Dogen accompanied Myozen to China as his attendant and made a pilgrimage to various important monastic centers on Mts. Tiantong, Jing, and Yuwang. Before returning to Japan in 1227, Dogen made another trip in 1225 to Mt. Tiantong to study with the CAODONG ZONG Chan master TIANTONG RUJING (1162-1227), from whom he is said to have received dharma transmission. During his time there, Dogen overheard Rujing scolding a monk who was sleeping, saying, "The practice of zazen (C. ZUOCHAN) is the sloughing off of body and mind. What does sleeping accomplish?" Dogen reports that he experienced awakening upon hearing Rujing's words "sloughing off body and mind" (SHINJIN DATSURAKU), a phrase that would figure prominently in his later writings. The phrase, however, is not common in the Chan tradition, and scholars have questioned whether Dogen's spoken Chinese was up to the task of understanding Rujing's oral instructions. Dogen also attributes to Rujing's influence the practice of SHIKAN TAZA, or "just sitting," and the notion of the identity of practice and attainment: that to sit correctly in meditative posture is to enact one's own buddhahood. After Rujing's death, Dogen returned to Japan, famously reporting that he had learned only that noses are vertical and eyes are horizontal. He returned to Kenninji, but relocated two years later in 1229 to the monastery of Anyoin in Fukakusa. In 1233, Dogen moved to Koshoji, on the outskirts of Kyoto, where he established one of the first monasteries in Japan modeled on Song-dynasty Chan monastic practice. Dogen resided there for the next ten years and attracted a large following, including several adherents of the DARUMASHu, who became influential in his burgeoning community. When the powerful monastery of Tofukuji was established by his RINZAISHu rival ENNI BEN'EN, Dogen moved again to remote area of Echizen (present-day Fukui prefecture), where he was invited to reside at the newly established monastery of Daibutsuji; Dogen renamed the monastery EIHEIJI in 1246. There, he composed several chapters of his magnum opus, SHoBoGENZo ("Treasury of the True Dharma Eye"). In 1253, as his health declined, Dogen entrusted Eiheiji to his successor Koun Ejo (1198-1280), a former disciple of the Darumashu founder DAINICHIBo NoNIN, and left for Kyoto to seek medical treatment. He died that same year. Dogen was a prolific writer whose work includes the FUKAN ZAZENGI, EIHEI SHINGI, Eihei koroku, BENDoWA, HoKYoKI, GAKUDo YoJINSHU, Tenzo kyokun, and others. Dogen's voluminous oeuvre has been extremely influential in the modern construction of the Japanese Zen tradition and its portrayal in Western literature. See also GENJo KoAN; SHIKAN TAZA.
Dokuan Genko. (独庵玄光) (1630-1698). Japanese ZEN monk in the SoToSHu. Dokuan was ordained by the monk Tenkoku (d.u.) at the temple of Kodenji in his hometown of Saga. After traveling around the country on pilgrimage, Dokuan visited the émigré Chinese CHAN monk DAOZHE CHAOYUAN in Nagasaki and studied under him for eight years. When Daozhe returned to China in 1658, Dokuan continued his training under the Zen master Gesshu Sorin (1614-1687) at Kotaiji in Nagasaki and remained at Kotaiji after Gesshu's death. Dokuan was a prolific writer whose work includes the Gohoshu, Shui sanbo kanno den, and the Zenaku genken hoo hen.
DS level ::: (communications) (Digital Signal or Data Service level) Originally an AT&T classification of transmitting one or more voice conversations in one digital data stream. The best known DS levels are DS0 (a single conversation), DS1 (24 conversations multiplexed), DS1C, DS2, and DS3.By extension, the DS level can refer to the raw data rate necessary for transmission: DS0 64 Kb/sDS1 1.544 Mb/s technologies or standards (e.g. X.25, SMDS, ISDN, ATM, PDH).Japan uses the US standards for DS0 through DS2 but Japanese DS5 has roughly the circuit capacity of US DS4, while the European standards are rather different bits per second but rates above DS1 are not necessarily integral multiples of 1,544 kb/s. (1998-05-18)
DS level "communications" (Digital Signal or Data Service level) Originally an {AT&T} classification of transmitting one or more voice conversations in one digital data stream. The best known DS levels are {DS0} (a single conversation), {DS1} (24 conversations multiplexed), {DS1C}, {DS2}, and {DS3}. By extension, the DS level can refer to the raw data rate necessary for transmission: DS0 64 Kb/s DS1 1.544 Mb/s DS1C 3.15 Mb/s DS2 6.31 Mb/s DS3 44.736 Mb/s DS4 274.1 Mb/s (where K and M signify multiplication by 1000 and 1000000, rather than powers of two). In this sense it can be used to measure of data service rates classifying the user access rates for various point-to-point {WAN} technologies or standards (e.g. {X.25}, {SMDS}, {ISDN}, {ATM}, {PDH}). Japan uses the US standards for DS0 through DS2 but Japanese DS5 has roughly the circuit capacity of US DS4, while the European standards are rather different (see {E1}). In the US all of the transmission rates are integral multiples of 8000 bits per second but rates above DS1 are not necessarily integral multiples of 1,544 kb/s. (1998-05-18)
Dz'yan and Zen are the Chinese, Senzar and Japanese forms of this word.
Each of these fourteen faculties and organs is presided over by its own respective inyantri (ruler): the eye by the sun; the ear by the quarters of the world; the nose by the two Asvins; the tongue by Prachetas; the skin by the wind; the voice by fire; the hand by Indra; the foot by Vishnu; the anus by Mitra; the generative organs by Prajapati; manas by the moon; buddhi by Brahman; ahamkara by Siva; chitta by Vishnu as Achyuta. The differences in enumeration are to be accounted for by the different manners in which the various Indian philosophic schools enumerated and divided the different parts of the human constitution.
E-carrier system ::: (communications) A series of digital transmission formats promulgated by the ITU and used outside of North America and Japan.The basic unit of the E-carrier system is the DS0, which has a transmission rate of 64 Kbps, and is commonly used for one voice circuit. The E1 format consists circuits carry multiple E1 channels multiplexed, resulting in transmission rates of up to 565.148 Mbps.The E-carrier system is similar to, and compatible with, the T-carrier system used in North America, but has higher capacity since it uses out-of-band signaling in contrast to the in-band signaling or bit-robbing used in the T-system.(2000-03-10)
E-carrier system "communications" A series of {digital} transmission formats promulgated by the {ITU} and used outside of North America and Japan. The basic unit of the E-carrier system is the {DS0}, which has a transmission rate of 64 Kbps, and is commonly used for one {voice circuit}. The {E1} format consists of 32 DS0 channels, for a total capacity of 2.048 Mbps. {E2}, {E3}, {E4}, and {E5} circuits carry multiple E1 channels multiplexed, resulting in transmission rates of up to 565.148 Mbps. The E-carrier system is similar to, and compatible with, the {T-carrier system} used in North America, but has higher capacity since it uses {out-of-band signaling} in contrast to the {in-band signaling} or {bit-robbing} used in the T-system. (2000-03-10)
Edward Yourdon "person" A {software engineering} consultant, widely known as the developer of the "{Yourdon method}" of structured systems analysis and design, as well as the co-developer of the Coad/Yourdon method of {object-oriented analysis} and design. He is also the editor of three software journals - American Programmer, Guerrilla Programmer, and Application Development Strategies - that analyse software technology trends and products in the United States and several other countries around the world. Ed Yourdon received a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from {MIT}, and has done graduate work at MIT and at the Polytechnic Institute of New York. He has been appointed an Honorary Professor of {Information Technology} at Universidad CAECE in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has received numerous honors and awards from other universities and professional societies around the world. He has worked in the computer industry for 30 years, including positions with {DEC} and {General Electric}. Earlier in his career, he worked on over 25 different {mainframe} computers, and was involved in a number of pioneering computer projects involving {time-sharing} and {virtual memory}. In 1974, he founded the consulting firm, {Yourdon, Inc.}. He is currently immersed in research in new developments in software engineering, such as object-oriented software development and {system dynamics} modelling. Ed Yourdon is the author of over 200 technical articles; he has also written 19 computer books, including a novel on {computer crime} and a book for the general public entitled Nations At Risk. His most recent books are Object-Oriented Systems Development (1994), Decline and Fall of the American Programmer (1992), Object-Oriented Design (1991), and Object-Oriented Analysis (1990). Several of his books have been translated into Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Portugese, Dutch, French, German, and other languages, and his articles have appeared in virtually all of the major computer journals. He is a regular keynote speaker at major computer conferences around the world, and serves as the conference Chairman for Digital Consulting's SOFTWARE WORLD conference. He was an advisor to Technology Transfer's research project on software industry opportunities in the former Soviet Union, and a member of the expert advisory panel on CASE acquisition for the U.S. Department of Defense. Mr. Yourdon was born on a small planet at the edge of one of the distant red-shifted galaxies. He now lives in the Center of the Universe (New York City) with his wife, three children, and nine Macintosh computers, all of which are linked together through an Appletalk network. (1995-04-16)
Emma-O: In Japanese Buddhism, the god who is the ruler of the underworld and judges the dead.
Even though the Taisho is often considered to be the definitive East Asian canon, it does not offer truly critical editions of its texts. The second Koryo canon's reputation for accuracy was so strong that the Japanese editors adopted it wholesale as the textus receptus for the modern Taisho edition of the canon, i.e., where there was a Koryo edition available for a text, the Taisho editors simply copied it verbatim, listing in footnotes alternate readings found in other canons, but not attempting to evaluate the accuracy of those readings or to establish a critical edition. Hence, to a large extent, the Taisho edition of the dazangjing is a modern typeset edition of the xylographical Koryo canon, with an updated arrangement of its contents based on modern historiographical criteria.
fifth generation language ::: (language, artificial intelligence) A myth the Japanese spent a lot of money on. In about 1982, MITI decided it would spend ten years and a lot of crisis. The project spent its money and its ten years and in 1992 closed down with a wimper. (1996-11-06)
fifth generation language "language, artificial intelligence" A myth the Japanese spent a lot of money on. In about 1982, {MITI} decided it would spend ten years and a lot of money applying {artificial intelligence} to programming, thus solving the {software crisis}. The project spent its money and its ten years and in 1992 closed down with a wimper. (1996-11-06)
Fourteen A septenate in which each member is dual. In the Hindu Laws of Manu, fourteen manus are enumerated; and in theosophy a root-manu and a seed-manu are given for each round. In a Hindu allegory, there arise from the churning of the ocean fourteen “precious things,” which in a corresponding Japanese system are enumerated as seven. See also KURMA-AVATARA
Fujitsu ::: (company) A Japanese elecronics corporation. Fujitsu owns ICL, Amdahl Corporation, and DMR.Home .(2000-04-03)
Fujitsu "company" A Japanese elecronics corporation. Fujitsu owns {ICL}, {Amdahl Corporation}, and {DMR}. Home {USA (http://fujitsu.com/)}, {Japan (http://fujitsu.co.jp/index-e.html)}. (2000-04-03)
furigana "human language, Japanese" (Or "rubi") Small {hiragana}, written above {kanji} (and these days sometimes above Latin characters) as a phonetic comment and reading aid. The singular and plural are both "furigana". (2000-12-30)
furigana ::: (human language, Japanese) (Or rubi) Small hiragana, written above kanji (and these days sometimes above Latin characters) as a phonetic comment and reading aid. The singular and plural are both furigana.(2000-12-30)
GCOS "operating system" /jee'kohs/ An {operating system} developed by {General Electric} from 1962; originally called GECOS (the General Electric Comprehensive Operating System). The GECOS-II operating system was developed by {General Electric} for the 36-bit {GE-635} in 1962-1964. Contrary to rumour, GECOS was not cloned from {System/360} [{DOS/360}?] - the GE-635 architecture was very different from the {IBM 360} and GECOS was more ambitious than DOS/360. GE Information Service Divsion developed a large special multi-computer system that was not publicised because they did not wish {time sharing} customers to challenge their bills. Although GE ISD was marketing {DTSS} - the first commercial time sharing system - GE Computer Division had no license from Dartmouth and GE-ISD to market it to external customers, so they designed a time-sharing system to sell as a standard part of GECOS-III, which replaced GECOS-II in 1967. GECOS TSS was more general purpose than DTSS, it was more a programmer's tool (program editing, e-mail on a single system) than a BASIC TSS. The {GE-645}, a modified 635 built by the same people, was selected by {MIT} and {Bell} for the {Multics} project. Multics' infancy was as painful as any infancy. Bell pulled out in 1969 and later produced {Unix}. After the buy-out of GE's computer division by {Honeywell}, GECOS-III was renamed GCOS-3 (General Comprehensive Operating System). Other OS groups at Honeywell began referring to it as "God's Chosen Operating System", allegedly in reaction to the GCOS crowd's uninformed and snotty attitude about the superiority of their product. [Can anyone confirm this?] GCOS won and this led in the orphaning and eventual death of Honeywell {Multics}. Honeywell also decided to launch a new product line called Level64, and later DPS-7. It was decided to mainatin, at least temporarily, the 36-bit machine as top of the line, because GCOS-3 was so successfull in the 1970s. The plan in 1972-1973 was that GCOS-3 and Multics should converge. This plan was killed by Honeywell management in 1973 for lack of resources and the inability of Multics, lacking {databases} and {transaction processing}, to act as a business operating system without a substantial reinvestment. The name "GCOS" was extended to all Honeywell-marketed product lines and GCOS-64, a completely different 32-bit operating system, significanctly inspired by Multics, was designed in France and Boston. GCOS-62, another different 32-bit low-end DOS level was designed in Italy. GCOS-61 represented a new version of a small system made in France and the new {DPS-6} 16-bit {minicomputer} line got GCOS-6. When the intended merge between GCOS-3 and Multics failed, the Phoenix designers had in mind a big upgrade of the architecture to introduce {segmentation} and {capabilities}. GCOS-3 was renamed GCOS-8, well before it started to use the new features which were introduced in next generation hardware. The GCOS licenses were sold to the Japanese companies {NEC} and {Toshiba} who developed the Honeywell products, including GCOS, much further, surpassing the {IBM 3090} and {IBM 390}. When Honeywell decided in 1984 to get its top of the range machines from NEC, they considered running Multics on them but the Multics market was considered too small. Due to the difficulty of porting the ancient Multics code they considered modifying the NEC hardware to support the Multics compilers. GCOS3 featured a good {Codasyl} {database} called IDS (Integrated Data Store) that was the model for the more successful {IDMS}. Several versions of transaction processing were designed for GCOS-3 and GCOS-8. An early attempt at TP for GCOS-3, not taken up in Europe, assumed that, as in {Unix}, a new process should be started to handle each transaction. IBM customers required a more efficient model where multiplexed {threads} wait for messages and can share resources. Those features were implemented as subsystems. GCOS-3 soon acquired a proper {TP monitor} called Transaction Driven System (TDS). TDS was essentially a Honeywell development. It later evolved into TP8 on GCOS-8. TDS and its developments were commercially successful and predated IBM {CICS}, which had a very similar architecture. GCOS-6 and GCOS-4 (ex-GCOS-62) were superseded by {Motorola 68000}-based {minicomputers} running {Unix} and the product lines were discontinued. In the late 1980s Bull took over Honeywell and Bull's management chose Unix, probably with the intent to move out of hardware into {middleware}. Bull killed the Boston proposal to port Multics to a platform derived from DPS-6. Very few customers rushed to convert from GCOS to Unix and new machines (of CMOS technology) were still to be introduced in 1997 with GCOS-8. GCOS played a major role in keeping Honeywell a dismal also-ran in the {mainframe} market. Some early Unix systems at {Bell Labs} used GCOS machines for print spooling and various other services. The field added to "/etc/passwd" to carry GCOS ID information was called the "{GECOS field}" and survives today as the "pw_gecos" member used for the user's full name and other human-ID information. [{Jargon File}] (1998-04-23)
GCOS ::: (operating system) /jee'kohs/ An operating system developed by General Electric from 1962; originally called GECOS (the General Electric Comprehensive Operating System).The GECOS-II operating system was developed by General Electric for the 36-bit GE-635 in 1962-1964. Contrary to rumour, GECOS was not cloned from System/360 [DOS/360?] - the GE-635 architecture was very different from the IBM 360 and GECOS was more ambitious than DOS/360.GE Information Service Divsion developed a large special multi-computer system that was not publicised because they did not wish time sharing customers to GECOS TSS was more general purpose than DTSS, it was more a programmer's tool (program editing, e-mail on a single system) than a BASIC TSS.The GE-645, a modified 635 built by the same people, was selected by MIT and Bell for the Multics project. Multics' infancy was as painful as any infancy. Bell pulled out in 1969 and later produced Unix.After the buy-out of GE's computer division by Honeywell, GECOS-III was renamed GCOS-3 (General Comprehensive Operating System). Other OS groups at Honeywell their product. [Can anyone confirm this?] GCOS won and this led in the orphaning and eventual death of Honeywell Multics.Honeywell also decided to launch a new product line called Level64, and later DPS-7. It was decided to mainatin, at least temporarily, the 36-bit machine as lacking databases and transaction processing, to act as a business operating system without a substantial reinvestment.The name GCOS was extended to all Honeywell-marketed product lines and GCOS-64, a completely different 32-bit operating system, significanctly inspired small system made in France and the new DPS-6 16-bit minicomputer line got GCOS-6.When the intended merge between GCOS-3 and Multics failed, the Phoenix designers had in mind a big upgrade of the architecture to introduce segmentation and capabilities. GCOS-3 was renamed GCOS-8, well before it started to use the new features which were introduced in next generation hardware.The GCOS licenses were sold to the Japanese companies NEC and Toshiba who developed the Honeywell products, including GCOS, much further, surpassing the IBM 3090 and IBM 390.When Honeywell decided in 1984 to get its top of the range machines from NEC, they considered running Multics on them but the Multics market was considered too small. Due to the difficulty of porting the ancient Multics code they considered modifying the NEC hardware to support the Multics compilers.GCOS3 featured a good Codasyl database called IDS (Integrated Data Store) that was the model for the more successful IDMS.Several versions of transaction processing were designed for GCOS-3 and GCOS-8. An early attempt at TP for GCOS-3, not taken up in Europe, assumed that, as in required a more efficient model where multiplexed threads wait for messages and can share resources. Those features were implemented as subsystems.GCOS-3 soon acquired a proper TP monitor called Transaction Driven System (TDS). TDS was essentially a Honeywell development. It later evolved into TP8 on GCOS-8. TDS and its developments were commercially successful and predated IBM CICS, which had a very similar architecture.GCOS-6 and GCOS-4 (ex-GCOS-62) were superseded by Motorola 68000-based minicomputers running Unix and the product lines were discontinued.In the late 1980s Bull took over Honeywell and Bull's management choose Unix, probably with the intent to move out of hardware into middleware. Bull killed technology) are still to be introduced in 1997 with GCOS-8. GCOS played a major role in keeping Honeywell a dismal also-ran in the mainframe market.Some early Unix systems at Bell Labs used GCOS machines for print spooling and various other services. The field added to /etc/passwd to carry GCOS ID information was called the GECOS field and survives today as the pw_gecos member used for the user's full name and other human-ID information.[Jargon File] (1998-04-23)
Genken Programming Language ::: (language) (GPL) A variant of PL360 by K. Asai of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.[Experience With GPL, K. Asai, in Machine Oriented Higher Level Languages, W. van der Poel, N-H 1974, pp. 371-376]. (1995-04-13)
Genken Programming Language "language" (GPL) A variant of {PL360} by K. Asai of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. ["Experience With GPL", K. Asai, in Machine Oriented Higher Level Languages, W. van der Poel, N-H 1974, pp. 371-376]. (1995-04-13)
ginkgo ::: n. --> A large ornamental tree (Ginkgo biloba) from China and Japan, belonging to the Yew suborder of Coniferae. Its leaves are so like those of some maidenhair ferns, that it is also called the maidenhair tree.
glass-rope ::: n. --> A remarkable vitreous sponge, of the genus Hyalonema, first brought from Japan. It has a long stem, consisting of a bundle of long and large, glassy, siliceous fibers, twisted together.
GNU archive site ::: (body) The main GNU FTP archive is on gnu.org but copies (mirrors) of some or all of the files there are also held on many other computers around the which is logically closest if it's not obvious from the transfer rate). Trans-ocean TCP/IP links are very expensive and usually very slow.The following hosts mirror GNU files. Look for a directory like /pub/gnu, /mirrors/gnu, /systems/gnu or /archives/gnu. Electronic mail addresses of administrators and Internet addresses are given for some hosts. .Australia: archie.au, archie.oz, archie.oz.auBrazil: ccsun.unicamp.br (143.106.1.5, )Denmark: ftp.denet.dkEurope: archive.eu.net (192.16.202.1)Finland: ftp.funet.fi (128.214.6.100, gnu-adm)France: irisa.irisa.fr, ftp.univ-lyon1.fr ( ) , , ftp://ftp.germany.eu.net/).Israel: ftp.technion.ac.il ( )Japan: utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp, ftp.cs.titech.ac.jpKorea: cair.kaist.ac.kr (143.248.11.170)Netherlands: hp4nl.nluug.nl, ftp.win.tue.nl (131.155.70.100)Norway: ugle.unit.no (129.241.1.97)South Africa: ftp.sun.ac.zaSweden: isy.liu.se, ftp.stacken.kth.se, ftp.luth.se, ftp.sunet.se, , sdi.slu.se.Switzerland: ftp.eunet.ch, nic.switch.chThailand: ftp.nectec.or.th (192.150.251.32, )UK: src.doc.ic.ac.uk (146.169.3.7, , also sun cartridge or exabyte tapes); ).USA: louie.udel.edu, ftp.kpc.com (Silicon Valley, CA) ftp.hawaii.edu, f.ms.uky.edu, ftp.digex.net (Internet address 164.109.10.23, run by labrea.stanford.edu, ftp.cs.widener.edu, archive.cis.ohio-state.edu, and ftp.uu.net.Western Canada: ftp.cs.ubc.ca ( ) (1999-12-09)
Godzillagram ::: (networking) /god-zil'*-gram/ (From Japan's national hero and datagram) 1. A network packet that in theory is a broadcast to every machine in the [255.255.255.255]. Fortunately, few gateways are foolish enough to attempt to implement this case!2. A network packet of maximum size. An IP Godzillagram has 65,536 octets. Compare super source quench.(2003-10-07)
Godzillagram "networking" /god-zil'*-gram/ (From Japan's national hero and {datagram}) 1. A {network packet} that in theory is a {broadcast} to every machine in the universe. The typical case is an {IP} {datagram} whose destination IP address is [255.255.255.255]. Fortunately, few {gateways} are foolish enough to attempt to implement this case! 2. A network packet of maximum size. An {IP} Godzillagram has 65,536 {octets}. Compare {super source quench}. (2003-10-07)
Go "games, application" A thinking game with an oriental origin estimated to be around 4000 years old. Nowadays, the game is played by millions of people in (most notably) China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. In the Western world the game is practised by a yearly increasing number of players. On the {Internet} Go players meet, play and talk 24 hours/day on the {Internet Go Server} (IGS). {(http://cwi.nl/~jansteen/go/go.html)}. {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:rec.games.go}. (1995-03-17)
goltschut ::: n. --> A small ingot of gold.
A silver ingot, used in Japan as money.
haiku: A Japanese poem where the form consists of a single three-line stanza of seventeen syllables. The first line contains five syllables, the second contains seven, whilst the last has, again, five syllables. The short poem encapsulates the spirit of the poet's mood. Haikus often lose their meaning in translation.
Han character "character" (From the Han dynasty, 206 B.C.E to 25 C.E.) One of the set of {glyphs} common to Chinese (where they are called "hanzi"), Japanese (where they are called {kanji}), and Korean (where they are called {hanja}). Han characters are generally described as "ideographic", i.e., picture-writing; but see the reference below. Modern Korean, Chinese and Japanese {fonts} may represent a given Han character as somewhat different glyphs. However, in the formulation of {Unicode}, these differences were {folded}, in order to conserve the number of {code positions} necessary for all of {CJK}. This unification is referred to as "Han Unification", with the resulting character repertoire sometimes referred to as "Unihan". {Unihan reference at the Unicode Consortium (http://charts.unicode.org/unihan.html)}. [John DeFrancis, "The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy", University of Hawaii Press, 1984]. (1998-10-18)
Han character ::: (character) (From the Han dynasty, 206 B.C.E to 25 C.E.) One of the set of glyphs common to Chinese (where they are called hanzi), Japanese (where they are called kanji), and Korean (where they are called hanja).Han characters are generally described as ideographic, i.e., picture-writing; but see the reference below.Modern Korean, Chinese and Japanese fonts may represent a given Han character as somewhat different glyphs. However, in the formulation of Unicode, these necessary for all of CJK. This unification is referred to as Han Unification, with the resulting character repertoire sometimes referred to as Unihan. .[John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, University of Hawaii Press, 1984]. (1998-10-18)
hara-kiri ::: n. --> Suicide, by slashing the abdomen, formerly practiced in Japan, and commanded by the government in the cases of disgraced officials; disembowelment; -- also written, but incorrectly, hari-kari.
Hara ::: The Japanese term for the Svasthithana Chakra in the etheric anatomy. This is the seat of vitality and corresponds to the Lower Dantian in Qi Gong.
Hence Vach is associated with the work of creation, with the prajapatis. She calls forth the mayavi form of the universe out of abstract space or Chaos, of which the first cosmogonical stage are the seven cosmic elements. Mystically Vach is masculine and feminine at will, as in the Hebrew Genesis Eve is with Adam. It is through her power that Brahma produced the universe. Blavatsky points out that Brahma produced through Vach in the same way that the incomprehensible assumes a tangible form through speech, words, and numbers (cf SD 1:430). Vach through her productive powers produced what Pythagoras called the music of the spheres. The teachings of Pythagoras also speak of the hierarchies of the heavenly host as numbered and expressed in numbers. Vach is equivalent, in some aspects, to Isis, Aditi, mulaprakriti, the waters of space, chaos, and the Qabbalistic Sephirah.
hiragana "Japanese" The cursive formed Japanese {kana} syllabary. Hiragana is mostly used for grammatical particles, verb-inflection, and Japanese words which are not written in {kanji} or which are too difficult for an educated person to read or write in {kanji}. Hiragana are also used for {furigana}. (2001-03-18)
hiragana ::: (Japanese) The cursive formed Japanese kana syllabary. Hiragana is mostly used for grammatical particles, verb-inflection, and Japanese words which are not written in kanji or which are too difficult for an educated person to read or write in kanji. Hiragana are also used for furigana.(2001-03-18)
Honeywell "company" A US company known for its {mainframes} and {operating systems}. The company's history is long and tortuous, with many mergers, acquisitions and name changes. A company formed on 1886-04-23 to make furnace regulators eventually merged in 1927 with another company formed in 1904 by a young plumbing and heating engineer named Mark Honeywell who was perfecting the heat generator. A 1955 joint venture with {Raytheon Corp.}, called {Datamatic Corporation}, marked Honeywell's entry into the computer business. Their first computer was the {D-1000}. In 1960 Honeywell bought out Raytheon's interest and the name changed to {Electronic Data Processing} (EDP) then in 1963 it was officially renamed Honeywell Inc. In 1970 Honeywell merged its computer business with {General Electric}'s to form Honeywell Information Systems. In 1986 a joint venture with the french company {Bull} and japanese {NEC Corporation} created Honeywell Bull. By 1991 Honeywell had withdrawn from the computer business, focussing more on aeropspace. {CII Honeywell} was an important department. Honeywell operating systems included {GCOS} and {Multics}. See also: {brain-damaged}. {History (http://www51.honeywell.com/honeywell/about-us/our-history.html)}. (2009-01-14)
hyalonema ::: n. --> A genus of hexactinelline sponges, having a long stem composed of very long, slender, transparent, siliceous fibres twisted together like the strands of a color. The stem of the Japanese species (H. Sieboldii), called glass-rope, has long been in use as an ornament. See Glass-rope.
hydrangea ::: n. --> A genus of shrubby plants bearing opposite leaves and large heads of showy flowers, white, or of various colors. H. hortensis, the common garden species, is a native of China or Japan.
“If we turn to geology and zoology we find the same. What are all the myths and endless genealogies of the seven Prajapati and their sons, the seven Rishis or Manus, and of their wives, sons and progeny, but a vast detailed account of the progressive development and evolution of animal creation, one species after the other? . . .”
In addition to its more than five thousand main entries, this volume also contains a number of reference tools. Because the various historical periods and dynasties of India, China, Korea, and Japan appear repeatedly in the entries, historical chronologies of the Buddhist periods of those four countries have been provided. In order to compare what events were occurring across the Buddhist world at any given time, we have provided a timeline of Buddhism. Eight maps are provided, showing regions of the Buddhist world and of the traditional Buddhist cosmology. We have also included a List of Lists. Anyone with the slightest familiarity with Buddhism has been struck by the Buddhist propensity for making lists of almost anything. The MahAvyutpatti is in fact organized not alphabetically but by list, including such familiar lists as the four noble truths, the twelve links of dependent origination, and the thirty-two major marks of the Buddha, as well as less familiar lists, such as various kinds of grain (twenty items) and types of ornaments (sixty-four items). Here we have endeavored to include several of the most important lists, beginning with the one vehicle and ending with the one hundred dharmas of the YogAcAra school. After some discussion, we decided to forgo listing the 84,000 afflictions and their 84,000 antidotes.
In (Japanese) Equivalent to the Chinese yin; in Shintoism, the feminine principle of matter or earth, impregnated by Yo (the heavens), the male ethereal principle, and then precipitated into the universe. She forms the first ethereal, sexless objective being, and with him produces the seven divine spirits who emanate the seven creations.
inc ::: n. --> A Japanese measure of length equal to about two and one twelfth yards.
In Manu (1:35) Vasishtha is enumerated as one of the ten prajapatis, the patriarchs produced by Manu-Svayambhuva for the peopling of the earth. In the Mahabharata he is regarded as the family priest of the Suryavansa (solar race), and also as one of the seven great rishis associated with the seven stars of the Great Bear. In the Puranas, Vasishtha is represented as one of the arrangers of the Vedas in a dvapara yuga of a certain chatur yuga, and as the father of seven celebrated sons.
Integrated Services Digital Network "communications" (ISDN) A set of communications {standards} allowing a single wire or {optical fibre} to carry voice, digital network services and video. ISDN is intended to eventually replace the {plain old telephone system}. ISDN was first published as one of the 1984 {ITU-T} {Red Book} recommendations. The 1988 {Blue Book} recommendations added many new features. ISDN uses mostly existing {Public Switched Telephone Network} (PSTN) switches and wiring, upgraded so that the basic "call" is a 64 kilobits per second, all-digital end-to-end channel. {Packet} and {frame} modes are also provided in some places. There are different kinds of ISDN connection of varying bandwidth (see {DS level}): DS0 = 1 channel PCM at 64 kbps T1 or DS1 = 24 channels PCM at 1.54 Mbps T1C or DS1C = 48 channels PCM at 3.15 Mbps T2 or DS2 = 96 channels PCM at 6.31 Mbps T3 or DS3 = 672 channels PCM at 44.736 Mbps T4 or DS4 = 4032 channels PCM at 274.1 Mbps Each channel here is equivalent to one voice channel. DS0 is the lowest level of the circuit. T1C, T2 and T4 are rarely used, except maybe for T2 over microwave links. For some reason 64 kbps is never called "T0". A {Basic Rate Interface} (BRI) is two 64K "bearer" channels and a single "delta" channel ("2B+D"). A {Primary Rate Interface} (PRI) in North America and Japan consists of 24 channels, usually 23 B + 1 D channel with the same physical interface as T1. Elsewhere the PRI usually has 30 B + 1 D channel and an {E1} interface. A {Terminal Adaptor} (TA) can be used to connect ISDN channels to existing interfaces such as {EIA-232} and {V.35}. Different services may be requested by specifying different values in the "Bearer Capability" field in the call setup message. One ISDN service is "telephony" (i.e. voice), which can be provided using less than the full 64 kbps bandwidth (64 kbps would provide for 8192 eight-bit samples per second) but will require the same special processing or {bit diddling} as ordinary PSTN calls. Data calls have a Bearer Capability of "64 kbps unrestricted". ISDN is offered by local telephone companies, but most readily in Australia, France, Japan and Singapore, with the UK somewhat behind and availability in the USA rather spotty. (In March 1994) ISDN deployment in Germany is quite impressive, although (or perhaps, because) they use a specifically German signalling specification, called {1.TR.6}. The French {Numeris} also uses a non-standard protocol (called {VN4}; the 4th version), but the popularity of ISDN in France is probably lower than in Germany, given the ludicrous pricing. There is also a specifically-Belgian V1 experimental system. The whole of Europe is now phasing in {Euro-ISDN}. See also {Frame Relay}, {Network Termination}, {SAPI}. {FAQ (ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/news-info/comp.dcom.isdn/)}. {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.dcom.isdn}. (1998-03-29)
Integrated Services Digital Network ::: (communications) (ISDN) A set of communications standards allowing a single wire or optical fibre to carry voice, digital network services and video. ISDN is intended to eventually replace the plain old telephone system.ISDN was first published as one of the 1984 ITU-T Red Book recommendations. The 1988 Blue Book recommendations added many new features. ISDN uses mostly so that the basic call is a 64 kilobits per second, all-digital end-to-end channel. Packet and frame modes are also provided in some places.There are different kinds of ISDN connection of varying bandwidth (see DS level): DS0 = 1 channel PCM at 64 kbpsT1 or DS1 = 24 channels PCM at 1.54 Mbps used, except maybe for T2 over microwave links. For some reason 64 kbps is never called T0.A Basic Rate Interface (BRI) is two 64K bearer channels and a single delta channel (2B+D). A Primary Rate Interface (PRI) in North America and Japan interface as T1. Elsewhere the PRI usually has 30 B + 1 D channel and an E1 interface.A Terminal Adaptor (TA) can be used to connect ISDN channels to existing interfaces such as EIA-232 and V.35.Different services may be requested by specifying different values in the Bearer Capability field in the call setup message. One ISDN service is require the same special processing or bit diddling as ordinary PSTN calls. Data calls have a Bearer Capability of 64 kbps unrestricted.ISDN is offered by local telephone companies, but most readily in Australia, France, Japan and Singapore, with the UK somewhat behind and availability in the USA rather spotty.(In March 1994) ISDN deployment in Germany is quite impressive, although (or perhaps, because) they use a specifically German signalling specification, Germany, given the ludicrous pricing. There is also a specifically-Belgian V1 experimental system. The whole of Europe is now phasing in Euro-ISDN.See also Frame Relay, Network Termination, SAPI. .Usenet newsgroup: comp.dcom.isdn. (1998-03-29)
internationalisation "programming" (i18n, globalisation, enabling, software enabling) The process and philosophy of making software portable to other {locales}. For successful {localisation}, products must be technically and culturally neutral. Effective internationalisation reduces the time and resources required for localisation, improving time-to-market abroad and allowing {simultaneous shipment}. In orther words, internationalisation abstracts out local details, localisation specifies those details for a particular locale. Technically this may include allowing {double-byte character sets} such as {unicode} or Japanese, local numbering, date and currency formats, and other local format conventions. It also includes the separation of {user interface} text e.g. in {dialog boxes} and {menus}. All the text used by an application may be kept in a separate file or directory, so that it can be translated all at once. User interfaces may require more screen space for text in other languages. The simplest form of internationalisation may be to make use of {operating system} calls that format time, date and currency values according to the operating system's configuration. The abbreviation i18n means "I - eighteen letters - N". (1999-06-28)
internationalisation ::: (programming) (i18n, globalisation, enabling, software enabling) The process and philosophy of making software portable to other locales.For successful localisation, products must be technically and culturally neutral. Effective internationalisation reduces the time and resources required shipment. In orther words, internationalisation abstracts out local details, localisation specifies those details for a particular locale.Technically this may include allowing double-byte character sets such as unicode or Japanese, local numbering, date and currency formats, and other local format conventions.It also includes the separation of user interface text e.g. in dialog boxes and menus. All the text used by an application may be kept in a separate file or directory, so that it can be translated all at once. User interfaces may require more screen space for text in other languages.The simplest form of internationalisation may be to make use of operating system calls that format time, date and currency values according to the operating system's configuration.The abbreviation i18n means I - eighteen letters - N. (1999-06-28)
International Telecommunications Union "body, standard" (ITU) ITU-T, the telecommunication standardisation sector of ITU, is responsible for making technical recommendations about telephone and data (including fax) communications systems for {PTTs} and suppliers. Before 1993-03-01 ITU-T was known as CCITT. Every four years they hold plenary sessions where they adopt new standards; there was one in 1992. ITU works closely with all {standards} organisations to form an international uniform standards system for communication. Study Group XVII is responsible for recommending standards for data communications over telephone networks. They publish the V.XX standards and X.n {protocols}. {V.21} is the same as {EIA}'s {EIA-232}. {V.24} is the same as EIA's {EIA-232C}. {V.28} is the same as EIA's {EIA-232D}. Address: International Telecommunication Union, Information Services Department, Place des Nations, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. Telephone: +41 (22) 730 5554. Fax: +41 (22) 730 5337. E-mail: "helpdesk@itu.ch", "teledoc@itu.arcom.ch" (Mail body: HELP). {(http://itu.ch/)}. ITU-T standards can be obtained by {FTP} from {Korea (ftp://kum.kaist.ac.kr/doc/STANDARDS/ccitt)}; UK - {Imperial (ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/pub/computing/ccitt/ccitt-standards/)}, {HENSA (ftp://unix.hensa.ac.uk/pub/uunet/doc/literary/obi/Standards/CCITT)}; France - {INRIA (ftp://croton.inria.fr/ITU/ccitt)}, {IMAG (ftp://imag.imag.fr/doc/ccitt)}; {Israel (ftp://cs.huji.ac.il/pub/doc/standards/ccitt)}; FTP USA: {UUNET (ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/lietrary/obi/Standards/CCITT)}, {gatekeeper (ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/net/info/bruno.cs.colorado.edu/pub/standards/ccitt)}, {world.std.com (ftp://world.std.com/obi/Standards/CCITT)}; {Australia (ftp://metro.ucc.su.oz.au/pub/ccitt)}; {Germany (ftp://quepasa.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/doc/CCITT)}; {Japan (ftp://sh.wide.ad.jp/CCITT)}; (1995-01-16)
In the Brahmanical zodiac called Dhanus, its deity being Ganesa, the elephant-headed god of wisdom, son of Siva. In numbers Dhanus is equivalent to 9, being the ninth sign; hence it refers to the nine Brahmas or the nine prajapatis who assist the Demiurgus in constructing the material universe (12 Signs of the Zodiac, Subba Row). Nine is the number of becoming and therefore of change.
“It is the flower sacred to nature and her Gods, and represents the abstract and the Concrete Universes, standing as the emblem of the productive powers of both spiritual and physical nature. It was held sacred from the remotest antiquity by the Aryan Hindus, the Egyptians, and the Buddhists after them; revered in China and Japan, and adopted as a Christian emblem by the Greek and Latin Churches, who made of it a messenger as the Christians do now, who replace it with the water lily. It had, and still has, its mystic meaning which is identical with every nation on the earth” (SD 1:379).
itzibu ::: n. --> A silver coin of Japan, worth about thirty-four cents.
Izanagi and Izanami (Japanese) In Shintoism, the primordial male and female ancestors of humanity, who begot the first god of earth, Tenshoko doijin. “These ‘gods’ are simply our five races, Isanagi and Isanami being the two kinds of the ‘ancestors,’ the two preceding races which give birth to animal and to rational man” (SD 1:241). This heavenly pair was said to have created Japan from drops of brine. ( )
JAPA. ::: Japa is usually successful only on one of two condi- tions ::: if it is repeated with a sense of its significance, a dwelling of something in the mind on the nature, power, beauty, attrac- tion of the Godhead it signifies and is to bring into the cons- ciousness, — - that is the mental way ; or if it comes up from the heart or rings in it with a certain sense or feeling of bhak'ti making it alive, — that is the emotional way. Either the mind or the vital has to give it support or sustenance. But if it makes the mind dry and the vital restless, it must be missing that sup- port and sustenance. There « of course a third way, the reliance on the power of the Mantra or name in itself ; but then one has to go on till that power has sufficiently impressed its vibra- tion on the inner being to make it at a given moment suddenly open to the Presence or the Touch. But Jf there is a struggling or insistence for the result, then this c/Tect which needs a quiet receptivity In the mind is impeded.
japa. ::: incantation; a spiritual discipline involving the meditative repetition of the Lord's name or a mantra as a means to a continual recollection of His presence; uttering the names of the gods or sacred mantras, like OM, either mentally or spoken softly as a method of spiritual practice
japanese ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Japan, or its inhabitants. ::: n. sing. & pl. --> A native or inhabitant of Japan; collectively, the people of Japan.
The language of the people of Japan.
japanned ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Japan ::: a. --> Treated, or coated, with varnish in the Japanese manner.
japanner ::: n. --> One who varnishes in the manner of the Japanese, or one skilled in the art.
A bootblack.
japanning ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Japan ::: n. --> The art or act of varnishing in the Japanese manner.
japannish ::: a. --> After the manner of the Japanese; resembling japanned articles.
japan ::: n. --> Work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner; also, the varnish or lacquer used in japanning. ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Japan, or to the lacquered work of that country; as, Japan ware.
japa ::: [repetition of a mantra or a name of God].
japonica ::: n. --> A species of Camellia (Camellia Japonica), a native of Japan, bearing beautiful red or white flowers. Many other genera have species of the same name.
jp "networking" The {country code} for Japan. (1999-01-27)
jp ::: (networking) The country code for Japan. (1999-01-27)
JSA ::: Japanese Standards Association.
JSA {Japanese Standards Association}
Kaizen - A Japanese term meaning continuous improvement, through the elimination of waste
kakemono ::: A Japanese paper or silk wall hanging, usually long and narrow, with a picture or inscription on it and a roller at the bottom.
kakemono ::: a Japanese paper or silk wall hanging, usually long and narrow, with a picture or inscription on it and a roller at the bottom.
Kami: A Japanese word translated as deity, god, goddess, etc. The original significance of kami is occult power, more or less like the meaning of mana (q.v.).
Kami: (Japanese) Originally denoting anything that inspires and overawes man with a sense of holiness, the word assumed a meaning in Japanese equivalent to spirit (also ancestral spirit), divinity, and God. It is a central concept in the pre-Confucian and pre-Buddhistic native religion which holds the sun supreme and still enjoys national support, while it may also take on a more abstract philosophic significance. -- K.F.L.
kami ::: n. pl. --> A title given to the celestial gods of the first mythical dynasty of Japan and extended to the demigods of the second dynasty, and then to the long line of spiritual princes still represented by the mikado.
kana "Japanese" The two Japanese syllabaries, {hiragana} and {katakana}. (2001-03-18)
kana ::: (Japanese) The two Japanese syllabaries, hiragana and katakana.(2001-03-18)
kanji ::: (human language, character) /kahn'jee/ (From the Japanese kan - the Chinese Han dynasty, and ji - glyph or letter of the alphabet. Not Japanese language in written, printed and displayed form. The term is also used for the collection of all kanji letters.US-ASCII doesn't include kanji characters, but some character encodings, including Unicode, do.The Japanese writing system also uses hiragana, katakana, and sometimes romaji (Roman alphabet letters). These characters are distinct from, though commonly used in combination with, kanji. Furigana are also added sometimes.(2000-12-30)
kanji "human language, character" /kahn'jee/ (From the Japanese "kan" - the Chinese Han dynasty, and "ji" - {glyph} or letter of the alphabet. Not capitalised. Plural "kanji") The Japanese word for a {Han character} used in Japanese. Kanji constitute a part of the {writing system} used to represent the Japanese language in written, printed and displayed form. The term is also used for the collection of all kanji {letters}. {US-ASCII} doesn't include kanji characters, but some {character encodings}, including {Unicode}, do. The Japanese writing system also uses hiragana, katakana, and sometimes romaji ({Roman alphabet} letters). These characters are distinct from, though commonly used in combination with, kanji. {Furigana} are also added sometimes. (2000-12-30)
Ka (Sanskrit) Ka [Interrogative pronoun who; forms include kas, kim, kā] Who — occasionally personified as a deity; “it has its esoteric significance and is a name of Brahma in his phallic character as generator or Prajapati” (TG 167). “Who” can also refer to the incomprehensible or ineffable, an expression of the speaker’s mental refusal to give a name to that which is unnamable and inexpressible, and is therefore equivalent to parabrahman.
Kasyapa ::: progenitor of creatures, Prajapati.
katakana "Japanese" The square-formed Japanese {kana} syllabary. Katakana is mostly used to write foreign names, foreign words, and loan words as well as many onomatopeia, plant and animal names. (2001-03-18)
katakana ::: (Japanese) The square-formed Japanese kana syllabary. Katakana is mostly used to write foreign names, foreign words, and loan words as well as many onomatopeia, plant and animal names.(2001-03-18)
KL0 ::: Kernel Language 0.A sequential logic language based on Prolog, used in the Japanese ICOT project. (1994-11-18)
KL0 Kernel Language 0. A sequential {logic language} based on {Prolog}, used in the Japanese {ICOT} project. (1994-11-18)
KL1 ::: Kernel Language 1.An experimental AND-parallel version of KL0 for the ICOT project in Japan. KL1 is an implementation of FGHC.Not to be confused with KL-ONE.[Design of the Kernel Language for the Parallel Inference Machine, U. Kazunori et al, Computer J (Dec 1990)]. (1994-10-24)
KL1 Kernel Language 1. An experimental {AND-parallel} version of {KL0} for the {ICOT} project in Japan. KL1 is an implementation of {FGHC}. Not to be confused with {KL-ONE}. ["Design of the Kernel Language for the Parallel Inference Machine", U. Kazunori et al, Computer J (Dec 1990)]. (1994-10-24)
Koji-ki: The oldest extant Japanese historical document, compiled in 712 A.D. It begins with the myth of Creation and ends with 628 A.D.
Kon-ton, Konton (Japanese) The primordial chaotic essence of the Shinto cosmogony.
Kratu (Sanskrit) Kratu One of the mind-born sons of Brahma, a prajapati or emanator and progenitor of hierarchical entities. Kratu’s consort, Samnati, was the mother of the 60,000 Valikhilyas described as chaste, resplendent, glorious sages of pygmy size, attendants upon the sun.
kumquat ::: n. --> A small tree of the genus Citrus (C. Japonica) growing in China and Japan; also, its small acid, orange-colored fruit used for preserves.
lacquer ::: n. --> A varnish, consisting of a solution of shell-lac in alcohol, often colored with gamboge, saffron, or the like; -- used for varnishing metals, papier-mache, and wood. The name is also given to varnishes made of other ingredients, esp. the tough, solid varnish of the Japanese, with which ornamental objects are made. ::: v. t.
LDL ::: [LDL: A Logic-Based Data-Language, S. Tsur et al, Proc VLDB 1986, Kyoto Japan, Aug 1986, pp.33-41].
LDL ["LDL: A Logic-Based Data-Language", S. Tsur et al, Proc VLDB 1986, Kyoto Japan, Aug 1986, pp.33-41].
lock-in "standard" When an existing standard becomes almost impossible to supersede because of the cost or logistical difficulties involved in convincing all its users to switch something different and, typically, {incompatible}. The common implication is that the existing standard is notably inferior to other comparable standards developed before or since. Things which have been accused of benefiting from lock-in in the absence of being truly worthwhile include: the {QWERTY} keyboard; any well-known {operating system} or programming language you don't like (e.g., see "{Unix conspiracy}"); every product ever made by {Microsoft Corporation}; and most currently deployed formats for transmitting or storing data of any kind (especially the {Internet Protocol}, 7-bit (or even 8-bit) {character sets}, analog video or audio broadcast formats and nearly any file format). Because of {network effects} outside of just computer networks, {Real World} examples of lock-in include the current spelling conventions for writing English (or French, Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, etc.); the design of American money; the imperial (feet, inches, ounces, etc.) system of measurement; and the various and anachronistic aspects of the internal organisation of any government (e.g., the American Electoral College). (1998-01-15)
Lod Massacre ::: Three Japanese Red Army members, acting on behalf of the PFLP, attacked passengers in Lod International Airport. The attack marked the first Palestinian attempt to enlist non-Middle East terrorist support.
loquat ::: n. --> The fruit of the Japanese medlar (Photinia Japonica). It is as large as a small plum, but grows in clusters, and contains four or five large seeds. Also, the tree itself.
Madhav: “A kakemono is a Japanese painting which is hung on the wall. It is a print in many colours, many designs. And this world picture is compared to a kakemono of significant forms. Each form is significant, each line is meaningful.” The Book of the Divine Mother
Maharshi (Sanskrit) Maharṣi [from mahā great + ṛṣi sage, seer] Also Maharishi. A great sage or seer, especially referring to the ten maharshis who were the mind-born sons of Prajapati or Manu Svayambhuva: Marichi, Atri, Angras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Prachetas, Vasishtha, Bhrigu, and Narada. They are also called the ten (or seven) prajapatis. See also MUNI
Mahayana Buddhism: "Great Vehicle Buddhism", the Northern, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese form of Buddhism (q.v.), extending as far as Korea and Japan, whose central theme is that Buddhahood means devotion to the salvation of others and thus manifests itself in the worship of Buddha and Bodhisattvas (q.v.). Apart from absorbing beliefs of a more primitive strain, it has also evolved metaphysical and epistemological systems, such as the Sunya-vada (q.v.) and Vijnana-vada (q.v.). -- K.F.L.
Mahayana Buddhism: “Great Vehicle Buddhism,” the Northern, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese form of Buddhism (q.v.), extending as far as Korea and Japan, whose central theme is that Buddhahood means devotion to the salvation of others and thus manifests itself in the worship of Buddha and Bodhisattvas (q.v.). Apart from absorbing beliefs of a more primitive strain, it has also evolved metaphysical and epistemological systems, such as the Sunya-vada (q.v.) and Vijnana-vada (q.v.).
Mandala "language" A system based on {Concurrent Prolog}, developed at {ICOT}, Japan. ["Mandala: A Logic Based Knowledge Programming System", K. Furukawa et al, Intl Conf 5th Gen Comp Sys 1984]. (1995-11-23)
Mandala ::: (language) A system based on Concurrent Prolog, developed at ICOT, Japan.[Mandala: A Logic Based Knowledge Programming System, K. Furukawa et al, Intl Conf 5th Gen Comp Sys 1984]. (1995-11-23)
mantra ::: Mantra A chanted sacred mystic syllable, word or verse used in meditation and japa (continuous chanting, i.e. repetition of a mantra) to still the mind, to balance the inner bodies, and to attain other desired aims. In her book Initiations and Initiates in Tibet, Alexandra David-Neel speaks briefly of the mystical use of the mantra, Aum mani padme hum! (The Jewel is in the Lotus!). Each of the six syllables refers us to a specific world or universe. As the practitioner breathes in while repeating the mantra, the worlds come into being within his body, an event he is to visualise. As he breathes out, they dissolve into nothingness.
Manu ::: the mental being; same as Manu Prajapati; each of the fourteen manifestations of Manu Prajapati governing the manvantaras of a pratikalpa; each of "the four Type-Souls from whom all human Purushas are born".Manu Praj Prajapati
mikado ::: n. --> The popular designation of the hereditary sovereign of Japan.
Mind-born Born of imagination and will — through kriyasakti, the power of thought and mind — not begotten or produced by any physical mode of procreation. It sometimes refers to sons of will and yoga, sons of wisdom, spiritual dhyanis, sons of the prajapatis, mind-born sons of Brahma, etc. They were the ancestors of the self-conscious human races first appearing numerously during the fourth round, and otherwise known as solar lhas, solar spirits, angishvattas, manasaputras, dhyani-chohans. They had been self-conscious men in a former embodiment of the earth-chain, and it was their lot to awaken self-conscious mind in the mankind of this round. They entered the early third root-race and awakened the intellectual fire in them. The manasas rejected some earlier subraces as unfit vehicles for themselves, hence as refusing to “create,” i.e., emanate mind from themselves to inform these unready or unevolved human vehicles. The mind-born sons of the early third root-race were the first themselves to arouse the fire of mind in the unself-conscious human vehicles, and were the highest and therefore the least affected by such lower contact. Retaining their self-consciousness in full and therefore not falling into oblivion, these were the first founders as fully self-conscious humans of the earliest groups of god-inspired men, the forerunners of what later became the ancient Mysteries. A branch of these entities has continued from immemorial time as the Great Lodge of the Masters of Wisdom and Compassion.
mongolians ::: n. pl. --> One of the great races of man, including the greater part of the inhabitants of China, Japan, and the interior of Asia, with branches in Northern Europe and other parts of the world. By some American Indians are considered a branch of the Mongols. In a more restricted sense, the inhabitants of Mongolia and adjacent countries, including the Burats and the Kalmuks.
mu 1. "networking" The {country code} for Mauritius. 2. "philosophy" /moo/ The correct answer to the classic trick question "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?". Assuming that you have no wife or you have never beaten your wife, the answer "yes" is wrong because it implies that you used to beat your wife and then stopped, but "no" is worse because it suggests that you have one and are still beating her. According to various Discordians and Douglas Hofstadter the correct answer is usually "mu", a Japanese word alleged to mean "Your question cannot be answered because it depends on incorrect assumptions". Hackers tend to be sensitive to logical inadequacies in language, and many have adopted this suggestion with enthusiasm. The word "mu" is actually from Chinese, meaning "nothing"; it is used in mainstream Japanese in that sense, but native speakers do not recognise the Discordian question-denying use. It almost certainly derives from overgeneralisation of the answer in the following well-known Rinzei Zen teaching riddle: A monk asked Joshu, "Does a dog have the Buddha nature?" Joshu retorted, "Mu!" See also {has the X nature}, {AI Koan}. [Douglas Hofstadter, "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid"]. [{Jargon File}] (2000-11-22)
Mule "text, tool" A multi-lingual enhancement of {GNU Emacs}. Mule can handle not only {ASCII} characters (7 bit) and {ISO Latin 1} characters (8 bit), but also {16-bit characters} like Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Mule can have a mixture of languages in a single buffer. Mule runs under the {X window system}, or on a {Hangul terminal}, {mterm} or {exterm}. {(ftp://etlport.etl.go.jp/pub/mule)}. (1996-01-28)
Mule ::: (text, tool) A multi-lingual enhancement of GNU Emacs. Mule can handle not only ASCII characters (7 bit) and ISO Latin 1 characters (8 bit), but also 16-bit characters like Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Mule can have a mixture of languages in a single buffer.Mule runs under the X window system, or on a Hangul terminal, mterm or exterm.Latest version: 2.3. . (1996-01-28)
namajapa ::: [repetition of a name of God].
namajapa. ::: repetition of a name of God
Narada (Sanskrit) Nārada One of the ten great rishis, mind-born sons of Brahma, or prajapatis; the most difficult to understand of the Vedic rishis because the most closely connected with occult doctrines.
Narasimha-avatara (Sanskrit) Narasiṃha-avatāra also Nṛsiṃha. The man-lion avatara; a descent of Vishnu, the sustainer of life, in the form of a man-lion in order to deliver the earth from the demon Hiranyakasipu, a despoiler of the world. These various avataras, when considered in their order of appearance, present a picture of evolutionary progress from lower to higher avataric imbodiments. They are usually reckoned as ten in number, yet one or more of the Puranas reckon the avataric imbodiments as 22, having in mind the occult meaning behind all cosmic or geologic avataric appearances. As the Bhagavata-Purana states, innumerable are the imbodiments (in avataric form) of Vishnu, for they are like the rivulets emanating from a lake of inexhaustible power. Rishis, manus, gods, sons of manus, prajapatis are therefore all emanations or portions of Vishnu.
Ndma-japa (repetition of Name) has great power in it.
Nembutsu: In Japanese Buddhism, “thinking of Buddha,” the process of repeating the name of Buddha and meditating on him.
Nintendo "company, games" A Japanese {video game} hardware manufacturer and software publisher. Nintendo started by making playing cards, but was later dominant in video games throughout the 1980s and early 1990s worldwide. They make lots of games consoles including the Gameboy, Gameboy Advance SP, DS, DS Lite and the Wii. {Nintendo home (http://nintendo.com/)}. (2008-03-08)
no-gestures ::: the gestures or movements of a classical drama of Japan, with music and dance performed in a highly stylised manner by elaborately dressed performers on an almost bare stage.
norimon ::: n. --> A Japanese covered litter, carried by men.
Norito: Japanese prayers recited by Shinto priests in religious ceremonies, and high state officials in state ceremonies. These stately, dignified prayers, standardized in form, give thanks to Shinto deities, invoke their blessings, and are believed to have magical effect.
No single language crosses all of the linguistic and cultural boundaries of the Buddhist tradition. However, in order to present Buddhist terms that are used across this diverse expanse, it is convenient to employ a single linguistic vocabulary. For this reason European and North American scholars have, over the last century, come to use Sanskrit as the lingua franca of the academic discipline of Buddhist Studies. Following this scholarly convention we have used Sanskrit, and often Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit forms, in our main entry headings for the majority of Indic-origin terms that appear across the Buddhist traditions. PAli, Tibetan, or Chinese terms are occasionally used where that form is more commonly known in Western writings on Buddhism. We have attempted to avoid unattested Sanskrit equivalents for terms in PAli and other Middle Indic languages, generally marking any hypothetical forms with an asterisk. These main entry headings are accompanied by cognate forms in PAli, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (abbreviated as P., T., C., J., and K., respectively), followed by the Sinographs (viz., Chinese characters) commonly used in the East Asian traditions. For those Indian terms that are known only or principally in the PAli tradition, the main entry heading is listed in PAli (e.g., bhavanga). Terms used across the East Asian traditions are typically listed by their Chinese pronunciation with Japanese and Korean cross-references, with occasional Japanese or Korean headings for terms that are especially important in those traditions. Tibetan terms are in Tibetan, with Sanskrit or Chinese cognates where relevant. In order that the reader may trace a standard term through any of the languages we cover in the dictionary, we also provide cross-references to each of the other languages at the end of the volume in a section called Cross-References by Language. In both the main entries and the Cross-References by Language, words have been alphabetized without consideration of diacritical marks and word breaks.
Oc "language" ("Oh see!") A {parallel} {logic language}. ["Self-Description of Oc and its Applications", M. Hirata, Proc 2nd Natl Conf Japan Soc Soft Sci Tech, pp. 153-156, 1984]. (1995-03-16)
Oc ::: (language) (Oh see!) A parallel logic language.[Self-Description of Oc and its Applications, M. Hirata, Proc 2nd Natl Conf Japan Soc Soft Sci Tech, pp. 153-156, 1984]. (1995-03-16)
OECD - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States).
Oharai; ohoharahi: Literally, great expulsion. The Japanese ritual of purification.
Ondine ["Concurrency Introduction to an Object-Oriented Language System Ondine", T. Ogihara et al, 3rd Natl Conf Record A-5-1, Japan Soc for Soft Sci Tech, Japan 1986]. (2012-12-31)
Ondine ::: [Concurrency Introduction to an Object-Oriented Language System Ondine, T. Ogihara et al, 3rd Natl Conf Record A-5-1, Japan Soc for Soft Sci Tech, Japan 1986].
Onokoro, Onogoro (Japanese) In Japanese cosmogony, the island-world fashioned by the divine hero Isanagi when he thrust his jeweled spear into the primeval chaotic mass of cloud and water.
optical fibre "communications" (fibre optics, FO, US "fiber", light pipe) A plastic or glass (silicon dioxide) fibre no thicker than a human hair used to transmit information using infra-red or even visible light as the carrier (usually a laser). The light beam is an electromagnetic signal with a frequency in the range of 10^14 to 10^15 Hertz. Optical fibre is less susceptible to external noise than other transmission media, and is cheaper to make than copper wire, but it is much more difficult to connect. Optical fibres are difficult to tamper with (to monitor or inject data in the middle of a connection), making them appropriate for secure communications. The light beams do not escape from the medium because the material used provides total internal reflection. {AT&T} {Bell Laboratories} in the United States managed to send information at a rate of 420 megabits per second, over 161.5 km through an optical fibre cable. In Japan, 445.8 megabits per second was achieved over a shorter distance. At this rate, the entire text of the Encyclopedia Britannica could be transmitted in one second. Currently, AT&T is working on a world network to support high volume data transmission, international computer networking, {electronic mail} and voice communications (a single fibre can transmit 200 million telephone conversations simultaneously). See also {FDDI}, {Optical Carrier n}, {SONET}. (1997-05-26)
Our first debt of gratitude is to the several generations of scholars of Buddhism around the world whose research we have mined shamelessly in the course of preparing our entries. We are unable to mention them by name, but those who remain during the present lifetime will recognize the fruits of their research as they read the entries. In addition to our collaborators listed on the title page, we would like to thank the following graduate students and colleagues, each of whom assisted with some of the myriad details of such a massive project: Wesley Borton, Bonnie Brereton, Tyler Cann, Caleb Carter, Mui-fong Choi, Shayne Clarke, Jacob Dalton, Martino Dibeltulo, Alexander Gardner, Heng Yi fashi (Chi Chen Ho), Anna Johnson, Min Ku Kim, Youme Kim, Alison Melnick, Karen Muldoon-Hules, Cuong Tu Nguyen, Aaron Proffitt, Cedar Bough Saeji, and Sherin Wing. In addition, we would like to thank our long-suffering colleagues: William Bodiford, Gregory Schopen, Natasha Heller, Stephanie Jamison, and Jennifer Jung-Kim at UCLA, and Madhav Deshpande, Luis Gómez, Robert Sharf, and James Robson, now or formerly at the University of Michigan. The map of Tibet was designed by Tsering Wangyal Shawa; the map of Japan and Korea was designed by Maya Stiller; all other maps were designed by Trevor Weltman. Christina Lee Buswell also provided invaluable assistance with preparing the lists of language cross-references.
pagoda ::: n. --> A term by which Europeans designate religious temples and tower-like buildings of the Hindoos and Buddhists of India, Farther India, China, and Japan, -- usually but not always, devoted to idol worship.
An idol.
A gold or silver coin, of various kinds and values, formerly current in India. The Madras gold pagoda was worth about three and a half rupees.
Pascal P4 ::: compiler and interpreterVersion ? 1compiler, assembler/interpreter, documentationUrs Ammann, Kesav Nori, Christian Jacobi .A compiler for Pascal written in Pascal, producing an intermediate code, with an assembler and interpreter for the code.reference: Pascal Implementation, by Steven Pemberton and Martin Daniels, published by Ellis Horwood, Chichester, UK (an imprint of Prentice Hall), ISBN: 0-13-653-0311. Also available in Japanese.E-mail: . (1993-07-05)
Pascal P4 compiler and interpreter Version ? 1 compiler, assembler/interpreter, documentation Urs Ammann, Kesav Nori, Christian Jacobi {(ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pascal/)}. A compiler for Pascal written in Pascal, producing an intermediate code, with an assembler and interpreter for the code. reference: Pascal Implementation, by Steven Pemberton and Martin Daniels, published by Ellis Horwood, Chichester, UK (an imprint of Prentice Hall), ISBN: 0-13-653-0311. Also available in Japanese. E-mail: "Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl". (1993-07-05)
Patriarchs One of the names given to rulers over men and racial periods. Chaldeo-Judaism has presented its gods as patriarchs. In the Qabbalah, the Sephiroth become the creators and afterwards temporal patriarchs, both of time and space. Mankind from the first root-race to the beginning or even middle of the third root-race, is ruled by watchers or guides; after, by patriarchs or demigods, heroes, etc., the names given to these different classes of overseeing entities varying in different countries. But the word patriarch has special reference to the genealogies in Genesis: Adam to Noah, the descendants of Noah’s three sons, the sons of Jacob. Those from Adam to Noah are given in two ways which do not agree; but, as is the case with Indian rishis, they are at times convertible and interchangeable. They represent, among other things, pre-diluvian races and ages; and if Adam be regarded as pertaining to the fifth root-race only, to pre-Adamic races. They are at different times chronological data, symbols of solar and lunar years, of astronomical periods, and even of physiological functions when applied to races, as in other symbolic systems of mythological belief. The number for Enoch is 365, which is recognizable; the sons of Jacob stand for the signs of the zodiac. We have here a fragment of the ancient mystery-language with its seven keys; a single name, for instance, standing for a person, a race, or an age, etc. The Sanskrit prajapatis (progenitors) is parallel in one sense, as are the Mazdean Ameshaspentas.
PDSA cycle ::: Plan, Do, See, Approve (from Japan).
PDSA cycle Plan, Do, See, Approve (from Japan).
picul ::: n. --> A commercial weight varying in different countries and for different commodities. In Borneo it is 135/ lbs.; in China and Sumatra, 133/ lbs.; in Japan, 133/ lbs.; but sometimes 130 lbs., etc. Called also, by the Chinese, tan.
Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy "communications" (PDH) A transmission system for voice communication using {plesiochronous} synchronisation. PDH is the conventional {multiplexing} technology for network transmission systems. The transmitter adds dummy information bits to allow multiple channels to be bit interleaved. The receiver discards these bits once the signals have been demultiplexed. PDH combines multiple 2 Mb/s ({E1}) channels in Europe and 1.544 Mb/s ({DS1}) channels in the US and Japan. PDH is being replaced by {SONET} and other SDH ({Synchronous Digital Hierarchy}) schemes. (2003-09-30)
Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy ::: (communications) (PDH) A transmission system for voice communication using plesiochronous synchronisation.PDH is the conventional multiplexing technology for network transmission systems. The transmitter adds dummy information bits to allow multiple channels to be bit interleaved. The receiver discards these bits once the signals have been demultiplexed.PDH combines multiple 2 Mb/s (E1) channels in Europe and 1.544 Mb/s (DS1) channels in the US and Japan.PDH is being replaced by SONET and other SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) schemes.(2003-09-30)
Pokémon exception handling "programming, humour" A humourous term for a {try-catch} exception handling construct with no constraint on which exceptions will be caught, for when you just "Gotta Catch 'Em All." (a slogan used in the Pokémon media empire). Pokémon is a trademark of the Pokémon Company of Japan. [{Dodgy Coder (http://www.dodgycoder.net/2011/11/yoda-conditions-pokemon-exception.html)}]. (2012-07-10)
porcelain ::: n. --> Purslain.
A fine translucent or semitransculent kind of earthenware, made first in China and Japan, but now also in Europe and America; -- called also China, or China ware.
Prahlada ::: a daitya, son of Hiran.yakasipu; he became a devotee of Prahlada Vis.n.u, who as Narasiṁha intervened to save him from his hostile . environment..Prajapati
Prajapati(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning "governor" or "lord" or "master" of "progeny." The word is applied to severalof the Vedic gods, but in particular to Brahma -- that is to say the second step from parabrahman -- theevolver-creator, the first and most recondite figure of the Hindu triad, consisting of Brahma, Vishnu, andSiva. Brahma is the emanator or evolver, Vishnu the sustainer or preserver, and Siva, a name which maybe translated euphemistically perhaps as "beneficent," the regenerator. Prajapati is a name which is oftenused in the plural, and refers to seven and also to ten different beings. They are the producers and giversof life of all on earth and, indeed, on the earth's planetary chain.
Prajapati: Sanskrit for lord of creatures. A term originally applied to various Vedic gods; it assumed, as early as the Rig Veda, the importance of a first philosophical principle of creation, and later of time as suggestive of gestation and productive periodicity.
Prajapati: (Skr.) "Lord of creatures", originally applied to various Vedic (q.v.) gods, it assumed as early as the Rig Veda the importance of a first philosophical principle of creation, and later of time as suggestive of gestation and productive periodicity. -- K.F.L.
Prajapati, the Creator. “Upon that excellent
prajapati ::: the father of creatures. prajapatayah (Prajapatis) [plural], original progenitors.
Prajapati ::: "the Lord of creatures", the divine purus.a of whom all beings are the manifestations; the deva presiding over janaloka; one of "the three primal Purushas of the earth life", who appears after Agni Tvas.t.a and Matarisvan in the form of the four Manus (also called "the four Prajapatis"); any of certain mental beings connected with the terrestrial creation, one of whom is Manu Prajapati.
Prajapati —to be compared with the Rishis
pranava japa. ::: incantation of OM
pranava japa ::: [repetition of the syllable om].
Prehuman Races In a physical sense, the races from the first root-race to about the middle of the third, before man had a physical form similar to his present one; these races may be called prehuman since they were astral or semi-astral or ethereal. Again, it may refer to abortive attempts to produce beings on their way to future humanity. In another and far higher sense the prehuman races are the seeds of future humanity, these seeds being really lofty spiritual intellectual beings who had been men in a previous manvantara. These seeds have been called Sons of God, mind-born progeny of Brahma, rishis, prajapatis, manus, etc.
presence (rabbinic), the 7 prajapati (Hindu), and
Primary Rate Interface ::: (PRI) A type of ISDN connection. In North America and Japan, this consists of 24 channels, usually divided into 23 B channels and 1 D channel, and runs over the same physical interface as T1. Elsewhere the PRI has 31 user channels, usually divided into 30 B channels and 1 D channel and is based on the E1 interface.PRI is typically used for connections such as one between a PBX (private branch exchange, a telephone exchange operated by the customer of a telephone company) and a CO (central office, of the telephone company) or IXC (inter exchange carrier, a long distance telephone company). (1995-01-18)
Primary Rate Interface (PRI) A type of {ISDN} connection. In North America and Japan, this consists of 24 channels, usually divided into 23 B channels and 1 D channel, and runs over the same physical interface as {T1}. Elsewhere the PRI has 31 user channels, usually divided into 30 B channels and 1 D channel and is based on the {E1} interface. PRI is typically used for connections such as one between a PBX (private branch exchange, a telephone exchange operated by the customer of a telephone company) and a CO (central office, of the telephone company) or IXC (inter exchange carrier, a long distance telephone company). (1995-01-18)
Protologos (Greek) First Logos; the archetypal cosmic man or synthesis of the ten Sephiroth in the Qabbalah; the prajapatis in India, etc. Used either collectively, as Brahman for instance; or distributively, protologoi, as his seven or ten sons. Equated with Vishnu, Purvaja, Atman, etc.
Pulaha (Sanskrit) Pulaha An ancient rishi, one of the mind-born sons of Brahma, also enumerated among the prajapatis.
raku ware ::: --> A kind of earthenware made in Japan, resembling Satsuma ware, but having a paler color.
Rashomon Effect, Rashomon Syndrome, the: Term for the realization that everyone has different perceptions of reality, and that no definitive form of reality exists. From the Japanese play and movie of the same name.
relevance "information science" A measure of how closely a given object (file, {web page}, database {record}, etc.) matches a user's search for information. The relevance {algorithms} used in most large web {search engines} today are based on fairly simple word-occurence measurement: if the word "daffodil" occurs on a given page, then that page is considered relevant to a {query} on the word "daffodil"; and its relevance is quantised as a factor of the number of times the word occurs in the page, on whether "daffodil" occurs in title of the page or in its META keywords, in the first {N} words of the page, in a heading, and so on; and similarly for words that a {stemmer} says are based on "daffodil". More elaborate (and resource-expensive) relevance algorithms may involve thesaurus (or {synonym ring}) lookup; e.g. it might rank a document about narcissuses (but which may not mention the word "daffodil" anywhere) as relevant to a query on "daffodil", since narcissuses and daffodils are basically the same thing. Ditto for queries on "jail" and "gaol", etc. More elaborate forms of thesaurus lookup may involve multilingual thesauri (e.g. knowing that documents in Japanese which mention the Japanese word for "narcissus" are relevant to your search on "narcissus"), or may involve thesauri (often auto-generated) based not on equivalence of meaning, but on word-proximity, such that "bulb" or "bloom" may be in the thesaurus entry for "daffodil". {Word spamming} essentially attempts to falsely increase a web page's relevance to certain common searches. See also {subject index}. (1997-04-09)
relevance ::: (information science) A measure of how closely a given object (file, web page, database record, etc.) matches a user's search for information.The relevance algorithms used in most large web search engines today are based on fairly simple word-occurence measurement: if the word daffodil occurs on a or in its META keywords, in the first N words of the page, in a heading, and so on; and similarly for words that a stemmer says are based on daffodil.More elaborate (and resource-expensive) relevance algorithms may involve thesaurus (or synonym ring) lookup; e.g. it might rank a document about to a query on daffodil, since narcissuses and daffodils are basically the same thing. Ditto for queries on jail and gaol, etc.More elaborate forms of thesaurus lookup may involve multilingual thesauri (e.g. knowing that documents in Japanese which mention the Japanese word for word-proximity, such that bulb or bloom may be in the thesaurus entry for daffodil.Word spamming essentially attempts to falsely increase a web page's relevance to certain common searches.See also subject index. (1997-04-09)
Rishi-manus, Rishi-prajapatis (Sanskrit) Ṛṣi-manu-s, Ṛṣi-prajāpati-s Equivalent terms for the far-seeing and enlightened manus or progenitors, or in certain relations the architects of our world, equivalent to the seven or ten: Ki-y of China; amshaspends of ancient Persia; annedoti of the Chaldeans; or Sephiroth of the Qabbalah. They are the inspired progenitors of all living beings and things, cosmic or on lower scales of nature. Both are more generally called dhyani-chohans, gods, or devas. It is only the very highest among them who can be called the architects or builders of the world, because the lower classes of them have as their particular labor the emanating and guidance of the various stocks or races of living beings, humans included.
Rishi (Sanskrit) Ṛṣi An adept, seer, inspired person; in Vedic literature, used for the seers through whom the various mantras or hymns of the Veda were revealed. In later times the rishis were regarded as a particular class of beings, distinct from gods and men, the patriarchs or creators: thus there were the ten maharshis — the mind-born sons of Prajapati. In the Mahabharata, the seven rishis of the first manvantara are enumerated as Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya, and Vasishtha. In Satapatha-Brahmana the Vedic rishis are named as: Gotama, Bharadvaja, Visvamitra, Jamadagni, Vasishtha, Kasyapa, and Atri. The seven rishis (saptarshis) are especially associated with the constellation of the Great Bear.
Rishis—to be compared with the Prajapati
saki ::: n. --> Any one of several species of South American monkeys of the genus Pithecia. They have large ears, and a long hairy tail which is not prehensile.
The alcoholic drink of Japan. It is made from rice.
samurai A hacker who hires out for legal cracking jobs, snooping for factions in corporate political fights, lawyers pursuing privacy-rights and First Amendment cases, and other parties with legitimate reasons to need an electronic locksmith. In 1991, mainstream media reported the existence of a loose-knit culture of samurai that meets electronically on BBS systems, mostly bright teenagers with personal micros; they have modelled themselves explicitly on the historical samurai of Japan and on the "net cowboys" of William Gibson's {cyberpunk} novels. Those interviewed claim to adhere to a rigid ethic of loyalty to their employers and to disdain the vandalism and theft practiced by criminal crackers as beneath them and contrary to the hacker ethic; some quote Miyamoto Musashi's "Book of Five Rings", a classic of historical samurai doctrine, in support of these principles. See also {Stupids}, {social engineering}, {cracker}, {hacker ethic}, and {dark-side hacker}. [{Jargon File}]
Saptarshis (Sanskrit) Saptarṣi-s [from sapta seven + ṛṣi sage] Seven sages or rishis; the seven great planetary spirits intimately connected with the constellation Ursa Major. Their names are commonly given as Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasishtha. “By the seven great Rishis, the seven great rupa hierarchies or classes of Dhyan Chohans, are meant. Let us bear in mind that the Saptarshi (the seven Rishis) are the regents of the seven stars of the Great Bear, therefore, of the same nature as the angels of the planets, or the seven great Planetary Spirits. They were all reborn, all men on earth in various Kalpas and races. Moreover, ‘the four preceding Manus’ are the four classes of the originally arupa gods — the Kumaras, the Rudras, the Asuras, etc.: who are also said to have incarnated. They are not the Prajapatis, as the first are, but their informing principles — same of which have incarnated in men, while others have made other men simply the vehicles of their reflections” (SD 2:318n). The seven rishis are also said to mark the time and the duration of events in our septenary life cycle.
Satori: The Japanese Zen Buddhist term for “enlightenment,” as the culmination of meditation.
satsuma ware ::: --> A kind of ornamental hard-glazed pottery made at Satsuma in Kiushu, one of the Japanese islands.
sea lion ::: --> Any one of several large species of seals of the family Otariidae native of the Pacific Ocean, especially the southern sea lion (Otaria jubata) of the South American coast; the northern sea lion (Eumetopias Stelleri) found from California to Japan; and the black, or California, sea lion (Zalophus Californianus), which is common on the rocks near San Francisco.
sen ::: n. --> A Japanese coin, worth about one half of a cent. ::: adv., prep., & conj. --> Since.
Sen-rin: In Japanese mystic lore, hermits of the mountains, masters of all magic arts.
Shingon: The Japanese sect of Buddhism which claims that its esoteric doctrine was inspired by Vairochana, the greatest of all Buddhas who came to this earth.
Shintia: Japanese for god-body, the Shintoist name of material objects in which the divine spirit is said to dwell.
shintiism ::: n. --> One of the two great systems of religious belief in Japan. Its essence is ancestor worship, and sacrifice to dead heroes.
Shinto (Japanese) [from shin god + to, tao way, path] The way of the gods; applied to the popular religion in Japan prior to Buddhism. Japan was considered to be the land of the gods — a conception current among nearly all ancient peoples, each one of which looked upon its own land as the land of the original divine incarnations — and the ruler (mikado) as the direct descendant and actual representative of the sun goddess (Tensho Daijin). Spiritual agencies were attributed to all the processes of nature, and a reverential feeling inculcated toward the dead. Hero worship took the direction in the prevalent belief that noble-minded warriors should be exalted nearly to the position of demigods.
Shinto: The Japanese religion based on the worship of spirits and ancestors.
Shi-tenno: In Japanese terminology, the four guardians of the cardinal points of the compass.
shogun ::: n. --> A title originally conferred by the Mikado on the military governor of the eastern provinces of Japan. By gradual usurpation of power the Shoguns (known to foreigners as Tycoons) became finally the virtual rulers of Japan. The title was abolished in 1867.
Sisumara (Sanskrit) Śiśumāra [from śiśu child + māra killer] The child-killer; a group of stars and constellations said to resemble a dolphin, porpoise, or tortoise; held to be a form of Vishnu, and often considered as a representation of the great circle of time. As an imaginary belt, a symbolic representation of the celestial sphere, or a theoretical revolving zone or belt within which move the celestial bodies — which are the bodies of spiritual entities. This constellation has the “Cross placed on it by nature in its division and localisation of stars, planets and constellations. Thus in the Bhagavat Purana V., xxx., it is said that ‘at the extremity of the tail of that animal, whose head is directed toward the South and whose body is in the shape of a ring (Circle), Dhruva (the ex-pole star) is placed; and along that tail are the Prajapati, Agni, Indra, Dharma, etc.; and across its loins the Seven Rishis.’ This is then the first and earliest Cross and Circle, into the formation of which enters the Deity (symbolized by Vishnu), the Eternal Circle of Boundless Time, Kala, on whose plane lie crossways all the gods, creatures, and creations born in Space and Time; — who, as the philosophy has it, all die at the Mahapralaya” (SD 2:549).
soy ::: n. --> A Chinese and Japanese liquid sauce for fish, etc., made by subjecting boiled beans (esp. soja beans), or beans and meal, to long fermentation and then long digestion in salt and water.
The soja, a kind of bean. See Soja.
Sri Aurobindo: "Finally, we have the goddess Dakshina who may well be a female form of Daksha, himself a god and afterwards in the Purana one of the Prajapatis, the original progenitors, — we have Dakshina associated with the manifestation of knowledge and sometimes almost identified with Usha, the divine Dawn, who is the bringer of illumination. I shall suggest that Dakshina like the more famous Ila, Saraswati and Sarama, is one of four goddesses representing the four faculties of the Ritam or Truth-consciousness, — Ila representing truth-vision or revelation, Saraswati truth-audition, inspiration, the divine word, Sarama intuition, Dakshina the separative intuitional discrimination.” *The Secret of the Veda
Sri Aurobindo: "The word is a sound expression of the idea. In the supra-physical plane when an idea has to be realised, one can by repeating the word-expression of it, produce vibrations which prepare the mind for the realisation of the idea. That is the principle of the Mantras and of Japa. One repeats the name of the Divine and the vibrations created in the consciousness prepare the realisation of the Divine. It is the same idea that is expressed in the Bible: ‘God said, Let there be Light, and there was Light". It is creation by the Word.” *The Future Poetry
Supplementary Ideographic Plane "text, standard" (SIP) The third plane (plane 2) defined in {Unicode}/{ISO 10646}, designed to hold all the {ideographs} descended from Chinese writing (mainly found in Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and Chinese) that aren't found in the {Basic Multilingual Plane}. The BMP was supposed to hold all ideographs in modern use; unfortunately, many Chinese dialects (like Cantonese and Hong Kong Chinese) were overlooked; to write these, characters from the SIP are necessary. This is one reason even non-academic software must support characters outside the BMP. {Unicode home (http://unicode.org)}. (2002-06-19)
tanate ::: n. --> An Asiatic wild dog (Canis procyonoides), native of Japan and adjacent countries. It has a short, bushy tail. Called also raccoon dog.
tanka: Similar to the haiku, the tanka is a type of Japanese poetry. It contains thirty-one syllables set in five lines of five / seven / five / seven / seven syllables.
tantra. ::: a manual of or a particular path of sadhana laying great stress upon japa of a mantra and other esoteric practices relating to the powers latent in the human complex of physical, astral, and causal bodies in relation to the cosmic power usually thought of as the divine feminine
T-carrier system ::: (communications) A series of wideband digital data transmission formats originally developed by the Bell System and used in North America and Japan.The basic unit of the T-carrier system is the DS0, which has a transmission rate of 64 Kbps, and is commonly used for one voice circuit.Originally the 1.544 megabit per second T1 format carried 24 pulse-code modulated, time-division multiplexed speech signals each encoded in 64 kilobit circuits channels carry multiple T1 channels multiplexed, resulting in transmission rates of up to 44.736 Mbps.The T-carrier system uses in-band signaling or bit-robbing, resulting in lower transmission rates than the E-carrier system. It uses a restored polar signal with 303-type data stations.Asynchronous signals can be transmitted via a standard which encodes each change of level into three bits; two which indicate the time (within the current indicates the direction of the transition. Although wasteful of line bandwidth, such use is usually only over small distances.T1 lines are made free of direct current signal components by in effect capacitor coupling the signal at the transmitter and restoring that lost component with a slicer at the receiver, leading to the description restored polar.[Telecommunications Transmission Engineering, Vol. 2, Facilities, AT&T, 1977].(2001-04-08)
T-carrier system "communications" A series of wideband digital data transmission formats originally developed by the {Bell System} and used in North America and Japan. The basic unit of the T-carrier system is the {DS0}, which has a transmission rate of 64 Kbps, and is commonly used for one {voice circuit}. Originally the 1.544 megabit per second {T1} format carried 24 pulse-code modulated, time-division multiplexed speech signals each encoded in 64 kilobit per second streams, leaving 8 kilobits per second of framing information which facilitates the synchronisation and demultiplexing at the receiver. {T2} and {T3} circuits channels carry multiple T1 channels multiplexed, resulting in transmission rates of up to 44.736 Mbps. The T-carrier system uses {in-band signaling}, resulting in lower transmission rates than the {E-carrier system}. It uses a restored polar signal with {303-type} data stations. Asynchronous signals can be transmitted via a standard which encodes each change of level into three bits; two which indicate the time (within the current synchronous frame) at which the transition occurred, and the third which indicates the direction of the transition. Although wasteful of line bandwidth, such use is usually only over small distances. T1 lines are made free of direct current signal components by in effect capacitor coupling the signal at the transmitter and restoring that lost component with a "slicer" at the receiver, leading to the description "restored polar". [Telecommunications Transmission Engineering, Vol. 2, Facilities, AT&T, 1977]. (2001-04-08)
Tendai: The Japanese “Pure Land” sect of Buddhism, which regards Amitabha the greatest of all Buddhas and centers its doctrine around him.
Tengus: Evil tree spirits (Japan), human in form but hatched from eggs.
Tenshoko Daijin or Ten Sho Dai Jiu (Japanese) The Shinto sun goddess, the first of the five generations of so-called earthly deities — two of which generations are yet to be evolved forth — these seven in their turn following the seven earlier generations of heavenly deities.
The Amshaspands in ancient Persian theology bore the same general relation to the universe that the seven or ten prajapatis have in the Hindu scriptures, or that the seven or ten Sephiroth have in the Hebrew Qabbalah. See also Amesha-Spenta.
thea ::: n. --> A genus of plants found in China and Japan; the tea plant.
The anagnidagdhas are the more spiritual and intellectual classes of pitris who provided nascent humanity with its spiritual, intellectual, and higher psychic principles. Blavatsky writes: “The first or primordial Pitris, the ‘Seven Sons of Fire’ or of the Flame, are distinguished or divided into seven classes . . . [VP 3:14; Manu 3:199] three of which classes are Arupa, formless, ‘composed of intellectual not elementary substance,’ and four are corporeal. The first are pure Agni (fire) or Sapta-jiva (‘seven lives,’ now become Sapta-jihva, seven-tongued, as Agni is represented with seven tongues and seven winds as the wheels of his car). As a formless, purely spiritual essence, in the first degree of evolution, they could not create that, the prototypical form of which was not in their minds, as this is the first requisite. They could only give birth to ‘mind-born’ beings, their ‘Sons,’ the second class of Pitris (or Prajapati, or Rishis, etc.), one degree more material; these, to the third — the last of the Arupa class. It is only this last class that was enabled with the help of the Fourth principle of the Universal Soul (Aditi, Akasha) to produce beings that became objective and having a form. But when these came to existence, they were found to possess such a small proportion of the divine immortal Soul or Fire in them, that they were considered failures. . . . The three orders of Beings, the Pitri-Rishis, the Sons of Flame, had to merge and blend together their three higher principles with the Fourth (the Circle), and the Fifth (the microcosmic) principle before the necessary union could be obtained and result therefrom achieved” (BCW 6:191-3).
The dictionary uses the standard Romanization systems for East Asian languages: viz., pinyin for Chinese (rather than the now-superseded Wade-Giles system that most pre-1990s scholarship on Chinese Buddhism used), Revised Hepburn for Japanese, and McCune-Reischauer for Korean, with the transcriptions in some cases modified slightly to conform more closely to the Chinese parsing of compounds. While this dictionary was being compiled, the Korean government unveiled its latest iteration of a Revised Romanization system, but that system is still rarely used in academic writing in the West and its acceptance is uncertain; we therefore chose to employ McCune-Reischauer for this edition of the dictionary.
The Dojo Toolkit "library, programming" A modular, {open source} {JavaScript} library. Dojo is designed for easy development of JavaScript- or {AJAX} based applications and websites. It is supported by the Dojo Foundation, which is sponsored by {IBM}, {AOL}, {Sun} and others. The name is from the Japanese term meaning "place of the way", used for a formal place of training. (2008-07-23)
The form anjala is used at the end of a compound. Blavatsky speaks of anjala as one of “the personified powers which spring from Brahma’s body — the Prajapatis” (TG 23).
The gestures or movements of a classical drama of Japan, with music and dance performed in a highly stylised manner by elaborately dressed performers on an almost bare stage.
“The occult sciences show that the founders (the respective groups of the seven Prajapatis) of the Root Races have all been connected with the Pole Star. In the Commentary we find: —
The Real-Time Operating System Nucleus ::: (project) (TRON) A project to develop an operating system and man-machine interface that can work with other operating systems to provide an environment by Dr. Ken Sakamura of the University of Tokyo and supported by most of the major Japanese computer makers and NTT. .(2003-05-23)
The Real-Time Operating System Nucleus "project" (TRON) A project to develop an {operating system} and {man-machine interface} that can work with other operating systems to provide an environment for many small distributed computers to cooperate in {real time}. TRON is headed by Dr. Ken Sakamura of the {University of Tokyo} and supported by most of the major Japanese computer makers and {NTT}. {(http://atip.org/public/atip.reports.91/tron.html)}. (2003-05-23)
The Satapatha-Brahmana tells of the collective creator, Prajapati, taking the form of a tortoise to create offspring, and it states that the name of one of the celebrated rishis, Kasyapa, means a tortoise. Also in Hindu astronomy the tortoise is prominent, for the host of stars and constellations are regarded as being placed on a rotating belt in the figure of a sisumara or tortoise.
The second Koryo canon was used as the basis of the modern Japanese TAISHo SHINSHu DAIZoKYo ("New Edition of the Buddhist Canon Compiled during the Taisho Reign Era"), edited by TAKAKUSU JUNJIRo and Watanabe Kaikyoku and published using movable-type printing between 1924 and 1935, which has become the standard reference source for East Asian Buddhist materials. The Taisho canon includes 2,920 texts in eighty-five volumes (each volume is about one thousand pages in length), along with twelve volumes devoted to iconography, and three volumes of bibliography and scriptural catalogues. The Taisho's arrangement is constructed following modern scholarly views regarding the historical development of the Buddhist scriptural tradition, with mainstream Buddhist scriptures opening the canon, followed by Indian Mahāyāna materials, indigenous Chinese writings, and Japanese writings:
The Taittiriya-Brahmana says that “when Prajapati formed living beings, Pushan nourished them.” This Pushan is “the same mysterious force that nourishes the foetus and unborn babe, by Osmosis, and which is called the ‘atmospheric (or akasic) nurse,’ and the ‘father nourisher.’ When the lunar Pitris had evolved men, these remained senseless and helpless, and it is ‘Pushan who fed primeval man’ ” (TG 265).
The Taittiriya-Sanhita says: “This universe was formerly waters, fluid. On it Prajapati, becoming wind, moved. He saw this [earth]. Becoming a boar, he took her up. Becoming Visvakarman, he wiped [the moisture from] her. She extended. She became the extended one [prithivi].”
This new dictionary seeks to address the needs of this present age. For the great majority of scholars of Buddhism, who do not command all of the major Buddhist languages, this reference book provides a repository of many of the most important terms used across the traditions, and their rendering in several Buddhist languages. For the college professor who teaches "Introduction to Buddhism" every year, requiring one to venture beyond one's particular area of geographical and doctrinal expertise, it provides descriptions of many of the important figures and texts in the major traditions. For the student of Buddhism, whether inside or outside the classroom, it offers information on many fundamental doctrines and practices of the various traditions of the religion. This dictionary is based primarily on six Buddhist languages and their traditions: Sanskrit, PAli, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Also included, although appearing much less frequently, are terms and proper names in vernacular Burmese, Lao, Mongolian, Sinhalese, Thai, and Vietnamese. The majority of entries fall into three categories: the terminology of Buddhist doctrine and practice, the texts in which those teachings are set forth, and the persons (both human and divine) who wrote those texts or appear in their pages. In addition, there are entries on important places-including monasteries and sacred mountains-as well as on the major schools and sects of the various Buddhist traditions. The vast majority of the main entries are in their original language, although cross-references are sometimes provided to a common English rendering. Unlike many terminological dictionaries, which merely provide a brief listing of meanings with perhaps some of the equivalencies in various Buddhist languages, this work seeks to function as an encyclopedic dictionary. The main entries offer a short essay on the extended meaning and significance of the terms covered, typically in the range of two hundred to six hundred words, but sometimes substantially longer. To offer further assistance in understanding a term or tracing related concepts, an extensive set of internal cross-references (marked in small capital letters) guides the reader to related entries throughout the dictionary. But even with over a million words and five thousand entries, we constantly had to make difficult choices about what to include and how much to say. Given the long history and vast geographical scope of the Buddhist traditions, it is difficult to imagine any dictionary ever being truly comprehensive. Authors also write about what they know (or would like to know); so inevitably the dictionary reflects our own areas of scholarly expertise, academic interests, and judgments about what readers need to learn about the various Buddhist traditions.
Three senses of "Ockhamism" may be distinguished: Logical, indicating usage of the terminology and technique of logical analysis developed by Ockham in his Summa totius logicae; in particular, use of the concept of supposition (suppositio) in the significative analysis of terms. Epistemological, indicating the thesis that universality is attributable only to terms and propositions, and not to things as existing apart from discourse. Theological, indicating the thesis that no tneological doctrines, such as those of God's existence or of the immortality of the soul, are evident or demonstrable philosophically, so that religious doctrine rests solely on faith, without metaphysical or scientific support. It is in this sense that Luther is often called an Ockhamist. Bibliography: B. Geyer, Ueberwegs Grundriss d. Gesch. d. Phil., Bd. II (11th ed., Berlin 1928), pp. 571-612 and 781-786; N. Abbagnano, Guglielmo di Ockham (Lanciano, Italy, 1931); E. A. Moody, The Logic of William of Ockham (N. Y. & London, 1935); F. Ehrle, Peter von Candia (Muenster, 1925); G. Ritter, Studien zur Spaetscholastik, I-II (Heidelberg, 1921-1922). --E.A.M. Om, aum: (Skr.) Mystic, holy syllable as a symbol for the indefinable Absolute. See Aksara, Vac, Sabda. --K.F.L. Omniscience: In philosophy and theology it means the complete and perfect knowledge of God, of Himself and of all other beings, past, present, and future, or merely possible, as well as all their activities, real or possible, including the future free actions of human beings. --J.J.R. One: Philosophically, not a number but equivalent to unit, unity, individuality, in contradistinction from multiplicity and the mani-foldness of sensory experience. In metaphysics, the Supreme Idea (Plato), the absolute first principle (Neo-platonism), the universe (Parmenides), Being as such and divine in nature (Plotinus), God (Nicolaus Cusanus), the soul (Lotze). Religious philosophy and mysticism, beginning with Indian philosophy (s.v.), has favored the designation of the One for the metaphysical world-ground, the ultimate icility, the world-soul, the principle of the world conceived as reason, nous, or more personally. The One may be conceived as an independent whole or as a sum, as analytic or synthetic, as principle or ontologically. Except by mysticism, it is rarely declared a fact of sensory experience, while its transcendent or transcendental, abstract nature is stressed, e.g., in epistemology where the "I" or self is considered the unitary background of personal experience, the identity of self-consciousness, or the unity of consciousness in the synthesis of the manifoldness of ideas (Kant). --K.F.L. One-one: A relation R is one-many if for every y in the converse domain there is a unique x such that xRy. A relation R is many-one if for every x in the domain there is a unique y such that xRy. (See the article relation.) A relation is one-one, or one-to-one, if it is at the same time one-many and many-one. A one-one relation is said to be, or to determine, a one-to-one correspondence between its domain and its converse domain. --A.C. On-handedness: (Ger. Vorhandenheit) Things exist in the mode of thereness, lying- passively in a neutral space. A "deficient" form of a more basic relationship, termed at-handedness (Zuhandenheit). (Heidegger.) --H.H. Ontological argument: Name by which later authors, especially Kant, designate the alleged proof for God's existence devised by Anselm of Canterbury. Under the name of God, so the argument runs, everyone understands that greater than which nothing can be thought. Since anything being the greatest and lacking existence is less then the greatest having also existence, the former is not really the greater. The greatest, therefore, has to exist. Anselm has been reproached, already by his contemporary Gaunilo, for unduly passing from the field of logical to the field of ontological or existential reasoning. This criticism has been repeated by many authors, among them Aquinas. The argument has, however, been used, if in a somewhat modified form, by Duns Scotus, Descartes, and Leibniz. --R.A. Ontological Object: (Gr. onta, existing things + logos, science) The real or existing object of an act of knowledge as distinguished from the epistemological object. See Epistemological Object. --L.W. Ontologism: (Gr. on, being) In contrast to psychologism, is called any speculative system which starts philosophizing by positing absolute being, or deriving the existence of entities independently of experience merely on the basis of their being thought, or assuming that we have immediate and certain knowledge of the ground of being or God. Generally speaking any rationalistic, a priori metaphysical doctrine, specifically the philosophies of Rosmini-Serbati and Vincenzo Gioberti. As a philosophic method censored by skeptics and criticists alike, as a scholastic doctrine formerly strongly supported, revived in Italy and Belgium in the 19th century, but no longer countenanced. --K.F.L. Ontology: (Gr. on, being + logos, logic) The theory of being qua being. For Aristotle, the First Philosophy, the science of the essence of things. Introduced as a term into philosophy by Wolff. The science of fundamental principles, the doctrine of the categories. Ultimate philosophy; rational cosmology. Syn. with metaphysics. See Cosmology, First Principles, Metaphysics, Theology. --J.K.F. Operation: "(Lit. operari, to work) Any act, mental or physical, constituting a phase of the reflective process, and performed with a view to acquiring1 knowledge or information about a certain subject-nntter. --A.C.B. In logic, see Operationism. In philosophy of science, see Pragmatism, Scientific Empiricism. Operationism: The doctrine that the meaning of a concept is given by a set of operations. 1. The operational meaning of a term (word or symbol) is given by a semantical rule relating the term to some concrete process, object or event, or to a class of such processes, objectj or events. 2. Sentences formed by combining operationally defined terms into propositions are operationally meaningful when the assertions are testable by means of performable operations. Thus, under operational rules, terms have semantical significance, propositions have empirical significance. Operationism makes explicit the distinction between formal (q.v.) and empirical sentences. Formal propositions are signs arranged according to syntactical rules but lacking operational reference. Such propositions, common in mathematics, logic and syntax, derive their sanction from convention, whereas an empirical proposition is acceptable (1) when its structure obeys syntactical rules and (2) when there exists a concrete procedure (a set of operations) for determining its truth or falsity (cf. Verification). Propositions purporting to be empirical are sometimes amenable to no operational test because they contain terms obeying no definite semantical rules. These sentences are sometimes called pseudo-propositions and are said to be operationally meaningless. They may, however, be 'meaningful" in other ways, e.g. emotionally or aesthetically (cf. Meaning). Unlike a formal statement, the "truth" of an empirical sentence is never absolute and its operational confirmation serves only to increase the degree of its validity. Similarly, the semantical rule comprising the operational definition of a term has never absolute precision. Ordinarily a term denotes a class of operations and the precision of its definition depends upon how definite are the rules governing inclusion in the class. The difference between Operationism and Logical Positivism (q.v.) is one of emphasis. Operationism's stress of empirical matters derives from the fact that it was first employed to purge physics of such concepts as absolute space and absolute time, when the theory of relativity had forced upon physicists the view that space and time are most profitably defined in terms of the operations by which they are measured. Although different methods of measuring length at first give rise to different concepts of length, wherever the equivalence of certain of these measures can be established by other operations, the concepts may legitimately be combined. In psychology the operational criterion of meaningfulness is commonly associated with a behavioristic point of view. See Behaviorism. Since only those propositions which are testable by public and repeatable operations are admissible in science, the definition of such concepti as mind and sensation must rest upon observable aspects of the organism or its behavior. Operational psychology deals with experience only as it is indicated by the operation of differential behavior, including verbal report. Discriminations, or the concrete differential reactions of organisms to internal or external environmental states, are by some authors regarded as the most basic of all operations. For a discussion of the role of operational definition in phvsics. see P. W. Bridgman, The Logic of Modern Physics, (New York, 1928) and The Nature of Physical Theory (Princeton, 1936). "The extension of operationism to psychology is discussed by C. C. Pratt in The Logic of Modem Psychology (New York. 1939.) For a discussion and annotated bibliography relating to Operationism and Logical Positivism, see S. S. Stevens, Psychology and the Science of Science, Psychol. Bull., 36, 1939, 221-263. --S.S.S. Ophelimity: Noun derived from the Greek, ophelimos useful, employed by Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) in economics as the equivalent of utility, or the capacity to provide satisfaction. --J.J.R. Opinion: (Lat. opinio, from opinor, to think) An hypothesis or proposition entertained on rational grounds but concerning which doubt can reasonably exist. A belief. See Hypothesis, Certainty, Knowledge. --J.K.F- Opposition: (Lat. oppositus, pp. of oppono, to oppose) Positive actual contradiction. One of Aristotle's Post-predicaments. In logic any contrariety or contradiction, illustrated by the "Square of Opposition". Syn. with: conflict. See Logic, formal, § 4. --J.K.F. Optimism: (Lat. optimus, the best) The view inspired by wishful thinking, success, faith, or philosophic reflection, that the world as it exists is not so bad or even the best possible, life is good, and man's destiny is bright. Philosophically most persuasively propounded by Leibniz in his Theodicee, according to which God in his wisdom would have created a better world had he known or willed such a one to exist. Not even he could remove moral wrong and evil unless he destroyed the power of self-determination and hence the basis of morality. All systems of ethics that recognize a supreme good (Plato and many idealists), subscribe to the doctrines of progressivism (Turgot, Herder, Comte, and others), regard evil as a fragmentary view (Josiah Royce et al.) or illusory, or believe in indemnification (Henry David Thoreau) or melioration (Emerson), are inclined optimistically. Practically all theologies advocating a plan of creation and salvation, are optimistic though they make the good or the better dependent on moral effort, right thinking, or belief, promising it in a future existence. Metaphysical speculation is optimistic if it provides for perfection, evolution to something higher, more valuable, or makes room for harmonies or a teleology. See Pessimism. --K.F.L. Order: A class is said to be partially ordered by a dyadic relation R if it coincides with the field of R, and R is transitive and reflexive, and xRy and yRx never both hold when x and y are different. If in addition R is connected, the class is said to be ordered (or simply ordered) by R, and R is called an ordering relation. Whitehcid and Russell apply the term serial relation to relations which are transitive, irreflexive, and connected (and, in consequence, also asymmetric). However, the use of serial relations in this sense, instead ordering relations as just defined, is awkward in connection with the notion of order for unit classes. Examples: The relation not greater than among leal numbers is an ordering relation. The relation less than among real numbers is a serial relation. The real numbers are simply ordered by the former relation. In the algebra of classes (logic formal, § 7), the classes are partially ordered by the relation of class inclusion. For explanation of the terminology used in making the above definitions, see the articles connexity, reflexivity, relation, symmetry, transitivity. --A.C. Order type: See relation-number. Ordinal number: A class b is well-ordered by a dyadic relation R if it is ordered by R (see order) and, for every class a such that a ⊂ b, there is a member x of a, such that xRy holds for every member y of a; and R is then called a well-ordering relation. The ordinal number of a class b well-ordered by a relation R, or of a well-ordering relation R, is defined to be the relation-number (q. v.) of R. The ordinal numbers of finite classes (well-ordered by appropriate relations) are called finite ordinal numbers. These are 0, 1, 2, ... (to be distinguished, of course, from the finite cardinal numbers 0, 1, 2, . . .). The first non-finite (transfinite or infinite) ordinal number is the ordinal number of the class of finite ordinal numbers, well-ordered in their natural order, 0, 1, 2, . . .; it is usually denoted by the small Greek letter omega. --A.C. G. Cantor, Contributions to the Founding of the Theory of Transfinite Numbers, translated and with an introduction by P. E. B. Jourdain, Chicago and London, 1915. (new ed. 1941); Whitehead and Russell, Princtpia Mathematica. vol. 3. Orexis: (Gr. orexis) Striving; desire; the conative aspect of mind, as distinguished from the cognitive and emotional (Aristotle). --G.R.M.. Organicism: A theory of biology that life consists in the organization or dynamic system of the organism. Opposed to mechanism and vitalism. --J.K.F. Organism: An individual animal or plant, biologically interpreted. A. N. Whitehead uses the term to include also physical bodies and to signify anything material spreading through space and enduring in time. --R.B.W. Organismic Psychology: (Lat. organum, from Gr. organon, an instrument) A system of theoretical psychology which construes the structure of the mind in organic rather than atomistic terms. See Gestalt Psychology; Psychological Atomism. --L.W. Organization: (Lat. organum, from Gr. organon, work) A structured whole. The systematic unity of parts in a purposive whole. A dynamic system. Order in something actual. --J.K.F. Organon: (Gr. organon) The title traditionally given to the body of Aristotle's logical treatises. The designation appears to have originated among the Peripatetics after Aristotle's time, and expresses their view that logic is not a part of philosophy (as the Stoics maintained) but rather the instrument (organon) of philosophical inquiry. See Aristotelianism. --G.R.M. In Kant. A system of principles by which pure knowledge may be acquired and established. Cf. Fr. Bacon's Novum Organum. --O.F.K. Oriental Philosophy: A general designation used loosely to cover philosophic tradition exclusive of that grown on Greek soil and including the beginnings of philosophical speculation in Egypt, Arabia, Iran, India, and China, the elaborate systems of India, Greater India, China, and Japan, and sometimes also the religion-bound thought of all these countries with that of the complex cultures of Asia Minor, extending far into antiquity. Oriental philosophy, though by no means presenting a homogeneous picture, nevertheless shares one characteristic, i.e., the practical outlook on life (ethics linked with metaphysics) and the absence of clear-cut distinctions between pure speculation and religious motivation, and on lower levels between folklore, folk-etymology, practical wisdom, pre-scientiiic speculation, even magic, and flashes of philosophic insight. Bonds with Western, particularly Greek philosophy have no doubt existed even in ancient times. Mutual influences have often been conjectured on the basis of striking similarities, but their scientific establishment is often difficult or even impossible. Comparative philosophy (see especially the work of Masson-Oursel) provides a useful method. Yet a thorough treatment of Oriental Philosophy is possible only when the many languages in which it is deposited have been more thoroughly studied, the psychological and historical elements involved in the various cultures better investigated, and translations of the relevant documents prepared not merely from a philological point of view or out of missionary zeal, but by competent philosophers who also have some linguistic training. Much has been accomplished in this direction in Indian and Chinese Philosophy (q.v.). A great deal remains to be done however before a definitive history of Oriental Philosophy may be written. See also Arabian, and Persian Philosophy. --K.F.L. Origen: (185-254) The principal founder of Christian theology who tried to enrich the ecclesiastic thought of his day by reconciling it with the treasures of Greek philosophy. Cf. Migne PL. --R.B.W. Ormazd: (New Persian) Same as Ahura Mazdah (q.v.), the good principle in Zoroastrianism, and opposed to Ahriman (q.v.). --K.F.L. Orphic Literature: The mystic writings, extant only in fragments, of a Greek religious-philosophical movement of the 6th century B.C., allegedly started by the mythical Orpheus. In their mysteries, in which mythology and rational thinking mingled, the Orphics concerned themselves with cosmogony, theogony, man's original creation and his destiny after death which they sought to influence to the better by pure living and austerity. They taught a symbolism in which, e.g., the relationship of the One to the many was clearly enunciated, and believed in the soul as involved in reincarnation. Pythagoras, Empedocles, and Plato were influenced by them. --K.F.L. Ortega y Gasset, Jose: Born in Madrid, May 9, 1883. At present in Buenos Aires, Argentine. Son of Ortega y Munillo, the famous Spanish journalist. Studied at the College of Jesuits in Miraflores and at the Central University of Madrid. In the latter he presented his Doctor's dissertation, El Milenario, in 1904, thereby obtaining his Ph.D. degree. After studies in Leipzig, Berlin, Marburg, under the special influence of Hermann Cohen, the great exponent of Kant, who taught him the love for the scientific method and awoke in him the interest in educational philosophy, Ortega came to Spain where, after the death of Nicolas Salmeron, he occupied the professorship of metaphysics at the Central University of Madrid. The following may be considered the most important works of Ortega y Gasset: Meditaciones del Quijote, 1914; El Espectador, I-VIII, 1916-1935; El Tema de Nuestro Tiempo, 1921; España Invertebrada, 1922; Kant, 1924; La Deshumanizacion del Arte, 1925; Espiritu de la Letra, 1927; La Rebelion de las Masas, 1929; Goethe desde Adentio, 1934; Estudios sobre el Amor, 1939; Ensimismamiento y Alteracion, 1939; El Libro de las Misiones, 1940; Ideas y Creencias, 1940; and others. Although brought up in the Marburg school of thought, Ortega is not exactly a neo-Kantian. At the basis of his Weltanschauung one finds a denial of the fundamental presuppositions which characterized European Rationalism. It is life and not thought which is primary. Things have a sense and a value which must be affirmed independently. Things, however, are to be conceived as the totality of situations which constitute the circumstances of a man's life. Hence, Ortega's first philosophical principle: "I am myself plus my circumstances". Life as a problem, however, is but one of the poles of his formula. Reason is the other. The two together function, not by dialectical opposition, but by necessary coexistence. Life, according to Ortega, does not consist in being, but rather, in coming to be, and as such it is of the nature of direction, program building, purpose to be achieved, value to be realized. In this sense the future as a time dimension acquires new dignity, and even the present and the past become articulate and meaning-full only in relation to the future. Even History demands a new point of departure and becomes militant with new visions. --J.A.F. Orthodoxy: Beliefs which are declared by a group to be true and normative. Heresy is a departure from and relative to a given orthodoxy. --V.S. Orthos Logos: See Right Reason. Ostensible Object: (Lat. ostendere, to show) The object envisaged by cognitive act irrespective of its actual existence. See Epistemological Object. --L.W. Ostensive: (Lat. ostendere, to show) Property of a concept or predicate by virtue of which it refers to and is clarified by reference to its instances. --A.C.B. Ostwald, Wilhelm: (1853-1932) German chemist. Winner of the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1909. In Die Uberwindung des wissenschaftlichen Materialistmus and in Naturphilosophie, his two best known works in the field of philosophy, he advocates a dynamic theory in opposition to materialism and mechanism. All properties of matter, and the psychic as well, are special forms of energy. --L.E.D. Oupnekhat: Anquetil Duperron's Latin translation of the Persian translation of 50 Upanishads (q.v.), a work praised by Schopenhauer as giving him complete consolation. --K.F.L. Outness: A term employed by Berkeley to express the experience of externality, that is the ideas of space and things placed at a distance. Hume used it in the sense of distance Hamilton understood it as the state of being outside of consciousness in a really existing world of material things. --J.J.R. Overindividual: Term used by H. Münsterberg to translate the German überindividuell. The term is applied to any cognitive or value object which transcends the individual subject. --L.W. P
Toshiba Corporation ::: (company) A Japanese technology manufacturer with 364 subsidiaries worldwide. Toshiba makes and sells electronics for home, office, industry and components, heavy electrical apparatus, consumer products and medical diagnostic imaging equipment.In FY 2003-4, Toshiba employed 161,286 people and sales were � 5,579B (UK� 30B, US$ 50B). .(2005-01-19)
Toshiba Corporation "company" A Japanese technology manufacturer with 364 subsidiaries worldwide. Toshiba makes and sells electronics for home, office, industry and health care including information and communication systems, electronic components, heavy electrical apparatus, consumer products and medical diagnostic imaging equipment. In FY 2003-4, Toshiba employed 161,286 people. {Toshiba Home (http://toshiba.co.jp/)}. (2005-01-19)
To spend all the energy in japa or meditation is a strain which even those who arc accustomed to successful meditation find it difficult to maintain — unless in periods when there is an uninterrupted flow of experiences from above.
tycoon ::: n. --> The title by which the shogun, or former commander in chief of the Japanese army, was known to foreigners.
Virgin In ancient mystic philosophy the feminine potency of nature as well as cosmic space which is often referred to as the immaculate celestial virgin (cosmogonically undifferentiated cosmic matter, alaya, mahabuddhi, etc.), or the astral light which is sometimes called the celestial virgin. Again, it refers to the numerous Queens of Heaven, such as Isis, Moon, Ashtoreth, Nuah (the Chaldean feminine Noah considered as one with the cosmic arc), Belita, Diana, Artemis, Ark, etc. — most of these names having reference to the moon. However, a sharp distinction should be made between the idea of the virgin connected with the lower planes of matter, including celestial bodies such as the moon, and the immaculate or undifferentiated cosmic virgin which is the immaculate spatial mother of the cosmic deep. On lower planes the Mother-Virgin is the various wombs of hierarchies, a feminine Manu or Prajapati, through whom pour the seeds of life from higher cosmic planes. The cosmic virgin is immaculate, and the zodiacal sign Virgo is her emblem; in human affairs she represents the nature of humanity before the division into sexes, in commemoration of which the sign Virgo became divided into Virgo and Scorpio. The name may also be used of a virgin male such as a kumara.
Vishnu Purana (Sanskrit) Viṣṇu Purāṇa One of the most celebrated of the 18 principal Puranas, conforming more than any other to the definition of pancha-lakshana (five distinguishing marks) assigned as being the character of a complete Purana by Amara-Simha, an ancient Sanskrit lexicographer. It consists of six books: the first treats of the creation of the universe from cosmic prakriti, and the peopling of the world by the prajapatis or spiritual ancestors; the second book gives a list of kings with many geographical and astronomical details; the third treats of the Vedas and caste; the fourth continues the chronicle of dynasties; the fifth gives the life of Krishna; and the sixth book describes the dissolution of the world, and the future re-issuing of the world after pralaya.
Vyahritis (Sanskrit) Vyāhṛti-s [from vi-ā-hṛ to utter] The mystical utterance of the names of the seven lokas (worlds): bhur, bhuvah, svar, mahar, janar, tapar, and satya. The three first are called the great vyahritis, and in the Laws of Manu (2:76) are said to have been milked by the prajapatis from the Vedas: bhur or bhuh from the Rig-Veda, bhuvar or bhuvah from the Yajur-Veda, and svar or svah from the Sama-Veda. These three mystical words “are said to possess creative powers. The Satapatha Brahmana explains that they are ‘the three luminous essences’ extracted from the Vedas by Prajapati (’lords of creation,’ progenitors), through heat. ‘He (Brahma) uttered the word bhur, and it became the earth; bhuvah, and it became the firmament; and swar, which became heaven.’ Mahar is the fourth ‘luminous essence,’ and was taken from the Atharva-Veda. But, as this word is purely mantric and magical, it is one, so to say, kept apart” (TG 367).
What the Christians, following the Greeks, call angels, are planetary spirits of high type, while the Christian archangels correspond roughly with the highest subclasses of the planetaries. In Hindu thought the manus are planetary spirits of various hierarchical grades in a planetary chain; the prajapatis also in certain cases are identical with the manus, the latter having a special connection with the human life-wave.
whitebait ::: n. --> The young of several species of herrings, especially of the common herring, esteemed a great delicacy by epicures in England.
A small translucent fish (Salanx Chinensis) abundant at certain seasons on the coasts of China and Japan, and used in the same manner as the European whitebait.
Wind River Systems ::: (company) A company founded in 1981, now a world leader in embedded systems, providing real-time operating systems and development tools. Wind River's development tools enable customers to standardise designs across projects and quickly develop feature-rich products.Wind River Systems employs over 500 people worldwide (1998). Service and support is provided through its U.S. headquarters and overseas operations in the U.K., France, Germany, Scandinavia and Japan. .Address: Alameda, California, USA. (1998-11-06)
Wind River Systems "company" A company founded in 1981, now a world leader in {embedded systems}, providing {real-time operating systems} and development tools. Wind River's development tools enable customers to standardise designs across projects and quickly develop feature-rich products. Wind River Systems employs over 500 people worldwide (1998). Service and support is provided through its U.S. headquarters and overseas operations in the U.K., France, Germany, Scandinavia and Japan. {(http://wrs.com/)}. Address: Alameda, California, USA. (1998-11-06)
Wolfram Research, Inc. ::: (company) The company founded by Stephen Wolfram in August 1987 to develop Mathematica which was released in June 1988 for the Macintosh and is now available on over 20 platforms. The company has offices in the United Kingdom and Tokyo, Japan. .E-mail: . (1995-02-10)
Wolfram Research, Inc. "company" The company founded by Stephen Wolfram in August 1987 to develop {Mathematica} which was released in June 1988 for the {Macintosh} and is now available on over 20 {platforms}. The company has offices in the United Kingdom and Tokyo, Japan. {(http://wri.com/)}. E-mail: "info@wri.com". (1995-02-10)
Word ::: “The word is a sound expression of the idea. In the supra-physical plane when an idea has to be realised, one can by repeating the word-expression of it, produce vibrations which prepare the mind for the realisation of the idea. That is the principle of the Mantras and of Japa. One repeats the name of the Divine and the vibrations created in the consciousness prepare the realisation of the Divine. It is the same idea that is expressed in the Bible: ‘God said, Let there be Light, and there was Light’. It is creation by the Word.” The Future Poetry
xanthoxylene ::: n. --> A liquid hydrocarbon of the terpene series extracted from the seeds of a Japanese prickly ash (Xanthoxylum pipertium) as an aromatic oil.
Yamabushi (Japanese) A sect in Japan of ancient origin, but now inclining to Buddhism. Often regarded as the fighting monks, inasmuch as they have not hesitated to take up arms in case of necessity somewhat like certain yogis in Rajputana or the lamas in Tibet. They are perhaps most numerous near Kyoto, where they are famed for their healing powers. Yamabushi hold a “Japanese Secret Science of the Buddhist Mystics,” calling their seven mystery-teachings the seven precious things or jewels (SD 1:67).
Yamaha ::: (company) A Japanese company best known for consumer electronics and motorbikes. They make music synthesizers, CD-Rom Writers and HiFi sound equipment. . (1997-04-29)
Yamaha "company" A Japanese company best known for consumer electronics and motorbikes. They make music synthesizers, {CD-Rom Writers} and HiFi sound equipment. {(http://yamaha.com/)}. (1997-04-29)
yen ::: pl. --> of Ye ::: n. --> The unit of value and account in Japan. Since Japan&
Yo (Japanese) The male ethereal essence or substance of Shinto cosmogony, which in conjunction with In, the female essence, produces manifestation. Equivalent to the Chinese yang.
Yomi: In Japanese occultism, the spirit world or astral world.
Zen Buddhism: The Japanese “mediation school” of Buddhism, based on the theories of the “universality of Buddha-nature” and the possibility of “becoming a Buddha in this very body.” It teaches the way of attaining Buddhahood fundamentally by meditation.
KEYS (10k)
10 Sri Sarada Devi
4 Japanese Proverb
2 Swami Vijnanananda
2 Buddhist Meditations from the Japanese
2 Sri Ramakrishna
1 Yekiwo
1 Takarai Kikaku
1 Swami Virajananda
1 SWAMI SUBODHANANDA
1 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
1 Swami Saradananda
1 Swami Brahmananda
1 Swami Akhandananda
1 Sri Ramakrishnan
1 Sri Ananamayi Ma
1 Nanuo Sakaki
1 MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI
1 Manapurush Swami Shivananda
1 Kenko Yoshida
1 Kamo no Chōmei
1 Jien
1 Izumi Shikibu
1 Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi
1 Dōgen Zenji
1 Buddhist Writings in the Japanese
1 Buddhist Mediations from the Japanese
1 Sri Aurobindo
1 Kobayashi Issa
NEW FULL DB (2.4M)
2 Utada Hikaru
2 Anonymous
1:A little Japa and meditation will awaken Kundalini . Does it wake up on its own? Do Japa and meditation. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
2:How can you achieve the goal without practicing Japa and meditation? One must practice these disciplines. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
3:Man achieves the highest goal through the practice of Japa. Japa leads to success. Yes, Japa leads to success! ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
4:Whether the mind becomes steady or not, practice Japa. It will be nice if you can perform a certain number of Japa daily. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
5:Try to remember the Master always and perform your Japa whenever you can; at least you can salute Him mentally, can't you? ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
6:Make japa and meditate daily and remain pure in body, mind, and speech - by that alone you will achieve your life's goal. ~ Swami Saradananda, #KEYS
7:Meditate on the deity of the mantra by performing special rites. While engaged, perform the japa of the mantra. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
8:Do Japa and meditation as you like, provided you keep your mind steadfast in the Lord. You will attain to your goal in this way. Why do you worry? ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
9:Whether you can meditate properly or not, never give up the practice. Japa leads one to a state of meditation and meditation results in samadhi. ~ Swami Vijnanananda, #KEYS
10:You will succeed through practice. Don't give up your practice of Japa, even if your mind doesn't become steady. Do your spiritual practice ardently. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
11:While repeating the Name of God, if one sees His form and becomes absorbed in Him, one's Japa stops. One gets everything when one succeeds in meditation. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
12:If you cannot sustain japa at all times, at any rate complete two rosaries twice day, morning and evening. The search after Truth is man's real vocation. ~ Sri Ananamayi Ma, #KEYS
13:What is the good in doing Japa for a whole day if there is no concentration of mind? Collectedness of one's mind is essential, then only His grace descends. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
14:The Lord has to be served with one's body, mind, and possessions. Merely to sit quiet and make japa will not do. Do serve Him a little with your body as well. ~ Swami Akhandananda, #KEYS
15:One attains God through japa. By repeating the name of God secretly and in solitude one receives divine grace. Then comes His vision. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
16:While repeating the Name of God, if one sees His form and becomes absorbed in Him, one's Japa stops. One gets everything when one succeeds in meditation. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
17:The Guru's blessings help one in one's spiritual endeavor. By Mother's grace you have it already. Now dive deep into prayer, meditation, etc. Engage yourself in japa and meditation. ~ Manapurush Swami Shivananda, #KEYS
18:Meditation and Japa appear dry in the beginning. But still you must engage the mind in the contemplation of the Deity, like swallowing a bitter medicine. Slowly spiritual joy will grow in you. ~ Swami Brahmananda, #KEYS
19:A beginner shouldn't meditate and do japa excessively, foregoing sleep in the process. Meditation, japa, physical work and studying the scriptures should all be done gradually in a regulated way. ~ MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI, #KEYS
20:Go on practicing Japa and meditation with great devotion, perseverance, and patience. Gradually the mind will become tranquil and meditation will deepen. You will find a craving for your meditation. ~ Swami Virajananda, #KEYS
21:If you don't succeed in meditation, practice Japa. Japa leads to perfection. One attains perfection through Japa. If a meditative mood sets in well and good. If not, don't force your mind to meditate. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
22:Whatever you do, you have to do with faith. Whatever is to be achieved will be achieved that way alone. Go on doing worship and japa as you have been doing. Don't make your mind restless needlessly. ~ SWAMI SUBODHANANDA, #KEYS
23:You should do japa irrespective of the state of your mind. Consider yourself as one detached from the mind. Whether the mind registers a feeling of joy or sorrow should not be a matter of concern to you. ~ Swami Vijnanananda, #KEYS
24:Just as you practice much in order to sing, dance, and play on instruments, so one should practice the art of fixing the mind on God. One should practice regularly such disciplines as worship, japa, and meditation. ~ Sri Ramakrishnan, #KEYS
25:Watch whether you are stationary in the spiritual path, retrogressing, or advancing. If your Japa, meditation or Vedantic Vichara thickens your veil and fattens your egoism, it is not then a spiritual Sadhana. ~ Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #KEYS
26:Hold on to God even in gloom. Never miss meditation or forget to repeat the name of the Lord. Meditation is the anchorage of the soul. Meditation will purify your mind. Continue japa and meditation without losing heart. ~ Swami Saradananda, #KEYS
27:At the time of Japa and meditation, we meditate on the Lord keeping our mind concentrated on Him, in the same way, if we learn to see the same Lord in every man, then we shall not forget God even in the midst of work. ~ SWAMI VIRESWARANANDA, #KEYS
28:You must dwell on God uninterruptedly and be absorbed in the contemplation of His true nature. If you practice Japa and Meditation regularly, without break for some years, you will see for yourself what result comes to pass. ~ Swami Saradananda, #KEYS
29:Meditate on the Lord alone, on Him, the Fountain of Goodness. Pray to Him; depend on Him. Try to give more time to japa and meditation. Surrender your mind at His Feet. Endeavor to sustain japa and meditation without a break. ~ SRI ANANDAMAYI MA, #KEYS
30:Increase the time and energy devoted to Japa and meditation slowly and gradually. If there be sincerity, depth of feeling and firmness of purpose, you will have everything you desire in the fullness of time, through His grace. ~ SWAMI VIRAJANANDA, #KEYS
31:The period of sadhana is like climbing a high mountain. You need a lot of strength and energy. Mountain climbers use a rope to pull themselves up. For you, the only rope is japa. Therefore, try to repeat your mantra constantly. ~ MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI, #KEYS
32:If you, in a surge of initial enthusiasm, do japa and meditation indiscriminately for long hours, your head may get heated and many other problems may arise. That is why it is advised that one should learn these practices from a Satguru. ~ MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI, #KEYS
33:Whatever you may do, you will find better and better things if only you go forward. You may feel a little ecstasy as the result of japa, but don't conclude from this that you have achieved everything in spiritual life. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
34:Mental japa is very good. That helps meditation. Mind gets identified with the repetition and then you get to know what worship (puja) reall is - the losing of one's individuality in that which is worshipped. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks 31, #KEYS
35:Japa brings perfection & fulfillment, this is certainly true. When japa becomes very absorbing, meditation & holding the mind become spontaneous. Like an unbroken stream of oil, japa flows incessantly. Then the external japa comes to an end; japa continues within ~ Swami Adbhutananda, #KEYS
36:Don't think you cannot control the mind. This is like a course, & it is a well tried course. You should take it. Japa, fasting, keeping vigil - make some simple resolutions & try to keep to that. It will be very easy to have a hold on your mind and your will power will increas ~ SWAMI TRIGUNATITANANDA, #KEYS
37:What is karmayoga? Its aim is to fix one's mind on God by means of work.If a person performs worship, japa, & other forms of devotion, surrendering the results to God, he may be said to practice karmayoga. Attainment of God alone is the aim of karmayoga. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
38:The Master came back to the drawing-room and said: "The worldly minded practise devotions, japa, and austerity only by fits and starts. But those who know nothing else but God repeat His name with every breath. Some always repeat mentally, 'Om Rāma'.
Even the followers of the path of knowledge repeat, 'Soham', 'I am He'. There are others whose tongues are always moving, repeating the name of God. One should remember and think of God constantly." ~ Sri Ramakrishna, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishana,#KEYS
39:Mr. Venkatakrishnayya, a lawyer-devotee, visited Sri Bhagavan ten years before and asked Him what he should do to improve himself.
Sri Bhagavan told him to perform Gayatri Japa. The young man went away satisfied. When he returned after some years, he asked:
D.: If I meditate on the meaning of the Gayatri mantra, my mind again wanders. What is to be done?
M.: Were you told to meditate on the mantra or its meaning? You must think of the one who repeats the mantra. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 606,#KEYS
40:The word is a sound expressive of the idea. In the supra-physical plane when an idea has to be realised, one can by repeating the word-expression of it, produce vibrations which prepare the mind for the realisation of the idea. That is the principle of the Mantra and of japa. One repeats the name of the Divine and the vibrations created in the consciousness prepare the realisation of the Divine. It is the same idea that is expressed in The Bible, God said, Let there be Light, and there was Light. It is creation by the Word. 6 May 1933 ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Poetry And Art, 1.1.1.02 - Creation by the Word / 2.3.02 - Mantra and Japa, #KEYS
41:How to open to the Mother? The following are the means:
(1) To remember You constantly or from time to time--
Good.
(2) By taking Your name through Japa [mantra; repeating the Mother's name]--
Helpful.
(3) With the help of meditation--
More difficult if one has not the habit of meditation.
(4) By conversation about You with those who love and respect You--
Risky because, when talking, often some nonsense or at least some useless things can be said.
(5) By reading Your books--
Good.
(6) By spending time in thoughts of You--
Very good.
(7) By sincere prayers--
Good. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
42:Some young men who had come with an introduction from the Ramakrishna Mission at Madras asked Bhagavan, "Which is the proper path for us to follow?"
Bhagavan: When you speak of a path, where are you now? and where do you want to go? If these are known, then we can talk of the path. Know first where you are and what you are. There is nothing to be reached. You are always as you really are. But you don't realise it. That is all.
A little while after, one of the visitors asked Bhagavan, "I am now following the path of japa. Is that all right?"
Bhagavan: Yes. It is quite good. You can continue in that. The gentleman who asked about creation said, "I never thought I was going to have the good fortune of visiting Bhagavan. But circumstances have brought me here and I find in his presence, without any effort on my part, I am having santi. Apparently, getting peace does not depend on our effort.
It seems to come only as the result of grace!" Bhagavan was silent. Meanwhile, another visitor remarked, "No. Our effort is also necessary, though no one can do without grace." After some time, Bhagavan remarked, "Mantra japa, after a time, leads to a stage when you become Mantra maya i.e., you become that whose name you have been repeating or chanting.
First you repeat the mantra by mouth; later you do it mentally.
First, you do this dhyana with breaks. Later, you do it without any break. At that stage you realise you do dhyana without any effort on your part, that dhyana is your real nature. Till then, effort is necessary." ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Day By Day,#KEYS
43:The true Mantra must come from within OR it must be given by a Guru
Nobody can give you the true mantra. It's not something that is given; it's something that wells up from within. It must spring from within all of a sudden, spontaneously, like a profound, intense need of your being - then it has power, because it's not something that comes from outside, it's your very own cry.
I saw, in my case, that my mantra has the power of immortality; whatever happens, if it is uttered, it's the Supreme that has the upper hand, it's no longer the lower law. And the words are irrelevant, they may not have any meaning - to someone else, my mantra is meaningless, but to me it's full, packed with meaning. And effective, because it's my cry, the intense aspiration of my whole being.
A mantra given by a guru is only the power to realize the experience of the discoverer of the mantra. The power is automatically there, because the sound contains the experience. I saw that once in Paris, at a time when I knew nothing of India, absolutely nothing, only the usual nonsense. I didn't even know what a mantra was. I had gone to a lecture given by some fellow who was supposed to have practiced "yoga" for a year in the Himalayas and recounted his experience (none too interesting, either). All at once, in the course of his lecture, he uttered the sound OM. And I saw the entire room suddenly fill with light, a golden, vibrating light.... I was probably the only one to notice it. I said to myself, "Well!" Then I didn't give it any more thought, I forgot about the story. But as it happened, the experience recurred in two or three different countries, with different people, and every time there was the sound OM, I would suddenly see the place fill with that same light. So I understood. That sound contains the vibration of thousands and thousands of years of spiritual aspiration - there is in it the entire aspiration of men towards the Supreme. And the power is automatically there, because the experience is there.
It's the same with my mantra. When I wanted to translate the end of my mantra, "Glory to You, O Lord," into Sanskrit, I asked for Nolini's help. He brought his Sanskrit translation, and when he read it to me, I immediately saw that the power was there - not because Nolini put his power into it (!), God knows he had no intention of "giving" me a mantra! But the power was there because my experience was there. We made a few adjustments and modifications, and that's the japa I do now - I do it all the time, while sleeping, while walking, while eating, while working, all the time.[[Mother later clarified: "'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't MY mantra, it's something I ADDED to it - my mantra is something else altogether, that's not it. When I say that my mantra has the power of immortality, I mean the other, the one I don't speak of! I have never given the words.... You see, at the end of my walk, a kind of enthusiasm rises, and with that enthusiasm, the 'Glory to You' came to me, but it's part of the prayer I had written in Prayers and Meditations: 'Glory to You, O Lord, all-triumphant Supreme' etc. (it's a long prayer). It came back suddenly, and as it came back spontaneously, I kept it. Moreover, when Sri Aurobindo read this prayer in Prayers and Meditations, he told me it was very strong. So I added this phrase as a kind of tail to my japa. But 'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't my spontaneous mantra - it came spontaneously, but it was something written very long ago. The two things are different."
And that's how a mantra has life: when it wells up all the time, spontaneously, like the cry of your being - there is no need of effort or concentration: it's your natural cry. Then it has full power, it is alive. It must well up from within.... No guru can give you that. ~ The Mother, Agenda, May 11 1963,#KEYS
*** WISDOM TROVE ***
1:If japa is maintained, no useless talk during work will be possible. The mind will always remain peaceful. Modern day diseases are mostly psychosomatic. Japa will bestow good health to both mind and body. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 2:Try to spend at least 2 or 3 days every month in an ashram. Just breathing the pure air there will purify and strengthen our bodies and minds. Like recharging the batteries, even after returning home we will be able to continue our meditation and japa. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 3:Try not to have any break in chanting the mantra even for a moment. Continue repeating the mantra while engaged in any task. Chanting in the mind may not always be possible at first, so in the beginning, practice japa by moving the lips incessantly-like a fish drinking water. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 4:If we lose our money while traveling, think how frantically we search for it! In the same way, if we are unable to do japa even for a brief moment, we should grieve: & 5:Children, in the present dark age of materialism, chanting the mantra is the easiest way for us to obtain inner purification and concentration. Japa can be done at any time, anywhere, without observing any rule regarding the purity of mind and body. Japa can be done while engaged in any task. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 6:Deciding to chant the mantra a certain number of times daily will help foster the japa habit. We should always keep a rosary with us for doing japa. A rosary can be made of 108, 54, 27 or 18 beads of rudraksha, tulsi, crystal, sandalwood, gems, etc, with one & 7:Wherever God may keep you at any time, from there itself must you undertake the pilgrimage to God-realization. In all forms, in action and non-action is He, the One Himself. While attending to your work with your hands, keep yourself bound to Him by sustaining japa, the constant remembrance of Him in your heart and mind. In God's empire, it is forgetfulness of Him that is detrimental. The way to Peace lies in the remembrance of Him and of Him alone. ~ anandamayi-ma, @wisdomtrove 8:Children, when we go to the temple, do not hurry to have darshan, then make some offering and return home in a hurry. We should stand there patiently in silence for some time and try to visualize the beloved deity in our hearts. If possible, we should sit down and meditate. At each step, remember to do japa. Amma doesn't say that the offerings and worship are not necessary, but of all the offerings we make, what the Lord wants most is our hearts! ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:One should practise Japa and meditation at regular times, giving up idleness. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
2:Increase your service to Him as well as your Japa and meditation, and read books about the Master. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
3:Increase your service to the Lord as well as your Japa and meditation, and read books about the Master. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
4:A little Japa and meditation will awaken Kundalini . Does it wake up on its own? Do Japa and meditation. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
5:If you don't succeed in meditation, practice Japa. Japa leads to perfection. One attains perfection through Japa. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
6:With whatever thought you do Japa, that thought will take hold of the mind. Think that the Master is always yours. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
7:Increase your service to Him ( ~ Sri Ramakrishna) as well as your Japa and meditation, and read books about the Master. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
8:One attains God through japa. By repeating the name of God secretly and in solitude one receives divine grace. Then comes His vision. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
9:One attains God through japa. By repeating the name of God secretly and in solitude one receives divine grace. Then comes His vision. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
10:Do Japa and meditation. The practice of meditation will lead your mind to such one-pointedness that you won't like to give up meditation. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
11:Do japa and meditation as you like, provided you keep your mind steadfast in the Lord. You will attain to your goal in this way. Why do you worry? ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
12:You will succeed through practice. Don't give up your practice of Japa, even if your mind doesn't become steady. Do your spiritual practice ardently. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
13:While repeating the Name of God, if one sees His form and becomes absorbed in Him, one's Japa stops. One gets everything when one succeeds in meditation. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
14:What is the good in doing Japa for a whole day if there is no concentration of mind? Collectedness of one's mind is essential, then only His grace descends. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
15:Every morning and evening perform Japa and meditation with a cool brain. It is not an easy task. Compared to meditation, it is easier to till a plot of land. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
16:Is there any Mantra prescribed for giving up the fruits of Japa?The Mother said, "Don't say 'Giving up the fruits of Japa'; say 'offering the fruits of Japa.'" ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
17:Calling upon God with one's mind steadfast is equivalent to a million repetitions of the Mantra. What is the good in doing Japa for a whole day if there is no concentration of mind? ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
18:Do you know the significance of Japa and other spiritual practices? By these, the power of the sense-organs is subdued.Past sins can be counteracted by meditation, japa and spiritual thought. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
19:If japa is maintained, no useless talk during work will be possible. The mind will always remain peaceful. Modern day diseases are mostly psychosomatic. Japa will bestow good health to both mind and body. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
20:True it is that there is no hard and fast rule about the time of Japa, yet morning and evening are the favourable periods. Whatever the time be, you must do Japa every day. It is not good to forgo it any day. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
21:Do you know the significance of Japa and other spiritual practices? By these, the dominance of the sense organs is subdued. The realization of God cannot be achieved without ecstatic love (Prema Bhakti) for Him. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
22:I've recently started practicing japa meditation. Meditating has always been a bit difficult for me, but japa asks you to focus on the space between things, and psychologically knowing I have anchor points frees me to do so. ~ Allison McAtee, #NFDB
23:One should meditate on one's chosen Deity as one goes on making Japa. In meditation the face of the chosen Deity of course comes first; but one should meditate on the whole figure, starting from the feet upward. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
24:One must practice japa and meditation first before one complains that one is not progressing. But one must practice it with little concentration. People don't practice and simply say, "Why am I not progressing spiritually?" ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
25:Pray to the Lord to make your heart as pure as the star. As a result of sincere and regular japa and meditation you will find that the Lord will speak to you. All your desires will be fulfilled and you will experience pure bliss. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
26:Try to spend at least 2 or 3 days every month in an ashram. Just breathing the pure air there will purify and strengthen our bodies and minds. Like recharging the batteries, even after returning home we will be able to continue our meditation and japa. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
27:Try not to have any break in chanting the mantra even for a moment. Continue repeating the mantra while engaged in any task. Chanting in the mind may not always be possible at first, so in the beginning, practice japa by moving the lips incessantly-like a fish drinking water. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
28:If we lose our money while traveling, think how frantically we search for it! In the same way, if we are unable to do japa even for a brief moment, we should grieve: 'Alas, Lord, I have lost so much time!' If there is such anguish, even the time we spend sleeping will not be wasted. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
29:Children, in the present dark age of materialism, chanting the mantra is the easiest way for us to obtain inner purification and concentration. Japa can be done at any time, anywhere, without observing any rule regarding the purity of mind and body. Japa can be done while engaged in any task. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
30:Deciding to chant the mantra a certain number of times daily will help foster the japa habit. We should always keep a rosary with us for doing japa. A rosary can be made of 108, 54, 27 or 18 beads of rudraksha, tulsi, crystal, sandalwood, gems, etc, with one 'guru bead'. We should resolve to chant a certain number of rosaries (rounds) daily. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
31:Wherever God may keep you at any time, from there itself must you undertake the pilgrimage to God-realization. In all forms, in action and non-action is He, the One Himself. While attending to your work with your hands, keep yourself bound to Him by sustaining japa, the constant remembrance of Him in your heart and mind. In God's empire, it is forgetfulness of Him that is detrimental. The way to Peace lies in the remembrance of Him and of Him alone. ~ Anandamayi Ma, #NFDB
32:Children, when we go to the temple, do not hurry to have darshan, then make some offering and return home in a hurry. We should stand there patiently in silence for some time and try to visualize the beloved deity in our hearts. If possible, we should sit down and meditate. At each step, remember to do japa. Amma doesn't say that the offerings and worship are not necessary, but of all the offerings we make, what the Lord wants most is our hearts! ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
33:The Master came back to the drawing-room and said: "The worldly minded practise devotions, japa, and austerity only by fits and starts. But those who know nothing else but God repeat His name with every breath. Some always repeat mentally, 'Om Rāma'.
Even the followers of the path of knowledge repeat, 'Soham', 'I am He'. There are others whose tongues are always moving, repeating the name of God. One should remember and think of God constantly." ~ Sri Ramakrishna, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishana,#NFDB
34:Mr. Venkatakrishnayya, a lawyer-devotee, visited Sri Bhagavan ten years before and asked Him what he should do to improve himself.
Sri Bhagavan told him to perform Gayatri Japa. The young man went away satisfied. When he returned after some years, he asked:
D.: If I meditate on the meaning of the Gayatri mantra, my mind again wanders. What is to be done?
M.: Were you told to meditate on the mantra or its meaning? You must think of the one who repeats the mantra. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 606,#NFDB
35:How to open to the Mother? The following are the means:
(1) To remember You constantly or from time to time--
Good.
(2) By taking Your name through Japa [mantra; repeating the Mother's name]--
Helpful.
(3) With the help of meditation--
More difficult if one has not the habit of meditation.
(4) By conversation about You with those who love and respect You--
Risky because, when talking, often some nonsense or at least some useless things can be said.
(5) By reading Your books--
Good.
(6) By spending time in thoughts of You--
Very good.
(7) By sincere prayers--
Good. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#NFDB
36:57. Omniscience and bliss, and mature wisdom, Remaining independent, limitless strength — Attaining all these, he shines ever, the Self without afflictions. With an immaculate body, he, as the Self, merges in Siva. 58. Japa of the name, worship, bathing in holy waters, ritual sacrifices, None of these or others are needed. The fruits of dharma and adharma, Water oblations to forefathers, None of these are for him. 59. No injunctions for observance, no fasts, Nothing required by way of getting into or out of (any action), No vows of celibacy for him, know this. 60. Not having any recourse to falling into the fire or water, Or falling from the mountain top, Enjoy the feast of the Knowledge of Siva, eternal and pure. Rid of the rules applying to all creation, move about as you please. 61. I tell you this is the Truth, the Truth, the Truth, thrice over. There is nothing greater than this, Nothing greater is there to be known, Nothing at all, nowhere ever. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
37:Some young men who had come with an introduction from the Ramakrishna Mission at Madras asked Bhagavan, “Which is the proper path for us to follow?”
Bhagavan: When you speak of a path, where are you now? and where do you want to go? If these are known, then we can talk of the path. Know first where you are and what you are. There is nothing to be reached. You are always as you really are. But you don’t realise it. That is all.
A little while after, one of the visitors asked Bhagavan, “I am now following the path of japa. Is that all right?”
Bhagavan: Yes. It is quite good. You can continue in that. The gentleman who asked about creation said, “I never thought I was going to have the good fortune of visiting Bhagavan. But circumstances have brought me here and I find in his presence, without any effort on my part, I am having santi. Apparently, getting peace does not depend on our effort.
It seems to come only as the result of grace!” Bhagavan was silent. Meanwhile, another visitor remarked, “No. Our effort is also necessary, though no one can do without grace.” After some time, Bhagavan remarked, “Mantra japa, after a time, leads to a stage when you become Mantra maya i.e., you become that whose name you have been repeating or chanting.
First you repeat the mantra by mouth; later you do it mentally.
First, you do this dhyana with breaks. Later, you do it without any break. At that stage you realise you do dhyana without any effort on your part, that dhyana is your real nature. Till then, effort is necessary.” ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Day By Day, ,#NFDB
38:What distinguishes us above all from Muslim-born or converted individuals—“psychologically”, one could say—is that our mind is a priori centered on universal metaphysics (Advaita Vedānta, Shahādah, Risālat al-Ahadiyah) and the universal path of the divine Name (japa-yoga, nembutsu, dhikr, prayer of the heart); it is because of these two factors that we are in a traditional form, which in fact—though not in principle—is Islam. The universal orthodoxy emanating from these two sources of authority determines our interpretation of the sharī'ah and Islam in general, somewhat as the moon influences the oceans without being located on the terrestrial globe; in the absence of the moon, the motions of the sea would be inconceivable and “illegitimate”, so to speak. What universal metaphysics says has decisive authority for us, as does the “onomatological” science connected to it, a fact that once earned us the reproach of “de-Islamicizing Islam”; it is not so much a matter of the conscious application of principles formulated outside of Islamism by metaphysical traditions from Asia as of inspirations in conformity with these principles; in a situation such as ours, the spiritual authority—or the soul that is its vehicle—becomes like a point of intersection for all the rays of truth, whatever their origin.
One must always take account of the following: in principle the universal authority of the metaphysical and initiatic traditions of Asia, whose point of view reflects the nature of things more or less directly, takes precedence—when such an alternative exists—over the generally more “theological” authority of the monotheistic religions; I say “when such an alternative exists”, for obviously it sometimes happens, in esoterism as in essential symbolism, that there is no such alternative; no one can deny, however, that in Semitic doctrines the formulations and rules are usually determined by considerations of dogmatic, moral, and social opportuneness. But this cannot apply to pure Islam, that is, to the authority of its essential doctrine and fundamental symbolism; the Shahādah cannot but mean that “the world is false and Brahma is true” and that “you are That” (tat tvam asi), or that “I am Brahma” (aham Brahmāsmi); it is a pure expression of both the unreality of the world and the supreme identity; in the same way, the other “pillars of Islam” (arqān al-Dīn), as well as such fundamental rules as dietary and artistic prohibitions, obviously constitute supports of intellection and realization, which universal metaphysics—or the “Unanimous Tradition”—can illuminate but not abolish, as far as we are concerned. When universal wisdom states that the invocation contains and replaces all other rites, this is of decisive authority against those who would make the sharī'ah or sunnah into a kind of exclusive karma-yoga, and it even allows us to draw conclusions by analogy (qiyās, ijtihād) that most Shariites would find illicit; or again, should a given Muslim master require us to introduce every dhikr with an ablution and two raka'āt, the universal—and “antiformalist”—authority of japa-yoga would take precedence over the authority of this master, at least in our case. On the other hand, should a Hindu or Buddhist master give the order to practice japa before an image, it goes without saying that it is the authority of Islamic symbolism that would take precedence for us quite apart from any question of universality, because forms are forms, and some of them are essential and thereby rejoin the universality of the spirit.
(28 January 1956) ~ Frithjof Schuon,#NFDB
39:The true Mantra must come from within OR it must be given by a Guru
Nobody can give you the true mantra. It's not something that is given; it's something that wells up from within. It must spring from within all of a sudden, spontaneously, like a profound, intense need of your being - then it has power, because it's not something that comes from outside, it's your very own cry.
I saw, in my case, that my mantra has the power of immortality; whatever happens, if it is uttered, it's the Supreme that has the upper hand, it's no longer the lower law. And the words are irrelevant, they may not have any meaning - to someone else, my mantra is meaningless, but to me it's full, packed with meaning. And effective, because it's my cry, the intense aspiration of my whole being.
A mantra given by a guru is only the power to realize the experience of the discoverer of the mantra. The power is automatically there, because the sound contains the experience. I saw that once in Paris, at a time when I knew nothing of India, absolutely nothing, only the usual nonsense. I didn't even know what a mantra was. I had gone to a lecture given by some fellow who was supposed to have practiced "yoga" for a year in the Himalayas and recounted his experience (none too interesting, either). All at once, in the course of his lecture, he uttered the sound OM. And I saw the entire room suddenly fill with light, a golden, vibrating light.... I was probably the only one to notice it. I said to myself, "Well!" Then I didn't give it any more thought, I forgot about the story. But as it happened, the experience recurred in two or three different countries, with different people, and every time there was the sound OM, I would suddenly see the place fill with that same light. So I understood. That sound contains the vibration of thousands and thousands of years of spiritual aspiration - there is in it the entire aspiration of men towards the Supreme. And the power is automatically there, because the experience is there.
It's the same with my mantra. When I wanted to translate the end of my mantra, "Glory to You, O Lord," into Sanskrit, I asked for Nolini's help. He brought his Sanskrit translation, and when he read it to me, I immediately saw that the power was there - not because Nolini put his power into it (!), God knows he had no intention of "giving" me a mantra! But the power was there because my experience was there. We made a few adjustments and modifications, and that's the japa I do now - I do it all the time, while sleeping, while walking, while eating, while working, all the time.[[Mother later clarified: "'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't MY mantra, it's something I ADDED to it - my mantra is something else altogether, that's not it. When I say that my mantra has the power of immortality, I mean the other, the one I don't speak of! I have never given the words.... You see, at the end of my walk, a kind of enthusiasm rises, and with that enthusiasm, the 'Glory to You' came to me, but it's part of the prayer I had written in Prayers and Meditations: 'Glory to You, O Lord, all-triumphant Supreme' etc. (it's a long prayer). It came back suddenly, and as it came back spontaneously, I kept it. Moreover, when Sri Aurobindo read this prayer in Prayers and Meditations, he told me it was very strong. So I added this phrase as a kind of tail to my japa. But 'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't my spontaneous mantra - it came spontaneously, but it was something written very long ago. The two things are different."
And that's how a mantra has life: when it wells up all the time, spontaneously, like the cry of your being - there is no need of effort or concentration: it's your natural cry. Then it has full power, it is alive. It must well up from within.... No guru can give you that. ~ The Mother, Agenda, May 11 1963,#NFDB
218 Integral Yoga
117 Poetry
46 Yoga
16 Zen
12 Occultism
8 Psychology
3 Mythology
3 Mysticism
2 Philosophy
2 Hinduism
2 Fiction
1 Thelema
1 Integral Theory
1 Education
1 Cybernetics
1 Buddhism
1 Alchemy
161 The Mother
124 Satprem
35 Sri Ramakrishna
27 Kobayashi Issa
25 Sri Aurobindo
24 Nolini Kanta Gupta
15 Dogen
15 A B Purani
13 Ikkyu
12 Yosa Buson
12 Muso Soseki
12 Fukuda Chiyo-ni
10 James George Frazer
7 Sri Ramana Maharshi
6 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
6 Swami Krishnananda
5 Jakushitsu
5 Hakuin
3 William Butler Yeats
3 Masahide
3 Joseph Campbell
3 Jordan Peterson
2 Yamei
2 Walt Whitman
2 Vyasa
2 Nukata
2 Nirodbaran
2 Mahendranath Gupta
2 H P Lovecraft
2 George Van Vrekhem
2 Carl Jung
2 Aleister Crowley
2 Aldous Huxley
34 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
24 Agenda Vol 01
21 Agenda Vol 03
21 Agenda Vol 02
15 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
15 Dogen - Poems
14 Agenda Vol 05
11 Agenda Vol 04
10 The Golden Bough
10 Talks
10 Agenda Vol 06
8 Questions And Answers 1953
8 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
7 Letters On Yoga II
7 Agenda Vol 08
6 The Study and Practice of Yoga
6 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
5 Some Answers From The Mother
5 Amrita Gita
5 Agenda Vol 09
4 The Secret Doctrine
4 Questions And Answers 1954
4 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
4 Agenda Vol 10
3 Yeats - Poems
3 Words Of Long Ago
3 The Hero with a Thousand Faces
3 Record of Yoga
3 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
3 Maps of Meaning
3 Letters On Yoga IV
3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
3 Agenda Vol 07
2 Whitman - Poems
2 Vishnu Purana
2 Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo
2 The Practice of Psycho therapy
2 The Perennial Philosophy
2 The Human Cycle
2 Questions And Answers 1956
2 Preparing for the Miraculous
2 Prayers And Meditations
2 Lovecraft - Poems
2 Letters On Poetry And Art
2 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
2 Beating the Cloth Drum Letters of Zen Master Hakuin
2 Agenda Vol 11
0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
The Master took up the duty of instructing his young wife, and this included everything from housekeeping to the Knowledge of Brahman. He taught her how to trim a lamp, how to behave toward people according to their differing temperaments, and how to conduct herself before visitors. He instructed her in the mysteries of spiritual life — prayer, meditation, Japa, deep contemplation, and samadhi. The first lesson that Sarada Devi received was: "God is everybody's Beloved, just as the moon is dear to every child. Everyone has the same right to pray to Him. Out of His grace He reveals Himself to all who call upon Him. You too will see Him if you but pray to Him."
Totapuri, coming to know of the Master's marriage, had once remarked: "What does it matter? He alone is firmly established in the Knowledge of Brahman who can adhere to his spirit of discrimination and renunciation even while living with his wife. He alone has attained the supreme illumination who can look on man and woman alike as Brahman. A man with the idea of sex may be a good aspirant, but he is still far from the goal." Sri Ramakrishna and his wife lived together at Dakshineswar, but their minds always soared above the worldly plane. A few months after Sarada Devi's arrival Sri Ramakrishna arranged, on an auspicious day, a special worship of Kali, the Divine Mother. Instead of an image of the Deity, he placed on the seat the living image, Sarada Devi herself. The worshipper and the worshipped went into deep samadhi and in the transcendental plane their souls were united. After several hours Sri Ramakrishna came down again to the relative plane, sang a hymn to the Great Goddess, and surrendered, at the feet of the living image, himself, his rosary, and the fruit of his life-long sadhana. This is known in Tantra as the Shorasi Puja, the "Adoration of Woman". Sri Ramakrishna realized the significance of the great statement of the Upanishad: "O Lord, Thou art the woman. Thou art the man; Thou art the boy. Thou art the girl; Thou art the old, tottering on their crutches. Thou pervadest the universe in its multiple forms."
--
For the householders Sri Ramakrishna did not prescribe the hard path of total renunciation. He wanted them to discharge their obligations to their families. Their renunciation was to be mental. Spiritual life could not be acquired by flying away from responsibilities. A married couple should live like brother and sister after the birth of one or two children, devoting their time to spiritual talk and contemplation. He encouraged the householders, saying that their life was, in a way, easier than that of the monk, since it was more advantageous to fight the enemy from inside a fortress than in an open field. He insisted, however, on their repairing into solitude every now and then to strengthen their devotion and faith in God through prayer, Japa, and meditation. He prescribed for them the companionship of sadhus. He asked them to perform their worldly duties with one hand, while holding to God with the other, and to pray to God to make their duties fewer and fewer so that in the end they might cling to Him with both hands. He would discourage in both the householders and the celibate youths any lukewarmness in their spiritual struggles. He would not ask them to follow indiscriminately the ideal of non-resistance, which ultimately makes a coward of the unwary.
--- FUTURE MONKS
--
Among the attendants Sashi was the embodiment of service. He did not practise meditation, Japa, or any of the other disciplines followed by his brother devotees. He was convinced that service to the guru was the only religion for him. He forgot food and rest and was ever ready at the Master's bedside.
Pundit Shashadhar one day suggested to the Master that the latter could remove the illness by concentrating his mind on the throat, the scriptures having declared that yogis had power to cure themselves in that way. The Master rebuked the pundit. "For a scholar like you to make such a proposal!" he said. "How can I withdraw the mind from the Lotus Feet of God and turn it to this worthless cage of flesh and blood?" "For our sake at least", begged Narendra and the other disciples. "But", replied Sri Ramakrishna, do you think I enjoy this suffering? I wish to recover, but that depends on the Mother."
0.00 - The Book of Lies Text, #The Book of Lies, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Tibetans, Chinese and Japanese. Fire is the Foundation, the
central core, of things; above this forms a crust, tormented
0.03 - III - The Evening Sittings, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
From 1922 to 1926, No. 9, Rue de la Marine, where he and the Mother had shifted, was the place where the sittings were held. There, also upstairs, was a less broad verandah than at the Guest House, a little bigger table in front of the central door out of three, and a broad Japanese chair, the table covered with a better cloth than the one in the Guest House, a small flower vase, an ash-tray, a block calendar indicating the date and an ordinary time-piece, and a number of chairs in front in a line. The evening sittings used to be after meditation at 4 or 4.30 p.m. After 24 November 1926, the sittings began to get later and later, till the limit of 1 o'clock at night was reached. Then the curtain fell. Sri Aurobindo retired completely after December 1926, and the evening sittings came to a close.
On 8 February 1927, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother moved to No. 28, Rue Franois Martin, a house on the north-east of the same block as No. 9, Rue de la Marine.
0.03 - Letters to My little smile, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
the Japanese cover the walls of their rooms with embroidered curtains.
You are right; nothing is better than to realise our most beautiful
0.05 - Letters to a Child, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The paintings are fine, they are like Japanese ones. As for
the "plane" from which they come, it is surely the subtle physical, where the memory of all the conceptions and works of art
0.08 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
meditation, Japa and concentration that one puts oneself in
contact with these various forms of Energy.
0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
What is the use of Japa?15 Is it a good method to
repeat words like "Silence" and "Peace" in order to establish silence and peace in oneself when one sits down
--
There are classical or traditional Japas which are intended
to subdue the lower mind and establish a connection with higher
forces or with deities. These Japas must be given by the Guru,
who at the same time infuses them with the power of realisation.
0.11 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The Ashram was born a few years after my return from Japan,
in 1926.
0 1954-08-25 - what is this personality? and when will she come?, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Yes, certainly had there been any receptivity when She came down and had She been able to manifest with the power with which She came But I can tell you one thing: even before Her coming, when, with Sri Aurobindo, I had begun going down (for the Yoga) from the mental plane to the vital plane, when we brought our yoga down from the mental plane into the vital plane, in less than a month (I was forty years old at the time I didnt seem very old, I looked less than forty, but I was forty anyway), after no more than a month of this yoga, I looked exactly like an 18 year old! And someone who knew me and had stayed with me in Japan5 came here, and when he saw me, he could scarcely believe his eyes! He said, But my god, is it you? I said, Of course!
Only when we went down from the vital plane into the physical plane, all this went awaybecause on the physical plane, the work is much harder and we had so much to do, so many things to change.
--
W.W. Pearson, a friend of Rabindranath Tagore, who had come from Tagore's Ashram in 1923; Mother had met him with Tagore in 1916 in Japan.
***
0 1956-04-20, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
A friend of Satprem's who died insane in a Japanese hospital in India
***
0 1959-05-19 - Ascending and Descending paths, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I have also come to realize that for this sadhana of the body, the mantra is essential. Sri Aurobindo gave none; he said that one should be able to do all the work without having to resort to external means. Had he reached the point where we are now, he would have seen that the purely psychological method is inadequate and that a Japa is necessary, because only Japa has a direct action on the body. So I had to find the method all alone, to find my mantra by myself. But now that things are ready, I have done ten years of work in a few months. That is the difficulty, it requires time
And I repeat my mantra constantlywhen I am awake and even when I sleep. I say it even when I am getting dressed, when I eat, when I work, when I speak with others; it is there, just behind in the background, all the time, all the time.
In fact, you can immediately see the difference between those who have a mantra and those who dont. With those who have no mantra, even if they have a strong habit of meditation or concentration, something around them remains hazy and vague. Whereas the Japa imparts to those who practice it a kind of precision, a kind of solidity: an armature. They become galvanized, as it were.
Original English.
0 1959-06-07, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
He did not give me any further details about this war, except to say that the countries which will suffer the most will be the countries of the North and the East, and he cited Burma, Japan, China and Russia. He said rather categorically that Russia would be swept away and that America would triumph.
2) X gave me certain details about his powers of prediction, but perhaps it would be better not to speak of this in a letter. On that occasion, he told me that he did not want to keep any secrets from me: I want you to know everything. I want you to be chief disciple in my tradition. When the time comes, you will understand what I mean. With you I have full connection, not only connection in my mind, but in my blood and body.
0 1959-10-06 - Sri Aurobindos abode, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
It is similar with this Japa: an imperceptible little change, and one can pass from a more or less mechanical, more or less efficient and real Japa, to the true Japa full of power and light. I even wondered if this difference is what the tantrics call the power of the Japa. For example, the other day I was down with a cold. Each time I opened my mouth, there was a spasm in the throat and I coughed and coughed. Then a fever came. So I looked, I saw where it was coming from, and I decided that it had to stop. I got up to do my Japa as usual, and I started walking back and forth in my room. I had to apply a certain will. Of course, I could do my Japa in trance, I could walk in trance while repeating the Japa, because then you feel nothing, none of all the bodys drawbacks. But the work has to be done in the body! So I got up and started doing my Japa. Then, with each word pronounced the Light, the full Power. A power that heals everything. I began the Japa tired, ill, and I came out of it refreshed, rested, cured. So those who tell me they come out of it exhausted, contracted, emptied, it means that they are not doing it in the true way.
I understand why certain tantrics advise saying the Japa in the heart center. When one applies a certain enthusiasm, when each word is said with a warmth of aspiration, then everything changes. I could feel this difference in myself, in my own Japa.
In fact, when I walk back and forth in my room, I dont cut myself off from the rest of the worldalthough it would be so much more convenient! All kinds of things come to mesuggestions, wills, aspirations. But automatically I make a movement of offering: things come to me and just as they are about to touch my head, I turn them upwards and offer them to the Light. They dont enter into me. For example, if someone speaks to me while I am saying my Japa, I hear quite well what is being said, I may even answer, but the words remain a little outside, at a certain distance from the head. And yet sometimes, there are things that insist, more defined wills that present themselves to me, so then I have to do a little work, but all that without a pause in the Japa. If that happens, there is sometimes a change in the quality of my Japa, and instead of being fully the power, fully the light, it is certainly something that produces results, but results more or less sure, more or less long to fructify; it becomes uncertain, as with all things of this physical world. Yet the difference between the two Japas is imperceptible; its not a difference between saying the Japa in a more or less mechanical way and saying it consciously, because even while I work I remain fully conscious of the Japa I continue to repeat it putting the full meaning into each syllable. But nevertheless, there is a difference. One is the all-powerful Japa; the other, an almost ordinary Japa There is a difference in the inner attitude. Perhaps for the Japa to become true, a kind of joy, an elation, a warmth of enthusiasm has to be added but especially joy. Then everything changes.
Well, it is the same thing, the same imperceptible difference, when it comes to entering the world of Truth. On one side there is the falsehood, and on the other, close by, like the lining of this one, the true life. Only a little difference in the inner quality, a little reversal, is enough to pass to the other side, into the Truth and Light.
0 1959-10-15, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Sweet Mother, I have such a yearning for everything in my consciousness to harmonize and for the tantric discipline, the Japa, etc., not to separate me from you. I want to be your child, open to you, without any contradictions. I would like so much to find your almost physical Presence within me again, as before. May all be clear, pure, one.
I would wish to be like Sujata, completely transparent, your child with her at your feet. Mother, help me. I need you. Sujata is healing something that was very painful in me, as though it were flayed or wounded, and which threw me into revolt. With this calming influence, I would like to begin a new life of self-giving. This change of residence is for me like the symbol of another change. Oh, Mother! may the painful road be over, and may all be achieved in the joy of your Will.
0 1960-01-28, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
All these repetitions of the mantra, these hours of Japa I have to do every day, seem to have increased the difficulties, as if they were raising up or aggravating all the resistances.
To the most stubborn goes the victory.
When I started my Japa one year ago, I had to struggle with every possible difficulty, every contradiction, prejudice and opposition that fills the air. And even when this poor body began walking back and forth for Japa, it used to knock against things, it would start breathing all wrong, coughing; it was attacked from all sides until the day I caught the Enemy and said, Listen carefully. You can do whatever you want, but Im going right to the end and nothing will stop me, even if I have to repeat this mantra ten crore1 times. The result was really miraculous, like a cloud of bats flying up into the light all at once. From that moment on, things started going better.
You have no idea what an irresistible effect a well-determined will can have.
--
Of all forms of ego, you might think that the physical ego is the most difficult to conquer (or rather, the body ego, because the work was already done long ago on the physical ego). It might be thought that the form of the body is a point of concentration, and that without this concentration or hardness, physical life would not be possible. But thats not true. The body is really a wonderful instrument; its capable of widening and of becoming vast in such a way that everything, everything the slightest gesture, the least little taskis done in a wonderful harmony and with a remarkable plasticity. Then all of a sudden, for something quite stupid, a draft, a mere nothing, it forgetsit shrinks back into itself, it gets afraid of disappearing, afraid of not being. And everything has to be started again from scratch. So in the yoga of matter you start realizing how much endurance is needed. I calculated it would take 200 years to say ten crore of my Japa. Well, Im ready to struggle 200 years if necessary, but the work will be done.
Sri Aurobindo had made it clear to me when I was still in France that this yoga in matter is the most difficult of all. For the other yogas, the paths have been well laid, you know where to tread, how to proceed, what to do in such-and-such a case. But for the yoga of matter, nothing has ever been done, never, so at each moment everything has to be invented.
0 1960-03-03, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Only a few days ago, on the morning of the 29th, I had one of those experiences that mark ones life. It happened upstairs in my room. I was doing my Japa, walking up and down with my eyes wide open, when suddenly Krishna camea gold Krishna, all golden, in a golden light that filled the whole room. I was walking, but I could not even see the windows or the rug any longer, for this golden light was everywhere with Krishna at its center. And it must have lasted at least fifteen minutes. He was dressed in those same clothes in which he is normally portrayed when he dances. He was all light, all dancing: You see, I will be there this evening during the Darshan.1 And suddenly, the chair I use for darshan came into the room! Krishna climbed up onto it, and his eyes twinkled mischievously, as if to say, I will be there, you see, and therell be no room for you.
When I came down that evening for distribution,2 at first I was annoyed. I had said that I didnt want anybody in the hall, precisely because I wanted to establish an atmosphere of concentration, the immobility of the Spirit but there were at least thirty people in there, those who had decorated the hall, thirty of them stirring, stirring about, a mass of little vibrations. And before I could even say scat I had hardly taken my seatsomeone put the tray of medals on my lap and they started filing past.
0 1960-05-21 - true purity - you have to be the Divine to overcome hostile forces, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Well, I tried hard but I couldnt really find the way. At times, I almost seemed to have it, a mere nothing would have been enough; it was just a matter of getting the knack (and at heart, this is what Power is all aboutto get the knack, to suddenly seize upon the means, the right vibration, what in India is called siddhi). Well, after his departure, all of a sudden it came. It happened while I was doing my Japa, while I was walking up and down my room As if I were holding all that in my armsit was so concrete and lifting it up towards the Light, along with this ascending OM, rising from the very depths, OM!and I was carrying all these people, and it was spreading forth, PHYSICALLY spreading, and I was carrying the earth, I was carrying the whole universe, but in such a tangible, concrete wayall towards the Supreme Lord.
And this was not the invisible power: it was concrete, it was tangible, it was MATERIAL.
0 1960-05-28 - death of K - the death process- the subtle physical, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
During the operation and just afterwards, I had simply put the Force on him, as I always do in such cases, so that everything would turn out for the best. Then a few days ago, during my Japa, a kind of order camea very clear orderto concentrate on him so that he would be conscious of his soul and able to leave under the best conditions. And I saw that the concentration worked wonderfully: it seems that during his last days he was ceaselessly repeating Ma-Ma-Ma1even while he was in a semi-coma.
And the concentration grew stronger and stronger. The day before yesterday it became very, very powerful, and yesterday morning, around half past noon, it pulled me inward; he came to me in a kind of sleep, a conscious sleep, and I even said almost aloud, Oh, K!
0 1960-06-04, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
This is the main reason for my Japa. Theres a power in the sound itself, and by forcing the body to repeat the sound, you force it to receive the vibration at the same time. But Ive noticed that if something in the bodys working gets disturbed (a pain or disorder, the onset of some illness) and I repeat my mantra in a certain waystill the same words, the same mantra, but said with a certain purpose and above all in a movement of surrender, surrender of the pain, the disorder, and a call, like an openingit has a marvelous effect. The mantra acts in just the right way, in this way and in no other. And after a while everything is put back in order. And simultaneously, of course, the precise knowledge of what lies behind the disorder and what I must do to set it right comes to me. But quite apart from this, the mantra acts directly upon the pain itself.
I also use my mantra to go into trance. After relaxing on the bed and making as total a self-offering as possible of everything, from top to bottom, and after removing as fully as possible all resistance of the ego, I start repeating the mantra.1 After repeating it two or three times, I am in trance (at the beginning it took longer). And from this trance I pass into sleep; the trance lasts as long as necessary and, quite naturally, spontaneously, I pass into sleep. And when I come back, I remember everything. The sleep was like a continuation of the trance. And essentially, the only reason for sleep is to allow the body to assimilate the results of the trance, then to allow these results to be accepted throughout and to let the body do its natural nights work of eliminating toxins. My periods of sleep practically dont exist sometimes they are as short as half an hour or 15 minutes. But in the beginning, I had long periods of sleep, one or even two hours in succession. And when I woke up, I did not feel this residue of heaviness which comes from sleep the effects of the trance continued.
0 1960-07-23 - The Flood and the race - turning back to guide and save amongst the torrents - sadhana vs tamas and destruction - power of giving and offering - Japa, 7 lakhs, 140000 per day, 1 crore takes 20 years, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
object:0_1960-07-23 - The Flood and the race - turning back to guide and save amongst the torrents - sadhana vs tamas and destruction - power of giving and offering - Japa, 7 lakhs, 140000 per day, 1 crore takes 20 years
author class:The Mother
--
With my Japa, Ive reached about seven lakhs2. I repeat it 1,400 times a day. But you must be much further than I!3
I dont see what effect its having, in any case
--
The disciple was doing about five hours of Japa a day at this time, then later seven hoursuntil it cracked.
One crore = 10,000,000.
0 1960-08-20, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Sri Aurobindo came during my Japa to tell me, I will help him all through.
About $7,000.
0 1960-09-20, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
But for us who want an integral realization, are all these mantras and this daily Japa really a help, or do they also shut us in?
It gives discipline. Its an almost subconscious discipline of the character more than of thought.
--
Its an almost physical discipline. Moreover, I have seen that the Japa has an organizing effect on the subconscient, on the inconscient, on matter, on the bodys cellsit takes time, but by persistently repeating it, in the long run it has an effect. It is the same principle as doing daily exercises on the piano, for example. You keep mechanically repeating them, and in the end your hands are filled with consciousness it fills the body with consciousness.
I have a hard time making X understand that I have work to do when Im with him. He doesnt understand that one can work.
0 1960-10-11, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
It happened this morning while I was walking back and forth in my room. I had finished my Japa I had to stop and hold my head in my hands to keep from bursting into tears. No, it is too dreadful, I said to myself; and to think that we want Perfection!
Then naturally there came as a consolation: only because the consciousness is getting closer to THE REAL THING can it see all this wretchedness, and the contrast alone makes these things appear so mean.
--
Doing Japa seems to exert a pressure on my physical consciousness, which goes on turning! How can I silence it? As soon as my concentration is not absolute, the physical mind starts upit grabs at anything, anything at all, any word, fact or event that comes along, and it starts turning, turning. If you stop it, if you put some pressure on it, then it springs back up two minutes later And there is no inner consent at all. It chews on words, it chews on ideas or feelingsinterminably. What should I do?
Yes, its the physical mind. The Japa is made precisely to control the physical mind.
I myself use it for a very special reason, because You see, I invoke (the words are a bit strange) the Lord of Tomorrow. Not the unmanifest Lord, but the Lord as he will manifest tomorrow, or in Sri Aurobindos words, the divine manifestation in its supramental form.
--
And in the beginning, during the first months that I was doing the Japa, I felt them I had an almost detailed awareness of these myriads of cells opening to this vibration; the vibration of the first sound is an absolutely special vibration (you see, above, there is the light and all that, but beyond this light there is the original vibration), and this vibration was entering into all the cells and was reproduced in them. It went on for months in this way.
Even now, when something or other is not all right, I have only to reproduce the thing with the same type of concentration as at the beginning for, when I say the Japa, the sound and the words together the way the words are understood, the feel of the wordscreate a certain totality. I have to reproduce that. And the way its repeated is evolving all the time. The words are the same, however, the original sound is the same, but its all constantly evolving towards a more comprehensive realization and a more and more complete STATE. So when I want to obtain a certain result, I reproduce a certain type of this state. For example, if something in the body is not functioning right (it cant really be called an illness, but when somethings out of order), or if I wish to do some specific work on a specific person for a specific reason, then I go back to a certain state of repetition of my mantra, which acts directly on the bodys cells. And then the same phenomenon is reproducedexactly the same extraordinary vibration which I recognized when the supramental world descended. It comes in and vibrates like a pulsation in the cells.
But as I told you, now my Japa is different. It is as if I were taking the whole world to lift it up; no longer is it a concentration on the body, but rather a taking of the whole world the entire world sometimes in its details, sometimes as a whole, but constantly, constantlyto establish the Contact (with the supramental world).
But what you are speaking of, this sort of sound-mill, this milling of words interminably repeating the same thing, Ive suddenly caught it two or three times (not very often and with long intervals). It has always seemed fantastic to me! How is it stopped? Always in the same way. Its something that takes place outside, actually; its not insideits outside, on the surface, generally somewhere here (Mother indicates the temples), and the method is to draw your consciousness up above, to go there and remain therewhite. Always this whiteness, white like a sheet of paper, flat like a plate of glass. An absolutely flat and white and motionless surfacewhite! White like luminous milk, turned upwards. Not transparent: white.
0 1960-10-22, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I entered into your sleep last night. I saw you and told you certain things, I even gave you some explanations: You see, you must do it this way you must go like this I also said, One day, we shall meditate together. But more precisely, you had once spoken to me about the problem in your physical mind that it keeps on turning interminably and you had told me that it happens during your Japa. So last night I told you, I would like you to do your Japa for a few minutes with me one day so that I may see what goes on inside you, in your physical mind.
But I wasnt speaking to you with words Everything I see at night has a special color and a special vibration. Its strange, but it looks sketched When I said that to you, for example, there was a kind of patch,1 a white patch, as I recallwhite, exactly like a piece of white papera patch with a pink border around it, then this same blue light I keep telling you aboutdeep blueencircling the rest, as it were. And beyond that, it was swarminga swarming of black and dark gray vibrations in a terrible agitation. When I saw this, I said to you, You must repeat your mantra once in my presence so that I may see if there is anything I can do about this swarming. And then I dont know whyyou objected, and this objection was red, like a tongue of fire lashing out from the white, like this (Mother draws an arabesque). So I said, No, dont worry, it doesnt matter, I wont disturb a thing2! (Mother laughs mischievously)
--
For some time now Ive been experiencing a precise moment during my Japa when something takes hold of me and I have all the difficulty in the world to keep from entering into trance. Yet I remain standing. Usually Im walking, but some things I say while leaning up against the windownot a very good place to go into trance! And it grabs me exactly at the same place each time.
Yesterday, I suddenly saw a huge living head of blue lightthis blue light which is the force, the powerful force in material Nature (this is the light the tantrics use). The head was made entirely of this light, and it wore a sort of tiaraa big head, so big (Mother indicates the length of her forearm); its eyes werent closed, but rather lowered, like this. The immobility of eternity, absolutely the repose, the immobility of eternity. A magnificent head, quite similar to the way the gods here are represented, but even better; something between certain heads of the Buddha and (these heads most probably come to the artists). Everything else was lost in a kind of cloud.
--
That is the representation of your Japa.
Its beautiful.
--
(Mother laughs heartily) Your Japa is lovely. Oh, its a whole world thats forming, and its truly harmonious, powerful, beautiful. Its very good. If you like, well do this for a few moments from time to time. It was very how should I put it? very pleasant for me. It feels comfortable, a bit removed from all this porridge! I was very glad.
If you want to prevent these disturbances in your physical mind, then when you sit for Japa You know my Force, dont you? Well then, wrap it around you, like this, twelve times, from top to bottom.
Original English.
0 1960-10-25, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
All this happened just on the day X1 was leaving. So I told S to take the photograph and letter to X and tell him the story. X consulted some book, did a very short Japa for a few seconds and said, Oh, hell come back before September 26, BUT inform Mother so that She may see to ft. therefore, I concentrated a little.
About two weeks later (in other words, ten days or so before September 26), some more news the boys older brother, who lives in Ahmedabad (not Bombay), came to visit his mother, father and grandmo ther (theres also a grandmo ther), and he asked about his brother. He had come with a friend. Your brother has disappeared, they explained, we dont know what has happened to him. So the two of them decided to search for him: Well find him .
--
It was just before Durga Puja,3 or just after I cant remember (dates and I dont go together)no, it was after Durga Puja. So I went into a deep concentration and, as a matter of fact, I saw that a very powerful and dangerous rakshasic4 power was involved. And then, when I started walking for my Japa upstairs in my room (I had given some thought to this story and tried asking for something to be done), I suddenly saw Durga before me raising high a lance of white light the lance of light that destroys the hostile forcesand She struck into a black swarming mass of men.
But then there came a frightful reaction. For one day I was nearly as sicknot quiteas two years ago5 (they must have used the same mantra). And, you see, I who never vomit terrible vomitingeverything inside came out! Only now Im a bit more experienced than two years ago (!), so I set it right It happened here, downstairs, in the afternoon. I went right back up to my room (I didnt see anyone that afternoon), and I remained concentrated to try to find out what had happened. I saw that it came from therea backlash of those people trying to defend themselves.
--
When you have to slip in seven hours of Japa a day, it makes your life a bit strange!
Its so contrary not only to the education but to the make up of people from the West! For an Indian for a modern Indian it would be difficult, but for those who have kept something of the old tradition it would not be difficult. Its easy for children raised in a monastery or near the guru
0 1960-11-12, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
And just a while ago some volcanoes erupted, so the sea rose and swept away all kinds of things in Japan and all along its path, but it didnt come all the way to India. When I was in Japan, one island was swallowed up just like that, along with its 30,000 inhabitants, glub!
You see, it amuses them; its the way these beings amuse themselvesonly its on another scale, thats all. They look at us like ants, so whats it matter to them! If they dont like it, too bad for them. Only, ants cant protest, or at least we dont understand their protests! Whereas when we ourselves protest, we can make ourselves heard. We have the means to make ourselves heard.
--
You asked me just now if we have a say in the matter. Well, last year I didnt go out; I had no intention of going to the Sportsground or to the theater for the December 2 program, but I was often asked to see that the weather be good. So while I was doing my Japa upstairs, I started saying that it shouldnt rain. But they werent in a very good mood! (When I used to go out myself, it had an effect, for it kept the thing in check, and even if it had been raining earlier, that day it would stop.) So they said, But you arent going out, so what does it matter. I said I wascounting on it. Then they answered, Are you prepared to have it rain the next time you go out?Do what you like, I replied. And when I went out on November 24 for the prize distribution, there was a deluge. It came pouring down and we had to run for shelter in the gymnasiumeveryone was splashing around, the band playing on the verandah was half-drenched, it was dreadful!the day before it hadnt rained, the day after it didnt rain. But on that day they had their revenge!
I dont want that to happen this time. Once is enough. So Im going to see about it.
0 1960-11-15, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
While it was all coming up, I thought, How is this possible? For during those years of my life (Im now outside things; I do them but Im entirely outside, so they dont involve mewhether its like this or like that makes no difference to me; Im only doing my work, thats all), I was already conscious, but nevertheless I was IN what I was doing to a certain extent; I was this web of social life (but thank God it wasnt here in India, for had it been here I could not have withstood it! I think that even as a child I would have smashed everything, because here its even worse than over there). You see, there its its a bit less constricting, a bit looser, you can slip through the mesh from time to time to brea the some air. But here, according to what Ive learned from people and what Sri Aurobindo told me, its absolutely unbearable (its the same in Japan, absolutely unbearable). In other words, you cant help but smash everything. Over there, you sometimes get a breath of air, but still its quite relative. And this morning I wondered (you see, for years I lived in that way for years and years) just as I was wondering, How was I ABLE to live that and not kick out in every direction?, just as I was looking at it, I saw up above, above this (it is worse than horrible, it is a kind of Oh, not despair, for there isnt even any sense of feeling there is NOTHING! It is dull, dull, dull gray, gray, gray, clenched tight, a closed web that lets through neither air nor life nor lightthere is nothing) and just then I saw a splendor of such sweet light above itso sweet, so full of true love, true compassion something so warm, so warm the relief, the solace of an eternity of sweetness, light, beauty, in an eternity of patience which feels neither the past nor the inanity and imbecility of thingsit was so wonderful! That was entirely the feeling it gave, and I said to myself, THAT is what made you live, without THAT it would not have been possible. Oh, it would not have been possible I would not have lived even three days! THAT is there, ALWAYS there, awaiting its hour, if we would only let it in.
(silence)
0 1960-11-26, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Then afterwards, when you wrote that you were sick, I thought, Well, well! What does it mean? I didnt answer, I didnt say a thing, but when I went back upstairs and started walking for my Japa, I brought back this experience of the Darshanthis moment during the Darshan and I felt that it had left something behind (the effect was not total or absolute, but something had been left), and I decided that through this I would try to make you feel better.
I felt your intervention very clearly. I was really in a bad way, but when I came out of the Japa, I knew it was cured. There is still something in the leg that pulls a little, but it has practically disappeared.
Its the memory, the memory in the cells.
0 1960-12-02, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
A sort of unification is taking place [in you], as if you had become a more uniform whole within-without. I dont know how to explain thisit feels more unified, more organizeduniform. Not some parts more developed and others less so, some more luminous and others less so; its much more uniform, and uniform even in the vibration, a kind of really a uniformity in all its movements, responses, vibrations, light. And this kind of powdering of the new light which I see is much more widespread. Its as if everything, everything what is happening is really a work of unifyingstabilizing, unifying. And this powdering of golden light has completely enveloped you, with this same blue light in your Japa, with different intensities of powerboth are there. Like a unifying of the consciousness, as if all the less receptive elements were starting to open, thereby creating a much more homogeneous whole. I dont know how your nights are, but
Not very conscious.
0 1960-12-20, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
If I could only note all this down Its been so interesting all morning, right from the starton the balcony, then upstairs while walking for my Japa! And it was on this same theme (experience of the speck of dust) This habit people have (especially in India, but more or less everywhere among those who have a religious nature), this habit of doing all things religious with respect and compunction and no mixing of things, above all there should be no mixing; in some circumstances, at certain times, you MUST NOT think of God, for then it would be a kind of blasphemy.
Theres the religious attitude, and then theres ordinary life where people do thingsworking, living, eating, enjoying life; they regard these as the essentials, and as for the rest, well, when theres time they think about it. But what Sri Aurobindo brought down, precisely I remember at Tlemcen, Theon used to say that there was a whole world of things, such as eating, for example, or taking care of your body, that should be done automatically, without giving it any importanceits not the time to think of things divine.(!) Thats what he preached. So you have the religious attitude of all the religious types, and then ordinary life I found both of them equally unsatisfactory. Then I came here and told Sri Aurobindo my feeling; I said that if someone is truly in union with the Divine, it CANNOT change no matter what he does (the quality of what youre doing may change, but the union cant change no matter what youre doing). And when he said that this was the truth, I felt a relief. And that feeling has stayed with me all through my life.
And now, all these different attitudes which individuals, groups and categories of men hold are coming from every direction (while Im walking upstairs) to assert their own points of view as the true thing. And I see that for myself, Im being forced to deal with a whole mass of things, most of which are quite futile from an ordinary point of viewnot to mention the things of which these moral or religious types disapprove. Quite interestingly, all kinds of mental formations come like arrows while Im walking for my Japa upstairs (Mother makes a gesture of little arrows in the air coming into her mental atmosphere from every direction); and yet, Im entirely in what I could call the joy and happiness of my Japa, full of the energy of walking (the purpose of walking is to give a material energy to the experience, in all the bodys cells). Yet in spite of this, one thing after another comes, like this, like that (Mother draws little arrows in the air): what I must do, what I must answer to this person, what I must say to that one, what has to be done All kinds of things, most of which might be considered most futile! And I see that all this is SITUATED in a totality, and this totality I could say that its nothing but the body of the Divine. I FEEL it, actually, I feel it as if I were touching it everywhere (Mother touches her arms, her hands, her body). And all these things neither veil nor destroy nor divert this feeling of being entirely this a movement, an action in the body of the Divine. And its increasing from day to day, for it seems that He is plunging me more and more into entirely material things with the will that THERE TOO it must be done that all these things must be consciously full of Him; they are full of Him, in actual fact, but it must become conscious, with the perception that it is all the very substance of His being which is moving in everything
It was quite beautiful on the balcony this morning
0 1960-12-25, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I want to tell you that X completely changed my Japa this morning. Instead of ten hours a day, I now have only about half an hour to do three times a day!
He told me that everything is in this new Japa.
And I want also to tell you how grateful I am. You think of us even in the smallest human detailsgrateful is not even the word. Simply, may I serve you better, may I better give of myself.
0 1960-12-31, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
X seemed happy about his visit this time. We had long meditations of half an hourhe never seemed to want to leave at all! There was above all a kind of extremely calm universalization. An absolute and universal calm in all the cells of the body. I dont know if it was only me, but it seemed he was in the same stateunable to move, quite content, smiling. Once I heard the clock chime, and as I thought it was time and that perhaps he was ready to leave, I looked; he had removed the mala3 that he wears around his neck and I found him doing Japa. As soon as he saw me looking, he quickly put it back on!
But whats most surprising is that with me, not a word, nothing, neither he nor I. And it seems to be just as comfortable for him as it is for me!
--
'It was his house, and it was rather complicated to enter. I was saying a mantra or Japa when X came along; he had a ... a terribly reproachful air! Then he smelled my hands: 'It's a bad habit to wear perfume. (Mother laughs) You cannot live a spiritual life when you wear perfume.' then I looked at him and thought, 'My God, does he have to be so backward!' But it annoyed me, so I said, 'Very well, I'm going.' When I got near the door, he started saying, 'Is it true you have been married several times, and that you've been divorced?' Then a kind of anger entered me (laughing) and I told him, 'No, not just once, but twice!' Thereupon, I left. All the old ideas...
After that was when I saw the little squirrel.'
0 1961-01-22, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I remained perfectly tranquil, there was nothing else to do; I knew it meant a battle. I was perfectly tranquil, but I could no longer eat, I could no longer rest, do Japa2 or walk, and my head felt as though it would burst. I could only abandon myself (Mother opens her arms in a gesture of surrender), enter into a very, very deep trance, a very deep samadhithis is something one can always do. But that was the only thing left to me. Ideas were just as clear as ever (all that is above and doesnt budge), but my body was in a very bad way. It was a fight, a fight at each second. The least thing, just to walk a step, was a struggle, an awful battle!
Then last night I saw the symbol, the image of the thing. But what was it? It was an element in the most material Matter,3 because it was deep down below; yet despite it all, Mother Nature was in charge there: she was familiar with everything, knew everything and it was all at her disposalabsolutely the most material Nature. And she herself had no light, but was very, very she had a concealed power that was completely invisible.
--
For me it was in the head (not last night but over the past few days), when I was trying to do my Japaoh, it was as though my head would burst! All the nerves were not just tense (Mother touches the nape of her neck), but cramped. And my head felt as if boiling oil were being poured inside it; it was about to explode, and I couldnt see clearly.
Something was obviously bent on preventing me from going down for the distribution.4 But by an act of will I went down. I will do it, I said. But it was difficult. There were moments when it sidled up to me: Now youre going to faint, and then, Now your legs will no longer be able to walk. Now. It kept coming like that. So I kept repeating the Japa the whole time, and it was touch-and-go right up to the end. Finally I couldnt distinguish people, I saw only shapes, forms passing by, and not clearly. When the distribution was over, I got up (I knew I had to get up), I stood up without flinching and stepped down from the chair without faltering. But I was not careful and when I turned away from the light in the room to go towards the staircasean abrupt blackout. Not the blackout of a faintmy eyes no longer saw. I saw only shadows. Ah! I said to myself, where is the step?! And to avoid missing it, I clutched the railing. What a commotion that made! Champaklal came rushing up, thinking I was about to fall!
Anyhow.
--
Japa: the continuous repetition of a mantra. Mother's mantra is a song of the cells, the sole material or physical process used by her for awakening the cells and stabilizing the Supramental Force in her body.
Later, Mother specified: 'These are elements in the material substance entirely possessed by adverse forces and opposed to the transformation.'
0 1961-01-24, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There are places where it happens like that: suddenly everything stopsno more school, no more mail, no more trains. I remember a poor little village in Japan where they had a flu epidemic, the first of its kind. They didnt know what it was and the whole village fell ill. It was winter, the village was snowed in and there was no more communication with the outside (the mail came only once every fifteen days). The postman arrived and everyone was dead, buried beneath the snow.
I was there in Japan when it happened.
A little vale of snowno one left.
Mother did her Japa while walking back and forth in her room.
Satprem later asked Mother what she meant by these 'things,' and Mother replied: 'For example, there was a certain man's attitude with respect to life and to the Divine, and what he thought of himself, and so forth. You see, what came was a whole range of characters and one particular action of one man, and then something else came up.... How to explain? ... These are POINTS OF WORK which come to me, things that present themselves in the atmosphere for me to seethings I see and which have to be acted upon.'
0 1961-01-31, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
With my Japa the contrast is the same, its absolutely astounding: I feel I am saying the words in the same way, with the same sound, exactly the same rhythm, but in some cases, with a particular inner attitude, the time by the clock is different! Yet nevertheless, bound up as we are in our physical Matter, we imagine it has taken exactly the same amount of time! Thats what is so strange, this extraordinary relativity vis--vis the clock.
This must be what they tried to express by Joshua making the sun stand still.
--
Once again, Satprem was doing seven hours of Japa daily.
In the equations of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, quantities as 'immutable' as the mass of a body, the frequency of a vibration, or the time separating two events, are linked to the speed of the system where the physical event takes place. Recent experiments in outer space have allowed the validity of Einstein's equations to be verified. Thus a clock on a satellite in constant rotation around the Earth will measure sixty seconds between two audio signals, while an identical clock on Earth measures sixty-one seconds between the same two signals: time 'slows down' as speed increases. It is like the story of the space traveler returning to Earth less aged than his twin: you pass into another 'frame of reference.'
0 1961-02-11, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For example, at five-thirty in the evening, after Ive spent an hour and a half here with people, its a labor to climb the stairs; and by the time I get upstairs, I feel strained to the breaking point. Then I begin to walk (I dont stop, I dont rest), I immediately begin to walk with my Japa, and within half an hour, pfft! it has lifted.
But the bodys fatigue doesnt go: its there its contained but it is there.
0 1961-02-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Now the body has a kind of extraordinary smile for everything. At the end of the day, with the accumulation of everything coming from the people I have seen and the work I have done, when I have to push and pull myself just to climb the stairs because my legs are like iron rods, without any will (thats the most terrible part: they dont respond to the will), even at times like these, when my arms are what pull me up the stairs (no longer my legs), the body doesnt protest, doesnt protest. Then it begins walking back and forth for Japa. And after half an hour of walking, things are infinitely better (Mother makes a gesture of the Force descending into her body).
(silence)
0 1961-03-04, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Things are going very badly: a pack of enemies assailing me, friends deserting usits going very, very badly. Then yesterday evening, while I was walking for Japa and all these good tidings were arriving, I said to the Lord, Listen, Lord, you have Indra to help the good people I beseech you, send him to me; he has some work to do!(Mother laughs) Then my walk became so amusing! I was watching them come in as I walked Indra and all the other godsand they were hard at work. Delightful!
Hibiscus, double flower, light pink.
0 1961-04-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Satprem is referring to the enormous amount of material work he had in addition to seven hours of daily Japa.
***
0 1961-04-12, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But I have had some cats. I had a cat who was the reincarnation of the mind of a Russian woman. I had a vision of it one day, it was so strangethis woman had been murdered at the time of the Russian Revolution, along with her two little children. And her mind entered a cat here. (How? I dont know.) But this cat, mon petit. I got her when she was very young. She would come and lie down, stretched out like a human being, with her head on my arm! (I used to sleep on a Japanese tatami on the floor.) And she would stay there, so well-behaved, didnt stir all night long! I was really amazed. Then she had kittens, and wanted to give birth to them lying stretched out, not at all like a cat. It was very difficult to make her understand that it couldnt be done that way! And one night after she had had her kittens, I saw her I saw a young woman in furs, with a fur bonnetyou could just see a tiny human face; she had two little ones and she came to me and placed them at my feet. Her whole story was there in her consciousness: how she and the two children had been murdered. And then I realized she was the cat!
The cat wouldnt leave her kittens for a moment! Not for anything. She wouldnt eat, wouldnt go outside to relieve herself, nothing: she stayed put. So I told her, Bring me your kittens. (If you know how to handle them, cats understand very well when theyre spoken to.) Bring me your little ones. She looked at me, went and brought one of her kittens, and placed it between my feet. Then she went to fetch the other one and placed it between my feet (not beside, between my feet). Now you can go out, I told her. And out she went.
0 1961-04-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It came last night. It came slowly, but last night it was very strong: no more sequence, no more linking of cause and effect, no more goal, no more purpose, no more intentiona kind of Absolute which does not exclude the creation. It is not Nirvana, it has nothing to do with Nirvana (I know Nirvana very well, Ive had itjust yesterday evening, for instance, while walking for Japa, and even this morning. You see, I begin by an invocation to the Supreme under his three aspects, and no sooner have I uttered the sound, TAT when all is abolished: Nirvana. And the last few days I have noticed that its instantaneous, so easy! Oh, a delight! Bah!). But its not Nirvana, its beyond that; it contains Nirvana and it contains the manifested world and it contains everything else; all the appearances and disappearances13all of that is contained in it.
Something.
0 1961-04-29, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In fact, I have seen this all over the world. I have never been on very good terms with religions, neither in Europe, nor Africa, nor Japan, nor even here.
(silence)
0 1961-05-19, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I had already had the experience for the sense of smell the divine vibration, the vibration of Ananda in odors. Just under my window, you know, Nripendra has his kitchen, where every morning and afternoon food is prepared for the children2it all comes wafting up on gusts of air. And when the Samadhi tree is in flower, the scent wafts up to me on gusts of air; when people burn incense down below, it comes wafting up here on gusts of aireach and every fragrance (fragrancelets say odor). And generally it all comes while I am walking for my Japaan Ananda of odors, each one with its meaning, its expression, its (how to say it?) its motivation and its goal. Marvelous! And there are no longer any good or bad odors that notion is gone completely. Each one has its meaningits meaning and its raison dtre. I have been experiencing this for a long time.
But this experience of taste was completely new. It didnt last long, only a few minutes, because it amazed me so! It was as if I had a mouthful of the most marvelous foods one could imagine. And my hands were gathering it up in the atmosphere it was so funny!
--
There are moments when its brought to a dead halt. Oh, sometimes while I walk for the Japa everything is held like this (gesture of all being dominated from above and immobilized), inflexibly.
But then the difficulty is that for the ordinary consciousness and unfortunately I am surrounded by a lot of people who have a very ordinary consciousness (at least it seems very ordinary to me, although from the human standpoint they are probably rather remarkable people)for the ordinary consciousness I seem to be in a stupor, a coma, a state of imbecility, of yes, of torpor. It has all those appearances. Something which becomes immobile, unresponsive, stopped short (same gesture as before); one can no longer think, one can no longer observe, one can no longer react, one can no longer do anything, one is like that (same gesture). But all these things keep coming from outside, all the time, coming and trying to interrupt that state; yet if I manage to prevent this, if I can keep this condition, after a while it becomes something so MASSIVE! So concrete in its power, so massive in its immobility, ohh! It must lead somewhere.
0 1961-06-02, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I know why I gave no explanations as I was speaking: because of the intensity of the experience. There is something like it in Prayers and Meditations. I remember an experience I had in Japan which is noted there. (Mother looks through Prayers and Meditations and reads a passage dated November 25, 1917:)2
Thou art the sure friend who never fails,
--
D. asked me if changing the time of her Japa had much importance. I told her she can change the time if she has to, provided she remains sincere thats the most important thing.
These are small details. I myself am unable to do it at fixed hours; I had always hoped to do it between 5 and 6 in the afternoon, but I usually cant manage to go upstairs before ten to six! So so I do it from 6 to 7.
0 1961-07-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This is the third year [of Japa]so its becoming very clear.
***
0 1961-07-12, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Regarding the last conversation, where Mother spoke of divine Perfection and of the series of invocations in her Japa imploring the Lord to manifest his various aspects:)
But Perfection is only one side, one special way of approaching the Divine. There are innumerable sides, angles, aspectsinnumerable ways to approach the Divine. When I am walking, for example, doing Japa, I have the sense of Unity (I have spoken to you of all the things I mention when I am upstairs walking: will, truth, purity, perfection, unity, immortality, eternity, infinity, silence, peace, existence, consciousness the list goes on). And when one follows a particular tack and does succeed in reaching or approaching or contacting the Divine, one realizes through experience that these many approaches differ only in their most external forms the contact itself is identical. Its like looking through a kaleidoscopeyou revolve around a center, a globe, and see it under various aspects; but as soon as the contact is established, its identical.
The number of approaches is practically infinite. Each one senses the path which accords with his temperament.
This Japa, you know, didnt at all come from here (Mother points to her head). Its something I received fully formed, and to such an extent that I couldnt even change the place of a single thinga will seemed to oppose any change. Its a long series unfolding according to a law that probably corresponds to what is needed to develop this consciousness and the work it has to do (I suppose I dont really know and I havent tried to know). But a sort of law makes it impossible to change the position of even a single word, because these are not wordsthey are fully formed states of consciousness. And the whole series culminates with:
Manifest Your Love.
0 1961-07-15, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Onlythere is an only in all thisif there were a more liberal proportion between the refreshing (if I may say so) freedom of solitude and the necessity for collective work, there would probably be fewer difficulties. Towards the end of the first year after I retired upstairs3 (perhaps even before, but anyway, some time after I began doing Japa while walking), I recall having such sessions up there! Had there been a personal goal, this goal was clearly attained; it is indescribable, absolutely beyond all imaginable or expressible splendor.
And that was when I received the Command from the Supreme, who was right here, this close (Mother presses her face). He told me, This is what is promised. Now the Work must be done.
0 1961-07-18, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I have always known that cruelty, like sadism, is the need to cut through a thick layer of totally insensitive tamas1 by means of extremely violent sensationan extreme is needed if anything is to be felt through that tamas. I was always told, for example (in Japan it was strongly emphasized to me), that the people of the Far East are very tamasic physically. The Chinese in particular are said to be the remnants of a race that inhabited the moon before it froze over and forced them to seek refuge on earth (this is supposed to account for their round faces and the shape of their eyes!). Anyway (laughing), its a story people tell! But theyre extremely tamasic; their physical sensibility is almost nilappalling things are required to make them feel anything! And since they naturally presume that what applies to them applies to everyone, they are capable of appalling cruelty. Not all of them, of course! But this is their reputation. Have you read Mirbeaus book? (I believe thats his name.) I read it sixty years ago something on Chinese torture.
Yes, its well-known.
--
Yes. When I read that book (it was very well written), I understood the problem, and my understanding was confirmed when I went to Japan. Many Japanese also have a blunted sensibility (blunted in the sense that to feel anything they need extremely violent stimuli). Perhaps an explanation could be found along these lines.
But behind it all, the original problem remains unresolved: Why has it become like this? Why this deformation? Why has it all been deformed? There are some very beautiful things behind, very intense, infinitely more powerful than we ourselves can even bear, marvelous things. But why has it all become so dreadful here? Thats what comes up immediatelyits why I told you I had no inspiration.
0 1961-08-02, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Every night, you know, I continue to see more and more astounding things emerging from the Subconscient to be transformed. Its a kind of mixturenot clearly individualizedof all the things that have been more or less closely associated in life. For example, some people are intermingled there. One relives things almost as in a dream (although these are not dreams), one relives it all in a certain setting, within a certain set of symbolic, or at any rate expressive, circumstances. Just two days ago I had to deal with someone (I am actively at work there and I had to do something with him), and upon seeing this person, I asked myself, is he this one or that one? As I became less involved in the action and looked with a more objective consciousness, the witness-consciousness, I saw that it was simply a mixture of both personseverything is mixed in the Subconscient. Already when I lived in Japan there were four people I could never distinguish during my nighttime activitiesall four of them (and god knows they werent even acquainted!) were always intermingled because their subconscious reactions were identical.
In fact, this is what legitimizes the ego; because if we had never formed an ego, we would have lived all mixed up (laughing), now this person, now another! Oh, it was so comical, seeing this the other day! At first it was a bit bewildering, but when I looked closely, it became utterly amusing: two little people with no physical resemblance, yet of a similar typesmall and in short, a similarity. Its like the four men I used to see in Japan: there was an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Japanese and one more, each from a different country; well, at night they were all the same, as if viewed one through the other, all intermingledvery amusing!
But individualization is a slow and difficult process. Thats why you have an ego, otherwise you would never become individualized, but always be (Mother laughs) a kind of public place!
0 1961-11-05, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When Richard went to Japan, he sent his manuscripts to Sri Aurobindo, including The Wherefore of the Worlds and The Eternal Wisdom, and Sri Aurobindo continued to translate them into English.
Frankly, it was a relief for Sri Aurobindo when we left; he even wrote to someone or other (but in a totally superficial way) that Richards departure was a great relief for him.
When we returned to France, Richard got himself declared unfit for military service on health groundsa yogic heart ailment! But life in France was impossible; and my presence there was dangerous because monstrous things were going on, monstrous; as Sri Aurobindo said, my sitting at home all alone was generating revolutionsarmies were revolting.6 I saw that happening and I didnt want the Germans to win, which would have been even worse, so I said, I had better go. Then Richard managed to have himself sent to Japan on business (an admirable feat!), representing certain companies. People didnt want to travel because it was dangerousyou risked being sunk to the bottom of the sea; so they were pleased when we offered and sent us to Japan.
Once there (this would also make a great novel), Richard continued writing and sending his manuscripts to Sri Aurobindo. Finally, when the Peace Treaty was signed and it was possible to travel, the English said that if we tried to return to India they would throw us in jail! But it all worked out miraculously, almost becoming a diplomatic incident: the Japanese government decided that if we were put in prison they would protest to the British government! (What a story I could write novels!) In short, Richard returned here with me. And thats when the tragi-comedy began.
I will tell you about it one dayfantastic!
--
This man clearly led a rather loose life. Right after he left here he spent some time in the Himalayas and became a Sannyasi. Then he went to France and from France to England. In England he married againbigamy! I didnt care, of course (the less he showed up in my life, the better), but he was in a fix! One day I suddenly received some official letters from a lawyer telling me I had initiated divorce proceedings against Richard. it seems I had a lawyer over there! A lawyer I had never asked for, whose name I didnt know, a lawyer I didnt even know existedmy lawyer! The trial was taking place at Nice, and I was accusing Richard of abandoning me without any means of support! (That was nothing new I had paid all the expenses from the first day we met! But anyway.) Naturally, he couldnt plead that he was a bigamist; nor could he have me accuse him of being a bigamist, because it was true! So it seemed he hadnt been paying my expenses; but then I wasnt claiming anything from him in the case, no alimonya little incoherent, all that. After a few months I was finally informed that I was divorced, which was rather convenient for me as far as the bank was concerned. I had a marriage contract stipulating that our properties were separate; since I was the one with the money (he had nothing), I wanted to be free to do with it as I pleased. But the French were impossible in such matters: the woman was considered the minor party, so even if the money was the wifes and not the husbands, she couldnt withdraw it without his authorization. I dont know if its still like that, but in those days the husb and always had to countersignan annoying situation! I got around this in Japan (the banker there found the rule stupid and told me to ignore it), but the bank here can be a pain in the neck, so it was good to get this cleared up.
He remarried two or three more times. By now (I believe) he is the father of quite a large family, with grandchildren and perhaps great-grandchildren. He lives in America. Someone once told me he was dead, but I could sense that he wasnt. Then, out of the blue, E. arrived, full of admiration, telling me she had met Richard and how stunningly he could preach to people.
0 1961-11-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When I returned from Japan and we began to work together, Sri Aurobindo had already brought the supramental light into the mental world and was trying to transform the Mind. Its strange, he said to me, its an endless work! Nothing seems to get doneeverything is done and then constantly has to be done all over again. Then I gave him my personal impression, which went back to the old days with Theon: It will be like that until we touch bottom. So instead of continuing to work in the Mind, both of us (I was the one who went through the experience how to put it? practically, objectively; he experienced it only in his consciousness, not in the body but my body has always participated), both of us descended almost immediately (it was done in a day or two) from the Mind into the Vital, and so on quite rapidly, leaving the Mind as it was, fully in the light but not permanently transformed.
Then a strange thing happened. When we were in the Vital, my body suddenly became young again, as it had been when I was eighteen years old! There was a young man named Pearson, a disciple of Tagore, who had lived with me in Japan for four years; he returned to India, and when he came to see me in Pondicherry, he was stupefied.4 What has happened to you! he exclaimed. He hardly recognized me. During that same period (it didnt last very long, only a few months), I received some old photographs from France and Sri Aurobindo saw one of me at the age of eighteen. There! he said, Thats how you are now! I wore my hair differently, but otherwise I was eighteen all over again.
This lasted for a few months. Then we descended into the Physical and all the trouble began.5 But we didnt stay in the Physical, we descended into the Subconscient and from the Subconscient to the Inconscient. That was how we worked. And it was only when I descended into the Inconscient that I found the Divine Presence there, in the midst of Darkness.
0 1961-11-12, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Laughing) Perhaps thats why you were angry with me! Because I insist! Upstairs [in Mothers room, during Japa], it keeps coming all the time, all the time: Go ontake the plunge! Clear the hurdle, take the plunge, cross to the other side. Constantly, constantly.
You see, in what youve just read to me, every place where something rushes in from above is VERY good. Then suddenly something in me begins to (words are much too crude), begins to grow bored or tired (thats too crude, its only a slight uneasiness). And I invariably notice that what bothers me are the explanations Im exaggerating.
0 1961-12-20, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For example, the importance of the departure2: how he was present the whole time I was away; how he guided my entire life in Japan; how. Of course, it would be seen in the mirror of my own experience, but it would be Sri Aurobindonot me, not my reactions: him; but through my experience because thats all I can speak of.
There would be interesting things even for.
--
I dont know, Im putting it poorly, but this experience was concrete to the point of being physical. It happened in a Japanese country-house where we were living, near a lake. There was a whole series of circumstances, events, all kinds of thingsa long, long story, like a novel. But one day I was alone in meditation (I have never had very profound meditations, only concentrations of consciousness Mother makes an abrupt gesture showing a sudden ingathering of the entire being); and I was seeing. You know that I had taken on the conversion of the Lord of Falsehood: I tried to do it through an emanation incarnated in a physical being [Richard]7, and the greatest effort was made during those four years in Japan. The four years were coming to an end with an absolute inner certainty that there was nothing to be done that it was impossible, impossible to do it this way. There was nothing to be done. And I was intensely concentrated, asking the Lord, Well, I made You a vow to do this, I had said, Even if its necessary to descend into hell, I will descend into hell to do it. Now tell me, what must I do?The Power was plainly there: suddenly everything in me became still; the whole external being was completely immobilized and I had a vision of the Supreme more beautiful than that of the Gita. A vision of the Supreme.8 And this vision literally gathered me into its arms; it turned towards the West, towards India, and offered meand there at the other end I saw Sri Aurobindo. It was I felt it physically. I saw, sawmy eyes were closed but I saw (twice I have had this vision of the Supremeonce here, much later but this was the first time) ineffable. It was as if this Immensity had reduced itself to a rather gigantic Being who lifted me up like a wisp of straw and offered me. Not a word, nothing else, only that.
Then everything vanished.
--
It was after this vision, when I returned from Japan, that this meeting with Sri Aurobindo took place, along with the certainty that the Mission would be accomplished.
(silence)
--
In 1915, when Mother left Pondicherry for France and later Japan.
Actually, Satprem did see Sri Aurobindo in 1946 or 1947.
0 1962-01-09, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
These past few days Ive had some interesting experiences from this standpoint. I had what is commonly called fever, but it wasnt feverit was a resurfacing from the subconscient of all the struggles, all the tensions this body has had for what will soon be eighty-three years. I went through a period in my life when the tension was tremendous, because it was psychological and vital as well as physical: a perpetual struggle against adverse forces; and during my stay in Japan, particularly oh, it was terrible! So at night, everything that had been part of that life in Japanpeople, things, movements, circumstancesall of it seemed to be surrounding my body in the form of vital3 vibrations, and to be taking the place of my present state, which had completely vanished. For hours during the night, the body was reliving all the terrible tensions it had during those four years in Japan. And I realized how much (because at the time you pay no attention; the consciousness is busy with something else and not concentrated on the body), how much the body resists and is tense. And just as I was realizing this, I had a communication with Sri Aurobindo: But youre keeping it up! he told me. Your body still has the habit of being tense. (Its much less now, of course; its quite different since the inner consciousness is in perfect peace, but the BODY keeps the habit of being tense.) For instance, in the short interval between the time I get up and the time I come down to the balcony,4 when I am getting ready (I have to get this body ready to come down) well, the body is tense about being ready in time. And thats why accidents happen at that moment. So the following morning I said, All right, no more tension, and I was exclusively concerned with keeping my body perfectly tranquil I was no later than usual! So its obviously just one of the bodys bad habits. Everything went off the same as usual, and since then things are better. But its a nasty habit.
And so I looked. Is it something particular to this body? I wondered. To everyone who has lived closely with it, my body gives the impression of two things: a very concentrated, very stubborn will, and such endurance! Sri Aurobindo used to tell me he had never dreamed a body could have such endurance. And thats probably why. But I dont want to curtail this ability in any way, because it is a CELLULAR will, and a cellular endurance toowhich is quite intriguing. Its not a central will and central endurance (thats something else altogether)its cellular. Thats why Sri Aurobindo used to tell me this body had been specially prepared and chosen for the Workbecause of its capacity for obstinate endurance and will. But thats no reason to exercise this ability uselessly! So I am making sure it relaxes now; I tell it constantly, Now, now! Just let go! Relax, have some fun, wheres the harm in it? I have to tell it to be quiet, very quiet. And its very surprised to hear that: Ah! Can I live that way? I dont have to hurry? I can live that way?
--
And suddenly I said to myself, How could it be? During all the time he was here, the time we were together (after I came back from Japan, when we were together), life, life on earth, lived such a wondrous divine possibility, so really so unique, something it had never lived to such an extent and in such a way, for thirty years, and it didnt even notice!
That.
0 1962-02-03, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I would like to ask you something about my Japa3. Do you feel its getting me anywhere? Is there any sense to it?
Thats what I have been studying these past two daysnot for you in particular, but the general effect of Japa, the reason for it in the organization of ones life. I cant say I have made any discoveries (maybe for myself, I dont know); but my study is not on higher levels, its right here.
It would take too long to give the details; I can summarize, but I dont want to make a doctrine, and for it to be living its bound to be long.
For some time now I have been running into difficulties with my morning Japa. Its complex. I wont go into details, but certain things seemed to be trying to interfere, either preventing me from going on to the end, or plunging me into a kind of trance that brought everything to a halt. So I began wondering what it was and why. A very, very long curve was involved, but the result of my observations is the following. (All this is purely from the bodys standpoint; I mean it doesnt concern the conscious, living, independent being that would remain the same even without the bodyto be exact, the being whose life, consciousness, freedom and action do not depend on the body. I am speaking here of that which needs the body for its manifestation; that alone was in question.)
There has been a kind of perception of a variety of bodily activities, a whole series of them, having to do exclusively (or so it seems) with the maintenance of the body. Some are on the borderlinesleep, for instance: one portion of it is necessary for good maintenance of the body, and another portion puts it in contact with other parts and activities of the being; but one portion of sleep is exclusively for maintaining the bodys balance. Then there is food, keeping clean, a whole range of things. And according to Sri Aurobindo, spiritual life shouldnt suppress those things; whatever is indispensable for the bodys well-being must be kept up. For ordinary people, all other bodily activities are used for personal pleasure and benefit. The spiritual man, on the other hand, has given his body to serve the Divine, so that the Divine may use it for His work and perhaps, as Sri Aurobindo said, for His joyalthough given the present state of Matter and the body, that seems to me unlikely or at best very intermittent and partial, because this body is much more a field of misery than a field of joy. (None of this is based on speculation, but on personal experience I am relating my personal experience.) But with work, its different: when the body is at work, its in full swing. Thats its joy, its needto exist only to serve Him. To exist only to serve. And of course, to reduce maintenance to a bare minimum while trying to find a way for the Divine to participate in the very restricted, limited and meager possibilities of joy this maintenance may give. To associate the Divine with all those movements and things, like keeping clean, sleeping (although sleep is different, its already a lot more interesting); but especially with personal hygiene, eating and other absolutely indispensable things, the attempt is to associate them with the Divine Presence so that they may be as much an expression of divine joy as possible. (This is realized to a certain extent.)
Now where does Japa fit into all this?
Japa, like meditation, is a procedureapparently the most active and effective procedure for joining, as much as possible, the Divine Presence to the bodily substance. It is the magic of sound, you see.
Naturally, if theres also an awareness of the idea behind it, if one does Japa as a very active CONSCIOUS invocation, then its effects are greatly multiplied. But the basis is the magic of sound. This is a fact of experience, and its absolutely true. The sound OM, for instance, awakens very special vibrations (there are other such sounds as well, but of course that one is the most powerful of all).
It is an attempt to divinize material substance.
From another, almost identical point of view, it fills the physical atmosphere with the Divine Presence. So time spent in Japa is time consecrated to helping the material substance enter into more intimate rapport with the Divine.
And if one adds to this, as I do, a mantric program, that is, a sort of prayer or invocation, a program for both personal development and helping the collective, then it becomes a truly active work. Then theres also what I call external work: contact with others, reading and answering letters, seeing and speaking to people, and finally all the activities having to do with the organization and running of the Ashram (in meditation this work becomes worldwide, but physically, materially, it is limited for the moment to the Ashram).
In the course of my observation, I also saw the position of X and people like him, who practically spend their lives doing Japa, plus meditation, puja,4 ceremonies (I am talking only about sincere people, not fakers). Well, thats their way of working for the world, of serving the Divine, and it seems the best way to themperhaps even the only way but its a question of mental belief. In any case, its obvious that even a bit of not exactly puja, but some sort of ceremony that you set yourself to dohabitual gestures symbolizing and expressing a particular inner statecan also be a help and a way of offering yourself and relating to the Divine and thus serving the Divine. I feel its important looked at in this waynot from the traditional viewpoint, I cant stand that traditional viewpoint; I understand it, but it seems to me like putting a brake on true self-giving to the Divine. I am speaking of SELF-IMPOSED Japa and rules (or, if someone gives you the Japa, rules you accept with all your heart and adhere to). These self-imposed rules should be followed as a gesture of love, as a way of saying to the Divine, I love You. Do you see what I mean? Like arranging flowers in a certain way, burning incense, dozens of little things like that, made beautiful because of what is put into themit is a form of self-giving.
Now, I think that doing Japa with the will and the idea of getting something out of it spoils it a little. You spoil it. I dont much like it when somebody says, Do this and you will get that. Its trueits true, but its a bit like baiting a fish. I dont much like it.
Let it be your own manner of serving the Divine, of relating to Him, loving Him, of joining Him to your physical life, being close to Him and drawing Him close to you that way its beautiful. Each time you say the Word, let it be an invocation, let it be like the recitation of a word of love; then its beautiful.
--
For me, you know, Japa means a moment when all physical life is EXCLUSIVELY for the Divine. A moment when nothing but the Divine existsevery single cell of the body, each second, is EXCLUSIVELY for the Divine, there is nothing but the Divine.
When you succeed in doing that, its good.
Japa shouldnt become so exclusive that its done twenty-four hours out of twenty-four, because then its equivalent to asceticism but there should be a good dose of it.
Its almost the one luxury of life thats how it feels to me. The luxury of That alone, nothing but that divine vibration around you, within you, everywhere. Nothing but the divine vibration.
--
Japa: the continuous repetition of a mantra.
Puja: a ritual or ceremony to invoke or evoke a deity.
0 1962-02-24, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Eight to ten minutes, three times a day before my Japa.
Oh, thats very good.
--
I do my Japa in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.
***
0 1962-03-06, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You know, all those little rules were enjoined to follow: Above all, dont do that; and be sure to do this, dont forget that. Like ablutions, for instance, or attitudes, or what to eattheres no dearth of them. A mountain of dos and dontsall completely swept away! And swept away to the point where sometimes a rule, something highly recommended (Be sure to do this, be careful to do thatan attitude or an action) becomes an obstacle. I hardly dare say it, but one example is having a regular schedulealways making ablutions at the same hour, always doing Japa in the same manner and so on. And I am perfectly aware that Sri Aurobindo himself puts all sorts of trivial obstacles in my wayobstacles I could hurdle with a single second of reflection; he sets them up as if in play. Do you remember the aphorism where he says he was quarreling with the Lord and the Lord made him fall in the mud?2 Thats just what I feel. He puts a stick in my spokes and laughs. So I say, All right, thats enough, I dont give a hoot! Ill do whatever You want, its not my problem; I can do it or not do it, do it this way or that. It has all gone up in smoke now.
What has become constant, though. I shouldnt say it, because its going to get me into trouble again! But anyway, whats trying to be constant is DISCRIMINATION: taking all circumstances, vibrations, relationships, what comes from the people around me, what responds, and putting each in its proper place. A second-to-second discrimination. I know where things are coming from, why they come, their effect, where theyre going to lead me, and so on. Its growing more and more frequent, constant, automaticlike a state of being.
0 1962-05-15, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There was, in fact, a whole group of Ashram people (they might be called the Ashram "intelligentsia") who, influenced by Subhas Bose, were strongly in favor of the Nazis and the Japanese against the British. (It should be recalled that the British were the invaders of India, and thus many people considered Britain's enemies to be automatically India's friends.) It reached the point where Sri Aurobindo had to intervene forcefully and write: "I affirm again to you most strongly that this is the Mother's war.... The victory of one side (the Allies) would keep the path open for the evolutionary forces: the victory of the other side would drag back humanity, degrade it horribly and might lead even, at the worst, to its eventual failure as a race, as others in the past evolution failed and perished.... The Allies at least have stood for human values, though they may often act against their own best ideals (human beings always do that); Hitler stands for diabolical values or for human values exaggerated in the wrong way until they become diabolical.... That does not make the English or Americans nations of spotless angels nor the Germans a wicked and sinful race, but...." (July 29, 1942 and Sept. 3, 1943, Cent. Ed., Vol. XXVI.394 ff.) And on her side also, Mother had to publicly declare: "It has become necessary to state emphatically and clearly that all who by their thoughts and wishes are supporting and calling for the victory of the Nazis are by that very fact collaborating with the Asura against the Divine and helping to bring about the victory of the Asura.... Those, therefore, who wish for the victory of the Nazis and their associates should now understand that it is a wish for the destruction of our work and an act of treachery against Sri Aurobindo." (May 6, 1941, original English.)
See note at the end of this conversation
0 1962-05-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
With the work on the Bulletin and other Ashram publications, translating Sri Aurobindo, working on this Agenda, writing his own books and doing many hours of Japa, plus other tasks besides, Satprem had been working something like fifteen hours a day (except when he ran off somewhere and even then ...) for eight years nonstop.
***
0 1962-05-29, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Mother then asks Satprem various questions about his Japa, and, after a very long silence during which she seems to be elsewhere or looking into the distance, continues:)
It is very interesting, mon petit. As you were telling me about it, I automatically went into that state. And there was a kind ofhow shall I put it? I dont know what to call it. It is a movement akin to will, but it has nothing to do with thought, its a feeling: I wanted to take you into the experience. And it was shown to meliterally shown that your whole relationship with the inner and outer worlds is situated here (gesture above the head); thats why it is so well expressed through intellectual activity. But here (gesture to the solar plexus) theres not much. And I was seeing this, you know, I was touching it. It only comes indirectly, as a consequence. And then down here (gesture lower down): NOTHING. It remains just the way it was formed when you came down to earth!
0 1962-05-31, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The only thing to do is not torment yourself and to say to the Lord (in all sincerity, of course), Its up to You. Rid me of this. And it is very effective. Very effective. At times I have had old things like that dissolved in a flash; certain inveterate little habitsso stupid, but so ingrained you cant get rid of them. Then, while doing Japa or walking or meditating or whatever, suddenly the flame flares up and (you have really had enough of it; it disgusts you, you want it to change, you really want the change) and you say to the Lord, I cant do it on my own. (You very sincerely know you cant do it; you have tried and tried and tried and have achieved exactly nothingyou cant do it.) Well then, I offer it to YouYou do it. Just like that. And all at once you see the thing fading away. It is simply wonderful. You know how Sri Aurobindo used to take away someones pain? Its exactly the same. Certain habits bound up with the bodys formation.
One day I will certainly use the same method on those room changes, but for that it will have to become very clear and distinct, well defined in the consciousness. Because that change of room (intellectually you would call it a change of consciousness, but that means nothing at all; were dealing here with something very, very material) I have sometimes gone through it without experiencing ANY CHANGE OF EFFECT, which probably means I was centered not in the material consciousness but in a higher consciousness dwelling and looking on from elsewherea witness consciousness and I was in a state where everything flows flows like a river of tranquil peace. Truly, its marvelousall creation, all life, all movements, all things, and everything like a single mass, with the body in the midst of it all, blending homogeneously with the whole and it all flows on like a river of peace, peaceful and smiling, on to infinity. And then oops! You trip (gesture of inversion2) and once again find yourself SITUATEDyou ARE somewhere, at some specific moment of time; and then theres a pain here, a pain there, a pain. And sometimes I have seen, I have witnessed the change from the one to the other WITHOUT feeling the pains or experiencing the thing concretely, which means that I wasnt at all in the body, I wasnt BOUND to the body I was seeing, only seeing, just like a witness. And its always accompanied by the kind of observation an indulgent (but not blind) friend might make: But why? Why that again? Thats how it comes. Whats the use of that? And I cant catch hold of what makes it happen.
--
And yet I have noticed that to associate a certain state and a certain aspiration with a certain sound helps the body. No one told me the mantra; I had begun doing Japa before we met X (it had come to me when I was trying to find a means of getting the body to take part in the experience the body itself, you know: THIS). And this help was certainly given to me, because the method imposed itself very, very imperiouslywhen I heard certain Words it was like an electric shock. And then, disregarding all Sanskrit rules, I made myself a sentence; it isnt really a Sanskrit sentence, or any kind of sentence at alla phrase made up of three Words. And these three Words are full of meaning for me. (I wouldnt mention it to a Sanskritist!) They have a full, living meaning. And they have been repeated literally millions and millions of times, I am not exaggerating they surge up from the body spontaneously.
It was the first sound that came from the body when I had that last experience [April 13]. Along with the first pain, came that first soundso it must be quite well rooted.6 And it brings in exactly that vibration of eternal Life: the first thing I felt, all of a sudden, was a kind of strong calm, confident and smiling.
0 1962-06-06, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It must give a sort of woolly effect to someone not used to it. You know, when you want to draw your consciousness withinwhat people call concentrating for meditation, for instance, or Japa, well, to the sharp-edged surface consciousness the movement of interiorization is like entering something not exactly smoky, because it isnt dark, but woolly: the feeling of something with no angles, no precise demarcations. Dont you have that impression when you concentrate?
I dont see anything when I concentrate.
0 1962-06-12, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When I spoke to him, you know, when I went to see him, it was just after my Japa and I was in a state of absolute inner calmabsolute, with not a. I simply felt he had to be helped, because he was saying things that were going against him. So I had this feeling, a very strong feeling of affection, but an affection that states things clearly and unemotionally. I was very calm when I said all that. I did get upset afterwards, but I was upset mainly because he immediately had such an incredible reaction! So then I was at a loss. But the way I put things to him. Really, if he had the least. But even a man who has never done any yoga would have felt I was speaking from my heart, candidly. Even a man with no spiritual culture would have felt that. So how could he take it in such a way!
I am not sure he did.
0 1962-06-23, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Satprem had not "seen" anything, but during his Japa he suddenly had the "impression" of a tall warrior standing next to him; as it was only an "impression " he attached no importance to it. What he wanted was to see, just as one sees a table or a chair.
About 15 feet high.
0 1962-07-14, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And simultaneously there is an automatic perception of timeclock timewhich is rather curious (everything is regulated by the comings and goings of the people around me, you see: such a thing at this time, such a thing at that time), I dont need to hear the clock I am warned just before it strikes. I repeat one part of the Japa in a particular way while lying down, because the Power is greater (these arent meditations, they are actions), and another part while walking. So I stay stretched out for a certain time, I walk for a certain time, and at a fixed hour this one goes, another comes, and so on. But none of them are people; I dont tell them so, but theyre not people: they are movements of the Lord. And its extremely interestingone of the Lords movements will have this particular character, another movement will have a different type of vibration, and they all harmonize very nicely into a whole. But I know what time it is just before the clock strikes: six oclock, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, like that. Not with the words six, seven, but: its time, its time, its time. And along with thisthis clockwork precision I have that other notion of time which is quite different, its. Although its a very rigid convention, our time is a living formation with its own living power here in the world of action. The other time is the rhythm of consciousness. So according to the intensity of the Presence (theres a concentration and an expansion, I mean), according to this pulsationwhich can vary, its not regular and mechanicalwalking around the room takes either no time at all, or else an ENORMOUS amount of time. But this doesnt interfere with the other time, theres no contradiction. Our time is on a different plane, something far more external; but it has its usefulness and its own law, and the one doesnt hinder the other.4
And its gradually becoming foreseeable that.5
--
Mother's Japa.
Ever since Einstein's Theory of Relativity, we have known that such an experience of time's relative nature is "physically" feasible. We need only consider the example of time aboard a spaceship approaching the speed of light: time "slows down," and the same event will take less time aboard the spaceship than on earth. In this instance, speed is what makes time slow down. In Mother's experience (which is every bit as "physical"), the "intensity of the Presence" seems to be the origin of time change. In other words, consciousness is what makes time slow down. Thus we are witnessing two experiences with identical physical results, but formulated in different languages. In one, we speak of "speed," in the other of "consciousness." But what is speed, after all?... (Moreover, the implications of this "language" difference are quite colossal, for it would indeed be simpler to press on a "consciousness button" than on an accelerator that had to take us to the speed of light.) Speed is a question of distance. Distance is a question of two legs or two wings: it implies a limited phenomenon or a limited being. When we say "at the speed of light," we imagine our two legs or our two wings moving very, very fast. And all the phenomena of the universe are seen and conceived of in relation to these two legs, these two wings or this rocketship they are creations of our present-day biped biology. But for a being (a supramental being, of the future biology) containing everything within himself, who is immediately everywhere, without distance, where is "speed"? ... The only "speed of light" is biped. Speed increases and time slows down, they say. The future biology says: consciousness intensifies and time slows down or ceases to existdistances are abolished, the body doesn't age. And the world's whole physical cage collapses. "Time is a rhythm of consciousness," says Mother. We change rhythm and the physical world changes. Might this be the whole problem of transformation?
0 1962-07-21, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Ah, look at thisyesterday someone read me a letter Sri Aurobindo wrote to Barin in April 1920, a few days before I returned from Japan. It was written in Bengalitremendously interesting! He speaks of the state of the world, particularly India, and of how he envisaged a certain part of his action after completing his yoga. Its extremely interesting. And theres some very high praise for Europe. Sri Aurobindo says something like this: You all think Europe is over and done with, but thats not true, its not finished yet. In other words, its power is still alive.
This was in 1920.
0 1962-07-25, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And it has never left meyou know, as a proof of Sri Aurobindos power its incomparable! I dont believe there has ever been an example of such a (how can I put it?) such a total success: a miracle. It has NEVER left me. I went to Japan, I did all sorts of things, had all possible kinds of adventures, even the most unpleasant, but it never left mestillness, stillness, stillness
And it was he who did it, entirely. I didnt even ask him, there was no aspiration, nothing (there were my previous efforts; I knew it had to come, thats all). But on that day I hadnt mentioned it to him, I wasnt thinking about it, I wasnt doing anythingjust sitting there. And outwardly he seemed to be fully engrossed in his conversation about this and that and what was going to happen in the world.
0 1962-07-28, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When Mother returned from Japan in April 1920.
The first Prayers and Meditations date from November 1912, but there may have been earlier ones among the numerous texts Mother destroyed.
0 1962-09-05, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But one has to. Look, its the same as for Japa. Your Japa is given to you, isnt it? You receive it (unless you find it on your own, but thats harder and already requires another level of realization); you receive your Japa along with the power to do it but you have to learn how to do it, right? For a long while you dont fully succeed; all sorts of things happenyou forget it right in the middle or fall asleep or grow tired, get a headache, all sorts of things; or even outer circumstances interfere and disturb you. Well, here its the same: you tell yourself, Ill do it, and you will do it, even if. You have to go at it just like a mule: everything blocks the way but you keep going. You said youd do it and you will do it. There are no results I dont care. Everything is against me I dont care. I said Id do it and I will I said Id do it and I will. And you keep on going like that.
Its the same thing in your case. It depends on what you want to achieve. Simply what I told you about sleep or resting, for example, ought to be enough. On that, you base your own disciplineor on words that were uttered, or gestures that were made, or ideas youve received. You establish your own discipline. And once you have chosen your discipline, you keep on with it.
0 1962-09-15, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I wrote a lot in Japan.
Anyway, everything of general interest was kept. But thats why there are gaps in the dates, otherwise it would be continuousit was monumental, you know!
0 1962-10-30, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its like that famous Nirvanayou can find it behind everything. Theres a psychic nirvana, a mental nirvana, even a vital nirvana. I think I already told you about the experience I had with Tagore in Japan. Tagore always used to say that as soon as he started meditating he entered Nirvana, and he asked me to meditate with him. We sat together in meditation. I was expecting to make a very steep ascent, but he simply went into his MIND, and there (what I do, you see, is tune in to the person I am meditating with, identify with him thats how I know what happens). Well, he started meditating, and everything quite rapidly came to a halt, became absolutely immobile (this he did very well), and from there he sort of fell backwards, and it was Nothingness. And he could remain in that state indefinitely! We did in fact stay like that for a rather long time; I dont remember how long, three quarters of an hour or an hour, but anyway it was long enough. I was keeping alert the whole time to see if, by chance, he would go on into something else, but there he stayedhe stayed there nice and calm, without stirring. Then he came back, his mind started up again, and that was that.
I said nothing to him.
0 1962-11-03, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But I deliberately come into contact with these things. When I walk in the morning for Japa, its all systematically put under the supreme Influence, it gets cleared up and sorted out. Some good work gets done.
We mustnt see these things as inescapable, but rather take them as indications of whats being changed.
0 1962-11-17, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In April 1942, when England was struggling against the Nazis and Japan, which was threatening to invade Burma and India, Churchill sent an emissary, Sir Stafford Cripps, to New Delhi with a very generous proposal which he hoped would rally India's goodwill and cooperation in the fight against the worldwide threat. In this proposal, Great Britain offered India Dominion status, as a first step towards an independent government. Sri Aurobindo at once came out of retirement to wire his adhesion to Cripps; he wired all of India's leaders, and even sent a personal messenger to Gandhi and the Indian Congress to convince them to accept this unhoped for proposal without delay. One of Sri Aurobindo's telegrams to Rajagopalachari (the future President of India) spoke of the grave danger, which no one seemed to see, of rejecting Cripps' proposal: "... Some immediate solution urgent face grave peril. Appeal to you to save India formidable danger new foreign domination when old on way to self-elimination." No one understood: "Why is he meddling?" Had it accepted Dominion status, India would have avoided the partition of the country in two, the artificial creation of Pakistan, as well as the three wars that were to follow (and which we haven't heard the last of), and the blood bath that ravaged Bengal and the Punjab in 1947 at the time of the partition. (See in Addendum an extract from Sri Aurobindo's message on the occasion of India's Independence.)
There is another side to the story. When Nehru died, Mother said in a message of May 27, 1964: "Nehru leaves his body but his soul is ONE with the Soul of India, that lives for Eternity."
0 1962-11-20, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The only danger at the time was Japan, and Japan had officially declared it wouldnt bomb Pondicherry because of Sri Aurobindo. But at least there were still men in their planes, and they could choose not to bomb. But you dont tell a jet plane Dont crash here! It crashes wherever it can.
Yes, but its still hard to see why they would come here.
0 1963-03-23, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
One thing, though: suddenly I read (yesterday or the day before) a sermon delivered in the U.S.A. by an American (who is a rabbi, a pastor and even a Catholic priest all at the same time!). He heads a group, a group for the unity of religions. A fairly young man, and a preacher. He gives a sermon every week, I think. He came here with some other Americans, stayed for two days and went back. But then, he sent us the sermons he had given since his return, and in one of them he recounts his spiritual journey, as he calls it (a spiritual journey through China, Japan, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, and so on up to India). What shocked him most in India was the povertyit was an almost unbearable experience for him (thats also what prompted the two persons who were with him to leave, and he left with them): poverty. Personally, I dont know because Ive seen poverty everywhere; I saw it wherever I went, but it seems Americans find it very shocking. Anyway, they came here, and in his sermon he gives his impression of the Ashram. I read it almost with astonishment. That man says that the minute he entered this place, he felt a peace, a calm, a stability he had never felt ANYWHERE else in his life. He met a man (he doesnt say who, he doesnt name him and I couldnt find out), who he says was such a monument of divine peace and quietude that I only wished to sit silently at his side. Who it is, I dont know (theres only Nolini who might, possibly, give that impression). He attended the meditationhe says he had never felt anything so wonderful anywhere. And he left with the feeling this was a unique place in the world from the point of view of the realization of divine Peace. I read that almost with surprise. And hes a man who, intellectually, is unable to understand or follow Sri Aurobindo (the horizon is quite narrow, he hasnt got beyond the unity of religions, thats the utmost he can conceive of). Well, in spite of that Those who already know all of Sri Aurobindo, who come here thinking they will see and who feel that Peace, I can understand. But thats not the case: he was enthralled at once!
Its the same with people who get cured. That I know, to some extent: the Power acts so forcefully that it is almost miraculousat a distance. The Power I am very conscious of the Power. But, I must say, I find it doesnt act here so well as it does far away. On government or national matters, on the terrestrial atmosphere, on great movements, also as inspirations on the level of thought (in certain people, to realize certain things), the Power is very clear. Also to save people or cure themit acts very strongly. But much more at a distance than here! (Although the receptivity has increased since I withdrew because, necessarily, it gave people the urge to find inside something they no longer had outside.) But here, the response is very erratic. And to distinguish between the proportion that comes from faith, sincerity, simplicity, and what comes from the Power Some people I am able to save (naturally, in my view, its because they COULD be saved), this is something that for a very long time I have been able to foresee. But now I dont try to know: it comes like this (gesture like a flash). If, for instance, I am told, So and so has fallen ill, well, immediately I know if he will recover (first if its nothing, some passing trouble), if he will recover, if it will take some time and struggle and difficulties, or if its fatalautomatically. And without trying to know, without even trying: the two things come together.2 This capacity has developed, first because I have more peace, and because, having more peace, things follow a more normal course. But there were two or three little instances where I said to the Lord (gesture of presenting something, palms open upward), I asked Him to do a certain thing, and then (not very often, it doesnt happen to me often; at times it comes as a necessity, a necessity to present the thing with a commentfrom morning to evening and evening to morning I present everything constantly, thats my movement [same gesture of presenting something] but here, there is a comment, as if I were asking, Couldnt this be done?), and then the result: yes, immediately. But I am not the one who presents the thing, you see: its just the way it is, it just happens that way, like everything else.3 So my conclusion is that its part of the Plan, I mean, a certain vibration is necessary, enters [into Mother], intervenes, and No stories to tell, mon petit! Nothing to fill people with enthusiasm or give them trust, nothing.
0 1963-04-20, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I had two experiences of that kind. The first was at Tlemcen3 and the second in Japan. There was an epidemic of influenza, an influenza that came from the war (the 1914 war), and was generally fatal. People would get pneumonia after three days, and plop! finished. In Japan they never have epidemics (its a country where epidemics are unknown), so they were caught unawares; it was an ideal breeding ground, absolutely unpreparedincredible: people died by the thousands every day, it was incredible! Everybody lived in terror, they didnt dare to go out without masks over their mouths. Then somebody whom I wont name asked me (in a brusque tone), What Is this? I answered him, Better not think about it. Why not? he said, Its very interesting! We must find out, at least you are able to find out whatever this is. Silly me, I was just about to go out; I had to visit a girl who lived at the other end of Tokyo (Tokyo is the largest city in the world, it takes a long time to go from one end to the other), and I wasnt so well-off I could go about in a car: I took the tram. What an atmosphere! An atmosphere of panic in the city! You see, we lived in a house surrounded by a big park, secluded, but the atmosphere in the city was horrible. And the question, What Is this? naturally came to put me in contact I came back home with the illness. I was sure to catch it, it had to happen! (laughing) I came home with it.
Like a bang on the head I was completely dazed. They called a doctor. There were no medicines left in the citythere werent enough medicines for people, but as we were considered important people (!) the doctor brought two tablets. I told him (laughing), Doctor, I never take any medicines. What! he said. Its so hard to get them!Thats just the point, I replied, theyre very good for others! Then, then suddenly (I was in bed, of course, with a first-rate fever), suddenly I felt seized by trance the real trance, the kind that pushes you out of your body and I knew. I knew: Its the end; if I cant resist it, its the end. So I looked. I looked and I saw it was a being whose head had been half blown off by a bomb and who didnt know he was dead, so he was hooking on to anybody he could to suck life. And each of those beings (I saw one over me, doing his business!) was one of the countless dead. Each had a sort of atmospherea very widespread atmosphereof human decomposition, utterly pestilential, and thats what gave the illness. If it was merely that, you recovered, but if it was one of those beings with half a head or half a body, a being who had been killed so brutally that he didnt know he was dead and was trying to get hold of a body in order to continue his life (the atmosphere made thousands of people catch the illness every day, it was swarming, an infection), well, with such beings, you died. Within three days it was overeven before, within a day, sometimes. So once I saw and knew, I collected all the occult energy, all the occult power, and (Mother bangs down her fist, as if to force her way into her body) I found myself back in my bed, awake, and it was over. Not only was it over, but I stayed very quiet and began to work in the atmosphere. From that moment on, mon petit, there were no new cases! It was so extraordinary that it appeared in the Japanese papers. They didnt know how it happened, but from that day on, from that night on, not a single fresh case. And people recovered little by little.
I told the story to our Japanese friend in whose house we were living, I told him, Well, thats what this illness isa remnant of the war; and heres the way it happens. And that being was repaid for his attempt! Naturally, the fact that I repelled his influence by turning around and fighting [dissolved the formation]. But what power it takes to do that! Extraordinary.
He told the story to some friends, who in turn told it to some friends, so in the end the story became known. There was even a sort of collective thanks from the city for my intervention. But the whole thing stemmed from that: What Is this illness? Youre able to find out, arent you? (Laughter) Go and catch it!
0 1963-04-25, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I received your card of the 23rd yesterday, and it coincided with an improvement in the atmosphere and even a physical improvement. I have rarely felt your Force and your Presence so concretely, continuously and powerfully as since I arrived here. To say that it is the only reality is almost superfluousThat alone really LIVES. All the rest is a false show. I am anxious to leave this place, but X said he wants to make certain changes in my Japa, so I have to wait for the right moment. It is difficult to hurry X, as you know. I will wire you as soon as the time comes. Otherwise, I am experiencing Xs power of mental stillness, which is quite remarkable. All the rest I find rather poor.
More and more I feel, live and see that That alone is real. It is a very engrossing experience.
--
I am waiting for X to make certain changes in my Japa, as he said he would, and will then come back without further delay. These last two days my health has been better. I am no longer constantly tired as I was before. In the evening I take a walk alone in the vast dunes near Rameshwaram, it feels like Arabia, and no loudspeakers! You rest in a sort of tranquil infinity.
The monkeys stole my mirror while I was taking my bath, and after marveling at themselves in it at length, they broke it. Then they threw my toothpaste into the well. They were kind enough, however, to leave me my razor, for fear I would end up looking like them, probably!
0 1963-05-11, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
If I could only have the Word, as the Rishis said, the true mantra, I would keep at it, Id do hours of Japa if necessary, but I would go right to the end. Its as if I were told, See this plot of land, there are ten million cubic feet of earth to dig, and at the end of it is freedom. Well, Id set to it, whatever the time needed, because Id know there is an end. But for that you need a pickaxe.
Nobody can give you the true mantra. Its not something that is given: its something that wells up from within. It must spring from within all of a sudden, spontaneously, like a profound, intense need of your being then it has power, because its not something that comes from outside, its your very own cry.
--
Its the same with my mantra. When I wanted to translate the end of my mantra, Glory to You, O Lord, into Sanskrit, I asked for Nolinis help. He brought his Sanskrit translation, and when he read it to me, I immediately saw that the power was therenot because Nolini put his power into it (!), God knows he had no intention of giving me a mantra! But the power was there because my experience was there. We made a few adjustments and modifications, and thats the Japa I do now I do it all the time, while sleeping, while walking, while eating, while working, all the time.1 And thats how a mantra has life: when it wells up all the time, spontaneously, like the cry of your beingthere is no need of effort or concentration: its your natural cry. Then it has full power, it is alive. It must well up from within. No guru can give you that.
Well up. Well, its a long way to go! I will need a great deal of paper for all those diagrams [Tantric diagrams given by X]: seventy-two every day.
--
It came to me while I was walking [for the Japa]. I had a kind of vision of you squatting askew and writing. And I thought, But thats awful! Hell ruin his health!
What is needed is to have the inner attitude.
--
Mother later clarified: "'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't MY mantra, it's something I ADDED to itmy mantra is something else altogether, that's not it. When I say that my mantra has the power of immortality, I mean the other, the one I don't speak of! I have never given the words.... You see, at the end of my walk, a kind of enthusiasm rises, and with that enthusiasm, the 'Glory to You' came to me, but it's part of the prayer I had written in Prayers and Meditations: 'Glory to You, O Lord, all-triumphant Supreme' etc. (it's a long prayer). It came back suddenly, and as it came back spontaneously, I kept it. Moreover, when Sri Aurobindo read this prayer in Prayers and Meditations, he told me it was very strong. So I added this phrase as a kind of tail to my Japa. But 'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't my spontaneous mantrait came spontaneously, but it was something written very long ago. The two things are different."
Such is the case, for example, of Anandamayi-M, who was said to be hysterical because of the strange gestures she made during her meditations, until it turned out that they were ritual asanas and mudras which she performed spontaneously.
0 1963-06-03, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It is this mind of the cells which seizes upon a mantra or a Japa and eventually repeats it automatically, and with what persistence! That is to say, CONTINUALLY. Thats what Sri Aurobindo means when he says it can be a help: it keeps at things indefinitely (Mother clenches her fist in an unwavering gesture).
A few days ago, at the end of an activity or a situation which demanded an effort, almost a struggle, I heard (its odd), I heard the cells repeat my mantra! It was like a choir in which each cell was repeating the mantra, automatically. Well, this is odd! I thought. And it was just after that, the next day and the day after, that someone showed me this letter.
--
Because its also through Japa, mantras, the awakening of the physical consciousness, that the Tantric power operates.
I think their power comes from a higher layer [higher than the cellular mind]. Because their action is very cerebral: its effect is always here (gesture at the forehead and temples), it takes you here (same gesture)its even painful!
0 1963-06-15, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But mentally, you know (Mother makes a gesture: completely obtuse). There is a prince of Kashmir who came here once, a young man3; he went to England, and there he wrote a thesis on Sri Aurobindos political life, Sri Aurobindo, Prophet of Indian Nationalism, with a preface by Jawaharlal Nehru. I read the preface, but afterwards, the day after I saw Nehruits awful! Understands nothing, he understands nothing, nothing, nothing, absolutely obtuse. Its very kind, but written by someone who understands nothing. I will tell you the thing: between my first and second visits here, while I was away in Japan and Gandhi was starting his campaign,4 he sent a telegram, then a messenger, to Sri Aurobindo here, asking him to be president of the Congressto which Sri Aurobindo answered No.
Those people never forgave him.
0 1963-06-22, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I had a rather amusing experience while walking [during Japa]. I was looking at peoples attitude (I mean those who think they lead a spiritual life, who think they have made a surrender), and how they are utterly vexed when things dont happen the way they want! (They dont always admit it, they dont always say it to themselves, but its a fact.) Then all at once, I saw a huge robothuge, magnificent, resplendent, covered with gold and jewelsa huge being but a robot. And all-powerfulall-powerful, capable of doing anything, anything at all; anything you could imagine, he could do it: you had only to press a button and he did it. And it was (laughing) as if the Lord were telling me, See, here is what I am to them!
I couldnt have recounted the experience just like that, but I made a note of it. He said, See, this is what I am to them. So I wrote it down.
0 1963-06-26a, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I used to write my whole Japa fluently like that, in Sanskrit,1 now I have forgotten everything again.
(Then Mother starts writing from memory Satprems yantram with its nine figures, in the prescribed order. A few days earlier, Mother had done it without a single mistake; today she stops in the middle:)
0 1963-07-24, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
May 7, 1945, in Europe and August 15 in Japan.
We find it worthwhile to publish here a letter Mother wrote (in English) to Prithwi Singh, Sujata's father, just a few days before Sri Aurobindo's letter published at the beginning of this conversation, on August 30, 1945: "I do not see that the Supramental will act in the way you expect from It. Its action will be to effectuate the Divine's Will upon earth whatever that may be. On men Its action will be to turn their will consciously or unconsciously on their part towards the way in which the Divine's Will wants them to go. But I cannot promise you that the Divine's will is to preserve the present human civilisation."
0 1963-08-07, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its giving me the same kind of nights again. But its odd, I dont know what it means, last night there were buildings made of a kind of red granite, and many Japanese. Japanese women sewing and making ladies dresses and fabrics; Japanese youths climbing up and down the buildings with great agility; and everybody was very nice. But it was always the same thing (gesture of a collapse or a fall into a hole): you know, a path opens up, you walk on it, and after a while, plop! it all collapses. And there was a young Japanese man who was climbing up and down the place absolutely like a monkey, with extraordinary ease: Oh, I thought, but thats what I should do! But when I approached the spot, the things he used to climb up and down vanished! Finally, after a while, I made a decision: I will go just the same, and found myself downstairs. There I met some people and all sorts of things took place. But what I found interesting was that all the buildings (there were a great many of them, countless buildings!) were made of a kind of red porphyry. It was very beautiful, Granite or porphyry, there were both. Wide stairs, big halls, large gardenseven in the gardens there were constructions.
But outwardly, difficulties are coming back, in the sense that the Chinese seem to be seized again with a zeal to conquer they are massing troops at the border.
--
(As if by chance, Satprem reads Mother an old conversation, of January 24, 1961, on the influenza epidemic in Japan during World War I.)
And the best part of the story is that theyve never had that type of influenza since.
The Japanese are receptive people.
Theyve learned so much from the Americansit has warped their taste, but now its beginning to come back. Also, all that theyve learned helps them. And theyve converted America to the sense of Beauty!
Its odd, last night, it was all Japanese.
***
0 1963-10-16, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You understand, I know those things, I have seen thousands of them! Only, as it happens, for more than half a century I have sensed the difference in a most sharp way. I think I told you already that when I returned here from Japan, there were difficulties: once, I was in danger and I called Sri Aurobindo; he appeared, and the danger went away2he appeared, meaning, he came, something from him came, an EMANATION of him came, living, absolutely concrete. The next day (or rather later the same day), I told him my experience and how I saw him; that worried him (it was an unceasing danger, you see), and he very strongly thought that he should concentrate on me to protect me. And the next day, I saw him but it was an image, a mental formation! I told him, Yes, you came in a mental formation, it wasnt the same thing. Then he told me that this capacity of discernment is an extremely rare thing. But I always had it, even when I was small. Its a sensitiveness in the perception. And indeed I believe that very few people can sense the difference. So with X, my first impression was, My goodness, to do this to me! Well, really, I have some experience of the world, I cant be so easily made to believe that the moon is made of green cheese!
And yesterday, it was all very peaceful: X was there all the time with nobody in front of him, not pretending anything. But the first time, as he expected some result, he stayed on for ten minutesprobably he was expecting some reaction (I never told him that Sri Aurobindo is with me all the time, that we talk to each other every night). Anyhow, he was probably expecting some enthusiasm on my part (!) There you are.
0 1964-02-05, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But when you have the experience perfectly sincerely, that is, when you dont kid yourself, its necessarily one single point, ONE WAY of putting it, thats all. And it can only be that. There is, besides, the very obvious observation that when you habitually use a certain language, the experience expresses itself in that language: for me, it always comes either in English or in French; it doesnt come in Chinese or Japanese! The words are necessarily English or French, with sometimes a Sanskrit word, but thats because physically I learned Sanskrit. Otherwise, I heard (not physically) Sanskrit uttered by another being, but it doesnt crystallize, it remains hazy, and when I return to a completely material consciousness, I remember a certain vague sound, but not a precise word. Therefore, the minute it is formulated, its ALWAYS an individual angle.
It takes a sort of VERY AUSTERE sincerity. You are carried away by enthusiasm because the experience brings an extraordinary power, the Power is there its there before the words, it diminishes with the words the Power is there, and with that Power you feel very universal, you feel, Its a universal Revelation. True, it is a universal revelation, but once you say it with words, its no longer universal: its only applicable to those brains built to understand that particular way of saying it. The Force is behind, but one has to go beyond the words.
0 1964-04-25, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Anniversary of Mother's second coming to Pondicherry, after her stay in Japan.
***
0 1964-05-02, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I am in silence, gazing at the sea. In fact, I am not in Brittany, not in St-Pierre, not in France, I am in Air-Indias waiting room, waiting for July 18. I am neither happy nor unhappy I am nothing, I am as if anesthetized, counting hours and days in my waiting room. During my Japa-meditation, perhaps I exist a little more: instead of a nothing, its a super-nothingyou see, Nirvana is at the door if you dont hold my string firmly in your hands.
Why do I have to write all those lines in ink when it would be so much simpler to think of you, and lo! I would be with you, I would see you. Our human life is quite bounded and stupid. In two hundred years, in Eskimo land, we will be colored penguins; you will be sky blue and I, pomegranate red. And sometimes, I will be you and you will be me, red and blue, and well no longer be able to tell each other apart, or else well become all white like snow and no one will be able to find us again, except the great Caribou who is wise and knows love. And when the snow melts, we will be eider-penguins, of course, a new flying race, emerald, which plays among the northern fir trees on the shores of Lake Rokakitutu (pronounced fiddledeedee in penguin language).
0 1964-05-17, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Of course, Nature is wonderful, the sea is so beautiful, the climate delightful, but ultimately, when I close my eyes and meditate, I feel something fuller and more solid than all the degrees centigrade on a pearly sea. In reality, I spend my days waiting for my hours of Japa-meditation, it is the real open sea, the peace that refreshes. It is something, and if it is nothing, its a nothing that is worth everything. Yet there is no progress of consciousness, I dont see anything, least of all youyou tell me that you know the reason, I would really like to know what it is. I cannot understand why I am so blocked (my Western atavism?). I know the Light, I see the Space, I feel the Force, there is the absolute Truth that rules everything, pacifies everything, but inside there is nothing, not even the tip of your nosewhy? I dont see Mother either, its complete blackout. Inside, there is the Light, without a doubt, but why is it all black outside?No communication between the two. Do you make sense of it? Drat!
S.
0 1964-06-04, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Last night, it involved the countries of the Far East, particularly China and Japan. You were there with me. We were trying to do some good work and to bring about a rapprochement. The details were picturesque and interesting but too long to narrate.
Dont worry about the Bulletin: Nolini has only just finished his translation. I will revise the Questions and Answers with Pavitra, and as for the aphorism, we will see later.
0 1964-06-27, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I dont feel tiredwhat tires me is rather human beings with their constant agitation and troubled atmosphere. Anyway, I am happy to be with my brother. The difficulty is that I no longer know how to speak, I have lost the habit of conversation, and people talk and talk, ask questions without giving you time to answer, and in that whirl it is quite hard to pull down true words. In fact, my only rest is when I am alone doing my Japa; then everything seems to open, to relax, and I feel I am back home. Otherwise I am like a cork tossed about on the sea and turned in all directions. People dont livethey bustle about. It is painful to be constantly pulled outside, constantly torn from oneself. I am not able to live in this world any longer, I think I would die if I had to stay here.
S.
0 1964-08-05, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(D., a disciple, sent Mother an eighteenth-century account by a Japanese monk of the Zen Buddhist sect describing a method called "Introspection," which enables one to overcome cold and hunger and attain physical immortality. Mother reads a few pages, then gives up.)
[Herms magazine, Spring 1963.]
0 1964-08-08, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There are some strange things. When I went to Japan, I met a man there who was a striking reproduction of my father the first moment, I wondered if I was dreaming. I think my father was already dead, but I am not sure, I dont remember exactly (my father died while I was in Japan, thats all I know). But he was the same age as my father, which means they were born together, at the same time. My father was born in Turkey, while this one was born in Japan but anyway, it WAS my father! And this man took to me with a paternal passion, it was extraordinary! He wanted to see me all the time, he showered me with gifts. And we could hardly talk to each other, as he knew very little English. But what a resemblance! As if one were the exact replica of the other: same size, same features, same color (he was exceptionally white for a Japanese, and my father wasnt white as northern people are: he was white as people from the Middle East are, just like me).
It always surprised me. You know, people often say, Oh, they look like each other, but thats not it! He was like an exact replica.
0 1964-08-14, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I told you (and even wrote you when you were in France) that I was seeing you. At one time I used to go to the place where the events in the various countries of the world are preparedyou were there, too. And you seemed to be very interested. There were goings-on between China and Japan, and it was very funny because one could see events, people with quite unexpected costumes and all sorts of things, ways of life and so on, and it didnt correspond to an active knowledge: it was a FACT, I had gone there. And you were there; you were there with me and you were interested.
I remember once (I wrote to you about it), we spent a long time, a long while, looking at what the Chinese wanted to do, and there were the two kinds of Chinese: the Communist Chinese and the Formosan Chinese. And they were doing things: there were not only ideas, but acts, their actions could be seen. Now Ive forgotten the details, but it was really very interesting. There was a place (it was where I wanted to go, and I did go there), the place where the meeting point of those Chinese could be found I was always leading people and circumstances to a plane where a harmony is worked out.
0 1964-08-29, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Thats odd! Very recently, a few days ago, after you came last time, again while I was walking for my Japa, this whole story of Narada came to me! Sri Aurobindo said that Narada himself was deceived and didnt recognize in Janaka a true spiritual manit all came back to me suddenly. I wondered, Well, well! Why am I thinking of this?
Its like that all the time! All the time, all the time.
0 1964-09-23, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
He has completely stupefied him. He has to do six to seven hours of Japa a day.
From a certain point of view, its good, because W has never been able to see anything through to the end, its the first time he has persevered. From that point of view, its good for his character. But still, I found the amount fantastic! He has to do three lakhs of this, four lakhs1 of that, some six or seven hours of recitation a day. Its a lot. And then you have to remain sitting in the same position all the timehe should at least be allowed to do it walking.
--
I dont know what is the fruit of the Japa and what is simply the fruit of a sedimentation: I cant tell. I know that when I am doing my Japa, there is a rather concentrated force, but I dont know if that comes from the Japa or, quite simply, from the fact that I concentrate. I cant tell.
Oh, you mean the words of the Japathose words have only the power given by the generations that have repeated them.
(silence)
--
I have noticed that this Japa automatically triggered the physical mind into a great activity.
The physical mind!
Yes, that is to say, when I begin the Japa, I am assailed by a number of material questions, tiny little material things that happened during the day and come back. Uninteresting things. The Japa seems to act on that mind, on that bit of physical mind.
Yes, it WANTS to act there. Thats why its action is stupefyingit is meant to stupefy that mind. But there are people who cant be stupefied, mon petit! Its very good for average humanity, it can help average humanity, but on those who have an intellectuality, it cannot act.
0 1964-10-10, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
On the material level, Japa is very good for that. When your head is tired and you are a little weary of forever contradicting that pessimism, you just have to repeat your Japa, and automatically you make contact. To make contact. Thats something the cells value a lot. A lot. Its a very good way, because its a way that isnt mental, its a mechanical way, its a question of vibration.
There, mon petit, we must endure.
0 1964-11-14, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its the vital contained in Matterits like the phenomenon of radiation. Its a violent liberation of something contained in Matter. Like radiation. And it spreads out. They have indeed noticed it, but they dont want to know: when they exploded the bomb in Japan, the consequences went much, much farther than they expected, they were infinitely more serious and long-lasting than expected, because the sudden liberation of those forces They only perceive a certain quantity, but there is all that is behind, which spreads out and has its action. You see, they observe, for instance, that cows are poisoned and their milk isnt drinkable for a certain time (it happened in England), but thats the most crude and outer phenomenon there is another, deeper one, which is FAR more serious.
So when I said that [the twisted face of a Chinese], it seems to be beside the point, but thats because when those two things coincided,2 Kali suddenly became furious I saw Kali furious, as when she decides that it will be paid for. So V.s vision adds a few landmarks.
0 1964-11-21, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Listen, yesterday or the day before (anyway after I saw you last time), for a whole day I had exactly the sensation youve just told me. I suddenly remembered sensations or impressions or experiences I had when I was here or there, in France, in Japan, and I had that impression yes, of a thinning down, a shrinking to the point of nonexistence.
Yes, exactly.
0 1965-01-12, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But I knew that being, I had already seen him in Japanhe called himself the Lord of Nations. And he really was a form of the Asura of Falsehood, that is, of Truth which became Falsehood: the first Emanation of Truth, who became Falsehood.
And he hasnt been destroyed yet.
0 1965-02-19, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The mantra Did you get my note? Several times while walking for my Japa, I sent you the mantra insistently.
The truth is that I intend to give you a beautiful present. Only, for it to be truly a beautiful present, it is necessary that the mind shouldnt interfere in any way; otherwise I wont be able to pass the Power on to you along with the words.
0 1965-06-18 - supramental ship, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Ah! It was the same thing when I was in Japan, all that they were taught they would improve onit would become absolutely unworkable! After the American occupation, they understood.
(silence)
One is wondering if, really, it wont be necessary to have an American occupation here, which would have the double effect of converting the Americans and making the Indians make some progress. Practical progress is what they would make, as the Japanese did. And the Americans are now the disciples of the Japanese: from the point of view of Beauty they have made wonderful and absolutely unexpected progress. If the Americans came here, they would be converted, they would become oh, they would understand spiritual life. Only, of course, it wouldnt be too pleasant (!) But its the surest methodits always the dominator that learns the lesson from the dominated. The Americans might become the most militant spiritualists in the world if they occupied India. Only, the Indians would have a bad time. But they would become very practical, they would learn to put order in what they dowhich they quite lack (just see, I didnt make you say that for that typewriter).
Its troublesome. Its something in suspense [the American occupation]. In my active consciousness, I dont want it. First, it would take a long timeit always takes a long time. A lot of time wasted, a lot of suffering, a lot of humiliation. But its a very radical method.
0 1965-07-10, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I can tell you (if it helps your physical mind) that in Japan I had a sort of measles (which had its own rather deep reasons) and that the Japanese doctor (who, besides, had studied in Germany, anyway he was a doctor through and through) told me very gravely that I should take care, that I was in the early stages of this wonderful disease, that above all I should never live in a cold climate, and this and that. I was losing weight and so on. That was in Japan. Then I came here and I said that to Sri Aurobindo, who looked at me and smiled; and it was over, we didnt talk about it anymore. We didnt talk about it anymore and it wasnt there anymore! (laughing) It was all over. When I met Dr. S., years later, I asked him. Nothing at all, he said, everything is fine, there is absolutely nothing, not a trace. And I hadnt done anything, I hadnt taken any medicine or any precaution. Only, I had told Sri Aurobindo about it, who had looked at me and smiled.
Well, I am convinced thats how it is, thats all. But the physical mind doesnt believe in that. It believes that thats all very well in the higher realms, but when we are in Matter things follow a law of Matter and are material and mechanical, and there is a mechanism, and when the mechanism and so on and so forth (not with these words, but with this thought). And one has to keep forever working on that, forever saying, Oh, put a stop to all your difficulties, keep quiet!
0 1965-08-07, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It followed a long curve. It began with a deep disgust for its [the material minds] habitual activity; I started catching (not now: its been going on for weeks), catching all its routine and almost automatic activities I have said it several times: this material mind is defeatist, always pessimistic, meddlesome, grumbling, disgruntled, lacking in faith, lacking in trust. Even when it tends to be joyful and content, something comes and says, Ah, stop it, because youll get another knock. That sort of thing. It went on for weeks, and a continuous, constant work. It always ended in the offering. There was a beginning of progress when No, first I should tell all that happened before. To begin with, the Japa, the mantra, for instance, was taken as a discipline; then from the state of discipline it changed into a state of satisfaction (but still with the sense of a duty to be done); then from that it changed into a sort of state of constant satisfaction, with the desire (not desire, but a will or an aspiration) for it to be more frequent, more constant, more exclusive. Then there was a sort of repugnance to and rejection of all that comes and disturbs, mixed with a sense of duty towards work, people and so on, and all that made a muddle and a great confusion. And it always ended in the transfer to the Supreme along with the aspiration for things to change. A long process of development.
Recently there was a sort of will for equality towards activities that had been tolerated or accepted only as an effect of the consecration and in obedience to the supreme Will. And then, all of a sudden they became something very positive, with a sense of freedom and a spontaneity of state, and a beginning of understanding of the attitude with which the action must be done. All this came very, very progressively. And then this morning, there was the experience.
0 1965-08-21, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Regarding a Playground Talk of March 17, 1951, published in the latest "Bulletin," in which Mother says that when she returned from Japan in 1920, she felt Sri Aurobindo's atmosphere two nautical miles away from Pondicherry:)
It appears that in 1958 we said one thing and that this time we said another, so they ask me which is correct. Its about Sri Aurobindos atmosphere which I felt at sea. So in 1958 (I probably remembered more precisely then) I said ten nautical miles (I remember having asked on the ship, just so I would know), and it appears that this time I said two miles. So they tell me
0 1965-09-18, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In Pakistan, there was a firing system of the latest American model, in which they take aim with, I dont know, electrical systems, and they can fire several thousand shots in anyway, its frightening; and shots that reach exactly where they want. Its quite an organization. Theyve become very efficient. It was given to Pakistan by the Americans. And it had to be destroyed. So one of the Indian pilots went and crashed his plane into it. Naturally, the plane crushed everythinghe too was crushed. But the installation was demolished. People here are capable of such things. If they feel what Sri Aurobindo says in this letter I have just given you, that the leader of our march is the Almighty, if they feel that way Thats what made the strength of the Japanese in the past. Thats what makes the strength of people here, once they are convinced. Thats how the Japanese took Port Arthur; there was a sort of ditch around the fortress, as there are in fortified places, and because of that they couldnt get in; well, they let themselves be killed till they were able to walk across on the bodies: the bodies made a bridge by filling up the ditch, and then they walked across.
People who are conscious that death isnt the end, that death is the beginning of something else, it gives them a strength that these Europeans cannot have.
0 1965-09-29, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I had this experience very, very strongly. When I left here [in 1915], as I got farther away, I felt as if emptied of something, and once in the Mediterranean, I wasnt able to bear it any longer: I fell ill. And even in Japan, which outwardly is a marvelous countrymarvelously beautiful and harmonious (it WAS, I dont know what it is nowadays), and outwardly it was a joy every minute, a breathtaking joy, so strong was the expression of beautyyet I felt empty, empty, empty, I absolutely lacked (Mother opens her mouth as though suffocating) I lacked the important Thing. And I found it again only when I came back here.
Mother is probably alluding (in addition to the cease-fire violations by Pakistan) to a declaration from Delhi that India considered as obsolete the treaty signed in 1954 by Nehru recognizing China's sovereignty over Tibet. (That "declaration" did not hold for long.)
0 1965-11-06, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
A disciple who was a friend of Satprem's; he had died insane seven or eight years earlier and Satprem had assisted him in a Japanese mental hospital.
***
0 1965-11-27, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And then, the Flame When the Flame lights up, everything becomes different. But this Flame is something totally different; its totally different from religious feeling, religious aspiration, religious worship (all that is very fine, its the summit of what man can do and its very fine, its excellent for humanity), but this Flame, the Flame of transformation, is something else. Oh, I remember now that Sri Aurobindo reminded me of something I had written in Japan (which is printed in Prayers and Meditations), and I had never understood what I had written. I always tried to understand and asked myself, What the devil did I mean? I have no idea. It had come like that and I had written it directly. It was about a child and it read, Do not come too near him because you will get burnt. (I dont remember the words at all.) And I always wondered, Whats this child I am referring to? And why should one take care not to come too near him??5 And suddenly, only yesterday or the day before, I understood; suddenly he showed me, he told me, Its this: the child is the beginning of the new creation, it is still in its infancy, so dont touch it if you dont want to be burntbecause it burns.
(silence)
0 1966-05-07, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For instance, there are passages I wrote in those Prayers and Meditations, some of which have been publishedpassages I wrote in Japan, and when I wrote them, I didnt at all know what they meant. For a very long time I didnt know. And very recently, one of those things that had always remained mysterious cleared up, I said, There! Its crystal clear, thats what it means.
In other words, a prophetic little spirit without knowing it!
0 1966-06-25, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I was awake, taking my walkmy Japa-walk. You came and spoke to me, you even asked me (laughing), Did you see Sri Aurobindo this night? So I told you all kinds of things, but I also told you, No, I wont have anything left to tell you this morning! And here I am, telling you everything. Nothing sensational last night. It was a night of great rest. So thats what I can tell you, thats all. But it was amusing, and I said, Oh, you are so conscious you come and talk to me! But then you werent conscious! Which means that this [Satprems outer being] isnt conscious, but the other was: you came and talked to me.
Im not conscious at all.
0 1966-10-19, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
She would come, she was absolutely present during the six days of pranam downstairs. But now, since I dont know (I dont remember because for me time isnt quite clear anymore, it no longer has the same value), but I remember it happened while I was walking for my Japa. I told her there was something more important than that semireligious recollection people have, that what was more important was the deeper nature of the Work and the choice of the adverse aspect (represented by a universal difficulty, or, at any rate, if we only consider the earth, a human difficulty), the aspect that had to be vanquished, dominated in order to lead it to the transformation. And its in this connection that I told her that receiving the indication from the Supreme was the true thing; that He saw better than we did what had to be done and the order in which it had to be done. And I felt (she was very concrete [Mother makes a gesture as if Durga was in her]), I felt she was immensely interested. Then I told her, Well, you see, hasnt the time come (I am putting it into words, but there werent any words), hasnt the time come to receive from Him the direct impulsion for your action? And she responded joyfully and spontaneously.
The difference is that, now, wherever she manifests, I feel the call to the supreme Truth, to manifest it, is truly there.
0 1967-02-08, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Yesterday evening, something amusing happened. I received some soups from Japan. It was all written in Japanese, impossible to read. When the doctor came (he comes every evening), I asked him, Would you like to try a Japanese soup? And I gave him a packet to take with him. Yesterday evening, when he came back, I asked him, Did you taste the Japanese soup? He said, Its shellfish soup, and he added, Its not good for you. I asked him, Why is it not good for me? (I asked him just for information, to know what my illness was(!), why I couldnt eat shellfish?) He answered me, Oh, you would have an allergic reaction. Then I looked at him and, with great force, said to him, I have NO allergic reactions. (Mother laughs) The poor man! He gave a shudder and he is down with fever!
Its true that now, as soon as the nerves (but you know, its an observation of every second), as soon as the nerves start protesting and it happens very often when they are interested in a sensation: they become interested in a sensation, they concentrate and follow it, then suddenly, it exceeds (how should I put it?) the amount they are used to considering as pleasant (it can be put that way), so theres a slight tipping over and they start going wrong, they start protesting. But if there is observation, there is the action of the inner mentor that tells them, Now, all sensations can be borne almost to their maximum: its quite simply a bad habit and a lack of plasticity. Remain calm and you will see. (Something of the sort.) Then they are docile, they stay calm, and everything smoothes out. Smoothes out, and then the allergic reaction is over. So I think Ive learned the knack! Thats why I answered the doctor with such force.
0 1967-02-18, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Whats specific to each language (apart from a few differences in words) is the order in which ideas are presented: the construction of sentences. The Japanese (and especially the Chinese) have solved the problem by using only the sign of the idea. Now, under the influence from outside, they have added phonetic signs to build a sentence; but even now the order in the construction of the ideas is different. Its different in Japan and different in China. And unless you FEEL this, you can never know a foreign language really well. So we speak according to our very old habit (and basically its more convenient for us simply because it comes automatically). But when I receive, for instance, its not even a thought: its Sri Aurobindos formulated consciousness; then, there is a sort of progressive approximation of the expression, and sometimes it comes very clearly; but very often its a spontaneous mixture of French and English forms and I feel it is something else trying to be expressed. At times (it follows the notation), it makes me correct something; at other times it comes perfectly wellit depends. Oh, it depends on the limpidity. If you are very tranquil, it comes very well. And there, too, I see its not really French and not really English. Its not so much the words (words are nothing) as the ORDER in which things come up. And when afterwards I look at it objectively, I see its in part the order in which they come in French, and in part the order in which they come in English. And the result is a mixture, which is neither one language nor the other, and endeavours to express what might be called a new way of consciousness.
It leads me to think that something will be worked out that way, and that any too strict, too narrow attachment to the old rules is a hindrance to the evolution of expression. From that point of view, French is a long way behind EnglishEnglish is much more supple. But the languages in countries like China and Japan that use ideograms seem to be infinitely more supple than our own.
Surely!
0 1967-07-08, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You know that I burned all those notebooks. For how many years?over at least four or five years, every day I used to write Prayers and Meditations (I had several big notebooks, big like this). Then, when Sri Aurobindo told me to make a book out of them (naturally, as it was written every day, there were some repetitions), so I made my selection; I selected and extracted all those he wanted (I kept a few, which I extracted and distributed), and as for the rest It was a long, long time ago, I was still living over there.1 The last time that I wrote, was after my return from Japan, that is, in 1920. In 1920 I still wrote a little, then stopped. Then Sri Aurobindo chanced upon it, and he told me it had to be published. I said all right, I made a selection, and what to do with the rest? So I burned it.
Oh, what didnt I hear!
0 1967-07-15, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When it comes to languages, its very interesting. Those are things that come, stay for an hour or two, then go away; they are like lessons, things to be learned. And so, one day, there came the question of languages, of the different languages. Those languages were formed progressively (probably through usage, until, as you said, one day someone took it into his head to fix it in a logical and grammatical way), but behind those languages, there are identical experiencesidentical in their essence and there are certainly sounds that correspond to those experiences; you find those sounds in all languages, the different sounds with minor differences. One day (for a long time, more than an hour), it unfolded with all the evidence to support it, for all languages. Unfortunately, I couldnt see clearly, it was at night, so I couldnt note it down and it went away. But it should be able to come back. It was really interesting (Mother tries to recall the experience.) There were even languages I had never heard: Ive heard many European languages; in India, several Indian languages, chiefly Sanskrit; and then, Japanese. And there were languages I had never heard. It was all there. And there were sounds, certain sounds that come from all the way up, sounds (how can I explain?), sounds we might call essential. And I saw how they took shape and were distorted in languages (Mother draws a sinuous descending line that branches out). Sounds like the affirmative and the negativewhat, for us, is yes and noand also the expression of certain relationships (Mother tries to remember). But the interesting point was that it came with all the words, lots of words I didnt know! And at that time I knew them (it comes from a subconscient somewhere), I knew all those words.
At the same time, there was a sort of capacity or possibility, a state in which one was able to understand all languages; that is, every language was understood because of its connection with that region (gesture to the heights, at the origin of sounds). There didnt seem to be any difficulty in understanding any language. There was a sort of almost graphic explanation (same sinuous descending line branching out) showing how the sound had been distorted to express this or that or
--
In 1920, when Mother sailed back to Pondicherry from Japan. Mao Tse-tung was writing The Great Union of Popular Masses at the time.
***
0 1967-08-02, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The difficult problem for him now is, at bottom, all this Tantric Japa he does.
But why does he go on?
--
Yesterday I explained to him the effect that this Japa had on him, I explained in detail, but I dont think he understood anything. And I told him to change; I even gave him the Mantra (because if you do that it is the supreme liberation). Instead of leaving him without anything at all, I wanted him in fact, to do that. But yesterday when I asked him, Are you going on with your Japa? he said, Oh, just a little.
Actually, there are, inside oneself naturally (and consequently around oneself), forces that oppose ones realization, and the system of those [Tantric] mantras is to look for the support of those Overmind beings against those forces, which are much more powerful than they (the gods)the proof is that despite all their goodwill, they (the Overmind gods) have never been able to make the earth a harmonious place. We cant help noting the fact. So I told him it was a direct fight, all those mantras are a direct fight against the difficulty, whereas (and thats what gave him the terrible headache he complains about: its dangerous, of course, it can unsettle the whole functioning). I told him to stop and use that (Mothers Mantra). I explained it all to him yesterday. I told him he shouldnt wage a direct fight: one must try to find the support in the force one has inside oneself, which is everywhere and can overcome the difficulty: Instead of fighting, live in the other consciousness. But I saw he was closedlocked inwith a hard look. He didnt want to understand. So
0 1967-12-13, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I dont know what it is. I dont really know what it is, but the day before, in the evening (I forget what I was doing, I was busy), there was suddenly Often there are small vital entities, I think, or vital forces (but to me those things are without force or power), and a small vital entity showed me the memory of an earthquake: around 1922 or 23, we had an earthquake; I was with Pavitra and we stood talking (we were going out, it was in the afternoon), when suddenly, hop! we jumped out of our skin, both of us.3 We knew what it was because we had gotten used to it in Japan. I said, Oh, an earthquake. It didnt lasta few seconds and it was over. I had completely forgotten it, and it was as if one of those beings came to bring the memory back, with at the same time, And what if there were another one? Oh, I said, what nonsense!
Just the evening before.
0 1967-12-30, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Some things are really interesting. For instance, Id like there to be To begin with, every country will have its pavilion, and in the pavilion, there will be the cuisine of that country, which means that the Japanese will be able to eat Japanese food if they want to(!), etc., but in the township itself, there will be food for vegetarians, food for nonvegetarians, and also a sort of experiment to find tomorrows food. You see, all this work of assimilation which makes you so heavy (it takes up so much time and energy from the being) should be done BEFORE, you should be able to immediately assimilate what you are given, as with things they make now; for instance, they have those vitamins that can be directly assimilated, and also (what do they call it? (Mother tries to remember) I take them every day. Words and I arent on very good terms!) proteins. Nutritive principles that are found in one thing or another and arent bulkyyou need to take a tremendous quantity of food to assimilate very little. So now that they are fairly clever with chemicals, that could be simplified. People dont like it, simply because they take an intense pleasure in eating(!), but when you no longer take pleasure in eating, you need to be nourished and not to waste your time with that. The amount of time lost is enormous: time for eating, time for digesting, and the rest. So I would like to have an experimental kitchen there, a sort of culinary laboratory, to try out. And according to their tastes and tendencies, people would go here or there.
And you dont pay for your food, but you must give your work, or the ingredients: for example, those who had fields would give the produce of their fields; those who had factories would give their products; or else your own work in exchange for food.
0 1968-02-07, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I dont know if its our perception that progresses, or if really, as Sri Aurobindo said, When the supramental Force comes on the earth, there will be a response EVERYWHERE. It seems to me to be that, because these flowers are so, so vibrant, full of life. In the morning I always arrange them (its a work that takes me at least three quarters of an hour, there are more than a hundred flowers in different vases that I have to arrange, and to each person I give a special sort of flower I arrange all that), and in the vases, some flowers say, Me! And indeed they are just what I need. They call out to me to say, Me!But thats not new, because when I was in Japan, I had a large garden and I had cultivated part of it to grow vegetables; in the morning I would go down to the garden to get the vegetables to be eaten that day, and some of them here, there, there (scattered gesture) would say, Me! Me! Me! Like that. So I would go and pick them. They literally called me, they called me.
Thats a long time ago, nineteen hundred and when was it? It was in 1916-17, so thats forty years ago.
0 1968-03-02, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But were going to prepare a little brochure with the message and all these translationsinto Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, etc. It will all be photographed, and then well restore the German text. Oh, the Russian text
But as a city of peace, its amusing! (Laughing) Its promising!
0 1968-04-23, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Here, in the French brochure, its Divine. I said if they wanted another word in Russian or German (in German T. translated it into the highest [Consciousness]; I told her, Its rather poor, but anyway), well, I said I wouldnt protest. In Chinese its Divine. I think its Divine in Japanese too.
In German, they asserted, Oh, if we put Divine, people will immediately think of God. I replied (laughing), Not necessarily, if theyre not idiots!
0 1968-09-07, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I have told you many times, and couldnt repeat it too often, that we are not made of a piece. Within ourselves we have lots of states of being, and each state of being has its own life. All that is gathered together in a single body, as long as you have one, and acts through a single body; thats what gives you the sense of a single person, a single being. But there are many of them, and there are in particular concentrations on different planes: just as you have a physical being, you have a vital being, a mental being, a psychic being, and many others with all possible intermediaries. So when you leave your body, all those beings will scatter. Its only if you are a very advanced yogi and have been capable of unifying your being around the divine center that those beings remain linked together. If you havent been able to unify yourself, then at the time of death, all that will scatter: every being will go back to its own region. With the vital being, for example, your various desires will separate and each of them will go and chase its realization quite independently, because there will no longer be a physical being to hold them together. While if you have united your consciousness to the psychic consciousness, when you die you will remain conscious of your psychic being, and the psychic being will return to the psychic world which is a world of bliss, joy, peace, tranquillity, and growing knowledge. But if you have lived in your vital and all its impulses, each impulse will try to realize itself here and there. For instance, for the miser who was concentrated on his money, when he dies the part of his vital that was concerned with his money will hook on there and will keep watching over the money so no one takes it. People wont see him, but he is there nonetheless, and very unhappy if something happens to his dear money. Now, if you live exclusively in your physical consciousness (which is difficult, because, after all, you have thoughts and feelings), if you live exclusively in your physical, when the physical being disappears, you disappear along with it, its over. There is a spirit of the form: your form has a spirit that lives on for seven days after your death. The doctors have declared you dead, but the spirit of your form is alive, and not only alive but conscious in most cases. It lasts for seven to eight days, and after that, it too dissolves I am not talking about yogis, I am talking about ordinary people. Yogis have no laws, its quite different; for them the world is different. I am talking about ordinary people living an ordinary life; for them its like that. So the conclusion is that if you want to preserve your consciousness, it would be better to center it on a part of your being which is immortal; otherwise it will evaporate like a flame into thin air. And happily so, because if it were otherwise, there might be gods or kinds of superior men who would create hells and heavens as they do in their material imagination, inside which they would shut you up. (Question:) It is said that there is a god of death. Is it true? Yes. As for me, I call him a genius of death. I know him very well. And its an extraordinary organization. You cant imagine how organized it is! I think there are many of those genii of death, hundreds of them. I met at least two of them. One I met in France, the other in Japan, and they were very different. Which leads me to believe that depending on the mental culture, the education, the countries and beliefs, there must be different genii. But there are genii for all manifestations of Nature: there are genii of fire, genii of air, water, rain, wind; and there are genii of death. Any one genius of death is entitled to a certain number of dead every day. Its truly a fantastic organization. Its a sort of alliance between the vital forces and the forces of Nature. If, for example, he decided, Here is the number of people I am entitled to, say four or five, or six, or one or two (it varies from day to day), if he decided so many people would die, hell go straight and set himself up near the person whos going to die. But if you (not the person) happen to be conscious, if you see the genius going to the person but do not want him or her to die, then, if you have a certain occult power, you can tell him, No, I forbid you to take this person. Thats something which happened, not once but several times, in Japan and here. It wasnt the same genius. Which makes me say there must be many of them. If you can tell him, I forbid you to take this person and have the power to send him away, theres nothing he can do but go away; but he wont give up his due and will go elsewhere there will be a death elsewhere. (Question:) Some people, when they are about to die, are aware of it. Why dont they tell the genius to go away? Two things are needed. First, nothing in your being, no part of your being, should wish to die. That doesnt often happen. You always have, somewhere in you, a defeatist: something tired or disgusted, which has had enough, something lazy or which doesnt want to fight and says, Ah, well, let it be over, so much the better. Thats enoughyoure dead. But its a fact: if nothing, absolutely nothing in you consents to die, you will not die. For someone to die, there is always a second, if a hundredth part of a second, when he consents. If there isnt that second of consent, he will not die. But who is certain he doesnt have within himself, somewhere, a tiny bit of a defeatist which just yields and says, Oh well? Hence the need to unify oneself. Whatever the path we may follow, the subject we may study, we always reach the same result. The most important thing for an individual is to unify himself around his divine center; that way he becomes a real individual, master of himself and of his destiny. Otherwise, he is a plaything of the forces, which toss him about like a cork in a stream. He goes where he doesnt want to, is made to do what he doesnt want to, and finally he gets lost in a hole without any way to stop himself doing so. But if you are consciously organized, unified around the divine center, governed and led by it, you are the master of your destiny. Its worth trying. At any rate, I find its better to be the master rather than the slave. The feeling of being pulled by strings and being made to do things you may or may not want to do is a rather unpleasant sensation. Its quite irksome. Well, I dont know, I, for one, found it quite irksome even when I was a small child. When I was five, I began finding it wholly intolerable, and I sought a way for it to be otherwisewithout anyone being able to tell me anything. Because I knew no one capable of helping me, and I didnt have the luck you havesomeone who can tell you, Here is what you must do. There was no one to tell me. I had to find it all by myself. I found it. I began at the age of five. And you, its a long time since you were five?
Well cut out the end.
0 1968-10-09, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh, what a beautiful forest, mon petit! They must be the forests of Its between the subtle physical and the vital, as if joining the two the subtle physical to the vital. Trees as I have only seen in Japan; trees rising straight like columns, planted in rowsmagnificent! With light-colored grass, very light, pale green. Grass on the ground, airlots of airand at the same time nothing but trees: a forest. But not thick, not crowded. Well then, in that magnificent place, instead of rejoicing, the fool (Mother takes a wailing tone): I dont know what happened to me, I have no religion! (Mother laughs) So I told him, But you should rejoice! No religionyou are in a place much more beautiful than all religions! (In a whining tone)I dont understand.
(silence)
0 1969-01-04, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
One of my brothers daughters (I think) married a Japanese and came here with her Japanese husb and I saw himand she has a flock of kids! But my brothers son and his other daughter, I dont know them.
No, I dont have any family sense!
0 1969-07-12, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When I used to do that Tantric Japa, at night, for instance, I often used to feel an activity of sadhana going on BECAUSE of that.
Oh!
--
No. There were written yantrams, but there was also Japa.
Japa? You did Japa?
I did Japa for I dont know, for hours every day.
But I told you, the body repeats the mantra (which is also Japa) spontaneously, and absolutely without the intervention of the consciousness. It has got into the habit; as soon as it has the least difficulty, it repeats the mantra. So you can obtain the same result.
Of course, but how? It would have to be ingrained.
--
Should I start doing methodical Japa as I used to, or what?
You could try, perhaps simply as an experiment, to see if it has effect. Maybe not as you used to do it, but as I did it, at the slightest activity, or the slightest difficulty, repeating the mantra or the Japa. And almost uttering it, you understand.
But Mother, in fact I do it almost all the time.
--
Oh, and this this I must have had for at least seventy years! (laughter) Its a copper thing that served as a letter opener; it lost its handle, but I kept it and used it. But theres a mirror somewhere, I dont know where (a mirror with a golden frame, very pretty, a folding pocket mirror); it belonged to my grandmo ther, who gave it to me; and she had got it when she was twelve years old. She was given it when she was twelve; she gave it to me and I kept it, and I still have it, which means that it must be much more than a hundred years old! Its downstairs, in the cupboard. But this is a letter opener. Its, oh, very, very old: I had it in France before coming here, I brought it with me when I came here; I took it to Japan and used it there [to open Sri Aurobindos letters], and I brought it back here. So it must be I had it at the beginning of the centuryits much older than you! Do you want it? To open letters
(Mother gives the letter opener to Satprem and goes on looking through the boxes)
--
By six or seven hours of Japa (repetition of a mantra) every day.
Satprem's former Tantric guru.
0 1969-07-19, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
No, Mother. But I have resumed doing Japa. Instead of doing my mantra just like that, I have started doing it again systematically. Before going to sleep, for instance
Ah!
0 1969-12-10, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Everywhere, all over the world, from the most unexpected places, we get letters from people who follow and understand, who expect Canada is quite shaken. Even in Norway, in Sweden, lots of people in Italy, many in Germany; in France its beginninga little bit! (Mother laughs) In the U.S.A., its good, its working well, and in Canada its doing well. Even in Japan there are people .
Aphorism 68"The sense of sin was necessary in order that man might become disgusted with his own imperfections. It was God's corrective for egoism. But man's egoism meets God's device by being very dully alive to its owns sins and very keenly alive to the sins of others."
0 1970-02-18, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Mother may be thinking of the epidemic in Japan in January 1919, during which she very nearly died, while the fever caught during the festival of arms was in 1931.
***
0 1970-07-11, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The moment I came here, I no longer concerned myself with the body: I concerned myself with the Work; but before coming here, especially between my departure from here and my return, it was (how much time? I came back in 1920; I came here in 1914 and left from here in 1915, I thinkfrom 16 to 20 I was in Japan, but I came in 14 and I think I left in 1915), from that time on, there were all those experiences [kundalini, etc.], in France and in Japan.
(Mother goes into a contemplation)
0 1971-09-14, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Even last night I saw him: he was in Japan.
When did they leave?
0 1972-03-22, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The body was in certain situations. One was taking place here and the other was in Japan. I realized that the body holds certain impressions, impressions of being in a. It wasnt in the Ashram, but the one in Japan, exactly as I was in Japan (but these are not memories, they were entirely new activities, something entirely new), showing that I was surrounded by people who dont understand. And here, too (it wasnt the Ashram, the situations were symbolic and involved people who are no longer in their bodies), I was surrounded by people and things that didnt understand. And I saw that these impressions are in the body and make things even more difficult.
They werent actually physical things: they were the transcription of peoples attitude and their way of thinking.
02.01 - The World War, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
When man was a dweller of the forest,a jungle man,akin to his forbear the ape, his character was wild and savage, his motives and impulsions crude, violent, egoistic, almost wholly imbedded in, what we call, the lower vital level; the light of the higher intellect and intelligence had not entered into them. Today there is an uprush of similar forces to possess and throw man back to a similar condition. This new order asks only one thing of man, namely, to be strong and powerful, that is to say, fierce, ruthless, cruel and regimented. Regimentation can be said to be the very characteristic of the order, the regimentation of a pack of wild dogs or wolves. A particular country, nation or raceit is Germany in Europe and, in her wake, Japan in Asiais to be the sovereign nation or master race (Herrenvolk); the rest of mankindo ther countries and peoplesshould be pushed back to the status of servants and slaves, mere hewers of wood and drawers of water. What the helots were in ancient times, what the serfs were in the mediaeval ages, and what the subject peoples were under the worst forms of modern imperialism, even so will be the entire mankind under the new overlordship, or something still worse. For whatever might have been the external conditions in those ages and systems, the upward aspirations of man were never doubted or questioned they were fully respected and honoured. The New Order has pulled all that down and cast them to the winds. Furthermore in the new regime, it is not merely the slaves that suffer in a degraded condition, the masters also, as individuals, fare no better. The individual here has no respect, no freedom or personal value. This society or community of the masters even will be like a bee-hive or an ant-hill; the individuals are merely functional units, they are but screws and bolts and nuts and wheels in a huge relentless machinery. The higher and inner realities, the spontaneous inspirations and self-creations of a free soulart, poetry, literaturesweetness and light the good and the beautifulare to be banished for ever; they are to be regarded as things of luxury which enervate the heart, diminish the life-force, distort Nature's own virility. Man perhaps would be the worshipper of Science, but of that Science which brings a tyrannical mastery over material Nature, which serves to pile up tools and instruments, arms and armaments, in order to ensure a dire efficiency and a grim order in practical life.
Those that have stood against this Dark Force and its over-shadowing menaceeven though perhaps not wholly by choice or free-will, but mostly compelled by circumstancesyet, because of the stand they have taken, now bear the fate of the world on their shoulders, carry the whole future of humanity in their march. It is of course agreed that to have stood against the Asura does not mean that one has become sura, divine or godlike; but to be able to remain human, human instruments of the Divine, however frail, is sufficient for the purpose, that ensures safety from the great calamity. The rule of life of the Asura implies the end of progress, the arrest of all evolution; it means even a reversal for man. The Asura is a fixed type of being. He does not change, his is a hardened mould, a settled immutable form of a particular consciousness, a definite pattern of qualities and activitiesgunakarma. Asura-nature means a fundamental ego-centricism, violent and concentrated self-will. Change is possible for the human being; he can go downward, but he can move upward too, if he chooses. In the Puranas a distinction has been made between the domain of enjoyment and the domain of action. Man is the domain of action par excellence; by him and through him evolve new and fresh lines of activity and impulsion. The domain of enjoyment, on the other hand, is where we reap the fruits of our past Karma; it is the result of an accumulated drive of all that we have done, of all the movements we have initiated and carried out. It is a status of being where there is only enjoyment, not of becoming where there can be development and new creation. It is a condition of gestation, as it were; there is no new Karma, no initiative or change in the stuff of the consciousness. The Asuras are bhogamaya purusha, beings of enjoyment; their domain is a cumulus of enjoyings. They cannot strike out a fresh line of activity, put forth a new mode of energy that can work out a growth or transformation of nature. Their consciousness is an immutable entity. The Asuras do not mend, they can only end. Man can certainly acquire or imbibe Asuric force or Asura-like qualities and impulsions; externally he can often act very much like the Asura; and yet there is a difference. Along with the dross that soils and obscures human nature, there is something more, a clarity that opens to a higher light, an inner core of noble metal which does not submit to any inferior influence. There is this something More in man which always inspires and enables him to break away from the Asuric nature. Moreover, though there may be an outer resemblance between the Asuric qualities of man and the Asuric qualities of the Asura, there is an intrinsic different, a difference in tone and temper, in rhythm and vibration, proceeding as they do, from different sources. However cruel, hard, selfish, egocentric man may be, he knows, he admitsat times, if hot always, at heart, if not openly, subconsciously, if not wholly consciously that such is not the ideal way, that these qualities are not qualifications, they are unworthy elements and have to be discarded. But the Asura is ruthless, because he regards ruthlessness as the right thing, as the perfect thing, it is an integral part of his swabhava and swadharma, his law of being and his highest good. Violence is the ornament of his character.
02.13 - Rabindranath and Sri Aurobindo, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
So it was natural and almost inevitablewritten among the stars that both should meet once more on this physical earth. Sri Aurobindo had been in complete retirement seeing none except, of course, his attendants. He was coming out only four times in the year to give silent darshan to his devotees and a few others who sought for it. It was in the year 1928. Tagore was then on a tour to the South. He expressed to Sri Aurobindo by letter his desire for a personal meeting. Sri Aurobindo naturally agreed to receive him. Tagore reached Pondicherry by steamer, and I had the privilege to see him on board the ship and escort him to the Ashram. The Mother welcomed him at the door of Sri Aurobindo's apartments and led him to Sri Aurobindo. Tagore already knew the Mother, for both were together in Japan and stayed in the same house and she attended some of his lectures in that country. It may be interesting to mention here that Tagore requested the Mother to take charge of the Visva Bharati, for evidently he felt that the future of his dear institution would be in sure hands. But the Mother could not but decline since it was her destiny to be at another place and another work.
What transpired between them is not for me to say, the meeting being a private one. But I may quote here what Tagore himself wrote about it subsequently:
03.04 - Towardsa New Ideology, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
If, however, we take a right about turn and look away from the West to the Far East, we already see in Japan a different type of national self-government. It is based on an altogether different basis which may appear even novel to the modern and rationalistic European mentality. I am referring to the conception of duty which moulds and upholds the Japanese body politic and body social, as opposed to the conception of right obtaining royal rule in the Occident.
The distinction between the attitudes that underlie these two conceptions was once upon a time greatly stressed by Vivekananda, who was the first to strike two or three major chords that were needed to create the grand symphony of the Indian Renaissance. It is true Europe too had her Mazzini whose scheme of a new humanity was based on the conception of the duties of man. But his was a voice in the wilderness and he was not honoured in his own country.
03.05 - The Spiritual Genius of India, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Again, the Japanese, as a people, have developed to a consummate degree the sense of beauty, especially as applied to life and living. No other people, not even the old-world Greeks, possessed almost to a man, as do these children of the Rising Sun, so fine and infallible an sthetic sensibility,not static or abstract, but of the dynamic kinduniformly successful in making out of their work-a-day life, even to its smallest accessories, a flawless object of art. It is a wonder to see in Japan how, even an unlettered peasant, away in his rustic environment, chooses with unerring taste the site of his house, builds it to the best advantage, arranges everything about it in a faultless rhythm. The whole motion of the life of a Japanese is almost Art incarnate.
Or take again the example of the British people. The practical, successful life instinct, one might even call it the business instinct, of the Anglo-Saxon races is, in its general diffusion, something that borders on the miraculous. Even their Shakespeare is reputed to have been very largely endowed with this national virtue. It is a faculty which has very little to do with calculation, or with much or close thinking, or with any laborious or subtle mental operationa quick or active mind is perhaps the last thing with which the British people can be accredited; this instinct of theirs is something spontaneous, almost aboriginal, moving with the sureness, the ruthlessness of nature's unconscious movements,it is a tact, native to the force that is life. It is this attribute which the Englishman draws from the collective genius of his race that marks him out from among all others; this is his forte, it is this which has created his nation and made it great and strong.
03.08 - The Standpoint of Indian Art, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Indian art is pre-eminently and par excellence the art of this inner re-formation and revaluation. It has thrown down completely and clearly the rigid scaffolding of the physical vision. We take here a sudden leap, as it were, into another world, and sometimes the feeling is that everything is reversed; it is not exactly that we feel ourselves standing on our heads, but it is, as if, in the Vedic phrase, the foundations were above and all the rest branched out from them downwards. The artist sees with an eye, and constructs upon a plan that conveys the merest excuse of an actual visible world. There are other schools in the East which have also moved very far away from the naturalistic view; yet they have kept, if not the form, at least, the feeling of actuality in their composition. Thus a Chinese, a Japanese, or a Persian masterpiece cannot be said to be "natural" in the sense in which a Tintoretto, or even a Raphael is natural; yet a sense of naturalness persists, though the appearance is not naturalistic. What Indian art gives is not the feeling of actuality or this sense of naturalness, but a feeling of truth, a sense of realityof the deepest reality.
Other art shows the world of creative imagination, the world reconstructed by the mind's own formative delight; the Indian artist reveals something more than that the faculty through which he seeks to create is more properly termed vision, not imagination; it is the movement of an inner consciousness, a spiritual perception, and not that of a more or less outer sensibility. For the Indian artist is a seer or rishi; what he envisages is the mystery, the truth and beauty of another worlda real, not merely a mental or imaginative world, as real as this material creation that we see and touch; it is indeed more real, for it is the basic world, the world of fundamental truths and realities behind this universe of apparent phenomena. It is this that he contemplates, this I upon which his entire consciousness is concentrated; and all his art consists in giving a glimpse of it, bodying it forth or expressing it in significant forms and symbols.
European the Far Westernart gives a front-view of reality; Japanese the Far Easternart gives a side-view; Indian art gives a view from above. 1 Or we may say, in psychological terms, that European art embodies experiences of the conscious mind and the external senses, Japanese art gives expression to experiences that one has through the subtler touches of the nerves and the sensibility, and Indian art proceeds through a spiritual consciousness and records experiences of the soul.
The frontal view of reality lays its stress upon the display of the form of things, their contour, their aspect in mass and volume and dimension; and the art, inspired and dominated by it, is more or less a sublimated form of the art of photography. The side-view takes us behind the world of forms, into the world of movement, of rhythm. And behind or above the world of movement, again, there is a world of typal realities, essential form-movements, fundamental modes of consciousness in its universal and transcendent status. It is this that the Indian artist endeavours to envisage and express.
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A Chinese or a Japanese piece of artistic creation is more of a study in character than in form; but it is a study in character in a deeper sense than the meaning which the term usually bears to an European mind or when it is used in reference to Europe's art-creations.
Character in the European sense means that part of nature which is dynamically expressed in conduct, in behaviour, in external movements. But there is another sense in which the term would refer to the inner mode of being, and not to any outer exemplification in activity, any reaction or set of reactions in the kinetic system, nor even to the mental state, the temperament, immediately inspiring it, but to a still deeper status of consciousness. A Raphael Madonna, for example, purposes to pour wholly into flesh and blood the beauty of motherhood. A Japanese Madonna (a Kwanon), on the other hand, would not present the "natural" features and expressions of motherhood; it would not copy faithfully the model, however idealized, of a woman viewed as mother. It would endeavour rather to bring out something of the subtler reactions in the "nervous" world, the world of pure movements that is behind the world of form; it would record the rhythms and reverberations attendant upon the conception and experience of motherhood somewhere on the other side of our wakeful consciousness. That world is made up not of forms, but of vibrations; and a picture of it, therefore, instead of being a representation in three-dimensional space, would be more like a scheme, a presentation in graph, something like the ideography of the language of the Japanese themselves, something carrying in it the beauty characteristic of the calligraphic art. 2
An Indian Madonna owes its conception to an experience at the very other end of consciousness. The Indian artist does not at all think of a human mother; he has not before his mind's eye an idealized mother, nor even a subtilized feeling of motherhood. He goes deep into the very origin of things, and, from there seeks to bring out that which belongs to the absolute I and the universal. He endeavours to grasp the sense that : motherhood bears in its ultimate truth and reality. Beyond the form, beyond even the rhythm, he enters into bhva, the: spiritual substance of things. An Indian Madonna (Ganesh-janani, for example) is not solely or even primarily a human I mother, but the mother, universal and transcendent, of sentientand insentient creatures and supersentient beings. She embodies not the human affection only, but also the parallel sentiment that finds play in the lower and in the higher creations as well. She expresses in her limbs not only the gladness of the mother animal tending its young, but also the exhilaration that a plant feels in the uprush of its sap while giving out new shoots, and, above all, the supreme nanda which has given birth to the creation itself. The lines that portray such motherhood must have the largeness, the sweep, the au thenticity of elemental forces, the magic and the mystery of things behind the veil.
04.01 - The March of Civilisation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
This then is the pattern of cultural development as it proceeds in extension and largeness. It moves in ever widening concentric circles. Individuals, small centres few and far between, then larger groups and sections, finally vast masses are touched and moved (and will be moulded one day) by the infiltrating light. That is how in modern times all movements are practically world-wide, encompassing all nations and peoples: there seems to be nothing left that is merely local or parochial. It is a single wave, as it were, that heaves up the whole of humanity. Political, social, economic and even spiritual movements, although not exactly of the same type or pattern, all are interrelated, interlocked, inspired by a common breath and move from one end of the earth to the other. They seem to be but modulations of the same world-theme. A pulse-beat in Korea or Japan is felt across the Pacific in America and across that continent, traversing again, the Atlantic it reaches England, sways the old continent in its turn and once more leaps forward through the Asiatic vastnesses back again to its place of origin. The wheel comes indeed full circle: it is one movement girdling the earth. What one thinks or acts in one corner of the globe is thought, and acted simultaneously by others at the farthest corner. Very evidently it is the age of radiography and electronics.
In the early stages of humanity its history consists of the isolated histories of various peoples and lands: intercommunication was difficult, therefore all communion was of the nature of infiltration and indirect influence. The difference between countries far distant from each other were well marked and very considerable in respect of their cultures and civilisations. To put it in a somewhat scholarly yet graphic manner, we can say, the i sometric chart of the tides of civilisation in various countries over the globe in those days presents a very unequal and tortuous figure. On the other hand, a graph depicting the situation in modern times would be formed by lines that are more even, uniform and straight. In other words, the world has become one, homogeneous: a consciousness has grown same or similar on the whole in outlook and life-impulse embracing all peoples and races in a tight embrace. The benefit of the descending or manifesting Light is now open equally and freely to each and every member of the human kind.
07.08 - The Divine Truth Its Name and Form, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You expect to see a divine form in each and all things? It may happen so. But I am not sure; I have the impression that there is a large part of imagination in such experiences. You may, for example, see the form of Krishna or Christ or Buddha in every being or thing. But I say that much of human conception enters into this perception. Otherwise what I was telling you just now would not be true. I said all who have the consciousness of the Divine, all who get the contact with the Divine, wherever one may be, to whatever age or country he may belong, all have the same essential experience. If it were not so, the Hindus would always see one of their gods, the Europeans one of theirs, the Japanese a third variety and so on. This may be an addition of each one's own mental formation, but it would not be the Reality in its essence or purity which is beyond all form. One can have a perception of the Divine Presence, a very concrete perception, one can have even a personal contact with the Divine, but it need not happen in and through the kind of form you imagine; it is something inexpressible, beyond all explanation or definition, it is evident only to one who has the experience. It may be as you are suddenly lifted up into a peculiar condition, you find yourself in the presence of the Divine which takes a form familiar to you, a form you have been accustomed to associate with the Divine, because of your education, your up-bringing and tradition. But, as I say, it is not the supreme essence of the experience: the form gives after all a limitation to the experience, takes away from it its universality and a large measure of its power.
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07.42 - The Nature and Destiny of Art, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
However, even the commercialism of today, hideous as it is, has an advantage of its own. Commercialism means the mixing together of all parts of the world. It effaces the distinction between Orient and Occident, brings the Orient near to the Occident and the Occident near to the Orient. With the exchange of goods, there happens an exchange of ideas and even of habits and manners. In ancient days Rome conquered Greece and through that conquest was herself conquered by the culture and civilisation of Greece. The thing is happening today on a much greater scale and more intensely perhaps. At one time Japan was educating herself on the American pattern; now that America has conquered Japan physically, she is being conquered by the spirit of Japan; even in objects manufactured in America, you notice the Japanese influence in some way or other.
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07.45 - Specialisation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You must extend, enlarge, enrich your mind. It must be full of thoughts and ideas. It must be stored with the results of your observation and study. It must not be a poor mind, a mind, that is to say, that has not many ideas nor the capacity of reasoning and argument. Your mind must be capable of thinking of many different things, gathering knowledge of different kinds, considering a problem from many different sides, not following only a single line or track: it must be somewhat like a Japanese fan opening out full circle in all directions.
You have, for example, several subjects to learn at school. Well, learn as many as possible. If you study at home, read as many varieties as possible. I know you are usually asked and advised to follow a different way. You are to take as few subjects as possible and specialise. Yes, that is the general ideal: specialisation, to be an expert in one thing. If you wish to be a good philosopher, read philosophy only; if you wish to be a good chemist, do only chemistry; and even you should concentrate upon only one problem or thesis in philosophy or chemistry. In sports you are asked to do the same. Choose one item and fix your attention upon that alone. If you want to be a good tennis player, think of tennis alone. However, I am not of that opinion. My experience is different. I believe, there are general faculties in man which he should acquire and cultivate more than specialise himself. Of course, if it is your ambition to be a Monsieur or Madame Curie who wanted to discover one particular thing, to find out a new mystery of a definite kind, then you have to concentrate upon the one thing in view. But even then, once the object is gained, you can turn very well to other things. Besides, it is not an impossibility in the midst of the one-pointed pursuit to find occasions and opportunities to be interested in other pursuits.
08.19 - Asceticism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You have seen Sannyasins lying upon nails. Why do they do that? Perhaps to prove their saintliness. But when they do so in public, well, the suspicion is legitimate that it is something like a pose. There are some perhaps who do the thing sincerely and seriously, that is to say, they do not do it merely to make a show. In their case we might ask why they do so. They say it is to prove to themselves their detachment from the body. There are others: they go a little further and say that one must make the body suffer in order to free the soul. But I tell you that the vital has a taste for suffering and imposes suffering on the body because of this perverse taste for suffering. I have seen children who, when they got hurt, would press the part hurt in order to get more pain and it was a pleasure to them. I have seen bigger persons also doing the same thingmorally I mean. It is a very well-known fact. I always tell people 'If you are unhappy, it is because you want to be unhappy. If you suffer, it is because you like suffering, otherwise you would not have the thing.' I call it an unhealthy state; for it is contrary to harmony and beauty; it is a kind of unhealthy need for strong sensations. Do you know, China is a country where they have invented the most atrocious kinds of torture, unthinkable ways? When I was in Japan I asked a Japanese who liked the Chinese very much, why it was so. He told me: 'It is because the people of the Far East, including the Japanese, possess very dull sensibility. They feel very little; unless the suffering is very strong they feel nothing.' They were obliged to use their intelligence for the discovery of extremely strong sufferings. Well, all people who are inconscient or tamasic the more inconscient they are the greater the tamashave their sensibility blunted; they need strong sensations if they have to feel them. This is what usually makes them cruel, because cruelty gives very strong sensations. The nerve tension produced in you when you impose suffering on someone, well, it does bring a sensation: they need that in order to feel, otherwise they would not feel. It is for that reason that whole races are particularly cruel. They are inconscient, inconscient vitally. They may not be unconscious mentally or otherwise. But they are unconscious vitally and physically, physically above all.
If one has a sense of beauty can he be cruel?
08.27 - Value of Religious Exercises, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
What is the value of religious exercises (such as Japa etc.)?
These things, if they help you, are all right; if they do not, naturally they are of no use. The value is quite relative. It is worth only the effect it has on you or the measure of your belief in it. If it is an aid to your concentration, then, as I say, it is welcome. The ordinary consciousness takes to the thing through a kind of superstition; one thinks, "If I go to the temple or to the church once a week, for example, if I say my prayers regularly, something good will happen to me." It is a superstition spread all over the world, but it has no spiritual value.
I have been to holy places. I have seen monuments considered as very highly religious, in France, in Japan and elsewhere; they were not always the same kind of temples or churches nor were they the same gods but the impression they left on me, my experiences of them were everywhere almost the same, with but slight differences. There is usually a force concentrated at the place, but its character depends entirely upon the faith of the faithful; also there is a difference between the force as it really exists and the form in which it appears to the faithful. For instance, in a most famous and most beautiful place of worship which was, from the standpoint of art, the most magnificent creation one could imagine, I saw within its holy of holies a huge black Spider that had spread its net all around, caught within it and absorbed all the energies emanating from the devotion of the people, their prayers and all that. It was not a very pleasant spectacle. But the people who were there and prayed felt the divine contact, they received all kinds of benefit from their prayers. And yet the truth of the matter was what I saw. The people had the faith and their faith changed what was bad into something that was good to them. Now if I had gone and told them: 'you think it is God you are praying to! it is only a formidable vital Spider that is sucking your force,' surely it would not have been very charitable on my part. But everywhere it is almost the same thing. There is a vital Force presiding. And vital beings feed upon the vibrations of human emotion. Very few are they, a microscopic number, who go to the temples and churches and holy places with the true religious feeling, that is to say, not to pray or beg something of God, but to offer themselves, to express gratitude, to aspire, to surrender. One in a million would be too many. These when they are there, get some touch of the Divine just for the moment. But all others go only out of superstition, egoism, self-interest and create the atmosphere as it is found and it is that that you usually brea the in when you go to a holy place; only as you go there with a good feeling, you say to yourself "what a peace-giving spot!"
I am sorry to say it. But it is like that. I tell you I have purposely made the experiment to some extent everywhere. Perhaps I came across at times in far-away small cornerslike a small village church, for exampleplaces where there was real peace and quiet and some true aspiration. Barring that, everywhere it is but a web of adverse vital forces that use everything for their food. The bigger the congregation, the more portentous the vital deity. Besides, in the invisible world it is only the vital beings that like to be worshipped. For, as I have said, that pleases them, gives them importance. They are puffed up with pride and are happy; when they can have a troop of people adoring them, they reach the very height of satisfaction.
10.07 - The World is One, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Coming next to Mind, the unity here too, is quite marked, clearly discernible. There is only one Mind that rules the myriad mentalities of this world. Thoughts and ideas are not in reality personal creations, they are various formulations of the one universal Mind; they enter into and possess individual minds as receptacles, and no doubt in the process undergo particular modifications in their general character. It is a very common experience to see the same or very similar ideas and thoughts expressed by individuals (or groups) living far from each other, having practically no mutual contact. We have known of "independent discoveries" of the same truth or fact and innumerable instances of this kind has history provided for us. It is not a freak of nature that we find Socrates and Buddha and Confucius as contemporaries. Contemporaries also were India's Akbar, England's Elizabeth and Italy's Leo X. Also the year 1905 has been known as Annus Mirabilis, a year of seminal importance the sowing of the seed of a new earth-lifesignificant for the whole human race, for the East and for the West, particularly for India, for Japan, for Russia and even for England. And today's world has indeed become a world of compact unity in human achievement and also alas, in human distress!
Now if one goes to the very source, the very root of the matter, the cardinal fact of unity is that of the supreme Consciousness, the original oneness of the one Divine Existence. It is the Ultimate One, inviolate, inviolableekam sat. That unity is transferred or translated or imaged on all the levels and strands of creation. That is the basic reality that holds together all tiered multiplicities. True, there has been side by side a movement of aberration, denial, disjunction in the multiple formulations and translations of the One. A reunion remains to be achieved conveying and embodying the basic unity.
1.01 - Economy, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
My furniture, part of which I made myself, and the rest cost me nothing of which I have not rendered an account, consisted of a bed, a table, a desk, three chairs, a looking-glass three inches in diameter, a pair of tongs and andirons, a kettle, a skillet, and a frying-pan, a dipper, a wash-bowl, two knives and forks, three plates, one cup, one spoon, a jug for oil, a jug for molasses, and a Japanned lamp. None is so poor that he need sit on a pumpkin. That is shiftlessness. There is a plenty of such chairs as I like best in the village garrets to be had for taking them away. Furniture! Thank God, I can sit and I can stand without the aid of a furniture warehouse. What man but a philosopher would not be ashamed to see his furniture packed in a cart and going up country exposed to the light of heaven and the eyes of men, a beggarly account of empty boxes? That is Spauldings furniture. I could never tell from inspecting such a load whether it belonged to a so called rich man or a poor one; the owner always seemed poverty-stricken.
Indeed, the more you have of such things the poorer you are. Each load looks as if it contained the contents of a dozen shanties; and if one shanty is poor, this is a dozen times as poor. Pray, for what do we
1.01 - To Watanabe Sukefusa, #Beating the Cloth Drum Letters of Zen Master Hakuin, #unset, #Zen
Edo-period Japan with its formal government sanction of Confucian ethics. Many Confucians, including some with great political influence, regarded monasticism as abhorrent on the grounds that it contravened the basic operating principles of filial behavior by keeping young men from producing heirs to continue the parental line. Buddhists in China, and later in Japan, responded to such charges with some success, arguing the deep filiality of the monk's career, in which "leaving home" for the priesthood, through the redemptive power of awakening, is reconciled with Confucian filial responsibilities.
Sharing these premises, Hakuin launched vehement attacks on what he considered the mistaken understanding purveyed by such architects of Confucian orthodoxy as Hayashi Razan (see chapter
12). Hakuin's ideas on the subject may be summed up fairly well in the calligraphic works he prepared and distributed in large numbers to people. These works consisted of one large character, filiality or parent, followed by the inscription, "There is no more valuable act of filiality than to save one's father and mother from the sad fate of an unfortunate rebirth in the next life"-exactly the sentiments Hakuin had expressed to Sukefusa as a young monk. a It was considered extremely unfilial to injure or disfigure the body of one's (male) children. This was especially heinous in the case of an eldest son, who, according to the canons of filial piety, is venerated because of his superior birth, age, and gender. b Although not all of these references can be traced, most of them are found in Tales of the TwentyFour Paragons of Filial Virtue (Ehr-shih-ssu hsiao), a popular Confucian text of the Yuan dynasty that was reprinted and widely read in Edo Japan. c A legendary sage ruler of ancient China. According to Mencius, when ministers came to him with good advice, Yu always received it with deep gratitude.
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1.028 - Bringing About Whole-Souled Dedication, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
The other point is that this practice will not bring results in only a few days. Sa tu drghakla nairantarya satkra sevita dhabhmi (I.14), says Patanjali. In many cases the result will not follow at all, due to obstructing prarabdhas. There were great seekers, sadhakas, who used to perform Japa purascharana, the chanting of a mantra, for years and years together, with the hope of having the vision of the deity. But they had no vision of the deity. We hear of the story of the purascharanas performed by Sage Vidyaranya of yore, Yogi Sri Madhusudana Saraswati and others, but they had no vision. The reason mentioned is that they had obstructing prarabdhas.
We have three kinds of prarabdha the tamasica, the rajasica and the sattvica. The tamasica and rajasica prarabdhas will not allow even the rise of aspiration for God. The tamasica prarabdha will always bring the most intense form of obstacles, including a mood of lethargy, indolence, sleepiness, and even doubt of the possibility of gaining any such realisation at all, as yoga promises. Atheism, materialism and lack of faith are due to the working of tamasica prarabdhas. As long as these types of prarabdha function, as long as the tamasica prarabdhas are active, there is no question of the practice of yoga we can do nothing.
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Our love for the practice should be such that the moment we sit, our hair should stand on end that we are, after all, blessed with this glorious opportunity to dedicate ourselves to the supreme cause of our very existence. As if we are floating in an ocean of honey such should be the joy when we sit for meditation. We should not be worried, "Oh, how long have I to sit?" Some people go on looking at the timepiece, "How far it is over? Half an hour over? Not over? It is a great boredom, indeed. The bell is not ringing." Sometimes we do Japa and look at the mala: "How far is it? Has it not finished?" This sort of practice is a mockery, and we should not play jokes with that which we have undertaken of our own accord. We cannot count the beads, and look at the watch; it is stupid to do so. It is a practice for the regeneration of our entire soul, of everything that we are. It is a process of rebirth in every sense of the term, and so it is a tremendously hard job very bitter, very awful, full of difficulties, and we have to encounter much opposition. All sorts of difficulties will be expected, and must be expected. But we will see the result almost every day if the practice is wholehearted, which means to say, our whole being is present in the practice.
As mentioned earlier, it is difficult for us to place our whole being in anything. We are always distracted by certain other things which continue to be present in the conscious level of our mind. We are conscious of many things the work that we have not done or the things that we have yet to do in the immediate future, heat and cold, hunger and thirst, sleepiness, exhaustion and fatigue, annoyance, the unfriendly attitude of people around us umpteen such things will come and make themselves heard, so that the wholehearted attention that is expected in the practice will not come. But once it comes, once we are able to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly even for a few minutes not for hours, even for a few minutes we will see the result following. It is something like touching a live wire. It does not take hours to see the result of having touched a live wire. We have only to touch an open wire that is not covered or insulated, and the moment we touch it, the result is instantaneous.
1.02 - Groups and Statistical Mechanics, #Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, #Norbert Wiener, #Cybernetics
Bogoliouboff, and to some of the work of Hurewicz and the Japa-
nese school.
1.02 - MAPS OF MEANING - THREE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
biologically grounded. Nonetheless, human languages differ. A native Japanese speaker cannot understand
a native French speaker, although it might be evident to both that the other is using language. It is possible
1.02 - The Development of Sri Aurobindos Thought, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
the unconditional surrender of Japan, Sri Aurobindo wrote:
There was a time when Hitler was victorious everywhere
--- Grep of noun japa
japan
japan allspice
japan bittersweet
japan cedar
japan clover
japan current
japan tallow
japan trench
japan wax
japanese
japanese allspice
japanese andromeda
japanese angelica tree
japanese apricot
japanese archipelago
japanese banana
japanese barberry
japanese barnyard millet
japanese beech
japanese beetle
japanese bittersweet
japanese black pine
japanese brome
japanese capital
japanese carpet grass
japanese cedar
japanese cherry
japanese chess
japanese chestnut
japanese clover
japanese crab
japanese deer
japanese deity
japanese flowering cherry
japanese honeysuckle
japanese hop
japanese iris
japanese islands
japanese ivy
japanese lacquer tree
japanese lawn grass
japanese leaf
japanese leek
japanese lilac
japanese lime
japanese linden
japanese maple
japanese medlar
japanese millet
japanese monetary unit
japanese morning glory
japanese oak
japanese oyster
japanese pagoda tree
japanese persimmon
japanese pink
japanese plum
japanese poinsettia
japanese privet
japanese quince
japanese radish
japanese red army
japanese red pine
japanese rose
japanese snowbell
japanese spaniel
japanese spurge
japanese stranglehold
japanese sumac
japanese table pine
japanese tree lilac
japanese umbrella pine
japanese varnish tree
japanese wistaria
japanese yew