TERMS STARTING WITH
Pali Canon ::: In Theravadan Buddhism, these are recognised as the canonical suttas of the Buddha. In other forms of Buddhism they are the main body of teachings and discourses that comprise the foundation for much of Buddhist philosophy and practice.
Palilalia is characterized by the repetition of a word or phrase ie the subject continues to repeat a word or phrase after once having said. It is a perseveratory phenomenon.
Palilalia
Palinacousis refers to a phenomenon in which the subject continues to listen to a word, a syllable or any sound, even after the withdrawal of stimulus. It is a type of
Palinacousis
Palingenesis does not occur in Greek literature, as far as is known; palingenesia is used in the New Testament for spiritual regeneration. With the alchemists the word meant the artificial reproduction of the spectrum of a plant from its ashes. In biology palingenesis means reappearance of ancestral characteristics, instead of new characteristics (cenogenesis).
Palingenesis [from Greek palin again + genesis becoming] One type of reimbodiment or self-generation, the transmission of an identic life in cyclically recurring phases, whereby at each transformation a new manifestation or result is produced. This result can also be called a palingenesis or new-becoming of the life-stream. The word is used similarly by Schopenhauer, who regards all phenomena as a continual and repeated palingenesis of one reality — the Will. Transmigration, however, means the reappearance of a living entity in different forms adapted to specific conditions.
Palingenesis(Greek) ::: A compound which means "coming again into being," or "becoming again." The meaningattached to this word is quite specific, although having a wide and general application. The idea includedin it may be illustrated, as is found in the philosophical literature of the ancients who lived around theMediterranean Sea, by the example of the oak which produces its seed, the acorn, the acorn in its turnproducing a new oak containing the same life that was passed on to it from the mother oak -- or the fatheroak. This transmission of an identic life in cyclical recurring phases is the specific meaning of the wordpalingenesis. Thus the thought is different from the respective ideas contained in the other wordsconnected with the doctrine of reimbodiment. Perhaps another way of stating the specific meaning wouldbe by stating that palingenesis signifies the continuous transmission of an identic life producing at eachtransformation a new manifestation or result, these several results being in each case a palingenesis or"new becoming" of the same life-stream. Its specific meaning is quite different from that imbodied in theword transmigration.
Palingenesis: (Gr palm, again, genesis, birth) Literally, a new birth or regeneration A rebirth of ideas and events (in a philosophy of history), a new birth of individuals (in theology). -- V.F.
Palingenesy: Greek for re-birth. The transmigration of the life-energy or soul, retaining its identity, in recurrent cycles or phases. The term was employed by the occult philosophers of the seventeenth century to denote the “resurrection of plants,” and the method of achieving their astral appearance after destruction. (L. Spence, An Encyclopaedia of Occultism.)
Palinopsia
Pali Text Society. An organization founded in 1881 by the British PĀLI specialist THOMAS WILLIAM RHYS DAVIDS (1843-1922), which, according to Rhys Davids' mission statement, sought "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts." The Pali Text Society (PTS) was one response to Buddhism's growing popularity in the West in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, and the society played an essential role in sponsoring both the production of critical editions of Pāli texts and their translation into English. With the help of scholars around the world, the PTS published critical, Romanized editions of most of the Pāli Canon over the first three decades of its existence; this massive project was followed with editions of important commentarial literature and an English translation series. The PTS also started the Journal of the Pali Text Society, which continues to publish articles on both Pāli Buddhism and broader topics in Buddhist Studies. The group also published primers for learning the Pāli language and such important reference works as the Society's Pali-English Dictionary, begun by Rhys Davids and finished by his student William Stede, which is now available in a searchable electronic format online. By the time of Rhys Davids' death in 1922, the PTS had published almost thirty thousand pages of Romanized and translated Pāli materials, as well as a host of articles and essays written by Western scholars. Over the years, presidents of the PTS have included such distinguished Pāli scholars as CAROLINE A. F. RHYS DAVIDS (1858-1942), ISALINE BLEW HORNER, and K. R. Norman. In 1994, the PTS began the Fragile Palm Leaves project to collect, identify, catalogue, preserve, and copy a number of rare Pāli manuscripts that survive in the Southeast Asian Buddhist traditions.
Pali Text Society
Pali The language spoken in the north of India from and before the 7th century BC to about the 5th century AD. It is still the literary sacred language of Burma, Thailand, and Ceylon. There were two factors which made Pali one of the most important literary languages of the world: first, with the rise of the Kosalas into a kingdom, the language of its capital (Savatthi, in Nepal) become the form of speech almost universally adopted. Secondly, Gautama Buddha, being of Kosalan by birth, probably used the Pali language in giving forth his teachings, and therefore the subsequent philosophical writings of his disciples were similarly couched in this language.
Palit (“the escaped”)—in Jewish legend, Palit
PAli Cross-References
palification ::: n. --> The act or practice of driving piles or posts into the ground to make it firm.
paliform ::: a. --> Resembling a palus; as, the paliform lobes of the septa in corals.
palilogy ::: n. --> The repetition of a word, or part of a sentence, for the sake of greater emphasis; as, "The living, the living, he shall praise thee."
palimpsest ::: a manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and often legible.
palimpsest ::: n. --> A parchment which has been written upon twice, the first writing having been erased to make place for the second.
palindrome ::: n. --> A word, verse, or sentence, that is the same when read backward or forward; as, madam; Hannah; or Lewd did I live, & evil I did dwel.
palindromic ::: a. --> Alt. of Palindromical
palindromical ::: a. --> Of, pertaining to, or like, a palindrome.
palindromist ::: n. --> A writer of palindromes.
palindrone: A word, line, phrase or sentence which can be read the same backwards as forwards. The famous example of this is "Madam, I'm Adam."
palingenesia ::: n. --> See Palingenesis.
palingenesis ::: n. --> Alt. of Palingenesy
palingenesy ::: n. --> A new birth; a re-creation; a regeneration; a continued existence in different manner or form.
That form of evolution in which the truly ancestral characters conserved by heredity are reproduced in development; original simple descent; -- distinguished from kenogenesis. Sometimes, in zoology, the abrupt metamorphosis of insects, crustaceans, etc.
palingenetic ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to palingenesis: as, a palingenetic process.
paling ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Pale ::: n. --> Pales, in general; a fence formed with pales or pickets; a limit; an inclosure.
The act of placing pales or stripes on cloth; also, the stripes themselves.
palinode ::: n. --> An ode recanting, or retracting, a former one; also, a repetition of an ode.
A retraction; esp., a formal retraction.
palinodial ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to a palinode, or retraction.
palinody ::: n. --> See Palinode.
pali ::: n. --> pl. of Palus.
A dialect descended from Sanskrit, and like that, a dead language, except when used as the sacred language of the Buddhist religion in Farther India, etc. ::: pl. --> of Palus
palinurus ::: n. --> An instrument for obtaining directly, without calculation, the true bearing of the sun, and thence the variation of the compass
palisaded ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Palisade
palisade ::: n. --> A strong, long stake, one end of which is set firmly in the ground, and the other is sharpened; also, a fence formed of such stakes set in the ground as a means of defense.
Any fence made of pales or sharp stakes. ::: v. t. --> To surround, inclose, or fortify, with palisades.
palisading ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Palisade ::: n. --> A row of palisades set in the ground.
palisadoes ::: pl. --> of Palisado
palisado ::: n. --> A palisade. ::: v. t. --> To palisade.
palish ::: a. --> Somewhat pale or wan.
palissander ::: n. --> Violet wood.
Rosewood.
palissy ::: a. --> Designating, or of the nature of, a kind of pottery made by Bernard Palissy, in France, in the 16th centry.
palities; also one of the 72 angels bearing the
palities [Cf. Nisroc], prince of archangels, and
palities. [Rf. Garinet, History of Magic in France ;
TERMS ANYWHERE
1:16). Lords may also be equated with principali¬
1st in the 3rd triad. The principalities are protectors
1. Thrones; 2. Dominations; 3. Principalities; 4. Potentates (Powers); 5. Virtues; 6. Archangels; 7. Angels.
4. Principalities
5. Principalities
7. Principalities
7. Rulers (Principalities)
8. Principalities
97. Verrier (once of the order of principalities)
abhabbatthAna. (S. *abhavyasthAna; T. *mi rung ba'i gnas; C. buwei; J. fui; K. purwi 不爲). In PAli, "condition of being incapable" or "impossibility"; referring to nine immoral acts or inadequacies of character that an ARHAT is incapable of performing or possessing. Because he has destroyed the four ASRAVA, or contaminants-of sensuality (KAMA), becoming (BHAVA), ignorance (AVIDYA), and wrong views (DṚstI)-he is rendered forever "incapable" of engaging in the following acts: (1) deliberately killing any living being; (2) theft; (3) sexual intercourse; (4) deliberately lying; (5) accumulating personal possessions for sensual indulgence, as would a layperson; or performing wrong actions prompted by (6) attachment; (7) hatred; (8) stupidity; or (9) fear.
Abhayagiri. A Sri Lankan monastery built at the capital of ANURADHAPURA in first century BCE. The monastery was constructed for the elder MahAtissa by the Sinhala king VAttAGAMAnI ABHAYA in gratitude for the monk's assistance during the king's political exile and his struggle for the throne. According to medieval PAli historical chronicles, MahAtissa was said to have been unrestrained and base in his behavior, which eventually prompted the monks of the MAHAVIHARA to pass an act of banishment (PRAVRAJANĪYAKARMAN, P. pabbAjanīyakamma) against him. MahAtissa thereafter conducted ecclesiastical ceremonies (SAMGHAKARMAN, P. sanghakamma) separately, and the Abhayagiri fraternity eventually seceded from the MahAvihAra as a separate order of Sri Lankan Buddhism. The Abhayagiri flourished during the eleventh century, but, with the abandonment of AnurAdhapura in the thirteenth century, ceased to exist as an active center. The site is today known for the massive Abhayagiri Thupa (STuPA), one of the largest in Sri Lanka, which was rediscovered deep in a forest at the end of the nineteenth century.
abhibhvAyatana. (P. abhibhAyatana; T. zil gyis gnon pa'i skye mched; C. shengchu; J. shosho; K. sŭngch'o 勝處). In Sanskrit, "sphere of sovereignty" or "station of mastery"; eight stages of transcendence over the sense spheres (AYATANA), which are conducive to the development of meditative absorption (DHYANA). By recognizing from various standpoints that material forms are external, one trains oneself to let go of attachments to material objects and focus exclusively on the meditation subject. The standard list of eight is as follows. When one perceives forms internally (viz., on one's own person), one sees forms external to oneself that are (1) limited and beautiful or ugly (viz., pure and impure colors) or (2) unlimited, and beautiful or ugly, and masters them so that one is aware that one knows and sees them; when one does not perceive forms internally, one sees external forms that are (3) limited or (4) unlimited. When one does not perceive forms internally, one sees external forms that are (5) blue, (6) yellow, (7) red, or (8) white and masters them so that one is aware that one knows and sees them. In the PAli meditative literature, the earth and the color devices (KASInA) are said to be especially conducive to developing these spheres of sovereignty. Progress through these spheres weans the mind from its attraction to the sensuous realm (KAMADHATU) and thus encourages the advertence toward the four meditative absorptions (DHYANA; RuPAVACARADHYANA) associated with the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU), wherein the mind becomes temporarily immune to sensory input and wholly absorbed in its chosen object of meditation.
Abhidhamma (Pali) Abhidhamma [from abhi towards, with intensified meaning + dhamma law, religion, duty from the verbal root dhr to hold fast, preserve, sustain] The supreme dhamma or law as expounded in the third and last portion of the Pali Tipitaka (Sanskrit Tripitaka) or “three baskets” of the canonical books of the Southern School of Buddhism. The Abhidhamma-pitaka, which deals with profound metaphysical themes, is believed to be the source from which the Mahayana and Hinayana got their fundamental doctrines.
Abhidhammatthasangaha. In PAli, "Summary of the Meaning of Abhidharma"; a synoptic manual of PAli ABHIDHARMA written by the Sri Lankan monk ANURUDDHA (d.u.), abbot of the Mulasoma VihAra in Polonnaruwa, sometime between the eighth and twelfth centuries CE, but most probably around the turn of the eleventh century. (Burmese tradition instead dates the text to the first century BCE.) The terse Abhidhammatthasangaha Has been used for centuries as an introductory primer for the study of abhidharma in the monasteries of Sri Lanka and the THERAVADA countries of Southeast Asia; indeed, no other abhidharma text has received more scholarly attention within the tradition, especially in Burma, where this primer has been the object of multiple commentaries and vernacular translations. The Abhidhammatthasangaha includes nine major sections, which provide a systematic overview of PAli Buddhist doctrine. Anuruddha summarizes the exegeses appearing in BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA, though the two works could hardly be more different: where the Visuddhimagga offers an exhaustive exegesis of THERAVADA abhidharma accompanied by a plethora of historical and mythical detail, the Abhidhammatthasangaha is little more than a list of topics, like a bare table of contents. Especially noteworthy in the Abhidhammatthasangaha is its analysis of fifty-two mental concomitants (CETASIKA), in distinction to the forty-six listed in SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA and the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA. There is one major PAli commentary to the Abhidhammatthasangaha still extant, the PorAnatīkA, which is attributed to Vimalabuddhi (d.u.). The Abhidhammatthasangaha appears in the Pali Text Society's English translation series as Compendium of Philosophy.
AbhidhammAvatAra. In PAli, "Introduction to Abhidhamma"; a primer of PAli ABHIDHAMMA attributed to BUDDHADATTA (c. fifth century CE), who is said to have been contemporaneous with the premier PAli scholiast BUDDHAGHOSA; some legends go so far as to suggest that the two ABHIDHAMMIKAS might even have met. The book was written in south India and is the oldest of the noncanonical PAli works on abhidhamma. It offers a systematic scholastic outline of abhidhamma, divided into twenty-four chapters called niddesas (S. nirdesa; "expositions"), and displays many affinities with Buddhaghosa's VISUDDHIMAGGA. These chapters include coverage of the mind (CITTA) and mental concomitants (CETASIKA), the various types of concentration (SAMADHI), the types of knowledge (JNANA) associated with enlightenment, and the process of purification (visuddhi, S. VIsUDDHI). The work is written in a mixture of prose and verse.
abhidhammika. [alt. Abhidhammika]. In PAli, "specialist in the ABHIDHAMMA"; scholarly monks who specialized in study of the abhidhamma (S. ABHIDHARMA) section of the Buddhist canon. In the PAli tradition, particular importance has long been attached to the study of abhidharma. The AttHASALINĪ says that the first ABHIDHAMMIKA was the Buddha himself, and the abhidhammikas were presumed to be the most competent exponents of the teachings of the religion. Among the Buddha's immediate disciples, the premier abhidhammika was SAriputta (S. sARIPUTRA), who was renowned for his systematic grasp of the dharma. Monastic "families" of abhidhamma specialists were known as abhidhammikagana, and they passed down through the generations their own scholastic interpretations of Buddhist doctrine, interpretations that sometimes differed from those offered by specialists in the scriptures (P. sutta; S. SuTRA) or disciplinary rules (VINAYA) . In medieval Sri Lanka, the highest awards within the Buddhist order were granted to monks who specialized in this branch of study, rather than to experts in the scriptures or disciplinary rules. Special festivals were held in honor of the abhidhamma, which involved the recital of important texts and the granting of awards to participants. In contemporary Myanmar (Burma), where the study of abhidhamma continues to be highly esteemed, the seventh book of the PAli ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, the PAttHANA ("Conditions"), is regularly recited in festivals that the Burmese call pathan pwe. Pathan pwe are marathon recitations that go on for days, conducted by invited abhidhammikas who are particularly well versed in the PatthAna, the text that is the focus of the festival. The pathan pwe serves a function similar to that of PARITTA recitations, in that it is believed to ward off baleful influences, but its main designated purpose is to forestall the decline and disappearance of the Buddha's dispensation (P. sAsana; S. sASANA). The TheravAda tradition considers the PatthAna to be the Buddha's most profound exposition of ultimate truth (P. paramatthasacca; S. PARAMARTHASATYA), and according to the PAli commentaries, the PatthAna is the first constituent of the Buddha's dispensation that will disappear from the world as the religion faces its inevitable decline. The abhidhammikas' marathon recitations of the PatthAna, therefore, help to ward off the eventual demise of the Buddhist religion. This practice speaks of a THERAVADA orientation in favor of scholarship that goes back well over a thousand years. Since at least the time of BUDDHAGHOSA (c. fifth century CE), the life of scholarship (P. PARIYATTI), rather than that of meditation or contemplation (P. PAtIPATTI), has been the preferred vocational path within PAli Buddhist monasticism. Monks who devoted themselves exclusively to meditation were often portrayed as persons who lacked the capacity to master the intricacies of PAli scholarship. Even so, meditation was always recommended as the principal means by which one could bring scriptural knowledge to maturity, either through awakening or the realization (P. pativedha; S. PRATIVEDHA) of Buddhist truths. See also ABHIDHARMIKA.
AbhidhAnappadīpikA. A PAli dictionary of synonyms attributed to the twelfth-century Sinhalese scholar-monk MoggallAna, which, in style and method, is similar to the Sanskrit lexicon the Amarakosa. The text is arranged into three sections, dealing with celestial, terrestrial, and miscellaneous topics. The three sections are further subdivided into various chapters, each composed of groups of synonyms arranged in verse for ease of memorization. For example, the first section of the thesaurus includes 179 different entries, each of which offers multiple entries: e.g., thirty-two different epithets for the Buddha and forty-six synonyms for nibbAna (S. NIRVAnA). The second section has six different chapters, which include twenty-four synonyms for a house, ten for man, fifteen for woman, etc. The third section has four chapters on miscellaneous topics. A Sinhalese paraphrase and commentary on this dictionary were produced in Sri Lanka by Caturangabala (d.u.), while a Burmese commentary was composed by NAnAvAsa (d.u.) in the fourteenth century during the reign of King Kittisīhasura (c. 1351); a Burmese vernacular translation was subsequently made during the eighteenth century.
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.)
abhidharmapitaka. (P. abhidhammapitaka; T. chos mngon pa'i sde snod; C. lunzang; J. ronzo; K. nonjang 論藏). The third of the three "baskets" (PItAKA) of the Buddhist canon (TRIPItAKA). The abhidharmapitaka derives from attempts in the early Buddhist community to elucidate the definitive significance of the teachings of the Buddha, as compiled in the SuTRAs. Since the Buddha was well known to have adapted his message to fit the predilections and needs of his audience (cf. UPAYAKAUsALYA), there inevitably appeared inconsistencies in his teachings that needed to be resolved. The attempts to ferret out the definitive meaning of the BUDDHADHARMA through scholastic interpretation and exegesis eventually led to a new body of texts that ultimately were granted canonical status in their own right. These are the texts of the abhidharmapitaka. The earliest of these texts, such as the PAli VIBHAnGA and PUGGALAPANNATTI and the SARVASTIVADA SAMGĪTIPARYAYA and DHARMASKANDHA, are structured as commentaries to specific sutras or portions of sutras. These materials typically organized the teachings around elaborate doctrinal taxonomies, which were used as mnemonic devices or catechisms. Later texts move beyond individual sutras to systematize a wide range of doctrinal material, offering ever more complex analytical categorizations and discursive elaborations of the DHARMA. Ultimately, abhidharma texts emerge as a new genre of Buddhist literature in their own right, employing sophisticated philosophical speculation and sometimes even involving polemical attacks on the positions of rival factions within the SAMGHA. ¶ At least seven schools of Indian Buddhism transmitted their own recensions of abhidharma texts, but only two of these canons are extant in their entirety. The PAli abhidhammapitaka of the THERAVADA school, the only recension that survives in an Indian language, includes seven texts (the order of which often differs): (1) DHAMMASAnGAnI ("Enumeration of Dharmas") examines factors of mentality and materiality (NAMARuPA), arranged according to ethical quality; (2) VIBHAnGA ("Analysis") analyzes the aggregates (SKANDHA), conditioned origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA), and meditative development, each treatment culminating in a catechistic series of inquiries; (3) DHATUKATHA ("Discourse on Elements") categorizes all dharmas in terms of the skandhas and sense-fields (AYATANA); (4) PUGGALAPANNATTI ("Description of Human Types") analyzes different character types in terms of the three afflictions of greed (LOBHA), hatred (DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA) and various related subcategories; (5) KATHAVATTHU ("Points of Controversy") scrutinizes the views of rival schools of mainstream Buddhism and how they differ from the TheravAda; (6) YAMAKA ("Pairs") provides specific denotations of problematic terms through paired comparisons; (7) PAttHANA ("Conditions") treats extensively the full implications of conditioned origination. ¶ The abhidharmapitaka of the SARVASTIVADA school is extant only in Chinese translation, the definitive versions of which were prepared by XUANZANG's translation team in the seventh century. It also includes seven texts: (1) SAMGĪTIPARYAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Discourse on Pronouncements") attributed to either MAHAKAUstHILA or sARIPUTRA, a commentary on the SaMgītisutra (see SAnGĪTISUTTA), where sAriputra sets out a series of dharma lists (MATṚKA), ordered from ones to elevens, to organize the Buddha's teachings systematically; (2) DHARMASKANDHA[PADAsASTRA] ("Aggregation of Dharmas"), attributed to sAriputra or MAHAMAUDGALYAYANA, discusses Buddhist soteriological practices, as well as the afflictions that hinder spiritual progress, drawn primarily from the AGAMAs; (3) PRAJNAPTIBHAsYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Treatise on Designations"), attributed to MaudgalyAyana, treats Buddhist cosmology (lokaprajNapti), causes (kArana), and action (KARMAN); (4) DHATUKAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Collection on the Elements"), attributed to either PuRnA or VASUMITRA, discusses the mental concomitants (the meaning of DHATU in this treatise) and sets out specific sets of mental factors that are present in all moments of consciousness (viz., the ten MAHABHuMIKA) or all defiled states of mind (viz., the ten KLEsAMAHABHuMIKA); (5) VIJNANAKAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Collection on Consciousness"), attributed to Devasarman, seeks to prove the veracity of the eponymous SarvAstivAda position that dharmas exist in all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future, and the falsity of notions of the person (PUDGALA); it also provides the first listing of the four types of conditions (PRATYAYA); (6) PRAKARAnA[PADAsASTRA] ("Exposition"), attributed to VASUMITRA, first introduces the categorization of dharmas according to the more developed SarvAstivAda rubric of RuPA, CITTA, CAITTA, CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA, and ASAMSKṚTA dharmas; it also adds a new listing of KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA, or factors always associated with wholesome states of mind; (7) JNANAPRASTHANA ("Foundations of Knowledge"), attributed to KATYAYANĪPUTRA, an exhaustive survey of SarvAstivAda dharma theory and the school's exposition of psychological states, which forms the basis of the massive encyclopedia of SarvAstivAda-VaibhAsika abhidharma, the ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA. In the traditional organization of the seven canonical books of the SarvAstivAda abhidharmapitaka, the JNANAPRASTHANA is treated as the "body" (sARĪRA), or central treatise of the canon, with its six "feet" (pAda), or ancillary treatises (pAdasAstra), listed in the following order: (1) PrakaranapAda, (2) VijNAnakAya, (3) Dharmaskandha, (4) PrajNaptibhAsya, (5) DhAtukAya, and (6) SaMgītiparyAya. Abhidharma exegetes later turned their attention to these canonical abhidharma materials and subjected them to the kind of rigorous scholarly analysis previously directed to the sutras. These led to the writing of innovative syntheses and synopses of abhidharma doctrine, in such texts as BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA and ANURUDDHA's ABHIDHAMMATTHASAnGAHA, VASUBANDHU's ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, and SAMGHABHADRA's *NYAYANUSARA. In East Asia, this third "basket" was eventually expanded to include the burgeoning scholastic literature of the MAHAYANA, transforming it from a strictly abhidharmapitaka into a broader "treatise basket" or *sASTRAPItAKA (C. lunzang).
Abhijna (Sanskrit) Abhijñā [from abhi towards + the verbal root jñā to know, have special knowledge of, mastery over; Pali abhiñña] Inner perception; in Buddhism the five or six transcendental powers, faculties, or superknowledges attained on reaching buddhahood. Gautama Buddha is said to have acquired the six abhijnas the night he attained enlightenment. Generally enumerated as: 1) divyachakshus (divine eye) instantaneous perception of whatever one wills to see; 2) divyasrotra (divine ear) instantaneous comprehension of all sounds on every plane; 3) riddhisakshatkriya, power of becoming visibly manifest at will, intuitive perception; 4) purvanivasajnana (power to know former existences) also called purvanivasanu-smritijnana (recollection of former existences); and 5) parachittajnana (knowledge of others’ thoughts) understanding of their minds and hearts.
abhimAna. (T. mngon pa'i nga rgyal; C. man; J. man; K. man 慢). In Sanskrit and PAli, "conceit," "haughtiness," or "arrogance"; an intensification of mere "pride" (MANA). In the YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA and Tibetan sources, abhimAna is listed as one of seven types of conceit. This conceit can refer either to views that one holds arrogantly, haughtiness regarding the status into which one is born, or arrogance regarding the extent of one's wealth and/or knowledge.
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.
abhisamAcArikAsīla. (C. biqiu weiyi; J. biku igi; K. pigu wiŭi 比丘威儀). In PAli, "virtuous (or proper) conduct"; often abbreviated simply as abhisamAcArikA. The term may be used generically to refer to the basic moral codes (sĪLA) that are followed by all Buddhists, whether lay or monastic. More specifically, in the context of the Buddhist monastic codes (VINAYA), abhisamAcArikA refers to the broad standards of behavior and norms that are expected of a monk (BHIKsU) or nun (BHIKsUnĪ) living in a monastery. In the monastic tradition, we find a distinction between two kinds of moral discipline. The first is abhisamAcArikAsīla, which indicates a set of more mundane, external prescriptions including how a monk should treat his superior and how a monastery should be maintained from day to day. For example, the abhisamAcArikA section of the MAHASAMGHIKA VINAYA includes detailed instructions on how and when to hold the recitation of the monastic rules (UPOsADHA). The text lists the spaces that are appropriate for this ritual and gives detailed instructions on how the space is to be cleaned and prepared for the recitation. As with other monastic instructions, these rules are accompanied by a story that serves as an impetus for the making of the rule. The second type of moral discipline is ADIBRAHMACARIYAKASĪLA, which are rules of conduct that will lead one further toward the complete eradication of suffering (DUḤKHA). AbhisamAcArikAsīla is understood to be the lesser discipline with mundane ends, while Adibrahmacariyakasīla is understood to be the higher transcendent discipline.
abhisamaya. (T. mngon rtogs; C. xianguan; J. genkan; K. hyon'gwan 現觀). In Sanskrit and PAli, "comprehension," "realization," or "penetration"; a foundational term in Buddhist soteriological theory, broadly referring to training that results in the realization of truth (satyAbhisamaya; P. saccAbhisamaya). This realization most typically involves the direct insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvary AryasatyAni) but may also be used with reference to realization of the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA), the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA), the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA), etc., thus making all these doctrines specific objects of meditation. The PAli PAtISAMBHIDAMAGGA discusses forty-four specific kinds of abhisamaya, all related to basic doctrinal lists. In the SARVASTIVADA abhidharma, abhisamaya occurs on the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), through a "sequential realization" (anupurvAbhisamaya) of sixteen moments of insight into the four noble truths. This gradual unfolding of realization was rejected by the THERAVADA school and was strongly criticized in HARIVARMAN's *TATTVASIDDHI, both of which advocated the theory of instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya). In the YOGACARA school of MAHAYANA, abhisamaya is not limited to the path of vision, as in the SarvAstivAda school, but also occurs on the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA) that precedes the path of vision through the abhisamayas of thought, faith, and discipline, as well as on the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA) through two abhisamayas associated with wisdom and an abhisamaya associated with the ultimate path (NIstHAMARGA). The term comes to be associated particularly with the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, attributed to MAITREYANATHA, which sets forth the various realizations achieved on the "HĪNAYANA" and MAHAYANA paths. In the eight chapters of this text are delineated eight types of abhisamaya, which subsume the course of training followed by both sRAVAKAs and BODHISATTVAs: (1) the wisdom of knowing all modes (SARVAKARAJNATA), (2) the wisdom of knowing the paths (MARGAJNATA), (3) the wisdom of knowing all phenomena (SARVAJNATA), (4) manifestly perfect realization of all (the three previous) aspects (sarvAkArAbhisambodha), (5) the summit of realization (murdhAbhisamaya; see MuRDHAN), (6) gradual realization (anupurvAbhisamaya), (7) instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya), and (8) realization of the dharma body, or DHARMAKAYA (dharmakAyAbhisambodha).
abhyAyana. (P. abbhAna; T. mngon par 'ongs; C. chuzui; J. shutsuzai; K. ch'ulchoe 出罪). In Sanskrit, the formal ecclesiastical act of "calling back" a monk into communion. In the PAli VINAYA, for example, a monk who has committed a suspension (P. sanghAdisesa; S. SAMGHAVAsEsA) offense is required to undergo rehabilitation through either penance (P. manatta; S. MANATVA) or probation (PARIVASA) until his offense has been expiated. If he does not properly carry out his penalty, it will be reimposed until the community is satisfied with his performance. At that point, the community performs the abbhAna-kamma, the ecclesiastical act of "calling back," which restores the monk to functional membership in the SAMGHA. A minimum of twenty monks must be present during the abhyAyana ritual for it to be valid. No member of the twenty may himself be observing either mAnapya or parivAsa at the time, although such a monk may be present as long as the minimum number of blameless monks is participating.
Ablanathanalba (Gnostic) Used as a magical charm during the later Roman Empire when Gnosticism flourished in most great centers of population such as Alexandria. In Greek characters it is a palindrome. See also ABRACADABRA.
Acariya. (S. AcArya, Thai, AchAn; T. slob dpon; C. asheli; J. ajari; K. asari 阿闍梨). In PAli, "teacher." A monk takes an Acariya if he has lost his preceptor (P. upajjhAya; S. UPADHYAYA) and is still in need of guidance (nissaya, S. NIsRAYA). A preceptor is said to be lost when he goes away, disrobes, dies, joins another religion, or has expelled the monk under his guidance for wrongdoing. To act as an Acariya, a monk must possess the same qualifications as required of an upajjhAya; namely, he must be competent in DHARMA and VINAYA and be of at least ten years standing in the order since his own ordination. The monk taken under the guidance of the Acariya is called his ANTEVASIKA, or pupil. The relationship between teacher and pupil is compared to that of father and son. The teacher is enjoined to teach dhamma and vinaya to his pupil and to supply him with all necessary requisites, such as robes (see TRICĪVARA) and alms bowl (PATRA). He should tend to him if he is ill and discipline him if he commits wrongdoing. If the pupil should begin to entertain doubts about the dispensation or his abilities to practice, the teacher must try to dispel them. If the pupil should commit a grave offense against the rules of the SAMGHA, the teacher is to prevail upon him to go before the saMgha to seek expiation. If the pupil misbehaves or is disobedient, the teacher is enjoined to expel him. But if the pupil shows remorse and asks forgiveness, the teacher is to take him again under guidance. A monk ceases to be an Acariya when he goes away, dies, disrobes, changes religion, or expels his pupil. See also ACARYA.
acintya. (P. acinteyya; T. bsam gyis mi khyab pa; C. bukesiyi; J. fukashigi; K. pulgasaŭi 不可思議). In Sanskrit, "inconceivable"; a term used to describe the ultimate reality that is beyond all conceptualization. PAli and mainstream Buddhist materials refer to four specific types of "inconceivables" or "unfathomables" (P. acinteyya): the range or sphere of a buddha, e.g., the extent of his knowledge and power; the range of meditative absorption (DHYANA); the potential range of moral cause and effect (KARMAN and VIPAKA); and the range of the universe or world system (LOKA), i.e., issues of cosmogony, whether the universe is finite or infinite, eternal or transitory, etc. Such thoughts are not to be pursued, because they are not conducive to authentic religious progress or ultimately to NIRVAnA. See also AVYAKṚTA.
adbhutadharma. (P. abbhutadhamma; T. rmad du byung ba'i chos; C. xifa; J. keho; K. hŭibop 希法). In Sanskrit, "marvelous events"; one of the nine (NAVAnGA[PAVACANA]) or twelve (DVADAsAnGA[PRAVACANA]) categories (AnGA) of scripture recognized in PAli and Sanskrit sources, respectively, as classified according to their structure or literary style. This particular genre of SuTRA is characterized by the presence of various miraculous or supernatural events that occur during the course of the narrative.
adhikaranasamatha. (P. adhikaranasamatha; T. rtsod pa nye bar zhi ba; C. miezhengfa; J. metsujoho; K. myolchaengpop 滅諍法). In Sanskrit, "settlement of a legal case," viz., rules for settling disputes, involving either confronting ordained monks and nuns who have transgressed the rules of the order (see PRATIMOKsA) or dealing with differences that have arisen within the order. The settlement of a legal question or case (ADHIKARAnA) within the SAMGHA may be accomplished in seven ways (SAPTADHIKARAnAsAMATHA): (1) a verdict "in the presence of," viz., bringing disputants before a panel of competent monks or the saMgha as a whole and rendering a verdict according to the appropriate legal procedure; (2) a verdict "of mindfulness": declaring the accused innocent by virtue of being pure and without offense-e.g., being an ARHAT-and thus incapable of wrongdoing; (3) declaring the accused not guilty by reason of insanity; (4) adding an additional punishment to a monk who confesses to a specific type of wrongdoing only after being interrogated; (5) rendering a verdict by majority vote of the whole saMgha when a competent monk or a panel of competent monks is unable to reach a decision; (6) resolution through an admission of guilt; and (7) a verdict of "covering over as with grass": viz., settling a case between disputants through arbitration and compromise before bringing it before the saMgha for a verdict. These seven methods of resolving disputes are typically placed at the end of the list of rules in the PRATIMOKsA code and appear in the PAli PAtimokkha in its CulAVAGGA section. These seven types of verdicts are sometimes listed in different orders.
adhikarana. (T. rtsod pa; C. zhengshi/zhengsong; J. joji/josho; K. chaengsa/chaengsong 諍事/諍訟). In PAli and Sanskrit, "legal question" or "case," an important term in the VINAYA. Legal questions or cases are of four kinds: (1) those arising out of a dispute, (2) those arising out of censure, (3) those arising out of an offense, and (4) those arising out of an obligation. (1) Legal questions or cases arising out of a dispute are of eighteen kinds and deal primarily with what does and does not pertain to the monastic code, what is and is not sanctioned by the rules of vinaya, and what is an especially grievous offense, such as "defeat" (PARAJIKA), vs. what is nongrievous. (2) Legal questions or cases arising out of censure are involved with whether or not a monk has fallen away from morality or good habits, fallen away from right view, or fallen away from right livelihood. (3) Legal questions or cases arising out of offenses deal with misdeeds classified under five headings: viz., pArAjika, SAMGHADIsEsA, PAYATTIKA, PRATIDEsANĪYA, or DUsKṚTA, or under seven headings: viz., the above five plus miscellaneous grave, but unconsummated offenses (STHuLATYAYA, P. thullaccaya), and mischievous talk (DURBHAsITA, P. dubbhAsita). (5) Legal questions or cases arising out of obligation concern the jurisdiction of resolutions and formal acts passed by the SAMGHA. In the final section of the monastic codes of conduct (PRATIMOKsA), seven specific methods of resolving disputes (ADHIKARAnAsAMATHA) are offered.
adhimAna. (T. lhag pa'i nga rgyal; C. zengshangman; J. zojoman; K. chŭngsangman 增上慢). In Sanskrit and PAli, "arrogance" or "haughtiness"; this term refers specifically to overestimation of oneself or boasting about one's spiritual accomplishments. When one is mistakenly convinced that one has attained one of the superknowledges (ABHIJNA), meditative absorptions (DHYANA), or spiritual fruitions (PHALA), when in actuality one has not, one is said to possess adhimAna. When adhimAna is expressed verbally-that is, by bragging to others that one has mastered one of the aforementioned exceptional achievements for the purpose of winning reputation and material support-this braggadocio constitutes a grave offense, especially for ordained monks and nuns. According to the VINAYA, such overestimation of one's extraordinary spiritual achievements could constitute grounds for "defeat" (PARAJIKA), the most serious transgression that can be committed by monks and nuns. In its more generic usage, adhimAna may also refer simply to particularly intense forms of "conceit" and "pride" (MANA).
adhimoksa. (P. adhimokkha; T. mos pa; C. shengjie; J. shoge; K. sŭnghae 勝解). In Sanskrit, "determination," "resolution," or "zeal"; a general term denoting an inclination toward a virtuous object, sometimes used to indicate a preliminary stage prior to the conviction that results from direct experience; also seen written as adhimukti. The adhimukticaryAbhumi incorporates the stages of the path of accumulation (SAMBHARAMARGA) and the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA) prior to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). In a more technical sense, adhimoksa is a mental factor (CAITTA) that keeps consciousness intent on its object without straying to another object. It is listed among the ten major omnipresent mental concomitants (S. MAHABHuMIKA) that are present in all in the dharma taxonomy of the SARVASTIVADA school, among the five determinative mental concomitants (S. VINIYATA) in the YOGACARA dharma system, and one of the six secondary (P. pakinnaka) factors in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA. Adhimoksa is also used to describe the interests or dispositions of sentient beings, the knowledge of which contributes to a buddha's pedagogical skills.
adhipatipratyaya. (P. adhipatipaccaya; T. bdag po'i rkyen; C. zengshang yuan; J. zojoen; K. chŭngsang yon 增上縁). In Sanskrit, "predominant" or "sovereign condition"; the fourth of the four types of conditions (PRATYAYA) recognized in the SARVASTIVADA-VAIBHAsIKA system of ABHIDHARMA and in YOGACARA; the term also appears as the ninth of the twenty-four conditions (P. paccaya) in the massive PAli abhidhamma text, the PAttHANA. In epistemology, the predominant condition is one of the three causal conditions necessary for perception to occur. It is the specific condition that provides the operative capability (kArana) for the production of something else. In the case of sensory perception, the predominant condition for the arising of sensory consciousness (VIJNANA) is the physical sense organ and the sensory object; but more generically even the seed could serve as the adhipatipratyaya for the generation of a sprout. The four primary physical elements (MAHABHuTA) themselves serve as the predominant condition for the five physical sensory organs, in that they are the condition for the sensory organs' production and development.
adhisthAna. (P. adhitthAna; T. byin gyis brlabs pa; C. jiachi; J. kaji; K. kaji 加持). In Sanskrit, lit. "determination" or "decisive resolution" and commonly translated as "empowerment." Literally, the term has the connotation of "taking a stand," viz., the means by which the buddhas reveal enlightenment to the world, as well as the adept's reliance on the buddhas' empowerment through specific ritual practices. In the former sense, adhisthAna can refer to the magical power of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, in which contexts it is often translated as "blessing" or "empowerment." As the LAnKAVATARASuTRA notes, it is thanks to the buddhas' empowerment issuing from their own original vows (PRAnIDHANA) that BODHISATTVAS are able to undertake assiduous cultivation over three infinite eons (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) so that they may in turn become buddhas. The buddhas' empowerment sustains the bodhisattvas in their unremitting practice by both helping them to maintain tranquillity of mind throughout the infinity of time they are in training and, ultimately, once the bodhisattvas achieve the tenth and final stage (BHuMI) of their training, the cloud of dharma (DHARMAMEGHA), the buddhas appear from all the ten directions to anoint the bodhisattvas as buddhas in their own right (see ABHIsEKA). ¶ In mainstream Buddhist materials, adhisthAna refers to the first of a buddha's six or ten psychic powers (ṚDDHI), the ability to project mind-made bodies (MANOMAYAKAYA) of himself, viz., to replicate himself ad infinitum. In PAli materials, adhitthAna is also used to refer to the "determination" to extend the duration of meditative absorption (P. JHANA; S. DHYANA) and the derivative psychic powers (P. iddhi; S. ṚDDHI).
Adibrahmacariyakasīla. In PAli, "higher rules of purity"; the more advanced of two types of moral discipline (P. sīla, S. sĪLA), referring to rules of conduct that will lead the practitioner further along toward the complete eradication of suffering. This type of discipline is contrasted with ABHISAMACARIKASĪLA, or lesser discipline, which indicates more mundane, external prescriptions, including how a monk should treat his superior and how a monastery should be maintained from day to day. While abhisamAcArikAsīla is concerned with mundane ends, Adibrahmacariyakasīla is understood to be the higher, transcendent discipline.
AdīnavAnupassanANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the contemplation of danger (ADĪNAVA)"; this is the fourth of nine knowledges (NAna) cultivated as part of the "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI) according to the outline in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Knowledge arising from the contemplation of danger is developed by noting the frightfulness of conditioned formations (saMkhAra; S. SAMSKARA), that is to say, the mental and physical phenomena (NAMARuPA) comprising the individual and the universe. Having seen that all phenomena are fearful because they are impermanent (anicca; S. ANITYA) and destined for annihilation, the practitioner finds no refuge in any kind of existence in any of the realms of rebirth. He sees no conditioned formation or station on which he can rely or that is worth holding onto. The Visuddhimagga states that the practitioner sees the three realms of existence as burning charcoal pits, the elements of the physical world as venomous snakes, and the five aggregates (khandha; S. SKANDHA) comprising the person as murderers with drawn swords. Seeing danger in continued existence and in every kind of becoming (BHAVA), the practitioner realizes that the only safety and happiness are found in nibbAna (S. NIRVAnA).
Adīnava. (T. nyes dmigs; C. guohuan; J. kagen; K. kwahwan 過患). In Sanskrit and PAli, "dangers." More generically, Adīnava refers to the evils that may befall a layperson who is made heedless (PRAMADA) by drinking, gambling, debauchery, and idleness. More specifically, however, the term comes to be used to designate a crucial stage in the process of meditative development (BHAVANA), in which the adept becomes so terrified of the "dangers" inherent in impermanent, compounded things that he turns away from this transitory world and instead turns toward the radical nonattachment that is NIRVAnA. In the so-called graduated discourse (P. ANUPUBBIKATHA) that the Buddha used to mold the understanding of his new adherents, the Buddha would outline in his elementary discourse the benefits of giving (dAnakathA), right conduct (sīlakathA), and the prospect of rebirth in the heavens (svargakathA). Once their minds were pliant and impressionable, the Buddha would then instruct his listeners in the dangers (Adīnava) inherent in sensuality (KAMA), in order to turn them away from the world and toward the advantages of renunciation (P. nekkhamme AnisaMsa; see NAIsKRAMYA). This pervasive sense of danger thence sustains the renunciatory drive that ultimately will lead to nirvAna. See also ADĪNAVANUPASSANANAnA.
AdittapariyAyasutta. (S. *AdityaparyAyasutra; C. Ranshao; J. Nensho; K. Yonso 燃燒). In PAli, lit. "Discourse on the Manner of Being Aflame," usually known in English as the "Fire Sermon"; the third sermon spoken by the Buddha following his enlightenment. After his conversion of the three matted-hair ascetics Uruvela-Kassapa, GayA-Kassapa, and Nadī-Kassapa, along with their one thousand disciples, the Buddha was traveling with them to GayAsīsa, where he delivered this sermon. Because of his new disciples' previous devotions to the Brahmanical fire sacrifice, once they were ordained the Buddha preached to these new monks a targeted discourse that he called the "Fire Sermon." The Buddha explains that all of the six sense bases, six sensory objects, and six sensory consciousnesses, along with the sensory contacts (phassa; S. SPARsA) and sensations (VEDANA) that accompany the senses, are burning with the fires of greed (LOBHA), hatred (P. dosa; S. DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA) and with the fires of all the various types of suffering (dukkha; S. DUḤKHA). Only through dispassion toward the senses (see INDRIYASAMVARA) will attachment diminish and liberation eventually be achieved. In the PAli tradition, the sermon appears in the MAHAVAGGA section of the PAli VINAYAPItAKA, on the history of the dispensation, not in the SUTTAPItAKA; a parallel SARVASTIVADA recension appears in the Chinese translation of the SAMYUKTAGAMA.
advesa. (P. adosa; T. zhe sdang med pa; C. wuchen; J. mushin; K. mujin 無瞋). In Sanskrit, "absence of ill will" or "absence of hatred." One of the forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the VAIBHAsIKA-SARVASTIVADA school of ABHIDHARMA, one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school and one of the fifty-two in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA, "absence of ill will" is the opposite of "ill will" or "aversion" (DVEsA). The SARVASTIVADA exegetes posited that this mental quality accompanied all wholesome activities, and it is therefore classified as one of the ten omnipresent wholesome factors (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA). "Absence of ill will" is listed as one of the three wholesome faculties (KUsALAMuLA), is one of the states of mind comprising right intention (SAMYAKSAMKALPA) in the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGIKAMARGA), and is traditionally presumed to be a precondition for the cultivation of loving-kindness (MAITRĪ).
Agama. (T. lung; C. ahan jing; J. agongyo; K. aham kyong 阿含經). In Sanskrit and PAli, "text" or "scripture"; a general term for received scriptural tradition. The term Agama is commonly paired with two other contrasting terms: Agama and YUKTI (reasoning) are the means of arriving at the truth; Agama and ADHIGAMA (realization) are the two divisions of the BUDDHADHARMA-the verbal or scriptural tradition and that which is manifested through practice. In its Sanskrit usage, the term Agama is also used to refer more specifically to the four scriptural collections of the mainstream tradition (now lost in Sanskrit but preserved in Chinese translation), attributed to the Buddha and his close disciples, which correspond to the four PAli NIKAYAs: (1) DĪRGHAGAMA or "Long Discourses," belonging to the DHARMAGUPTAKA school and corresponding to the PAli DĪGHANIKAYA; (2) MADHYAMAGAMA or "Medium Discourses," associated with the SARVASTIVADA school and corresponding to the PAli MAJJHIMANIKAYA; (3) SAMYUKTAGAMA or "Connected Discourses," belonging to the SarvAstivAda school (with a partial translation perhaps belonging to the KAsYAPĪYA school) and corresponding to the PAli SAMYUTTANIKAYA; and (4) EKOTTARAGAMA or "Numerically Arranged Discourses," variously ascribed to the Dharmaguptakas, or less plausibly to the MAHASAMGHIKA school or its PRAJNAPTIVADA offshoot, and corresponding to the PAli AnGUTTARANIKAYA. Despite the similarities in the titles of these collections, there are many differences between the contents of the Sanskrit Agamas and the PAli nikAyas. The KHUDDAKANIKAYA ("Miscellaneous Collection"), the fifth nikAya in the PAli canon, has no equivalent in the extant Chinese translations of the Agamas; such miscellanies, or "mixed baskets" (S. ksudrakapitaka), were however known to have existed in several of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, including the Dharmaguptaka, MahAsAMghika, and MAHĪsASAKA.
Agantukaklesa. (P. Agantukakilesa; T. glo bur gyi nyon mongs; C. kechen fannao; J. kyakujin bonno; K. kaekchin ponnoe 客塵煩惱). In Sanskrit, "adventitious afflictions" or "adventitious defilements"; indicating that the KLEsA are accidental and extrinsic qualities of the mind, rather than natural and intrinsic. This notion builds on an ancient strand in Buddhist thought, such as in the oft-quoted passage in the PAli AnGUTTARANIKAYA: "The mind, O monks, is luminous but defiled by adventitious defilements" (pabhassaraM idaM bhikkave cittaM, taN ca kho Agantukehi upakkilesehi upakkilittham). Since defilements are introduced into the thought processes from without, the intrinsic purity of the mind (CITTA) can be restored through counteracting the influence of the klesa and overcoming the inveterate tendency toward attachment and its concomitant craving (LOBHA) and ill will (DVEsA), which empower them.This concept of Agantukaklesa is critical to the MAHAYANA doctrine of TATHAGATAGARBHA (embryo of buddhahood), where the mind is presumed to be innately enlightened, but that enlightenment is temporarily obscured or concealed by defilements (KLEsA) that are extrinsic to it.
AggaNNasutta. (C. Xiaoyuan jing; J. Shoengyo; K. Soyon kyong 小經). In PAli, "Discourse on Origins" or "Sermon on Things Primeval"; the twenty-seventh sutta of the DĪGHANIKAYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the fifth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHAGAMA); the sutra provides a Buddhist account of the origins of the world and of human society. The Buddha preached the sermon at SAvatthi (sRAVASTĪ) to two ordinands, VAsettha and BhAradvAja, to disabuse them of the belief that the priestly brAhmana caste was superior to the Buddha's khattiya (KsATRIYA), or warrior, caste. The Buddha describes the fourfold caste system of traditional Indian society as a by-product of the devolution of sentient beings. In the beginning of the eon (KALPA), beings possess spiritual bodies that are luminous, able to travel through the air, and feed on joy. But out of greed for sensual gratification, they degenerate into physical beings with ever grosser propensities: e.g., the coarser the food they eat (first a cream on the surface of water, then creepers, then eventually rice), the coarser their bodies become, until the beings develop sex organs, begin to have intercourse, and in turn build dwellings in order to conceal their debauchery. As their bodies become ever more physical, their life spans in turn also decrease. Immorality, strife, and violence ensue until people finally realize they need a leader to save them from anarchy. They elect the first human king, named MahAsammata, who was also the first ksatriya. It was out of the ksatriya lineage deriving from this first king that the other three classes-brAhmana, vaisya, and sudra-also evolved. This account challenges the mainstream Indian belief that the brAhmana caste is congenitally superior (descending, it claims, from the mouth of the god BrahmA himself) and posits that the effort of moral and spiritual perfection, not the accident of birth, is the true standard of human superiority. Although the Buddhist tradition presumes that this sermon offers a distinctively Buddhistic account of the origin and development of both the universe and society, many of the topoi adopted in the story derive from Brahmanical cosmogonies, perhaps employed here as a satire of Brahmanical pretensions in Indian society. The scripture has also been treated by modern interpreters as offering an incipient Buddhist "environmentalism," wherein human actions, motivated by greed and lust, cause deleterious effects on the physical world, turning, for example, naturally growing rice into a rice that must be cultivated.
AggavaMsa. A twelfth-century scholar monk of the PAli tradition who wrote the Saddanīti, an important PAli grammar, in 1154. Although some texts describe him as hailing from JAMBUDVĪPA (viz., India), he seems instead to have lived north of Pagan (Bagan), present-day Myanmar (Burma).
ahaMkAra. (T. ngar 'dzin; C. wozhi/woman; J. gashu/gaman; K. ajip/aman 我執/我慢). In Sanskrit and PAli, "conception of I," "egotism," or "arrogance"; a synonym of ATMAGRAHA (attachment to a conception of self). See ATMAGRAHA.
AhAra. (T. zas; C. shi; J. jiki; K. sik 食) In Sanskrit and PAli, lit. "food," i.e., "nutriment" in the broadest sense, which nourishes everything associated with the body and mind. Four types of nutriment are commonly listed in mainstream materials: (1) food (AhAra; P. kabalinkArAhAra) of both coarse and fine varieties, which nourishes the physical body; (2) sensory contact or impression (SPARsA, P. phassa), which nourishes pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral sensations (VEDANA; see PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA); (3) intention (CETANA; P. manosaNcetanA), which nourishes actions (KARMAN) performed via body, speech, and mind; and (4) consciousness (VIJNANA; P. viNNAna), which nourishes mentality and corporeality (NAMARuPA), specifically at the moment of conception in the next rebirth (see pratītyasamutpAda).
ahiMsA. (T. 'tshe ba med pa; C. buhai; J. fugai; K. purhae 不害). In Sanskrit and PAli, "absence of harmful intentions," "harmlessness," "noninjury," or "nonviolence." The religious ideal and ethical injunction of "harmlessness" toward all living beings was shared in some fashion by several of the Indian sRAMAnA traditions, including the Buddhists as well as the JAINAs, who made it a central tenet of their religion. Some of the corollaries of this idea included the precept against killing, the injunction to refrain from physically and verbally abusing sentient beings, and vegetarianism. The Jainas were especially stringent in their interpretation of "harmlessness" toward all living creatures, demanding strict vegetarianism from their followers in order to avoid injuring sentient creatures, a requirement that the Buddha rejected when his rival in the order, DEVADATTA, proposed it in his list of austerities (see DHUTAnGA). The Buddha's view was that monks were a "field of merit" (PUnYAKsETRA) for the laity and should accept all offerings made to them, including meat, unless the monk knew that the animal had been killed specifically to feed him, for example. The voluntary vegetarianism that is now prevalent in both MahAyAna Buddhism and wider Indian Hindu culture is almost certainly a result of Jaina influence and constitutes that religion's most enduring contribution to Indian religion. Buddhism treated "absence of harmful intentions" as one of the forty-six mental factors (CAITTA) according to the SARVASTIVADA-VAIBHAsIKA school of ABHIDHARMA, one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school, and one of the fifty-two CETASIKAs in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA. It is the opposite of "harmful intention" or "injury" (VIHIMSA, and is sometimes seen written as avihiMsA) and one of the states of mind comprising right intention (S. samyaksaMkalpa; P. sammAsankappa) in the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGIKAMARGA). "Absence of harmful intentions" is also traditionally taken to be a precondition for the cultivation of "compassion" (KARUnA). See VIHIMSA.
Ajahn Chah BodhiNAna. (1918-1992). A prominent Thai monk who was one of the most influential Thai forest-meditation masters (PHRA PA) of the twentieth century. Born in the village of Baan Gor in the northeastern Thai province of Ubon Ratchathani, he was ordained as a novice at his local temple, where he received his basic education and studied the Buddhist teachings. After several years of training, he returned to lay life to attend to the needs of his parents, but motivated by his religious calling, at the age of twenty, he took higher ordination (UPASAMPADA) as a BHIKsU and continued his studies of PAli scripture. His father's death prompted him to travel to other monasteries in an effort to acquire a deeper understanding of Buddhist teaching and discipline under the guidance of different teachers. During his pilgrimage, he met AJAHN MUN BHuRIDATTA, the premier meditation master of the Thai forest-dwelling (ARANNAVASI) tradition. After that encounter, Ajahn Chah traveled extensively throughout the country, devoting his energies to meditation in forests and charnel grounds (sMAsANA). As his reputation grew, he was invited to establish a monastery near his native village, which became known as Wat Pa Pong after the name of the forest (reputed to be inhabited by ghosts) in which it was located. Ajahn Chah's austere lifestyle, simple method of mindfulness meditation, and straightforward style of teaching attracted a large following of monks and lay supporters, including many foreigners. In 1966, he established Wat Pa Nanachat, a branch monastery specifically for Western and other non-Thai nationals, next to Wat Pa Pong. In 1976, he was invited to England, which led to the establishment of the first branch monastery of Wat Pa Pong there, followed by others in Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy. He also visited the United States, where he spoke at retreats at the Insight Meditation Center in Barre, Massachusetts. Ajahn Chah died in 1992, after several years in a coma.
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.
Ajita. (T. Ma pham pa; C. Ayiduo; J. Aitta; K. Ailta 阿逸多). In Sanskrit and PAli, "Invincible"; proper name of several different figures in Buddhist literature. In the PAli tradition, Ajita is said to have been one of the sixteen mendicant disciples of the brAhmana ascetic BAvarĪ who visited the Buddha at the request of their teacher. Upon meeting the Buddha, Ajita saw that he was endowed with the thirty-two marks of a great man (MAHAPURUsALAKsAnA) and gained assurance that the Buddha's renown was well deserved. Starting with Ajita, all sixteen of the mendicants asked the Buddha questions. Ajita's question is preserved as the AjitamAnavapucchA in the ParAyanavagga of the SUTTANIPATA. At the end of the Buddha's explanations, Ajita and sixteen thousand followers are said to have become worthy ones (ARHAT) and entered the SAMGHA. Ajita returned to his old teacher BAvarī and recounted to him what happened. BAvarī himself converted and later became a nonreturner (ANAGAMIN). ¶ Another Ajita is Ajita-Kesakambala (Ajita of the Hair Blanket), a prominent leader of the LOKAYATA (Naturalist) school of Indian wandering religious (sRAMAnA) during the Buddha's time, who is mentioned occasionally in Buddhist scriptures. His doctrine is recounted in the PAli SAMANNAPHALASUTTA, where he is claimed to have denied the efficacy of moral cause and effect because of his materialist rejection of any prospect of transmigration or rebirth. ¶ An Ajita also traditionally appears as the fifteenth on the list of the sixteen ARHAT elders (sOdAsASTHAVIRA), who were charged by the Buddha with protecting his dispensation until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. Ajita is said to reside on Mt. GṚDHRAKutA (Vulture Peak) with 1,500 disciples. He is known in Chinese as the "long-eyebrowed arhat" (changmei luohan) because he is said to have been born with long white eyebrows. In CHANYUE GUANXIU's standard Chinese depiction, Ajita is shown sitting on a rock, with both hands holding his right knee; his mouth is open, with his tongue and teeth exposed. East Asian images also sometimes show him leaning on a staff. In Tibetan iconography, he holds his two hands in his lap in DHYANAMUDRA. ¶ Ajita is finally a common epithet of the bodhisattva MAITREYA, used mostly when he is invoked in direct address.
Ajīvaka. [alt. AjīvakA; Ajīvika]. (T. 'Tsho ba can; C. Xieming waidao; J. Jamyo gedo; K. Samyong oedo 邪命外道) In Sanskrit and PAli, "Improper Livelihood"; one of the major early sects of Indian wandering religious (sRAMAnA) during the fifth century BCE. Makkhali GosAla (S. MASKARIN GOsALĪPUTRA) (d. c. 488 BCE), the leader of the Ajīvakas, was a contemporary of the Buddha. No Ajīvaka works survive, so what little we know about the school derives from descriptions filtered through Buddhist materials. Buddhist explications of Ajīvaka views are convoluted and contradictory; what does seem clear, however, is that the Ajīvakas adhered to a doctrine of strict determinism or fatalism. The Ajīvakas are described as believing that there is no immediate or ultimate cause for the purity or depravity of beings; all beings, souls, and existent things are instead directed along their course by fate (niyati), by the conditions of the species to which they belong, and by their own intrinsic natures. Thus, attainments or accomplishments of any kind are not a result of an individual's own action or the acts of others; rather, according to those beings' positions within the various stations of existence, they experience ease or pain. Makkhali GosAla is portrayed as advocating a theory of automatic purification through an essentially infinite number of transmigrations (saMsArasuddhi), by means of which all things would ultimately attain perfection. The Buddha is said to have regarded Makkhali GosAla's views as the most dangerous of heresies, which was capable of leading even the divinities (DEVA) to loss, discomfort, and suffering. BUDDHAGHOSA explains the perniciousness of his error by comparing the defects of Makkhali's views to those of the views of two other heretical teachers, Purana Kassapa (S. Purana KAsyapa) (d. c. 503 BCE), another Ajīvaka teacher, and AJITA-Kesakambala, a prominent teacher of the LOKAYATA (Naturalist) school, which maintained a materialist perspective toward the world. Purana asserted the existence of an unchanging passive soul that was unaffected by either wholesome or unwholesome action and thereby denied the efficacy of KARMAN; Ajita advocated an annihilationist theory that there is no afterlife or rebirth, which thereby denied any possibility of karmic retribution. Makkhali's doctrine of fate or noncausation, in denying both action and its result, was said to have combined the defects in both those systems of thought.
AjNAtakaundinya. (P. ANNAtakondaNNa / ANNAkondaNNa; T. Kun shes kaun di nya; C. Aruojiaochenru; J. Anyakyojinnyo; K. Ayakkyojinyo 阿若憍陳如). In Sanskrit, "Kaundinya (P. KondaNNa) who Knows"; the first person to understand the insights of the Buddha, as delivered in the first sermon, the DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA (P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA), and the first disciple to take ordination as a monk (BHIKsU), following the simple EHIBHIKsUKA (P. ehi bhikkhu), or "come, monk," formula: "Come, monk, the DHARMA is well proclaimed; live the holy life for the complete ending of suffering." Kaundinya was one of the group of five ascetics (BHADRAVARGĪYA) converted by the Buddha at the ṚsIPATANA (P. Isipatana) MṚGADAVA (Deer Park), located just north-east of the city of VArAnasī. According to the PAli account, he was a brAhmana older than the Buddha, who was especially renowned in physiognomy. After the birth of the infant GAUTAMA, he was one of eight brAhmanas invited to predict the infant's future and the only one to prophesize that the child would definitely become a buddha rather than a wheel-turning monarch (CAKRAVARTIN). He left the world as an ascetic in anticipation of the bodhisattva's own renunciation and was joined by the sons of four of the other eight brAhmanas. Kaundinya and the other four ascetics joined the bodhisattva in the practice of austerities, but when, after six years, the bodhisattva renounced extreme asceticism, they left him in disgust. After his enlightenment, the Buddha preached to the five ascetics at the Ṛsipatana deer park, and Kaundinya was the first to realize the truth of the Buddha's words. The PAli canon describes Kaundinya's enlightenment as proceeding in two stages: first, when the Buddha preached the Dhammacakkappavattanasutta, he attained the opening of the dharma eye (DHARMACAKsUS), the equivalent of stream-entry (SROTAAPANNA), and five days later, when the Buddha preached his second sermon, the ANATTALAKKHAnASUTTA, he attained the level of ARHAT. The Buddha praised him both times by exclaiming "Kaundinya knows!," in recognition of which AjNAta ("He Who Knows") was thereafter prefixed to his name. Later, at a large gathering of monks at JETAVANA grove in sRAVASTĪ, the Buddha declared AjNAtakaundinya to be preeminent among his disciples who first comprehended the dharma, and preeminent among his long-standing disciples. AjNAtakaundinya received permission from the Buddha to live a solitary life in the Chaddantavana forest and only returned after twelve years to take leave of the Buddha before his own PARINIRVAnA. After his cremation, AjNAtakaundinya's relics were given to the Buddha, who personally placed them in a silver reliquary (CAITYA) that spontaneously appeared from out of the earth.
Akankheyyasutta. (C. Yuan jing; J. Gangyo; K. Won kyong 願經). In PAli, "Discourse on What One May Wish," the sixth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as SuTRA no. 105 in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA, and a recension of uncertain affiliation in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a group of disciples in the JETAVANA grove in the town of sRAVASTĪ. The Buddha describes how a monk who wishes for all good things to come to himself, his fellow monks, and his lay supporters should restrain his sense faculties by seeing danger (ADĪNAVA) in the slightest fault and by abiding by the dictates of the disciplinary codes (PRATIMOKsA). This restraint will allow him to develop morality (sĪLA), meditative concentration (SAMADHI), and liberating wisdom (PRAJNA), leading to the destruction of the contaminants (ASRAVAKsAYA).
akkhipujA. In PAli lit. "ritual of [opening] the eyes," a consecration ceremony for a buddha image; the PAli equivalent for the Sanskrit term NETRAPRATIstHAPANA. The PAli term is attested at least as early as the sixth-century MAHAVAMSA and BUDDHAGHOSA's SAMANTAPASADIKA.
AkutobhayA. (T. Ga las 'jigs med). In Sanskrit, "Fearless," the abbreviated title of the Mulamadhyamakavṛtti-akutobhayA, a commentary on NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA. In Tibet, the work has traditionally been attributed to NAgArjuna himself, but scholars doubt that he is the author of this commentary on his own work, in part because the commentary cites the CATUḤsATAKA of ARYADEVA, who was NAgArjuna's disciple. In places, the work is identical to the commentary of BUDDHAPALITA. Regardless of the authorship, the work is an important commentary on NAgArjuna's most famous work. In China, the commentary of Qingmu (*Pingala?), an influential work in the SAN LUN ZONG, is closely related to the AkutobhayA.
Alagaddupamasutta. (C. Alizha jing; J. Aritakyo; K. Arit'a kyong 阿梨經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Simile of the Snake," the twenty-second sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SarvAstivAda recension appears as the 200th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA, and the similes of the snake and of the raft are the subjects of independent sutras in an unidentified recension in the EKOTTARAGAMA). The discourse was preached by the Buddha at SAvatthi (sRAVASTĪ), in response to the wrong view (MITHYADṚstI) of the monk Arittha. Arittha maintained that the Buddha taught that one could enjoy sensual pleasures without obstructing one's progress along the path to liberation, and remained recalcitrant even after the Buddha admonished him. The Buddha then spoke to the assembly of monks on the wrong way and the right way of learning the dharma. In his discourse, he uses several similes to enhance his audience's understanding, including the eponymous "simile of the snake": just as one could be bitten and die by grasping a poisonous snake by the tail instead of the head, so too will using the dharma merely for disputation or polemics lead to one's peril because of one's wrong grasp of the dharma. This sutta also contains the famous "simile of the raft," where the Buddha compares his dispensation or teaching (sASANA) to a makeshift raft that will help one get across a raging river to the opposite shore: after one has successfully crossed that river by paddling furiously and reached solid ground, it would be inappropriate to put the raft on one's head and carry it; similarly, once one has used the dharma to get across the "raging river" of birth and death (SAMSARA) to the "other shore" of NIRVAnA, the teachings have served their purpose and should not be clung to.
Alambanapratyaya. (P. Arammanapaccaya; T. dmigs rkyen; C. suoyuan yuan; J. shoennen; K. soyon yon 所縁縁). In Sanskrit, "objective-support condition" or "observed-object condition," the third of the four types of conditions (PRATYAYA) recognized in both the VAIBHAsIKA ABHIDHARMA system of the SARVASTIVADA school and the YOGACARA school; the term also appears as the second of the twenty-four conditions (P. paccaya) in the massive PAli abhidhamma text, the PAttHANA. This condition refers to the role the corresponding sensory object (ALAMBANA) takes in the arising of any of the six sensory consciousnesses (VIJNANA) and is one of the three causal conditions necessary for cognition to occur. Sensory consciousness thus cannot occur without the presence of a corresponding sensory object, whether that be visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, or mental.
Alavaka. Name of a man-eating ogre (P. yakkha; S. YAKsA) whose conversion by the Buddha is described in PAli materials. Alavaka dwelt in a tree near the town Alavi and had been granted a boon by the king of the yakkhas that allowed him to eat anyone who came into the shadow of his tree. Even the sight of the ogre rendered the bodies of men as soft as butter. His tree was surrounded by a stout wall and covered with a metal net. Above it lay the sky passage to the HimAlaya mountains traversed by those who possessed supernatural powers. Ascetics seeing the strange abode would descend out of curiosity, whereupon Alavaka would ask them knotty questions about their beliefs. When they could not answer, he would penetrate their hearts with his mind and drive them mad. Alavaka is most famous for the promise he extorted from the king of Alavi, whom he captured while the monarch was on a hunting expedition. In order to save his life, the king promised to supply the ogre regularly with a human victim. The king first delivered convicted criminals for sacrifice, but when there were no more, he ordered each family to supply one child at the appointed time. Pregnant women fearing for their unborn infants fled the city, until after twelve years, only one child, the king's own son, remained. The child was duly made ready and sent to the ogre. The Buddha knew of the impending event and went to the ogre's abode to intervene. While Alavaka was absent, the Buddha sat upon the ogre's throne and preached to his harem. Informed of the Buddha's brazenness, Alavaka returned and attacked the Buddha with his superpowers to remove him from the throne, but to no avail. The Buddha only left when politely asked to do so. Still unwilling to admit defeat, the ogre invited the Buddha to answer questions put to him. So skillfully did the Buddha answer that Alavaka shouted for joy and then and there became a stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA; P. sotApanna). When the king's entourage delivered the young prince for sacrifice, Alavaka, ashamed of his past deeds, surrendered the boy to the Buddha, who in turn handed him back to the king's men. Because he was handed from one to another, the boy was known as Hatthaka (Little Hand, or Handful) and in adulthood became one of the chief lay patrons of the Buddha. When the populace heard of the ogre's conversion, they were overjoyed and built a shrine for him, where they offered flowers and perfumes daily. Alavaka is named in the AtAnAtiyasutta as one of several yaksas who may be entreated for protection against dangers.
all principalities and powers, virtues, domina¬
alobha. (T. ma chags pa; C. wutan; J. muton; K. mut'am 無貪). In Sanskrit and PAli, "absence of craving" or "absence of greed"; one of the most ubiquitous of moral virtues (KUsALA), which serves as an antidote to the KLEsA of desire and as the foundation for progress on the path. Alobha is one of the forty-six mental factors (CAITTA) according to the SARVASTIVADA school and the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school, and one of the fifty-one of the PAli abhidhamma. "Absence of craving" is the opposite of "craving" or "greed" (LOBHA). The SarvAstivAda ABHIDHARMA system posited that this mental quality accompanied all wholesome activities, and therefore lists it as the seventh of the ten major omnipresent wholesome factors (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA). Absence of craving is listed as one of the so-called three roots of virtue (KUsALAMuLA), one of the states of mind comprising right intention (SAMYAKSAMKALPA) in the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA), and is traditionally taken to be the precondition for the cultivation of equanimity (UPEKsA).
Aloka lena. A cave near modern Matale in Sri Lanka where, during the last quarter of the first century BCE, during the reign of King VAttAGAMAnI ABHAYA, the PAli tipitaka (TRIPItAKA) and its commentaries (AttHAKATHA) were said to have been written down for the first time. The DĪPAVAMSA and MAHAVAMSA state that a gathering of ARHATs had decided to commit the texts to writing out of fear that they could no longer be reliably memorized and passed down from one generation to the next. They convened a gathering of five hundred monks for the purpose, the cost of which was borne by a local chieftain. The subcommentary by Vajirabuddhi and the SAratthadīpanī (c. twelfth century CE) deem that the writing down of the tipitaka occurred at the fourth Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FOURTH), and so it has been generally recognized ever since throughout the THERAVADA world. However, the fourteenth-century SADDHAMMASAnGAHA, written at the Thai capital of AYUTHAYA, deems this to be the fifth Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIFTH), the fourth council being instead the recitation of VINAYA by MahA Arittha carried out during the reign of King DEVANAMPIYATISSA.
Also the third of the skandhas (attributes), signifying abstract ideas (sanna in Pali).
Amata-yana (Pali) Amata-yāna [from a not + mata dead, from the verbal root mṛ to die + yāna leading, going, vehicle, from the verbal root ya to go, proceed, advance] Immortal vehicle or way; equivalent to the Sanskrit amrita-yana, the immortal vehicle or individuality in contradistinction to the personal vehicle or ego (pachcheka-yana). It is, therefore, the immortal part of the human being, “a combination of the fifth, sixth, and seventh” principles — atman, buddhi, and manas (cf ML 114).
amoha. (T. gti mug med pa; C. wuchi; J. muchi; K. much'i 無癡). In Sanskrit and PAli, "nondelusion"; one of the eleven wholesome (KUsALA) mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the YOGACARA school, "nondelusion" is the opposite of "delusion" (MOHA). This mental quality was presumed to be so central to all wholesome activities that it was listed as one of the three wholesome faculties, or roots of virtue (KUsALAMuLA). Nondelusion is interpreted variously as clarity in perception regarding the way things are (yathAbhuta), the temporary suppression or permanent extirpation of ignorance (AVIDYA), the full comprehension of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, or the clear seeing of the three marks of existence (TRILAKsAnA).
AmrapAlī. (P. AmbapAlī [alt. AmbapAlikA]; T. A mra skyong ma; C. Anpoluonü; J. Anbaranyo; K. Ambaranyo 菴婆羅女). A courtesan in the city of VAIsALĪ (P. VesAli) and famous patron of the Buddha, who donated her mango grove (the AmrapAlīvana) to the SAMGHA. PAli sources describe her as a woman of exceptional beauty, who is said to have been spontaneously born at the foot of a mango tree in the king's garden, whence her name. As a young maiden, many princes vied for her hand in marriage. To quell the unrest, she was appointed courtesan of the city. She is said to have charged her patrons the extraordinary amount of fifty kahApanas for a night with her. So much revenue flowed into the coffers of VaisAlī through her business that BIMBISARA, the king of RAJAGṚHA, decided to install a courtesan at his capital as well. It was during the Buddha's last visit to VaisAlī, shortly before his death, that AmrapAlī first encountered his teachings. Hearing that the famous sage was to preach in the nearby town of KotigAma, she went there with a retinue of chariots to listen to him preach. Enthralled by his sermon, she invited him for his meal the next morning. Delighted at his acceptance and proud by nature, she refused to give way to the powerful Licchavi princes whom she met on the road, and who likewise had intended to invite the Buddha the next day. Knowing the effect such beauty could have on minds of men, the Buddha admonished his disciples to be mindful in her presence lest they become infatuated. At the conclusion of the meal, AmrapAlī offered to the Buddha and his order her park, AmrapAlīvana, which was the venue of several sermons on the foundations of mindfulness (S. SMṚTYUPASTHANA; P. SATIPAttHANA). AmrapAlī's son Vimala Kaundinya (P. KondaNNa) entered the order and became a renowned elder. Listening to him preach one day, AmrapAlī renounced the world and became a nun. Practicing insight (VIPAsYANA) and contemplating the faded beauty of her own aging body, she became an ARHAT.
anabhraka. (T. sprin med; C. wuyun tian; J. muunten; K. muun ch'on 無雲天). In Sanskrit, "cloudless," the lowest of the eight heavens of the fourth concentration (DHYANA) of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU). As with all the heavens of the realm of subtle materiality, one is reborn as a divinity (DEVA) there through achieving the same level of concentration (dhyAna) as the gods of that heaven during one's practice of meditation in the preceding lifetime. This heaven has no analogue in PAli.
anAgAmin. (T. phyir mi 'ong ba; C. buhuan/bulai/anahan; J. fugen/furai/anagon; K. purhwan/pullae/anaham 不還/來/阿那含). In Sanskrit and PAli, "nonreturner"; the third of the four types of Buddhist saint or "noble person" (ARYAPUDGALA) in the mainstream traditions, along with the SROTAAPANNA or "stream-enterer" (the first and lowest grade), the SAKṚDAGAMIN or "once-returner" (the second grade), and the ARHAT or "worthy-one" (the fourth and highest grade). The anAgAmin is one who has completely put aside the first five of ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth: (1) belief in the existence of a perduring self (SATKAYADṚstI), (2) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (sĪLAVRATAPARAMARsA), (3) skeptical doubt about the efficacy of the path (VICIKITSA), (4) sensual craving (KAMARAGA), and (5) malice (VYAPADA). The anAgAmin has also weakened considerably the last five of the ten fetters (including such affective fetters as pride, restlessness, and ignorance), thus enervating the power of SAMSARA. Having completely eradicated the first five fetters, which are associated with the sensuous realm (KAMADHATU), and weakened the latter five, the anAgAmin is a "nonreturner" in the sense that he will never be reborn in the kAmadhAtu again; instead, he will either complete the path and become an arhat in the present lifetime or he will be reborn in the "pure abodes," or sUDDHAVASA (corresponding to the five highest heavens in the subtle-materiality realm, or RuPADHATU); and specifically, in the AKANIstHA heaven, the fifth and highest of the pure abodes, which often serves as a way station for anAgAmins before they achieve arhatship. As one of the twenty members of the ARYASAMGHA (see VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA), the anAgAmin is the name for a candidate (pratipannaka) for anAgAmin (the third fruit of the noble path). In addition, the ANAGAMIPHALASTHA is the basis for several subdivisions of the twenty members. The anAgamin may be either a follower through faith (sRADDHANUSARIN) or a follower through doctrine (DHARMANUSARIN) with either dull (MṚDVINDRIYA) or keen faculties (TĪKsnENDRIYA). The anAgAmins have eliminated all of the nine levels of afflictions that cause rebirth in the sensuous realm (kAmadhAtu) that the ordinary (LAUKIKA) path of meditation (BHAVANAMARGA) removes. Depending on their earlier career, they may be VĪTARAGAPuRVIN (those who have already eliminated sensuous-realm faults prior to reaching the path of vision) and an Anupurvin (those who reach the four fruits of the noble path in a series). Those with dull faculties are Anupurvin who have earlier been SAKṚDAGAMIPHALASTHA. Those with keen faculties reach the third fruit when they attain the VIMUKTIMARGA (path of liberation from the afflictions, or KLEsA) on the DARsANAMARGA (path of vision). See also ANABHISAMSKARAPARINIRVAYIN; SABHISAMSKARAPARINIRVAYIN; UPAPADYAPARINIRVAYIN.
AnAgatavaMsa. In PAli, "Chronicle of Future Events"; a medieval PAli work in verse detailing the advent of Metteya (MAITREYA) Buddha in the far distant future of this auspicious eon (bhaddakappa; S. BHADRAKALPA). The current eon is deemed auspicious because five buddhas-Maitreya being the fifth-appear during its duration, the maximum number possible. Attributed to Cola Kassapa, author of Vimativinodanī, the AnAgatavaMsa claims to have been preached to sARIPUTRA by the Buddha. The text elaborates upon the prophecy of the coming of Maitreya found in the CAKKAVATTISĪHANADASUTTA of the DĪGHANIKAYA. In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Burma, the AnAgatavaMsa became popular as a kind of charter for a host of millenarian movements and uprisings, including one that led in 1752 to the founding of Burma's last royal dynasty, the Konbaung. Its founder, Alaung hpaya (r. 1752-1760), and his sons utilized this text to justify claims that their wars of conquest were prophesied to usher in a Buddhist Golden Age. A synopsis in English of a nineteenth-century Burmese recension of the AnAgatavaMsa appears in HENRY CLARK WARREN's Buddhism in Translations as "The Buddhist Apocalypse."
Ananda Temple. A monumental THERAVADA Buddhist monastery located outside the Tharba Gate in the medieval Burmese capital of Pagan. The Ananda was built around 1105 by King Kyanzittha (r. 1084-1111), third monarch of the Pagan empire, and is dedicated to the four buddhas who have appeared during the present auspicious age: Krakucchanda (P. Kakusandha), Kanakamuni (P. KonAgamana), KAsYAPA, and GAUTAMA. In architectural style, the Ananda represents a fusion of Bengali, Burmese, and Pyu (precursors of the ethnic Burmans) elements. Legend states that eight ARHATs from Mount Gandhamadana in India visited King Kyanzittha, and he was so impressed that he constructed a monastery for them, and next to it founded the Ananda. Like all temples and pagodas of the city of Pagan, the Ananda is built of fired brick and faced with stucco. It is cruciform in plan following a Pyu prototype and crowned with a North Indian style tower, or sikhara. Its interior consists of two circumambulatory halls pierced by windows that allow a limited amount of light into the interior. The hallways are decorated with terracotta plaques depicting episodes from the PAli JATAKAs, the MahAnipAta, and NIDANAKATHA. The inner hall contains niches housing numerous seated images of the Buddha that are rendered in a distinctive Pala style. The temple is entered from four entrances facing the four cardinal directions, which lead directly to four large inner chambers, each containing a colossal standing statue of a buddha. Two of the statues are original; a third was rebuilt in the eighteenth century; and the fourth has been repaired. Three of the statues are flanked by smaller images of their chief disciples. The exception is the statue of Gautama Buddha, located in the western chamber, which is flanked by what is believed to be portrait statues of King Kyanzitha and SHIN ARAHAN, the Mon monk said to have converted Pagan to TheravAda Buddhism, who was also Kyanzittha's preceptor.
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.
Ananganasutta. (C. Huipin jing; J. Ebongyo; K. Yep'um kyong 穢品經). In PAli, "Discourse on Being Unblemished," the fifth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the eighty-seventh sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; there is also an unidentified recension in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA); preached by sARIPUTRA to a group of monks in the JETAVANA grove in sRAVASTĪ. sAriputra describes how a monk will become blemished if he succumbs to evil wishes. In this regard, he explains that people are of four types: one who is impure who does not know his impurity, and one who is impure and knows his impurity; one who is pure and does not know his purity, and one who is pure who knows his purity. Of these four, the second of each pair is to be preferred: the one who knows his impurities can strive to remove them so that he dies with his mind undefiled; the one who knows that his mind is pure can continue to guard his senses so that he too keeps his mind without blemish until death.
anantarapratyaya. (P. anantarapaccaya; T. de ma thag pa'i rkyen; C. cidi yuan; J. shidaien; K. ch'aje yon 次第). In Sanskrit, "antecedent condition," one of the four kinds of conditions (PRATYAYA) recognized in the VAIBHAsIKA school of SARVASTIVADAABHIDHARMA and the YOGACARA school; the term is also listed as one of the twenty-four conditions (P. paccaya) in the massive PAli ABHIDHAMMA text, the PAttHANA. This type of condition refers to the antecedent moment in the mental continuum (SAMTANA), which through its cessation enables a subsequent moment of consciousness to arise. Any moment of consciousness in the conditioned (SAMSKṚTA) realm serves as an antecedent condition. The only exception is the final thought-moment in the mental continuum of an ARHAT: because the next thought-moment involves the experience of the unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA), no further thoughts from the conditioned realm can ever recur. This type of condition is also called the "immediate-antecedent condition" (SAMANANTARAPRATYAYA); the VISUDDHIMAGGA explains that samanantarapratyaya and anantararapratyaya are essentially the same, except that the former emphasizes the immediacy of the connection between the two moments.
Anantaryakarman. (P. Anantariyakamma; T. mtshams med pa'i las; C. wujian ye; J. mukengo; K. mugan op 無間業). In Sanskrit, "act that brings immediate retribution" or "inexpiable transgressions." This term refers to particularly heinous deeds that after death result in the "immediate retribution" of rebirth in the AVĪCI hell, without an intervening rebirth in another realm. They are often enumerated as five: patricide, matricide, killing an ARHAT, spilling the blood of a buddha, and causing schism in the monastic order (SAMGHABHEDA). According to PAli sources, this type of act also serves as a karmic obstruction (KARMAVARAnA) to concentration meditation (specifically of the KASInA visualization devices).
AnApAnasatisutta. (S. AnApAnasmṛtisutra; T. Dbugs rngub pa dang 'byung ba dran pa'i mdo; C. Annabannanian; J. Annahannanen; K. Annabannanyom 安那般那念). In PAli, "The Mindfulness of Breathing Discourse," the 118th sutta (SuTRA) in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension, as titled above, appears in the Chinese translation of the SAMYUKTAGAMA). In this discourse, the Buddha outlines a type of meditation where the meditator remains mindful of the process of breathing in and breathing out (P. AnApAnasati; S. ANAPANASMṚTI). The meditator begins by developing an awareness of the physical processes involved in breathing, such as whether the breath is long or short; remaining cognizant of either the entire body during breathing or the entire process of breathing (as the commentaries typically interpret it), it culminates in breathing while consciously striving to calm the body. The meditator then follows the in- and out-breaths while developing salutary affective states, such as rapture (P. pīti, S. PRĪTI) and ease (SUKHA). The penultimate step is breathing while actively seeking to focus and liberate the mind. The meditation culminates in mindfulness of the breath while focusing on the awareness of the mental qualities of impermanence, cessation, and relinquishment. Through this progressive development, mindfulness of breathing thus leads from physical and mental calm, to direct insight into the value of nonattachment. The discourse ends with a treatment of the seven aspects of awakening (P. bojjhanga; S. BODHYAnGA) with regard to the four foundations of mindfulness (P. satipaṫṫhAna; S. SMṚTYUPASTHANA) of the physical body, physical sensations, state of mind, and mental qualities. See also ANBAN SHOUYI JING.
AnApAnasmṛti. (P. AnApAnasati; T. dbugs rngub pa dang 'byung ba dran pa; C. shuxi guan/annabannanian; J. susokukan/annahannanen; K. susik kwan/annabannanyom 數息觀/安那般那念). In Sanskrit, lit. "mindfulness (SMṚTI) of inhalation (Ana = prAna) and exhalation (apAna)," or simply, "mindfulness of breathing"; referring to one of the oldest and most basic meditative techniques found in Buddhism. The practice requires focusing on the breath as it moves into and out of the body during inhalation and exhalation, some say through attention to the sensation of the movement of breath at the tip of the nose, others say through attention to the rise and fall of the diaphragm. This passive following of the breath leads to physical and mental calm, which allows the meditator to focus on the generic aspect of breath: viz., the fact that the constant ebb and flow of the breath is emblematic of impermanence (ANITYA). This awareness may then lead to nonattachment and insight. The PAli ANAPANASATISUTTA provides a detailed description of the processes involved in developing this type of meditation. Unlike many of the other forty topics of meditation (KAMMAttHANA) in PAli Buddhism, which are said to suit specific types of personalities or as antidotes to specific negative tendencies, AnApAnasmṛti is claimed to be suitable for all, which may account for its continued popularity. Elsewhere, it is said to be a suitable object of meditation for those given to excessive thought. Some form of this practice is found in nearly every Buddhist tradition. There are various renderings of the term using Chinese Sinographs; although shuxi guan is one of the most common translations, there are others (e.g., chixi guan), as well as different ways of transcribing the Sanskrit into Chinese (e.g., anabona nian).
AnAthapindada. (P. AnAthapindika; T. Mgon med zas sbyin; C. Jigudu zhangzhe; J. Gikkodoku choja; K. Kŭpkodok changja 給孤獨長者). In Sanskit, "Feeder of the Defenseless"; a wealthy merchant from the city of sRAVASTĪ who became such a great patron of the SAMGHA that the Buddha declared him to be chief among laymen (UPASAKA) in his munificence. His personal name was Sudatta; AnAthapindada was a sobriquet suggesting his philanthropic qualities. AnAthapindada's father-in-law introduced him to the Buddha, and he was quickly converted, becoming in the process a stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA). AnAthapindada built numerous dwellings, guest houses, and residential parks for the Buddha and his monastic order and was unstinting in his donation of requisites. The most famous of the residences he built was the JETAVANA park on the outskirts of srAvastī, which he purchased from the prince JETA (JetakumAra) by covering the entire property with gold coins. Prince Jeta himself donated the entrance to the park, over which he built a splendid gate. AnAthapindada had numerous buildings constructed at the site-including the Buddha's own residence, the GANDHAKUtĪ, or perfumed chamber-to serve the Buddha and the monastic community during the rains retreat (VARsA). The very same spot had served as a monastery and rains retreat center for previous buddhas as well, although the extent of the establishments varied. Jeta's Grove was said to be the Buddha's favorite residence and, according to tradition, he passed nineteen rains retreats there. After the laywoman VIsAKHA built the grand monastery MṚGARAMATṚPRASADA in srAvastī, the Buddha would alternate between both residences, spending the day at one and the night at another. The Buddha preached numerous sermons to AnAthapindada who, in turn, was fond of debating with ascetics and teachers of other religions. Although skilled in business, AnAthapindada was in his later years reduced to penury. He is said to have died shortly after feeding the monks with gruel prepared from his own cooking pot. One of the more poignant exchanges in the PAli canon involves AnAthapindada and is recorded in the AnAthapindikovAdasutta, the 143rd sutta in the PAli MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a recension of unidentified affiliation appears in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA). When AnAthapindada was on his deathbed, the Buddha sent sARIPUTRA, one of his two chief disciples, along with ANANDA as his attendant, to visit him. Learning that AnAthapindada was in great pain, sAriputra taught him a fairly standard discourse on how to guard the senses (INDRIYASAMVARA) so as to remain unattached toward sensory experience and thereby develop a state of consciousness that clings to nothing. At the conclusion of the discourse, AnAthapindada was brought to tears; seeing him weep, sAriputra asked him whether he was deteriorating. AnAthapindada said that he was actually lamenting the fact that, throughout his years of attending the Buddha and his monks, he had not once heard this kind of instruction. sAriputra responded that such teachings were intended for the monks, not the laity, but AnAthapindada begged him to make such teachings available to the laity as well, since some of them had "little dust in their eyes" and would be able to understand. Soon afterward that evening, AnAthapindada was reborn in TUsITA heaven and, as a young divinity (DEVA), visited the Buddha and praised the virtues of the Jetavana and of sAriputra, of whom AnAthapindada was especially fond.
Anatta (Pali) Anattā [from an not + attā self, soul] Non-self, nonegoity; a Buddhist doctrine postulating that there is no unchanging, permanent self (atta, Sanskrit atman) in the human being, in contrast to the Upanishad view that the atman or inner essence of a human being is identic with Brahman, the Supreme, which pervades and is the universe. While Gautama Buddha stresses the nonreality of self, regarding as continuous only its attributes (the five khandas; Sanskrit skandhas) which return at rebirth, there is scriptural testimony in both Southern and Northern Schools that the Buddha recognized a fundamental selfhood in the human constitution (ET 593-4 3rd & rev ed).
Anattalakkhanasutta. (S. *AnAtmalaksanasutra; C. Wuwo; J. Muga; K. Mua 無我). In PAli, "Discourse on the Mark of Nonself," Gautama Buddha's second sermon, delivered five days after the DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA (S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA); the discourse appears in the MAHAVAGGA section of the PAli VINAYA, which recounts the founding of the dispensation (sASANA). (Separate SARVASTIVADA recensions, as titled above, appear in the Chinese translation of the SAMYUKTAGAMA.) In this second sermon delivered to the group of five new monks (BHADRAVARGĪYA, PANCAVARGIKA), the Buddha demonstrates that the five aggregates (SKANDHA) are not a perduring self, because they are impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and therefore impossible to control, viz., "nonself" (ANATMAN). The Buddha concludes that any manifestation of the aggregates, whether past, present, or future, whether internal or external, etc., are not mine, are not what I am, and are not my self. This realization will lead, the Buddha says, to dispassion toward the aggregates and eventually liberation. After hearing the sermon, all five monks progressed from the stage of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA) to worthy one (ARHAT).
Anatta-vada: (Pali) Theory (vada) of the non-existence of soul (anatta) one of the fundamental teachings of Gautama Buddha (q.v.) who regarded all ideas about the soul or self wrong, inadequate or illusory. -- K.F.L.
Anawrahta. (S. Aniruddha; P. Anuruddha) (1015-1078). King of Pagan (r. c. 1044-1077 CE), who is celebrated in Burmese history and legend as the founder of the first Burmese empire and as having established THERAVADA Buddhism as the national religion of the Burmese people. Fifteenth-century Mon inscriptions record that Anawrahta conquered the Mon kingdom of Thaton in 1057 and carried off to his capital relics of the Buddha, PAli texts, and orthodox TheravAda monks. With these acquisitions, he laid the foundation for PAli Buddhism in his kingdom. Later Burmese chronicles recount that, prior to his invasion of the Mon kingdom, Anawrahta had been converted to TheravAda Buddhism by the Mon saint SHIN ARAHAN, who preached to the king the AppamAdasutta. After his conversion, Anawrahta is alleged to have suppressed an already established sect of heretical Buddhist monks dwelling at Pagan known as the Ari, which seem to have been a MAHAYANA strand that practiced some forms of tantra. Although supposedly reprehensible in their behavior, the Ari had enjoyed the patronage of Pagan's kings for generations. In revenge, the Ari monks attempted to harm Shin Arahan, whereupon Anawrahta defrocked them and conscripted them into his army. To firmly establish TheravAda Buddhism as the sole religion of Pagan, Shin Arahan advised Anawrahta to request Buddha relics and PAli scriptures from the king of Thaton, the Mon TheravAda kingdom whence Shin Arahan hailed. When Manuha, the Thaton king in RAmaNNa, refused Anawrahta's request, Anawrahta and his Burmese forces invaded and acquired these objects by force. Manuha was himself seized and transported to Pagan in golden chains where he and his family were dedicated to the Shwezigon Pagoda as temple slaves and allowed to worship the Buddha until the end of their days. Whatever the historical accuracy of the legend, epigraphic and archaeological evidence indicates that Anawrahta was more eclectic in his beliefs than traditional sources suggest. According to the CulAVAMSA, Anawrahta assisted the Sinhalese king VijayabAhu I (r. 1055-1110) in reinstating a valid TheravAda ordination line in Sri Lanka, but Anawrahta also circulated in his own kingdom votive tablets adorned with MahAyAna imagery, and seals bearing his name are inscribed in Sanskrit rather than in PAli. In addition, Anawrahta supported a royal cult of spirits (Burmese NAT) propitiation at the Shwezigon pagoda in the capital, which was dedicated to the same deities said to have been worshipped by the heterodox Ari monks. All of this evidence suggests a religious environment at Pagan during Anawrahta's time that was far more diverse than the exclusivist TheravAda practices described in the chronicles; indeed, it is clear that more than one Buddhist tradition, along with brahmanism and the nat cult, received the patronage of the king and his court.
Anban shouyi jing. (J. Anpanshuikyo; K. Anban suŭi kyong 安般守意經). In Chinese, "The AnApAna Guarding the Mind Scripture" composed by the Parthian teacher and translator AN SHIGAO sometime during the second century. Although the text purports to be a translation of a Middle Indic analogue of the PAli ANAPANASATISUTTA, the text is interspersed with commentarial notes on the practice of mindfulness of the process of breathing in and breathing out (ANAPANASMṚTI, P. AnApAnasati) and brief explanations of such numerical categories as the five SKANDHAs, twelve AYATANAs, and so on. The text is similar in content to certain sections of the ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA. The Anban shouyi jing relies heavily upon indigenous Chinese terminology and consequently serves as an important source for studying the process through which Buddhist meditative techniques were introduced into China. The Sogdian monk KANG SENGHUI wrote a preface and commentary to this text, but his commentary is no longer extant.
AndhakA. In PAli, "Those from Andhra," a collective designation used by BUDDHAGHOSA, in the introduction to his commentary to the KATHAVATTHU, to refer to the RAjagirīya, SiddhArthika, PuRVAsAILA, and Aparasaila MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, which seem to have been related to the CAITYA [alt. Caitiya] school, a collateral line of the MAHASAMGHIKA school.
anga. (T. yan lag; C. zhi; J. shi; K. chi 支). In Sanskrit and PAli, literally "branch" or "limb" but, in the context of Buddhist doctrine, usually connoting "section" or a constituent of a list. The term is used as an abbreviation for the PAli NAVAnGA and Sanskrit DVADAsAnGA, the nine or twelve sections or categories of the Buddha's word (BUDDHAVACANA), divided according to structure, literary style, or content (see List of Lists). It is also widely used in Buddhist lists such as seven factors of enlightenment (BODHYAnGA), eightfold noble path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA), and so on.
Angelology A hierarchical system of angels, messengers, celestial powers or emanations, especially those of the Jews and Christians. The Jewish system is Qabbalistic; the Christian system, chiefly due to the Celestial Hierarchy and to the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of Dionysius the pseudo-Aeropagite, was adopted from the 5th or 6th centuries and had an immense influence on later Christian theology. It was divided into a tenfold plan after the manner of Pythagoras and the Neoplatonists, the summit of this Christian hierarchy being the divine, termed God. The hierarchy includes: 1) Expanse of the Divine Presence; 2) Seraphim; 3) Cherubim; 4) Thrones; 5) Dominations or Dominions; 6) Virtues; 7) Powers; 8) Principalities; 9) Archangels; and 10) Angels.
Angel(s) [from Greek angelos messenger, envoy, announcer] In the Old Testament, used to translate the Hebrew mal’ach (messenger); in Christian, Jewish, Moslem, and some other theologies, either a messenger of God or one of various hierarchies of celestial beings, the idea of a guardian angel also being familiar. However, the idea of hosts of formative powers, rectores mundi, or other beings between divinity and man, serving as intermediaries or means of communication between man and high spiritual entities has largely vanished from popular Christianity, though Angels, Principalities, and Powers are mentioned by Paul, and the archangel Michael by Jude; while the influence of the Gnostics, Neoplatonists, and Jews on early Christianity gives a wider meaning to the term.
Angels of Principalities—the ruling princes
AngulimAla. (S. alt. AngulimAlīya; T. Sor mo phreng ba; C. Yangjuemoluo; J. okutsumara; K. Anggulmara 央掘摩羅). In Sanskrit and PAli, literally, "Garland of Fingers"; nickname given to AhiMsaka, a notorious murderer and highwayman who was converted by the Buddha and later became an ARHAT; the Sanskrit is also seen written as AngulimAlya and AngulimAlīya. AhiMsaka was born under the thieves' constellation as the son of a brAhmana priest who served the king of KOsALA. His given name means "Harmless," because even though his birth was attended by many marvels, no one was injured. The boy was intelligent and became a favorite of his teacher. His classmates, out of jealousy, poisoned his teacher's mind against him, who thenceforth sought AhiMsaka's destruction. His teacher instructed AhiMsaka that he must collect one thousand fingers as a gift. (In an alternate version of the story, the brAhmana teacher's wife, driven by lust, attempted to seduce the handsome student, but when he rebuffed her, the resentful wife informed her husband that it was instead he who had attempted to seduce her. Knowing that he could not defeat his disciple by force, the vengeful brAhmana teacher told his student that he must kill a thousand people and string together a finger from each victim into a garland as the final stage of his training.) Following his teacher's instructions, he began to murder travelers, cutting off a single finger from each victim. These he made into a garland that he wore around his neck, hence his nickname AngulimAla, or "Garland of Fingers." With one finger left to complete his collection, AngulimAla resolved to murder his own mother, who was then entering the forest where he dwelled. It was at this time that the Buddha decided to intervene. Recognizing that the thief was capable of attaining arhatship in this life but would lose that chance if he killed one more person, the Buddha taunted AngulimAla and converted him through a miracle: although the Buddha continued to walk sedately in front of the brigand, AngulimAla could not catch him no matter how fast he ran. Intrigued at this feat, AngulimAla called out to the Buddha to stop, but the Buddha famously responded, "I have stopped, AngulimAla; may you stop as well." AngulimAla thereupon became a disciple of the Buddha and spent his time practicing the thirteen austere practices (see DHUTAnGA), eventually becoming an ARHAT. Because of his former misdeeds, even after he was ordained as a monk and became an arhat, he still had to endure the hatred of the society he used to terrorize, sometimes suffering frightful beatings. The Buddha explained that the physical pain he suffered was a consequence of his violent past and that he should endure it with equanimity. His fate illustrates an important point in the theory of KARMAN: viz., even a noble one who has overcome all prospect of future rebirth and who is certain to enter NIRVAnA at death can still experience physical (but not mental) pain in his last lifetime as a result of past heinous deeds. AngulimAla also became the "patron saint" of pregnant women in Buddhist cultures. Once, while out on his alms round, AngulimAla was profoundly moved by the suffering of a mother and her newborn child. The Buddha recommended that AngulimAla cure them by an "asseveration of truth" (SATYAVACANA). The Buddha first instructed him to say, "Sister, since I was born, I do not recall that I have ever intentionally deprived a living being of life. By this truth, may you be well and may your infant be well." When AngulimAla politely pointed out that this was not entirely accurate, the Buddha amended the statement to begin, "since I was born with noble birth." The phrase "noble birth" can be interpreted in a number of ways, but here it seems to mean "since I became a monk." When AngulimAla spoke these words to the mother and her child, they were cured. His statement has been repeated by monks to pregnant women over the centuries in the hope of assuring successful childbirth. See also AnGULIMALĪYASuTRA.
AnguttaranikAya. (S. EkottarAgama; T. Gcig las 'phros pa'i lung; C. Zengyi ahan jing; J. Zoichiagongyo; K. Chŭngil aham kyong 增壹阿含經). In PAli, "Collection of Numerically Arranged Discourses"; the fourth division of the PAli SUTTAPItAKA (S. SuTRAPItAKA). This collection, which may date from as early as the first century BCE, is composed of 2,198 suttas organized into nine nipAtas, or sections. It corresponds in general structure to the EKOTTARAGAMA, extant only in Chinese translation (and of unidentified affiliation), which is much smaller at only 471 sutras. The suttas in the PAli collection are arranged sequentially in numbered lists according to their subject matter, beginning with discussions of singularities, such as nibbAna (NIRVAnA), and progressing up to sets of eleven. Its PAli commentary, the MANORATHAPuRAnĪ, was probably composed during the fifth century CE. The AnguttaranikAya appears in the Pali Text Society's English translation series as The Book of Gradual Sayings.
Aniruddha. (P. Anuruddha; T. Ma 'gags pa; C. Analü; J. Anaritsu; K. Anayul 阿那律). One of the ten great disciples of the Buddha, who was GAUTAMA's first cousin and brother of MAHANAMAN. Along with many others of the Buddha's relatives in the sAKYA clan, such as ANANDA and DEVADATTA, Aniruddha renounced the life of a householder to become a disciple of the Buddha when the Buddha returned to his home town of KAPILAVASTU after his enlightenment. According to legend, Aniruddha was once scolded by the Buddha for sleeping too much. Aniruddha subsequently devoted himself to vigorous practice without sleep (see DHUTAnGA), as a consequence of which he became blind. The PAli THERAGATHA notes that he did not sleep at all for twenty-five years, and that for the last thirty years of his life, he slept only during the last watch of the night. Despite his physical blindness, he attained through his meditative practice the divine eye (DIVYACAKsUS) and came to be ranked as foremost among the Buddha's disciples in that attainment. For this reason, in East Asia, he is given the epithet Tianyan Diyi or "First of Those Who Have the Divine Eye." According to PAli tradition, after the recitation of the Buddha's teachings at the first Buddhist council (COUNCIL, FIRST), Aniruddha and his disciples were entrusted with preserving the AnGUTTARANIKAYA. Aniruddha and the Buddha held one another in particularly high regard, and many of the Buddha's discourses were addressed personally to him. In assemblies, Aniruddha always sat near the Buddha, and he was present at the Buddha's death. He consoled his fellow monks at their master's passing (PARINIRVAnA) and advised the MALLA on how properly to carry out the funerary rites.
anisong. In Thai, "blessings" (from the PAli AnisaMsa [S. ANUsAMSA], "blessing" or "merit"), referring to a type of text in the northern Thai tradition that explains the benefits of certain merit-making rituals. The anisong may have been written specifically to encourage participation in Buddhist rituals and festivals.
aniyata. (T. gzhan 'gyur; C. buding; J. fujo; K. pujong 不定). In Sanskrit and PAli, "undetermined" or "indeterminate"; the term has separate usages in both ABHIDHARMA and VINAYA materials. In the abhidharma analysis of mind, among the mental constituents (CAITTA, P. CETASIKA), "indeterminate" refers to mental factors that, depending on the intention of the agent, may be virtuous, nonvirtuous, or neutral. They are variously listed as four (in the YOGACARA hundred-dharmas list) or eight (in the seventy-five dharmas list of the SARVASTIVADA school) and include sleep (MIDDHA), contrition (KAUKṚTYA, which can be nonvirtuous when one regrets having done a good deed), applied thought or investigation (VITARKA), and sustained thought or analysis (VICARA). ¶ In the vinaya (rules of discipline), "undetermined" refers to a category of ecclesiastical offenses of "uncertain" gravity, which therefore must be evaluated by the SAMGHA in order to make a determination. Aniyata offenses are of two types and always concern the conduct of a monk toward a woman in either (1) private or (2) semiprivate situations. For the monk, even to place himself in such a potentially compromising situation is an offense, since it can arouse suspicion among the laity about the monk's intentions. After learning of such an offense, the saMgha must then determine the seriousness of the monk's offense by evaluating his conduct while in that situation. After due evaluation, his "undermined" offense will then be judged accordingly as one of three types: (1) PARAJIKA, or most grave, entailing "defeat"; (2) SAMGHAVAsEsA (P. sanghAdisesa), the second most serious category, entailing confession before the assembly and expiation; and (3) PAYATTIKA (P. pAcittiya), the least serious offense, requiring only confession.
aNjali[mudrA]. (T. thal mo sbyar ba; C. hezhang; J. gassho; K. hapchang 合掌). In Sanskrit and PAli, "gesture of supplication" or "gesture of greeting." The aNjali is a traditional Indian gesture of salutation and respect wherein the palms of the hands are pressed together with fingers pointing up, usually at the level of the heart or the forehead. As a specific type of gesture (MUDRA), aNjali is used to symbolize thusness (TATHATA). In Buddhist iconography, this is one of the principal mudrAs of AVALOKITEsVARA, who in several forms holds a wish-fulfilling gem (CINTAMAnI) between cupped palms at his heart. This gesture is also commonly seen in images of religious donors and patrons.
antaradhAna. In PAli, "disappearance [of the Buddha's teachings]." According to the PAli commentaries, the true dharma (saddhamma) or teaching (sAsana) of the Buddha is destined to survive in the world for at most five thousand years, during which time it will suffer a steady decline in five stages, called the paNcantaradhAnAni. There are several alternate theories found in the commentaries as to the specifics of the decline. One version of the five disappearances, which appears in the MANORATHAPuRAnĪ, the commentary to the AnGUTTARANIKAYA, describes the sequential disappearance of (1) the four noble (Ariya) attainments, (2) observance of the precepts, (3) knowledge of the texts, (4) outward signs of monasticism, and (5) the Buddha's relics. In the PRAJNAPARAMITA (perfection of wisdom) literature, there are similarly a number of explanations of the disappearance or extinction of the teaching (saddharmaksaya). The satasAhasrikAprajNApAramitAbṛhattīkA, an early commentary extant only in Tibetan, subdivides the five thousand years that the teaching lasts into ten periods of five hundred years each. The first three (the period of understanding) are when people realize the doctrine and attain results of ARHAT, ANAGAMIN (nonreturner), and SROTAAPANNA (stream-enterer), respectively; the second three (the period of practice) are when people cultivate insight (VIPAsYANA), serenity (sAMATHA), and morality (sĪLA), respectively; the third three are when the majority have a scripture-centered religious life based on the ABHIDHARMA, SuTRA, and VINAYA sections of the TRIPItAKA; and the final five hundred years are when there is just the mere show of the dharma. See also MOFA; SADDHARMAVIPRALOPA.
antestature ::: n. --> A small intrenchment or work of palisades, or of sacks of earth.
antevAsika. [alt. antevAsī] (T. nye gnas; C. jinzhu dizi; J. gonju deshi; K. kŭnju cheja 近住弟子). In PAli and Sanskrit, a "pupil" who dwells with a teacher. A monk who loses his preceptor (P. upajjhAya; S. UPADHYAYA) while still in need of "guidance" (P. NISSAYA; S. NIsRAYA) must seek instruction and training under another qualified master. This new master is called the ACARIYA (S. ACARYA), or "teacher," and the monk is then designated an antevAsika, or "pupil." The same relationship pertains between the antevAsika and the Acariya as between a *SARDHAVIHARIN (P. saddhivihArika) and an upajjhAya, and it is described as being like that of a son and father. Accordingly, the pupil is required to serve the daily needs of his teacher, by, for example, providing him with water, washing and preparing his robes and alms bowl, cleaning his residence, accompanying him on journeys, attending him when he is sick, and so forth. As part of his responsibilities toward the teacher, if the teacher should begin to entertain doubts about the doctrine or his ability to practice, the pupil is to try to dispel them. If the teacher should commit a grave offense against the rules of the saMgha, the pupil is supposed to try to prevail upon his teacher to go before the saMgha to receive its judgment. An antevAsika requires the permission of his Acariya to attend to others, to accompany others on alms round (PIndAPATA), to seek instruction from others, etc. The antevAsika is required to seek pardon from his Acariya for any wrongdoing, and may be expelled for bad behavior. A fully ordained monk (P. bhikkhu; S. BHIKsU) must remain under the guidance (nissaya) of either his upajjhAya or an Acariya or for a minimum of five years from the time of his ordination. A monk may be required to live under nissaya for a longer period, or for his whole life, if he is unable to become competent in DHARMA and VINAYA.
anubhAva. (T. mthu; C. weishen; J. ijin; K. wisin 威神). In Sanskrit and PAli, "majesty" or "splendor"; referring to the inconceivable power and glory of the buddhas, the spiritual equivalent to the majesty of royalty. The term is often found in compound to express different aspects of Buddhistic splendor. For example, the buddhas are said to have the ability to display various psychic powers (ṚDDHI), including telekinesis, and the ability to walk through walls and to project themselves infinitely (see ADHIstHANA); the majestic power displayed through these thaumaturgic abilities is termed ṛddhyanubhAva (P. iddhAnubhAva).
anulomaNAna. In PAli, "conformity knowledge"; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, this is the ninth and last of nine knowledges (P. NAna, S. JNANA) cultivated as part of the purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path (P. patipadANAnadassanavisuddhi). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth of the seven purities (VIsUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. "Conformity knowledge" refers to the last three so-called impulsion moments (javana) of consciousness that arise in the mind of the practitioner preceding his perception of the nibbAna element (NIRVAnADHATU). This knowledge is so named because it conforms itself to the preceding eight stages of knowledge, as well as to the immediately following supramundane path (P. AriyamAgga, S. ARYAMARGA) and the thirty-seven constituents of enlightenment (P. bodhipakkhiyadhamma, S. BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA). When the three moments are treated separately, they receive different names. The first impulsion moment is called "preparation" (P. parikamma), when adaptation knowledge takes as its object the compounded formations (SAMSKARA) as being something impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANATMAN). Immediately thereafter, the second impulsion moment arises, which takes the same formations as its object and is called "access" (upacAra). Immediately following that the third impulsion moment arises taking the same object, which is called "conformity" (anuloma). At this point, the practitioner is at the threshold of liberation (P. vimokkha, S. VIMOKsA), and, therefore, conformity knowledge is described as the final stage in what is called "insight leading to emergence" (P. vutthAnagAminivipassanA). This category includes the sixth, seventh, and eighth knowledges (NAna) in the ninefold schema: namely, "knowledge arising from the desire for deliverance" (P. MUCCITUKAMYATANAnA), "knowledge arising from the contemplation on reflection" (P. PAtISAnKHANUPASSANANAnA), and "knowledge arising from equanimity regarding all formations of existence" (P. SAnKHARUPEKKHANAnA).
AnumAnasutta. (C. Biqiu qing jing; J. Bikushokyo; K. Pigu ch'ong kyong 比丘請經). In PAli, "Discourse on Inference," the fifteenth sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the eighty-ninth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA). The sutra was preached by MAHAMAUDGALYAYANA (P. MahAmoggallAna) to a large group of monks at SuMsumAragiri in the Bhagga country. MahAmaudgalyAyana enumerates sixteen faults that make it difficult for a monk to be admonished by his teachers or fellow monks, such as evil wishes, conceit, deceit, anger, resentment, stubbornness, defensiveness, and prevarication. Should a monk discover any of these negative traits within himself, he should strive to remove them.
anumAna. (T. rjes su dpag pa; C. biliang; J. hiryo; K. piryang 比量). In Sanskrit and PAli, "inference." In Buddhist logic and epistemology, inference is considered to be one of the two forms of valid knowledge (PRAMAnA), along with direct perception (PRATYAKsA). Inference allows us to glean knowledge concerning objects that are not directly evident to the senses. In the Buddhist logical traditions, inferences may be drawn from logical signs (HETU, LInGA): e.g., there is a fire on the mountain (SADHYA), because there is smoke (SADHANA), like a stove (SAPAKsA), unlike a lake (VIPAKsA).
anumodana. (T. rjes su yi rang; C. suixi; J. zuiki; K. suhŭi 隨喜). In Sanskrit and PAli, "admiration" or "gratification," also written anumodanA; the act of taking delight in the virtuous acts of others, which, in contrast to the unwholesome emotion of envy (ĪRsYA), enables one also to accumulate virtue for oneself. It is considered an effective means of gaining merit (PUnYA) and figures as a standard component in MAHAYANA liturgies, including the three-part MahAyAna liturgy (TRISKANDHAKA) and the sevenfold PuJA (SAPTAnGAVIDHI). AnumodanA is also used in mainstream Buddhism to refer to the "benedictions" (C. zhouyuan) that monks recite after receiving a meal or a gift, which express thanks or "gratification" to the donors for their offerings.
anupassanA. (S. ANUPAsYANA). In PAli, "contemplation." A term applied to several sets of meditation practices, most notably as enumerated under the category of the four "foundations of mindfulness" (P. satipatthAna; S. SMṚTYUPASTHANA). The first foundation is called "contemplation of the body" (kAyAnupassanA, S. KAYANUPAsYANA) and comprises fourteen practices, which include mindfulness of breathing (P. AnApAnasati, S. ANAPANASMṚTI), mindfulness of postures or deportments (P., iriyApatha, S. ĪRYAPATHA), full awareness of bodily actions, contemplation of bodily impurities, contemplation of the four physical elements (DHATU, MAHABHuTA), and nine cemetery meditations (P. asubhabhAvanA, S. AsUBHABHAVANA). The second foundation is called "contemplation of sensations" (P. vedanAnupassanA, S. vedanAnupasyanA) and consists of one practice: mindfulness of physical sensations (VEDANA) as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. The third foundation is called "contemplation of mind" (P. cittAnupassanA, S. cittAnupasyanA) and consists of one practice: mindfulness of one's general state of mind (CITTA), e.g. as calm or distracted, elated or depressed, etc. The fourth foundation is "contemplation of mind-objects" (P. dhammAnupassanA, S. dharmAnupasyanA) and includes five meditations on specific categories of factors (P. dhamma, S. DHARMA), namely: the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA), the five aggregates (SKANDHA), the six sense bases and six sense objects (AYATANA), the seven enlightenment factors (BODHYAnGA), and the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. In the PAli SATIPAttHANASUTTA, the four anupassanAs are extolled as the one path leading to the realization of nibbAna (NIRVAnA). Another common set of anupassanAs found in the PAli tradition includes three members: (1) contemplation of impermanence (aniccAnupassanA), (2) contemplation of suffering (dukkhAnupassanA), and (3) contemplation of nonself (anattAnupassanA). In the PAtISAMBHIDAMAGGA, this list is expanded to ten with the addition of (4) contemplation of nirvAna (nibbAnAnupassanA), (5) contemplation of dispassion (virAgAnupassanA), (6) contemplation of cessation (nirodhAnupassanA), (7) contemplation of renunciation (patinissaggAnupassanA), (8) contemplation of signlessness (animittAnupassanA), (9) contemplation of desirelessness (appanihitAnupassanA), and (10) contemplation of emptiness (suNNatAnupassanA).
anupubbikathA. (S. anupurvikathA; T. mthar gyis pa; C. cidi shuofa/jianwei shuofa; J. shidai seppo/zen'i seppo; K. ch'aje solbop/chomwi solbop 次第法/漸爲法). In PAli, "graduated discourse" or "step-by-step instruction"; the systematic outline of religious benefits that the Buddha used to mold the understanding of new lay adherents and to guide them toward the first stage of enlightenment. In this elementary discourse, the Buddha would outline the benefits of generosity (dAnakathA) and morality (sīlakathA) before finally holding out for the laity the prospect of rebirth in the heavens (svargakathA). Once their minds were pliant and impressionable, the Buddha then would instruct his listeners in the dangers (ADĪNAVA) inherent in sensuality (KAMA) in order to turn them away from the world and toward the advantages of renunciation (P. nekkhamme AnisaMsa). Only after his listeners' minds were made fully receptive would the Buddha then go on to teach them the doctrine that was unique to the buddhas: the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS of suffering, origination, cessation, and path. Understanding the pervasive reality of the fact that "all that is subject to production is subject to cessation" (yaM kiNci samudayadhammaM taM nirodhadhammaM), the laity would then gain a profound personal understanding of the dharma, which often prompted the experience of "stream-entry" (SROTAAPANNA). The "graduated discourse" was such a stock formula in the standard sermon to the laity that it appears only in summary form in the NIKAYAs and AGAMAs. The only detailed treatment of the graduated discourse appears in the TundilovAdasutta (Advice to Layman Tundila), a late PAli apocryphon (see APOCRYPHA) probably composed in Sri Lanka in the eighteenth century. This late text provides a systematic outline of the specifics of the practice of generosity (DANA), morality (sĪLA), the heavens (SVARGA), the dangers in sensual desires, and the benefits of renunciation, leading up to the "perfect peace" of nibbAna (S. NIRVAnA).
Anuruddha. (P) The PAli name for one of the ten chief disciples of the Buddha; see ANIRUDDHA. ¶ Anuruddha is also the name of the author of the THERAVADA abhidhamma manual ABHIDHAMMATTHASAnGAHA, as well as the Paramatthavinicchaya and the NAmarupapariccheda. Anuruddha flourished during the eleventh or twelfth century and was the abbot of Mulasoma VihAra. His Abhidhammatthasangaha has for centuries been the most widely used introductory text for the study of ABHIDHAMMA (S. ABHIDHARMA) in monastic colleges throughout the PAli Buddhist world.
anusaMsa. [alt. AnusaMsa; AnusaMsA, etc.] (P. AnisaMsa; T. phan yon; C. gongde/liyi; J. kudoku/riyaku; K. kongdok/iik 功德/利益). In Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, "blessing," "benefit," "reward," or "advantage" that accrues from leading a virtuous life or performing various types of virtuous actions. In the PAli MAHAPARINIBBANASUTTANTA, for example, while preaching on the benefits of moral rectitude to a gathering of lay disciples in the city of PAtaligAma (see PAtALIPUTRA), the Buddha enumerates five such blessings that a morally upright person can expect to acquire in this lifetime: first, great wealth (bhogakkhandha); second, a good reputation (kittisadda); third, self-confidence (visArada); fourth, a peaceful death (asammulho kAlaM karoti); and fifth, after he dies, a happy rebirth (saggaM lokaM upapajjati). In contrast, a morally dissolute person can expect in this lifetime: first, poverty due to sloth; second, a bad reputation; third, shame in the presence of others; fourth, an anxious death; and fifth, after he dies, an unhappy rebirth. In the so-called graduated discourse (P. ANUPUBBIKATHA), the Buddha also teaches the blessings of renunciation (nekkhamme AnisaMsa) as a prerequisite to understanding the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. Different lists of five, ten, or eighteen such blessings appear in Sanskrit sources. The PRAJNAPARAMITA literature has long passages praising the merit gained from writing out in book form, reading, memorizing, and generally worshipping the prajNApAramitA as compared, in particular, to worshiping a STuPA containing the relics of a TATHAGATA, and the commentarial literature lists the benefits (anusaMsa) of the BODHISATTVA's path of vision (DARsANAMARGA) when compared with the earlier understanding of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS.
anusmṛti. (P. anussati; T. rjes su dran pa; C. nian; J. nen; K. yom 念). In Sanskrit, "recollection." The PAli form anussati is applied to a number of mental exercises enumerated in the PAli tradition under the category of KAMMAttHANA, or topics of meditation. The fifth-century VISUDDHIMAGGA lists ten such recollections conducive to the cultivation of concentration (SAMADHI): namely, recollection of (1) the BUDDHA, (2) the DHARMA, (3) the SAMGHA, (4) morality, (5) generosity, (6) the gods, (7) death, (8) the body, (9) the in-breath and out-breath, and (10) peace. Of these, recollection or mindfulness (P. sati; S. SMṚTI) of the in-breath and out-breath can produce all four meditative absorptions (DHYANA; P. JHANA), while recollection of the body can produce the first absorption. The remaining recollections can produce only "access concentration" (UPACARASAMADHI), which immediately precedes but does not quite reach the first absorption. In East Asia, the practice of recollection of the Buddha (BUDDHANUSMṚTI) evolved into the recitation of name of the buddha AMITABHA in the form of the Chinese phrase namo Amituo fo (Homage to the buddha AmitAbha; see NAMU AMIDABUTSU). See also BUDDHANUSMṚTI.
anusrava. (P. anussava; T. gsan pa; C. suiwen; J. zuimon; K. sumun 隨聞). In Sanskrit, "tradition," "hearsay," or "report" (in Chinese, it is, literally, "according to what has been heard"), referring to knowledge learned from received tradition, which is said to be unreliable as a standard for judging truth and falsity. In the PAli KALAMASUTTA, the Buddha rejects the validity of testimony based on anussava (tradition) in favor of what practitioners learn through their own personal training to be blameworthy or praiseworthy, harmful or beneficial.
anuvyaNjana. (T. dpe byad; C. hao; J. ko; K. ho 好). In Sanskrit and PAli, "minor mark" or "secondary characteristic"; the secondary characteristics of an object, in distinction to its generic appearance, or "sign" (NIMITTA). Advertence toward the generic sign and secondary characteristics of an object produces a recognition or perception (SAMJNA) of that object, which may then lead to clinging or rejection and ultimately suffering. ¶ The term anuvyaNjana [alt. vyaNjana] also refers specifically to the eighty minor marks of a "great man" (MAHAPURUsA) and specifically of a buddha; these are typically mentioned in conjunction with the thirty-two major marks of a great man (MAHAPURUsALAKsAnA). These are set forth at length in, for example, the PANCAVIMsATISAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA (see PRAJNAPARAMITA) and chapter eight of the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA and are known as well in mainstream Buddhist sources.
ApadAna. In PAli, "Heroic Tales" or "Narratives" (cf. S. AVADANA); the thirteenth book of the KHUDDAKANIKAYA of the PAli SUTTAPItAKA, this collection includes hagiographies of 547 monks and forty nuns, all arahant (S. ARHAT) disciples who lived during the lifetime of the Buddha. The text also contains two introductory chapters in verse. The first, the "BuddhApadAna," is a series of encomiums praising the merits and perfections (P. pAramī; S. PARAMITA) of the Buddha and an account of the past lives during which he mastered these qualities. The second chapter, the "PaccekabuddhApadAna," deals with solitary buddhas who do not teach (paccekabuddha; S. PRATYEKABUDDHA). Quite distinctively, the ApadAna names thirty-five buddhas of antiquity, in contrast to the twenty-four listed in the BUDDHAVAMSA; this is one of the reasons that the ApadAna is presumed to be one of the latest books in the PAli canon. The third and fourth chapters offer accounts of the noble deeds of the senior disciples, including many of the most famous names in Buddhist history. Each story focuses on a specific meritorious action performed by one of these elders while they trained under a buddha in a previous lifetime, followed by an account of what wholesome result that action produced in subsequent lifetimes, and how this ultimately led them to achieve arahantship in the present life. The collection thus highlights the merit that results from perfecting specific types of moral actions.
AparAnta. [alt. AparAntaka]. A territory in western India traversing modern Rajasthan and Gujarat along the Narmada River; according to the PAli tradition, it was one of the nine regions to which Buddhist missions were dispatched during the reign of King AsOKA. After the completion of the third Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, THIRD) in the third century BCE, the elder MOGGALIPUTTATISSA dispatched the elder Yonaka Dhammarakkhita from PAtaliputta (S. PAtALIPUTRA) to AparAnta to promote Buddhism. Burmese and Thai chroniclers, by contrast, variously identify AparAnta with Chiangmai, AYUTHAYA, and the Irrawaddy river basin in Middle Burma. The third Buddhist council at PAtaliputta and the nine Buddhist missions are known only in PAli sources and are first recorded in the fifth-century DĪPAVAMSA.
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.
apatrApya. (P. ottappa; T. khrel yod pa; C. kui; J. gi, K. koe 愧). In Sanskrit, "modesty" or "blame"; one of the fundamental mental concomitants thought to accompany all wholesome actions (KUsALA) and therefore listed as the sixth of the ten "wholesome factors of wide extent" (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA) in the SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA and one of the twenty-five wholesome (P. kusala) mental concomitants (CETASIKA) in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA. It refers to a fear of blame or condemnation that prevents one from engaging in nonvirtuous deeds. "Modesty" is often seen in compound with the term "shame" or "decency" (HRĪ), where hrī refers to the sense of shame or the pangs of moral conscience that one feels oneself at the prospect of engaging in an immoral act, whereas apatrApya refers to the fear of being blamed or embarrassed by others for engaging in such acts. This dual sense of "shame and blame" was thought to be foundational to progress in morality (sĪLA).
apAya. (T. ngan song; C. equ; J. akushu; K. akch'wi 惡趣). In Sanskrit and PAli, lit. "falling away," or "misfortune," viz., "baleful destinies," and synonymous with the unfortunate destinies (DURGATI); refers to an unsalutary rebirth that occurs as a consequence of performing unwholesome actions (S. AKUsALA; P. akusala). Three such unfortunate rebirth destinies (GATI) are typically enumerated in the literature: rebirth as (1) a denizen of the hells (S. NARAKA; P. nirAya); (2) an animal (S. TIRYAK, P. tiracchAna); or (3) a ghost (S. PRETA; P. peta); birth as a demigod or titan (ASURA) is sometimes added as a fourth. Unwholesome actions that lead to unfortunate rebirth are classified into ten types of wrong deeds (S. duscarita; P. duccarita), which include (1) intentionally killing living beings (S. prAnAtipAta; P. pAnAtipAta); (2) stealing (S. adattAdAna; P. adinnAdAna); and (3) sexual misconduct (S. KAMAMITHYACARA; P. kAmamicchAcAra). The next four in the list are classified as verbal wrong deeds and include (4) lying (S. mṛsAvAda; P. musAvAda); (5) malicious speech (S. PAIsUNYA; P. pisunavAcA); (6) harsh speech (S. PARAsYAVADA; P. pharusavAcA); and (7) frivolous prattle (S. sampralApa; P. samphappalApa). The final three of the list are classified as mental wrong deeds and include (8) covetousness (S. ABHIDHYA; P. abhijjhA); (9) malice (S. VYAPADA; P. vyApAda); and (10) wrong views (S. MITHYADṚstI; P. micchAditthi). Other sutra literature, such as the SAMANNAPHALASUTTA, attribute rebirth in this state to reviling the noble ones (ARYA), keeping wrong views, and performing unwholesome acts as a result of those wrong views. See also BHAVACAKRA.
apocrypha. (C. yijing/weijing; J. gikyo/gikyo; K. ŭigyong/wigyong 疑經/僞經). Buddhist scholars have appropriated (though not without some controversy) the Judeo-Christian religious term "apocrypha" to refer to indigenous sutras composed outside the Indian cultural sphere, but on the model of translated Indian or Serindian scriptures. Such scriptures were sometimes composed in conjunction with a revelatory experience, but many were intentionally forged using their false ascription to the Buddha or other enlightened figures as a literary device to enhance both their authority and their prospects of being accepted as authentic scriptures. Many of the literary genres that characterize Judeo-Christian apocrypha are found also in Buddhist apocrypha, including the historical, didactic, devotional, and apocalyptic. Both were also often composed in milieus of social upheaval or messianic revivalism. As Buddhism moved outside of its Indian homeland, its scriptures had to be translated into various foreign languages, creating openings for indigenous scriptures to be composed in imitation of these translated texts. Ferreting out such inauthentic indigenous scripture from authentic imported scripture occupied Buddhist bibliographical cataloguers (see JINGLU), who were charged with confirming the authenticity of the Buddhist textual transmission. For the Chinese, the main criterion governing scriptural authenticity was clear evidence that the text had been brought from the "Outer Regions" (C. waiyu), meaning India or Central Asia; this concern with authenticating a text partially accounts for why Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures typically included a colophon immediately following the title, giving the name of the translator (who was also sometimes the importer of the scripture), along with the place where, and often the imperial reign era during which the translation was made. Scriptures for which there was no such proof were in danger of being labeled as texts of "suspect" or "suspicious" authenticity (yijing) or condemned as blatantly "spurious" or "counterfeit" scriptures (weijing). The presence of indigenous cultural elements, such as yin-yang cosmology, local spirits, or rituals and liturgies associated with folk religion could also be enough to condemn a scripture as "spurious." In Tibet, "treasure texts" (GTER MA) were scriptures or esoteric teachings attributed to enlightened beings or lineage holders that purported to have been buried or hidden away until they could be rediscovered by qualified individuals. Because of their association with a revelatory experience, such "treasure texts" carried authority similar to that of translated scripture. Different classifications of apocryphal scriptures have been proposed, based on genre and style, social history, and doctrinal filiations. In one of the ironies of the Buddhist textual transmission, however, many of the scriptures most influential in East Asian Buddhism have been discovered to be indigenous "apocrypha," not translated scriptures. Such indigenous scriptures were able to appeal to a native audience in ways that translated Indian materials could not, and the sustained popularity of many such "suspect" texts eventually led cataloguers to include them in the canon, despite continuing qualms about their authenticity. Such "canonical apocrypha" include such seminal scriptures as the FANWANG JING ("BrahmA's Net Sutra"), RENWANG JING ("Humane Kings Sutra"), and the YUANJUE JING ("Perfect Enlightenment Sutra"), as well as treatises like the DASHENG QIXIN LUN ("Awakening of Faith"). Similar questions of authenticity can be raised regarding scriptures of Indian provenance, since it is virtually impossible to trace with certainty which of the teachings ascribed to the Buddha in mainstream canonical collections (TRIPItAKA) such as the PAli canon can be historically attributed to him. Similarly, the MAHAYANA sutras, which are also attributed to the Buddha even though they were composed centuries after his death, are considered apocryphal by many of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, including the modern THERAVADA tradition; however, modern scholars do not use the term "Buddhist apocrypha" to describe MahAyAna texts.
appanAsamAdhi. In PAli, "absorptive concentration"; the more advanced of the two broad types of concentration (SAMADHI) discussed in PAli commentarial literature. Both of these two types of samAdhi are used with reference to meditators who are specializing in calmness (samatha; S. sAMATHA) techniques. The preliminary "threshold concentration" (UPACARASAMADHI) helps to calm and focus the mind but is too discursive to lead to full meditative absorption (JHANA; S. DHYANA). In order to develop jhAna, meditators must proceed to cultivate less discursive topics of meditation (KAMMAttHANA) that will lead to "absorptive concentration" and thence jhAna: e.g., mindfulness of breathing (AnApAnasati, S. ANAPANASMṚTI); the four "divine abidings" (BRAHMAVIHARA; [alt. P. appamaNNa], S. APRAMAnA), namely, loving-kindness (P. mettA; S. MAITRĪ), compassion (KARUnA), altruistic or empathetic joy (MUDITA), and equanimity or impartiality (P. upekkhA; S. UPEKsA); and the ten "visual devices" (KASInA)-devices that are constructed from the elements earth, water, fire, and air; the colors blue, yellow, red, and white; and light and space. See also KHANIKASAMADHI.
apramAda. (P. appamAda; T. bag yod pa; C. bufangyi; J. fuhoitsu; K. pulbangil 不放逸). In Sanskrit, "heedfulness" or "vigilance"; one of the forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the SARVASTIVADA-VAIBHAsIKA school of ABHIDHARMA and one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school. Heedfulness is the opposite of "heedlessness" (PRAMADA) and is the vigilant attitude that strives toward virtuous activities and remains ever watchful of moral missteps. Heedfulness fosters steadfastness regarding spiritual and ethical matters; it was presumed to be so foundational to any kind of ethical or wholesome behavior that the SarvAstivAda abhidharma system included it among the predominant wholesome factors of wide extent (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA). Heedfulness is also an integral part of the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), where certain types of proclivities (ANUsAYA)-such as passion for sensual pleasure (RAGA)-can only be removed by consistent and vigilant training, rather than simply through correct insight, as on the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). Heedfulness was so crucial to spiritual progress that the Buddha recommended it in his last words delivered on his deathbed, as related in the PAli MAHAPARINIBBANASUTTANTA: "Indeed, monks, I declare to you: decay is inherent in all compounded things; strive on with vigilance." (Handa 'dAni bhikkhave AmantayAmi vo: vayadhammA sankhArA; appamAdena sampAdetha.)
Arahant (Pali) Arahant [from the verbal root arh to be worthy; or from ari foe + the verbal root han to slay] The worthy one; enemy, slayer. One who has attained the highest state next to being a buddha, especially one who has freed himself from the asavas (Sanskrit asrava) — intoxication or bewilderment of mind or sense. The term arahant, like the Sanskrit arhat, is often popularly used for individuals of less exalted grade. See also ARHAT; ARAHATTA
arahant. (S. arhat). In PAli, "worthy one"; the highest of the four grades of Buddhist saint or "noble person" (ariyapuggala) recognized in the mainstream Buddhist schools. For a full description see ARHAT; LUOHAN.
Arahatta (Pali) Arahatta [from the verbal root arh to be worthy; or from ari enemy, foe + the verbal root han to slay] State of arhatship; in Buddhism the state or condition of an arahant, free from the asavas (intoxication of mind or sense); by extension of thought, final and complete emancipation, the state of nibbana (Sanskrit nirvana). See also ARHAT
ArAma. (T. kun dga' ra ba; C. yuan; J. on; K. won 園). In Sanskrit and PAli, "park" or "pleasure grove"; a term that originally referred to a garden, a favorite site for the teaching or practice of the dharma. The term came to mean an enclosed area, often in or near a city, which contained permanent dwellings for the use of monks during the annual rains retreat (VARsA). The dwellings were built and maintained by a donor (DANAPATI), who offered them to the SAMGHA for its use. An ArAma donated as property to the saMgha was called a saMghArAma and is considered to be the forerunner of the monastery, or VIHARA. These residences were often named after their donors, e.g., the JETAVANA-ArAma in sRAVASTĪ, named after Prince JETA.
araNNavAsi. In PAli, "forest-dweller"; in the PAli Buddhist tradition, a monk who is principally dedicated to meditative training (VIPASSANADHURA); contrasted with "town-dweller" (GAMAVASI), who lives in a village or town monastery and whose monastic vocation focuses on doctrinal study and teaching, or "book work" (GANTHADHURA). In Sri Lankan Buddhism, the emphases within the Buddhist order on both meditation and study led to the evolution over time of these two major practice vocations. The araNNavAsi remained in solitude in the forest to focus principally on their meditative practice. The gAmavAsi, by contrast, were involved in studying and teaching the dhamma, especially within the lay community of the village, and thus helped to disseminate Buddhism among the people. The araNNavAsi were not necessarily hermits, but they did live a more secluded life than the gAmavAsi, devoting most of their time to meditation (either individually or in smaller groups) and keeping their contact with the laity to a minimum. According to the VINAYA, a monk cannot remain constantly alone in the forest by himself; at a minimum, he must join together with the sangha at least once a fortnight to participate in the uposatha (S. UPOsADHA) rite, when the monks gather to confess any transgressions of the precepts and to listen to a recitation of the rules of discipline (P. pAtimokkha; S. PRATIMOKsA). These two vocations have a long history and have continued within the sangha into modern times. In a sense, the Buddha himself was an araNNavAsi for six years before he attained enlightenment; subsequently, he then passed much of his time as a gAmavAsi, teaching people the dharma and encouraging them to practice to bring an end to their suffering. See also PHRA PA; THUDONG.
archiepiscopality ::: n. --> The station or dignity of an archbishop; archiepiscopacy.
Ariya Atthangika Magga (Pali) Ariya Aṭṭhaṅgika Magga [from ariya noble + aṭṭhaṅgika eight-limbed, eightfold from aṭṭha eight + aṇga limb, division + magga way, road from the verbal root mṛg to track, trace, investigate] Noble eightfold path; the fourth of the Four Noble Truths (chattari ariyasachchani) traditionally held to constitute the initial discourse of Gautama Buddha, comprising: 1) right insight (sammaditthi); 2) right resolve (sammasamkappa); 3) right speech (sammavacha); 4) right action (sammakammanta); 5) right living (sammajiva); 6) right effort (sammavayama); 7) right mindfulness, right recollection (sammasati); 8) right concentration (sammasamadhi). See also ARYASHTANGAMARGA (for Sanskrit equivalents).
AriyapariyesanAsutta. (C. Luomo jing; J. Ramakyo; K. Rama kyong 羅摩經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Noble Quest"; the twenty-sixth sutta (SuTRA) in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA, also known as the PAsarAsisutta (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 204th SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to an assembly of monks at the hemitage of the brAhmana Rammaka in the town of sRAVASTĪ. The Buddha explains the difference between noble and ignoble quests and recounts his own life as an example of striving to distinguish between the two. Beginning with his renunciation of the householder's life, he tells of his training under two meditation masters, his rejection of this training in favor of austerities, and ultimately his rejection of austerities in order to discover for himself his own path to enlightenment. The Buddha also relates how he was initially hesitant to teach what he had discovered, but was convinced to do so by the god BRAHMA SAHAMPATI, and how he then converted the "group of five" ascetics (PANCAVARGIKA) who had been his companions while he practiced austerities. There is an understated tone of the narrative, devoid of the detail so familiar from the biographies. There is no mention of the opulence of his youth, no mention of his wife, no mention of the chariot rides, no description of the departure from the palace in the dead of night, no mention of MARA. Instead, the Buddha states, "Later, while still young, a black-haired young man endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime of life, though my mother and father wished otherwise and wept with tearful faces, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and went forth from the home life into homelessness." Although the accounts of his study with other meditation masters assume a sophisticated system of states of concentration, the description of the enlightenment itself is both simple and sober, portrayed as the outcome of long reflection rather than as an ecstatic moment of revelation.
Ariyasachcha (Pali) Ariyasacca [from ariya noble, distinguished, of high birth + sacca real, true] Noble truth; in the plural, the Four Noble Truths (chattari ariyasachchani) set forth by Gautama Buddha in his first sermon: 1) pain (duhkha); 2) cause, origin of pain (samudaya) is desire (panha); 3) destruction of desire eliminates pain (nirodha); and 4) the road or footpath (magga), the noble eightfold way (ariya atthangika magga). See also ARYASATYA (for Sanskrit equivalents)
artha. (P. attha/attha; T. don; C. yi; J. gi; K. ŭi 義). In Sanskrit, "meaning" or "object"; a polysemous term of wide import in Buddhist materials. In perhaps its most common usage, artha refers to the meaning or denotation of a term (and is always spelled attha in PAli in this meaning), and, as the first of the four reliances (PRATISARAnA), suggests that adepts should rely on the real meaning (artha) of words rather than their mere "letter" (vyaNjana). In other contexts, however, artha may also be contrasted with DHARMA to refer to the principal denotation of a word rather than its interpreted connotations, implying the "literal meaning" of a term rather than its imputed "true spirit." Artha, as extensive understanding of meaning, is also listed as one of the four discriminating insights (PRATISAMVID), along with knowledge of reasons or causal interconnections (DHARMA), explanation (NIRUKTI), and eloquence (PRATIBHANA). In other contexts, artha also can mean a sensory object; an event, matter, or aim; and welfare, benefit, profit, or even wealth. Thus, the bodhisattva seeks the welfare (artha) of others.
arupaloka. In Sanskrit and PAli, "immaterial world." See AVACARA.
Aryasatya (Sanskrit) Āryasatya [from ārya holy, noble from the verbal root ṛ to move, arise, attain + satya true, real from the verbal root as to be] Noble truth; in the plural, the four great truths of Buddhism — chatvari aryasatyani (Pali, chattari ariyasachchani): 1) duhkha — life is suffering; 2) samudaya — origin, cause, craving, egoistic desire (tanha) is the cause of suffering; 3) nirodha — destruction, extinction of desire brings cessation of suffering; and 4) aryashtangamarga — the eightfold path leads to extinction of suffering. See also ARIYASACHCHA (for Pali equivalents)
Aryashtangamarga (Sanskrit) Āryāṣṭāṅgamārga [from ārya holy, noble + aṣṭa eight + aṅga limb, division + mārga path, way from the verbal root mṛg to seek, strive to attain, investigate] Holy eight-limbed way; in Buddhism the Noble Eightfold Path enunciated by Gautama Buddha as the fourth of the Four Noble Truths (chattari aryasatyani). Consistent practice of aryashtangamarga leads the disciple ultimately to perfect wisdom, love, and liberation from samsara (the round of repetitive births and deaths). The Eightfold Path is enumerated as: 1) samyagdrishti (right insight); 2) samyaksamkalpa (right resolve); 3) samyagvach (right speech); 4) samyakkarmantra (right action); 5) samyagajiva (right living); 6) samyagvyayama (right exertion); 7) samyaksmriti (right recollection); and 8) samyaksamadhi (right concentration). See also ARIYA ATTHANGIKA MAGGA (for Pali equivalents)
asaMjNika. (P. asaNNa; T. 'du shes med pa; C. wuxiang tian; J. musoten; K. musang ch'on 無想天). In Sanskrit, "free from discrimination," or "nonperception"; according to some systems, one of the heavens of the fourth meditative absorption (DHYANA) associated with the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU; see RuPAVACARADHYANA). In the PAli tradition, it is one of the seven heavens of the fourth dhyAna; in Sanskrit sources, in some cases, it is considered a ninth heaven of the fourth dhyAna, and in other cases, it is considered to be a region of the BṚHATPHALA heaven. It is a place of rebirth for those who, during their lifetimes as humans, have cultivated the trance of nonperception (ASAMJNASAMAPATTI), a state of meditative trance in which there is no mental activity; it is compared to dreamless sleep. During their long lifetime in this heaven, these divinities have a slight perception of having been born there and then have no other thoughts, sensations, or perceptions until the end of their period of rebirth in that heaven. Such beings are called asaNNasatta ("unconscious beings") in PAli. This particular state is often described as the attainment of non-Buddhist ascetics, who mistake it for the state of liberation (VIMOKsA).
asaMskṛtadharma. (P. asankhatadhamma; T. 'dus ma byas kyi chos; C. wuweifa; J. muiho; K. muwibop 無爲法). In Sanskrit, "uncompounded" or "unconditioned" "factors"; a term used to describe the few DHARMAs that are not conditioned (SAMSKṚTA) and are therefore perduring phenomena (NITYADHARMA) that are not subject to impermanence (ANITYA). The lists differ in the various schools. The PAli tradition's list of eighty-two dharmas (P. dhamma) recognizes only one uncompounded dharma: NIRVAnA (P. nibbAna). The SARVASTIVADA school recognizes three out of seventy-five: space (AKAsA), and two varieties of nirvAna: "analytical" "suppression" or "cessation" (PRATISAMKHYANIRODHA) and "nonanalytical suppression" (APRATISAMKHYANIRODHA). YOGACARA recognizes six of its one hundred dharmas as uncompounded: the preceding three, plus "motionlessness" (AniNjya, [alt. aniNjya]), the "cessation of perception and sensation" (SAMJNAVEDAYITANIRODHA), and "suchness" (TATHATA). NirvAna is the one factor that all Buddhist schools accept as being uncompounded. It is the one dharma that exists without being the result of a cause (ahetuja), though it may be accessed through the three "gates to deliverance" (VIMOKsAMUKHA). Because nirvAna neither produces nor is produced by anything else, it is utterly distinct from the conditioned realm that is subject to production and cessation; its achievement, therefore, means the end to the repeated cycle of rebirth (SAMSARA). In several schools of Buddhism, including the SarvAstivAda, nirvAna is subdivided into two complementary aspects: an "analytical cessation" (pratisaMkhyAnirodha) that corresponds to earlier notions of nirvAna and "nonanalytical suppression" (apratisaMkhyAnirodha), which ensures that the enlightened person will never again be subject to the vagaries of the conditioned world. "Analytical cessation" (pratisaMkhyAnirodha) occurs through the direct meditative insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvAry AryasatyAni) and the cognition of nonproduction (ANUTPADAJNANA), which brings about the disjunction (visaMyoga) from all unwholesome factors (AKUsALADHARMA). "Nonanalytical suppression" (apratisaMkhyAnirodha) prevents the dharmas of the conditioned realm from ever appearing again for the enlightened person. In the VAIBHAsIKA interpretation, this dharma suppresses the conditions that would lead to the production of dharmas, thus ensuring that they remain forever positioned in future mode and unable ever again to arise in the present. Because this dharma is not a result of insight, it is called "nonanalytical." Space (AkAsa) has two discrete denotations. First, space is an absence that delimits forms; like the empty space inside a door frame, AkAsa is a hole that is itself empty but that defines, or is defined by, the material that surrounds it. Second, as the vast emptiness of space, space comes also to be described as the absence of obstruction; in this sense, space also comes to be interpreted as something akin to the Western conception of ether, a virtually immaterial, but glowing fluid that serves as the support for the four material elements (MAHABHuTA). Space is accepted as an uncompounded dharma in six of the mainstream Buddhist schools, including the SARVASTIVADA and the MAHASAMGHIKA, as well as the later YOGACARA; three others reject this interpretation, including the THERAVADA. The YogAcAra additions to this list essentially subsume the upper reaches of the immaterial realm (ArupyAvacara) into the listing of uncompounded dharmas. AniNjya, or motionlessness, is used even in the early Buddhist tradition to refer to actions that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome (see ANINJYAKARMAN), which lead to rebirth in the realm of subtle materiality or the immaterial realm and, by extension, to those realms themselves. The "cessation of perception and sensation" (saMjNAvedayitanirodha) is the last of the eight liberations (VIMOKsA; P. vimokkha) and the ninth and highest of the immaterial attainments (SAMAPATTI). "Suchness" (TATHATA) is the ultimate reality (i.e., suNYATA) shared in common by a TATHAGATA and all other afflicted (SAMKLIstA) and pure (VIsUDDHI) dharmas; the "cessation of perception and sensation" (saMjNAvedayitanirodha) is not only "a meditative trance wherein no perceptual activity remains," but one where no feeling, whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, is experienced.
asaMvAsa. (T. gnas par mi bya; C. bugongzhu; J. fuguju; K. pulgongju 不共住). In Sanskrit and PAli, "not in communion"; the lifelong punishment enjoined in the VINAYA on monks (and nuns) who have transgressed one of the major offenses that bring "defeat" (PARAJIKA), such as the prohibition against engaging in sexual intercourse. The monk who is asaMvAsa is not permitted to participate in any of the official monastic proceedings or ecclesiastical acts (KARMAN); thus he is effectively ostracized from the formal activities of the monastery. Although this term has sometimes been interpreted as "expulsion," asaMvAsa does not necessarily mean that the monk is banished from the monastery but simply that he is "no longer in communion" with the work, rules, and training of the monastic community as a whole. Indeed, there is evidence from virtually all recensions of the vinaya (except the PAli recension of the THERAVADA school), that pArAjika monks continued to live in the monastery even after their transgressions, in the special status of pArAjika penitents (sIKsADATTAKA).
As a noun, originally one who had fully attained his spiritual ideals. In Buddhism arhat (Pali arahant) is the title generally given to those of Gautama Buddha’s disciples who had progressed the farthest during his lifetime and immediately thereafter; more specifically to those who had attained nirvana, emancipation from earthly fetters and the attainment of full enlightenment. Arhat is broadly equivalent to the Egyptian hierophant, the Chaldean magus, and Hindu rishi, as well as being generally applicable to ascetics. On occasion it is used for the loftiest beings in a hierarchy: “The Arhats of the ‘fire-mist’ of the 7th run are but one remove from the Root-base of their Hierarchy — the highest on Earth, and our Terrestrial chain” (SD 1:207).
Asavakkhaya. (S. Asravaksaya). In PAli, "extinction of the contaminants" or "destruction of the outflows"; a supramundane (lokuttara) supernormal power (abhiNNA) produced through the perfection of insight (VIPASSANA). It is equivalent to the attainment of "worthiness" (arahatta) or perfect sainthood. One who achieves this is a "worthy one" (arahant), attains in this life deliverance of mind (cetovimutti) and deliverance through wisdom (paNNAvimutti), and at death passes into nibbAna never to be reborn. See ASRAVAKsAYA.
Asava-samkhaya (Pali) Āsava-saṃkhaya [from the verbal root su to distill + sam-khi to destroy completely] Destruction of the mental defilements of asavas.
Asava (Sanskrit, Pali) Āsava [from the verbal root su to distill, make a decoction] A distilling or a decoction; a Buddhist term, difficult to render in European languages, signifying the distillation or decoction which the mind makes or produces from the impact upon it of outside energies or substances, whether these latter be thoughts or suggestions automatically arising and acting from outside upon us, or such as impinge upon the human consciousness from another consciousness striving to affect the former. Thus it corresponds in some respects to the Christian idea of temptation. Asava signifies attachments rising in the mind from the impact upon it of outside influences, and the ideas born of outside influences which intoxicate the mind, born in the mind or flowing into it and preventing its being held upon higher lines. Freedom from the asavas constitutes the essential of arhatship, which involves self-mastery in all its phases. The four asavas are enumerated in Southern Buddhism as 1) sensuousness and sensuality (kama); 2) hunger for life (bhava); 3) dreamy speculation (dittha); and 4) nescience (avijja).
Asava. (S. Asrava). In PAli, "contaminants" or "outflows"; mental contaminants that are eradicated upon attaining arahantship. They are: (1) the contaminant of sensuality (P. kAmAsava); (2) the contaminant of continuing existence (P. bhavAsava); and (3) the contaminant of ignorance (P. avijjAsava); to this list is sometimes added (4) the contaminant of views (P. ditthAsava). See also ASAVAKKHAYA; and the more extensive discussion in ASRAVA s.v.
ASEKHA (Pali: one trained to completion, T.) Esoteric master, perfected
45-self, initiate of the 5th degree.
Asita. (T. Mdog nag po; C. Asituo; J. Ashida; K. Asat'a 阿私陀). Sanskrit and PAli name for an Indian brAhmana who, according to PAli sources, was chaplain to the BODHISATTVA's grandfather Sīhahanu (S. SiMhahanu) and teacher of the bodhisattva's father Suddhodana (S. sUDDHODANA). After his retirement from the world, Asita developed various supranormal powers through his mastery of meditation and used them to sojourn in the realm of the divinities (DEVA). Once while staying in TRAYASTRIMsA heaven, he learned that the future buddha SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA had been born as the son of King suddhodana. Asita went to the palace to examine the infant and saw that the child was endowed with the thirty-two marks of a MAHAPURUsA, or great man. From these signs, he realized that SiddhArtha was destined to become a fully enlightened buddha. Despite his great joy, Asita was also dismayed to realize that, at his current age of ninety, he would not live long enough to witness this event. Instead, he would die and be reborn in the immaterial realm (ARuPYADHATU), where he would not be able to hear the Buddha preach and could not be liberated by his salvific message. Asita urged his nephew NAlaka to renounce the world in anticipation of the future buddha's enlightenment. The boy complied and later attained arhatship after reflecting on the sermon the Buddha delivered to him in the NAlakasutta.
Asoka. (P. Asoka; T. Mya ngan med; C. Ayu wang; J. Aiku o; K. Ayuk wang 阿育王) (c. 300-232 BCE; r. c. 268-232 BCE). Indian Mauryan emperor and celebrated patron of Buddhism; also known as DharmAsoka. Son of BindusAra and grandson of Candragupta, Asoka was the third king of the Mauryan dynasty. Asoka left numerous inscriptions recording his edicts and proclamations to the subjects of his realm. In these inscriptions, Asoka is referred to as DEVANAM PRIYAḤ, "beloved of the gods." These inscriptions comprise one of the earliest bodies of writing as yet deciphered from the Indian subcontinent. His edicts have been found inscribed on boulders, on stone pillars, and in caves and are widely distributed from northern Pakistan in the west, across the Gangetic plain to Bengal in the east, to near Chennai in South India. The inscriptions are ethical and religious in content, with some describing how Asoka turned to the DHARMA after subjugating the territory of Kalinga (in the coastal region of modern Andhra Pradesh) in a bloody war. In his own words, Asoka states that the bloodshed of that campaign caused him remorse and taught him that rule by dharma, or righteousness, is superior to rule by mere force of arms. While the Buddha, dharma, and SAMGHA are extolled and Buddhist texts are mentioned in the edicts, the dharma that Asoka promulgated was neither sectarian nor even specifically Buddhist, but a general code of administrative, public, and private ethics suitable for a multireligious and multiethnic polity. It is clear that Asoka saw this code of ethics as a diplomatic tool as well, in that he dispatched embassies to neighboring states in an effort to establish dharma as the basis for international relations. The edicts were not translated until the nineteenth century, however, and therefore played little role in the Buddhist view of Asoka, which derives instead from a variety of legends told about the emperor. The legend of Asoka is recounted in the Sanskrit DIVYAVADANA, in the PAli chronicles of Sri Lanka, DĪPAVAMSA and MAHAVAMSA, and in the PAli commentaries, particularly the SAMANTAPASADIKA. Particularly in PAli materials, Asoka is portrayed as a staunch sectarian and exclusive patron of the PAli tradition. The inscriptional evidence, as noted above, does not support that claim. In the MahAvaMsa, for example, Asoka is said to have been converted to THERAVADA Buddhism by the novice NIGRODHA, after which he purifies the Buddhist SAMGHA by purging it of non-TheravAda heretics. He then sponsors the convention of the third Buddhist council (SAMGĪTĪ; see COUNCIL, THIRD) under the presidency of MOGGALIPUTTATISSA, an entirely TheravAda affair. Recalling perhaps the historical Asoka's diplomatic missions, the legend recounts how, after the council, Moggaliputtatissa dispatched TheravAda missions, comprised of monks, to nine adjacent lands for the purpose of propagating the religion, including Asoka's son (MAHINDA) and daughter (SAnGHAMITTA) to Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, where the legend appears to have originated, and in the TheravAda countries of Southeast Asia, the PAli account of King Asoka was adopted as one of the main paradigms of Buddhist kingship and models of ideal governance and proper saMgha-state relations. A different set of legends, which do not recount the conversion of Sri Lanka, appears in Sanskrit sources, most notably, the AsOKAVADANA.
as the light of the sun.” [Rf. Caird, Principalities
asura. (T. lha ma yin; C. axiuluo; J. ashura; K. asura 阿修羅). In Sanskrit and PAli, lit., "nongods," also translated rather arcanely as "demigod" and "titan," referring to both a class of divinities and the destiny where those beings reside in the sensuous realm (KAMADHATU); in the list of six destinies (GATI), the asuras are ranked between the realms of the divinities (DEVA) and human beings (MANUsYA) and are usually considered to be a baleful destiny (see APAYA; DURGATI). The asuras live in the oceans surrounding the central continent of the world and in the lower reaches of Mount SUMERU. The asuras are said to be constantly jealous of the good fortunes of the divinities (deva), which prompted the king of the gods INDRA [alt. sAKRA] to expel them from their original home in the heaven of the thirty-three (TRAYASTRIMsA); the asuras continue to engage in futile warfare against the devas above them to regain access to their lost realm. Many indigenous non-Buddhist deities, such as the Tibetan srung ma (sungma), were placed in this realm as they were assimilated into the Buddhist pantheon.
Asvajit. (P. Assaji; T. Rta thul; C. Ashuoshi; J. Asetsuji; K. Asolsi 阿示). The fifth of the five ascetics (PANCAVARGIKA), along with AJNATAKAUndINYA (P. ANNAtakondaNNa), BHADRIKA (P. Bhaddiya), VAsPA (P. Vappa), and MAHANAMAN (P. MahAnAma), who practiced austerities with GAUTAMA prior to his enlightenment. Subsequently, when Gautama abandoned the severe asceticism they had been practicing in favor of the middle way (MADHYAMAPRATIPAD), Asvajit and his companions became disgusted with Gautama's backsliding and left him, going to the ṚsIPATANA (P. Isipatana) deer park, located in the northeast of VArAnasī. After the Buddha's enlightenment, however, the Buddha sought them out to teach them the first sermon, the DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA (P. DHAMMACAKKAPAVATTANASUTTA); while listening to this sermon, Asvajit achieved the first stage of awakening or "opening of the dharma eye" (DHARMACAKsUS), becoming a stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA), and was immediately ordained as a monk using the informal EHIBHIKsUKA, or "come, monk," formula. Five days later, the Buddha then preached to the group of five new monks the second sermon, the *AnAtmalaksanasutra (P. ANATTALAKKHAnASUTTA), which led to Asvajit's becoming a worthy one (ARHAT). It was through an encounter with Asvajit that sARIPUTRA and MAHAMAUDGALYAYANA, the Buddha's two chief disciples, were initially converted. SAriputra witnessed Asvajit's calm demeanor while gathering alms in the city of RAJAGṚHA. Impressed, he approached Asvajit and asked who his teacher was and what were his teachings. In response, Asvajit said that he was new to the teachings and could offer only the following summary: "Of those phenomena produced through causes, the TathAgata has proclaimed their causes and also their cessation. Thus has spoken the great renunciant." His description, which came to known as the YE DHARMA (based on its first two words of the summary), would become perhaps the most commonly repeated statement in all of Buddhist literature. Upon hearing these words, sAriputra attained the stage of stream-entry (see SROTAAPANNA), and when he repeated what he heard to his friend MaudgalyAyana, he also did so. The two then agreed to become the Buddha's disciples. According to PAli sources, Asvajit once was approached by the ascetic Nigantha Saccaka, who inquired of the Buddha's teachings. Asvajit explained the doctrine of nonself (ANATMAN) with a summary of the Anattalakkhanasutta, which the Buddha had taught him. Convinced that he could refute that doctrine, Nigantha Saccaka challenged the Buddha to a debate and was vanquished. The PAli commentaries say that Asvajit intentionally offered only the briefest of explanations of the nonself doctrine as a means of coaxing the ascetic into a direct encounter with the Buddha.
AtAnAtiyasutta. In PAli, "Discourse on the AtAnAtiya Protective Spell," the thirty-second sutta of the DĪGHANIKAYA (there is no equivalent recension in the Chinese translations of the AGAMAS). The discourse was preached by the Buddha to an assembly of deities on Vulture Peak GṚDHRAKutAPARVATA) in RAJAGṚHA. The divinities of the four directions, together with a retinue of lesser deities, told the Buddha that there are many unbelievers among gods and men who might bring harm to the faithful. They requested that the Buddha allow them to teach his monks the AtAnAtiya PARITTA, a protective spell to ward off danger; the lengthy spell lists the names of the seven buddhas of antiquity (SAPTATATHAGATA) and the virtues of the current buddha GAUTAMA, to whom even the ogres (P. yakkha; S. YAKsA) pay homage. The Buddha consented and advised that monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen memorize the spell so that they might dwell in comfort and safety.
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.
Attavada (Pali) Attavāda [from attā self (Sanskrit ātman) + vāda theory, disputation from the verbal root vad to speak] Atmavada (Sanskrit) The theory of a persistent soul. A study of Buddhist sutras or suttas shows that Gautama Buddha intended the term to convey the meaning of the heresy of separateness, the belief that one’s self or soul is different and apart from the one universal self, Brahman. Its importance in philosophy and mystical thought, and its genuine Buddhist significance, lies in the fact that Buddhism does not deny the existence of a soul, but strongly emphasizes the fact that no such soul is either a special creation or in its essence different from and other than the cosmic self. Hence the meaning of the heresy of separateness, because those who hold this view are under the constant false impression that in themselves they are different from, and other than, the universe in which they live, move, and have all their being.
AtthakanAgarasutta. (C. Bacheng jing; J. Hachijokyo; K. P'alsong kyong 八城經). In PAli, "Discourse to the Man from Atthaka"; the fifty-second sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as SuTRA no. 217 in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha's attendant ANANDA to the householder Dasaka of Atthaka at BeluvagAmaka near VesAlī (VAIsALĪ). According to the PAli recension, a merchant from the town (nAgara) of Atthaka named Dasaka approaches Ananda and asks him if there was any one thing that could lead to liberation from bondage. Ananda teaches him the eleven doors of the deathless, by means of which it is possible to attain liberation from bondage. These doors are made up of the four meditative absorptions (JHANA; S. DHYANA), the four BRAHMAVIHARA meditations, and the three immaterial meditations of infinite space (AKAsANANTYAYATANA), infinite consciousness (VIJNANANANTYAYATANA), and nothing-whatsoever (AKINCANYAYATANA). Ananda states that by contemplating the conditioned and impermanent nature of these eleven doors to liberation, one can attain arhatship (see ARHAT) in this life or short of that will attain the stage of a nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), who is destined to be reborn in the pure abodes (sUDDHAVASA), whence he will attain arhatship and final liberation.
atthakathA. In PAli, lit. "recital of meaning" or "exegesis"; referring specifically to the "commentaries" to the first four NIKAYAs, or scriptural collections, that comprise the PAli Buddhist canon (tipitaka; S. TRIPItAKA). According to THERAVADA tradition, MAHINDA brought the PAli tipitaka and atthakathAs to Sri Lanka from the Indian mainland during the third century CE, during the time of King AsOKA. The language of those Indian commentaries is unknown, but they were initially written down in Sri Lanka in some sort of Sinhalese PRAKRIT. That first Sinhalese recension of the four atthakathAs was superseded when, two centuries later, the renowned TheravAda scholiast, BUDDHAGHOSA, rewrote them in PAli and wrote a lengthy prolegomenon to this massive body of commentarial literature, which he titled the VISUDDHIMAGGA ("Path of Purification"). In conjunction with the systematic overview provided in the Visuddhimagga, the atthakathAs thus claim to offer a comprehensive account of the full panoply of Buddhist doctrine. The atthakathA to the last, and latest, of the nikAyas, the KHUDDAKANIKAYA ("Miscellaneous Discourses"), was composed separately, probably sometime between 450 and 600 CE, by the prolific PAli commentator DHAMMAPALA, and seems to draw on a separate textual recension from that used by Buddhaghosa.
Atthakavagga. (S. Arthavargīya; C. Yizu jing; J. Gisokukyo; K. Ŭijok kyong 義足經). In PAli, "The Octet Chapter" [alt. "The Chapter on Meaning," as the Chinese translation suggests], an important chapter of the SUTTANIPATA. Based on analysis of the peculiar meters and grammatical formations used in this text, philologists have reached a broad consensus that the Atthakavagga and its companion chapter, the PArAyanavagga, are among the very earliest strata of extant PAli literature and may have existed even during the Buddha's own lifetime. The PAli suttas include citations and exegeses of some of the verses from the Atthakavagga, and the MAHANIDESA, a commentary that covers the text, is accepted as canonical in the PAli canon (tipitaka, S. TRIPItAKA). All this evidence suggests its relative antiquity within the canon. The teachings contained in the chapter seem to suggest an early stratum of Buddhist teachings, prior to their formalization around fixed numerical lists of doctrines. The technical terminology that becomes emblematic of the standardized Buddhist presentation of doctrine is also relatively absent in its verses (GATHA). The Atthakavagga offers a rigorous indictment of the dangers inherent in "views" (P. ditthi; S. DṚstI) and displays a skepticism about religious dogmas in general, seeing them as virulent sources of attachment that lead ultimately to conceit, quarrels, and divisiveness. Some scholars have suggested that the kind of thoroughgoing critique of views presented in the Atthakavagga might have been the prototype of the later MADHYAMAKA logical approach, which sought to demonstrate the fallacies inherent in any philosophical statement. The verses also seem to represent an earlier stage in the evolution of Buddhist institutions, when monks still lived alone in the forest or with small groups of fellow ascetics, rather than in larger urban monasteries. Monks are still referred to as hermits or "seers" (P. isi, S. ṛsi), a generic Indian term for religious recluses, rather than the formal Buddhist term bhikkhu (BHIKsU) as is seen in the prose passages. A two-roll Chinese translation of a Sanskrit or Middle Indic recension of the text was made by ZHI QIAN during the Wu dynasty (c. 223-253 CE).
AtthasAlinī. In PAli, "Exposition of Meaning," commentary by BUDDHAGHOSA on the DHAMMASAnGAnI, the first book of the PAli ABHIDHAMMAPItAKA (S. ABHIDHARMAPItAKA). The MAHAVAMSA and SASANAVAMSA state that the AtthasAlinī was originally written in India; the commentary also mentions by name the SAMANTAPASADIKA (the commentary to the PAli VINAYA) and the VISUDDHIMAGGA, suggesting that it comes from a relatively late stratum of PAli commentarial writings. The AtthasAlinī provides a spirited defense of the claim that the seven books of the PAli abhidhammapitaka were actually spoken by the Buddha himself, rather than being later scholastic elaborations; they are the Buddha's own enunciations of his enlightenment experience, which were handed down to sARIPUTRA and an unbroken succession of ABHIDHAMMIKAs until they were brought to Sri Lanka. The AtthasAlinī's extended defense suggests that this claim was a matter of much controversy, even within the tradition. The third chapter of the AtthasAlinī presents some of the most comprehensive and detailed explanations of the workings of KARMAN theory found in PAli literature. The AtthasAlinī appears in the Pali Text Society's English translation series as The Expositor.
Aupapaduka (Sanskrit) Aupapāduka Pali opapatika. Self-produced, spontaneously generated (research shows that anupapadaka, as found in Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary, is a misreading of aupapaduka. Cf. Franklin Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1953, 2:162). One who does not go or come (as others do): parentless, having no material parent. One who is self-born by reason of his own intrinsic energy, without parents or predecessors from which his existence or activities are derived, as is the usual case in line descent; applied therefore to certain self-evolving gods. In Buddhism, used with particular reference to the dhyani-buddhas, who issue forth from adi-buddha without intermediary agency.
Ava. [alt. Inwa]. Name of the chief Burmese (Myanmar) kingdom and its capital that flourished in Upper Burma between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries CE. Founded in 1364 at the confluence of the Irrawaddy and Myitnge rivers, the city of Ava, whose official PAli name is Ratanapura, was the successor state of the PAGAN empire (1044-c. 1287), whose cultural, religious, and political traditions Ava's kings consciously sought to preserve. While occupying a much reduced realm compared to imperial Pagan and hemmed in by the hostile Mon kingdom of RAmaNNa (Pegu) in the south, and Shan warlords in the north and east, Ava remained the preeminent military power in the region through its strategic control of the irrigated district of Kyaukse. Ava's kings were lavish in their support of Buddhist institutions as testified by the numerous pagodas and temples constructed within the environs of the city. Especially important were the Sagaing hills on the opposite shore of the Irrawaddy river, where successive kings built scores of monasteries and colleges, making it one of Southeast Asia's major TheravAda scholastic centers. In contrast to the neighboring Mon and Thai kingdoms, which by the fifteenth century had largely adopted the reformed THERAVADA Buddhism of Sri Lankan tradition, Ava continued to patronize its own native "unreformed" sangha, which was descended from Pagan and which Ava regarded as possessing a purer and more ancient pedigree than that of the Sinhalese. The political and religious traditions preserved at Ava came to an abrupt end, however, when in 1527, Shan armies overran the capital and three years later massacred its monks. Ava's glory was resurrected in 1635 when King Thalun (r. 1629-1648) rebuilt the city and made it the capital of the restored Burmese empire of Taungoo. From the throne of Ava, Thalun orchestrated a major Buddhist revival in which he rebuilt the kingdom's ancient national shrine of Shwesettaw near Minbu and erected the gigantic Kaungmudaw pagoda in Sagaing. In addition to the construction of monuments, Thalun held an inquest into monastic lands and instituted the office of ecclesiastical censor (B. mahadan-wun) to oversee religious affairs throughout the country, an office that survived into the British period. Ava was again sacked and its king executed by Mon rebels in 1752, an event that marked the end of the Taungoo dynasty. It was rebuilt and served twice as the capital of the third Burmese empire of Konbaung in 1765-1783 and 1823-1837.
avacara. (T. spyod pa; C. jieji; J. kaike; K. kyegye 界繫). In Sanskrit and PAli, when used at the end of compound words, means "sphere," "domain," or "realm of existence." In Buddhist cosmology, the term refers to the things that "belong to the sphere" of the three realms of existence (traidhAtukAvacara, see TRAIDHATUKA), which comprise the entire phenomenal universe: the sensuous realm (kAmAvacara or KAMADHATU), the realm of subtle materiality or form (rupAvacara or RuPADHATU), and the immaterial or formless realm (ArupyAvacara or ARuPYADHATU). The three realms of existence taken together comprise all of SAMSARA, the cycle of rebirth, and are the spheres within which beings take rebirth: there are no realms of existence that are unoccupied, and no beings are born anywhere other than in these three spheres. The sensuous realm is the lowest stratum of the universe and contains the following destinies (GATI), in ascending order: denizens of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demigods (ASURA), and divinities (DEVA). Rebirth in the sensuous realm is the result of past performance of either predominantly unwholesome deeds (in the case of hell denizens, hungry ghosts, animals, and asuras), a mix of unwholesome and wholesome deeds (as with human beings), or predominantly wholesome deeds (the divinities). The beings in the sensuous realm all have a coarser physical constituent. The realm of subtle materiality is occupied by the BRAHMA and other gods, whose minds are perpetually absorbed in one of the four subtle-materiality meditative absorptions (RuPAVACARADHYANA). Rebirth in the realm of subtle materiality is the result of mastery of one or all of these four dhyAnas, and the beings residing there are refined enough that they require only the subtlest of material foundations for their consciousnesses. The immaterial realm is occupied by divinities who are entirely mental, no longer requiring even a subtle-material foundation for their ethereal states of mind. The divinities in the immaterial realm are perpetually absorbed in immaterial trance states, and rebirth there is the result of mastery of one or all of the immaterial dhyAnas (ARuPYAVACARADHYANA).
Avajjana. In PAli, "advertence," that is, adverting the mind toward a sensory object, which is the first of seven functions in the cognitive process that ultimately lead to sensory consciousness (P. viNNAna, S. VIJNANA). When the unconscious mind (P. BHAVAnGASOTA) is interrupted by the presence of a sensory object, the mind first performs the function of "adverting" toward the object. Thereafter, the mind performs in sequence the functions of "seeing" (P. dassana), "receiving" (P. sampaticchana), "investigating" (P. santīrana), and "determining" (P. votthapana). Immediately after this, the mind generates six or seven "impulse moments" (P. javanacitta) associated with either wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral classes of consciousness, after which it reverts to the bhavanga.
Avanti. (T. Srung byed; C. Abanti [guo]; J. Ahandai[koku]; K. Abanje [kuk] 阿般提[國]). In Sanskrit and PAli, an Indian kingdom in the southwest subcontinent, north of present-day Mumbai; its capital was Ujjayinī (P. Ujjenī); the dialect spoken there was related to, and perhaps the ancestor of, the language used in the PAli canon. Avanti was located along the major southern Indian trade route (the DaksinApatha) that passed through sRAVASTĪ in central India, one of the main centers of early Buddhism. Buddhist missionaries following this trade route began to proselytize in the southwest even during the Buddha's lifetime. KAtyAyana, also known as "KAtyAyana the Great" (MAHAKATYAYANA; P. MahAkaccAna), one of the Buddha's ten major disciples, hailed from the Avanti region and later returned to his native land to disseminate Buddhism. He is said to have requested that the Buddha allow for special dispensation to ordain new monks in outlying regions without the requisite number of ten monastic witnesses. PuRnA (P. Punna) was another important disciple from the coastal area of this region (SurpAraka), who returned there to proselytize as well. He is the subject of the PunnovAdasutta (no. 145 in the PAli MAJJHIMANIKAYA) and the PurnAvadAna, which describe his resolve to spread the teachings of Buddhism. Buddhism became firmly established in the Avanti region at least by the time of King AsOKA; Asoka's son, MAHINDA, who later transmitted Buddhism to the island kingdom of Sri Lanka (Ceylon), is said to have been a native of its capital, Ujjayinī. Avanti was a stronghold of the STHAVIRANIKAYA, and its monks led the opposition to ten disputed items in the monastic discipline that resulted in the schism with the MAHASAMGHIKA order.
Avarana. (T. sgrib pa; C. zhang; J. sho; K. chang 障). In Sanskrit and PAli, "obstruction," "obstacle," or "hindrance." In MAHAYANA literature, two types of Avarana are commonly described: "obstructions that are the afflictions," or "afflictive obstructions" (KLEsAVARAnA), and cognitive or noetic obstructions, viz., "obstructions to omniscience" (JNEYAVARAnA). sRAVAKAs and PRATYEKABUDDHAs can be freed from the afflictive obstructions, but only BODHISATTVAs are able to free themselves from the cognitive obstructions. In the YOGACARA system, the cognitive obstructions result from fundamental misapprehensions about the nature of reality. Because of the attachment that derives from the reification of what are actually imaginary external phenomena, conceptualization and discrimination arise in the mind, which in turn lead to pride, ignorance, and wrong views. Based on the mistakes in understanding generated by these cognitive obstructions, the individual engages in defiled actions motivated by anger, envy, etc., which constitute the afflictive obstructions. The afflictive obstructions may be removed by followers of the srAvaka, pratyekabuddha, and beginning bodhisattva paths by applying various antidotes or counteragents (PRATIPAKsA) to the afflictions or defilements (KLEsA); overcoming these types of obstructions will lead to freedom from further rebirth. The cognitive obstructions, however, can only be overcome by advanced bodhisattvas who seek instead to achieve buddhahood, by perfecting their understanding of emptiness (suNYATA) and compassion (KARUnA) and amassing a great store of merit (PUnYA) by engaging in the bodhisattva deeds (CARYA). Buddhas, therefore, are the only class of beings who have overcome both types of obstructions and thus are able simultaneously to cognize all objects of knowledge in the universe. The jNeyAvarana are therefore sometimes translated as "obstructions to omniscience." In the elaboration of the obstructions in the YogAcAra text CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimAtratAsiddhi), there are ten types of Avarana that are specifically said to obstruct the ten types of suchness (TATHATA) correlated with the ten stages of the bodhisattva path (DAsABHuMI): (1) the obstruction of the common illusions of the unenlightened (pṛthagjanatvAvarana; C. yishengxing zhang); (2) the obstruction of deluded conduct (mithyApratipattyAvarana; C. xiexing zhang); (3) the obstruction of dullness (dhandhatvAvarana; C. andun zhang); (4) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle afflictions (suksmaklesasamudAcArAvarana; C. xihuo xianxing zhang); (5) the obstruction of the lesser HĪNAYANA ideal of PARINIRVAnA (hīnayAnaparinirvAnAvarana; C. xiasheng niepan zhang); (6) the obstruction of the manifestation of coarse characteristics (sthulanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. cuxiang xianxing zhang); (7) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle characteristics (suksmanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. xixiang xianxing zhang); (8) the obstruction of the continuance of activity even in the immaterial realm that is free from characteristics (nirnimittAbhisaMskArAvarana; C. wuxiang jiaxing zhang); (9) the obstruction of not desiring to act to bring salvation to others (parahitacaryAkAmanAvarana; C. buyuxing zhang); and (10) the obstruction of not yet acquiring mastery over all things (dharmesuvasitApratilambhAvarana; fa weizizai zhang). These ten obstructions are overcome by practicing, respectively: (1) the perfection of giving (DANAPARAMITA); (2) the perfection of morality (sĪLAPARAMITA); (3) the perfection of forbearance (KsANTIPARAMITA); (4) the perfection of energetic effort (VĪRYAPARAMITA); (5) the perfection of meditative absorption (DHYANAPARAMITA); (6) the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA); (7) the perfection of expedient means (UPAYAPARAMITA); (8) the perfection of the vow (to attain enlightenment) (PRAnIDHANAPARAMITA); (9) the perfection of powers (BALAPARAMITA); and (10) the perfection of omniscience (jNAnapAramitA). See also KARMAVARAnA; NĪVARAnA.
Avenika[buddha]dharma. (T. chos ma 'dres pa/ma 'dres pa'i chos; C. bugong[fo]fa; J. fuguho/fugubuppo; K. pulgong[bul]bop 不共[佛]法). In Sanskrit and PAli, "unshared factors"; special qualities that are unique to the buddhas. They usually appear in a list of eighteen (astAdasa AvenikA buddhadharmAḥ): (1)-(2) the buddhas never make a physical or verbal mistake; (3) their mindfulness never diminishes; (4) they have no perception of difference; (5) they are free from discursiveness; (6) their equanimity is not due to a lack of discernment; (7)-(12) they do not regress in their devotion, perseverance, recollection, concentration, wisdom, or liberation; (13)-(15) all their physical, verbal, and mental actions are preceded and followed by gnosis; and (16)-(18) they enter into the perception of the gnosis that is unobstructed and unimpeded with respect to the past, future, and present. An expanded listing of 140 such unshared factors is given in the YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA.
avīci. (T. mnar med; C. abi diyu/wujian diyu; J. abijigoku/mukenjigoku; K. abi chiok/mugan chiok 阿鼻地獄/無間地獄). In Sanskrit and PAli, "interminable," "relentless," "incessant"; referring to the deepest, largest, and most tortuous of the eight great, or eight hot, hells (see NARAKA). (The Chinese use either a transcription corresponding to the first two syllables of the Sanskrit avīci or else the translation "interminable," combined with their own cultural translation of "hell" as a "subterranean prison.") This hell is said to be located twenty thousand YOJANAs below the continent of JAMBUDVĪPA and is the destination of beings whose "wholesome faculties are eradicated" (SAMUCCHINNAKUsALAMuLA) or who have committed the most heinous of acts, which, after death, result in immediate rebirth in the avīcı hell: patricide, matricide, killing an ARHAT, wounding a buddha, and causing schism in the SAMGHA (see ANANTARYAKARMAN). Because beings reborn in this hell are being constantly burned alive in hot flames, with no respite in their torture, the agony they experience is said to be "Interminable." (Editors' note: According to one esoteric lineage, there is a special level of the avīci hell reserved especially for compilers of dictionaries, where, no matter how many terms the authors have defined, an interminable list remains.) Another seven levels of the hot hells are either situated above, or in other interpretations, at the same level as avīci. The ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA lists a corresponding series of bitterly cold hells beginning with the arbuda hell. Avīci and its seven companion hells each have sixteen (four in each direction) neighboring hells (PRATYEKANARAKA) or subhells (utsada), where supplementary tortures are meted out to the unfortunate inhabitants, such as plains of ash that burn their feet; swamps of excrement and corpses in which maggots eat their flesh; roads and forests of razor blades that slice off their flesh; and rivers of boiling water in which they are plunged. Like all levels of hell, however, avīci is ultimately impermanent and, once the previous unwholesome actions of the inhabitant are expiated after many eons, that being will be reborn elsewhere according to his KARMAN.
avyAkṛta. (P. avyAkata; T. lung du ma bstan pa/lung ma bstan; C. wuji; J. muki; K. mugi 無). In Sanskrit, "indeterminate" or "unascertainable"; used to refer to the fourteen "indeterminate" or "unanswered" questions (avyAkṛtavastu) to which the Buddha refuses to respond. The American translator of PAli texts HENRY CLARKE WARREN rendered the term as "questions which tend not to edification." These questions involve various metaphysical assertions that were used in traditional India to evaluate a thinker's philosophical lineage. There are a number of versions of these "unanswerables," but one common list includes fourteen such questions, three sets of which are framed as "four alternatives" (CATUsKOtI): (1) Is the world eternal?, (2) Is the world not eternal?, (3) Is the world both eternal and not eternal?, (4) Is the world neither eternal nor not eternal?; (5) Is the world endless?, (6) Is the world not endless?, (7) Is the world both endless and not endless?, (8) Is the world neither endless nor not endless?; (9) Does the tathAgata exist after death?, (10) Does the tathAgata not exist after death?, (11) Does the tathAgata both exist and not exist after death?, (12) Does the tathAgata neither exist nor not exist after death?; (13) Are the soul (jīva) and the body identical?, and (14) Are the soul and the body not identical? It was in response to such questions that the Buddha famously asked whether a man shot by a poisoned arrow would spend time wondering about the height of the archer and the kind of wood used for the arrow, or whether he should seek to remove the arrow before it killed him. Likening these fourteen questions to such pointless speculation, he called them "a jungle, a wilderness, a puppet-show, a writhing, and a fetter, and is coupled with misery, ruin, despair, and agony, and does not tend to aversion, absence of passion, cessation, quiescence, knowledge, supreme wisdom, and nirvAna." The Buddha thus asserted that all these questions had to be set aside as unanswerable for being either unexplainable conceptually or "wrongly framed" (P. thapanīya). Questions that were "wrongly framed" inevitably derive from mistaken assumptions and are thus the products of wrong reflection (AYONIsOMANASKARA); therefore, any answer given to them would necessarily be either misleading or irrelevant. The Buddha's famous silence on these questions has been variously interpreted, with some seeing his refusal to answer these questions as deriving from the inherent limitations involved in using concepts to talk about such rarified existential questions. Because it is impossible to expect that concepts can do justice, for example, to an enlightened person's state of being after death, the Buddha simply remains silent when asked this and other "unanswerable" questions. The implication, therefore, is that it is not necessarily the case that the Buddha does not "know" the answer to these questions, but merely that he realizes the conceptual limitations inherent in trying to answer them definitively and thus refuses to respond. Yet other commentators explained that the Buddha declined to answer the question of whether the world (that is, SAMSARA) will ever end because the answer ("no") would prove too discouraging to his audience.
Ayatana. (T. skye mched; C. chu; J. sho; K. ch'o 處). In Sanskirt and PAli, "sense-fields" or "bases of cognition." In epistemology, these twelve sense-fields, which serve as the bases for the production of consciousness, are the six internal sense bases, or sense organs (the "faculties" or INDRIYA, i.e., eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) and the six external sense objects (the "objective supports" or ALAMBANA, i.e., forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tangible objects, and mental phenomena). The contact (SPARsA) between a sense base and its corresponding sense object would lead to specific sensory consciousnesses (VIJNANA); hence, the Ayatanas are considered to be the "access" (Aya) of the mind and mental states. In the context of the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA), the Ayatanas are usually described as comprising only the six sense bases. The twelve Ayatana are subsumed as the first twelve of the eighteen elements (DHATU). The Ayatanas are one of the three major taxonomies of factors (along with SKANDHA and dhAtu) found in the SuTRAs, and represent a more primitive stage of DHARMA classification than the elaborate analyses found in the later ABHIDHARMA literature. In compound words like AKAsANANTYAYATANA, ABHIBHAVAYATANA, and so on, Ayatana means simply "stage" or "level."
BAhiranidAna. In PAli, lit., the "Outer Origin," a work by BUDDHAGHOSA, conceived as a preface to his SAMANTAPASADIKA, his commentary on the VINAYA, considered by some to be his most important work. The BAhiranidAna recounts the early history of the dispensation (sASANA), from the Buddha's death through the convocation of the first three Buddhist councils and on to the recitation of the vinaya in Sri Lanka by MAHARIttHA during the reign of the Sinhalese king DEVANAMPIYATISSA. Although not technically a VAMSA, or "chronicle," the work is based on the same sources as the DĪPAVAMSA, seeking to establish the authenticity of the vinaya by tracing it back to its origins, before beginning the formal commentary upon it. A translation of the BahīranidAna appears in the Pali Text Society's English translation series as The Inception of Discipline.
BAhiya-DArucīriya. (C. Poxijia; J. Bakika; K. Pasaga 婆迦). A lay ARHAT (P. arahant), who is declared by the Buddha to be foremost among those of swift intuition (khippAbhiNNAnaM). According to PAli accounts, BAhiya was a merchant from the town of BAhiya (whence his toponym), who was engaged in maritime trade. He sailed seven times across the seas in search of profit and seven times returned home safely. On an eighth journey, however, he was shipwrecked and floated on a plank until he came ashore near the seaport town of SuppAraka. Having lost his clothes, he dressed himself in tree bark and went regularly to the town to beg for alms with a bowl. Impressed with his demeanor, the people of SuppAraka were exceedingly generous, offering him luxurious gifts and fine clothes, which he consistently refused. Over time, he came to be regarded by the populace as an arhat, and, infatuated with his growing fame, BAhiya also came to believe that he had attained that state of holiness. A BRAHMA god, who had been BAhiya's friend in a previous existence, convinced him out of kindness that he was mistaken and recommended that he seek out the Buddha in sRAVASTĪ (P. SAvatthi). The BrahmA god transported BAhiya to the city of RAJAGṚHA (P. RAjagaha) where the Buddha was then staying and told him to meet the Buddha during his morning alms round. BAhiya approached the Buddha and requested to be taught what was necessary for liberation, but the Buddha refused, saying that alms round was not the time for teaching. BAhiya persisted three times in his request, whereupon the Buddha consented. The Buddha gave him a short lesson in sensory restraint (INDRIYASAMVARA): i.e., "in the seen, there is only the seen; in the heard, only the heard; in what is thought, only the thought," etc. As he listened to the Buddha's terse instruction, BAhiya attained arhatship. As was typical for laypersons who had attained arhatship, BAhiya then requested to be ordained as a monk, but the Buddha refused until BAhiya could be supplied with a bowl and robe. BAhiya immediately went in search of these requisites but along the path encountered an ox, which gored him to death. Disciples who witnessed the event informed the Buddha, who from the beginning had been aware of BAhiya's impending demise. He instructed his disciples to cremate the body and build a reliquary mound (P. thupa, S. STuPA) over the remains; he then explained that BAhiya's destiny was such that he could not be ordained in his final life.
Bahusrutīya. (P. Bahussutaka/Bahulika; T. Mang du thos pa; C. Duowenbu; J. Tamonbu; K. Tamunbu 多聞部). In Sanskrit, lit. "Great Learning"; one of the traditional eighteen schools of mainstream Indian Buddhism. The Bahusrutīya was one of the two subschools of the KAUKKUtIKA branch of the MAHASAMGHIKA school, along with the PRAJNAPTIVADA, which may have split off as a separate school around the middle of the third century CE. The school was based in NAGARJUNAKOndA in the Andhra region of India, although there is also evidence it was active in the Indian Northwest. One of the few extant texts of the Bahusrutīya is HARIVARMAN's c. third-century CE *TATTVASIDDHI ([alt. *Satyasiddhi]; C. CHENGSHI LUN, "Treatise on Establishing Reality"), a summary of the school's lost ABHIDHARMA; this text is extant only in its Chinese translation. The positions the Bahusrutīya advocates are closest to those of the STHAVIRANIKAYA and SAUTRANTIKA schools, though, unlike the SthaviranikAya, it accepts the reality of "unmanifest materiality" (AVIJNAPTIRuPA) and, unlike the SautrAntika, rejects the notion of an "intermediate state" (ANTARABHAVA) between existences. The Bahusrutīya also opposed the SARVASTIVADA position that dharmas exist in both past and future, the MahAsAMghika view that thought is inherently pure, and the VATSĪPUTRĪYA premise that the "person" (PUDGALA) exists. The Bahusrutīya thus seems to have adopted 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 Bahusrutīya also claimed that the Buddha offered teachings that were characterized by both supramundane (LOKOTTARA) and mundane (LAUKIKA) realities, a position distinct from the LOKOTTARAVADA, one of the other main branches of the MahAsAMghika, which claimed that the Buddha articulates all of his teachings in a single utterance that is altogether transcendent (lokottara). The Bahusrutīya appears to be one of the later subschools of mainstream Buddhism; its views are not discussed in the PAli KATHAVATTHU. They are also claimed to have attempted a synthesis of mainstream and MAHAYANA doctrine.
bAla. (T. byis pa; C. yutong; J. gudo; K. udong 愚童). In Sanskrit and PAli, "foolish," "childish"; a pejorative term used to describe a worldling (PṚTHAGJANA), especially one who is ignorant or heedless of the DHARMA. The two terms often appear in a compound as bAlapṛthagjana (foolish worldling).
bala. (T. stobs; C. li; J. riki; K. yok 力). In Sanskrit and PAli, "power" or "strength"; used in a variety of lists, including the five powers (the eighteenth to twenty-second of the BODHIPAKsIKADHARMAs, or "thirty-seven factors pertaining to awakening"), the ten powers of a TATHAGATA, the ten powers of a BODHISATTVA, and the ninth of the ten perfections (PARAMITA). The five powers are the same as the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA)-faith (sRADDHA), perseverance (VĪRYA), mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA)-but now fully developed at the LAUKIKAGRADHARMA stage of the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA), just prior to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). A tathAgata's ten powers are given in both PAli and Sanskrit sources as the power of the knowledge (jNAnabala) of: (1) what can be and cannot be (sthAnAsthAna), (2) karmic results (karmavipAka), (3) the various dispositions of different beings (nAnAdhimukti), (4) how the world has many and different elements (nAnAdhAtu), (5) the higher (or different) faculties people possess (indriyaparApara), (6) the ways that lead to all destinations (sarvatragAminīpratipad), (7) the defilement and purification of all meditative absorptions (DHYANA), liberations (VIMOKsA), samAdhis, and trances (SAMAPATTI) (sarvadhyAnavimoksasamAdhisamApatti-saMklesavyavadAnavyavasthAna), (8) recollecting previous births (PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI), (9) decease and birth (cyutyupapatti), and (10) the extinction of the contaminants (ASRAVAKsAYA). Another list gives the Buddha's ten powers as the power of aspiration (Asaya), resolution (ADHYAsAYA), habit (abhyAsa), practice (PRATIPATTI), wisdom (prajNA), vow (PRAnIDHANA), vehicle (YANA), way of life (caryA), thaumaturgy (vikurvana), the power derived from his bodhisattva career, and the power to turn the wheel of dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA). When the MahAyAna six perfections (PARAMITA) are expanded and linked to the ten bodhisattva stages (DAsABHuMI), four perfections are added: the perfections of skillful means (UPAYA), vow, power, and knowledge (JNANA). Thus the perfection of power (BALAPARAMITA) is linked with the ninth bodhisattva stage (BHuMI). When the ten powers are listed as a bodhisattva's perfection of power, they are sometimes explained to be the powers of a tathAgata before they have reached full strength.
Bareau, André. (1921-1993). A distinguished French scholar of Sanskrit and PAli who made important contributions to scholarly understanding of the early history of Buddhism in India. While studying philosophy at the Sorbonne, Bareau first became interested in Sanskrit and PAli. Studying with Jean Filliozat and PAUL DEMIÉVILLE, in 1951 he completed his doctoral thesis, which dealt with the evolution of the notion of the unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA) in Buddhism. Bareau would go on to publish thirteen books and more than one hundred articles. Among these books, his most important monographs include Les Sectes bouddhiques du petit véhicule (1955) and Recherches sur la biographie du Buddha dans les Sutrapitaka et les Vinayapitaka anciens (1963). Among his greatest contributions was his work on the earliest sources for the life of the Buddha, which he traced to the third century BCE, more than a century after the Buddha's death. He held the chair in Buddhist Studies at the Collège de France from 1971 to 1991.
Barhaspatyamana (Sanskrit) Bārhaspatyamāna [from bṛhaspati Jupiter + the verbal root mā to measure] Jupiter’s measure of time; a method of reckoning time based on the year of Jupiter, in which an earth-year is calculated as 361 days and 11 ghadias. One of the three methods of reckoning time used during the age when Gautama Buddha lived, especially in Magadha and by Pali writers in general, and still in use in parts of India.
barricade ::: n. --> A fortification, made in haste, of trees, earth, palisades, wagons, or anything that will obstruct the progress or attack of an enemy. It is usually an obstruction formed in streets to block an enemy&
Bayinnaung. (r. 1551-1581). Burmese king and third monarch of the Taungoo dynasty. Bayinnaung was the brilliant general and brother-in-law of King Tabinshwehti (r. 1531-1550), who first expanded the territory of the city-state Taungoo to create the Taungoo empire (1531-1752). Tabinshwehti sought to reunify the various kingdoms and petty states that had once been vassals to the first Burmese empire of Pagan (1044-1287). To this end, he followed a policy of conciliation toward vanquished peoples, especially the Mon, whose brand of reformed Sinhalese THERAVADA Buddhism he favored. Bayinnaung continued this ecumenical religious policy even while he aggressively extended the borders of his empire eastward through military campaigns launched in the name of the Buddha. In a series of campaigns, he subdued the Shan tribes, the Lao kingdom of Vientiane, and the Thai kingdoms of AYUTHAYA and Chiangmai, creating briefly Southeast Asia's largest polity. Throughout these territories, he built pagodas and distributed copies of PALI scriptures. In the Shan hills, he compelled the local warlords to abandon human sacrifice and convert to Buddhism, requiring them to provide material support to missionary monks dispatched from his capital. While officially promoting the reformed Buddhism of the Mon, Bayinnaung remained tolerant of local Buddhist custom and allowed independent monastic lineages to continue. He maintained close diplomatic relations with the Buddhist kingdom of Sri Lanka and offered munificent gifts to its palladium, the TOOTH RELIC at Kandy. In 1560, when the Portuguese captured the relic, Bayinnaung sought to ransom it for 300,000 ducats, only to have his emissaries witness its destruction in a public ceremony ordered by the archbishop of Goa. Legend says that the tooth miraculously escaped and divided itself into two, one of which was returned to Kandy, while the other was gifted to Bayinnaung, who enshrined it in the Mahazedi pagoda at his capital Pegu. The religious policies of Bayinnaung and his successors greatly influenced the character of Burmese Buddhism and society. Royal patronage of Buddhist scholarship coupled with the proliferation of village monastery schools fostered a common Buddhist identity among the populace that crossed ethnic boundaries and facilitated a degree of peasant literacy that was unusual in premodern societies.
BhaddA-KundalakesA. (S. *BhadrA-KundalakesA; C. Batuo Juntuoluojuyiguo; J. Batsuda Gundarakuikoku; K. Palt'a Kundaraguiguk 拔陀軍陀羅拘夷國). A female ARHAT whom the Buddha declared foremost among his nun disciples in swift intuition (khippAbhiNNA). According to PAli sources, BhaddA was the daughter of the treasurer of RAjagaha (S. RAJAGṚHA). She witnessed once from her window a handsome thief named Sattuka being led off to execution and instantly fell in love with him. Pleading that she could not live without the young man, she persuaded her father to bribe the guard to release the thief into his custody. Sattuka was bathed and brought to the treasurer's home, where BhaddA bedecked in her finest jewelry waited upon him. Sattuka feigned love for her, all the while plotting to murder her for her jewelry. One day he informed her that he had once promised the deity of Robbers' Cliff that, if he were ever to escape punishment, he would make an offering to the god, and that now the time was at hand to fulfill his promise. BhaddA trusted him and, after preparing an offering for the deity, she accompanied Sattuka to the cliff adorned in her finest jewelry. Once they reached the edge of the cliff, he informed her of his real intentions, and without hesitation, she begged him to let her embrace him one last time. He agreed and, while feigning an embrace, BhaddA pushed him over the cliff to his death. The local deity commended her for her cleverness and presence of mind. BhaddA refused to return to her father's house after what had happened and joined the JAINA nuns' order. As part of her ascetic regime, she pulled out her hair with a palmyra comb, but it grew back in curls, hence her epithet KundalakesA, "Curly Hair." BhaddA was exceptionally intelligent and soon grew dissatisfied with Jain teachings. She wandered as a solitary mendicant, challenging all she encountered to debate and quickly proved her proficiency. Once she debated SAriputta (S. sARIPUTRA), one of the Buddha's two chief disciples, who answered all her questions. He then asked her, "One: What is that?," which left her speechless. She asked SAriputta to be her teacher, but he instead brought her before the Buddha, who preached her a sermon about it being better to know one verse bringing tranquillity than a thousand profitless verses. Hearing the Buddha's words, she immediately became an ARHAT and the Buddha personally ordained her as a nun in his order.
Bhaddekarattasutta. In PAli, "The Ideal Lover of Solitude," the 131st sutra in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (there is no corresponding version in the Chinese translations of the AGAMAs); spoken at Jeta's Grove in SAvatthi (sRAVASTĪ); several related DHARMAGUPTAKA recensions appear in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA, although none with a corresponding title. The Buddha recites an enigmatic verse, in which he defines ideal solitude as letting go of everything involving the past or the future and dwelling solely in the present moment, discerning phenomena with wisdom as they appear. In his own exposition of the meaning of his verses, the Buddha explains that tracing back the past means not so much remembering the past but rather binding oneself to one's past aggregates (SKANDHA) through delighting in them; similarly, yearning for the future means the desire to have one's aggregates appear a certain way in the future. Instead, the religious should not identify with any of the five skandhas as being oneself; such a one is called an "ideal lover of solitude." The MajjhimanikAya collects subsequent expositions of these same verses by the Buddha's attendant ANANDA, MahAkaccAna (MAHAKATYAYANA), and Lomasakangiya. The term bhaddekaratta has given traditional PAli commentators difficulties and has sometimes been interpreted to mean "one who is happy [viz., auspicious?] for one night" (bhaddakassa ekarattassa) because he possesses insight, an interpretation that has its analogues in the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit title BHADRAKARATRĪ as shanye (a good night).
Bhaddiya-KAligodhAputta. (S. *Bhadrika-KAligodhAputrika; C. Bati; J. Batsudai; K. Palche 跋提). An ARHAT whom the Buddha declared foremost among his disciples of aristocratic birth (P. uccakulika). According to PAli sources, Bhaddiya was the son of lady KAligodhA and belonged to the royal SAkiyan (S. sAKYA) clan of Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU) and entered the order together with Anuruddha (S. ANIRUDDHA) and other nobles in the Anupiya mango grove. Bhaddiya and Anuruddha were childhood friends. When Anuruddha decided to renounce the world, his mother agreed, but only on the condition that Bhaddiya accompany him. Her hope was that Bhaddiya would dissuade him, but in the end Anuruddha instead convinced Bhaddiya to join him as a renunciant. Soon after his ordination, Bhaddiya attained arhatship and subsequently dwelled in solitude beneath a tree, exclaiming, "Oh happiness, Oh happiness!," as he reveled in the bliss of NIRVAnA. When the Buddha queried him about his exclamation, he explained that as a prince in his realm he was well guarded but nevertheless always felt anxious of enemies; now, however, having renounced all worldly things, he was finally free from all fear. Bhaddiya was regal in bearing, a consequence of having been born a king five hundred times in previous lives. During the time of Padumuttara Buddha, he was the son of a wealthy family and performed numerous meritorious deeds, which earned him this distinction under the current buddha GAUTAMA.
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.
BhadrakArAtrī. (T. Mtshan mo bzang po; C. Shanye jing; J. Zen'yakyo; K. Sonya kyong 善夜經). In Sanskrit, "Scripture of One Fine Night," an apotropaic and soteriological text, in one roll, with close parallels to the PAli BHADDEKARATTASUTTA; translated into Chinese in 701 by YIJING (635-713), and into Tibetan by YE SHES SDE (fl. c. 800). The Sanskrit title, which is found in the colophon of the Tibetan translation of the sutra (three folios in length) is otherwise unattested in the literature. The title is interpreted in Chinese as meaning "a fine night" and is used as an analogy for the mind of a person who is freed from all kinds of suffering (DUḤKHA) and afflictions (KLEsA). The text seems to have its origins in an incantation that the Buddha had spoken previously. One day, a divinity (DEVA) visited a monk who was then staying with the Buddha in the Bamboo Grove (S. VEnUVANAVIHARA) in RAJAGṚHA, to ask about this verse. The monk, who did not know the verse, went to the Buddha, informed him of the divinity's request, and asked him to teach it. The Buddha then explained this scripture, which he said had the power to protect human beings from baleful spirits. One who follows the teachings of the scripture would also be relieved from all miseries and transgressions and could soon attain awakening. If one recites the scripture or one of its verses, or explains it to others, one would experience no misfortunes and would acquire knowledge of one's past and future lives. A recension of the text is also included in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA (no. 165), which partially corresponds to the PAli Bhaddekarattasutta spoken by MahAkaccAna (MAHAKATYAYANA), the 133rd sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA.
bhagavat. [alt. bhagavant] (T. bcom ldan 'das; C. shizun; J. seson; K. sejon 世尊). In Sanskrit and PAli, lit. "endowed with fortune"; one of the standard epithets of a buddha, commonly rendered in English as "Blessed One," "Exalted One," or simply "Lord." The term means "possessing fortune," "prosperous," and, by extension, "glorious," "venerable," "divine." In Sanskrit literature, bhagavat is reserved either for the most honored of human individuals, or for the gods. In Buddhist literature, however, the term is used almost entirely with reference to the Buddha, and points to the perfection of his virtue, wisdom, and contentment. There are several transcriptional and declensional variants of the term commonly found in English-language sources, including bhagavAn (nominative singular), bhagavat (weak stem), bhagavad (a saMdhi pronunciation change), bhagawan, and bhagwan. The Chinese translation of bhagavat, shizun, means "World-Honored One." The Tibetan translation may be rendered as "Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror," as it indicates a conqueror (bcom) who is endowed with all good qualities (ldan) and has gone beyond SAMSARA ('das).
Bhallika. (T. Bzang pa; C. Boli; J. Hari; K. P'ari 波利). In Sanskrit and PAli, one of the two merchants (together with his brother TRAPUsA, P. Tapussa) who became the first lay Buddhists (UPASAKA). Following his enlightenment, the Buddha remained in the vicinity of the BODHI TREE. In the seventh week, he went to the RAjAyatana tree to continue his meditation. Two merchants, Bhallika and his older brother Trapusa, who were leading a large trading caravan with five hundred carts, saw him there and, realizing that he had not eaten for weeks (as many as eight weeks, in some accounts), offered the Buddha sweet rice cakes with butter and honey. In response to their act of charity (DANA), the Buddha spoke with them informally and gave them the Buddha and dharma refuges (sARAnA) (the SAMGHA had not yet been created), making them the first lay Buddhists. The Buddha is said to have given the two brothers eight strands of hair from his head, which they took back to their homeland and interred for worship as relics (sARĪRA) in a STuPA. According to Mon-Burmese legend, Tapussa and Bhallika were Mon natives, and their homeland of Ukkala was a place also called Dagon in the Mon homeland of RAmaNNa in lower Burma. The stupa they constructed at Ukkala/Dagon, which was the first shrine in the world to be erected over relics of the present buddha, was to be enlarged and embellished over the centuries to become, eventually, the golden SHWEDAGON PAGODA of Rangoon. Because of the preeminence of this shrine, some Burmese chroniclers date the first introduction of Buddhism among the Mon in RAmaNNa to Tapussa and Bhallika's time. Bhallika eventually ordained and became an ARHAT; Trapusa achieved the stage of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA). The merchants were also the subject of a Chinese apocryphal text, the TIWEI [BOLI] JING, written c. 460-464, which praises the value of the lay practices of giving and of keeping the five precepts (PANCAsĪLA).
bhAnaka. In Sanskrit and PAli, "reciter," especially referring to monks in a monastic community whose vocation was to memorize, recite, and transmit to the next generation one of the various collections (NIKAYA, AGAMA) of the scriptural canon (SuTRAPItAKA). See DHARMABHAnAKA.
bhangAnupassanANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution"; according to BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA, the second of nine types of knowledge (P. NAnA) cultivated as part of the "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VIsUDDHI) that is to be developed along the path to liberation. "Knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution" is developed by observing the dissolution of material and mental phenomena (NAMARuPA). Having keenly observed the arising, subsistence, and decay of phenomena, the meditator turns his attention solely to their dissolution or destruction (bhanga). He then observes, for example, that consciousness arises because of causes and conditions: namely, it takes as its objects the five aggregates (P. khandha, S. SKANDHA) of matter (RuPA), sensation (VEDANA), perception (P. saNNA, S. SAMJNA) conditioned formations (P. sankhAra, S. SAMSKARA) and consciousness (P. viNNAna, S. VIJNANA), after which it is inevitably dissolved. Seeing this, the meditator understands that all consciousness is characterized by the three marks of existence (tilakkhana; S. TRILAKsAnA); namely, impermanence (anicca; S. ANITYA), suffering (dukkha; S. DUḤKHA) and nonself (anattA; S. ANATMAN). By understanding these three marks, he feels aversion for consciousness and overcomes his attachment to it. Eight benefits accrue to one who develops knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution; (1) he overcomes the view of eternal existence, (2) he abandons attachment to life, (3) he develops right effort, (4) he engages in a pure livelihood, (5 & 6) he enjoys an absence of anxiety and of fear, (7) he becomes patient and gentle, and (8) he overcomes boredom and sensual delight.
Bhante ::: A polite particle used to refer to Buddhist monastics in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition. It is used in a gender-neutral manner but translates as "Venerable Sir" from Pali.
bhAvanA. (T. sgom pa; C. xiuxi; J. shuju; K. susŭp 修習). In Sanskrit and PAli, "cultivation" (lit. "bringing into being"); a Sanskrit term commonly translated into English as "meditation." It is derived from the root √bhu, "to be" or "to become," and has a wide range of meanings including cultivating, producing, manifesting, imagining, suffusing, and reflecting. It is in the first sense, that of cultivation, that the term is used to mean the sustained development of particular states of mind. However, bhAvanA in Buddhism can include studying doctrine, memorizing sutras, and chanting verses to ward off evil spirits. The term thus refers broadly to the full range of Buddhist spiritual culture, embracing the "bringing into being" (viz., cultivating) of such generic aspects of training as the path (MARGA), specific spiritual exercises (e.g., loving-kindness, or MAITRĪ), or even a general mental attitude, such as virtuous (KUsALA) states of mind. The term is also used in the specific sense of a "path of cultivation" (BHAVANAMARGA), which "brings into being" the insights of the preceding path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). Hence, bhAvanA entails all the various sorts of cultivation that an adept must undertake in order to enhance meditation, improve its efficacy, and "bring it into being." More specifically as "meditation," two general types of meditation are sometimes distinguished in the commentarial literature: stabilizing meditation (sAMATHA) in which the mind focuses with one-pointedness on an object in an effort to expand the powers of concentration; and analytical meditation (VIPAsYANA), in which the meditator conceptually investigates a topic in order to develop insight into it.
bhavangasota. In PAli, "subconscious continuum"; a concept peculiar to later PAli epistemological and psychological theory, which the ABHIDHAMMA commentaries define as the foundation of experience. The bhavangasota is comprised of unconscious moments of mind that flow, as it were, in a continuous stream (sota) or continuum and carry with them the impressions or potentialities of past experience. Under the proper conditions, these potentialities ripen as moments of consciousness, which, in turn, interrupt the flow of the bhavanga briefly before the mind lapses back into the subconscious continuum. Moments of consciousness and unconsciousness are discreet and never overlap in time, with unconsciousness being the more typical of the two states. This continuum is, therefore, what makes possible the faculty of memory. The bhavangasota is the PAli counterpart of idealist strands of MahAyAna Buddhist thought, such as the "storehouse consciousness" (ALAYAVIJNANA) of the YOGACARA school. See also CITTASAMTANA; SAMTANA.
bhava. (T. srid pa; C. you; J. u; K. yu 有). In Sanskrit and PAli, "becoming" or "existence," conceived of as a process; the tenth link in the twelve-linked chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA; P. paticcasamuppAda). In PAli sources, bhava is of three types depending on the strata of the universe in which it occurs: namely, sensuous becoming (kAmabhava) in the sensuous realm (KAMADHATU), subtle-material becoming (rupabhava) in the subtle-materiality realm (RuPADHATU), and immaterial becoming (arupabhava) in the immaterial realm (ARuPYADHATU). Wherever it occurs, bhava can be divided into an active process (P. kammabhava) or a passive process (P. uppattibhava). The active process is ethically charged, that is to say it is comprised of virtuous and unvirtuous volitional action (KARMAN) which leads to fortunate and unfortunate rebirth according to the deeds performed. The passive process refers to rebirth and all other events that befall an individual as a consequence of previous action. As such events or phenomena are automatic effects and are not volitional, they are ethically neutral. According to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA and MAHAYANA sources, the word bhava as the tenth link in the chain of dependent origination is a case of ascribing the name of the result ("becoming" reborn) to its cause (the most intense moment of upAdAna attraction that fully ripens the volitional action in the instant prior to rebirth). The term is also used in a more general sense as "existence" and hence in some cases as a synonym of SAMSARA. See BHAVACAKRA. In Tibetan, the translation of the term, srid, also denotes the secular realm, as opposed to the religious realm (chos).
BhAvaviveka. (T. Legs ldan 'byed; C. Qingbian; J. Shoben; K. Ch'ongbyon 清辯) (c. 500-570). Also known as BhAviveka and Bhavya, an important Indian master of the MADHYAMAKA school, identified in Tibet as a proponent of SVATANTRIKA MADHYAMAKA and, within that, of SAUTRANTIKA-SVATANTRIKA-MADHYAMAKA. He is best known for two works. The first is the PRAJNAPRADĪPA, his commentary on NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA; this work has an extensive subcommentary by AVALOKITAVRATA. Although important in its own right as one of the major commentaries on the central text of the Madhyamaka school, the work is most often mentioned for its criticism of the commentary of BUDDHAPALITA on the first chapter of NAgArjuna's text, where BhAvaviveka argues that it is insufficient for the Madhyamaka only to state the absurd consequences (PRASAnGA) that follow from the position of the opponent. According to BhAvaviveka, the Madhyamaka must eventually state his own position in the form of what is called an autonomous inference (svatantrAnumAna) or an autonomous syllogism (SVATANTRAPRAYOGA). In his own commentary on the first chapter of NAgArjuna's text, CANDRAKĪRTI came to the defense of BuddhapAlita and criticized BhAvaviveka, stating that it is inappropriate for the Madhyamaka to use autonomous syllogisms. It is on the basis of this exchange that Tibetan exegetes identified two schools within Madhyamaka: the SvAtantrika, which includes BhAvaviveka, and the PrAsangika, which includes BuddhapAlita and Candrakīrti. ¶ The other major work of BhAvaviveka is his MADHYAMAKAHṚDAYA, written in verse, and its prose autocommentary, the TARKAJVALA. The Madhyamakahṛdaya is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the TarkajvAlA only in Tibetan. It is a work of eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in BhAvaviveka's view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as BODHICITTA, the knowledge of reality (tattvajNAna), and omniscience (SARVAJNATA). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and BhAvaviveka's refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the sRAVAKA, YOGACARA, SAMkhya, Vaisesika, VedAnta, and MīmAMsA. These chapters (along with sANTARAKsITA's TATTVASAMGRAHA) are an invaluable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and other contemporary Indian philosophical schools, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. The chapter on the srAvakas, for example, provides a detailed account of the reasons put forth by the sRAVAKAYANA schools of mainstream Buddhism as to why the MahAyAna sutras are not the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA). BhAvaviveka's response to these charges, as well as his refutation of YOGACARA in the subsequent chapter, are particularly spirited, arguing that reality (TATHATA) cannot be substantially existent (dravyasat), as those rival schools claim. However, BhAvaviveka made extensive use of both the logic and epistemology of DIGNĂGA, at least at the level of conventional analysis. BhAvaviveka appears to have been the first Madhyamaka author to declare that the negations set forth by the Madhyamaka school are nonaffirming (or simple) negations (PRASAJYAPRATIsEDHA) rather than affirming (or implicative) negations (PARYUDASAPRATIsEDHA). Also attributed to BhAvaviveka is the Karatalaratna ("Jewel in Hand Treatise"; Zhangzhen lun), a work preserved only in the Chinese translation of XUANZANG. BhAvaviveka's MADHYAMAKARTHASAMGRAHA is a brief text in verse. As the title suggests, it provides an outline of the basic topics of MADHYAMAKA philosophy, such as the middle way (S. MADHYAMAPRATIPAD) between the extremes of existence and nonexistence, Madhyamaka reasoning, and the two truths (SATYADVAYA). The MADHYAMAKARATNAPRADĪPA is likely the work of another author of the same name, since it makes reference to such later figures as Candrakīrti and DHARMAKĪRTI.
Bhayabheravasutta. In PAli, "Discourse on Fear and Dread," the fourth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (an untitled recension of uncertain affiliation appears in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a brAhmana named JAnussoni in the JETAVANAGrove in sRAVASTĪ. The Buddha explains how a monk living alone in a fearful jungle must guard his thoughts, words, and deeds from evil. He then explains how he had to guard his own thoughts, words, and deeds while he strove to attain enlightenment as he sat beneath the BODHI TREE.
bhayatupatthAnANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the awareness of terror"; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the third of nine knowledges (NAna; JNANA) cultivated as part of "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Knowledge arising from the contemplation of terror is developed by noting how all conditioned formations (sankhAra; SAMSKARA) or mental and physical phenomena (NAMARuPA) of the past, present and future have either gone, are going, or are destined to go to destruction. A simile given in the Visuddhimagga is that of a woman whose three sons have offended the king. The woman, who has already witnessed the beheading of her eldest son, witnesses the beheading of her middle son. And having witnessed the beheadings of her two older sons, the woman is filled with terror at the knowledge that her youngest son will likewise be executed. In the same way, the practitioner observes how phenomena of the past have ceased, how phenomena of the present are ceasing, and how those of the future are likewise destined to cease. Seeing conditioned formations as destined to destruction in this way, that is, as impermanent (anicca; ANITYA), the practitioner is filled with terror. Similarly, the practitioner sees conditioned formations as suffering (dukkha; DUḤKHA), and as impersonal and nonself (anattA; ANATMAN) and is filled with terror. In this way, the practitioner comes to realize that all mental and physical phenomena, being characterized by the three universal marks of existence (tilakkhana; TRILAKsAnA), are frightful.
Bhikkhu (Pali) Bhikkhu [cf Sanskrit bhikṣu] In Buddhism, a mendicant or monk, especially one who has donned the yellow robe and carries the begging bowl.
bhikkhu. In PAli, "mendicant"; a fully ordained Buddhist monk, who is enjoined to observe 227 rules of discipline according to the PAli VINAYA. Upon receiving higher ordination (UPASAMPADA), the new monk is required to remain under the guidance (nissaya; NIsRAYA) of his preceptor (upajjhAya; UPADHYAYA) for at least five years, until he becomes sufficiently skilled in dhamma and vinaya. After ten years, the monk becomes an elder (thera) in the sangha and is allowed to serve as an upajjhAya and ordain others. See also BHIKsU.
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.
bhiksu. (P. bhikkhu; T. dge slong; C. biqiu; J. biku; K. pigu 比丘). In Sanskrit, lit. "beggar"; a male "religious mendicant" or, as commonly translated, "monk." The female counterparts of bhiksu are BHIKsUnĪ (nuns). The term is derived from the Sanskrit root √bhiks meaning, among other things, "to beg for alms." The Tibetan translation of the term literally means "virtuous beggar"; the Chinese instead uses a transcription. Buddhism was one of the principal early groups of wandering religious (sRAMAnA), which constituted a new religious movement in the fifth century BCE, and coined the term bhiksu to distinguish its wanderers from those of other sramana sects, such as the JAINA and AJĪVAKA. A bhiksu holds the higher ordination (UPASAMPADA) of his VINAYA lineage and is thus distinguished from a novice, or sRAMAnERA. Novitiate status is attained by undergoing the "going forth" (pravrajyA; see PRAVRAJITA) ceremony and accepting a set of ten (and, in some traditions, expanded to thirty-six) precepts (sĪLA). After a period of service in the order, one may undergo the upasaMpadA ceremony, by which one attains full ordination. At that point, the bhiksu is expected to adhere to all the rules found in the litany of monastic discipline, or PRATIMOKsA, e.g., 227 in the PAli vinaya used in Southeast Asia, 250 in the DHARMAGUPTAKA vinaya used in much of East Asia, 253 in the MuLASARVASTIVADA vinaya followed in Tibet, etc. By rule, although not necessarily in practice, a bhiksu is allowed to possess only a set of four or eight "requisites" (PARIsKARA, P. parikkhAra), which provide him with the minimal necessities of food, clothing, and shelter. The duties of a bhiksu vary widely across the Buddhist tradition. These duties include, but are not limited to, preserving the teaching by memorizing, copying and/or reciting the scriptures; instructing younger monks, novices, and lay adherents; conducting a variety of different kinds of ceremonies; maintaining the monastery grounds, etc. Bhiksus were customarily presumed to be dependent on lay followers for their material requirements and, in return, served as a field of merit (PUnYAKsETRA) for them by accepting their donations (DANA). Within any given monastery, bhiksus maintain hierarchical relationships. Depending on the monk's tradition, seniority may be determined by the number of years since full ordination (see VARsA; C. JIELA), one's performance in examinations, or other factors. Literary evidence suggests that the first Buddhist monks were itinerant ascetics who resided in communities only during the monsoon season. Later, as the tradition grew, these temporary residences evolved into permanent monasteries. In the Hindu tradition, the term bhiksu may sometimes also be used to signify the fourth stage (Asrama) of life, in which one renounces worldly attachments for the sake of study and reflection (although this stage is more commonly referred to as saMnyAsin); in this context, however, no formal renunciation through ordination is necessarily required. Throughout much of the history of Buddhism, there have been regions and historical periods in which Buddhist monks married but continued to maintain the appearance of a fully-ordained bhiksu, including wearing monastic robes and shaving their heads. In English, such religious might better be called "priests" rather than "monks." See also BHIKKHU.
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.
BimbisAra. (T. Gzugs can snying po; C. Pinposuoluo; J. Binbashara; K. Pinbasara 頻婆娑羅) (r. c. 465-413 BCE). King of MAGADHA, and chief royal patron of the Buddha during his lifetime, who reigned from his capital city of RAJAGṚHA (P. RAjagaha). There are several accounts of how the two first met. According to the PAli JATAKA, the two first met at RAjagṛha just after GAUTAMA had renounced the world when the BODHISATTVA passed beneath the king's window. Impressed with the mendicant's demeanor, BimbisAra invited him to join his court. When the bodhisattva refused, BimbisAra wished him success in his quest for enlightenment and requested that he visit his palace as soon as he achieved his goal. The Buddha honored his request and, soon after attaining enlightenment, returned to RAjagṛha to preach to BimbisAra and his courtiers. Immediately upon listening to the sermon, the king and his attendants became stream-enterers (SROTAAPANNA). The PAli MAHAVAMSA, however, states instead that they were childhood friends. BimbisAra was munificent in his support for the Buddha and his SAMGHA. The most famous of his donations was the VEnUVANA (P. Veluvana) bamboo grove, where it is said he constructed a multistoried residence for the monks. He repaired the road from RAjagṛha to the Ganges River, a distance of five leagues, just so the Buddha would have an easier walk on his way to VAIsALĪ. With such gifts, BimbisAra declared that the five ambitions of his life had been fulfilled: that he would become king, that the Buddha would visit his kingdom, that he would render service to the Buddha, that the Buddha would preach to him, and that he would understand the meaning of the Buddha's teachings. BimbisAra met a tragic death at the hands of his son AJATAsATRU (P. AjAtasattu). Even as his son was conceived, according to some accounts, astrologers had predicted that the unborn child would kill his father and recommended to the king that the fetus be aborted. The king would not hear of it and instead showered affection on his son throughout his childhood. AjAtasatru was persuaded to murder his father by DEVADATTA, the Buddha's evil cousin, who saw BimbisAra's continued patronage of the Buddha as the chief obstacle to his ambition to become leader of the saMgha himself. According to some reports, it was only upon the birth of his own son that he realized the paternal love that his father had had for him. According to the PAli account, BimbisAra was reborn as a yakkha (YAKsA) named Janavasabha and is said to have visited the Buddha in that form. See also VAIDEHĪ.
Bodawpaya. (r. 1782-1819). Burmese king and sixth monarch of the Konbaung dynasty (1752-1885). Originally known as Badon Min, he was the fourth son of Alaungpaya (r. 1752-1760), founder of the dynasty, and ascended to the throne through usurpation. His official regnal title was Hsinpyumyashin, "Lord of Many White Elephants"; the name by which he is most commonly known, Bodawpaya, "Lord Grandfather," is a posthumous sobriquet. Immediately upon becoming king in 1782, he began construction of a new capital, AMARAPURA, and convened a conclave of abbots, known as the THUDHAMMA (P. Sudhamm) council, to oversee a reform of the Burmese SAMGHA. In 1784, he conquered the kingdom of Arakan and transported its colossal palladium, the MAHAMUNI image of the Buddha (see ARAKAN BUDDHA), to Amarapura and enshrined it in a temple to the north of the city. Later, in 1787 he dispatched a Buddhist mission to Arakan to bring the Arakanese THERAVADA saMgha into conformity with Thudhamma standards. In 1791 Buddhist missions were sent from the capital to forty-two cities around the realm, each equipped with Thudhamma handbooks and newly edited copies of the Buddhist canon (tipitaka; S. TRIPItAKA). The missions were charged with the threefold task of defrocking unworthy monks, disestablishing local monastic fraternities, and reordaining worthy monks from these local groups into a single empire-wide monastic order under Thudhamma control. In conjunction with this policy of saMgha unification, a standardized syllabus for monastic education was promulgated and monks and novices throughout the realm were thenceforth required to pass state-administered PAli examinations or to leave the order. That same year (1791), Bodawpaya retired from the palace, placing the daily affairs of the kingdom in the hands of his son, the crown prince. While retaining ultimate royal authority, he donned the robes of a mendicant and took up residence at Mingun, some fifteen miles north of Amarapura on the opposite bank of the Irrawaddy River. There, he oversaw for several years the construction of the great Mingun pagoda, which, if it had been completed, would have been the largest pagoda in the world. The labor force for this project, numbering some twenty thousand people, was conscripted from the vanquished kingdom of Arakan. Strict and austere in temperament, Bodawpaya was quick to suppress heresy and banned the use of intoxicants and the slaughter of cattle, on penalty of death. He was enamored of Hindu science and sent several missions to India to acquire Brahmanical treatises on medicine, alchemy, astrology, calendrics, and what he hoped would be original Indian recensions of Buddhist scriptures. His missions reached BODHGAYA and returned with models of the main shrine and maps of its environs, which were used to create a miniature replica of the site at Mingun. He appointed Indian brAhmanas to refine court punctilio and attempted to reform the Burmese calendar along Indian lines. The calendar reforms were rejected by monastic leaders and this rebuff appears to have caused the king to become increasingly critical of the monkhood. Toward the end of his reign, Bodawpaya defrocked the Thudhamma patriarch, declaring the dispensation (P. sAsana; S. sASANA) of Gotama (GAUTAMA) Buddha to be extinct and its saMgha therefore defunct. This attempt to disestablish the Burmese saMgha met with little success outside the capital and was later abandoned. Bodawpaya's military campaigns against Arakan and Assam extended the borders of the Burmese empire to the frontiers of the British East India Company. The cruelty of Bodawpaya's rule in Arakan created an influx of refugees into British territory, who were regularly pursued by Burmese troops. Although British diplomacy kept tensions with the Burmese kingdom under control throughout Bodawpaya's reign, the stage was set for eventual military conflict between the two powers and the subsequent British conquest of Burma in three wars during the nineteenth century.
Bodhi ::: A Sanskrit and Pali term used in Buddhism to refer to the fundamental understanding about the nature of causality. Etymologically it refers to an "awakening" and can sometimes be synonomously viewed as the understanding inculcated by the spiritual journey toward enlightenment. Can also refer to the Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha supposedly attained full enlightenment.
Bodhicittavivarana. (T. Byang chub sems 'grel). In Sanskrit, "Exposition of the Mind of Enlightenment"; a work traditionally ascribed to NAGARJUNA, although the text is not cited by NAgArjuna's commentators BUDDHAPALITA, CANDRAKĪRTI, or BHAVAVIVEKA. This absence, together with apparently tantric elements in the text and the fact that it contains a sustained critique of VIJNANAVADA, have led some scholars to conclude that it is not the work of the same NAgArjuna who authored the MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA. Nonetheless, the work is widely cited in later Indian MahAyAna literature and is important in Tibet. The text consists of 112 stanzas, preceded by a brief section in prose. It is essentially a compendium of MAHAYANA theory and practice, intended for bodhisattvas, both monastic and lay, organized around the theme of BODHICITTA, both in its conventional aspect (SAMVṚTIBODHICITTA) as the aspiration to buddhahood out of compassion for all sentient beings, and in its ultimate aspect (PARAMARTHABODHICITTA) as the insight into emptiness (suNYATA). In addition to the refutation of VijNAnavAda, the text refutes the self as understood by the TĪRTHIKAs and the SKANDHAs as understood by the sRAVAKAs.
bodhimanda. (T. byang chub snying po; C. daochang; J. dojo; K. toryang 道場). In Sanskrit (and very late PAli), "seat of enlightenment" or "platform of enlightenment," the place in BODHGAYA under the BODHI TREE where the Buddha sat when he achieved liberation from the cycle of birth and death (SAMSARA). (The word manda in this compound refers to the scum that forms on the top of boiling rice or the heavy cream that rises to the top of milk, thus suggesting the observable and most essential signs of the supreme act of BODHI, or enlightenment. Note that Western literature sometimes wrongly transcribes the term as *bodhimandala rather than bodhimanda.) All buddhas are associated with such a place, and it is presumed that all BODHISATTVAs of this world system as well will sit on such a seat before attaining buddhahood. The term is also used to refer to the region surrounding the seat itself, which, in the case of sAKYAMUNI, is BodhgayA. The bodhimanda is also known as the VAJRASANA ("diamond seat"), since it is the only site on earth strong enough to bear the pressures unleashed by the battle for enlightenment. Buddhist iconography often depicts the Buddha just prior to his enlightenment sitting on the bodhimanda in the "earth-touching gesture" (BHuMISPARsAMUDRA), i.e., with his right hand touching the ground, calling the earth to bear witness to his achievement. The bodhimanda is often said to be the center or navel of the world and thus can be understood as what early scholars of religion called an axis mundi-the liminal site between divine and profane realms; according to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, the various hot and cold hells (see NARAKA) are located not below Mount SUMERU but below the bodhimanda. In medieval East Asia, the Chinese term for bodhimanda began to be used to designate a "ritual precinct," viz., a site where such critical Buddhist rituals as ordinations were held, and by the seventh century came to be commonly used as the equivalent of "monastery" (si). In Korea, toryang (= bodhimanda) is also used to designate the central courtyard around which are arrayed the most important shrine halls in a monastery.
bodhi. (T. byang chub; C. puti/jue; J. bodai/kaku; K. pori/kak 菩提/覺). In Sanskrit and PAli, "awakening," "enlightenment"; the consummate knowledge that catalyzes the experience of liberation (VIMOKsA) from the cycle rebirth. Bodhi is of three discrete kinds: that of perfect buddhas (SAMYAKSAMBODHI); that of PRATYEKABUDDHAs or "solitary enlightened ones" (pratyekabodhi); and that of sRAVAKAs or disciples (srAvakabodhi). The content of the enlightenment experience is in essence the understanding of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvAry AryasatyAni): namely, the truth of suffering (DUḤKHA), the truth of the cause of suffering (SAMUDAYA), the truth of the cessation of suffering (NIRODHA), and the truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering (MARGA). Bodhi is also elaborated in terms of its thirty-seven constituent factors (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA) that are mastered in the course of perfecting one's understanding, or the seven limbs of awakening (BODHYAnGA) that lead to the attainment of the "threefold knowledge" (TRIVIDYA; P. tevijjA): "recollection of former lives" (S. PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI; P. pubbenivAsAnussati), the "divine eye" (DIVYACAKsUS; P. dibbacakkhu), which perceives that the death and rebirth of beings occurs according to their actions (KARMAN), and the "knowledge of the extinction of the contaminants" (ASRAVAKsAYA; P. AsavakkayaNAna). Perfect buddhas and solitary buddhas (pratyekabuddha) become enlightened through their own independent efforts, for they discover the four noble truths on their own, without the aid of a teacher in their final lifetime (although pratyekabuddhas may rely on the teachings of a buddha in previous lifetimes). Of these two types of buddhas, perfect buddhas are then capable of teaching these truths to others, while solitary buddhas are not. srAvakas, by contrast, do not become enlightened on their own but are exposed to the teachings of perfect buddhas and through the guidance of those teachings gain the understanding they need to attain awakening. Bodhi also occupies a central place in MAHAYANA religious conceptions. The MahAyAna ideal of the BODHISATTVA means literally a "being" (SATTVA) intent on awakening (bodhi) who has aroused the aspiration to achieve buddhahood or the "thought of enlightenment" (BODHICITTA; BODHICITTOTPADA). The MahAyAna, especially in its East Asian manifestations, also explores in great detail the prospect that enlightenment is something that is innate to the mind (see BENJUE; HONGAKU) rather than inculcated, and therefore need not be developed gradually but can instead be realized suddenly (see DUNWU). The MahAyAna also differentiates between the enlightenment (bodhi) of srAvakas and pratyekabuddhas and the full enlightenment (samyaksaMbodhi) of a buddha. According to Indian and Tibetan commentaries on the PRAJNAPARAMITA sutras, buddhas achieve full enlightenment not beneath the BODHI TREE in BODHGAYA, but in the AKANIstHA heaven in the form of a SAMBHOGAKAYA, or enjoyment body remaining for eternity to work for the welfare of sentient beings. The bodhisattva who strives for enlightenment and achieves buddhahood beneath the Bodhi tree is a NIRMAnAKAYA, a conjured body meant to inspire the world. See also WU; JIANWU.
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).
BodhnAth Stupa. (T. Bya rung kha shor). The popular Nepali name for a large STuPA situated on the northeast edge of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Venerated by both Newar and Tibetan Buddhists, it has become one of Nepal's most important and active Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The base, arranged on three terraces in a multiangled shape called viMsatikona (lit. "twenty angles"), is more than 260 feet on each side with the upper dome standing some 130 feet high. At the structure's south entrance stands a shrine to the Newar goddess known as Ajima or HARĪTĪ. Together with SVAYAMBHu and NAMO BUDDHA, BodhnAth forms a triad of great stupas often depicted together in Tibetan literature. The stupa's origins are unclear and a variety of competing traditions account for its founding and subsequent development. Most Nepali sources agree that the mahAcaitya was founded through the activities of King MAnadeva I (reigned 464-505), who unwittingly murdered his father but later atoned for his patricide through a great act of contrition. Among Newars, the stupa is commonly known as the KhAsticaitya, literally "the dew-drop CAITYA." This name is said to refer to the period in which King MAnadeva founded the stupa, a time of great drought when cloth would be spread out at night from which the morning dew could be squeezed in order to supply water necessary for the construction. The site is also called KhAsacaitya, after one legend which states that MAnadeva was the reincarnation of a Tibetan teacher called KhAsA; another well-known tradition explains the name as stemming from the buddha KAsYAPA, whose relics are said to be enclosed therein. The major Tibetan account of the stupa's origin is found in a treasure text (GTER MA) said to have been hidden by the Indian sage PADMASAMBHAVA and his Tibetan consort YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL. According to this narrative, the monument was constructed by a widowed poultry keeper. The local nobility grew jealous that such a grand project was being undertaken by a woman of such low status. They petitioned the king, requesting that he bring the construction to a halt. The king, however, refused to intervene and instead granted permission for the work to be completed, from which its Tibetan name Bya rung kha shor (Jarung Kashor, literally "permission to do what is proper") is derived. The stupa was renovated under the guidance of Tibetan lamas on numerous occasions and it eventually came under the custodial care of a familial lineage known as the Chini Lamas. Once surrounded by a small village, since 1959 BodhnAth has become a thriving center for Tibetan refugee culture and the location for dozens of relocated Tibetan monasteries.
Pali Canon ::: In Theravadan Buddhism, these are recognised as the canonical suttas of the Buddha. In other forms of Buddhism they are the main body of teachings and discourses that comprise the foundation for much of Buddhist philosophy and practice.
“Pali is not a ‘washed-out Sanskrit.’ Sanskrit was rather a mystery-language which was ‘composed’ or ‘builded up’ to perfection by initiates of the Sanctuaries; and because it was thus constructed into an almost perfect expression of human thought, at least for that day, it was called samskrita, which means ‘composed,’ ‘constructed.’ Thus Pali is not a true child of Sanskrit, but is and was the literary form of one of the ancient languages of India popularly spoken over an apparently wide stretch of the Indian Peninsula, . . .” (SOPh 694-5).
Palingenesis does not occur in Greek literature, as far as is known; palingenesia is used in the New Testament for spiritual regeneration. With the alchemists the word meant the artificial reproduction of the spectrum of a plant from its ashes. In biology palingenesis means reappearance of ancestral characteristics, instead of new characteristics (cenogenesis).
Palingenesis [from Greek palin again + genesis becoming] One type of reimbodiment or self-generation, the transmission of an identic life in cyclically recurring phases, whereby at each transformation a new manifestation or result is produced. This result can also be called a palingenesis or new-becoming of the life-stream. The word is used similarly by Schopenhauer, who regards all phenomena as a continual and repeated palingenesis of one reality — the Will. Transmigration, however, means the reappearance of a living entity in different forms adapted to specific conditions.
Palingenesis(Greek) ::: A compound which means "coming again into being," or "becoming again." The meaningattached to this word is quite specific, although having a wide and general application. The idea includedin it may be illustrated, as is found in the philosophical literature of the ancients who lived around theMediterranean Sea, by the example of the oak which produces its seed, the acorn, the acorn in its turnproducing a new oak containing the same life that was passed on to it from the mother oak -- or the fatheroak. This transmission of an identic life in cyclical recurring phases is the specific meaning of the wordpalingenesis. Thus the thought is different from the respective ideas contained in the other wordsconnected with the doctrine of reimbodiment. Perhaps another way of stating the specific meaning wouldbe by stating that palingenesis signifies the continuous transmission of an identic life producing at eachtransformation a new manifestation or result, these several results being in each case a palingenesis or"new becoming" of the same life-stream. Its specific meaning is quite different from that imbodied in theword transmigration.
Palingenesis: (Gr palm, again, genesis, birth) Literally, a new birth or regeneration A rebirth of ideas and events (in a philosophy of history), a new birth of individuals (in theology). -- V.F.
Palingenesy: Greek for re-birth. The transmigration of the life-energy or soul, retaining its identity, in recurrent cycles or phases. The term was employed by the occult philosophers of the seventeenth century to denote the “resurrection of plants,” and the method of achieving their astral appearance after destruction. (L. Spence, An Encyclopaedia of Occultism.)
Pali The language spoken in the north of India from and before the 7th century BC to about the 5th century AD. It is still the literary sacred language of Burma, Thailand, and Ceylon. There were two factors which made Pali one of the most important literary languages of the world: first, with the rise of the Kosalas into a kingdom, the language of its capital (Savatthi, in Nepal) become the form of speech almost universally adopted. Secondly, Gautama Buddha, being of Kosalan by birth, probably used the Pali language in giving forth his teachings, and therefore the subsequent philosophical writings of his disciples were similarly couched in this language.
Palit (“the escaped”)—in Jewish legend, Palit
BrahmajAlasuttanta. (C. Fandong jing; J. Bondokyo; K. Pomdong kyong 梵動經) In PAli, "Discourse on BRAHMA's Net"; the first sutta of the DĪGHANIKAYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the twenty-first SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHAGAMA). While dwelling in the AmbalatthikA grove, the Buddha preaches this sermon to the ascetic Supiyya and his disciple Brahmadatta, in order to allay their disagreement over the merits and demerits of the Buddha. The Buddha first explains that there are some who praise him for his observation of moral precepts (sīla; S. sĪLA), which, he notes, are merely abstentions from wrongdoing. These he elaborates in increasing detail in three sections and concludes by saying that those who judge him by these abstentions have only a trivial understanding of his virtues. The Buddha then describes sixty-two theories regarding the existence of the self (attan; S. ATMAN) advocated by other recluses (samana, S. sRAMAnA) and brAhmanas, all of which he rejects. These he classifies as the doctrines of eternalism (sassatavAda, see S. sAsVATADṚstI), semieternalism (ekaccasassatavAda), extensionism (antAnantavAda), equivocation or eel-wriggling (amarAvikkhepavAda), causeless originationism (adhiccasamuppannavAda), the belief in conscious existence after death (saNNīvAda), unconscious existence after death (asaNNīvAda), existence after death that is neither conscious or unconscious (nevasaNNīnAsaNNīvAda), annihilationism (UCCHEDAVADA), and hedonism (ditthadhammanibbAnavAda). All of these theories the Buddha rejects as examples of wrong views (ditthi, S. DṚstI), which are advocated by other recluses and brAhmanas through their contact with, and experience of, sensory objects. Because of their wrong views, these theories produce craving (tanhA, S. TṚsnA) and grasping (UPADANA), which in turn fuel the process of becoming (BHAVA) and leads to continued rebirth (JATI), old age and death (JARAMARAnA), sorrow (soka), lamentation (parideva), pain (DUḤKHA), grief (daurmanasya), and despair (upAyAsa) (see PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA). The BrahmajAlasuttanta is valued by scholars as a source for understanding the range of philosophical views present in India at the time of the early Buddhist community.
brahmakAyika. (P. brahmapArisajjA; T. tshangs ris; C. fanzhong tian; J. bonshuten; K. pomjung ch'on 梵衆天). In Sanskrit, "brahmA's retainers"; the lowest of the three heavens that constitute the first concentration (DHYANA) of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU) in the Buddhist cosmological system. In PAli, the term brahmakAyika seems to be used at times for a general term for all the inhabitants of the BRAHMALOKA; the inhabitants of the lowest of the three heavens are instead called brahmApArisajjA (the "assembly of BRAHMA"). However, brahmakAyika more commonly refers to the lowest of the three heavens, whose inhabitants are divinities (DEVA) who are subordinates of the god BrahmA. As with the other inhabitants of the realm of subtle materiality, the divinities there have only three sense organs: of sight, hearing, and touch. Also as with all the heavens of the subtle-materiality realm, one is reborn as a divinity there through mastering during one's meditative practice in a preceding lifetime the same level of dhyAna as those divinities.
brahmaloka. (T. tshangs pa'i 'jig rten; C. fanjie; J. bonkai; K. pomgye 梵界). In Sanskrit and PAli, the "BRAHMA worlds." In its narrowest sense, brahmaloka refers to the first three heavens of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU), whose denizens live perpetually immersed in the bliss of the first meditative absorption (DHYANA; P. jhAna): BRAHMAKAYIKA (heaven of BrahmA's followers), BRAHMAPUROHITA (heaven of BrahmA's vassals), and MAHABRAHMA (heaven of BrahmA himself). The ruler of these three heavens is named either BrahmA or MahAbrahmA, and he mistakenly believes that he is the creator of the universe. In a more general sense, the brahmaloka can also refer collectively to all the heavens of both the realm of subtle materiality and the immaterial realm (ARuPYADHATU). The two realms are divided into twenty heavens, the top four of which comprise the immaterial realm. Denizens of the immaterial realm have no physical dimension but are entirely mental and are perpetually immersed in one of the four immaterial absorptions (ARuPYAVACARADHYANA). The realm of subtle materiality is divided into sixteen heavens, the top five of which are called the "pure abodes" (sUDDHAVASA), where nonreturners (ANAGAMIN) are reborn. When the time is right, inhabitants of the pure abodes descend to earth in the guise of brAhmanas to leave portents of the advent of future buddhas so that they can be recognized when they appear in the human realm. One heaven in the realm of subtle materiality is reserved for unconscious beings (S. asaMjNisattva; P. asaNNasatta) who pass their entire lives (which can last eons) in dreamless sleep, only to die the moment they awaken. As with the immaterial realm, the realm of subtle materiality is also divided into four broad strata that correspond to the four form-based meditative absorptions (RuPAVACARADHYANA) and the denizens of these strata perpetually experience the bliss of the corresponding dhyAna. Regardless of the particular heaven they occupy, all inhabitants of the brahmaloka are all classified as BrahmA gods and live in splendor that far exceeds that of the divinities in the lower sensuous realm of existence (KAMADHATU).
Brahmanimantanikasutta. (C. Fantian qing fo jing; J. Bonten shobutsukyo; K. Pomch'on ch'ongbul kyong 梵天請佛經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Invitation of a BRAHMA"; the forty-ninth sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA, preached by the Buddha to a gathering of monks at the JETAVANA Grove in the town of SAvatthi (S. sRAVASTĪ). (A separate SARVASTIVADA version appears as the seventy-eighth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA.) The Buddha recounts to his disciples how he once visited the divine abode of the brahmA god Baka to dissuade him of the wrong view of eternalism (S. sAsVATADṚstI). Because Baka had lived a very long time as lord of his realm-so long that his memory had failed him-the wrong view occurred to him that everything in his heaven was permanent, everlasting, and eternal; that nothing was beyond it; that nothing in his heaven was born, grew old, or died; that nothing passed away or reappeared; and that beyond his heavenly realm there was no escape. The Buddha tells Baka he knows more than Baka knows, that there are in fact other heavens more resplendent than his, and that because of their awakening, the Buddha and his disciples are quite beyond and free from all realms of existence.
brahmapurohita. (T. tshangs pa'i mdun na 'don; C. fanfu tian; J. bonhoten; K. pombo ch'on 梵輔天). In Sanskrit and PAli "brahmA's ministers"; the second of the three heavens that constitute the first concentration (DHYANA) of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU) in the Buddhist cosmological system. The inhabitants of this heaven are divinities (DEVA) who serve as the attendants, ministers, and officials of the god BRAHMA. As with the other inhabitants of the realm of subtle materiality, the divinities there have only three physical sense organs: of sight, hearing, and touch. As with all the heavens of the subtle-materiality realm, one is reborn as a god there through mastering during one's meditative practice in a preceding lifetime the same level of dhyAna as those divinities.
brahmavihAra. (T. tshangs pa'i gnas; C. fanzhu; J. bonju; K. pomju 梵住). In Sanskrit and PAli, "divine abidings," or "highest religious state." This is a classification of four meditative topics used for the cultivation of tranquility meditation (sAMATHA): loving-kindness (MAITRĪ; P. mettA), compassion (KARUnA), empathetic joy (MUDITA), and equanimity or impartiality (UPEKsA; P. upekkhA). The meditator is taught to take up each of the divine abidings in the same way: starting with the first brahmavihAra, for example, filling his mind with loving-kindness, he pervades the world with it, first in one direction; then in a second direction; then a third and a fourth; then above, below, and all around; always identifying himself with all beings and keeping himself free from hatred and ill will. In the same way, he develops compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. These four factors are taken up as objects of meditation to counter the influence of specific unwholesome (AKUsALA) states of mind: viz., loving-kindness counteracts hostility (VYAPADA), compassion counters harmfulness (VIHIMSA), empathetic joy counters dissatisfaction or envy regarding others achievements (arati), and equanimity counters both the desire and hostility arising from sensuality (kAmarAgavyApAda) as well as the desire to win the approval of others (anunaya). Of these divine abidings, the first three are capable of producing the first three of the four meditative absorptions (DHYANA); the fourth divine abiding is the only one capable of producing the fourth meditative absorption. The four divine abidings are listed in the VISUDDHIMAGGA as four of the forty meditative topics (KAMMAttHANA) that may be pursued by the meditator. The Visuddhimagga notes they are useful only for the cultivation of tranquility (P. samatha; S. samatha), and not for the cultivation of insight (P. VIPASSANA; S. VIPAsYANA). Taken as objects of concentration and extended in meditation to all beings without limit, the divine abidings also come to be known as the "boundless states" (APRAMAnA).
bṛhatphala. (P. vehapphala; T. 'bras bu che; C. guangguo tian; J. kokaten; K. kwanggwa ch'on 廣果天). In Sanskrit, "great fruition," the third and lowest of the eight heavens of the fourth concentration (DHYANA) of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU); in PAli sources, this is the lowest of the seven heavens of the fourth DHYANA of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU).The heaven is so called because it is the greatest fruition among all places of rebirth in SAMSARA for ordinary persons (PṚTHAGJANA) who have not achieved the state of ARYAPUDGALA or noble person. As with all the heavens of the subtle-materiality realm, one is reborn as a god there through mastering during one's meditative practice in a preceding lifetime the same level of dhyAna as those divinities.
Bruno, Giordano: (1548-1600) A Dominican monk, eventually burned at the stake because of his opinions, he was converted from Christianity to a naturalistic and mystical pantheism by the Renaissance and particularly by the new Copernican astronomy. For him God and the universe were two names for one and the same Reality considered now as the creative essence of all things, now as the manifold of realized possibilities in which that essence manifests itself. As God, natura naturans, the Real is the whole, the one transcendent and ineffable. As the Real is the infinity of worlds and objects and events into which the whole divides itself and in which the one displays the infinite potentialities latent within it. The world-process is an ever-lasting going forth from itself and return into itself of the divine nature. The culmination of the outgoing creative activity is reached in the human mind, whose rational, philosophic search for the one in the many, simplicity in variety, and the changeless and eternal in the changing and temporal, marks also the reverse movement of the divine nature re-entering itself and regaining its primordial unity, homogeneity, and changelessness. The human soul, being as it were a kind of boomerang partaking of the ingrowing as well as the outgrowing process, may hope at death, not to be dissolved with the body, which is borne wholly upon the outgoing stream, but to return to God whence it came and to be reabsorbed in him. Cf. Rand, Modern Classical Philosophers, selection from Bruno's On Cause, The Principle and the One. G. Bruno: De l'infinito, universo e mundo, 1584; Spaccio della bestia trionfante, 1584; La cena delta ceneri, 1584; Deglieroici furori, 1585; De Monade, 1591. Cf. R. Honigswald, Giordano Bruno; G. Gentile, Bruno nella storia della cultura, 1907. -- B.A.G.F. Brunschvicg, Leon: (1869-) Professor of Philosophy at the Ecole Normale in Paris. Dismissed by the Nazis (1941). His philosophy is an idealistic synthesis of Spinoza, Kant and Schelling with special stress on the creative role of thought in cultural history as well as in sciences. Main works: Les etapes de la philosophie mathematique, 1913; L'experience humaine et la causalite physique, 1921; De la connaissance de soi, 1931. Buddhism: The multifarious forms, philosophic, religious, ethical and sociological, which the teachings of Gautama Buddha (q.v.) have produced. They centre around the main doctrine of the catvari arya-satyani(q.v.), the four noble truths, 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. In the absence of contemporary records of Buddha and Buddhistic teachings, much value was formerly attached to the palm leaf manuscripts in Pali, a Sanskrit dialect; but recently a good deal of weight has been given also the Buddhist tradition in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese. Buddhism split into Mahayanism and Hinayanism (q.v.), each of which, but particularly the former, blossomed into a variety of teachings and practices. The main philosophic schools are the Madhyamaka or Sunyavada, Yogacara, Sautrantika, and Vaibhasika (q.v.). The basic assumptions in philosophy are a causal nexus in nature and man, of which the law of karma (q.v.) is but a specific application; the impermanence of things, and the illusory notion of substance and soul. Man is viewed realistically as a conglomeration of bodily forms (rupa), sensations (vedana), ideas (sanjna), latent karma (sanskaras), and consciousness (vijnana). The basic assumptions in ethics are the universality of suffering and the belief in a remedy. There is no god; each one may become a Buddha, an enlightened one. Also in art and esthetics Buddhism has contributed much throughout the Far East. -- K.F.L.
BuddhadAsa. (1906-1993). Prominent Thai monk, Buddhist reformer, teacher of meditation, and ecumenical figure. Born the son of a merchant in the village of Pum Riang in southern Thailand, he was educated at Buddhist temple schools. It was customary for males in Thailand to be ordained as Buddhist monks for three months at the age of twenty and then return to lay life. BuddhadAsa decided, however, to remain a monk and quickly gained a reputation as a brilliant thinker, meditator, and teacher. He dwelled for several years in the Thai capital of Bangkok to further his studies but grew disillusioned with the prevailing practices of the SAMGHA in the city, which he perceived to be lax and corrupt. In 1932, he returned home to an abandoned monastery near his native village to live a simple life, practice meditation, and teach the dharma. He named his monastery Wat Suan MokkhabalArAma (Garden of the Power of Liberation), which is usually abbreviated to Suan Mokkh, the Garden of Liberation. The monastery became one of the first VIPASSANA (S. VIPAsYANA) (insight meditation) centers in southern Thailand. BuddhadAsa spent most of his life at this forest monastery overlooking the sea. Although his formal scholastic training was limited, BuddhadAsa studied PAli scriptures extensively, in particular the SUTTAPItAKA, to uncover their true meaning, which he felt had become obscured by centuries of commentarial overlays, ritual practices, and monastic politics. A gifted orator, his numerous sermons and talks were transcribed and fill an entire room of the National Library in Bangkok. In his writings, many of which are his transcribed sermons, he eschewed the formal style of traditional scholastic commentary in favor of a more informal, and in many ways controversial, approach in which he questioned many of the more popular practices of Thai Buddhism. For example, he spoke out strongly against the practice of merit-making in which lay people offer gifts to monks in the belief that they will receive material reward in their next life. BuddhadAsa argued that this traditionally dominant form of lay practice only keeps the participants in the cycle of rebirth because it is based on attachment, whereas the true form of giving is the giving up of the self. Instead, BuddhadAsa believed that, because of conditioned origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA), people are naturally connected through a shared environment and are in fact capable of living harmoniously together. The hindrance to such a harmony comes from attachments to "I" and "mine," which must therefore be severed. Modern and ecumenical in perspective, BuddhadAsa sought to strip traditional Buddhism of what he regarded as obscurantism and superstition, and present the Buddha's teachings in a rational scientific idiom that acknowledged kindred teachings in other religions. BuddhadAsa's interpretations of the dharma have had a great impact on contemporary Buddhist thought in Thailand and are especially influential among the urban intelligentsia, social reformers, and environmentalists. His teachings are often cited as foundational by advocates of engaged Buddhism. The monastery he founded has become a venue for the training of foreign monks and nuns and for interfaith dialogue between Buddhists of different traditions, as well as between Buddhists and adherents of other religions.
Buddhadatta. (fl. c. fifth century CE). A prominent PAli scholar-monk from South India who is presumed by the tradition to have been a personal acquaintance of the preeminent PAli commentator BUDDHAGHOSA. Buddhadatta lived and wrote his several works at BhutamangalagAma monastery in the Cola country (Tamil Nadu) of South India, although it is also said he trained at the MAHAVIHARA in ANURADHAPURA in Sri Lanka. Buddhadatta is best known as the author of the ABHIDHAMMAVATARA, the oldest of the noncanonical PAli works on ABHIDHAMMA (S. ABHIDHARMA). The text is a primer of PAli abhidhamma, divided into twenty-four chapters called niddesa (S. nirdesa; "exposition"), which displays many affinities with Buddhaghosa's VISUDDHIMAGGA. Other works attributed to Buddhadatta include the Vinayavinicchaya, the Uttaravinicchaya, and the RupArupavibhAga. Some authorities also attribute to him the MadhuratthavilAsinī and the JinAlankAra.
buddhadhAtu. (T. sangs rgyas kyi khams; C. foxing; J. bussho; K. pulsong 佛性). In Sanskrit, "buddha-element," or "buddha-nature"; the inherent potential of all sentient beings to achieve buddhahood. The term is also widely used in Buddhist Sanskrit with the sense of "buddha relic," and the term DHATU alone is used to mean "buddha-element" (see also GOTRA, KULA). The term first appears in the MAHAYANA recension of the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA, now available only in Chinese translation, which states that all sentient beings have the "buddha-element" (FOXING). (The Chinese translation foxing literally means "buddha-nature" and the Chinese has often been mistakenly back-translated as the Sanskrit buddhatA; buddhadhAtu is the accepted Sanskrit form.) The origin of the term may, however, be traced back as far as the AstASAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA, one of the earliest MahAyAna SuTRAs, where the fundamental substance of the mind is said to be luminous (prakṛtis cittasya prabhAsvarA), drawing on a strand of Buddhism that has its antecedents in such statements as the PAli AnGUTTARANIKAYA: "The mind, O monks, is luminous but defiled by adventitious defilements" (pabhassaraM idaM bhikkhave cittaM, taN ca kho Agantukehi upakkilesehi upakkilitthaM). Because the BODHISATTVA realizes that the buddha-element is inherent in him at the moment that he arouses the aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPADA) and enters the BODHISATTVAYANA, he achieves the profound endurance (KsANTI) that enables him to undertake the arduous training, over not one, but three, incalculable eons of time (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA), that will lead to buddhahood. The buddhadhAtu is a seminal concept of the MahAyAna and leads to the development of such related doctrines as the "matrix of the tathAgatas" (TATHAGATAGARBHA) and the "immaculate consciousness" (AMALAVIJNANA). The term is also crucial in the development of the teachings of such indigenous East Asian schools of Buddhism as CHAN, which telescope the arduous path of the bodhisattva into a single moment of sudden awakening (DUNWU) to the inherency of the "buddha-nature" (foxing), as in the Chan teaching that merely "seeing the nature" is sufficient to "attain buddhahood" (JIANXING CHENGFO).
Buddhaghosa. (S. Buddhaghosa) (fl. c. 370-450 CE). The preeminent PAli commentator, who translated into PAli the Sinhalese commentaries to the PAli canon and wrote the VISUDDHIMAGGA ("Path of Purification"), the definitive outline of THERAVADA doctrine.There are several conflicting accounts of Buddhaghosa's origins, none of which can be dated earlier than the thirteenth century. The Mon of Lower Burma claim him as a native son, although the best-known story, which is found in the CulAVAMSA (chapter 37), describes Buddhaghosa as an Indian brAhmana who grew up in the environs of the MAHABODHI temple in northern India. According to this account, his father served as a purohita (brAhmana priest) for King SangAma, while he himself became proficient in the Vedas and related Brahmanical sciences at an early age. One day, he was defeated in a debate by a Buddhist monk named Revata, whereupon he entered the Buddhist SAMGHA to learn more about the Buddha's teachings. He received his monk's name Buddhaghosa, which means "Voice of the Buddha," because of his sonorous voice and impressive rhetorical skills. Buddhaghosa took Revata as his teacher and began writing commentaries even while a student. Works written at this time included the NAnodaya and AttHASALINĪ. To deepen his understanding (or according to some versions of his story, as punishment for his intellectual pride), Buddhaghosa was sent to Sri Lanka to study the Sinhalese commentaries on the PAli Buddhist canon (P. tipitaka; S. TRIPItAKA). These commentaries were said to have been brought to Sri Lanka in the third century BCE, where they were translated from PAli into Sinhalese and subsequently preserved at the MAHAVIHARA monastery in the Sri Lankan capital of ANURADHAPURA. At the MahAvihAra, Buddhghosa studied under the guidance of the scholar-monk SanghapAla. Upon completing his studies, he wrote the great compendium of TheravAda teachings, Visuddhimagga, which summarizes the contents of the PAli tipitaka under the threefold heading of morality (sīla; S. sĪLA), meditative absorption (SAMADHI), and wisdom (paNNA; S. PRAJNA). Impressed with his expertise, the elders of the MahAvihAra allowed Buddhaghosa to translate the Sinhalese commentaries back into PAli, the canonical language of the TheravAda tipitaka. Attributed to Buddhaghosa are the VINAYA commentaries, SAMANTAPASADIKA and KankhAvitaranī; the commentaries to the SUTTAPItAKA, SUMAnGALAVILASINĪ, PAPANCASuDANĪ, SARATTHAPPAKASINĪ, and MANORATHAPuRAnĪ; also attributed to him is the PARAMATTHAJOTIKA (the commentary to the KHUDDAKAPAtHA and SUTTANIPATA). Buddhaghosa's commentaries on the ABHIDHAMMAPItAKA (see ABHIDHARMA) include the SAMMOHAVINODANĪ and PANCAPPAKARAnAttHAKATHA, along with the AtthasAlinī. Of these many works, Buddhaghosa is almost certainly author of the Visuddhimagga and translator of the commentaries to the four nikAyas, but the remainder are probably later attributions. Regardless of attribution, the body of work associated with Buddhaghosa was profoundly influential on the entire subsequent history of Buddhist scholasticism in the TheravAda traditions of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
buddhakAya. (T. sangs rgyas sku; C. foshen; J. busshin; K. pulsin 佛身). In Sanskrit, literally "body of the buddha." Throughout the history of the Buddhist tradition, there has been a great deal of debate, and a good many theories, over the exact nature of a buddha's body. In the PAli NIKAYAs and the Sanskrit AGAMAs, we find a distinction made between various possible bodies of sAKYAMuNI Buddha. There are references, for example, to a putikAya, or corruptible body, which was born from the womb of his mother; a MANOMAYAKAYA, or mind-made body, which he uses to visit the heavens; and a DHARMAKAYA, the buddhas' corpus of unique qualities (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA), which is worthy of greater honor than the other two bodies and is the body of the buddha in which one seeks refuge (sARAnA). Perhaps the most popular of these theories on the nature of the buddhakAya is the MAHAYANA notion of the "three bodies," or TRIKAYA. According to this doctrine, a buddha is indistinguishable from absolute truth, but will still appear in various guises in the relative, conditioned world in order to guide sentient beings toward enlightenment. To distinguish these differing roles, MahAyAna thus distinguishes between three bodies of a buddha. First, a buddha has a dharmakAya, which is identical to absolute reality. Second, a buddha has a SAMBHOGAKAYA, or "enjoyment body," which resides in a buddha land (BUDDHAKsETRA); this is the body that is visible only to the BODHISATTVAs. Finally, a buddha possesses a NIRMAnAKAYA, a "transformation" or "emanation body," which are the various earthly bodies that a buddha makes manifest in order to fulfill his resolution to help all different types of sentient beings; this type of body includes the Buddha who achieved enlightenment beneath the BODHI TREE. These are many other theories of the buddhakAya that have developed within the tradition.
buddhapAda. (T. sangs rgyas kyi zhabs; C. fozu; J. bussoku; K. pulchok 佛足). In Sanskrit and PAli, lit. "the feet of the Buddha"; typically referring to "the Buddha's footprints," which became objects of religious veneration in early Buddhism. There are typically three kinds of footprints of the Buddha, all of which are treated as a type of relic (sARĪRA, DHATU). At the incipiency of the tradition, the Buddha's footprints were a popular aniconic representation of the Buddha; the oldest of these, from the BHARHUT reliquary mound (STuPA), dates to the second century BCE. The second are natural indentations in rock that are said to have been made by the Buddha's feet; an example is the Sri Lankan mountain known as srī PAda, or "Holy Foot," which is named after an impression in the rock of the mountain's summit that the Sinhalese people believe to be a footprint of GAUTAMA Buddha. Both these first and second types are concave images and are presumed to be a sign of the Buddha's former presence in a specific place. Such footprints are also often important as traditional evidence of a visit by the Buddha to a distant land. The third form of footprint are convex images carved in stone, metal, or wood (or in some cases painted), which represent the soles of the Buddha's feet in elaborate detail and are often covered with all manner of auspicious symbols. They may bear the specific physical marks (LAKsAnA) said to be present on the feet of a fully awakened being, such as having toes that are all the same length, or having dharma-wheels (DHARMACAKRA) inscribed on the soles (see MAHAPURUsALAKsAnA). In the PAli tradition, there is a practice of making buddhapAda in which the central wheel is surrounded by a retinue (parivAra) of 108 auspicious signs, called MAnGALA. Symbolically, the footprints point to the reality of the Buddha's erstwhile physical presence in our world. At the same time, the footprints also indicate his current absence and thus may encourage the observer to reflect on nonattachment. Veneration of the Buddha's footprints occurs throughout the Buddhist world but is particularly popular in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. Of his footprints, tradition reports that the Buddha said, "In the future, intelligent beings will see the scriptures and understand. Those of less intelligence will wonder whether the Buddha appeared in the world. In order to remove their doubts, I have set my footprints in stone."
BuddhapAlita. (T. Sangs rgyas bskyang) (c. 470-540). An Indian Buddhist scholar of the MADHYAMAKA school, who is regarded in Tibet as a key figure of what was dubbed the *PRASAnGIKA school of Madhyamaka. Little is known about the life of BuddhapAlita. He is best known for his commentary on NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA, a commentary that was thought to survive only in Tibetan translation, until the recent rediscovery of a Sanskrit manuscript. BuddhapAlita's commentary bears a close relation in some chapters to the AKUTOBHAYA, another commentary on NAgArjuna's MulamadhyamakakArikA of uncertain authorship, which is sometimes attributed to NAgArjuna himself. In his commentary, BuddhapAlita does not adopt some of the assumptions of the Buddhist logical tradition of the day, including the need to state one's position in the form of an autonomous inference (SVATANTRANUMANA). Instead, BuddhapAlita merely states an absurd consequence (PRASAnGA) that follows from the opponent's position. In his own commentary on the first chapter of NAgArjuna's text, BHAVAVIVEKA criticizes BuddhapAlita's method, arguing for the need for the Madhyamaka adept to state his own position after refuting the position of the opponent. In his commentary on the same chapter, CANDRAKĪRTI in turn defended the approach of BuddhapAlita and criticized BhAvaviveka. It was on the basis of these three commentaries that later Tibetan exegetes identified two schools within Madhyamaka, the SVATANTRIKA, in which they included BhAvaviveka, and the PrAsangika, in which they included BuddhapAlita and Candrakīrti.
buddha. (T. sangs rgyas; C. fo; J. butsu/hotoke; K. pul 佛). In Sanskrit and PAli, "awakened one" or "enlightened one"; an epithet derived from the Sanskrit root √budh, meaning "to awaken" or "to open up" (as does a flower) and thus traditionally etymologized as one who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge. The term was used in ancient India by a number of different religious groups, but came to be most strongly associated with followers of the teacher GAUTAMA, the "Sage of the sAKYA Clan" (sAKYAMUNI), who claimed to be only the most recent of a succession of buddhas who had appeared in the world over many eons of time (KALPA). In addition to sAkyamuni, there are many other buddhas named in Buddhist literature, from various lists of buddhas of the past, present, and future, to "buddhas of the ten directions" (dasadigbuddha), viz., everywhere. Although the precise nature of buddhahood is debated by the various schools, a buddha is a person who, in the far distant past, made a previous vow (PuRVAPRAnIDHANA) to become a buddha in order to reestablish the dispensation or teaching (sASANA) at a time when it was lost to the world. The path to buddhahood is much longer than that of the ARHAT-as many as three incalculable eons of time (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) in some computations-because of the long process of training over the BODHISATTVA path (MARGA), involving mastery of the six or ten "perfections" (PARAMITA). Buddhas can remember both their past lives and the past lives of all sentient beings, and relate events from those past lives in the JATAKA and AVADANA literature. Although there is great interest in the West in the "biography" of Gautama or sAkyamuni Buddha, the early tradition seemed intent on demonstrating his similarity to the buddhas of the past rather than his uniqueness. Such a concern was motivated in part by the need to demonstrate that what the Buddha taught was not the innovation of an individual, but rather the rediscovery of a timeless truth (what the Buddha himself called "an ancient path" [S. purAnamArga, P. purAnamagga]) that had been discovered in precisely the same way, since time immemorial, by a person who undertook the same type of extended preparation. In this sense, the doctrine of the existence of past buddhas allowed the early Buddhist community to claim an authority similar to that of the Vedas of their Hindu rivals and of the JAINA tradition of previous tīrthankaras. Thus, in their biographies, all of the buddhas of the past and future are portrayed as doing many of the same things. They all sit cross-legged in their mother's womb; they are all born in the "middle country" (madhyadesa) of the continent of JAMBUDVĪPA; immediately after their birth they all take seven steps to the north; they all renounce the world after seeing the four sights (CATURNIMITTA; an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a mendicant) and after the birth of a son; they all achieve enlightenment seated on a bed of grass; they stride first with their right foot when they walk; they never stoop to pass through a door; they all establish a SAMGHA; they all can live for an eon if requested to do so; they never die before their teaching is complete; they all die after eating meat. Four sites on the earth are identical for all buddhas: the place of enlightenment, the place of the first sermon that "turns the wheel of the dharma" (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA), the place of descending from TRAYASTRIMsA (heaven of the thirty-three), and the place of their bed in JETAVANA monastery. Buddhas can differ from each other in only eight ways: life span, height, caste (either brAhmana or KsATRIYA), the conveyance by which they go forth from the world, the period of time spent in the practice of asceticism prior to their enlightenment, the kind of tree they sit under on the night of their enlightenment, the size of their seat there, and the extent of their aura. In addition, there are twelve deeds that all buddhas (dvAdasabuddhakArya) perform. (1) They descend from TUsITA heaven for their final birth; (2) they enter their mother's womb; (3) they take birth in LUMBINĪ Garden; (4) they are proficient in the worldly arts; (5) they enjoy the company of consorts; (6) they renounce the world; (7) they practice asceticism on the banks of the NAIRANJANA River; (8) they go to the BODHIMAndA; (9) they subjugate MARA; (10) they attain enlightenment; (11) they turn the wheel of the dharma; and (12) they pass into PARINIRVAnA. They all have a body adorned with the thirty-two major marks (LAKsAnA; MAHAPURUsALAKsAnA) and the eighty secondary marks (ANUVYANJANA) of a great man (MAHAPURUsA). They all have two bodies: a physical body (RuPAKAYA) and a body of qualities (DHARMAKAYA; see BUDDHAKAYA). These qualities of a buddha are accepted by the major schools of Buddhism. It is not the case, as is sometimes suggested, that the buddha of the mainstream traditions is somehow more "human" and the buddha in the MAHAYANA somehow more "superhuman"; all Buddhist traditions relate stories of buddhas performing miraculous feats, such as the sRAVASTĪ MIRACLES described in mainstream materials. Among the many extraordinary powers of the buddhas are a list of "unshared factors" (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA) that are unique to them, including their perfect mindfulness and their inability ever to make a mistake. The buddhas have ten powers specific to them that derive from their unique range of knowledge (for the list, see BALA). The buddhas also are claimed to have an uncanny ability to apply "skill in means" (UPAYAKAUsALYA), that is, to adapt their teachings to the specific needs of their audience. This teaching role is what distinguishes a "complete and perfect buddha" (SAMYAKSAMBUDDHA) from a "solitary buddha" (PRATYEKABUDDHA) who does not teach: a solitary buddha may be enlightened but he neglects to develop the great compassion (MAHAKARUnA) that ultimately prompts a samyaksaMbuddha to seek to lead others to liberation. The MahAyAna develops an innovative perspective on the person of a buddha, which it conceived as having three bodies (TRIKAYA): the DHARMAKAYA, a transcendent principle that is sometimes translated as "truth body"; an enjoyment body (SAMBHOGAKAYA) that is visible only to advanced bodhisattvas in exalted realms; and an emanation body (NIRMAnAKAYA) that displays the deeds of a buddha to the world. Also in the MahAyAna is the notion of a universe filled with innumerable buddha-fields (BUDDHAKsETRA), the most famous of these being SUKHAVATĪ of AmitAbha. Whereas the mainstream traditions claim that the profundity of a buddha is so great that a single universe can only sustain one buddha at any one time, MahAyAna SuTRAs often include scenes of multiple buddhas appearing together. See also names of specific buddhas, including AKsOBHYA, AMITABHA, AMOGHASIDDHI, RATNASAMBHAVA, VAIROCANA. For indigenous language terms for buddha, see FO (C); HOTOKE (J); PHRA PHUTTHA JAO (Thai); PUCH'o(NIM) (K); SANGS RGYAS (T).
buddhavacana. (T. sangs rgyas kyi bka'; C. foyu; J. butsugo; K. puro 佛語). In Sanskrit and PAli, "word of the Buddha"; those teachings accepted as having been either spoken by the Buddha or spoken with his sanction. Much traditional scholastic literature is devoted to the question of what does and does not qualify as the word of the Buddha. The SuTRAPItAKA and the VINAYAPItAKA of the Buddhist canon (TRIPItAKA), which are claimed to have been initially redacted at the first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST), held in RAJAGṚHA soon after the Buddha's death, is considered by the tradition-along with the ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, which was added later-to be the authentic word of the Buddha; this judgment is made despite the fact that the canon included texts that were spoken, or elaborated upon, by his direct disciples (e.g., separate versions of the BHADDEKARATTASUTTA, which offer exegeses by various disciples of an enigmatic verse the Buddha had taught) or that included material that clearly postdated the Buddha's death (such as the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA, which tells of the events leading up to, and immediately following, the Buddha's demise, or the NAradasutta, which refers to kings who lived long after the Buddha's time). Such material could still be considered buddhavacana, however, by resort to the four references to authority (MAHAPADEsA; CATURMAHAPADEsA). These four types of authority are found listed in various SuTRAs, including the eponymous PAli MahApadesasutta, and provide an explicit set of criteria through which to evaluate whether a teaching is the authentic buddhavacana. Teachings could be accepted as authentic if they were heard from four authorities: (1) the mouth of the Buddha himself; (2) a SAMGHA of wise elders; (3) a group of monks who were specialists in either the dharma (dharmadhara), vinaya (vinayadhara), or the proto-abhidharma (mAtṛkAdhara); or (4) a single monk who was widely learned in such specializations. The teaching should then be compared side by side with the authentic SuTRA and VINAYA; if found to be compatible with these two strata of the canon and not in contradiction with reality (DHARMATA), it would then be accepted as the buddhavacana and thus marked by the characteristics of the Buddha's words (buddhavacanalaksana). Because of this dispensation, the canons of all schools of Buddhism were never really closed, but could continue to be reinvigorated with new expressions of the Buddha's insights. In addition, completely new texts that purported to be from the mouths of the buddha(s) and/or BODHISATTVAs, such as found in the MAHAYANA or VAJRAYANA traditions, could also begin to circulate and be accepted as the authentic buddhavacana since they too conformed with the reality (dharmatA) that is great enlightenment (MAHABODHI). For example, a MahAyAna sutra, the AdhyAsayasaNcodanasutra, declares, "All which is well-spoken, Maitreya, is spoken by the Buddha." The sutra qualifies the meaning of "well spoken" (subhAsita), explaining that all inspired speech should be known to be the word of the Buddha if it is meaningful and not meaningless, if it is principled and not unprincipled, if it brings about the extinction and not the increase of the afflictions (KLEsA), and if it sets forth the qualities and benefits of NIRVAnA and not the qualities and benefits of SAMSARA. However, the authenticity of the MahAyAna sutras (and later the tantras) was a topic of great contention between the proponents of the MahAyAna and mainstream schools throughout the history of Indian Buddhism and beyond. Defenses of the MahAyAna as buddhavacana appear in the MahAyAna sutras themselves, with predictions of the terrible fates that will befall those who deny their authenticity; and arguments for the authenticity of the MahAyAna sutras were a stock element in writings by MahAyAna authors as early as NAGARJUNA and extending over the next millennium. Related, and probably earlier, terms for buddhavacana are the "teaching of the master" (S. sAstuḥ sAsanam) and the "dispensation of the Buddha" (buddhAnusAsanam). See also APOCRYPHA, DAZANGJING, GTER MA.
BuddhavaMsa. In PAli, "The Chronicle of the Buddhas"; the fourteenth book of the KHUDDAKANIKAYA of the PAli SUTTAPItAKA. A work in verse, it contains the life histories of twenty-five buddhas, concluding with that of the historical Buddha, Gotama (S. GAUTAMA). Details of each buddha are given, such as the species of the BODHI TREE under which he sat at the time of attaining enlightenment, as well as the name that the future buddha Gotama assumed under each previous buddha. The final chapter concerns the distribution of the relics (sarīra; S. sARĪRA) of Gotama Buddha. According to TheravAda tradition, the BuddhavaMsa was preached at the request of the Buddha's disciple SAriputta (S. sARIPUTRA), following the Buddha's display of the "jeweled-walk" (ratanacankama) miracle, which is the name of the chronicle's first chapter. The MadhuratthavilAsinī is the PAli commentary to the BuddhavaMsa.
buddhi. (T. blo; C. siwei; J. shiyui; K. sayu 思惟). In Sanskrit and PAli, "intelligence," "comprehension," or "discernment"; referring specifically to the ability to fashion and retain concepts and ideas (related etymologically to the words buddha and BODHI, from the root √budh "to wake up"). In Buddhist usage, buddhi sometimes denotes a more elevated faculty of mind that surpasses the rational and discursive in its ability to discern truth. Buddhi is thus a kind of intuitive intelligence, comprehension, or insight, which can serve to catalyze wisdom (PRAJNA) and virtuous (KUsALA) actions. According to some strands of MAHAYANA philosophy, this discernment is an inherent and fundamental characteristic of the mind, which is essentially free of all mistaken discriminations and devoid of distinction or change. In such contexts, buddhi is often associated with the original nature of the mind. See RIG PA.
Burnouf, Eugène. (1801-1852). French orientalist and seminal figure in the development of Buddhist Studies as an academic discipline. He was born in Paris on April 8, 1801, the son of the distinguished classicist Jean-Louis Burnouf (1775-1844). He received instruction in Greek and Latin from his father and studied at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. He entered the École des Chartes in 1822, receiving degrees in both letters and law in 1824. He then turned to the study of Sanskrit, both with his father and with Antoine Léonard de Chézy (1773-1832). In 1826, Burnouf published, in collaboration with the young Norwegian-German scholar Christian Lassen (1800-1876), Essai sur le pali ("Essay on PALI"). After the death of Chézy, Burnouf was appointed to succeed his teacher in the chair of Sanskrit at the Collège de France. His students included some of the greatest scholars of day; those who would contribute to Buddhist studies included Philippe Edouard Foucaux (1811-1894) and FRIEDRICH MAX MÜLLER. Shortly after his appointment to the chair of Sanskrit, the Société Asiatique, of which Burnouf was secretary, received a communication from BRIAN HOUGHTON HODGSON, British resident at the court of Nepal, offering to send Sanskrit manuscripts of Buddhist texts to Paris. The receipt of these texts changed the direction of Burnouf's scholarship for the remainder his life. After perusing the AstASAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA and the LALITAVISTARA, he decided to translate the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA. Having completed the translation, he decided to precede its publication with a series of studies. He completed only the first of these, published in 1844 as Introduction à l'histoire du Buddhisme indien. This massive work is regarded as the foundational text for the academic study of Buddhism in the West. It contains Burnouf's highly influential analyses of various aspects of Sanskrit Buddhism as he understood them from the works received from Hodgson. It also contains hundreds of pages of translations of previously unknown works, drawn especially from the DIVYAVADANA and the AVADANAsATAKA. Burnouf died, apparently of kidney failure, on May 28, 1852. His translation of the Saddharmapundarīka, Le Lotus de la bonne loi, appeared that same year.
Caird, G. B. Principalities and Powers. Oxford: Claren¬
caitta. [alt. caitasika] (P. cetasika; T. sems byung; C. xinsuo; J. shinjo; K. simso 心所). In Sanskrit, "mental concomitants" or "mental factors." In the ABHIDHARMA, the term encompasses those mental factors that accompany, in various combinations, the mind (CITTA) and its six sensory consciousnesses (VIJNANA), viz., visual (lit. eye), auditory (ear), olfactory (nose), gustatory (tongue), tactile (body), and mental. The VAIBHAsIKA school of SARVASTIVADA abhidharma lists forty-six caittas, the PAli ABHIDHAMMA lists fifty-two (called CETASIKA), while the mature YOGACARA system of MAHAYANA abhidharma gives a total of fifty-one specific mental concomitants, listed in six categories. The first, mental concomitants of universal application (SARVATRAGA), includes the five factors of sensory contact (SPARsA), sensations (VEDANA), intention or volition (CETANA), perception (SAMJNA), and attention (MANASKARA). The second category, five concomitants that are of specific application (VINIYATA) in spiritual progress, includes mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA). The third category, salutary (KUsALA) factors, includes nine positive mental states such as faith (sRADDHA), lack of greed (ALOBHA), lack of hatred (ADVEsA), and vigor (VĪRYA). The fourth category, the primary afflictions (KLEsA), includes six negative mental states such as sensuality (RAGA), aversion (PRATIGHA), pride (MANA), and doubt (VICIKITSA). The fifth category, secondary afflictions (UPAKLEsA), includes twenty lesser forms of negative mental states, such as envy (ĪRsYA), harmfulness (VIHIMSA), and carelessness (PRAMADA). The sixth and final category, mental concomitants of indeterminate (ANIYATA) quality, includes the four factors of remorse (KAUKṚTYA), torpor (MIDDHA), thought (VITARKA), and analysis (VICARA). See also CETASIKA.
Caitya. [alt. Caitika; Caityasaila] (P. CetiyavAda; T. Mchod rten pa; C. Zhiduoshanbu; J. Seitasanbu/Seitasenbu; K. Chedasanbu 制多山部). In Sanskrit, "The Caitya Worshippers"; one of the three main subgroups of the MAHASAMGHIKA school of mainstream Buddhism, along with the KAUKKUtIKA and LOKOTTARAVADA [alt. EkavyavahArika]. Inscriptional evidence places the school in the Andhra region of India in the early second century CE, suggesting their possible association with the groups that PAli materials refer to collectively as the ANDHAKA. The Caitya school seems to have been named after its distinctive practice of worshipping shrines and sanctuaries (CAITYA). The founder of the school is presumed to have been a second MAHADEVA, who led a reconsideration of the five propositions about the qualities of an ARHAT offered by an earlier MAHADEVA, whom Buddhist sources from northern India consider to have fomented the initial schism of the mainstream Buddhist schools between the MahAsAMghika and the STHAVIRANIKAYA.
CakkavattisīhanAdasutta. (C. Zhuanlun shengwang xiuxing jing; J. Tenrinjoo shugyokyo; K. Chollyun songwang suhaeng kyong 轉輪聖王修行經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Lion's Roar of the Wheel-Turning Emperor"; the twenty-sixth sutta of the DĪGHANIKAYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the sixth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHAGAMA and a separate SarvAstivAda recension as the seventieth sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); the scripture is known especially for being the only sutta in the PAli canon that mentions the name of the Buddha's successor, Metteya (MAITREYA). Before a gathering of monks at the town of MAtulA in MAGADHA, the Buddha tells the story of a universal or wheel-turning monarch (cakkavattin; S. CAKRAVARTIN) named Dalhanemi, wherein he explains that righteousness and order are maintained in the world so long as kings observe their royal duties. Dalhanemi's successors, unfortunately, gradually abandoned their responsibilities, leading to immorality, strife, and the shortening of life spans from eighty thousand years to a mere ten; the sutta thus attributes the origins of evil in the world to the neglect of royal duty. Upon reaching this nadir, people finally recognize the error of their ways and begin anew to practice morality. The observance of morality leads to improved conditions, until eventually a universal monarch named Sankha appears, who will prepare the way for the advent of the future-Buddha Metteya (Maitreya).
CakrasaMvaratantra. (T. 'Khor lo bde mchog gi rgyud). In Sanskrit, the "Binding of the Wheel Tantra" an important Buddhist tantra, often known simply as the CakrasaMvara (T. 'Khor lo bde mchog). The text is extant in Sanskrit and in a Tibetan translation in seven hundred stanzas, which is subdivided into fifty-one sections; it is also known by the name srīherukAbhidhAna (a name appearing at the end of each section), and commonly known in Tibet as the CakrasaMvara Laghutantra ("short tantra" or "light tantra") or Mulatantra ("root tantra") because, according to legend, there was once a longer text of one hundred thousand stanzas. The main deity of the tantra is HERUKA (also known as CakrasaMvara) and his consort is VAJRAVARAHĪ. Historically, the tantra originated as part of a literature that focused on a class of female divinities called YOGINĪ or dAKINĪ. It and its sister tantra, the HEVAJRATANTRA, probably appeared toward the end of the eighth century, and both show the influence of the Sarvabuddhasamayoga-dAkinījAlasaMvaratantra (referred to by Amoghavajra after his return from India to China in 746 CE). All are classed as yoginītantras. The use of skulls, the presence of the KHATVAnGA staff, and the references to sites holy to saivite KApAlikas (those who use skulls) point to a very close relationship between the saiva KApAlika literature and the early yoginītantras, such that some scholars have suggested an actual appropriation of the saiva literature by Buddhists outside mainstream Buddhist practice. Other scholars suggest this class of tantric literature originates from a SIDDHA tradition, i.e., from individual charismatic yogins and yoginīs with magical powers unaffiliated with particular religions or sects. Among the four classes of tantras-KRIYATANTRA, CARYATANTRA, YOGATANTRA, and ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA-the CakrasaMvaratantra is included in the last category; between the father tantras (PITṚTANTRA) and mother tantra (MATṚTANTRA) categories of anuttarayogatantras, it is classified in the latter category. The siddhas Luipa and SARAHA are prominent in accounts of its origin and transmission, and the siddha NAROPA is of particular importance in the text's transmission in India and from there to Tibet. Like many root tantras, the text contains very little that might be termed doctrine or theology, focusing instead on ritual matters, especially the use of MANTRA for the achievement of various powers (SIDDHI), especially the mundane (LAUKIKA) powers, such as the ability to fly, become invisible, etc. The instructions are generally not presented in a systematic way, although it is unclear whether this is the result of the development of the text over time or the intention of the authors to keep practices secret from the uninitiated. Later commentators found references in the text to elements of both the stage of generation (UTPATTIKRAMA) and stage of completion (NIsPANNAKRAMA). The DAkArnavatantra is included within the larger category of tantras related to the CakrasaMvara cycle, as is the Abhidhanottara and the SaMvarodayatantra. The tantra describes, in greater and less detail, a MAndALA with goddesses in sacred places in India (see PĪtHA) and the process of ABHIsEKA. The practice of the MAYADEHA (T. sgyu lus, "illusory body") and CAndALĪ (T. gtum mo, often translated as "psychic heat") are closely associated with this tantra. It was translated twice into Tibetan and is important in all three new-translation (GSAR MA) Tibetan sects, i.e., the SA SKYA, BKA' BRGYUD, and DGE LUGS. Iconographically, the CakrasaMvara mandala, starting from the outside, has first eight cremation grounds (sMAsANA), then a ring of fire, then VAJRAs, then lotus petals. Inside that is the palace with five concentric placement rings going in toward the center. In the center is the main deity Heruka with his consort VajravArAhī trampling on BHAIRAVA and his consort KAlarAtri (deities associated with saivism). There are a number of different representations. One has Heruka (or CakrasaMvara) dark blue in color with four faces and twelve arms, and VArAhī with a single face and two hands, red and naked except for bone ornaments. In the next circles are twenty-four vīras (heroes) with their consorts (related with the twenty-four pītha), with the remaining deities in the mandala placed in different directions in the outer circles.
CAmadevīvaMsa. In PAli, "History of Queen CAma"; a chronicle in mixed prose and verse written by MahAthera BodhiraMsi at Lamphun (HaripuNjaya) in northern Thailand, sometime between 1460 and 1530 CE. The text recounts the accession of Queen CAma to the throne of Haripunjaya in the seventh century CE and the introduction of THERAVADA Buddhism as the state religion under her patronage. The work begins with an account of the legendary visit by the Buddha to the site of Lamphun, where he prophesied the city's future greatness, and goes on to describe its founding under the direction of various sages. The narrative concludes with accounts of the reigns of kings after Queen CAma, culminating with AdityarAjA who flourished in the eleventh century.
Candrakīrti. (T. Zla ba grags pa) (c. 600-650). An important MADHYAMAKA master and commentator on the works of NAGARJUNA and ARYADEVA, associated especially with what would later be known as the PRASAnGIKA branch of Madhyamaka. Very little is known about his life; according to Tibetan sources, he was from south India and a student of Kamalabuddhi. He may have been a monk of NALANDA. He wrote commentaries on NAgArjuna's YUKTIsAstIKA and suNYATASAPTATI as well as Aryadeva's CATUḤsATAKA. His two most famous and influential works, however, are his PRASANNAPADA ("Clear Words"), which is a commentary on NAgArjuna's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA, and his MADHYAMAKAVATARA ("Entrance to the Middle Way"). In the first chapter of the PrasannapadA, he defends the approach of BUDDHAPALITA against the criticism of BHAVAVIVEKA in their own commentaries on the MulamadhyamakakArikA. Candrakīrti argues that it is inappropriate for the Madhyamaka to use what is called an autonomous syllogism (SVATANTRAPRAYOGA) in debating with an opponent and that the Madhyamaka should instead use a consequence (PRASAnGA). It is largely based on Candrakīrti's discussion that Tibetan scholars retrospectively identified two subschools of Madhyamaka, the SVATANTRIKA (in which they placed BhAvaviveka) and the PrAsangika (in which they placed BuddhapAlita and Candrakīrti). Candrakīrti's other important work is the MadhyamakAvatAra, written in verse with an autocommentary. It is intended as a general introduction to the MulamadhyamakakArikA, and provides what Candrakīrti regards as the soteriological context for NAgArjuna's work. It sets forth the BODHISATTVA path, under the rubric of the ten bodhisattva stages (BHuMI; DAsABHuMI) and the ten perfections (PARAMITA). By far the longest and most influential chapter of the text is the sixth, dealing with the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA), where Candrakīrti discusses the two truths (SATYADVAYA), offers a critique of CITTAMATRA, and sets forth the reasoning for proving the selflessness of phenomena (DHARMANAIRATMYA) and the selflessness of the person (PUDGALANAIRATMYA), using his famous sevenfold analysis of a chariot as an example. Candrakīrti seems to have had little influence in the first centuries after his death, perhaps accounting for the fact that his works were not translated into Chinese (until the 1940s). There appears to have been a revival of interest in his works in India, especially in Kashmir, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, at the time of the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet. Over the next few centuries, Candrakīrti's works became increasingly important in Tibet, such that eventually the MadhyamakAvatAra became the locus classicus for the study of Madhyamaka in Tibet, studied and commented upon by scholars of all sects and serving as one of the "five texts" (GZHUNG LNGA) of the DGE LUGS curriculum. ¶ There appear to be later Indian authors who were called, or called themselves, Candrakīrti. These include the authors of the Trisaranasaptati and the MadhyamakAvatAraprajNA, neither of which appears to have been written by the author described above. Of particular importance is yet another Candrakīrti, or CandrakīrtipAda, the author of the Pradīpoddyotana, an influential commentary on the GUHYASAMAJATANTRA. Scholars often refer to this author as Candrakīrti II or "the tantric Candrakīrti."
CApAlacaitya. (P. CApAlacetiya; T. Tsa pa la mchod rten; C. Zhepoluo ta; J. Shabara no to; K. Ch'abara t'ap 遮婆羅塔) In Sanskrit, "CApAla shrine"; the site near the city of VAIsALĪ where the Buddha GAUTAMA announced his intention to die and enter PARINIRVAnA. According to the PAli MAHAPARINIBBANASUTTANTA, on an excursion to the shrine with his attendant, ANANDA, the Buddha mentioned that, because he had fully mastered the four bases of psychic power (P. iddhipAda, S. ṚDDHIPADA), he had the ability to extend his life "for an eon or until the end of the eon" (P. kappa; S. KALPA). (The PAli commentaries take "eon" here to mean "his full allotted lifespan," not a cosmological period.) Although he raised this prospect a second and third time, Ananda did not take the hint, and the Buddha finally "consciously and deliberately" renounced his remaining lifespan and proclaimed he would pass away in three months' time. When the earth quaked at his decision, Ananda finally realized what had happened and earnestly entreated the Buddha to extend his lifespan. However, the Buddha refused, enumerating the many occasions in the past when the Buddha had made the same statement and Ananda had failed to make the request. Ananda would later explain that he had been distracted by MARA. For his error, Ananda was publicly censured by his colleagues at the time of the first Buddhist council following the Buddha's death (see COUNCIL, FIRST). The CApAla shrine was probably some sort of pre-Buddhist tree shrine; it was almost certainly not a Buddhist reliquary or commemorative tumulus (CAITYA).
carita. (T. spyod pa; C. xing; J. gyo; K. haeng 行). In Sanskrit and PAli, "conduct," "behavior," or "temperament"; an alternative form is Sanskrit caryA (P. cariyA). As "behavior," carita is typically bifurcated into either good (sucarita) or bad (S. duscarita; P. duccarita) conduct. As "temperament," carita is used to indicate six general character types, which are predominantly biased toward the negative temperaments of greedy (RAGA), hateful (S. DVEsA; P. dosa), and deluded (MOHA), or the more positive temperaments of faithful (S. sRADDHA; P. saddhA), intelligent (BUDDHI), and discursive (S. VITARKA; P. vitakka), a taxonomy found in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. The first three types of temperaments are negative and thus need to be corrected. (1) A greedy temperament is constantly searching out new sensory experiences and clings to things that are not beneficial. (2) A hateful temperament is disaffected, always finding imaginary faults in others; along with the intelligent temperament, he is less prone to clinging than the other character types. (3) A deluded temperament is agitated and restless, because he is unable to make up his mind about anything and follows along with others' decisions. The latter three types of temperaments are positive and thus need to be enhanced. (4) A faithful temperament is like a greedy type who instead cultivates wholesome actions and clings to what is beneficial. (5) An intelligent temperament is like a hateful type who performs salutary actions and points out real faults; along with the hateful temperament, he is less prone to clinging than the other character types. (6) A discursive temperament is characterized by a restlessness of mind that constantly flits from topic to topic and vacillates due to his constant conjecturing; if these discursive energies can be harnessed, however, that knowledge may lead to wisdom. The Visuddhimagga also provides detailed guidelines for determining a person's temperament by observing their posture, their preferences in food, and the sort of mental concomitants with which they are typically associated. This knowledge of temperaments is important as a tool of practice (BHAVANA), because in the Visuddhimagga's account of visualization (P. KASInA) exercises, the practitioner is taught to use an appropriate kasina device or meditation topic (P. KAMMAttHANA) either to mitigate the influence of the negative temperaments or enhance the influence of the positive ones. Thus, a practitioner with a greedy temperament is advised to emphasize the cemetery contemplations on foulness (S. AsUBHABHAVANA; P. asubhabhAvanA) and mindfulness of the body (S. KAYANUPAsYANA; P. kAyAnupassanA; see also SMṚTYUPASTHANA); the hateful temperament, the four divine abidings (BRAHMAVIHARA) and the four color kasinas (of blue, yellow, red, white); the deluded temperament, mindfulness of breathing (S. ANAPANASMṚTI; P. AnApAnasati); the discursive temperament, also mindfulness of breathing; the faithful temperament, the first six recollections (S. ANUSMṚTI; P. anussati), viz., of the Buddha, the DHARMA, the SAMGHA, morality, generosity, and the divinities; and the intelligent temperament, the recollections of death and peace, the analysis of the four elements, and the loathsomeness of food. Suitable to all six temperaments are the other six kasinas (viz., of earth, water, fire, air, light, and empty space) and the immaterial absorptions (S. ARuPYAVACARADHYANA; P. arupAvacarajhAna). ¶ In the MAHAYANA, caryA, carita, and related terms (e.g., Sanskrit compounds such as duscara) refer specifically to the difficult course of action that a BODHISATTVA pursues in order to reach the goal of enlightenment. These actions include the unending search or pilgrimage for a teacher, the sacrifices required to meet with an authentic teacher who can teach MahAyAna doctrines (see SADAPRARUDITA, SUDHANA), and the difficult practices of charity, such as giving away all possessions, including family members and even one's body (see DEHADANA; SHESHEN). The JATAKAMALA of sura, the BODHICARYAVATARA of sANTIDEVA, and to a certain extent the BUDDHACARITA of AsVAGHOsA set forth a model of the authentic bodhisattva's behavior for aspirants to emulate. In Buddhist TANTRA, caryA refers to a code of ritual purity, and to an esoteric practice called "yoga with signs" (SANIMITTAYOGA) followed by CARYATANTRA practitioners.
carpalia ::: pl. --> of Carpale
cept of the Lord’s Hosts. [Rf. Caird, Principalities
Chief of the orders of principalities and
churchman ::: n. --> An ecclesiastic or clergyman.
An Episcopalian, or a member of the Established Church of England.
One was is attached to, or attends, church.
Colossians 1:16: “Dominions or principalities or
Dasa-sila (Pali) Dasasīla The ten moral applications and their accompanying practices comprising the code of morality binding upon Buddhist priests; otherwise the ten items of good character and behavior which are abstinence from: 1) panatipata veramani (taking life); 2) adinnadana (taking what is not given to one); 3) abrahmachariya (adultery) otherwise called kamesu michchha-chara; 4) musavada (telling lies); 5) pisunavachaya (slander); 6) pharusa-vachaya (harsh or impolite speech); 7) samphappalapa (frivolous and senseless talk); 8) abhijjhaya (covetousness); 9) byapada (malevolence); 10) michchhaditthiya (heretical views). The first four, with the addition of abstinence from the use of intoxicants, comprise the Pansil (Pancha-sila in Sanskrit) or obligations undertaken when a new follower enters into and accepts Buddhism.
demon. [Rf. Caird, Principalities and Powers.]
Dhammapada (Pali) Dhammpada [from dhamma law, moral conduct (cf Sanskrit dharma) + pada a step, line, stanza] A fundamental text of Southern Buddhism: a collection of 423 verses believed to be the sayings of Gautama Buddha, gathered from older sources and strung together on 26 selected topics. Dealing with a wide range of philosophic and religious thought, with particular emphasis on ethics, they are often couched in beautiful imagery, so that they make a ready and profound appeal to the reader. Self-culture and self-control are forcibly inculcated, and when the precepts are followed they lead to the living of an exalted as well as useful life.
Dhamma: The Pali version of dharma (q.v.).
Dominations, Principalities, Virtues, Cherubim
dominions), powers, virtues; principalities (or
empaling ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Empale
episcopalian ::: a. --> Pertaining to bishops, or government by bishops; episcopal; specifically, of or relating to the Protestant Episcopal Church. ::: n. --> One who belongs to an episcopal church, or adheres to the episcopal form of church government and discipline; a churchman;
episcopalianism ::: n. --> The doctrine and usages of Episcopalians; episcopacy.
Epistles, the principalities are regarded as both
espaliered ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Espalier
espaliering ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Espalier
espalier ::: n. --> A railing or trellis upon which fruit trees or shrubs are trained, as upon a wall; a tree or row of trees so trained. ::: v. t. --> To form an espalier of, or to protect by an espalier.
ethnarchy ::: n. --> The dominion of an ethnarch; principality and rule.
flake ::: n. --> A paling; a hurdle.
A platform of hurdles, or small sticks made fast or interwoven, supported by stanchions, for drying codfish and other things.
A small stage hung over a vessel&
fort ::: n. --> A strong or fortified place; usually, a small fortified place, occupied only by troops, surrounded with a ditch, rampart, and parapet, or with palisades, stockades, or other means of defense; a fortification.
function of the principalities and powers spoken
Gautama (Sanskrit) Gautama Gotama (Pali) The sacerdotal name of the Sakya family, hence the name of Prince Siddhartha, the son of Suddhodana of Kapilavastu. Gautama Buddha was also called Sakyamuni, meaning the muni or sage of the Sakyas.
gives Og as another name for Palit. Still another
glass-crab ::: n. --> The larval state (Phyllosoma) of the genus Palinurus and allied genera. It is remarkable for its strange outlines, thinness, and transparency. See Phyllosoma.
Gotama Pali spelling of Gautama. See GAUTAMA
head of the order of principalities. “He presides
Iddhi (Pali) Iddhi [from the verbal root sidh to succeed, attain an objective, reach accomplishment] Equivalent to the Sanskrit siddhi, used to signify the powers or attributes of perfection: powers of various kinds, spiritual and intellectual as well as astral and physical, acquired through training, discipline, initiation, and individual holiness. In Buddhism it is generally rendered “occult power.” There are two classes of iddhis, the higher of which, according to the Digha-Nikaya and other Buddhist works, are eight in number: 1) the power to project mind-made images of oneself; 2) to become invisible; 3) to pass through solid things, such as a wall; 4) to penetrate solid ground as if it were water; 5) to walk on water; 6) to fly through the air; 7) to touch sun and moon; and 8) to ascend into the highest heavens. The same work represents the Buddha as saying: “It is because I see danger in the practice of these mystic wonders that I loathe and abhor and am ashamed thereof” (1:213) — a true statement although iddhis are powers of the most desirable kind when pertaining to the higher nature, for they are of spiritual, intellectual, and higher psychical character. It is only when iddhis or siddhis are limited to the meaning of the gross astral psychic attributes that the Buddha properly condemns them as being dangerous always, and to the ambitious and selfish person extremely perilous. Further, it was an offense against the regulations of the Brotherhood (Samgha) for any member to display any powers before the laity.
I laid the book aside and asked myself: who are these seven holy ones that stand before God? Has any biblical scholar identified them? Are they of the order of seraphim, cherubim, principalities, powers? And are they always the same seven who enjoy the privilege and eminence of closest proximity to the throne of Glory? And why seven? Were the seven planets the prototype? Or did the notion derive from the well-known chapter in Ezekiel 9: 2-11 which gives a terrifying picture of six “men” and a seventh “clothed in linen” whom God summoned to Jerusalem to “slay without pity”? Challenging, even intimidating, questions and ones that, I felt, ought not to be left unanswered. Meantime, the pursuit led me down many a heavenly brook. Over the years it served to unlock realms of gold I never suspected existed in Heaven or on earth.
impalement ::: n. --> The act of impaling, or the state of being impaled.
An inclosing by stakes or pales, or the space so inclosed.
That which hedges in; inclosure.
The division of a shield palewise, or by a vertical line, esp. for the purpose of putting side by side the arms of husband and wife. See Impale, 3.
impaling ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Impale
In Buddhist writings, the Sutras are the second division of sacred works, generally known under the equivalent Pali term Suttas.
ing to Barrett, The Magus, the principalities “are
ivory-bill ::: n. --> A large, handsome, North American woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), having a large, sharp, ivory-colored beak. Its general color is glossy black, with white secondaries, and a white dorsal stripe. The male has a large, scarlet crest. It is now rare, and found only in the Gulf States.
Jhana ::: A Pali term describing an advanced meditative state of awareness. There are both vipassana jhanas and samatha jhanas. The former describes states of meditative insight that are found through progressing through the stages of mindfulness meditation and the latter describes states of advanced concentration whereupon the object of observation becomes increasingly prounounced in the locus of one's awareness (at least in the early states, in later states that object can drop away entirely). The jhanic states are genuinely preternatural to the mundane mind and are somewhat advanced, so a discussion of them will need to await further research and experience.
Jhana (Pali) Jhāna Meditation in wisdom, equivalent to Sanskrit dhyana. This experience was originally divided into four states: the mystic, with his mind free from sensuous and worldly ideas, concentrates his thoughts on some special subject such as the impermanence or mayavi character of all exterior things; uplifted above attention to externals and ordinary reasoning he experiences keen joy and quiet ease both of body and mind; the bliss passes away and he becomes suffused with a sense of inner completeness, in its higher stages approaching cosmic ranges; he becomes aware permanently of purest lucidity of intellect and perfect equanimity.
Kanjur (Tibetan) bka’ ’gyur (kang-gyur, kan-jur) [from bka’ sacred word + ’gyur translation] The portion of the Tibetan Buddhist canon containing the sutras, the texts ascribed to the Buddha himself and called the “Buddha Word” (Sanskrit buddha-vachana). The second part of the Tibetan Buddhist cannon, the Tanjur, contains sastras or commentaries and other scholastic works. The Kanjur consists almost entirely of works translated from Sanskrit or other Indian languages. Although the texts contained in the Kanjur are overwhelmingly of Indian origin, the compilation of the Kanjur was done in Tibet, and in structure it differs greatly from the old Indian Tripitakas. Four more or less complete recensions of the Buddhist canon survive: the Pali, the Chinese, the Tibetan, and the Mongolian, this last, however, being a translation of the Tibetan. The first three recensions differ from each other in content and arrangement. The overall arrangement of the Kanjur is in three sections, giving the Sanskrit names: Vinaya (monastic discipline), Sutra (discourses of the Buddha), and Tantra (esoteric and ritual texts). The Sutra section is divided into several subsections. Each section or subsection contains numerous individual texts.
kapalika (Kapalik) ::: a kind of saiva ascetic who carries a human skull]
kenogenesis ::: n. --> Modified evolution, in which nonprimitive characters make their appearance in consequence of a secondary adaptation of the embryo to the peculiar conditions of its environment; -- distinguished from palingenesis.
Khuddaka-patha (Pali) Khuddaka-pāṭha [from khuddaka little one + pāṭha reading, text] A Buddhist scripture given to neophytes upon joining the Samgha (the Buddhist brotherhood); first book in the Khuddaka-Nikaya — a collection of short canonical Buddhist books. This brief text contains some of the most beautiful poems in Buddhist literature, and the reverential feelings evoked by reading it are unquestionably the principal reason for its use. It opens with a profession of faith in the Buddha, in the Doctrine, and in the Order.
klicket ::: n. --> A small postern or gate in a palisade, for the passage of sallying parties.
lists rulers (where customarily “principalities”
lithuanian ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Lithuania (formerly a principality united with Poland, but now Russian and Prussian territory). ::: n. --> A native, or one of the people, of Lithuania; also, the language of the Lithuanian people.
lobster ::: n. --> Any large macrurous crustacean used as food, esp. those of the genus Homarus; as the American lobster (H. Americanus), and the European lobster (H. vulgaris). The Norwegian lobster (Nephrops Norvegicus) is similar in form. All these have a pair of large unequal claws. The spiny lobsters of more southern waters, belonging to Palinurus, Panulirus, and allied genera, have no large claws. The fresh-water crayfishes are sometimes called lobsters.
low-church ::: a. --> Not placing a high estimate on ecclesiastical organizations or forms; -- applied especially to Episcopalians, and opposed to high-church. See High Church, under High.
Maha-Parinibbana-Sutta or Suttanta (Pali) Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta [from mahā great + parinibbāna complete nirvana + sutta, suttanta text, book] The Book of the Great Decease of the Buddhist Pali canon, “one of the most authoritative of the Buddhist sacred writings” (TG 200).
Mahavansa, Mahavamsa (Sanskrit) Mahāvaṃśa [from mahā great + vaṃśa lineage, race] Great lineage; a Pali work written by the monk Mahanama in the 5th century, treating of Buddhist history and its spread in Ceylon; regarded as an authoritative historical work.
marmoset ::: n. --> Any one of numerous species of small South American monkeys of the genera Hapale and Midas, family Hapalidae. They have long soft fur, and a hairy, nonprehensile tail. They are often kept as pets. Called also squirrel monkey.
Mehaiah —an angel of the order of principali¬
Metempsychosis(Greek) ::: A compound vocable which may be rendered briefly by "insouling after insouling," or "changingsoul after soul." Metempsychosis contains the specific meaning that the soul of an entity, human or other,moves not merely from condition to condition, migrates not merely from state to state or from body tobody; but also that it is an indivisible entity in its inmost essence, which is pursuing a course along itsown particular evolutionary path as an individual monad, taking upon itself soul after soul; and it is theadventures which befall the soul, in assuming soul after soul, which in their aggregate are groupedtogether under this word metempsychosis.In ordinary language metempsychosis is supposed to be a synonym for transmigration, reincarnation,preexistence, and palingenesis, etc., but all these words in the esoteric philosophy have specific meaningsof their own, and should not be confused. It is of course evident that these words have strict relationswith each other, as, for instance, every soul in its metempsychosis also transmigrates in its own particularsense; and inversely every transmigrating entity also has its metempsychosis or soul-changings in its ownparticular sense. But these connections or interminglings of meanings must not be confused with thespecific significance attached to each one of these words.The essential meaning of metempsychosis can perhaps be briefly described by saying that a monadduring the course of its evolutionary peregrinations throws forth from itself periodically a newsoul-garment or soul-sheath, and this changing of souls or soul-sheaths as the ages pass is calledmetempsychosis. (See also Transmigration, Reincarnation, Preexistence, Palingenesis)
moonstone ::: n. --> A nearly pellucid variety of feldspar, showing pearly or opaline reflections from within. It is used as a gem. The best specimens come from Ceylon.
Moses, a ruling prince of the order of principalities.
municipalism ::: n. --> Municipal condition.
municipalities ::: pl. --> of Municipality
municipality ::: n. --> A municipal district; a borough, city, or incorporated town or village.
Namas (Sanskrit) Namas [from nam to bow, make reverence; cf Pali namo] A reverence, consisting of an inclination of the body; both in act and in writing a reverential salutation. “The first word of a daily invocation among Buddhists, meaning ‘I humbly trust, or adore, or acknowledge’ the Lord, as: ‘Namo tasso Bhagavato Arahato’ etc., addressed to Lord Buddha. The priests are called ‘Masters of Namah’ [Namas] — both Buddhist and Taoist, because this word is used in liturgy and prayers, in the invocation of the Triratna, and with a slight change in the occult incantations to the Bodhisattvas and Nirmanakayas” (TG 224).
Nibbana ::: A Pali term translated as "Quenching" or "Extinguishing". Surrendering to the Unmanifest results in this: a cessation of experience. A manner of looking at enlightenment as a liberation from Suffering as contrasted with the view of enlightenment as a snuffing out of the flames of experience to end Suffering (a semantic distinction that characterizes Nirodha). See Enlightenment and The Veils of Negative Existence.
Nibbana: The Pali version of the term nirvana (q.v.).
Nirodha ::: A Pali term translated as "Cessation" or "Removal". Refers to the non-experience that is the cessation of conscious experience. This occurs through surrendering from Kether to the Unmanifest. A way of looking at enlightenment as an extinguishment of Suffering as opposed to the view of enlightenment as a liberation from suffering (a distinction that characterizes Nibbana). See also Enlightenment and The Veils of Negative Existence.
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.
of principalities, a post shared with Haniel, Nisroc,
of principalities. In occult lore, he is regarded as
of principalities, or rather an ex-angel of that
of principalities.”
“of Principalities the prime.” Masters, Eros and
opalescent ::: a. --> Reflecting a milky or pearly light from the interior; having an opaline play of colors.
opaline ::: a. --> Of, pertaining to, or like, opal in appearance; having changeable colors like those of the opal.
opalized ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Opalize
opalize ::: v. t. --> To convert into opal, or a substance like opal.
opalizing ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Opalize
order of principalities, according to Waite, The
order of principalities (elohim), sharing the post
order of principalities is Suroth. [Rf. Christian,
order of principalities, ruler of the sign of Libra the father of the families of Merari.”
order of principalities, virtues (tarshishim), and
(over virtues); 7. Haniel (over principalities);
Pachcheka-yana (Pali) Pacceka-yāna [from pacceka for oneself or for the personal + yāna vehicle] Personal vehicle or personality, in contradistinction to the individuality (amita-yana); the Sanskrit is pratyeka-yana. In the sevenfold classification of the human principles, the personal ego or vehicle is a combination of the four lower principles illumined with as much of manas as the lower quaternary is capable of receiving and retaining.
paled ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Pale ::: a. --> Striped.
Inclosed with a paling.
PAli Cross-References
palification ::: n. --> The act or practice of driving piles or posts into the ground to make it firm.
paliform ::: a. --> Resembling a palus; as, the paliform lobes of the septa in corals.
palilogy ::: n. --> The repetition of a word, or part of a sentence, for the sake of greater emphasis; as, "The living, the living, he shall praise thee."
palimpsest ::: a manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and often legible.
palimpsest ::: n. --> A parchment which has been written upon twice, the first writing having been erased to make place for the second.
palindrome ::: n. --> A word, verse, or sentence, that is the same when read backward or forward; as, madam; Hannah; or Lewd did I live, & evil I did dwel.
palindromic ::: a. --> Alt. of Palindromical
palindromical ::: a. --> Of, pertaining to, or like, a palindrome.
palindromist ::: n. --> A writer of palindromes.
palindrone: A word, line, phrase or sentence which can be read the same backwards as forwards. The famous example of this is "Madam, I'm Adam."
palingenesia ::: n. --> See Palingenesis.
palingenesis ::: n. --> Alt. of Palingenesy
palingenesy ::: n. --> A new birth; a re-creation; a regeneration; a continued existence in different manner or form.
That form of evolution in which the truly ancestral characters conserved by heredity are reproduced in development; original simple descent; -- distinguished from kenogenesis. Sometimes, in zoology, the abrupt metamorphosis of insects, crustaceans, etc.
palingenetic ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to palingenesis: as, a palingenetic process.
paling ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Pale ::: n. --> Pales, in general; a fence formed with pales or pickets; a limit; an inclosure.
The act of placing pales or stripes on cloth; also, the stripes themselves.
palinode ::: n. --> An ode recanting, or retracting, a former one; also, a repetition of an ode.
A retraction; esp., a formal retraction.
palinodial ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to a palinode, or retraction.
palinody ::: n. --> See Palinode.
pali ::: n. --> pl. of Palus.
A dialect descended from Sanskrit, and like that, a dead language, except when used as the sacred language of the Buddhist religion in Farther India, etc. ::: pl. --> of Palus
palinurus ::: n. --> An instrument for obtaining directly, without calculation, the true bearing of the sun, and thence the variation of the compass
palisaded ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Palisade
palisade ::: n. --> A strong, long stake, one end of which is set firmly in the ground, and the other is sharpened; also, a fence formed of such stakes set in the ground as a means of defense.
Any fence made of pales or sharp stakes. ::: v. t. --> To surround, inclose, or fortify, with palisades.
palisading ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Palisade ::: n. --> A row of palisades set in the ground.
palisadoes ::: pl. --> of Palisado
palisado ::: n. --> A palisade. ::: v. t. --> To palisade.
palish ::: a. --> Somewhat pale or wan.
palissander ::: n. --> Violet wood.
Rosewood.
palissy ::: a. --> Designating, or of the nature of, a kind of pottery made by Bernard Palissy, in France, in the 16th centry.
palities; also one of the 72 angels bearing the
palities [Cf. Nisroc], prince of archangels, and
palities. [Rf. Garinet, History of Magic in France ;
papalist ::: n. --> A papist.
papality ::: n. --> The papacy.
papalize ::: v. t. --> To make papal. ::: v. i. --> To conform to popery.
Paradise Lost VI, 447 as “of principalities the
phyllosoma ::: n. --> The larva of the spiny lobsters (Palinurus and allied genera). Its body is remarkably thin, flat, and transparent; the legs are very long. Called also glass-crab, and glass-shrimp.
Pleroma (Greek) Fullness, completion, entirety; used by the Gnostics, as for instance by Valentinus in the Pistis Sophia, to denote the fullness of the manifested universe as a whole; hence, space and its contents. In a more spiritual and accurate sense, it is absolute space with its seven, ten, or twelve planes or degrees of consciousness-substance. Evolution starts from a primal point and is fulfilled in the pleroma or manifested sum total of a manifested universe, with especial emphasis on its inner and invisible ranges and planes. Therefore, it is the kosmic abode of the invisible gods or divinities in all their many ranges and ranks, together with the planes, worlds, and spheres composing the fullness; the whole elaborately divided and subdivided into planes and hierarchies of emanations, one manner of treatment being geometrically symbolized by squares, circles, points, etc. For convenience’ sake, pleroma is usually divided into three degrees, the highest, the intermediate, and the lowest. It was converted by the Christian Church into an abode for Fallen Angels, Principalities, and Powers.
Poicl —an angel of the order of principalities.
Praklit [Palit]
prakrit ::: n. --> Any one of the popular dialects descended from, or akin to, Sanskrit; -- in distinction from the Sanskrit, which was used as a literary and learned language when no longer spoken by the people. Pali is one of the Prakrit dialects.
Pratyeka-yana (Sanskrit) Pratyeka-yāna [from prati towards, for + eka one + yāna vehicle, path] The path of each one for himself, or the personal vehicle or ego, equivalent to the Pali pachcheka. Fully self-conscious being cannot ever be achieved by following the path for oneself, but solely by following the amrita-yana (immortal vehicle) or the path of self-consciousness in immortality, the spiritual path to a nirvana of high degree, the secret path as taught by the heart doctrine. The pratyeka-yana is the pathway of the personality, the vegetative or material path to a nirvana of a low degree, the open path, as taught by the eye doctrine. These two terms describe two kinds of advancement towards more spiritual things, and the two ultimate goals thereof: the amrita-yana of the Buddhas of Compassion, and the pratyeka-yana of the Pratyeka Buddhas.
Preexistence ::: This term means that the human soul did not first come into being or existence with its present birth onearth; in other words, that it preexisted before it was born on earth.This doctrine of preexistence is by no means typically theosophical, for it likewise was a part of the earlyteachings of Christianity, as is evidenced in the writings that remain to us of Origen, the greatAlexandrian Church Father, and of his school. The theosophical student should be very careful indistinguishing the technical meanings that pertain to several words which in popular and mistaken usageare often employed interchangeably, as for example preexistence, metempsychosis, transmigration,reincarnation, reimbodiment, rebirth, metensomatosis, palingenesis. Each one of these words has aspecific meaning typically its own, and describes or sets forth one phase of the destiny of a reimbodyingand migrating entity. In popular usage, several of these words are used as synonyms, and this usage iswrong. Preexistence, for instance, does not necessarily signify the transmigration of an entity from planeto plane nor, indeed, does it signify as does reincarnation that a migrating monad reinfleshes orreincarnates itself through its ray on earth. Preexistence signifies only that a soul, be it human or other,preexisted before its birth on earth.The doctrine of the great Origen, as found in his works that remain to us, was that the human soulpreexisted in the spiritual world, or within the influence or range of the divine essence or "God," before itbegan a series of reincarnations on earth. It is obvious that Origen's manner of expressing his views is amore or less faithful but distorted reflection of the teaching of the esoteric philosophy. The teaching ofpreexistence as outlined by Origen and his school and followers, with others of his mysticalquasi-theosophical doctrines, was formally condemned and anathematized at the Home Synod held underMennas at Constantinople about 543 of the Christian era. Thus passed out of orthodox Christian theologyas a "newly discovered heresy" what was a most important and mystical body of teaching of the earlycenturies of the new Christian religion -- to the latter's great loss, spiritual and intellectual. The doctrinesof Origen and his school may be said to have formed an important part of original Christian theosophy, aform of universal theosophy of Christianized character. (See under their respective heads the variouscorrelated doctrines mentioned above.)
principalities and powers.”] In The Book of Enoch,
Principalities and Powers, p. 11, uses rulers as a
principalities. [Cf. Milton’s Paradise Lost V:
principalities. In Hell, Belphegor is the demon of
Principalities (or Princedoms)—one of the 9
principalities ::: pl. --> of Principality
Principalities
principalities)
principality ::: n. --> Sovereignty; supreme power; hence, superiority; predominance; high, or the highest, station.
A prince; one invested with sovereignty.
The territory or jurisdiction of a prince; or the country which gives title to a prince; as, the principality of Wales.
principality.
principate ::: n. --> Principality; supreme rule.
Punarjanman (Sanskrit) Punarjanman [from punar again, anew + janman generation, birth, coming into being] Regeneration, rebirth, reimbodiment; it deals with the successive reimbodiments of nature and of all that it comprises, with death and initiation, and with spiritual birth. The Greek equivalent is palingenesis.
Reincarnation ::: An anglicized word of Latin derivation, meaning "reinfleshment," the coming again into a human bodyof an excarnate human soul. The repetitive reimbodiment of the reincarnating human ego in vehicles ofhuman flesh -- this being a special case of the general doctrine of reimbodiment. This general doctrine ofreimbodiment applies not solely to man, but to all centers of consciousness whatsoever, or to all monadswhatsoever -- wheresoever they may be on the evolutionary ladder of life, and whatsoever may be theirparticular developmental grade thereon.The meaning of this general doctrine is very simple indeed. It is as follows: everylife-consciousness-center, in other words, every monad or monadic essence, reincorporates itselfrepeatedly in various vehicles or bodies, to use the popular word. These bodies may be spiritual, or theymay be physical, or they may be of a nature intermediate between these two, i.e., ethereal. This rule ofnature, which applies to all monads without exception, takes place in all the different realms of thevisible and invisible universe, and on all its different planes, and in all its different worlds.There are eight words used in the theosophical philosophy in connection with reimbodiment, which arenot all synonymous, although some of these eight words have almost the same specific meaning. Theyare: preexistence, rebirth, reimbodiment, palingenesis, metensomatosis, metempsychosis, transmigration,reincarnation (see under each word for definition). Of these eight words, four only may be said to containthe four different basic ideas of the general doctrine of reimbodiment, and these four are preexistence,reimbodiment, metempsychosis, and transmigration.In no case is the word reincarnation identical with any of the other seven words, though of course it hasgrounds of strong similarity with them all, as for instance with preexistence, because obviously the entitypreexists before it reincarnates; and on the same grounds it is similar to rebirth, reimbodiment, andmetensomatosis.The meaning of the word reincarnation differs specifically from rebirth in this, that the latter word simplymeans rebirth in human bodies of flesh on this earth; while the former term also contains the implication,tacit if not expressed, of possible incarnations in flesh by entities which have finished their earthlypilgrimage or evolution, but who can and sometimes do return to this earth in order to incarnate for thepurpose of aiding their less evolved brothers.
revenue ::: n. --> That which returns, or comes back, from an investment; the annual rents, profits, interest, or issues of any species of property, real or personal; income.
Hence, return; reward; as, a revenue of praise.
The annual yield of taxes, excise, customs, duties, rents, etc., which a nation, state, or municipality collects and receives into the treasury for public use.
rhopalia ::: pl. --> of Rhopalium
rhopalic ::: a. --> Applied to a line or verse in which each successive word has one more syllable than the preceding.
rhopalium ::: n. --> One of the marginal sensory bodies of medusae belonging to the Discophora.
ropalic ::: a. --> See Rhopalic. html{color:
Sakkayaditthi (Pali) Sakkāyadiṭṭhi [from sakkāya individuality + diṭṭhi belief, theory; cf Sanskrit sat-kāya true individuality + dṛṣti appearance] The delusion of personality, rather than heresy of individuality, for in theosophical literature the individuality is that part of man which reincarnates again and again, clothing itself with one personality or imbodiment after another. As “the erroneous idea that ‘I am I,’ a man or a woman with a special name, instead of being an inseparable part of the whole” (TG 284), the term signifies the sense of separateness and personality, as opposed to the idea that man is an inseparable part of the universe throughout all the ranges of his composite constitution. It means that the personality of the imbodied man has the appearance, and thereby brings about the delusion that the merely personal man is the spiritual man.
Sakwala (Sinhalese, Cakkavāḷa in Pali) Gautama Buddha uttered this “word” (bana) in his oral instructions to denote “a solar system, of which there is an infinite number in the universe, and which denotes that space to which the light of every sun extends. Each Sakwala contains earths, hells and heavens (meaning good and bad spheres, our earth being considered as hell, in Occultism); attains its prime, then falls into decay and is finally destroyed at regularly recurring periods, in virtue of one immutable law. Upon the earth, the Master taught that there have been already four great ‘continents’ (the Land of the Gods, Lemuria, Atlantis, and the present ‘continent’ divided into five parts of the Secret Doctrine), and that three more have to appear. The former ‘did not communicate with each other,’ a sentence showing that Buddha was not speaking of the actual continents known in his day (for Patala or America was perfectly familiar to the ancient Hindus), but of the four geological formations of the earth, with their four distinct root-races which had already disappeared” (TG 285). See also SAHA
Samanera (Pali) Sāmaṇera A novice in Buddhism.
Samma-sambuddha (Pali) Sammā-sambuddha Used by mystic Buddhists and raja-yogins to signify the complete or perfected knowledge of the whole series of one’s past lives, a phenomenon of memory obtained through the practice of true inner yoga or self-control. More generally, full or complete awaking, in the sense that all the higher nature of the individual is thoroughly awakened and active, thus conferring virtual omniscience as regards our solar system; it likewise brings with it great spiritual and psychic powers. It is the full efflorescence and self-conscious activity of the spiritual monad in and through the one who has attained to this sublime degree in spiritual unfoldment, the becoming at one with the cosmic Logos.
Sammasati (Pali): A Buddhist term meaning Right Recollection in the sense of Right Viewpoint.
Samyutta-Nikaya (Pali) Saṃyutta-Nikāya One of the principal Buddhist works: one of five parts of the Suttanta-Pitaka — a collection of Suttas (dialogs between the Buddha and his disciples). Also spelled Samyuttaka-Nikaya.
Sangha, Samgha (Sanskrit) Sangha (Pali) Saṅgha, Saṃgha, Sangha [from sam together + han to strike together, unite] Assemblage, gathering, convocation; in Buddhism, popularly applied to the assemblage of Buddhist priests (sangha-bhikkhu) and often rendered incorrectly as the Buddhist church. The Order or Brotherhood are also translations.
Sankhara (Pali) Samskara (Sanskrit) Saṅkhāra, Saṃskāra Tendencies (both physical and mental), former impressions, former dispositions; the fourth of the skandhas (bundles of attributes) enumerated in Buddhism.
Sanskrit, on the other hand, “was really the sacred language of the Brahmanas and held more or less private or secret by them. The Sanskrit even in those ancient times was the vehicle for the archaic Wisdom-teachings of the Aryan peoples of India, such as the Vedas, and the Puranas, and the Upanishads, and the great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. But Pali was one of several other languages of culture in ancient India, all which were of so-called Prakrit character, although very little is known about these other literary languages. Pali has survived to the present time because . . . it became the linguistic vehicle in which were enshrined the teachings of Buddhism, i.e., of Southern Buddhism, much as Latin has survived because enshrining the teachings of early medieval Christianity. Just as there were in ancient Italy many other Italic tongues, each one having its literary or cultured form, and likewise its popular idiom, so was it in ancient India.
satrapy ::: n. --> The government or jurisdiction of a satrap; a principality.
sea crayfish ::: --> Any crustacean of the genus Palinurus and allied genera, as the European spiny lobster (P. vulgaris), which is much used as an article of food. See Lobster.
sepaline ::: a. --> Relating to, or having the nature of, sepals.
shouted for joy.”] Caird, Principalities and Powers,
Siddhi (Sanskrit) Siddhi [from the verbal root sidh to be fulfilled, perfected, attain an object] Perfect attainment, full accomplishment; philosophically, occult power or secret mystical power, “attributes of perfection’; phenomenal powers acquired through holiness by Yogis” (TG 298). Equivalent to the Pali iddhi.
Sotapanna (Pali) Sotāpanna One who has entered the path of Sotapatti, the stream to nirvana, the first of the four paths that lead to liberation. See also SROTAPATTI
Sotapatti (Pali) Sotāpatti Equivalent to the Sanskrit srotāpatti — the first of the four paths that lead to nirvana; the other three paths in Pali are sakadagamin, Anagamin, and arahatta.
Sutta ::: A discourse or teaching passed down in various religious and spritual traditions originating on the Indian subcontinent. Most commonly seen in reference to Buddhism as the collected aphorisms and discourses of the Buddha and the various spiritual figureheads of Buddhism. Sometimes this is used to refer solely to the canonical records of the Buddha's teachings: the Pali Canon.
Sutta-pitaka (Pali) Sutta-piṭaka [from sutta (Sanskrit sūtra) dialogue, originally a thread + piṭaka basket] The third section of the Buddhist canon (the Tripitaka or Three Baskets) treating on the dialogs (suttas) of the Buddha and his disciples, especially those in the style of discourses and narratives.
Tanha(Pali) ::: A word familiar in Buddhism and signifying the "thirst" for material life. It is this thirst or yearningto return to familiar scenes that brings the reincarnating ego back to earth-life -- and this yearning is moreeffectual as an individual cause for reincarnation, perhaps, than all else. (See also Trishna)
Tanha (Pali) Taṇhā Thirst; in Buddhism the thirst or longing for material existence, the desire to return to the familiar scenes of earth-life. It is “the lower Ego, or personal Self . . . with its fierce Selfishness and animal desire to live a Senseless life (Tanha), which is ‘the maker of the tabernacle,’ as Buddha calls it in Dhammapada” (SD 2:110). This desire to live and the clinging to life on earth is the effectual cause producing rebirth. Equivalent to the Sanskrit trishna.
Tharana [probably Hindi; cf Pali tharana strewing, spreading; Sanskrit starana from the verbal root stri to strew, scatter] Self-induced trance or self-hypnosis; “an action in India, which is of magical character and a kind of exorcism. Lit., ‘to brush or sweep away’ (evil influences, tharhn meaning a broom, and tharnhan, a duster); driving away the bad bhuts (bad aura and bad spirits) through the mesmeriser’s beneficent will” (TG 327).
the ark. Palit ( q.v .) is another name for Og. [See
the order of principalities. Barrett, The Magus, also civil and ecclesiastical personages of the
Thera (Pali) Thera A Buddhist priest, especially a bhikkhu of Gautama Buddha’s community; specifically a senior member. Three grades were distinguished: thera bhikkhu (a senior); majjhima bhikkhu (middle or secondary disciple); and nava bhikkhu (novice). Four characteristics are mentioned, however, making a man a thera: high character, knowing the essential doctrines by heart, practicing the four jhanas (stages of meditation), and being conscious of having attained at least relative freedom through the destruction of the mental intoxications. A senior woman was termed theri or therika.
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.
Thrones An angelic group in the Christian celestial hierarchy, as outlined by the pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. The Thrones rank third in the ninefold scheme, being preceded by the Seraphim and Cherubim; the second and intermediate triad is formed of Dominions, Virtues, and Powers; while the third triad is formed of Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. This scheme was derived from Hebrew angelology, which comes from the Chaldean; although this Christian angelic scheme has been philosophically powerfully affected by Neoplatonic and neo-Pythagorean thought. “They who are called in Theology ‘the Thrones,’ and are the ‘Seat of God,’ must be the first incarnated men on Earth” (SD 2:80). The Zohar states that the Benei ’Elohim (sons of god) belong to the tenth subdivision of the Thrones. The ancient Syrians defined their world of Rulers similarly to the Chaldeans: the lowest world was the sublunary, our earth, ruled by Angels; then Mercury, Archangels; Venus, Principalities; Sun, Powers; Mars, Virtues; Jupiter, Dominions; and Saturn, Thrones.
tion of the powers and the principalities and the
train ::: v. t. --> To draw along; to trail; to drag.
To draw by persuasion, artifice, or the like; to attract by stratagem; to entice; to allure.
To teach and form by practice; to educate; to exercise; to discipline; as, to train the militia to the manual exercise; to train soldiers to the use of arms.
To break, tame, and accustom to draw, as oxen.
To lead or direct, and form to a wall or espalier; to
treillage ::: n. --> Latticework for supporting vines, etc.; an espalier; a trellis.
Trishna(Sanskrit) ::: The meaning of this word is "thirst" or "longing," but it is a technical term imbodying the ideathat it is this "thirst" for the things which the human ego formerly knew, and which it wills and desires toknow again -- things familiar and akin to it from past experiences -- which draws the intermediate natureor human ego of man back again to incarnation in earth-life. It is attracted anew to what is to it old andfamiliar worlds and scenes; it thirsts for the manifested life comprising them, for the things which itformerly made akin to itself; and thus is it attracted back to those spheres which it left at some precedingperiod of its evolutionary journey through them, when death overtook it. Its attraction to return to earth isnaught but an operation of a law of nature. Here the intermediate nature or human ego sowed the seeds ofthought and of action in past lives, and here therefore must it of necessity reap their fruits. It cannot reapwhere it has not sown, as is obvious enough. It never goes whither it is not attracted or drawn.After death has released the intermediate nature, and during long ages has given to it its period of blissand rest and psychical recuperation -- much as a quiet and reposeful night's sleep is to the tired physicalbody -- then, just as a man reawakens by degrees, so does this intermediate nature or human ego bydegrees recede or awaken from that state of rest and bliss called devachan. And the seeds of thoughts, theseeds of actions which it had done in former lives, are now laid by in the fabric of itself -- seeds whosenatural energy is still unexpended and unexhausted -- and inhere in that inner psychical fabric, for theyhave nowhere else in which to inhere, since the man produced them there and they are a part of him.These seeds of former thoughts and acts, of former emotions, desires, loves, hates, yearnings, andaspirations, each one of such begins to make itself felt as an urge earthwards, towards the spheres andplanes in which they are native, and where they naturally grow and expand and develop.In this our present life, all of us are setting in motion causes in thought and in action which will bring usback to this earth in the distant future. We shall then reap the harvest of the seeds of thought and actionthat we are in this present life planting in the fields of our human nature.In the Pali books of the Orient this word is called tanha.
Trishna (Sanskrit) Tṛṣṇā Thirst, longing; equivalent to the Pali tanha (thirst for life); the thirst or desire which draws the intermediate nature or human ego back into incarnation in earth-life.
unprince ::: v. t. --> To deprive of the character or authority of a prince; to divest of principality of sovereignty.
variations ofHaniel, chief of principalities and “the tallest angel in Heaven,” may be set down in
Vehuel —an angel of the order of principalities;
Vijnana (Sanskrit) Vinnana (Pali) Vijñāna, Viññāṇa [from vi-jñā to know exactly, perceive clearly from the verbal root jñā to know] Mental powers; the perfect knowledge of every perceptible thing and of all objects in their concatenation and unity; the faculty of the higher manas. The tenth nidana or causes of existence; and the fifth skandha, “an amplification of the fourth — meaning the mental, physical and moral predispositions” (ML 111).
Virtues One degree in the celestial hierarchy of Dionysius the pseudo-Areopagite, whose doctrines, arising about the 4th or 5th century, have exercised a great influence on Christian thought. He divides the heavenly host into three triads: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominations, Virtues, Powers; Principalities, Archangels, Angels. As a hierarchy of emanating powers, this system is allied to, and in large part derivative from, Neoplatonic teachings of the time, as well as having strong elements of Pythagorean thought. The Virtues correspond to the planet Mars, according to the hierarchical scheme of the Syrians. See also ANGELOLOGY
wallaba ::: n. --> A leguminous tree (Eperua falcata) of Demerara, with pinnate leaves and clusters of red flowers. The reddish brown wood is used for palings and shingles.
What is here called selfishness corresponds in the minds of Buddhist philosophers and scholars to the ideas they disputed grouped about the word atman. They never intended to deny the fundamental meaning of atman or selfhood, and yet this misconception of ancient Buddhist teaching has brought about the false idea that Gautama Buddha and his followers taught that man has no essential self or selfhood. Because selfishness was popularly considered the permanent soulhood in man, the doctrine of anatma (in Pali, anatta) was strongly and continuously taught. The deduction shows clearly that even in India at the time of the Buddha, selfhood in its popular sense of concentration on the lower self and its interests was as popular and widespread as today. It is a paradox that in selflessness is found the noblest and highest emanation of self-expression of the atman or spiritual self in man.
Ye-damma, Ye-dhamma (Pali) Ye-dharmah (Sanskrit) Ye-dhammā, Ye-dharmāḥ Generally, laws or established procedures in nature, meaning by extension the phenomenal world.
York), Raguel was cast as one of the principalities.
Zodiacus vitae (Latin for Zodiac of Life): An old school book by Marcellus Palingenius Stellatus, widely used in England in the 16th century. Its twelve chapters were said by Foster Watson, M.A., Professor of Education in the University College of Wales (in the modern annotated edition published by Philip Wellby in 1908) to “find their parallel in the twelve labours of Hercules,” and thus “to typify the evolution of the human soul through successive stages of mental and spiritual enlightenment.”
KEYS (10k)
2 Buddhist Canons in Pali
1 Samyutta nikaya
1 Pali Canonymous
1 Old Latin palindrome
NEW FULL DB (2.4M)
21 Sarah Palin
3 Anonymous
1:True knowledge does not grow old, so have declared the sages of all times. ~ Buddhist Canons in Pali, #KEYS
2:True knowledge does not grow old, so have declared the sages of all times. ~ Buddhist Canons in Pali, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
3:Desire is the profoundest root of all evil; it is from desire that there has arisen the world of life and sorrow. ~ Pali Canonymous, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
4:The stopping of becoming is Nirvana." ~ Samyutta nikaya, Buddhist scripture, the third of the five collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism, Wikipedia., #KEYS
5:That is the supreme felicity of those who have won their victory, it is the perfect and immutable peace, the defeat of Impermanence, a pure and luminous condition, the victory over death. ~ Canon in Pali, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
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1:What makes a difference is when we take our mind and put it into the scriptures, when we read the Buddhist Canon, the Pali Canon, when we read the Tibetan books, when we read anything inspiring - somebody else's journey into the world of enlightenment. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:True knowledge does not grow old, so have declared the sages of all times. ~ Buddhist Canons in Pali, #NFDB
2:True knowledge does not grow old, so have declared the sages of all times. ~ Buddhist Canons in Pali, #NFDB
3:– De mit írjak? – fakadt ki Pali elcsukló hangon, rimánkodva.
– Akármit. Ami érdekel. Ami eszedbe jut. ~ Dezs Kosztol nyi,#NFDB
4:Desire is the profoundest root of all evil; it is from desire that there has arisen the world of life and sorrow. ~ Pali Canon, #NFDB
5:the Visuddhimagga. This fifth-century text, which means Path to Purification in Pali (the language of Buddhism’s earliest canon), ~ Daniel Goleman, #NFDB
6:Cessation is believed to be a direct insight into an unconditioned reality (Pali: Nibbāna; Sanskrit: Nirvana) that lies behind all manifest phenomena. ~ Sam Harris, #NFDB
7:Hal yang pali aku sesali adalah aku tidak bisa membuat dua orang mengerti jalan pikiran ku, orang pertama adalah Muhammad Ali Jihad dan kedua adalah anakku, Harilal. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
8:Merit” is the usual translation of the Pali word punna, which more literally means “virtue” or that which purifies and cleanses the life stream, bringing good results. ~ Joseph Goldstein, #NFDB
9:Dukkha is not the self-inflicted stress of a technology executive; it’s the real stuff, the kind of suffering that merits the Pali word’s original meaning: brokenness, stuckness. ~ Jay Michaelson, #NFDB
10:That is the supreme felicity of those who have won their victory, it is the perfect and immutable peace, the defeat of Impermanence, a pure and luminous condition, the victory over death. ~ Canon in Pali, #NFDB
11:a passage in the Middle Length Discourses of the Pali Canon where the Buddha says: “Whoever thinks: ‘extinction is mine,’ and rejoices in extinction, such a person, I declare, does not know extinction. ~ Stephen Batchelor, #NFDB
12:The Pali word parami refers to ten wholesome qualities in our minds and the accumulated power they bring to us: generosity, morality, renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, truthfulness, resolve, lovingkindness, and equanimity. ~ Joseph Goldstein, #NFDB
13:It makes Buddhism seem supremely dour. Turns out, though, it’s all the result of a translation error. The Pali word dukkha doesn’t actually mean “suffering.” There’s no perfect word in English, but it’s closer to “unsatisfying” or “stressful. ~ Dan Harris, #NFDB
14:The second skillful action is morality (sila in Pali). In his praise of Ghatikara above, the Buddha Kassapa reiterates the five basic precepts of nonharming: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and taking intoxicants. ~ Joseph Goldstein, #NFDB
15:What makes a difference is when we take our mind and put it into the scriptures, when we read the Buddhist Canon, the Pali Canon, when we read the Tibetan books, when we read anything inspiring - somebody else's journey into the world of enlightenment. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
16:Defects of Samsara The fourth reflection that turns our minds toward the Dharma is the reflection on the defects of samsara. Samsara is a Pali and Sanskrit word that means “perpetual wandering,” or the wandering through the endless cycles of existence. ~ Joseph Goldstein, #NFDB
17:The Pali term for insight meditation is vipassana bhavana. Bhavana comes from the root bhu, which means to grow or to become. Therefore bhavana means to cultivate, and the word is always used in reference to the mind; bhavana means mental cultivation. ~ Henepola Gunaratana, #NFDB
18:She remembered a word he'd often used, karuna-one of the Buddha's words, Pali for compassion, for the immanence of all living things in each other, for the attraction of life for its likeness. A time will come, he had said to the girls, when you too will discover what this word karuna means, and from that moment on, your lives will never again be the same. ~ Amitav Ghosh, #NFDB
19:Love, marriage, divorce, infidelity... life was the same here as anywhere else, wasn't? She realized now wrong she'd been; the pali wasn't a headstone and Kalaupapa wasn't a grave. It was a community like any other, bound by ties deeper than most, and people here went to their deaths as people did anywhere: with great reluctance, dragging the messy jumble of their lives behind them. ~ Alan Brennert, #NFDB
20:These four qualities are among the most beautiful and powerful states of consciousness we can experience. Together they are called in Pali, the language spoken by the Buddha, the brahma-viharas. Brahma means “heavenly.” Vihara means “abode” or “home.” By practicing these meditations, we establish love (Pali, metta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), and equanimity (upekkha) as our home. ~ Sharon Salzberg, #NFDB
21:Veliki plesači uistinu pate. I pokret je u njihovim očima. Posebice dok su zatvorene. Na pozornici mora biti grijeh. Moraju biti skršeni jer su htjeli pridružiti se tome grijehu. Zbog toga što su pali na koljena, moraš ih natjerati da se osjećaju krivima kao što nikad prije nisu. Zbog toga što te gledaju, jer su zadivljeni, jer te nisu mogli uhvatiti i odvesti iz toga svijeta...Nikad im ne smiješ oprostiti. ~ Ece Temelkuran, #NFDB
22:Veličina je upisana u genetskom materijalu svakog ljudskog bića. Naši životi bi trebalo da budu uzbudljivi i ispunjeni radošću, ljubavlju, mirom i lepotom. Sreća je naše rođenjem stečeno pravo. Pali smo u zamku osrednjosti. Verujemo da nismo stvoreni za čudesa. Igramo na malo zbog straha da ćemo se povrediti ako zako- račimo ka višim mogućnostima, da nas ljudi neće voleti ili da nam životi neće funkcionisati. ~ Robin S Sharma, #NFDB
23:Life is suffering” is misleading for at least two reasons. First, the Buddha used an ancient Indian language similar to Sanskrit called Pali, and the word he used in Pali for the first noble truth, dukkha, is difficult to translate. Dukkha is too multifaceted and nuanced a term to be captured in the one-word translation “suffering.” And second, the fact of dukkha in our lives doesn’t mean that life is only dukkha. ~ Toni Bernhard, #NFDB
24:For the Buddha of the Pali Canon, the goal is liberation: the cessation of suffering, the end of the endless hamster-wheel of dependent origination, of mental formations leading to desire leading to clinging leading to suffering and so on. Nibbana, or nirvana, was not originally conceived as some magical heavenly world, or even a permanent altered state of consciousness. It is usually described, in the early texts, negatively: as a candle being snuffed out. ~ Jay Michaelson, #NFDB
25:Believe nothing, O monks, merely because you have been told it … or because it is traditional, or because you yourselves have imagined it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings—that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide. ~ Gautama Buddha (attributed, Original wording, source: Kalama Sutra, Pali Canon)., #NFDB
26:The Bible represents a fundamental guidepost for millions of people on the planet, in much the same way the Koran, Torah, and Pali Canon offer guidance to people of other religions. If you and I could dig up documentation that contradicted the holy stories of Islamic belief, Judaic belief, Buddhist belief, pagan belief, should we do that? Should we wave a flag and tell the Buddhists that the Buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical. ~ Dan Brown, #NFDB
27:PROCESS PHILOSOPHY, a school greatly influenced by Alfred North Whitehead, holds that mind and brain are manifestations of a single reality, one that is in constant flux. It thus is compatible with classical Buddhist philosophy, which views clear and penetrating awareness of change and impermanence (anicca in Pali) as the essence of insight. Thus, as Whitehead put it, "The reality is the process," and it is a process made up of vital transient "drops of experience, complex, and interdependent." This view is strikingly consistent with recent developments in quantum physics. ~ Jeffrey M Schwartz, #NFDB
28:Nie pojmuję, jak można nie palić, kto nie pali, dobrowolnie pozbawia się, że tak powiem, najlepszej cząstki życia, w każdym razie wielkiej przyjemności. Budząc się już się cieszę, że w ciągu dnia będę mógł palić, a przy jedzeniu znów się na to cieszę, a nawet mogę powiedzieć, oczywiście z pewną przesadą – że jem tylko po to, aby później zapalić. Ale dzień bez tytoniu byłby dla mnie szczytem szarzyzny, byłby dniem zupełnie pustym i bez żadnego powabu, a gdybym musiał sobie rano powiedzieć:dzisiaj nie ma nic do palenia-sądzę, że nie znalazłbym wcale odwagi, żeby wstać, słowo daję, że zostałbym w łóżku. ~ Thomas Mann, #NFDB
29:The Buddha’s signature pronouncement—“Life is suffering”—is the source of a major misunderstanding, and by extension, a major PR problem. It makes Buddhism seem supremely dour. Turns out, though, it’s all the result of a translation error. The Pali word dukkha doesn’t actually mean “suffering.” There’s no perfect word in English, but it’s closer to “unsatisfying” or “stressful.” When the Buddha coined his famous phrase, he wasn’t saying that all of life is like being chained to a rock and having crows peck out your innards. What he really meant was something like, “Everything in the world is ultimately unsatisfying and unreliable because it won’t last. ~ Dan Harris, #NFDB
30:Wszelkie transakcje, umowy i pertraktacje są dwustronne i wymagają obustronnej uczciwości i wypełnienia zobowiązań. Gdy leje się wodę na miecze czy pali fajkę pokoju, najtrudniejsze nie są targi czy układy o przyszły pokój i przyjaźń, lecz wytworzenie atmosfery gruntownej uczciwości zamiarów. Tylko taka i jedynie taka uczciwość gruntuje zaufanie, oczyszcza powietrze i stwarza prawdziwy pokój i porozumienie. Gdy ogłasza się amnestię, przebacza winy i wyciąga rękę do zgody, to intencje muszą być czyste i wszechogarniające. Wszelkie dawne spory, zatargi i rozbieżności muszą być absolutnie wymazane, bez względu na ich polityczny kolor czy format. Raz na zawsze. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
31:Aloha is being a part of all And all being a part of me When there is pain, it is my pain When there is joy, it is mine also I respect all that is As part of the Creator and part of me I will not wilfully harm anyone or anything When food is needed I will take only my need And explain why it is being taken The earth, the sky, the sea are mine To care for, to cherish, and to protect This is Hawaiian, this is Aloha! (Excerpt from “Tales From The Night Rainbow” by Koko Willis and Pali Jae Lee) ~ Brien Foerster, #NFDB
32:We’ve made it private, contained it in family, when its audacity is in its potential to cross tribal lines. We’ve fetishized it as romance, when its true measure is a quality of sustained, practical care. We’ve lived it as a feeling, when it is a way of being. It is the elemental experience we all desire and seek, most of our days, to give and receive. The sliver of love’s potential that the Greeks separated out as eros is where we load so much of our desire, center so much of our imagination about delight and despair, define so much of our sense of completion. There is the love the Greeks called filia—the love of friendship. There is the love they called agape—love as embodied compassion, expressions of kindness that might be given to a neighbor or a stranger. The Metta of the root Buddhist Pali tongue, “lovingkindness,” carries the nuance of benevolent, active interest in others known and unknown, and its cultivation begins with compassion towards oneself. ~ Krista Tippett, #NFDB
33:The great difference is that this version relies on the work of W. W. Rockhill. Rockhill was an American diplomat who lived in China in the nineteenth century, a linguistic genius—he must have been the first American to know Tibetan; he also produced a Chinese-English dictionary. And in 1884 he published a life of the Buddha according to the Tibetan canoṇ It draws from material of equivalent antiquity to that of the Pali Canon, from a source called the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. He went through it in the 1870s and pulled out of it a story that is almost identical to the story that I reconstructed from the Pali materials. Somewhat embarrassingly, I hadn’t actually read Rockhill until quite recently. I didn’t think the Tibetan material would be relevant. But I was wrong. The Tibetan Vinaya, from the Mūlasarvāstivāda school, gives us the same story, with the same characters, and the same relationships. The two versions don’t agree in every detail, but they’re remarkably similar. ~ Stephen Batchelor, #NFDB
34:Sada na bol ili tesklobu koju osećate ne gledate iz perspektive "To je moje" već kroz
misao: "Postoji ova patnja, ova dukkha ." Ova misao javlja se iz stava refleksije "Bude
koji vidi Dhammu". Ovaj uvid je jednostavno priznavanje da postoji ta patnja, ali je ne
činimo ličnom. To priznanje je jedan važan uvid; jednostavno posmatramo mentalnu
teskobu ili fizički bol i vidimo ih kao dukkhu a ne kao nešto lično – vidimo ih kao dukkhu
i ne reagujemo na njih na stari, već naviknuti način.
Drugi uvid prve plemenite istine je: "Patnju treba razumeti." Drugi uvid ili aspekt svake
od plemenitih istina ima u sebi reč "treba": "Treba je razumeti." Drugi uvid je, tako, da
dukkha jeste nešto što treba razumeti. Treba da razumemo dukkhu a ne samo da
pokušavamo da je se otresemo.
Možemo uzeti reč "razumeti". To je sasvim uobičajena reč, ali na jeziku pali "razumeti"
znači zaista prihvatiti patnju, prigrliti je, a ne samo reagovati na nju. Na svaki oblik
patnje – fizički ili mentalni – mi obično samo reagujemo, ali kroz razumevanje možemo
zaista da pogledamo tu patnju, da je zaista prihvatimo kao činjenicu, da je prigrlimo. I to
je drugi aspekt: "Treba da razumemo patnju."
Treći aspekt prve plemenite istine je: "Patnja je shvaćena ~ Ajahn Sumedho,#NFDB
35:Joy The Pali word sukkha (Sanskrit su-kha) is usually translated as happiness. As the opposite of duhkha, however, it connotes the end of all suffering, a state of being that is not subject to the ups and downs of change – that is, abiding joy. It would be difficult to find a more thoroughly researched definition of joy than the Buddha’s. If we can trust that at least the outline of truth remains in the legends of his life, then his questionings just before going forth to the Four Noble Sights were chiefly concerned with the search for absolute joy. What anyone could want of worldly happiness, Prince Siddhartha surely had, with the promise of much more. But the young prince scrutinized the content of worldly happiness much more closely than the rest of us, and his conclusion was that what people called joy was a house of cards perched precariously on certain preconditions. When these preconditions are fulfilled, the pleasure we feel lasts but a moment, for the nature of human experience is to change. And when they are not fulfilled, there is longing and a frustratingly elusive sense of loss; we grasp for what we do not have and nurse the gnawing desire to have it again. To try to hold on to anything – a thing, a person, an event, a position – merely exposes us to its loss. Anything that changes, the Buddha concluded, anything in our experience that consists of or is conditioned by component sensations – the Buddha’s word was samskaras – produces sorrow, not joy. Experience promises happiness, but it delivers only ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
36:Niko ne pali svetiljku da bi je sakrio iza vrata: svrha svetlosti je da osvetli prostor oko sebe, da otvori oči, da pokaže lepote i krasote u svojoj okolini.
Niko ne prinosi na žrtvu ono najdragocenije što ima: ljubav.
Niko ne prepušta svoje snove u ruke onima koji mogu da ih unište.
Svako ko slučajno otkrije u sebi neki dar i usudi se da govori o svojim sposobnostima, počinje da pobuđuje podozrenje.
Ako postoji neka uteha u tragediji gubitka osobe koju smo toliko silno voleli, to je ona uvek neophodna nada da je možda i bolje što se tako dogodilo.
... nalazim se na bojnom polju otkako sam se rodila, a još sam živa i ne treba mi niko da me štiti.
Potpuno se prepustiti ljubavi, bila ona božanska ili ljudska, znači odreći se svega - uključujući i vlastitu dobrobit, ili sposobnost donošenja odluka. Znači voleti u najdubljem smislu te reči. U suštini, mi i ne želimo da budemo spaseni na način koji je Bog izabrao da nas iskupi, želimo da očuvamo potpunu kontrolu nad svakim korakom, da imamo punu svest o svojim odlukama, da budemo kadri da izaberemo predmet svoje odanosti.
S ljubavlju nije tako - ona dođe, nastani se u nama, i počinje da upravlja svime. Samo vrlo snažne duše pristaju da joj se predaju...
Muzika nije samo nešto što nas teši, ili zabavlja, već mnogo više od toga - jedna ideologija. Ljude možete prepoznati po vrsti muzike koju slušaju.
Zato što sam naučila da patim u tišini otkad znam za sebe...
Zato se radije mirim sa svojom samoćom: ako u ovom trenutku pokušam od nje da pobegnem, nikad više neću naći partnera. Ako je prihvatim, umesto da se borim protiv nje, možda će se stvari promeniti. Videla sam da je samoća jača kad pokušavamo da joj se suprotstavimo, ali postaje slaba kad na nju jednostavno ne obraćamo pažnju. ~ Paulo Coelho,#NFDB
37:– Ręce w górę! W górę! (...) Coście za jedni? Ty mów! – odezwał się najwyższy z uzbrojonych podchodząc do prodziekana Aniłłowicza.
(...)
– Jedziemy do Wrocławia... jesteśmy uczonymi, uniwersytet... Polska... – dobiegały Wielenieckiego pojedyncze słowa. (...) Wszyscy stali nieruchomo. Pod dużą wierzbą przy rowie dwóch leśnych obszukiwało szofera.
– No... – rzekł dowódca, widać nie bardzo wiedząc, co robić z tym fantem – no...
Nagle wzrok jego padł na milicjanta, który coraz bardziej bladł od upływu krwi.
– Żbik, co z tym szczeniakiem?
– Melduję posłusznie, komunista, panie kapitanie. Znalazłem! – triumfująco, choć spokojnie wypalił Żbik, ów brodacz w spadochroniarskim hełmie, który postrzelił milicjanta. Podniósł w górę zakrwawioną książeczkę. Do tej pory podtrzymywał chłopca, jakby tego nie czując. Teraz puścił go. Tamten ukląkł od razu i zastygł niezdarnie na czworakach. Ze spęczniałej bluzy mundurowej kapała krew.
Żbik potrząsnął w powietrzu książeczką. Żaden z profesorów nie spojrzał w tę stronę; była cisza. Dowódca założył kciuki za pas. Marszcząc czoło wciągnął ze świstem powietrze.
– A wy co, polscy profesorowie? – ryknął nagle głosem wysilonym do zdarcia. – Co robicie?! Rozkazów bolszewików słuchacie?! Chleb moskiewski zapachniał?! Żydokomunę zaprowadzić?! Co?! Co?! Co?! – krzyczał coraz przenikliwiej, jakby upajając się własnym głosem. (...) – Bolszewika wam dali, żeby bronił?! A przed kim?! Przed kim, ja się was pytam, panowie moi?! Przed nami, przed armią polską, przed siłami zbrojnymi niepodległej rzeczypospolitej...
Urwał, krótką chwilę wytrzymał w strasznej ciszy i rzucił:
– Komuniści, wystąp! (...) Są peperowcy? Żydzi? No?!
Grupa profesorów zwarła się jeszcze bardziej, tak że Wieleniecki został zupełnie sam na jej narożu. Chwila, a wystąpiłby przed szereg. Czuł, jak pali mu pierś legitymacja partyjna i jak powoli łomocą pulsy w głowie. Dwaj leśni przeciągali przez rów milicjanta, który leciał im z rąk. Po raz ostatni zobaczył Wieleniecki twarz chłopca.
(...)
Profesorowie kupą rzucili się do autobusu. (...) Starter stęknął, szyby zadrżały i autobus ruszył od razu z drugiego biegu. Gdy mijali zakręt, od łąki rozległ się jeden głośny strzał. ~ Stanis aw Lem,#NFDB
38:Čovek nije pripremljen ni za jedno prirodno iskušenje. Tehnološki progres pokvario mu je ili iznađao gotovo sve odbrambene mehanizme što ih je iz životinjskog sveta preneo u svoj. Ne može više gospodariti prirodom planete. Može jedino od nje bežati. Takozvano pobedničko stupanje na Mesec, u stvari, prvi je korak u bekstvu sa Zemlje, njegov totalni poraz. Jer, ideja o bekstvu zabluda je kolektivne mašte, koja ne zna kuda će. Na drugim planetama, čak i ako do njih na vreme stigne i na vremene se tamo ukoreni, druge su prirode, o kojima još manje znamo nego o ovoj, koju smo iz straha i neznanja propustili da podjarmimo. Čovek, naravno, ne mora bežati. Alternativa je ostati i hermetički se od prirode ograditi. Crkavati poput emigranata u veštačkim uslovima azila neke mehanizovane neprobojne kupole, gde je rađanje prosto prelaženje iz smrti u smrt, iz groba biološke u grob automatizovane materice. Jedini stvaran, logički, inteligentan, a iznad svega ljudski izlaz je ostati ovde, na bojištu i pobediti prirodu. A pobediti znači promeniti. I to ne onu spoljnu. Promeniti prirodu u nama. Podići je daleko iznad razine spoljnih uslova. Ukratko – NAPRAVITI NOVOG ČOVEKA. Napraviti ga na planu koji je fundamentalan i finalan. Menjati ga duhovno, moralno, socijalno – ono što se evo već hiljadama godina sa sve jadnijim uspehom čini – besmisleno je. To ne funkcioniše, prosto ne pali. Ak i ako su dobre, promene nisu trajne. Istorija se ne nasleđuje, ona umire sa svakom biološkom generacijom. I sa svakom novom rađa se kao nešto novo, što nikakvih izgleda nema da preživi tvorce. Ono što se nasleđuje, prosečnost je. Kao i u prirodi, ne nadživljavaju najjači. Najjači i najslabiji nestaju. Ostaju oni sa zlatne sredine, oni prosečni. Prosečnost se uvećava; postaje sve prosečnija, jer u prosečnom svetu nestaju najmanje prosečni, a ostaju oni koji su to najviše. Ostaje čovek za jednu sezonu, prosečan otpadatak vrste. Sa prirodom se može boriti, prirodu može pobediti jedino natčovek za sve sezone. Biće koje u sebi sadrži sve najvitalnije osobine faune i flore. Biološki univerzalno stvorenje naoružano svim odbrambenim mehanizmima, koji su sada neracionalno razbacani po molekulima DNK i genima međusobno antagonističkih vrsta. ~ Borislav Peki, #NFDB
13 Integral Yoga
11 Poetry
9 Philosophy
5 Occultism
3 Fiction
2 Mythology
2 Mysticism
1 Psychology
1 Cybernetics
1 Christianity
1 Alchemy
8 Aldous Huxley
5 The Mother
4 Sri Aurobindo
4 Nolini Kanta Gupta
4 James George Frazer
3 Walt Whitman
3 Satprem
3 H P Lovecraft
2 Ovid
2 Jorge Luis Borges
2 A B Purani
8 The Perennial Philosophy
4 The Golden Bough
3 Whitman - Poems
3 The Secret Doctrine
3 Lovecraft - Poems
2 Metamorphoses
2 Liber ABA
2 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
2 Agenda Vol 09
0.00a - Participants in the Evening Talks, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Nolini Kanta Gupta Rajani Palit
Bijoy Kumar Nag Anilbaran Roy
0.00 - Publishers Note C, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The present volume consists of three books: Light of Lights, Eight Talks and Sweet Mother; there are also translations from Sanskrit, Pali, Bengali and French. These, along with the translations of the Dhammapada and Charyapada, have been mostly serialised in Ashram journals.
His original writings in French have also been included here. We are grateful to the Government of India for a grant towards meeting the cost of publication of this volume.
0 1964-06-04, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
A charming Buddhist and a disciple of Mother, a specialist in Pali and member of the French School of the Far East: Suzanne Karpels.
***
0 1968-11-06, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Bharatidi was a specialist of Pali (used by the southern schools of Buddhism) and Sanskrit.
The painter who did a portrait of Sri Aurobindo in profile, standing.
0 1968-11-09, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh, yes, it should. As for me, I told you that the contact already existed, and moreover I did it deliberately, I accepted deliberately, so it cant make any difference in me; but in P., for instance, it may very well make a difference. To the extent of the persons receptive consciousness, it will make a difference. For example (but this is the quite material mind), she knew Pali very well. If there is someone receptive, it will be good. She had a good knowledge of Pali. Id have been very happy if it had come, but it didnt. I dont know where that fragment went. But to be passed on, it would take someone very, very plastic, because thats already very material.
Ive seen instances, Ive met people who suddenly got knowledge they didnt previously have, knowledge that came ready-made. She must have chosen someone.
04.03 - The Call to the Quest, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
A gold-leaf Palimpsest of sacred births,
A grave world-symbol chiselled out of life.
1.01 - Newtonian and Bergsonian Time, #Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, #Norbert Wiener, #Cybernetics
music of the spheres is a Palindrome, and the book of astron-
omy reads the same backward as forward. There is no difference
1.01 - THAT ARE THOU, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
I am not competent, nor is this the place to discuss the doctrinal differences between Buddhism and Hinduism. Let it suffice to point out that, when he insisted that human beings are by nature non-Atman, the Buddha was evidently speaking about the personal self and not the universal Self. The Brahman controversialists, who appear in certain of the Pali scriptures, never so much as mention the Vedanta doctrine of the identity of Atman and Godhead and the non-identity of ego and Atman. What they maintain and Gautama denies is the substantial nature and eternal persistence of the individual psyche. As an unintelligent man seeks for the abode of music in the body of the lute, so does he look for a soul within the skandhas (the material and psychic aggregates, of which the individual mind-body is composed). About the existence of the Atman that is Brahman, as about most other metaphysical matters, the Buddha declines to speak, on the ground that such discussions do not tend to edification or spiritual progress among the members of a monastic order, such as he had founded. But though it has its dangers, though it may become the most absorbing, because the most serious and noblest, of distractions, metaphysical thinking is unavoidable and finally necessary. Even the Hinayanists found this, and the later Mahayanists were to develop, in connection with the practice of their religion, a splendid and imposing system of cosmological, ethical and psychological thought. This system was based upon the postulates of a strict idealism and professed to dispense with the idea of God. But moral and spiritual experience was too strong for philosophical theory, and under the inspiration of direct experience, the writers of the Mahayana sutras found themselves using all their ingenuity to explain why the Tathagata and the Bodhisattvas display an infinite charity towards beings that do not really exist. At the same time they stretched the framework of subjective idealism so as to make room for Universal Mind; qualified the idea of soullessness with the doctrine that, if purified, the individual mind can identify itself with the Universal Mind or Buddha-womb; and, while maintaining godlessness, asserted that this realizable Universal Mind is the inner consciousness of the eternal Buddha and that the Buddha-mind is associated with a great compassionate heart which desires the liberation of every sentient being and bestows divine grace on all who make a serious effort to achieve mans final end. In a word, despite their inauspicious vocabulary, the best of the Mahayana sutras contain an au thentic formulation of the Perennial Philosophya formulation which in some respects (as we shall see when we come to the section, God in the World) is more complete than any other.
In India, as in Persia, Mohammedan thought came to be enriched by the doctrine that God is immanent as well as transcendent, while to Mohammedan practice were added the moral disciplines and spiritual exercises, by means of which the soul is prepared for contemplation or the unitive knowledge of the Godhead. It is a significant historical fact that the poet-saint Kabir is claimed as a co-religionist both by Moslems and Hindus. The politics of those whose goal is beyond time are always pacific; it is the idolaters of past and future, of reactionary memory and Utopian dream, who do the persecuting and make the wars.
1.02 - The Pit, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
Thirdly, the meaning of the terms is not as clear, precise, and comprehensive as could be wished. There is most certainly a great deal of pedantry, disputed matter, and confusion. Only recently, I learn that Mrs. Rhys Davids hes issued a book on Buddhist Origins, in which the question among others is raised by her as to the correct translation or meaning of the Pali word" Dhamma"; whether it implies "law", "conscience", "life", or simply the
Buddhist doctrine.
1.03 - PERSONALITY, SANCTITY, DIVINE INCARNATION, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The biographies of the saints testify unequivocally to the fact that spiritual training leads to a transcendence of personality, not merely in the special circumstances of battle, but in all circumstances and in relation to all creatures, so that the saint loves his enemies or, if he is a Buddhist, does not even recognize the existence of enemies, but treats all sentient beings, sub-human as well as human, with the same compassion and disinterested good will. Those who win through to the unitive knowledge of God set out upon their course from the most diverse starting points. One is a man, another a woman; one a born active, another a born contemplative. No two of them inherit the same temperament and physical constitution, and their lives are passed in material, moral and intellectual environments that are profoundly dissimilar. Nevertheless, insofar as they are saints, insofar as they possess the unitive knowledge that makes them perfect as their Father which is in heaven is perfect, they are all astonishingly alike. Their actions are uniformly selfless and they are constantly recollected, so that at every moment they know who they are and what is their true relation to the universe and its spiritual Ground. Of even plain average people it may be said that their name is Legionmuch more so of exceptionally complex personalities, who identify themselves with a wide diversity of moods, cravings and opinions. Saints, on the contrary, are neither double-minded nor half-hearted, but single and, however great their intellectual gifts, profoundly simple. The multiplicity of Legion has given place to one-pointedness not to any of those evil one-pointednesses of ambition or covetousness, or lust for power and fame, not even to any of the nobler, but still all too human one-pointednesses of art, scholarship and science, regarded as ends in themselves, but to the supreme, more than human one-pointedness that is the very being of those souls who consciously and consistently pursue mans final end, the knowledge of eternal Reality. In one of the Pali scriptures there is a significant anecdote about the Brahman Drona who, seeing the Blessed One sitting at the foot of a tree, asked him, Are you a deva? And the Exalted One answered, I am not. Are you a gandharva? I am not, Are you a yaksha? I am not. Are you a man? I am not a man. On the Brahman asking what he might be, the Blessed One replied, Those evil influences, those cravings, whose non-destruction would have individualized me as a deva, a gandharva, a yaksha (three types of supernatural being), or a man, I have completely annihilated. Know therefore that I am Buddha.
Here we may remark in passing that it is only the one-pointed, who are truly capable of worshipping one God. Monotheism as a theory can be entertained even by a person whose name is Legion. But when it comes to passing from theory to practice, from discursive knowledge about to immediate acquaintance with the one God, there cannot be monotheism except where there is singleness of heart. Knowledge is in the knower according to the mode of the knower. Where the knower is poly-psychic the universe he knows by immediate experience is polytheistic. The Buddha declined to make any statement in regard to the ultimate divine Reality. All he would talk about was Nirvana, which is the name of the experience that comes to the totally selfless and one-pointed. To this same experience others have given the name of union with Brahman, with Al Haqq, with the immanent and transcendent Godhead. Maintaining, in this matter, the attitude of a strict operationalist, the Buddha would speak only of the spiritual experience, not of the metaphysical entity presumed by the theologians of other religions, as also of later Buddhism, to be the object and (since in contemplation the knower, the known and the knowledge are all one) at the same time the subject and substance of that experience.
1.05 - BOOK THE FIFTH, #Metamorphoses, #Ovid, #Poetry
To the Palici breathing sulph'rous fumes.
And thence to where the Bacchiads of renown
1.06 - Dhyana, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
1:THIS word has two quite distinct and mutually exclusive meanings. The first refers to the result itself. Dhyana is the same word as the Pali "Jhana." The Buddha counted eight Jhanas, which are evidently different degrees and kinds of trance. The Hindu also speaks of Dhyana as a lesser form of Samadhi. Others, however, treat it as if it were merely an intensification of Dharana. Patanjali says: "Dhrana is holding the mind on to some particular object. An unbroken flow of knowledge in that subject is Dhyana. When that, giving up all forms, reflects only the meaning, it is Samadhi." He combines these three into Samyama.
2:We shall treat of Dhyana as a result rather than as a method. Up to this point ancient authorities have been fairly reliable guides, except with regard to their crabbed ethics; but when they get on the subject of results of meditation, they completely lose their heads.
1.07 - Samadhi, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
4:Now there is great confusion, because the Buddhists use the word Samadhi to mean something entirely different, the mere faculty of attention. Thus, with them, to think of a cat is to "make Samadhi" on that cat. They use the word Jhana to describe mystic states. This is excessively misleading, for as we saw in the last section, Dhyana is a preliminary of Samadhi, and of course Jhana is merely the wretched plebeian Pali corruption of it. footnote: The vulgarism and provincialism of the Buddhist cannon is infinitely repulsive to all nice minds; and the attempt to use the terms of an ego-centric philosophy to explain the details of a psychology whose principal doctrine is the denial of the ego, was the work of a mischievous idiot. Let us unhesitatingly reject these abominations, these nastinesses of the beggars dressed in rags that they have snatched from corpses, and follow the etymological signification of the word as given above!
5:There are many kinds of Samadhi. footnote: Apparently. That is, the obvious results are different. Possibly the cause is only one, refracted through diverse media. "Some authors consider Atmadarshana, the Universe as a single phenomenon without conditions, to be the first real Samadhi." If we accept this, we must relegate many less exalted states to the class of Dhyana. Patanjali enumerates a number of these states: to perform these on different things gives different magical powers; or so he says. These need not be debated here. Any one who wants magic powers can get them in dozens of different ways.
1.07 - Savitri, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo's quotations from memory from Homer, Shakespeare, Milton and others which he said should be verified were, in most cases, correct. When I read Homer's lines trying to imitate Sri Aurobindo's intonation, but forgetting the quantitative length, he corrected me. That reminds me also of how he encouraged me indirectly to learn the Sanskrit alphabet. I didn't know it, as I learnt Pali in my school. So whenever I met with a Sanskrit word while reading correspondences to Sri Aurobindo, I had either to show it to him or get somebody's help. I thought this wouldn't do, I must learn at least the alphabet. I put my mind to it and, getting some smattering of it, began to show my learning before him. He Started taking interest. When I tried to articulate a word in part, he helped me with the rest as one does with a child. Fortunately I managed, after getting the Mother's approval, to learn French also during the break from my work. She said it would be very useful, and so it was, for when some French communications came, I could read them to him.
This is roughly the story of the grand epic Savitri traced from the earliest conception to its final consummation. Undoubtedly the first three Books were of a much higher level of inspiration and nearer perfection than the rest, for with ample leisure, and working by himself he could devote more time and care to that end, which unfortunately could not be said about the rest of the Books. Apart from the different versions I have mentioned, there is a huge mass of manuscripts which we have left unclassified since they are in fragments[4] all of which testifies to the immense labour of a god that has gone into the building of the magnificent epic. For a future research scholar, when Savitri earns as wide a recognition as, for instance, Dante's or Homer's epic, if not more, a very interesting work remains to be done; going into the minutest detail, he would show where new lines or passages have been added, or where one line slightly changed becomes an overhead line, or how another line after various changes comes back to its original version, etc., etc. I was chosen as a scribe probably because I didn't have all these gifts, so that I could, like a passive instrument, jot down faithfully whatever was dictated while Amal would have raised doubts, argued with him or been lost in sheer admiration of the beauty and the grandeur! Dilip would have started quoting line after line in rapturous ecstasy before the poem had come out! I submit no apology, nor am I conscience-stricken for my failures, for he knew what was the worth of his instrument. I am only grateful to him for being able to serve him with the very faculty which he had evolved and developed in me.
1.07 - The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
The major [contemplative] traditions we have studied in their original languages present an unfolding of meditation experience in terms of a stage model: for example, the Mahamudra from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition; the Visuddhimagga from the Pali Theravada tradition; and the Yoga Sutras from the Sanskrit Hindu tradition. The models are sufficiently similar to suggest an underlying common invariant sequence of stages, despite vast cultural and linguistic differences as well as styles of practice.
This developmental model has also been found to be consistent with the stages of mystical or interior prayer found in the Jewish (Kabbalist), Islamic (Sufi), and Christian mystical traditions (see, for example, Chirban's chapter in Transformations), and Brown has also found it in the Chinese contemplative traditions. Theorists such as Da Avabhasha have given extensive hermeneutic and developmental readings from what now appears to be at least a representative sampling from every known and available contemplative tradition (see, for example, The Basket of Tolerance), and they are in fundamental and extensive agreement with this overall developmental model.
1.09 - SELF-KNOWLEDGE, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The importance, the indispensable necessity, of self-knowledge has been stressed by the saints and doctors of every one of the great religious traditions. To us in the West, the most familiar voice is that of Socrates. More systematically than Socrates the Indian exponents of the Perennial Philosophy harped on the same theme. There is, for example, the Buddha, whose discourse on The Setting-Up of Mindfulness expounds (with that positively inexorable exhaustiveness characteristic of the Pali scriptures) the whole art of self-knowledge in all its branchesknowledge of ones body, ones senses, ones feelings, ones thoughts. This art of self-knowledge is practised with two aims in view. The proximate aim is that a brother, as to the body, continues so to look upon the body, that he remains ardent, self-possessed and mindful, having overcome both the hankering and dejection common in the world. And in the same way as to feelings, thoughts and ideas, he so looks upon each that he remains ardent, self-possessed and mindful, without hankering or dejection. Beyond and through this desirable psychological condition lies the final end of man, knowledge of that which underlies the individualized self. In their own vocabulary, Christian writers express the same ideas.
A man has many skins in himself, covering the depths of his heart. Man knows so many things; he does not know himself. Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, just like an oxs or a bears, so thick and hard, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.
1.11 - BOOK THE ELEVENTH, #Metamorphoses, #Ovid, #Poetry
Then flick'ring to his Palid lips, she strove
To print a kiss, the last essay of love.
1.12 - TIME AND ETERNITY, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
Such was the conclusion to which the most celebrated of Indian converts was forced after some years of association with his fellow Christians. There are many honourable exceptions, of course; but the rule even among learned Protestants and Catholics is a certain blandly bumptious provincialism which, if it did not constitute such a grave offence against charity and truth, would be just uproariously funny. A hundred years ago, hardly anything was known of Sanskrit, Pali or Chinese. The ignorance of European scholars was sufficient reason for their provincialism. Today, when more or less adequate translations are available in plenty, there is not only no reason for it, there is no excuse. And yet most European and American authors of books about religion and metaphysics write as though nobody had ever thought about these subjects, except the Jews, the Greeks and the Christians of the Mediterranean basin and western Europe. This display of what, in the twentieth century, is an entirely voluntary and deliberate ignorance is not only absurd and discreditable; it is also socially dangerous. Like any other form of imperialism, theological imperialism is a menace to permanent world peace. The reign of violence will never come to an end until, first, most human beings accept the same, true philosophy of life; until, second, this Perennial Philosophy is recognized as the highest factor common to all the world religions; until, third, the adherents of every religion renounce the idolatrous time-philosophies, with which, in their own particular faith, the Perennial Philosophy of eternity has been overlaid; until, fourth, there is a world-wide rejection of all the political pseudo-religions, which place mans supreme good in future time and therefore justify and commend the commission of every sort of present iniquity as a means to that end. If these conditions are not fulfilled, no amount of political planning, no economic blue-prints however ingeniously drawn, can prevent the recrudescence of war and revolution.
next chapter: 1.13 - SALVATION, DELIVERANCE, ENLIGHTENMENT
1.13 - SALVATION, DELIVERANCE, ENLIGHTENMENT, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
In the theologies of the various religions, salvation is also regarded as a deliverance out of folly, evil and misery into happiness, goodness and wisdom. But political and economic means are held to be subsidiary to the cultivation of personal holiness, to the acquiring of personal merit and to the maintenance of personal faith in some divine principle or person having power, in one way or another, to forgive and sanctify the individual soul. Moreover the end to be achieved is not regarded as existing in some Utopian future period, beginning, say, in the twenty-second century or perhaps even a little earlier, if our favourite politicians remain in power and make the right laws; the end exists in heaven. This last phrase has two very different meanings. For what is probably the majority of those who profess the great historical religions, it signifies and has always signified a happy posthumous condition of indefinite personal survival, conceived of as a reward for good behaviour and correct belief and a compensation for the miseries inseparable from life in a body. But for those who, within the various religious traditions, have accepted the Perennial Philosophy as a theory and have done their best to live it out in practice, heaven is something else. They aspire to be delivered out of separate selfhood in time and into eternity as realized in the unitive knowledge of the divine Ground. Since the Ground can and ought to be unitively known in the present life (whose ultimate end and purpose is nothing but this knowledge), heaven is not an exclusively posthumous condition. He only is completely saved who is delivered here and now. As to the means to salvation, these are simultaneously ethical, intellectual and spiritual and have been summed up with admirable clarity and economy in the Buddhas Eightfold Path. Complete deliverance is conditional on the following: first, Right Belief in the all too obvious truth that the cause of pain and evil is craving for separative, ego-centred existence, with its corollary that there can be no deliverance from evil, whether personal or collective, except by getting rid of such craving and the obsession of I, me, mine"; second, Right Will, the will to deliver oneself and others; third, Right Speech, directed by compassion and charity towards all sentient beings; fourth, Right Action, with the aim of creating and maintaining peace and good will; fifth, Right Means of Livelihood, or the choice only of such professions as are not harmful, in their exercise, to any human being or, if possible, any living creature; sixth, Right Effort towards Self-control; seventh, Right Attention or Recollectedness, to be practised in all the circumstances of life, so that we may never do evil by mere thoughtlessness, because we know not what we do"; and, eighth, Right Contemplation, the unitive knowledge of the Ground, to which recollectedness and the ethical self-naughting prescribed in the first six branches of the Path give access. Such then are the means which it is within the power of the human being to employ in order to achieve mans final end and be saved. Of the means which are employed by the divine Ground for helping human beings to reach their goal, the Buddha of the Pali scriptures (a teacher whose dislike of footless questions is no less intense than that of the severest experimental physicist of the twentieth century) declines to speak. All he is prepared to talk about is sorrow and the ending of sorrow the huge brute fact of pain and evil and the other, no less empirical fact that there is a method, by which the individual can free himself from evil and do something to diminish the sum of evil in the world around him. It is only in Mahayana Buddhism that the mysteries of grace are discussed with anything like the fulness of treatment accorded to the subject in the speculations of Hindu and especially Christian theology. The primitive, Hinayana teaching on deliverance is simply an elaboration of the Buddhas last recorded words: Decay is inherent in all component things. Work out your own salvation with diligence. As in the well-known passage quoted below, all the stress is upon personal effort.
Therefore, Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be ye a refuge to yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the Truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, Ananda, who either now or after I am dead shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, shall not look for refuge to anyone beside themselves it is they who shall reach the very topmost Height. But they must be anxious to learn.
1.23 - THE MIRACULOUS, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The Sufis regard miracles as veils intervening between the soul and God. The masters of Hindu spirituality urge their disciples to pay no attention to the siddhis, or psychic powers, which may come to them unsought, as a by-product of one-pointed contemplation. The cultivation of these powers, they warn, distracts the soul from Reality and sets up insurmountable obstacles in the way of enlightenment and deliverance. A similar attitude is taken by the best Buddhist teachers, and in one of the Pali scriptures there is an ancedote recording the Buddhas own characteristically dry comment on a prodigious feat of levitation performed by one of his disciples. This, he said, will not conduce to the conversion of the unconverted, nor to the advantage of the converted. Then he went back to talking about deliverance.
Because they know nothing of spirituality and regard the material world and their hypotheses about it as supremely significant, rationalists are anxious to convince themselves and others that miracles do not and cannot happen. Because they have had experience of the spiritual life and its by-products, the exponents of the Perennial Philosophy are convinced that miracles do happen, but regard them as things of little importance, and that mainly negative and anti-spiritual.
1.24 - RITUAL, SYMBOL, SACRAMENT, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
That very large numbers of men and women have an ineradicable desire for rites and ceremonies is clearly demonstrated by the history of religion. Almost all the Hebrew prophets were opposed to ritualism. Rend your hearts and not your garments. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. I hate, I despise your feasts; I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. And yet, in spite of the fact that what the prophets wrote was regarded as divinely inspired, the Temple at Jerusalem continued to be, for hundreds of years after their time, the centre of a religion of rites, ceremonials and blood sacrifice. (It may be remarked in passing that the shedding of blood, ones own or that of animals or other human beings, seems to be a peculiarly efficacious way of constraining the occult or psychic world to answer petitions and confer supernormal powers. If this is a fact, as from the anthropological and antiquarian evidence it appears to be, it would supply yet another cogent reason for avoiding animal sacrifices, savage bodily austerities and even, since thought is a form of action, that imaginative gloating over spilled blood, which is so common in certain Christian circles.) What the Jews did in spite of their prophets, Christians have done in spite of Christ. The Christ of the Gospels is a preacher and not a dispenser of sacraments or performer of rites; he speaks against vain repetitions; he insists on the supreme importance of private worship; he has no use for sacrifices and not much use for the Temple. But this did not prevent historic Christianity from going its own, all too human, way. A precisely similar development took place in Buddhism. For the Buddha of the Pali scriptures, ritual was one of the fetters holding back the soul from enlightenment and liberation. Nevertheless, the religion he founded has made full use of ceremonies, vain repetitions and sacramental rites.
There would seem to be two main reasons for the observed developments of the historical religions. First, most people do not want spirituality or deliverance, but rather a religion that gives them emotional satisfactions, answers to prayer, supernormal powers and partial salvation in some sort of posthumous heaven. Second, some of those few who do desire spirituality and deliverance find that, for them, the most effective means to those ends are ceremonies, vain repetitions and sacramental rites. It is by participating in these acts and uttering these formulas that they are most powerfully reminded of the eternal Ground of all being; it is by immersing themselves in the symbols that they can most easily come through to that which is symbolized. Every thing, event or thought is a point of intersection between creature and Creator, between a more or less distant manifestation of God and a ray, so to speak, of the unmanifest Godhead; every thing, event or thought can therefore be made the doorway through which a soul may pass out of time into eternity. That is why ritualistic and sacramental religion can lead to deliverance. But at the same time every human being loves power and self-enhancement, and every hallowed ceremony, form of words or sacramental rite is a channel through which power can flow out of the fascinating psychic universe into the universe of embodied selves. That is why ritualistic and sacramental religion can also lead away from deliverance.
--
It is hardly necessary to add that this process of conscious sacramentalization can be applied only to such actions as are not intrinsically evil. Somewhat unfortunately, the Gita was not originally published as an independent work, but as a theological digression within an epic poem; and since, like most epics, the Mahabharata is largely concerned with the exploits of warriors, it is primarily in relation to warfare that the Gitas advice to act with non-attachment and for Gods sake only is given. Now, war is accompanied and followed, among other things, by a widespread dissemination of anger and hatred, pride, cruelty and fear. But, it may be asked, is it possible (the Nature of Things being what it is) to sacramentalize actions, whose psychological by-products are so completely God-eclipsing as are these passions? The Buddha of the Pali scriptures would certainly have answered this question in the negative. So would the Lao Tzu of the Tao Teh King. So would the Christ of the Synoptic Gospels. The Krishna of the Gita (who is also, by a kind of literary accident, the Krishna of the Mahabharata) gives an affirmative answer. But this affirmative answer, it should be remembered, is hedged around with limiting conditions. Non-attached slaughter is recommended only to those, who are warriors by caste, and to whom warfare is a duty and vocation. But what is duty or dharma for the Kshatriya is adharma and forbidden to the Brahman; nor is it any part of the normal vocation or caste duty of the mercantile and labouring classes. Any confusion of castes, any assumption by one man of another mans vocation and duties of state, is always, say the Hindus, a moral evil and a menace to social stability. Thus, it is the business of the Brahmans to fit themselves to be seers, so that they may be able to explain to their fellow men the nature of the universe, of mans last end and of the way to liberation. When solthers or administrators, or usurers, or manufacturers or workers usurp the functions of the Brahmans and formulate a philosophy of life in accordance with their variously distorted notions of the universe, then society is thrown into confusion. Similarly, confusion reigns when the Brahman, the man of non-coercive spiritual authority, assumes the coercive power of the Kshatriya, or when the Kshatriyas job of ruling is usurped by bankers and stock jobbers, or finally when the warrior castes dharma of fighting is imposed, by conscription, on Brahman, Vaisya and Sudra alike. The history of Europe during the later Middle Ages and Renaissance is largely a history of the social confusions that arises when large numbers of those who should be seers abandon spiritual authority in favour of money and political power. And contemporary history is the hideous record of what happens when political bosses, businessmen or class-conscious proletarians assume the Brahmans function of formulating a philosophy of life; when usurers dictate policy and debate the issues of war and peace; and when the warriors caste duty is imposed on all and sundry, regardless of psycho-physical make-up and vocation.
next chapter: 1.25 - SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
1.24 - The Killing of the Divine King, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
the way was barred by Palisades, and from the Palisades on either
hand a long hedge of spears, held by strong arms, projected into the
1.25 - SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The following passage from one of the great Mahayana scriptures contains a searching criticism of the kind of spiritual exercises prescribed by Hinayanist teachersconcentration on symbolic objects, meditations on transience and decay (to wean the soul away from attachment to earthly things), on the different virtues which must be cultivated, on the fundamental doctrines of Buddhism. (Many of these exercises are described at length in The Path of Purity, a book which has been translated in full and published by the Pali Text Society. Mahayanist exercises are described in the Surangama Sutra, translated by Dwight Goddard and in the volume on Tibetan Yoga, edited by Dr. Evans-Wentz.)
In his exercise the Yogin sees (imaginatively) the form of the sun or moon, or something looking like a lotus, or the underworld, or various forms, such as sky, fire and the like. All these appearances lead him in the way of the philosophers; they throw him down into the state of Sravakahood, into the realm of the Pratyekabuddhas. When all these are put aside and there is a state of imagelessness, then a condition in conformity with Suchness presents itself, and the Buddhas will come together from all their countries and with their shining hands will touch the head of this benefactor.
1.50 - Eating the God, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
therefore, to eat the corn-spirit itself. Similarly at La Palisse,
in France, a man made of dough is hung upon the fir-tree which is
1.56 - The Public Expulsion of Evils, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
tether their horses to the Paling, and arm themselves with whips,
clubs of lime-wood and bundles of lighted twigs. The lighted twigs
1.61 - The Myth of Balder, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
Grove. A Palisade enclosed the hallowed ground, and within it stood
a spacious temple with the images of many gods, but none of them was
18.04 - Modern Poems, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Labanya Palit
In Thy Name
1951-03-29 - The Great Vehicle and The Little Vehicle - Choosing ones family, country - The vital being distorted - atavism - Sincerity - changing ones character, #Questions And Answers 1950-1951, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
These are Buddhist terms. This is the translation of a Pali word, I believe. It is said that the religion of the North is the Great Vehicle and the religion of the South the Little Vehicle. The Little Vehicle abides by quite a strict teaching according to what has been preserved or is believed to have been preserved of the words of the Buddha.
You know the Buddha used to say that there was no God, there was no persistence of the ego, there were no beings of higher worlds who could incarnate here, there were no He denied almost every possible thing. The religion of the South is like that, it is extremely nihilistic, it says no, no, no to everything; while in the religion of the North, which has been practised in Tibet, and spread from Tibet into China and from China to Japan, one finds the Bodhisattvas (who stand for saints as in all other religions), all the previous Buddhas who are also like some sort of demigods or gods. I dont know if you have ever had a chance to visit a Buddhist temple of the North (I saw them in China and Japan), for you enter halls where there are innumerable statuettesall the Bodhisattvas, all the disciples of those Bodhisattvas, all the forces of nature deified, indeed you are overwhelmed by the number of gods! On the other hand, if you go to the South, there is nothing, not a single image. I believe they speak of the Great Vehicle because there are lots of things inside, and the Little Vehicle because there are few! I dont know exactly the origin of the two terms.
1953-10-21, #Questions And Answers 1953, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Ah! as for Buddhism. The people of the South and the North have different kinds of imagination. The southern people are generally more rigid, arent they? I dont know, but for Buddhism, the Buddhism of the South is quite rigid and doesnt allow any suppleness in the understanding of the text. And it is a terribly strict Buddhism in which all notion of the Godhead in any form whatsoever, is completely done away with. On the other hand, the Buddhism of the North is an orgy of gods! It is true that these are former Buddhas, but still they are turned into gods. And it is this latter that has spread into China and from China gone to Japan. So, one enters a Buddhist temple in Japan and sees There is a temple where there were more than a thousand Buddhas, all sculptureda thousand figures seated around the central Buddha they were there all around, the entire back wall of the temple was covered with images: small ones, big ones, fat ones, thin ones, women, menthere was everything, a whole pantheon there, formidable, and they were like gods. And then too, there were little beings down below with all kinds of forms including those of animals, and these were the worshippers. It was it was an orgy of images. But the Buddhism of the South has the austerity of Protestantism: there must be no images. And there is no divine Consciousness, besides. One comes into the world through desire, into a world of desire, and abandoning desire one goes out of the world and creation and returns to Nirvanaeven the nought is something too concrete. There is no Creator in Buddhism. So, I dont know. The Buddhism of the South is written in Pali and that of the North in Sanskrit. And naturally, there is Tibetan Buddhism written in Tibetan, and Chinese Buddhism written in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism in Japanese. And each one, I believe, is very very different from the others. Well, probably there must be several versions of the Ramayana. And still more versions of the Mahabharata that indeed is amazing!
(Nolini) Of the Ramayana also.
1f.lovecraft - At the Mountains of Madness, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Zen
sort of Palimpsest formed after the obliteration of a previous design.
In nature it was wholly decorative and conventional; and consisted of
--
evil Palimpsest carvings.
I came only just short of echoing his cry myself; for I had seen those
--
Palimpsest sculptures and the diabolical dot-groups of fresh slime on
the wall beside themlooked and understood what must have triumphed and
--
those morbid Palimpsest sculpturesalmost felt even when scarcely
seenbehind.
1f.lovecraft - The Tomb, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Zen
never share the sad fate of Palinurus!
As the phantom of the burning house faded, I found myself screaming and
1.jlb - Spinoza, #Borges - Poems, #Jorge Luis Borges, #Poetry
Que Palidece en el confn del Ghetto
Casi no existen para el hombre quieto
1.lovecraft - The Outpost, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Zen
And Paling far-off tower and dome,
Shewed each unwindowed and malign.
1.pbs - Oedipus Tyrannus or Swellfoot The Tyrant, #Shelley - Poems, #Percy Bysshe Shelley, #Fiction
And Palisades of tusks, sharp as a bayonet:
Place your most sacred person here. We pawn
--
Even the Palings of the royal park,
Or double ditch about the new enclosures;
1.rb - The Flight Of The Duchess, #Browning - Poems, #Robert Browning, #Poetry
Paling and ever Paling,
As the way is with a hid chagrin;
1.rt - The End, #Tagore - Poems, #Rabindranath Tagore, #Poetry
When in the Paling darkness of the lonely dawn you stretch out
your arms for your baby in the bed, I shall say, "Baby is not
1.wby - He Wishes His Beloved Were Dead, #Yeats - Poems, #William Butler Yeats, #Poetry
And lights were Paling out of the West,
You would come hither, and bend your head,
--
While lights were Paling one by one.
1.whitman - Song of Myself, #Whitman - Poems, #unset, #Zen
And again as I walk'd the beach under the Paling stars of the morning.
My ties and ballasts leave me, my elbows rest in sea-gaps,
1.whitman - Song Of Myself- XXXIII, #Whitman - Poems, #unset, #Zen
And again as I walk'd the beach under the Paling stars of the morning.
My ties and ballasts leave me, my elbows rest in sea-gaps,
1.whitman - When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomd, #Whitman - Poems, #unset, #Zen
In the door-yard fronting an old farm-house, near the white-washd Palings,
Stands the lilac bush, tall-growing, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
2.21 - 1940, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Disciple: It sounds like Pali.
Disciple: Yes, it is written in Magadhi. It is a Prakrit dialect.
33.13 - My Professors, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
While speaking of my professors, I must not omit to mention our Pundit. This was a title given by the students to the teacher of Sanskrit in college as in school, no matter how big a professor he might be - as if to show that the feeling of distance created by English was not there in the case of Sanskrit. Our Pundit was Satischandra Vidyabhushan, who later became a Mahamahopadhyaya, an extremely courteous man, entirely modest, one who behaved as if he were an absolute "nobody". In his class the students had no fear or worry, no constraint, sometimes even no sense of propriety either. One day they said in class, "There is not going to be any reading today, sir; you had better tell us a story. You are familiar with the languages and histories and cultures of so many strange lands, please tell us something." Vidyabhushan was particularly learned in Pali and the Buddhist scriptures. Without a murmur he accepted the order of the boys. While talking of Pali and the Buddhists, he told us something about the Tibetans too. "What you call Darjeeling," he said, "is not a distorted version of Durjayalinga. Actually it is a transcription of a Tibetan word." He spelt out the word on the black-board, in the Tibetan script - it looked somewhat like Bengali - something like Dang-Sang-Ling, I cannot now exatly recall. On another occasion we had the chance to hear a conversation in Sanskrit in his class. The class was on, when one of the officials of the college entered the room with a Ceylonese monk. The monk wanted to meet the Pundit. They talked in Sanskrit. I only remember a single sentence of our professor, "ghatika-catustayam eva agacchatu bhavan,"Be pleased to come at four o'clock." The kindness and affection of our Pundit are still fresh in my mind. He was never afflicted by the weight of his learning, nor did it ever afflict us.
Now to conclude: let me give you the scene of my final. parting with college, the professors and college life.
3-5 Full Circle, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
Is this not reversal of what Toynbee called schizm of the soul? Is it not reversal of the disaster which causes, and results from, the schizm of the body politic, schizm of the body ecologic, and disintegration of civilization? Toynbee calls schizm-reversal transfiguration and Palingenesia.16 In The Public Philosophy,9 Walter Lippmann describes what, for our civilization, Palingenesia would be: "A convincing demonstration . . . that the principles of the good society are not, in Sartre's phrase, invented and chosen--that the conditions which are to be met if there is to be a good society are there, outside our wishes, where they can be discovered by rational inquiry, and developed and adapted and refined by rational discussion." He then concludes as follows:
"If eventually this were demonstrated successfully (as I affirm it can) it would...rearm all those who are concerned with the anomy of our society, with its progressive barbarization, and with its descent into violence and tyranny. Amidst the quagmire of moral impressionism they would stand again on hard intellectual ground where there are significant objects that are given and not merely wished. Their hope would be re-established that there is a public world sovereign above the infinite number of contradictory and competing private worlds. Without this certainty, their struggle must be unavailing . . . For political ideas acquire operative force in human affairs when, as we have seen, they acquire legitimacy, when they have the title of being right which binds men's consciences. When they possess, as the Confucian doctrine has it, `the mandate of Heaven.'
37.02 - The Story of Jabala-Satyakama, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
Thus was Satyakama given admission to the Ashrama of Gautama. Now for his initiation and training and the tests. Gautama sent for him and said, "Satyakama, I shall now I invest you with the sacred thread." This investiture is a sacred rite which "sets one on the path" - what the Buddhists call in Pali "sompatti" (srotapattiin Sanskrit), that is, "getting into the stream" or starting on the way. He added, "You bring in the fuel from the neighbouring wood." Satyakama did as he was told and the ceremony of initiation was duly performed.
The teacher now sent for him again and said, "Satyakama, I possess some four hundred kine. But they are all puny and weak. You should look after them." This meant that he was to take them out to pasture. Satyakama replied, "Very well, sir, it will be as you desire. I am leaving with the four hundred kine and I do not return till they are a thousand." Gautama sent him off with his blessings.
5.4.01 - Notes on Root-Sounds, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
valde. () valeo. () valens. Valerius, from , valesco. valetudo valide. validus. valloto fortify, enwall. vallus. Palisadepost, stake valvae. folding doors.
velespecially, also, even, or. velutas, as though, as for instance. veloxswift.
--
Vallus: a Palisade; post or stake of the Palisade. O.S. vallas, a prop, post, stake, place of defence. See vallum.
Valvae: folding doors. O.S. valva, curving, folding, rolling, wheeling (feminine valv). Rt val, to turn, fold, roll, wheel, with the nominal suffix va.
6.0 - Conscious, Unconscious, and Individuation, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
a correct application of the methods described in the Pali Canon
or in the Yoga-sutra induces a remarkable extension of con-
7.05 - Patience and Perseverance, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The celebrated potter, Bernard Palissy, wanted to recover the lost secret of beautiful old glazed china enamelled in rich colours.
For months and years on end, he untiringly pursued his experiments. His attempts to find the glaze remained fruitless for a long time. He devoted all he had to his search; and for days and nights together he watched over the kiln he had built, endlessly trying out new processes for preparing and firing his pottery.
Aeneid, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
lost Dido, pious Palinurus, and
the mind that moves across your Promised Land;
--
and Palinurus sestina; in 1960 his // taccuino del vecchio (The Old
Man's Notebook) appeared with an additional 27 "Final Choruses
--
perennial, as Palinurus will say) assumed in my mind the aspect of Aeneas. Aeneas is beauty, youth, ingenuousness ever
in search of a promised land, where, in the contemplated,
--
across the blind waves. Even Palinurus
can not tell day from night upon the heavens,
--
the middle of her path when Palinurus
springs quickly from his couch, takes note of all
--
"They do as they are told. First Palinurus
turned round the groaning prow to larboard waters;
--
And from the high stern, even Palinurus,
the pilot, cries: "And why these tempest clouds
--
then, Palinurus, let our course be like
our sails. Can any country please me more
--
is Palinurus, leading; everyone
takes this command: to steer their course by him.
--
searching for you, o Palinurus, bringing
his dismal dreams to you, an innocent.
--
will take your place, your duties." Palinurus,
who scarcely lifts his eyes, makes this reply:
--
on Palinurus' temples; as he struggles,
his swimming eyes relax. That sudden rest
--
fallen upon his friend: "O Palinurus,
too trustful of the tranquil sky and sea,
--
And there the pilot, Palinurus, passed:
lately, upon the Libyan voyage, as
--
the first to speak: "O Palinurus, what
god tore you from us, plunged you in midsea?
--
your own right hand to wretched Palinurus
and take me with you past the waters, that
--
"Where was it, Palinurus, that you learned
such dread desire? For how can you, unburied,
--
the place will always be named Palinurus."
These words have set his cares to rest, his sorrow
--
built by Palicus stands; and then his father
had sent him out to serve under Aeneas.
--
consonantal "y"): nurse of Aeneas who, like Palinurus and
Misenus, gave her name to her burial place, a harbor and headl and on the western coast of Italy; modern Gaeta. vi, 1202.
--
1. fatherof PaliNURUS. v, 1113.
2. father of IAPYX (2). XII, 531.
BOOK II. -- PART III. ADDENDA. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
to be placed on quite the same level. Nor are his phylogenetic and Palingenetic speculations treated in
any better way by the real scientists, than are our cyclic repetitions of the evolution of the Great in the
BOOK I. -- PART I. COSMIC EVOLUTION, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
theosophy; because, as an eminent Pali scholar very pointedly expressed it, there was in the volume
named "neither esotericism nor Buddhism." The esoteric truths, presented in Mr. Sinnett's work, had
--
Saptaparna cave (the Sattapanni of Mahavansa) near Mount Baibhar (the Webhara of the Pali MSS.).
This cave was in Rajagriha, the ancient capital of Mogadha, and was the Cheta cave of Fa-hian, as
--
generally changing places with premisses as in the syllogisms of more than one Sanskrit and Pali
scholar, appeared rapidly in succession, over-flooding the libraries with dissertations rather on phallic
BOOK I. -- PART III. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
But he is, at all events, the greatest Pali and Buddhist scholar of the day, and whatever he may say is
entitled to respectful hearing. But when one who knows no more of exoteric Buddhism on scientific
BOOK XXII. - Of the eternal happiness of the saints, the resurrection of the body, and the miracles of the early Church, #City of God, #Saint Augustine of Hippo, #Christianity
Some Christians, who have a liking for Plato on account of his magnificent style and the truths which he now and then uttered, say that he even held an opinion similar to our own regarding the resurrection of the dead. Cicero, however, alluding to this in his Republic, asserts that Plato meant it rather as a playful fancy than as a reality; for he introduces a man[1026] who had come to life again, and gave a narrative of his experience in corroboration of the doctrines of Plato. Labeo, too, says that two men died on one day, and met at a cross-road, and that, being afterwards ordered to return to their bodies, they agreed to be friends for life, and were so till they died again. But the resurrection which these writers instance resembles that of those persons whom we have ourselves known to rise again, and who came back indeed to this life, but not so as never to die again. Marcus Varro, however, in his work On the Origin of the Roman People, records something more remarkable; I think his own words should be given. "Certain astrologers," he says, "have written that men are destined to a new birth, which the Greeks call Palingenesy. This will take place after four hundred and forty years have elapsed; and then the same soul and the same body, which were formerly united in the person, shall again be reunited." This Varro, indeed, or those nameless astrologers,for he does not give us the names[Pg 534] of the men whose statement he cites,have affirmed what is indeed not altogether true; for once the souls have returned to the bodies they wore, they shall never afterwards leave them. Yet what they say upsets and demolishes much of that idle talk of our adversaries about the impossibility of the resurrection. For those who have been or are of this opinion, have not thought it possible that bodies which have dissolved into air, or dust, or ashes, or water, or into the bodies of the beasts or even of the men that fed on them, should be restored again to that which they formerly were. And therefore, if Plato and Porphyry, or rather, if their disciples now living, agree with us that holy souls shall return to the body, as Plato says, and that, nevertheless, they shall not return to misery, as Porphyry maintains,if they accept the consequence of these two propositions which is taught by the Christian faith, that they shall receive bodies in which they may live eternally without suffering any misery,let them also adopt from Varro the opinion that they shall return to the same bodies as they were formerly in, and thus the whole question of the eternal resurrection of the body shall be resolved out of their own mouths.
29. Of the beatific vision.
Liber 71 - The Voice of the Silence - The Two Paths - The Seven Portals, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
Nibbana is merely the Pali, the vulgar dialect, for the Sanskrit
NIRVANA, and that Nirvana is a state characterizing Moksha, which is
Talks With Sri Aurobindo 1, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
NIRODBARAN: I was trying to learn the letters. I studied Pali in school, so I
don't know Sanskrit.
--
NIRODBARAN: That is the Pali text. All of them say that.
SRI AUROBINDO: Now they are trying to prove that sukara khanda was not
--
NIRODBARAN: My Pali teacher used to give another ingenious explanation. He
said that sukara means what has been cooked well, and many good things
--
NIRODBARAN: In Pali it may be sukara.
SRI AUROBINDO: It is your Pali teacher's explanation. It may be Gujarati also;
sukara meaning "what are you doing"? (Laughter)
The Act of Creation text, #The Act of Creation, #Arthur Koestler, #Psychology
'Her face is like a Palimpsest beneath the Gothic lettering of the
monk's sacred text lurks the pagan poet's hahveffaced erotic verse/
--
of a girl's face to a Palimpsest. A similar progression could be shown
towards more oblique or condensed forms of metaphor and poetic
--
every face is a Palimpsest. The willow's shoulders droop, limp like a
mourning widow's; the ripples on the lake reflect the Pythagorean
The Anapanasati Sutta A Practical Guide to Mindfullness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
have survived in the suttas, the discourses in the Pali canon
that were taught by the Buddha to his followers. It
--
repeated several times throughout the Pali Canon using the
same identical words. Their importance warrants the
--
Sayings translated from Pali by the Venerable Nanamoli and
Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi.
--
Firstly, let us look at the word jhana. In Pali, jhana has
many types of meanings. It can mean meditation stages or
--
Next is the Pali word samatha. The more accurate
meanings of samatha are peacefulness, calmness,
--
The Pali word samadhi is equally important too, as it has
many different meanings such as calmness, unified mind,
--
composure of mind, or unified mind. According to the PaliEnglish dictionary written by Buddhadatta, the prefix sama
means "calmness or tranquility" and dhi means "wisdom".
--
and feeling (nirodha samapatti in Pali) and finally the
experience of Dependent Origination (Paticcasamuppada).
--
interested in the correct path to 'Ehipassiko' (a Pali word
meaning 'come and see'). This is very good advice because
--
sign (nimitta in Pali, this can be a light or other visualized
mind-made pictures) arise in mind at certain times when one
--
recite these precepts in the Pali language. However, it can
turn into an empty exercise if the meditator doesn't
completely understand Pali. For the earnest meditator it is
best to recite these precepts daily in a language that one
--
"I", "Me", "Mine" or atta in Pali). These states are the
suffering that we cause to ourselves. This suffering comes
--
important Pali word here is 'pas'sambaya'. The word
specifically means 'to tranquilize' and appears as 'an action
--
Besides zeal, the Pali word chanda also means joyful
interest or enthusiasm. A mind which points towards a
--
look at. In Pali the word is 'Samatha'. The meaning of
'Samatha' is tranquility, serenity, peacefulness, or stillness.
--
Concentration (samadhi) - The Pali word actually
means the unification or bringing together of mind. The
The Dwellings of the Philosophers, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
[*73-8], stone. Marcel Palingene combines Mars, iron, [*73-9] (helios), the sun, and
Palingenesia, regeneration, to designate that he was realizing the regeneration of the sun, or
the Eternal Wisdom, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
5) True knowledge does not grow old, so have declared the sages of all times. ~ Buddhist Canons in Pali
6) May the partisans of all doctrines in all countries unite and live in a common fellowship. For all alike profess mastery to be attained over oneself and purity of the heart. ~ Inscriptions of Asoka
--
Buddhist Canon in Pali
19) He whose mind is utterly purified from soil, as heaven is pure from stain and the moon from dust, him indeed I call a man of religion. ~ Buddhist Text
--
9) Desire is the profoundest root of all evil; it is from desire that there has arisen the world of life and sorrow. ~ Pali Canon
10)Like burning coals are our desires; they are full of suffering, full of torment and a yet heavier distressfulness. ~ Buddhist Texts
--
15) That is the supreme felicity of those who have won their victory, it is the perfect and immutable peace, the defeat of Impermanence, a pure and luminous condition, the victory over death. ~ Canon in Pali
16) So long as we do not die to ourselves and are not indifferent to creatures, the soul will not be free. ~ Farid-ud-din- attar
The Theologians, #Labyrinths, #Jorge Luis Borges, #Poetry
scimitar. Palimpsests and codices were consumed, but in the heart of the
fire, amid the ashes, there remained almost intact the twelfth book of the
--- Overview of noun pali
The noun pali has 1 sense (no senses from tagged texts)
1. Pali ::: (an ancient Prakrit language (derived from Sanskrit) that is the scriptural and liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism)
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun pali
1 sense of pali
Sense 1
Pali
=> Prakrit
=> Indic, Indo-Aryan
=> Indo-Iranian, Indo-Iranian language
=> Indo-European, Indo-European language, Indo-Hittite
=> natural language, tongue
=> language, linguistic communication
=> communication
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
--- Hyponyms of noun pali
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun pali
1 sense of pali
Sense 1
Pali
=> Prakrit
--- Coordinate Terms (sisters) of noun pali
1 sense of pali
Sense 1
Pali
-> Prakrit
=> Pali
--- Grep of noun pali
nepali
pali
palilalia
palimony
palimpsest
palindrome
paling
palingenesis
palinuridae
palinurus
palisade
paliurus
paliurus spina-christi