AVALOKITESHVARA. (Sanskrit). Bodhisattva or incarnation of compassion. In Japanese, Kanjizai, or “One who rests in the Self,” or Kanzeon, “One who hears the sounds of the world.”
BODHI. (Sanskrit) (lit. “awakened”). In Zen, bodhi is the wisdom of awakening to the true nature, or essential emptiness, of all things.
BODHI MIND. Mind in which an aspiration to enlightenment has been awakened.
BODHIDHARMA. Indian adept recognized as the founder and first patriarch of Zen in China in the early sixth century.
BODHISATTVA. (Sanskrit) (lit. “enlightenment being”). One who seeks enlightenment through the compassionate vow to liberate all beings. An ideal of Mahayana Buddhism.
BUDDHA NATURE. The intrinsic or essential nature of all sentient beings, whether realized or not, and of all things.
DHARMA. (Sanskrit). Things or phenomena; mental objects, the teachings of the Buddha; also Universal Law or Truth, Buddhist doctrines.
DHARMADHATU. (Sanskrit) (lit. “realm of dharma”). In Mahayana Buddhism, the true nature that permeates and encompasses all phenomena. Also the dharma realm of totality in which all phenomena arise and pass away.
DOGEN ZENJI. (1200–1253). Founder of Japanese Soto Zen school. Known formally as Eihei Dogen (Zenji) or Dogen Kigen. After studying for nine years under Rinzai teacher Myozen, Dogen undertook the difficult journey to China, studied with and became a dharma successor to Tendo Nyojo (T’ien-t’ung Ju-ching) in the Soto Zen lineage. In Japan, he established Eiheiji, the principal Soto training monastery, and wrote Shobogenzo, a philosophical explanation of Buddhism containing ninety-five chapters, generally considered to be one of the most profound and outstanding works of religious literature. Dogen Zenji emphasized the practice of shikantaza but did not discount the use of koans in Zen training.
DOKUSAN. (Japanese). Face-to-face encounter between Zen master and student in which the student’s understanding is probed and stimulated. During dokusan, a student may consult with the master on any matter arising directly out of practice.
EIGHT AWARENESSES. According to Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha: having few desires, knowing how to be satisfied, enjoying serenity and tranquility, exerting meticulous effort, not forgetting [right] thought, practicing samadhi, cultivating wisdom, and avoiding idle talk.
EIGHTFOLD PATH. Fourth Noble Truth in which Shakyamuni Buddha taught the way to end suffering. The eightfold path consists of right (total, complete) understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and samadhi.
ENLIGHTENMENT. Realization of one’s true nature. In Japanese, kensho.
FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. Shakyamuni Buddha’s earliest and most fundamental teachings concerning the nature of life and how to live it. (1) There is suffering (dukkha) in life; (2) suffering has a cause; (3) there is a way to end the cause of suffering; (4) that way is the eightfold path.
THE GATELESS GATE. In Japanese, Mumonkan. Important collection of 48 koans compiled with commentary by 13th-century Chinese Zen Master Mumon Ekai (Wu-men Hui-k’ai). Begins with renowned koan “Mu.”
GENJO-KOAN. (Japanese) (roughly “Everyday Life is Enlightenment”). Essay by Dogen Zenji written originally for a lay student and later contained in his work Shobogenzo. Genjo-koan also refers to everyday life koans, questions or situations that naturally arise in one’s life that help bring one to realization.
JUKAI. (Japanese). The ceremony of receiving the bodhisattva precepts. Person receiving the precepts formally becomes a Buddhist and receives the Buddha’s robe (rakusu), a lineage chart, and a dharma name.
KOAN. A text or question—traditionally taken from, but not limited to, Zen literature—assigned to a student by the teacher. The student must then demonstrate a clear grasp of the essence of the koan.
LOTUS SUTRA. (Sanskrit) (Saddharmapundarikasutra, “Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Dharma”). One of the most important sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, particularly in China and Japan. In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha appears as a manifestation of true nature, with which everyone is fully endowed and can, therefore, awaken.
MAHAYANA. (Sanskrit) (lit. “great vehicle”). School of Buddhism that emphasizes that practice is not for oneself alone, but for the liberation of all beings.
NIRVANA. (Sanskrit) (lit. “extinction”). In Zen, a non-dualistic state beyond life and death. Also refers to a state of peace or bliss, which arises when one realizes the true nature of life and lives free from attachments.
RINZAI SCHOOL. One of the two most important schools of Japanese Zen, founded by Master Rinzai (d. 866 or 867). Rinzai Zen is characterized by its use of koan practice to attain realization of one’s own nature.
SAMADHI. (Japanese). State of mind characterized by one-pointedness of attention. Also a non-dualistic state of awareness, characterized by putting all of one’s self into each activity.
SELF-FULFILLED SAMADHI. (Japanese) (Jijuyu zanmai; roughly, “To receive yourself and use yourself freely”). State of total immersion in one’s life so that everything encountered is encountered fully as the natural functioning of oneself.
SHIKANTAZA. (Japanese) (lit. “just-sitting,” or “only sitting”). Practice of zazen itself without supportive devices such as breath counting or koans. Characterized by intense, non-discursive awareness; shikantaza is “zazen doing zazen for the sake of zazen.”
SOTO SCHOOL. One of the two most important schools of Japanese Zen, founded by Masters Tozan Ryokai (Tung-shan Liang-chieh, 809–869) and Sozan Honjaku (Ts’ao-shan Pen-chi, 840–901) and named by combining the first characters of their names. Introduced to Japan by Dogen Zenji. Soto Zen stresses “silent illumination Zen” without the use of koans and is characterized by the practice of shikantaza.
TATHAGATA. One of the ten titles of the Buddha, literally “the thus-come one” or “the thus-perfected one.”
THE TEN DIRECTIONS. In Buddhist cosmology the ten directions include the four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions, the zenith, and the nadir.
TENKEI DENSON ZENJI. (1648–1735). The great Soto Zen teacher and scholar who wrote the first commentaries on Dogen’s Shobogenzo.
TEISHO. (Japanese). Formal presentation by a Zen master, usually on a koan or other Zen text. In strictest sense, a teisho is a living presentation of non-dualism and is thus distinguished from dharma talks, which are lectures on Buddhist topics.
THE THREE TREASURES. Three essential aspects of Buddhism: Buddha (the Awakened One), Dharma (the teachings of the Awakened One), and Sangha (community of those practicing Buddhism together).
VAIROCHANA BUDDHA. One of five transcendent buddhas identified as the embodiment of dharmakaya (unified existence beyond all duality). His mudra (hand position), used by many Zen practitioners during zazen, is that of supreme wisdom.
ZENDO. Place set aside to the practice of zazen.
ZENJI. Honorific title meaning “Zen teacher or master.” Often reserved for the abbots of Eiheiji and Sojiji, the main monasteries in the Japanese Soto school. Maezumi Roshi also used it for esteemed Zen ancestors.