BARDO A Tibetan word that means “intermediate state,” referring to the state of the soul between death and rebirth. It also can be translated as “transitional state” or “in-between state.”
BODHGAYA The place of Buddha’s enlightenment.
BODHICHITTA Sanskrit term for “mind of enlightenment.” Bodhi means “enlightenment” and chitta means “mind.” There are two types of bodhichitta—conventional bodhichitta and ultimate bodhichitta. Generally speaking, the term refers to conventional bodhichitta, which is a primary mind motivated by great compassion that spontaneously seeks enlightenment to benefit all living beings.
BODHISATTVA A person who has attained prajna, or enlightenment, but who postpones entering nirvana in order to help others attain enlightenment.
BRAHMA VIHARAS The four states of mind—love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—to be developed by every Buddhist. Also called the Divine Abodes.
CHARNEL Charnel grounds, in India, are places where unclaimed human corpses are dumped to rot or be eaten by animals. The bodies are not buried or burned; they are just left out.
CHENREZIG, also known as AVALOKITESHVARA The embodiment of the compassion of all the buddhas. Sometimes he appears with one face and four arms, and sometimes with eleven faces and a thousand arms. At the time of Buddha Shakyamuni, he manifested as a bodhisattva disciple.
DAOISM, also known as TAOISM is a philosophical and religious tradition that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao. Tao means way,” “path,” or “principle,” and can also be found in other Chinese philosophies and religions. In Taoism, however, it denotes something that is both the source of and the driving force behind everything that exists.
DHAMMAPADA “Dharma protector.” A manifestation of a buddha or bodhisattva, whose main function is to eliminate obstacles and gather all necessary conditions for pure Dharma practitioners.
DHARMA refers to the Buddha’s teachings and the inner realizations that are attained in dependence upon practicing them.
DHARMAKAYA Sanskrit term for the Truth Body of a buddha.
DHARMAVICAYA Applying discernment to things in order to deliver oneself from ignorance and craving. An investigation of the truth, especially about the self.
DOKUSAN is a formal interview with a Zen master during which the student receives instruction. In the Rinzai school, it has the same meaning as sanzen, which is specifically a private interview between student and master, often centered around the student’s grasp of an assigned koan. If the master rings a bell to dismiss the student, this means that the student’s understanding is not right and their work with the koan must continue.
DUKKHA A Buddhist term commonly translated as suffering, anxiety, stress, or unsatisfactoriness.
DZOGCHEN According to Tibetan Buddhism, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or condition, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition.
GANHWA SEON is a Southeast Asian tradition of what in Japan is called Zen. It emphasizes directly seeing that one’s own nature is originally buddha nature, and that enlightenment is not a matter of emptying out frustrations and revealing the buddha nature. You are originally perfect.
GURU YOGA A tantric devotional process whereby the practitioners unite their mind stream with the mind stream of the guru.
JHANA is a form of Buddhist meditation. It refers to various states of samadhi, a state of consciousness in which the observer detaches from several qualities of the mind. The mind has become firm and stable and the ability to concentrate is greatly enhanced.
KAGYU The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the “Oral Lineage” or Whispered Transmission school, one of six schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism (the others are Nyingma, Sakya, Gelug, Jonang, and Bonpo).
KALACHAKRA A high-level tantric yoga deity manifested by Buddha Vajradhara.
KANRUNHAN The Gate of Sweet Nectar, a Japanese Zen text.
KARMA KAGYU or KAMTSANG KAGYU is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism (with the Nyingma, Sakya, and Gelug). The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current centers in at least sixty-two countries.
KARMAPA A Mahayana Buddhist school founded by the great Indian Buddhist Master Atisha (982–1054).
KEISAKU A flat wooden stick or slat used during periods of meditation to remedy sleepiness or lapses of concentration. This is accomplished through a strike or series of strikes, usually administered on the meditator’s back and shoulders in the muscular area between the shoulder blades and the spine. The
keisaku itself is thin and somewhat flexible; strikes with it may cause momentary stinging if performed vigorously, but are not injurious.
KENSHO is a Japanese term from the Zen tradition. Ken means “seeing”; shō means “nature” or “essence.” Kensho is an initial insight or awakening, not full buddhahood. It is to be followed by further training to deepen this insight.
KOAN is a story, dialogue, question, or statement, used in Zen practice to provoke the “great doubt” and test a student’s progress. Koans are used in Zen as training devices. Teachers assign them to students, who are expected to “solve” the koan. Koans are distinctive in that the solutions or answers are not produced by intellectual analysis, but by having an insight about some aspect of life or practice.
LAMRIM A Tibetan term, literally meaning “stages of the path,” it means graded path, or series of steps on the path. A special arrangement of all the Buddha’s teachings that is easy to understand and put into practice. It reveals the stages of the path to enlightenment.
MADHYAMIKA A Sanskrit term, literally meaning “Middle Way.” The higher of the two schools of Mahayana Buddhist tenets (the other is Yogacara). The Madhyamika view was taught by Buddha in the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras during the second turning of the Wheel of Dharma and was subsequently elucidated by Nagarjuna and his followers. There are two divisions of this school, Madhyamika-Svatantrika and Madhyamika-Prasangika, of which the latter is Buddha’s final view.
MAHASI or mahasiddha, maha means “great” and siddha means “adept,” is a term in Vajrayana Buddhism for someone who embodies and cultivates the siddhi of perfection.
MAHAYANA is one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism, and the largest. It refers to the path of the bodhisattva, seeking complete enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Major traditions of Mahayana Buddhism include Zen and the Vajrayana Buddhist traditions of Shingon, Tendai, and Tibetan Buddhism.
MANDALA Usually the celestial mansion in which a tantric deity abides, or the environment or deities of a buddha’s pure land. It is sometimes used to refer to the essence of an element, but can also refer to a schematized representation of the cosmos, chiefly characterized by a concentric configuration of geometric shapes, each containing an image of a deity or an attribute of a deity.
METTA refers to loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, close mental union, and active interest in others. The cultivation of
metta is a popular form of Buddhist meditation. In the Theravadin Buddhist tradition, this practice begins with the meditator cultivating
metta toward themselves, then their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers, enemies, and finally all sentient beings. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this practice is associated with
tonglen, whereby one breathes out (“sends”) happiness and breathes in (“receives”) suffering.
NGöNDRO The preliminary, preparatory, or foundational “practices” or “disciplines” common to all four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetan term ngöndro literally denotes “something that goes before, something that precedes.”
NIBBÄNA or NIRVANA NibbÄna is the Pali word for nirvana. Classically it refers to freedom from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations, with their consequent suffering, as a result of the extinction of individual passion, hatred, and delusion. In a less metaphysical sense, nirvana means complete freedom from the bondage of delusion.
NYINGMA The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism (the other three being the Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug). It literally means “ancient,” and is often referred to as the “old school” because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, done in the eighth century.
PALI CANON The standard collection of scriptures recounting the teachings of the Buddha, as preserved in the Pali language.
PRAJNA is wisdom, understanding, discernment, insight, or cognitive acuity.
RINZAI is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (with Soto and Obaku). It derives from the great Chinese teacher Lin-chi I-hsuan Hui-chao (in Japanese, Rinzai Gigen). Through koans and also various unconventional means, including shouting, beating, paradox, and personally driven reinterpretations of classical Mahayana Buddhist scripture, Lin-chi sought to wake his students from their clumsy slumber.
ROSHI is an honorific title used for a highly venerated senior teacher in Zen Buddhism.
SAMADHI is the highest meditative stage, in which a person experiences oneness with the universe.
SAMSARA The cycle of uncontrolled death and reincarnation.
SANZEN is a formal interview with a Zen master during which the student receives instruction. In the Rinzai school, it has the same meaning as dokusan which is specifically a private interview between student and master, often centered around the student’s grasp of an assigned koan. If the master rings a bell to dismiss the student, this means that the student’s understanding is not right and their work with the koan must continue.
SATORI is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, meaning comprehension, understanding.
SATSANG in Indian philosophy means 1) the company of the “highest truth”; 2) the company of a guru; or 3) company with an assembly of persons who listen to, talk about, and assimilate the truth. This typically involves listening to or reading scriptures; reflecting on, discussing, and assimilating their meaning; meditating on the source of these words; and bringing their meaning into one’s daily life.
SESSHIN means literally “touching the heart-mind” and is a period of intensive meditation or zazen in a Zen monastery.
SHIKANTAZA is a Japanese translation of a Chinese term for zazen, sitting meditation. In Japan, it is a state of diffuse concentration with no focus on objects, anchors, or content, essentially the same thing as mindfulness meditation in Western Buddhism. Insofar as thoughts appear, the meditator simply allows them to arise and pass away without interference.
SHINGON is one of the mainstream major schools of Japanese Buddhism and one of the few direct descendents of the Buddhism that started in the third and fourth century C.E., spread from India to China by traveling monks.
SOTO ZEN is the largest of the three traditional schools of Zen presently found in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Obaku). It usually emphasizes shikantaza rather than koan study.
TANTRA Teachings, distinguished from sutra teachings in that they reveal methods for training the mind by bringing the future result, or buddhahood, into the present path. Tantric practitioners overcome ordinary appearances and conceptions by visualizing their body, environment, enjoyments, and deeds as those of a buddha.
TATHAGATA is a Pali and Sanskrit word that the Buddha of the Pali Canon uses when referring to himself. The term is often thought to mean either “one who has thus gone” (tathÄ-gata) or “one who has thus come” (tathÄ-Ägata).
TEISHO is a formal oral presentation of Dharma by a Zen master, usually during a sesshin. It may appear to be a lecture, but the master is not trying to convey concepts or knowledge. Instead, through the teisho the master presents his or her realization.
THERAVADA is the oldest surviving branch of Buddhism. The word is derived from the Sanskrit, and literally means “the Teaching of the Elders.” The goal of spiritual practice is for the individual to become enlightened without further reincarnations.
TONGLEN is Tibetan for “giving and taking” (or sending and receiving), and refers to a meditation practice found in Tibetan Buddhism. One visualizes taking into oneself the suffering of others on the in-breath, and on the out-breath giving happiness and success to all sentient beings.
UPAYA In Mahayana Buddhism, refers to a skillful means of instruction (for example, koan study) that leads to some goal, often the goal of enlightenment.
VAJRASATTVA is the aggregate of consciousness of all the buddhas, sometimes appearing in the aspect of a white-colored deity specifically in order to purify sentient beings of negativity. The practice of meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva texts is considered a powerful method for purifying our mind and actions.
VAJRAYANA is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayana, Mantrayana, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism, and the Diamond Way or Thunderbolt Way. The goal of spiritual practice within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions is to become a bodhisattva (i.e., attainment of a state in which one will subsequently become a buddha—after some further reincarnation), whereas the goal for Theravada practice is specific to becoming enlightened without further reincarnations. In Vajrayana the practitioner takes his or her innate buddha nature as the means of practice. The premise is that since we innately have an enlightened mind, practicing seeing the world in terms of ultimate truth can help us to attain our full buddha nature.
VIHARA or VIHAR The Sanskrit and Pali term for a Buddhist monastery.
VIPASSANA is commonly used as a synonym for vipassana meditation, in which mindfulness of breathing is used to become aware of the impermanence of everything that exists.
VISUDDHIMAGGA is the “great treatise” on Theravadin Buddhist doctrine written by Buddhaghosa in 430 C.E. in Sri Lanka. It is a comprehensive manual condensing and systematizing the theoretical and practical teachings of the Buddha as they were understood by Buddhist elders at that time.
ZAZEN is a generic term for Zen meditation.
ZENDO is a Japanese term translating roughly as “meditation hall.” In Zen Buddhism, the zen-dō is a center where zazen (sitting meditation) is practiced.