click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
ch 5 - Buddhism
Key terms from chapter five of Fisher's "Living Religions".
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| anatman | The principle that there is no eternal self. |
| anitya | Impermanence. |
| arhant | A "worthy one" who has followed the Buddha's path to liberation. |
| bhikshu(ni) | A monk or nun who renounces worldliness for the sake of following the path of liberation and whose simple physical needs are met by lay supporters. |
| bodhisattva | A person who is dedicated to liberating others from suffering. |
| deity yoga | Vajrayana meditation on a deity in order to develop his or her qualities. |
| Dharma | The teachings and laws for conduct given by the Buddha. |
| dukkha | Discomfort, suffering, frustration, disharmony. |
| karma | Our actions and their effect on this life and lives to come. |
| kensho | A sudden experience of enlightened awareness. |
| koan | A question used by Zen teachers to boggle the student's mind and thus liberate direct awareness. |
| lama | A high Vajrayana teacher. |
| Mahayana | The "Great Vehicle," the Buddhist school that stresses compassion. |
| nirvana | The ultimate egoless state of bliss. |
| Pali Canon | Ancient Buddhist scriptures written in Pali and considered authoritative. |
| samsara | The continual round of birth, death and rebirth. |
| Sangha | The spiritual community. In Theraveda, the monastic community. |
| stupa | Monument containing Buddhist relics or images. |
| sunyata | The doctrine of voidness, emptiness. |
| Theraveda | The remaining orthodox school of Buddhism, which adheres to the earliest scriptures. |
| Triple Gem | The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. |
| Vajrayana | The Buddhist path of the Tibetan diaspora. |
| vipassana | Insight meditation. |
| zazen | Sitting meditation, in Zen schools. |
| Zen | A Chinese and Japanese school emphasizing that all things have buddha-nature, which can only be grasped when one escapes from the intellectual mind. |