Property:Gloss-term
From Buddha-Nature
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T
sku;Kaya;According to the teachings of the Mahayana, the transcendent reality of perfect buddhahood is described in terms of two, three, four, or five kayas, or bodies. The two bodies, in the first case, are the dharmakaya, the Body of Truth, and the rupakaya, the Body of Form. The dharmakaya is the absolute, "emptiness" aspect of buddhahood and is perceptible only to beings on that level. The rupakaya is subdivided (thus giving rise to three bodies) into the sambhogakaya, the Body of Perfect Enjoyment, and the nirmanakaya, the Body of Manifestation. The sambhogakaya, or the spontaneous clarity aspect of buddha hood, is perceptible only to highly realized beings. The nirmanakaya, the compassionate aspect, is perceptible to ordinary beings and appears in the world usually, though not necessarily, in human form. The system of four bodies consists of the three just described together with the svabhavikakaya, or Body of Suchness, which refers to the union of the previous three. When five bodies are mentioned, this means the first three kayas together with the Immutable Diamond (or Vajra) Body (the indestructible aspect of buddhahood) and the Body of Complete Enlightenment (the aspect of enlightened qualities). +
tshad med bzhi;Four Boundless Attitudes;four boundless attitudes;Translated also as boundless thoughts, they are four highly virtuous states of mind, regarded as immeasurable because they focus on all beings without exception and are productive of boundless merits. They are: love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and impartiality. +
drang don;Expedient Meaning;expedient meaning;The teachings of expedient meaning are, for example, the instructions on the Four Noble Truths, the aggregates, the dhatus, and so forth, which insofar as they do not express the ultimate truth are of provisional validity only. They are nevertheless indispensable in that their purpose is to lead beings gradually on the path, bringing them to greater understanding and final accomplishment. Contrasted with the ultimate or definitive meaning (''nges don''). +
sems tsam pa;Chittamatra;Also called Yogachara, this philosophical school of the Mahayana asserts the self-cognizing mind as the ultimate reality and identifies emptiness as the absence of the subject-object dualism that overspreads and obscures the underlying pure consciousness. Although this school is usually traced back to Asanga and his brother Vasubandhu (fourth century C.E.), who base themselves on the scriptures of the third turning of the Dharma wheel, such as the "Sandhinirmochana-sutra", the Chittamatra, as a tenet system, is more accurately associated with the sixthcentury master Dharmapala. +
shes sgrib;Cognitive Obscurations;cognitive obscurations;Dualistic thought processes that apprehend subject, object, and action as being truly existent and that thus act as obstructions to the mind's omniscience. +
chos kyi grags pa;Dharmakirti;(seventh century C.E.). One of the greatest masters of logic in the tradition of Dignaga. He was the author of numerous works, the most celebrated of which is the ''Pramanavarttika (tshad ma rnam 'grel)''. +
rang mtshan nyid kyis grub pa;Existence According To Characteristics;existence according to characteristics;A term coined by the Sautrantika-Svatantrikas to refer to phenomena considered as conventionally existent by virtue of their defining properties and functional efficiency. +
srid pa'i rtse mo;Peak Of Existence;peak of existence;The highest level in the formless realm and thus the summit of all possible states in the dimension of samsaric existence. +
gcer bu pa;Jaina;An important Indian religious system founded in the sixth century B.C.E.) by Jina (whence Jaina or Jain), also known as Vardhamana. The Jains advocate a very pure ethical system involving, in particular, an extreme form of ''ahimsa'' or nonviolence. They are subdivided in two groups, the naked ones (''gcer bu pa'') and the white-robed ones. +
grangs can pa;Samkhya;One of the oldest and most important systems of the Indian philosophy, of which Kapila was the first exponent. It is a rationalistic interpretation of the Upanishads and posits two fundamental principles of matter (prakriti) and of mind (purusha), both of which are regarded as ultimately real. +
skye mched;sense fields;sense fields;Ayatana;sense fields. The six inner ayatanas refer exclusively to the sense organs (the mind being the sixth);the twelve ayatanas comprise these six plus their outer corresponding objects. (The outer and inner ayatana of the mind is the mental sense organ and mental objects. In this case, the mental organ is the immediately preceding moment of consciousness.) From the interaction of the six sense organs and their six objects, the six consciousnesses are engendered. +
chos kyi bdag;Phenomenal Self;phenomenal self;Innate and conceptual apprehension of the inherent existence of phenomena, which in fact lack such existence. +
bzod pa;Acceptance,patience;acceptance,patience;lit. patience. Fearless acceptance of the ultimate nature of things. +
'gog pa;Cessation;cessation;This term has different meanings. In the Hinayana context, it refers to the cessation of afflictive emotion brought about by wisdom. The cessation itself is the "small nirvana" of the Shravakas and the Pratyekabuddhas. +
'dus byas;Compounded Phenomenon;compounded phenomenon;A phenomenon belonging to the relative level, brought about by causes and conditions, and which appears to originate, remain, and eventually cease. +
dbyig gnyen;Vasubandhu;(280-360 C.E.). The only Buddhist master to enjoy equal prestige as an exponent of the Hinayana and the Mahayana. During his Sarvastivadin phase he composed the ''Abhidharmakosha-bhasya'', which is the most systematic and complete exposition of the Abhidharma and is one of the summits of Hinayana scholarship. Later in life, through his own inner development and under the influence of his elder brother Asanga, Vasubandhu adopted the Mahayana Yogachara view and composed many works of which the ''Trimsikavijnapti-karika (Thirty Stanzas on the Mind)'' is the most outstanding. +
spyi mtshan;Generally Characterized Phenomena;generally characterized phenomena;Universal ideas and mental images of phenomena (''don spyi''), as contrasted with real, individual, concrete objects. See also Specifically characterized phenomena. +
mang bos skur ba;Sammitiyas;the followers of Sammita. This Hinayana group (of which no original writings have survived) seems to have been large and, to judge by the Tibetan name ("honored by many"), prestigious. It is divided into three subgroups or lineages: (1) Kaurukullaka (''sa sgron ril gnas pa'i sde'');(2) Avantava (''rung ba pa'i sde'');and (3) Vatsiputriya (''gnas ma bu ba'i sde''). +
med dgag;Nonaffirming Negative;nonaffirming negative;See Affirming negative. +
zhen yul;Conceived Object;conceived object;A technical term in Buddhist logic, used to refer to objects of the conceptual mental consciousness that identifies and names things. It refers to sense objects as apprehended by this consciousness, but also to objects wrongly assumed to exist (e.g., the self). +
