The Five Precepts

Buddhists undertake certain precepts as aids on the path to coming into contact with ultimate reality. Laypeople generally undertake five precepts. The five precepts are:

1.    I undertake the precept to refrain from harming living creatures (killing).

2.    I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not freely given (stealing).

3.    I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct.

4.    I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech (lying, harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat).

5.    I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness.

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Dana

The practice of generosity or charity: one of the Paramitas as well as one of the All- Embracing Virtues, where it means, in the latter, giving others what they want just to lead them towards the truth.

 (See also: Dana , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

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Buddha Skt., Pali, lit., Òawakened one.Ó

 1. A person who has achieved the enlightenment that leads to release from the cycle of existence (samsara) and has thereby attained complete liberation (nirvana). The content of his teaching, which is based on the experience of enlightenment, is the four noble truths. A buddha has overcome every kind of craving (trishna); although even he also has pleasant and unpleasant sensations, he is not ruled by them and remains innerly untouched by them. After his death he is not reborn again.

 Two kinds of buddhas are distinguished: the pratyeka-buddha, who is completely enlight ened but does not expound the teaching; and the samyak-sambuddha, who expounds for the wel fare of all beings the teaching that he has discov ered anew. A samyak-sambuddha is omniscient (sarvajnata) and possesses the ten powers of a buddha (dashabala) and the four certainties. The buddha of our age is Shakyamuni. (See also Buddha 2.)

 Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, is not the first and only buddha. Already in the early Hinayana texts, six buddhas who preceded him in earlier epochs are mentioned: Vipashyin (Pali, Vipassi), Shikin (Sikhi), Vishvabhu (Vessabhu), Krakuchchanda (Kakusandha), Konagamana, and Kashyapa (Kassapa). The buddha who will follow Sh?kyamuni in a future age and renew the dharma is Maitreya. Be yond these, one finds indications in the litera ture of thirteen further buddhas, of which the most important is Dipamkara, whose disci ple Shakyamuni was in his previous existence as the ascetic Sumedha. The stories of these leg endary buddhas are contained in the Buddhavamsa, a work from the Khuddaka nikaya.

 2. The historical Buddha. He was born in 563 BCE, the son of a prince of the Shakyas, whose small kingdom in the foothills of the Himalayas lies in present-day Nepal. His first name was Siddhartha, his family name Gauta ma. Hence he is also called Gautama Buddha. (For the story of his life, see Siddhartha Gauta ma.) During his life as a wandering ascetic, he was known as Shakyamuni, the ÒSilent Sage of the Shakyas.Ó In order to distinguish the historical Buddha from the transcendent buddhas (see buddha 3), he is generally called Shakyamuni Buddha or Buddha Shakyamuni.

 3. The Òbuddha principle,Ó which manifests itself in the most various forms. Whereas in Hinayana only the existence of one buddha in every age is accepted (in which case the Buddha is considered an earthly being who teaches hu mans), for the Mahayana there are countless transcendent buddhas. According to the Mahayana teaching of the trikaya, the buddha principle manifests itself in three principal forms, the so-called three bodies (trikaya). In this sense the transcendent buddhas represent embodiments of various aspects of the buddha principle.

 4. A synonym for the absolute, ultimate reality devoid of form, color, and all other propertiesÑbuddha-nature.

From The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen,

By Michael S. Diener, Franz-Karl Erhard, Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber

Translated by Michael H. Kohn

 (See also: Buddha , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

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Buddhist Meditation: Meditation in Buddhism

Meditation is something that plays a part in virtually all religions, although some of them don't use the word meditation. And meditation is something that can be done with no religious element at all. Meditation involves both the body and the mind. For Buddhists this is particularly important as they want to avoid what they call "duality", and so their way of meditating must involve the body and the mind as a single entity.

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Buddhism: Buddhist Customs

Buddhist tradition has developed many different customs and practices in different parts of the world. However, two customs are basic to all traditions: Venerating the Buddha and The exchange of gifts.

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The Thai Buddhist Calendar

With important days for ceremonies and rituals, including: Visakha Puja, Magha Puja, Asalha Puja, Khao Phansa, Ok Phansa, Tod Kratin

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Buddhism: The religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha (ca 624544 bce). He refuted the idea of man's having an immortal soul and did not preach of any Supreme Deity. Instead he taught that man should seek to overcome greed, hatred and delusion and attain enlightenment through realizing the Four Noble Truths and following the Eightfold Path.

Prominent among its holy books is the Dhammapada. Buddhism arose out of Hinduism as an inspired reform movement which rejected the caste system and the sanctity of the Vedas. It is thus classed as nastika, "unbeliever," and is not part of Hinduism. Buddhism eventually migrated out of India, the country of its origin, and now enjoys a following of over 350 million, mostly in Asia.

See: Buddha.

(See also: Buddhism , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

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Buddha

Lit., the Awakened One; one who through aeons of spiritual development has attained Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.

This epithet usually refers to Sakyamuni Buddha, who lived and taught in India some 2,600 years ago.

 (See also: Buddha , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

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The Allure of Tantra

Perhaps nothing is more exotic, dramatic and sensational in IndiaÕs Yoga traditions than is the practice of Tantra. No other approach to Yoga has gained such a fascination for the modern mind and its seeking of the bizarre, the entertaining and the enigmatic.

Tantra appears to offer both spiritual and worldly success to a superlative degree. It covers not only internal yogic experiences of chakras, lokas and deities, but also has many important healing practices for body and mind. Most notably, it offers special means of heightening sexual pleasure, making money, gaining recognition and defeating oneÕs enemies - with Tantric methods available for achieving all human desires. There is in Tantra something for everyone, especially those who may be put off by ascetic or renunciate approaches to the spiritual life such as seem to dominate most of the rest of the Yoga tradition.

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Kundalini: A name used in Yoga for a snake like inner energy, that is wrapped around the abdominal region of the body. This is somewhat related to ki, ch'i, and te.

 (See also: Kundalini , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

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Since prehistoric times sacred places have exerted a mysterious attraction on billions of people around the world. Ancient legends and modern day reports tell of extraordinary things that have happened to people while visiting these places. Different sacred sites have the power to heal the body, enlighten the mind, increase creativity, develop psychic abilities, and awaken the soul to a knowing of its true purpose in life.

Normally, when one thinks of such places, the mind imagines terrestrial locations, fixed and unmoving, such as mountains, lands and caves. But the planet is a water place too with more than 70% of the surface of the earth covered with water. Many sacred sites are connected to water.

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A Theosophical definition of Buddhism :

Buddhism

The teachings of Gautama the Buddha. Buddhism today is divided into two branches, the Northern and the Southern. The Southern still retains the teachings of the "Buddha's brain," the "eye doctrine," that is to say his outer philosophy for the general world, sometimes inadequately called the doctrine of forms and ceremonies. The Northern still retains his "heart doctrine"  - that which is hid, the inner life, the heart-blood, of the religion: the doctrine of the inner heart of the teaching.

The religious philosophy of the Buddha-Sakyamuni is incomparably nearer to the ancient wisdom, the esoteric philosophy of the archaic ages, than is Christianity. Its main fault today is that teachers later than the Buddha himself carried its doctrines too far along merely formal or exoteric lines; yet, with all that, to this day it remains the purest and holiest of the exoteric religions on earth, and its teachings even exoterically are true  - once they are properly understood. They need but the esoteric key in interpretation of them. As a matter of fact, the same may be said of all the great ancient world religions. Christianity, Brahmanism, Taoism, and others all have the same esoteric wisdom behind the outward veil of the exoteric formal faith. See: exoteric. esoteric

See also: Buddhism , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

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Treatise on the Mind Aspiring for Enlightenment, The

(Jpn.: Bodai-shin-ron; Chin.: P'u-t'i-hsin-lun)

A work attributed to Nagarjuna (c. 150-250) and translated into Chinese in the eighth century by Pu-k'ung (Skt Amoghavajra). Another account attributes the work itself to Pu-k'ung. No Sanskrit version is extant. The Treatise on the Mind Aspiring for Enlightenment teaches the important Buddhist concept of aspiration for enlightenment and encourages the development of a mind that seeks Buddhahood. It defines three aspects of a mind that aspires for enlightenment, from the standpoint of Esoteric Buddhism: (1) great compassion to save all living beings, (2) great wisdom to know what sutra is supreme, and (3) meditation. The work also explains various kinds of contemplation put forth in Esoteric Buddhism. Kobo, the founder of the Japanese True Word (Shingon) school, valued this work, and it was widely studied in his school.

(See also: Treatise on the Mind Aspiring for Enlightenment , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

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Thought: The way we process information, both facts and truths.

 (See also: Thought , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

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Knowledge: In Eastern traditions, knowledge is equated with intuition, not just information.

 (See also: Knowledge , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

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All other religions also lay stress on Dharma. Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam are all remarkably alive to its value. Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Kant, Swedenborg and Spinoza are all striking examples in the interesting history of Western philosophy for the high pedestal on which they have placed morality, duty and righteousness, and adored them all as the only means to the attainment of the goal of life. Each religion lays greater stress on certain aspects of Dharma.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past

(Jpn.: kuon jitsujo)

Shakyamuni's original attainment of enlightenment in the inconceivably remote past as related in the "Life Span" (sixteenth) chapter of the essential teaching (latter fourteen chapters) of the Lotus Sutra. In this chapter, Shakyamuni discloses that he actually attained enlightenment in the distant past. He then illustrates in rather awe-inspiring detail the cosmic proportions of the time that has elapsed since then, the magnitude of which is abbreviated as "numberless major world system dust particle kalpas." Nothing Shakyamuni had taught until this point challenged people's basic assumption that he had attained enlightenment in his present lifetime after sitting in meditation under the bodhi tree near Gaya, India.

This is the assumption upheld in the theoretical teaching (first fourteen chapters) of the Lotus Sutra and in the other sutras. Through this revelation in the "Life Span" chapter, however, Shakyamuni demolishes the belief that he attained enlightenment for the first time in his present lifetime. The "Life Span" chapter says: "In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of meditation not far from the city of Gaya and there attained supreme perfect enlightenment. But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood."

(See also: Attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Buddhism Archives Dictionary

Buddha Nature

The following terms refer to the same thing: Self-Nature, True Nature, Original Nature, Dharma Nature, True Mark, True Mind, True Emptiness, True Thusness, Dharma Body, Original Face, Emptiness, Prajna, Nirvana, etc.

According to the Mahayana view, (buddha-nature) is the true, immutable, and eternal nature of all beings. Since all beings possess buddha-nature, it is possible for them to attain enlightenment and become a buddha, regardless of what level of existence they occupy ...

The answer to the question whether buddha-nature is immanent in beings is an essential determining factor for the association of a given school with Theravada or Mahayana, the two great currents within Buddhism.

In Theravada this notion is unknown; here the potential to become a buddha is not ascribed to every being.

By contrast the Mahayana sees the attainment of buddhahood as the highest goal; it can be attained through the inherent buddha-nature of every being through appropriate spiritual practice. (The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen.)

See also "Dharma Nature."

 (See also: Buddha Nature , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Buddhism Archives Dictionary

Four ranks of sages

(Jpn.: shie)

Buddhist teachers to be relied upon after Shakyamuni Buddha's death. They are explained in the Nirvana and other sutras, which classify them into four ranks according to their level of understanding.

The first rank refers to the voice-hearers who have yet to attain any of the four stages of Hinayana enlightenment.

The second rank refers to those who have attained the first stage, that of the stream-winner (Skt srota-apanna ), or one who has entered the metaphorical river leading to nirvana; and to those the second stage, that of the once-returner (sakridagamin), or one who must undergo only one more rebirth in the human world before entering nirvana.

The third rank refers to those who have attained the third stage, that of non-returner (anagamin), or one who will never be reborn in this world.

The fourth rank refers to those who have eliminated the illusions of thought and desire and attained the fourth and highest stage, that of arhat.

T'ien-t'ai (538-597) and Chang-an (561-632) correlated the four ranks to the fifty-two stages of bodhisattva practice in The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra and The Annotations on the Nirvana Sutra, respectively.

From this viewpoint,

• persons of the first rank correspond to those who have not yet attained the first stage of security.
• Persons of the second rank correspond to those in the ten stages of security.
• Persons of the third rank correspond to those in the ten stages of practice and the ten stages of devotion.
• Persons of the fourth rank correspond to those in the ten stages of development and the stage of near-perfect enlightenment, in which one has almost reached the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Though the four ranks represent the four levels of understanding, "the four ranks of sages" is also a general term for reliable Buddhist teachers, irrespective of how they fit into the above classification. If they are bodhisattvas, they are also referred to as the four ranks of bodhisattvas.

(See also: Four ranks of sages , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Buddhism Archives Dictionary

Buddhist Worship: Worship in Buddhism

Buddhists can worship both at home or at a temple. It is not considered essential to go to a temple to worship with others.

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Buddhism is not centred on a god, rather, it is a system of philosophy and a code of morality. Moreover, the achievement of enlightenment is the goal of every being, so eventually, we will all reach Buddhahood. This article gives a great insight to the characteristics of buddhism.

Read more here: » Buddhism: A Unique Spiritual Journey

Buddhist Quotes: The Moment of Attaining

The dharma is such that it cannot be attained by groping or searching about. In the realm of seeing, knowledge perishes. At the moment of attaining, mind is surpassed.

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(See also: Buddhism Archives, Buddhist Quotes, Inspirational Quotes, Love Quotes, Friendship Quotes, Life Quotes)

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