Introduction and links to related topics Below are some short introductions. Click on the blue hyperlinked word to get more related articles.
Dharma - Translated as law. In Buddhism, the Dharma is the canonical texts.
Soul - The real being of man, as distinguished from body, mind and emotions. The soul - known as atman or purusha - is the sum of its two aspects, the form or body of the soul and the essence of the soul (though many texts use the word soul to refer to the essence only). -
essence or nucleus of the soul: Man''s innermost and unchanging being - Pure Consciousness (Parashakti or Satchidananda) and Absolute Reality (Parasiva). This essence was never created, does not change or evolve and is eternally identical with God Siva''s perfections of Parashakti and Parasiva.
soul body: anandamaya kosha ("sheath of bliss"), also referred to as the "causal body" (karana sharira), "innermost sheath" and "body of light." Body of the soul, or soul body, names the soul''s manifest nature as an individual being - an effulgent, human-like form composed of light (quantums).
It is the emanational creation of God Siva, destined to one day merge back into Him. During its evolution, the soul functions through four types of outer sheaths that envelope the soul form - mental, instinctive-intellectual, vital and physical - and employs the mental faculties of manas, buddhi and ahamkara, as well as the five agents of perception (jnanendriyas), and five agents of action (karmendriyas).
The "soul body" is not a body in sense of a case, a vessel, vehicle or enclosure for something else. The soul body is the soul itself - a radiant, self-effulgent, human-like, super-intelligent being. Its very composition is Satchidananda in various subtle levels of manifestation. It is the finest of subatomic forms, on the quantum level.
The soul form evolves as its consciousness evolves, becoming more and more refined until finally it is the same intensity or refinement as the Primal Soul, Parameshvara. The experiences of life, in all the various planes of consciousness, are "food for the soul," reaping lessons that actually raise the level of intelligence and divine love. Thus, very refined souls, whether embodied or in the disembodied, ajiva, state, are like walking intelligences with inventive creativeness and powers of preservation, beaming with love and luminosity in their self-effulgent bodies of quantum light particles.
See: atman, evolution of the soul, indriya, kosha, Parashakti, Parasiva, purusha, quantum, Satchidananda, spiritual unfoldment.
Expedient Means - Refers to strategies, methods, devices, targetted to the capacities, circumstances, likes and dislikes of each sentient being, so as to rescue him and lead him to Enlightenment. "Thus, all particular formulations of the Teaching are just provisional expedients to communicate the Truth (Dharma) in specific contexts." (J.C. Cleary.)
"The Buddha''s words were medicines for a given sickness at a given time," always infinitely adaptable to the conditions of the audience.
Bon - Bon (Tibetan) (possible variation of bod Tibet, or an ancient word meaning invoker)
Also pon and bhon. The Tibetan religion before the introduction of Buddhism in the latter half of the 8th century. The priest and adherents of Bon are called Bonpos (bon po), the ancient invokers for the pre-Buddhist and non-Buddhist kings and nobles of Tibet.
The Bon religion, which survives today, seems based on at least four sources:
the ancient folk religions of the Tibetan people;
the tradition of the ancient "invokers";
a conscious competition with Buddhism in terms of doctrine, texts, institutions, pantheon, and ritual; and
a number of non-Tibetan influences, including Hindu, Iranian, Central Asian, and other elements.
Bon has been influenced by Buddhism to the extent that it has its own Kanjur and Tanjur, its own monks and monasteries, and its own "Buddha," Shen-rab (gshen rab). All existing Bon literature was produced after the introduction of Buddhism, and shows the influence of and competition with Buddhism. Bon has also influenced Tibetan Buddhism, especially the Nyingmapa and Kargyupa sects.
Nibbana - Liberation; literally, the "unbinding" of the mind from the mental effluents (see asava), defilements (see kilesa), and the round of rebirth (see vatta), and from all that can be described or defined.
As this term also denotes the extinguishing of a fire, it carries the connotations of stilling, cooling, and peace. (According to the physics taught at the time of the Buddha, a burning fire seizes or adheres to its fuel; when extinguished, it is unbound.) "Total nibbana" in some contexts denotes the experience of Awakening; in others, the final passing away of an arahant.
Anatta - Anatta (Pali) (from an not + atta self, soul)
Non-self, nonegoity; a Buddhist doctrine postulating that there is no unchanging, permanent self (atta, Sanskrit atman) in the human being, in contrast to the Upanishad view that the atman or inner essence of a human being is identic with Brahman, the Supreme, which pervades and is the universe. While Gautama Buddha stresses the nonreality of self, regarding as continuous only its attributes (the five khandas; Sanskrit skandhas) which return at rebirth, there is scriptural testimony in both Southern and Northern Schools that the Buddha recognized a fundamental selfhood in the human constitution (cf ET 108-10).
In the Dhammapada, one of the most respected texts of the Southern Buddhists, we read: "The self is the master of the self (atta hi attano natho)
, for who else could be its master?" (12:160); in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (2:33, 35): attadipa attasarana, "be ye as those who have the self (atta) as their light (diva, also translated as island); be ye as those who have the self (atta) as their refuge (sarana)
" (cf RK Dh. 12, 45). Also we find Nagarjuna stating in his commentary on the Prajna-paramita: "Sometimes the Tathagata taught that the Atman verily exists, and yet at other times he taught that the Atman does not exist" (Chinese recension of Yuan Chung).
Buddhaghosa - fourth century CE Buddhist philosopher and author of The Path of Purity (Visuddhimagga), among the most important texts in Theravada Buddhism written after the Pali Canon.
Siddha Siddhanta - (Sanskrit) Siddha Siddhanta, also called Gorakhnatha Saivism, is generally considered to have come in the lineage of the earlier ascetic orders of India. Its most well-known preceptor was Gorakshanatha (ca 1000) a disciple of Matsyendranatha, patron saint of Nepal, revered by certain esoteric Buddhist schools as well as by Hindus.
The school systematized and developed the practice of hatha yoga to a remarkable degree. Indeed, nearly all of what is today taught about hatha yoga comes from this school. Among its central texts are Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Svatmarama, Gheranda Samhita, Siva Samhita and Jnanamrita. Siddha Siddhanta theology embraces both transcendent Siva (being) and immanent Siva (becoming). Siva is both the efficient and material cause of the universe. Devotion is expressed through temple worship and pilgrimage, with the central focus on internal worship and kundalini yoga, with the goal of realizing Parasamvid, the supreme transcendent state of Siva.
Today there are perhaps 750,000 adherents of Siddha Siddhanta Saivism, who are often understood as Shaktas or advaita tantrics. The school fans out through India, but is most prominent in North India and Nepal. Devotees are called yogis, and stress is placed on world renunciation - even for householders. This sect is also most commonly known as Natha, the Gorakshapantha and Siddha Yogi Sampradaya. Other names include Adinatha Sampradaya, Nathamatha and Siddhamarga.
See: Gorakshanatha.
Kanjur - Kanjur bka'' ''gyur (kang-gyur, kan-jur) (Tibetan) (from bka'' sacred word + ''gyur translation)
The portion of the Tibetan Buddhist canon containing the sutras, the texts ascribed to the Buddha himself and called the "Buddha Word" (Sanskrit buddha-vachana). The second part of the Tibetan Buddhist cannon, the Tanjur, contains sastras or commentaries and other scholastic works. The Kanjur consists almost entirely of works translated from Sanskrit or other Indian languages. Although the texts contained in the Kanjur are overwhelmingly of Indian origin, the compilation of the Kanjur was done in Tibet, and in structure it differs greatly from the old Indian Tripitakas. Four more or less complete recensions of the Buddhist canon survive: the Pali, the Chinese, the Tibetan, and the Mongolian, this last, however, being a translation of the Tibetan. The first three recensions differ from each other in content and arrangement. The overall arrangement of the Kanjur is in three sections, giving the Sanskrit names: Vinaya (monastic discipline), Sutra (discourses of the Buddha), and Tantra (esoteric and ritual texts). The Sutra section is divided into several subsections. Each section or subsection contains numerous individual texts.
The Tibetan Kanjur was originally collected in manuscript, perhaps in the early 14th century. Beginning in 1410, the Kanjur has been published in numerous editions printed from woodblocks. Over twenty manuscript and blockprint editions are known to have existed. The following five blockprint editions are the best known in the West, and can give an idea of the immense extent of the Kanjur: 1) The Peking editions of 1700-37 -- about 1055 texts in 106 volumes; 2) The Narthang edition of 1730-32 -- about 761 texts in 100 volumes; 3) The Derge editon of 1729-33 -- about 1108 texts in 102 volumes; 4) the Cone (cho-ne) edition of 1721-31 -- 1055 texts in 107 volumes; and 5) The Lhasa edition of 1934 -- 808 texts in 99 volumes.
Sanskrit - Learned language of India. Canonical texts of Mahayana Buddhism in its Indian stage were written in Sanskrit.
Dhammapada - (Pali, "Dhamma Verses" or "footsteps of Dhamma") Buddhist scripture containing 423 stanzas on a variety of topics; some are doctrinal, but many are gnomic or moral verses.
It is often considered, especially in the West and in Theravada countries, one of the most representative Buddhist texts, although it contains many stanzas found elsewhere in non-Buddhist Indian literature and barely touches on some of the central doctrines and beliefs of Buddhism.
Its popularity in antiquity, however, seems attested by the number of recensions that have survived in different Buddhist languages, including Pali, "Hybrid" Sanskrit, Gandhari, Prakrit, and classical Sanskrit.
Yehidah - Yehidah (Hebrew) [from masculine yahid the one, the only, the unique from the verbal root yahad oneness, union; cognant with the Hebrew ''ehad one]
In the Qabbalah, the highest human principle, as being the unique or single and indivisible individuality of the constitution, and therefore corresponding to the spiritual monad. Blavatsky places this term in context of the entire person, as presented in the Qabbalistic system: yehidah is
"esoterically, the highest individuality or Atma-Buddhi-Manas, when united in one. . . . At the time of the conception, the Holy ''sends a d''yook-nah, or the phantom of a shadow image'' like the face of a man. It is designed and sculptured in the divine tzelem, i.e., the shadow image of the Elohim. ''Elohim created man in his (their) tzelem'' or image, says Genesis (i. 27). It is the tzelem that awaits the child and receives it at the moment of its conception, and this tzelem is our linga sharira. ''The rua''h forms with the Nephesh the actual personality of the man,'' and also his individuality, or, as expressed by the Kabbalist, the combination of the two is called, if he (man) deserves it, Yeheedah.
This combination is that which the Theosophist calls the dual Manas, the higher and the Lower Ego, united to Atma-Buddhi and become one. For as explained in the Zohar (i., 205b, 206a, Brody Ed.): ''Neshamah, soul (Buddhi), comprises three degrees, and therefore she has three names, like the mystery above: that is, Nephesh, Rua''h, Neshamah,'' or the Lower Manas, the Higher Ego, and Buddhi, the Divine Soul. ''It is also to be noted that the Neshamah has three divisions''; says Myer''s Qabbalah, ''the highest is the Ye-hee-dah'' -- or Atma-Buddhi-Manas, the latter once more as a unit; ''the middle principle is Hay-yah'' -- or Buddhi and the dual Manas; ''and the last and third, the Neshamah, properly speaking'' -- or Soul in general. ''They manifest themselves in Ma''hshabah, thought, Tzelem, phantom of the image, Zurath, prototypes (mayavic forms, or rupas), and the D''yooknah, shadow of the phantom image. The D''mooth, likeness or similitude (physical body), is a lower manifestation'' (p. 392)" (TG 377-8; cf SD 2:633).
Avatamsaka - The basic text of the Avatamsaka School. It is one of the longest sutras in the Buddhist Canon and records the highest teaching of Buddha Shakyamuni, immediately after Enlightenment. It is traditionally believed that the Sutra was taught to the Bodhisattvas and other high spiritual beings while the Buddha was in samadhi.
The Sutra has been described as the "epitome of Buddhist thought, Buddhist sentiment and Buddhist experience" and is quoted by all schools of Mahayana Buddhism, in particular, Pure Land and Zen.
Mahayana-sutra - Mahayana-Sutra (Sanskrit) [from Mahayana great vehicle + sutra textbook]
Writings which treat of the Buddhist teachings as they were promulgated originally by Nagarjuna.
Amagandha Sutta - Amagandha Sutta (Pali) Buddhist text (BCW 11:470-1).
Awakening Of Faith - Mahayana Buddhist text of the 5th or 6th centuries CE by an otherwise unknown figure named Asvaghosha; the work which emphasizes ultimate reality as suchness (tathata).
Maha-parinibbana-sutta - Maha-Parinibbana-Sutta or Suttanta (Pali) [from maha great + parinibbana complete nirvana + sutta, suttanta text, book]
The Book of the Great Decease of the Buddhist Pali canon, "one of the most authoritative of the Buddhist sacred writings" (TG 200).
A scripture of the same name of the Mahayana school of Northern Buddhism, supposed by some to be of later date, is written in Sanskrit: the Maha-paranirvana-sutra (Paradise Sutra).
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