Zen Buddhism: Zen Buddhist Dictionary

A dictionary of Zen Buddhism terms. Please note that all words in grey like " Buddhism " are links to an archive with related articles.

Four Noble Truths: The central theme of Buddhism, and was first thing Buddha Gautama taught, in his Sermon at Deer Park.

The Four Noble Truths are:

á      pain is universal,

á      the cause of pain is greed,

á      the source of greed is illusion (maya),

á      following the Eightfold Path leads to the cessation of pain, greed, and illusion.

See also: Dukkha, Tanha, Maya, and Eightfold Path.

 (See also: Four Noble Truths , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Eightfold Path: The way Buddha Gautama prescribed to reduce universal suffering.

The eight elements are right:

á      understanding,

á      thought,

á      speech,

á      action,

á      livelihood,

á      effort,

á      mindfulness, and

á      concentration.

The divisions of the Eightfold Path, with the religious divisions in parentheses, are: knowledge (faith), conduct (morality), and meditation.

 (See also: Eightfold Path , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Five Sins:

á      Killing one's father

á      or mother,

á      or an arhat;

á      shedding the blood of Buddha; and

á      destroying the harmony of the sangha.

 (See also: Five Sins , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Four Signs: The signs that would make Gautama seek enlightenment.

These are:

á      old age,

á      sickness,

á      death, and

á      a holy man (an ascetic).

 (See also: Four Signs , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Zen.

A major school of Mahayana Buddhism, with several branches.

One of its most popular techniques is meditation on koans, which leads to the generation of the Great Doubt. According to this method: The master gives the student a koan to think about, resolve, and then report back on to the master. Concentration intensifies as the student first tries to solve the koan intellectually. This initial effort proves impossible, however, for a koan cannot be solved rationally. Indeed, it is a kind of spoof on the human intellect.

Concentration and irrationality -- these two elements constitute the characteristic psychic situation that engulfs the student wrestling with a koan. As this persistent effort to concentrate intellectually becomes unbearable, anxiety sets in. The entirety of one's consciousness and psychic life is now filled with one thought. The exertion of the search is like wrestling with a deadly enemy or trying to make one's way through a ring of flames. Such assaults on the fortress of human reason inevitably give rise to a distrust of all rational perception.

This gnawing doubt (Great Doubt), combined with a futile search for a way out, creates a state of extreme and intense yearning for deliverance. The state may persist for days, weeks or even years; eventually the tension has to break. (Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism, Vol. I, p.253.)

An interesting koan is the koan of Buddha Recitation. Unlike other koans, it works in two ways. First of all, if a cultivator succeeds in his meditation through this koan, he can achieve awakening as with other koans. However, if he does not succeed, and experience shows that many cultivators do not, then the meditation on the Buddha's narne helps him to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land.

This is so provided he believes (as most practitioners in Asia do) in Amitabha and the expedient Pure Land. Thus, the Buddha Recitation koan provides a safety net, and demonstrates the underlying unity of Zen and Pure Land.

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

Buddhism: Basic Buddhist Dictionary

A basic dictionary of Buddhism terms. Please note that all words in grey like " Buddhism " are links to an archive with related articles.

 Dokusan: A period of interaction between a Zen student and a Zen teacher, which is done according to a regular schedule. This is a personal encounter, in which the teacher is able to probe and stimulate the student's understanding, and the student is able to ask questions directly related to practice. Since everything is Zen practice, questions can be asked about anything. This is different from a mondo only slightly, because this involves an individual and a mondo can be done in a group. Mondo is similar enough that it is often used.

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

Karma: In Hindu tradition the karma is the record of all actions from all lives, the consequences for which are determined by the intentions of the act, not the consequences of the act. In Yoga, this is the form of practice that emphasizes work.

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

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)

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

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

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

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

Religion: Derived from the Latin word religio, meaning to bind or bring together. Religion is that which brings people together.

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

Chakra: (Cakra) The centers of force that are within specific organs of the body. These organs "collect, transform, and distribute the forces flowing through them" (Kapleau, p.15).

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

Consciousness: In Buddhism there are eight classes of consciousness. The first five are the senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing), the sixth is thought, the seventh is manas, and the eighth is alaya-vinana.

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

Faith: A belief; in the religious sense, faith is a belief in the supernatural or whatever other force brings the believers together. Faith has nothing to do with fact.

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

Buddha: The awakened; forever enlightened. Buddha Gautama did not claim to be the first Buddha nor the last. He frequently mentioned previous Buddha's. These have never been proven to historically exist, and were probably made up by Gautama just to make his point. Gautama did not wish to be worshipped.

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

Truth: That which is believed to be, not necessarily what really is (fact).

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

Dharma (Dhamma): Translated as law. In Buddhism, the Dharma is the canonical texts.

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

Avidya: In Hinduism this is one of the conditions involved in samsara and reincarnation, meaning ignorance. This is ignorance of spiritual perception, not book knowledge. The origin of tanha (craving) is avidya (ignorance), where tanha is what keeps the living in the cycle of samsara. We can see this reflected in the third noble truth, where the source of greed is illusion, and in order to overcome illusion we must overcome avidya, ignorance.

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