Buddhism Vocab

Camille & Patrick

Dukkha/ dukha (suffering)

Birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief & despair are all dukkha. Not getting what one wants, and leaving loved ones are both dukkha.

Tanha/ Trishna (craving)

Suffering is a result of craving, Tanha/ Trishna. There are three basic forms of Tanha; these include lusty craving, craving to live, and the death wish.

Anicca/ Anitya (change)

Is the concept of impermanence; the non-lasting nature of the world.

Anatta/Anatman (lack of permanent self)

Anatta is the absence of a soul. The Anatta doctrine encourages for Buddhists to detach themselves from “his or her self”.

Nirvana/ Nibbana (enlightenment)

Is a state attained from the complete liberation from dukkha, suffering.

Arhat/ Arahant (enlightened person)

Signifies a spiritual practitioner who has who has realized certain high stages of attainment.

Samsara (cycle of life)

Is the cycle of birth, life and death that continues until enlightenment is achieved.

Kamma/ Karma (action leading to a state of rebirth)

Are the actions that and individual does, which determines their state of rebirth. If the individual’s karma/ kamma is good then they can escape samsara or are reborn into a higher state of life.

Buddha (enlightened or awakened one)

This means “one who is awake” in the sense of having “woken up to reality.” This title was first given to a man named Siddartha Gautama, who lived 2,500 years ago in northern India.

Bodhissata/ Bodhisattva (an enlightened one who strives for the enlightenment of others)

It is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, attains enlightenment, and strives to help others attain enlightenment as well.

Sangha (community)

A community with similar goals, which often times are monks.

Dhamma/ Dharma (teachings of Buddha)

These are teachings and doctrines of Buddha that describe why the world is the way it with life lessons.

Bhavana (mental discipline or meditation/formal training)

“spiritual cultivation” / “development of body and mind”

Karuna (compassion)

Active sympathy, gentle affection and a willingness to bear the pain of others.

Maya

Maya, in Sanskrit, means illusion or enchantment, but the mother of Siddhartha Gautama was also named Maya.

Upaya

Upaya refers to something, which brings one up. It is often used with cleverness to infer skill in means and to encourage practicing Buddhists to find their own way to reach enlightenment.

Lama

This is the title of a teacher of the dharma. It is similar in meaning to guru. It can also be used as monk, nun, a symbol of high achievement, or in titles to show lineages.

Mudras

Mudras are symbolic gestures used in practice to evoke particular ideas or buddhas in the mind during meditation.

The Three Jewls

The three jewels are taking refuge in the Buddha, Refuge in the Dharma, and refuge in the Sangha

Theravada

Theravada is translated as the “way of the elders”, or “doctrine of the elders” and is considered to be the oldest surviving method of the Buddha’s teachings.

Mahayana

This can be translated to “the Great Vehicle” because it is more easily accessible for the general public rather than to just monks and ascetics.

Mandala

In Sanskrit, Mandala means circle and in Buddhism and Hinduism the sacred art usually takes the form of a circle. They are used to represent the universe and can be made with colored rice, colored sand, stone, metal, or painted.

Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path is the path or the steps one must participate in to reach enlightenment and end suffering. It is the practical guideline to ethical and moral development with the goal of freeing oneself from the attachments of the physical world.

- Prajna is wisdom in Buddhism and is a step toward achieving enlightenment

- Sila is the moral and ethical conduct in buddhism and is heavily influenced in the five precepts and in the step of Right Action.

- Samadhi is concentration or composing of the mind and refers mostly to meditation and.

Four Noble Truths

These are the fundamental teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. They taught that life is suffering, suffering is caused by “desire”, there is a way to end the suffering, and to follow the eightfold path.

- Dukkha is suffering in sanskrit and life is suffering to Buddhists

- Tanha is what causes Dukkha and is desire or craving

Five Precepts

The Five Precepts make up the general code of ethics in Buddhism that are undertaken by everyday followers. They are much like the Ten Commandments but these encourage in abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication. They are not imperative but more guidelines.

Skandhas

The Skandhas are the five elements that summarize and individual’s existence. These are matter or body, sensations or feelings, senses or perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness or awareness.

Trikaya

The Trikaya is a dctrine teaching of the three bodies of the Buddha. These bodies are the created body, the body of mutual enjoyment, and the body of truth.

Tripitaka

The Tripitaka is also known as the Pali Canon and is a collection of texts from the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism. It is divided into three parts – the Vinaya Pitaka which concerns governing of daily affairs – the Sutta Pitaka which is the set of discourses attributed to the Buddha and his followers and containing the central most teachings of Buddhism – The Abhidhamma Pitaka which highlights the underlying principles presented in the Sutta Pitaka.

Part I Buddhism Packet

Buddhism General Overview

Buddhists follow the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama – the enlightened one. When he became enlightened he was saved from Samsara. Buddhists follow the four main truths – life is suffering, suffering is caused by desire for personal gain, the suffering can be ended, follow the eightfold path. The Eightfold Path mentioned is right understanding, speech, thought, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and right concentration. Buddhists samsara is reliant on karma for guidance in reincarnation, but there is no ataman or soul. Buddhists are encouraged to work out their own salvation without relying on gods.

The Three main parts of Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Three Jewels

The Life of Buddha

The most important elements in the Buddha’s life were

- His seeing of the old man, the sick man, the dead man, and the holy man.

- His decision to become an ascetic

- His attaining of enlightenment under the Bodhi tree

- Teaching his ideas on reaching enlightenment and the possibility of it for everyone.

The Buddha Image

Early Buddhist art Buddha was not depicted, but represented with symbols, like the dharma wheel or his footprints. Buddha is depicted today in many different styles from all over the world. He can be represented sitting in meditation or standing, with a halo showing his enlightenment, or with Greek Influences in his Meditation throne, and many other ways.

The picture gives Buddha the hair of an ascetic showing his journey as a holy man. He is sitting on a meditation throne which was used in early Buddhist art to show his presence. He Is sitting in the meditation posture to encourage the meditation in his teachings. The Buddha’s hands are in a posture near to the wheel turning posture because they are often represented with a hand posture.

Stupas, Temples and Relics

Buddhist Stupas are ancient burial mounds containing relics of kings and heros or even of the Buddha. They are often adorned with stone carvings and scenes depicting the life of Buddha. They are used as a showing of devotion.

The main features of a Stupa are the depictions of Buddha’s life, showing his achievement enlightenment, the celestial spirits bearing offerings to the Buddha, the wheel of Law which represents the wheel of life, samsara, and Karma, the Stupa Gates, The Buddha to be represented as a fear-banishing gesture, and stone lions guarding the entrance to the stupa.

Devotion

Buddhists are not just personally focused; there is a greater sense of a religious collective. People make pilgrimages to places made holy in the Buddha’s life to gain merit and insight. Many people give offerings of food, clothing, or lodging. There are also many services and rites performed.

One Act preformed is that of the pure land sect in Japan. Young Priests attend a mandatory head shaving ceremony, which is a symbol of giving up everything within personal desire. They even must give up the desire to become enlightened to achieve enlightenment.

Cosmology

Buddhists share the same general understanding of the cosmos as the other Indian religions. There are many different realms things are born and reborn into in as a place to seek enlightenment.

Mandalas are the sacred representation of the cosmos and representations of certain worlds usually associated with a God. These can be made with colored sand, carved in stone or painted. They are supposed to represent the macroism of the cosmos and the practitioner’s psychic energy.

The four most important parts of the wheel of life are the four traumas of life; Birth, Sickness, Aging, and Death. These are the most important because they happen to everyone without exception and are inescapable.

Summary Paragraphs

Achieving Salvation:

The goal in Hinduism is to achieve moksh. Moksha is liberation from the cycle of reincarnation and rebirth, called samsara. This is achieved by developing the ability to see past maya, which is the illusion of the physical world. Upon achieving moksha, and dying, the ataman of a person is reunited with the Supreme Being and is no longer subject to samsara.

Important figures / deities and/or Concept of God(s):

The Hindus have many concepts of God, and each sect of Hinduism concentrates on a different representation of the Supreme Being in the form of the main gods like Krishna, Vishnu, and Shiva. The Goal of Hinduism is to have each ataman reconnect with the Supreme Being. This is done with the help of the sacred texts and the Gurus. Gurus are people who have achieved a close proximity to the Supreme Being through an entire lifetime of focused worship. Other tools to aide in the search for moksha, are the yogas. There are four yogas which each focus on an aspect of life and possible ways to achieve moksha.

Goal for Humans:

The goal for Humans in Hinduism is to be released from Samsara, which is the eternal cycle of reincarnation and rebirth. The release or liberation from this cycle is called moksha. Moksha is achieved by overcoming the desires of the physical world and seeing through the illusion of the physical world, which is called maya. Hindus believe to do this a person must respect and abide by the law of Karma.

Sacred Texts / Doctrines

Possible Vocab to use: Shruti, Smirti, Upanishads, Varna

The Hindus have the one of the largest collections of holy texts of any religions. One of their most important texts is the Vedas. The Vedas are the basics of Hinduism and are the foundations for the rest of the religion. The Hindus have two types of religious text. One that has been remembered, which is a Smriti, and that which has been heard, which is Shruti. These tell different things about the religion and both are essential to the worship and following of the religion.