CHINESE BUDDHISM: SOME KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Richard J. Smith
Rice University

Avalokitesvara (Chinese: Guanyin pusa): In India, a prominent male bodhisattva; in China, a female bodhisattva, known as the Goddess of Mercy--the main assistant to Amitabha.

Amitabha (Chinese: Emituo Fo; Japanese Amida): Buddha of Immeasurable Radiance

Arhat (Chinese: Luohan): A disciple of the Buddha.

Bodhisattva (Chinese: Pusa): Buddha-to-be, who postpones Nirvana to help others achieve enlightenment. Known for compassion and altruism.

Buddha (Chinese: Fo): One who attains ultimate enlightenment. The Buddha-nature is in all sentient beings.

Dharma (Chinese: Dao or Fa): Buddhist "law" (i.e. "teaching")

A. The term dharma (lower case) also refers to "psychosomatic elements of existence;" the constituent elements of phenomenal things.

Eight-fold Noble Path: (1) Correct views, (2) intentions, (3) speech, (4) conduct, (5) livelihood, (6) effort, (7) mindfulness and (8) concentration

Emptiness (Sanskrit: sunyata; Chinese: kong):

A. The idea that "things" are really devoid of fixed reality (self-nature) and ultimate significance. The term also refers to the Buddha-nature, or "suchness" (i.e. reality beyond all words and descriptions). True realization of emptiness is "a state free of all types of clinging, a state encompassing all and unifying all."

Enlightenment (Sanskrit: bodhi; Chinese: ming or wu; Japanese: satori):

A. An awakening to the "primordial, fundamental truth of "suchness" see "Emptinness"] and to the innate Buddha-nature that exists in all beings.

Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is essentially painful (unsatisfactory); (2) the origin of pain is selfish desire; (3) the elimination of pain comes with the elimination of desire; (4) the elimination of desire comes with following the Eight-fold Noble Path.

Guanyin pusa (see Avalokitesvara)

Hinayana (Chinese: Xiaocheng; see Theravada): Lesser Vehicle (a "lesser truth" in Mahayana parlance)

Karma (Chinese: ye or yeyin): lit., act or deed (includes thoughts); implies causality; a group of people can also create collective karma for itself, producing collective consequences.

Mahayana (Chinese: Dacheng): The Greater Vehicle (as opposed to Theravada)

A. Emphasis on expediency; popular understanding; sudden enlightenment through faith.

Meditation (Sanskrit: dhyana; Chinese: chan; Japanese: zen): A state of pure concentration, in which "the meditator and the object meditated upon are unified." Also a general term for "serene contemplation."

Morality (Sanskrit: sila; Chinese: xiaoshun; filial piety/submissiveness):

A. Broadly: Don't kill, lie, steal, be unchaste, take intoxicants

Nirvana (Chinese: Niepan): lit., The extinction of desire and suffering). In Mahayana there are different kinds of nirvana, as there are different kinds of enlightenment.

Pure Land (Chinese: Jingtian): The Western Paradise (Xitian) described in the Lotus Sutra. A wonderful place overseen by Amitabha.

Samsara: The cycle of repeated births and deaths caused by desire, hatred and ignorance. This cycle is marked by impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and the lack of a permanent "self." (What migrates from one lifetime to the next are not eternal elements of personhood, but rather, "temporary aspects of psychophysical life that might endure for a few lifetimes--or a few thousand"--but will eventually cease to exist.)

Sila (see "Morality")

Six Forms of Life: Gods, demigods, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts and hell-beings

Sukhavati: The World of Bliss (see "Pure Land")

Sunyata (see "Emptiness")

Ten Courts of Judgment: In Mahayana Buddhism, a "purgatory" where the deceased are tortured for misdeeds before being reborn

Ten Evils: Murder, theft, impurity (lack of chastity), lying, slander, profanity, gossip, jealousy, hatred, ignorance

Theravada: Way of the Elders (The Mahayanists call this teaching Hinayana--see above.)

A. An early form of Buddhism, emphasizing gradual enlightenment; monastic discipline

Truth (two kinds):

A. Expedient or mundane truth (Sanskrit: samvrti-satya; Chinese: suti)

B. Ultimate truth (Sanskrit: paramamartha-satya; Chinese: zhenti)

Western Paradise (see "Pure Land")