Property:Glossary-DefinitionPDB
From Tsadra Commons
This is a property of type Text.
S
See page 882: In Sanskrit, lit.“self-knowledge” or “self-awareness,” also seen written as svasaṃveda, svasaṃvit, svasaṃvitti. In Buddhist epistemology, svasaṃvedana is that part of consciousness which, during a conscious act of seeing, hearing, thinking, and so on, apprehends not the external sensory object but the knowing consciousness itself. +
T
See page 897: In Sanskrit, variously translated as “womb of the tathāgatas,” “matrix of the tathāgatas,” “embryo of the tathāgatas,” “essence of the tathāgatas”; the term probably means “containing a tathāgatha.” It is more imprecisely interpreted as the “buddha-nature,” viz., the potential to achieve buddhahood that, according to some Mahāyāna schools, is inherent in all sentient beings. +
In Sanskrit, lit., “thatness”; a term with two important denotations. First, it can mean “ultimate reality,” a synonym of paramärtha, the reality, free from all conceptual elaboration, that must be understood in order to be liberated from rebirth as well as the inexpressible reality that is the object of the Buddha’s omniscient consciousness. Second, more prosaically, the term may be translated as “principle” and refer to the central doctrine of a particular philosophical school, as in the title of the works Tattvasamgraha or Tattvasiddhi. When contrasted with tathatä , tattva is the essential identity of a particular dharma, while tathatä is the common essential reality in which all dharmas partake. +
See page 926: In Sanskrit, “three poisons”; the three primary afflictions (mūlakleśa) of sensuality, desire, or greed (rāga or lobha), hatred or aversion (dveṣa), and delusion or ignorance (moha), regarded as poisons because of the harm they cause to those who ingest them or the way they poison the mind. This same list of three is also known as the three “unwholesome faculties” (akuśalamūla), which will fructify as unhappiness in the future and provide the foundation for unfavorable rebirths
(apāya). +
See page 926: In Sanskrit, “three vehicles,” three different means taught in Buddhist soteriological literature of conveying sentient beings to liberation. +
V
In Sanskrit, lit. “inversion,” but referring to “perverted,” “corrupted,” or “inverted” views (the Chinese translation diandao literally means “upside down”) or simply “error.” There is a Standard list of four “inverted views” that cause sentient beings to remain subject to the cycle of rebirth (samsära). The four are (1) to view as pleasurable what is in fact painful or suffering (d u h k h a ), (2) to see as permanent what is in fact impermanent (anitya), (3) to see as pure what is in fact impure (aśubha), and (4) to see as having seif what is in fact devoid of seif (anätman). These four inversions are corrected through insight into the true nature of reality, which prompts the realization that the aggregates (skandha) are in fact suffering, impermanent, impure, and devoid of seif. In the tathägatagarbha literature, these four putatively correct views are in turn said also to be inversions from the standpoint of the tathägatagarbha, which is said to possess four perfect qualities (gunapäramitä): bliss, permanence, purity, and selfhood. +
Y
See pp. 1033–34. In Sanskrit, “Practice of Yoga” ; one of the two major Mahāyāna philosophical schools (along with Madhyamaka) in India, known especially for its doctrines of “mind-only” (cittamātra) or “representation-only” (vijñaptimātratā), the trisvabhāva, and the ālayavijñāna. In addition, much of the exposition of the structure of the Mahāyāna path (mārga) and of the Mahāyāna ABHIDHARMA derives from this school. The texts of the school were widely influential in Tibet and East Asia. +
a
In Sanskrit, “storehouse consciousness” or “foundational consciousness”; the eighth of the eight types of consciousness (vijñāna) posited in the Yogācāra school. All forms of Buddhist thought must be able to uphold (1) the principle of the cause and effect of actions (karman), the structure of saṃsāra, and the process of liberation (vimokṣa) from it, while also upholding (2) the fundamental doctrines of impermanence (anitya) and the lack of a perduring self (anātman). The most famous and comprehensive solution to the range of problems created by these apparently contradictory elements is the ālayavijñāna, often translated as the “storehouse consciousness.” This doctrinal concept derives in India from the Yogācāra school, especially from Asaṅga and Vasubandhu and their commentators... (p. 31) +
See page 78: In Sanskrit, “self’ or “I,” with a similar range of meanings as the terms possess in English, but used especially to refer to a perduring substratum of being that is the agent of actions, the possessor of mind and body (nāmarūpa), and that passes from lifetime to lifetime. +
See page 83: In Sanskrit and Pāli, “obstruction,” “obstacle,” or “hindrance.” In Mahāyāna literature, two types of āvaraṇa are commonly described: “obstructions that are the afflictions,” or “afflictive obstructions” (kleśāvaraṇa), and cognitive or noetic obstructions, viz., “obstructions to omniscience” (jñeyāvaraṇa). Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas can be freed from the afflictive obstructions, but only bodhisattvas are able to free themselves from the cognitive obstructions. In the Yogācāra system, the cognitive obstructions result from fundamental misapprehensions about the nature of reality. +
s
In Sanskrit, “method” or “technique,” used especially in reference to a tantric ritual designed to receive attainments (siddhi) from a deity. Tantric sädhanas generally take one of two forms. In the first, the deity (which may be a buddha, bodhisattva, or another deity) is requested to appear before the meditator and is then worshipped in the expectation of receiving blessings. In the other type of tantric sädhana, the meditator imagines himself or herseif to be the deity at this very moment, that is, to have the exalted body, speech, and mind of an enlightened being. Tantric sädhanas tend to follow a fairly set sequence, whether they are simple or detailed. More elabo- rate sädhanas may include the recitation of a lineage of gurus; the creation of a protection wheel guarded by wrathful deities to subjugate enemies; the creation of a body m aņdala, in which a pantheon of deities take residence at various parts of the medi- tator’s body, etc. Although there are a great many variations of content and sequence, in many sädhanas, the meditator is instructed to imagine light radiating from the body, thus beck- oning buddhas and bodhisattvas from throughout the universe. Visualizing these deities arrayed in the space, the meditator then performs a series of Standard preliminary practices called the sevenfold Service (saptāńgavidhi), a Standard component of sädhanas. The seven elements are (1) obeisance, (2) offering (often concluding with a gift of the entire physical universe with all its marvels), (3) confession of misdeeds, (4) admiration of the virtuous deeds of others, (5) entreaty to the buddhas not to pass into nirväna, (6) supplication of the buddhas and bodhi sattvas to teach the dharma, and (7) dedication of the merit of performing the preceding toward the enlightenment of all beings. The meditator then goes for refuge to the three jeweis (ratnatraya), creates the aspiration for enlightenment (bodhi- citta; bodhicittotpäda), the promise to achieve buddhahood in order to liberate all beings in the universe from suffering, and dedicates the merit from the foregoing and subsequent practices toward that end. The meditator next cultivates the four “bound- less” attitudes (apramäna) of loving-kindness (maitrI), compas- sion (karunä), empathetic joy (muditä), and equanimity or
impartiality (upeksà), before meditating on emptiness (śünyatā) and reciting the purificatory mantra, om svabhāvaśuddhāh sarvadharmāh svabhāvaśuddho ’ham (“Om, naturally pure are all phenomena, naturally pure am I”), understanding that emp tiness is the primordial nature of everything, the unmoving world and the beings who move upon it. Out of this emptiness, the meditator next creates the maņdala. The next Step in the sädhana is for the meditator to animate the residents of the maņdala by causing the actual buddhas and bodhisattvas, referred to as “wisdom beings” (jńānasattva), to descend and merge with their imagined doubles, the “pledge beings” (samayasativa). Light radiates from the meditator’s heart, draw- ing the wisdom beings to the maņdala where, through offerings and the recitation of mantra, they are prompted to enter the residents of the maņdala. With the preliminary visualization now complete, the stage is set for the central meditation of the sädhana, which varies depending upon the purpose of the sädhana. Generally, offerings and prayers are made to a sequence of deities and boons are requested from them, each time accompanied with the recitation o f appropriate m a n t r a . At the end of the session, the meditator makes mental offerings to the assembly before inviting them to leave, at which point the entire visualization, the palace and its residents, dissolve into emptiness. The sädhana ends with a dedication of the merit accrued to the welfare of all beings.
'''saṃvṛtibodhicitta'''. (T. ''kun rdzob byang chub kyi sems'').
"In Sanskrit, 'conventional (or relative) aspiration to enlightenment.' In Indian MAHĀYĀNA scholastic literature, this term is contrasted with the 'ultimate aspiration to enlightenment' (PARAMĀRTHABODHICITTA). The term saṃvṛtibodhicitta is used to refer to BODHICITTA in its more common usage, as the aspiration to achieve buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. It is the generation of this aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPĀDA) that marks the beginning of the bodhisattva path and the Mahāyāna path of accumulation (SAṂBHĀRAMĀRGA). The ultimate aspiration or mind of enlightenment refers to the bodhisattva’s direct realization of the ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA). In the case of the MADHYAMAKA school’s interpretation, this would be the direct realization of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ)". +
See page 871: In Sanskrit, “emptiness”; the term has a number of denotations, but is most commonly associated with the perfection of wisdom (prajñāpāramitā) sūtras and the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna philosophy. +
śīla. (P. sīla; T. tshul khrims; C. jie; J. kai; K. kye 戒). In Sanskrit, “morality”; those practices whose aim is to restrain nonvirtuous deeds of body and speech, often in conjunction with the keeping of precepts. Morality constitutes one of the three trainings (TRIŚIKṢĀ), together with SAMĀDHI and PRAJÑĀ, and the second of the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ). In the traditional organization of the constituents of the noble eightfold path (ĀRYĀṢṬĀṄGAMĀRGA) under the rubrics of the three higher trainings (adhiśikṣā), the “morality group” (śīlaskandha; see ADHIŚĪLAŚIKṢĀ) consists of right speech (S. SAMYAGVĀC; P. sammāvācā), right action (S. SAMYAKKARMĀNTA; P. sammākammanta), and right livelihood (S. SAMYAGĀJĪVA; P. sammājīva). The term also appears in the five precepts, or PAÑCAŚĪLA, the five precepts taken by the Buddhist laity: “I undertake the training rules (ŚIKṢĀPADA) to abstain from” (1) killing living creatures, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) false speech, and (5) consuming intoxicants.
In the context of the bodhisattva’s perfection of morality (ŚĪLAPĀRAMITĀ), the meaning of śīla is expanded to encompass the taking and keeping of the bodhisattva precepts (BODHISATTVASAṂVARA); see SAṂVARA; ŚĪLAPĀRAMITĀ; ŚĪLATRAYA.
It is clear that the work was known to the Pāli exegete BUDDHAGHOSA, who made use of it in composing his VISUDDHIMAGGA, although he does not cite it by name. Like the Visuddhimagga, the Vimuttimagga sets forth the path in terms of the three trainings in morality (P. sīla; S. ŚĪLA), meditation (SAMĀDHI), and wisdom (P. paññā; S. PRAJÑĀ).
The mokṣabhāgīyas are generally concerned with the temporary allayment of the influence of the three major afflictions (KLEŚA)—viz., greed (LOBHA), hatred (DVEṢA), and ignorance (MOHA)—by cultivating the three kuśalamūlas of nongreed (ALOBHA), nonhatred (ADVEṢA), and nondelusion (AMOHA). These factors are “conducive to liberation” by encouraging such salutary actions as giving (DĀNA), keeping precepts (ŚĪLA), and learning the dharma.
