Afflictions (煩惱), or kleśa, are passions that agitate one's mind, resulting in negative actions performed by voice and/or body. The fundamental three afflictions, or three poisons (三毒), are (1) desire, (2) anger, and (3) delusion. Derived from these three and added to the list are (4) arrogance, (5) doubt, and (6) the wrong views (邪見). The list can be extended to ten by dividing the wrong views into (6) the view that self exists in a person composed of the five aggregates, which owns them and other possessions, (7) the extreme view of either eternal existence of self or its extinction at death, (8) the evil view of no causality, (9) holding the preceding three wrong views and claiming other inferior views as supreme, and (10) engaging in ascetic practices such as staying naked, covering oneself with ashes, imitating cows or dogs, etc., with a view to achieving a better rebirth. Ignorance of the truth underlies all afflictions.

Agalloch (沉水) is the fragrant, resinous wood of an East Indian tree, aquilaria agallocha, of the mezereum family, used as incense in the Orient. Heavy and rich in oil, it is called in China the sink-in-water wood.

Akaniṣṭha Heaven (阿迦尼吒天), or the Ultimate Form Heaven (色究竟天), is the topmost heaven (有頂天) of the 18 heavens in the form realm. (See Three Realms.)

Ālaya-vijñāna (阿賴耶識), the store consciousness (藏識), also known as the eighth consciousness, stores the pure, impure, and neutral seeds of one's experience since time immemorial. These seeds manifest as causes and conditions that lead to karmic events in one's life, which in turn become seeds. Maintaining the physical and mental life of a sentient being, ālaya is neither different from nor the same as the physical body. As the base of the seven other aspects of consciousness, ālaya is the root consciousness (mūla-vijñāna). After one's death, ālaya may either immediately manifest a rebirth according to karmic forces and conditions or first produce a subtle interim body which can last up to 49 days, pending the right karmic conditions for a rebirth. Ālaya is also identified with the thus-come store (Tathāgata-garbha) as well as Buddha nature. (See true suchness.) The seeds in a Buddha's mind are all pure seeds which no longer change, and the name ālaya-vijñāna is then changed to amala-vijñāna, the stainless consciousness.

Anāthapiṇḍika (給孤獨) means Provider for the Deprived, a name given to the Elder Sudatta for his generosity to the poor and lonely. He bought a garden from Prince Jeta as an offering to the Buddha.

Anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi (阿耨多羅三藐三菩提) is unsurpassed equal perfect enlightenment (無上正等正覺) since anuttara means unsurpassed, samyac means same, and saṁbodhi means perfect enlightenment. Equal means that the perfect enlightenment of all Buddhas is the same. The third epithet of a Buddha is Samyak-Saṁbuddha, the Equally Perfectly Enlightened One.

Anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi mind (阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心) is the resolve to attain the unsurpassed equal perfect enlightenment for self and others.

Apasamāra (阿波悉魔羅) is a class of ghosts that scare children.

Arhat (阿羅漢) is a voice-hearer who has attained the fourth, the highest fruit on the Liberation Way, by totally annihilating the clinging to self in a person and annihilating all afflictions. A Buddha is also an Arhat, but not vice versa. As the second of a Buddha's ten epithets, Arhat means worthy of offerings. (See eight ranks.)

Arrogance has seven levels: (1) arrogance (慢) is to vaunt one's superiority over inferiors; (2) over-arrogance (過慢) is to assert one's superiority over equals; (3) arrogant over-arrogance (慢過慢) is to allege one's superiority over superiors; (4) self-arrogance (我慢) is the root of all other arrogances, considering oneself by definition to be superior to others; (5) exceeding arrogance (增上慢) is to allege realization of truth one has not realized; (6) arrogant humility (卑慢) is to admit slight inferiority to those who are much superior; and (7) evil arrogance (邪慢) is to boast of virtues one does not have.

Asaṁkhyeya (阿僧祇) means innumerable or uncountable.

Asaṁskṛta (無為) means not made or assembled according to causes and conditions, while saṁskṛta (有為) means made or assembled according to causes and conditions. Asaṁskṛta dharmas are permanent and unchanging, such as true reality, or the true mind. Saṁskṛta dharmas are impermanent and go through the four phases of arising, staying, changing, and ceasing, as displayed by all phenomena.

Asura (阿修羅) is a non-god or sub-god as one of the six life forms and may be born among gods, humans, animals, and hungry ghosts. Given to anger and jealousy, an asura is more an evil life-journey than a good one.

Avīci Hell (阿鼻地獄), the last of the eight hot hells, is the hell of uninterrupted tortures.

Bhagavān or Bhagavat (薄伽梵) means the World-Honored One. The tenth epithet of a Buddha is Buddha-Bhagavān, or Buddha the World-Honored One.

Bhikṣu (比丘) is a fully-ordained monk who has entered the order of the Buddha and observes 250 monastic precepts. (See saṅgha.)

Bhikṣuṇī (比丘尼) is a fully-ordained nun who has entered the order of the Buddha and observes 500 monastic precepts. (See saṅgha.)

Bodhi (菩提) means enlightenment or the unsurpassed wisdom. There are three bodhis in one-to-one correspondence with the Three Vehicles: (1) the bodhi of a voice-hearer who has attained Arhatship, (2) the greater bodhi of a Pratyekabuddha, and (3) the greatest bodhi of a Buddha. In old translations, bodhi is translated into Chinese as the Way (道). (See One Vehicle.)

Bodhimaṇḍa (道場), or Way place in Chinese, is the place where a Buddha attains unsurpassed enlightenment, sitting under the bodhi tree. In a mundane sense, it is a place for spiritual learning and practice, such as a temple or one's home. In a deeper sense, since the Way to Buddhahood is one's mind, all sentient beings are Way places.

Bodhisattva (菩薩), or enlightenment being, is one who, taking the Bodhi Way and delivering sentient beings along the Way, will ultimately realize Buddhahood for self as well as for others.

Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva (菩薩摩訶薩) means an enlightenment being who is a great being because of his great vows, great actions, and the great number of sentient beings he delivers.

Bodhisattva precepts (菩薩戒) are for both lay and monastic Buddhists who have resolved to go the Bodhisattva Way. They are called the Three Clusters of Pure Precepts (三聚淨戒), consisting of (1) precepts for retraining improper conduct which, according to the Brahma Net Sūtra (Brahmajāla Sūtra), include ten primary and forty-eight secondary precepts; (2) precepts for engaging in good dharmas, such as the six pāramitās; and (3) precepts for benefiting sentient beings, based on the Four Immeasurable Minds (四無量心): loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equability. The first cluster is to prevent negative actions and the latter two are to cultivate the positive qualities essential to a Bodhisattva.

Brahma (梵) means purity, or freedom from desire. In the form realm, the first three of the 18 heavens are named Brahmapāriṣadya (Brahma Multitude Heaven), Brahmapurohita (Brahma Minister Heaven), and Mahābrahmā (Great Brahma Heaven). The god-king Śikhin, assisted by the ministers, rules the multitude of Brahma gods in these three heavens. In general, all gods in the 18 form heavens are called Brahma gods (梵天), and the form realm is called the Brahma World. (See Three Realms.)

Brahmin (婆羅門) is a member of the highest of the four major castes of traditional Indian society, responsible for officiating at religious rites and studying and teaching the Vedic literature.

Breakthrough thought (一念相應) is not a thought but a flash of attunement when one suddenly enters a non-dual state, realizing one's true mind and/or seeing one's Buddha nature. In Chinese Zen Buddhism, experiencing a breakthrough thought means breaking through the first gate or the second gate.

Buddha (佛) is the unsurpassed enlightened or awakened one. According to the Mahāyāna tradition, Śākyamuni Buddha (circa 563-483 BCE) is the present one in a series of past and future Buddhas. Each Buddha has a particular name, such as Śākyamuni, to suit the needs of sentient beings of His time, and ten epithets common to all Buddhas, which are (1) Tathāgata (Thus-Come One or Thus-Gone One), (2) Arhat (Worthy of Offerings), (3) Samyak-Saṁbuddha (Equally Perfectly Enlightened One), (4) Vidyācaraṇa-Sampanna (Knowledge and Conduct Perfected), (5) Sugata (Well-Arrived One or Well-Gone One), (6) Lokavid (Understanding the World), (7) Anuttara (Unsurpassed One), (8) Puruṣa-Damya-Sārathi (Tamer of Men), (9) Śāstā Deva-Manuṣyāṇām (Teacher to Gods and Humans), and (10) Buddha-Bhagavān (Buddha the World-Honored One).

Buddha-crown (佛頂), or buddhoṣṇīṣa, sometimes tathāgatoṣṇīṣa (Tathāgata-crown), refers to a fleshy protuberance on the crown of a Buddha's head, which is one the 32 major physical marks of a Buddha, a sign resulting from countless lives of upholding good dharmas and teaching others to do so. The same name also refers to the invisible top of a Buddha's head, which is one of the 80 excellent characteristics of a Buddha, a sign resulting from countless lives of venerating, praising, and making obeisance to innumerable holy beings, teachers, and parents. The invisible Buddha-crown signifies the true mind, which never depends upon causes and conditions.

Buddha Vehicle (佛乘), or One Vehicle (一乘), means that, among the Three Vehicles, Mahāyāna for Bodhisattvas is the only vehicle. The Two Vehicles (二乘) of Hīnayāna bound for attaining Arhatship and Pratyekabuddhahood are skillful ways for riders to reach an intermediate stop. All will ultimately attain Buddhahood.

Cause Ground (因地) can include all levels of development of a Bodhisattva before attaining Buddhahood, which is the Fruit (Result) Ground, or the Buddha Ground. (See stages of the Bodhisattva Way.) If may also refer to the level a Bodhisattva before jumping onto the First Ground, which signifies the initiation of the holy stages.

Chamber of Great Compassion (大悲精室) is called the Tathāgata's chamber in Chapter 10 of the Lotus Sūtra. It is none other than one's own mind of great loving-kindness and compassion.

Character-type (種性), or gotra, refers to the character-type as one evolves on the spiritual path. Those riding the Bodhisattva Vehicle are categorized into five, corresponding to five of the seven stages of the Bodhisattva Way: (1) The natural character-type (性種性) has the innate drive to advance in the ten levels of stay; (2) the learning character-type (習種性) is trained through the ten levels of action; (3) the bodhi character-type (道種性) is developed through the ten levels of transference of merit; (4) the holy character-type (聖種性) is enhanced on the Ten Grounds; and (5) the equal enlightenment character-type (等覺種性) is formed when a Bodhisattva attains enlightenment virtually equal to that of a Buddha. Finally, the Buddha or Tathāgata character-type (佛種性, 如來種性) is fulfilled when a Bodhisattva attains the wondrous enlightenment of a Buddha. Those who have affinities with the Voice Hearer Vehicle are called the voice-hearer character-type while those who have affinities with the Pretyekabuddha Vehicle are called the Pretyekabuddha character-type.

Cow dung, or gomaya (瞿摩夷), is considered a pure substance.

Cundī Bodhisattva (准提菩薩) is one of the six special emanations of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva (Guanyin in Chinese), who is forever active in delivering sentient beings that transmigrate through the six life-journeys. Hailed as mother of seven koṭi Buddhas, Cundī has three eyes and 18 arms, adorned with a white conch shell on one wrist. The Cundī Mantra in the Sūtra is included as one of the ten short mantras in the morning recitation practice of Chinese Buddhists. According to the Chinese Buddhist Canon, Text no. 1076, cun means the unsurpassed enlightenment, di means that all phenomena as illusions cannot be grasped or waived, and cundi (the vocative case of cundī) means purity of the nature of one's true mind.

Deliverance (度), or liberation, means crossing from this shore of life and death to the other shore of nirvāṇa. There are three kinds of holy beings that have attained deliverance: Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, and Buddhas. The former two have accomplished the liberation fruit for themselves. Buddhas have accomplished not only the liberation fruit but also the great bodhi fruit of omniscience, for delivering sentient beings. (See pāramitā.)

Dhāraṇī (陀羅尼), often in the form of a long mantra, means total retention (總持) or the power to unite all dharmas and hold all meanings.

Dharma (法) can mean (1) the teachings of the Buddha (generally this meaning of dharma is capitalized in English); (2) the universal truth underlying all physical and mental spheres; (3) phenomena, or all things—mental, physical, events—everything; or (4) mental activities as the objects of consciousness.

Dharma-eye (法眼) not only penetrates the reality of all phenomena but also can discriminate all illusory phenomena. Bodhisattvas who have come to the Enduring Realization of the No-birth of Dharmas ascend onto the First Ground and acquire the pure Dharma-eye, with which they help sentient beings to train in various Dharma Doors according to their natures and preferences. (See five eyes.)

Dharma Seal (法印), or Dharma-Mudrā, is the seal of the universal truth taught by the Buddha, against which other doctrines should be measured. The three Dharma Seals include (1) processes are impermanent, (2) dharmas, whether saṁskṛta or asaṁskṛta, have no selves, and (3) nirvāṇa is peace. Added to the list are two more Dharma Seals: (4) processes are sufferings and (5) dharmas are empty. In the Mahāyāna doctrine, all these seals can be synthesized into the one seal of true reality.

Dhyāna (禪), or meditation, not counting meditation at the desire-realm level, is generally classified into four levels: the four dhyānas (四禪) of the form realm. In the first dhyāna, one's mind is undisturbed by the pleasures of the desire realm, but it has gross and subtle perception. In the second dhyāna, there is bliss and joy in meditation. In the third dhyāna, there is subtle joy from abandoning the bliss in the second dhyāna. In the fourth dhyāna, one's mind is in pure meditation, away from any subtle feelings or movements. Each level of dhyāna is also called the Root Samādhi, from which virtues will grow, such as the Four Immeasurable Minds, the Eight Liberations, and the Eight Observations, etc. (See the four samādhis of the formless realm.)

Dhyāna with Appearance (有相禪) is meditation supported with one's perception. For example, one can focus one's attention on a point of the body, count the breaths, recite a mantra syllable silently, gaze at an object, or visualize an object.

Dhyāna with No-appearance (無相禪) is meditation in which one disregards or even inhibits any perception that appears in one's mind. For example, one can ponder true suchness without thoughts or think of a Buddha without reciting His name or visualizing His form.

Discharge (漏), or āsrava, means outflow of afflictions through the sense organs. It is a characteristic of sentient beings engaged in the cycle of life and death.

Dhūta (頭陀) means shaken off. As a way of life, to shake off one's desire for creature comfort in food, clothing, and shelter, there are twelve rules: (1) beg for food, (2) beg for food from one door to the next without discrimination, (3) eat only one meal a day: at noon, (4) eat with moderation in quantity, (5) do not drink liquids after lunch, (6) wear clothes made of cast-away rags, (7) keep only three garments, (8) live in a quiet remote area, (9) live among graves, (10) live under a tree, (11) sit on open ground under the open sky, and (12) sit, without reclining.

Eight classes of Dharma protectors (八部) include gods, dragons, gandharvas, asuras, yakṣas, garuḍas, kiṁnaras, and mahoragas.

Eight difficulties (八難) are the eight difficult conditions in which there is no opportunity or leisure for one to see the Buddha or hear His Dharma. These are (1) in hells, (2) as hungry ghosts, (3) as animals, (4) in the northern continent Uttarakurn, where life is too pleasant, (5) in deep meditation in the formless heavens, (6) being blind, deaf, and mute, (7) as a worldly eloquent intellectual, and (8) in the intermediate period between the presence of one Buddha and the next.

Eight precepts (八關齋戒) include the five precepts and add three more: Refrain from (6) using cosmetics or personal adornments and watching song-dance entertainments; (7) sleeping on a luxurious bed; and (8) eating food after lunch. Lay Buddhists who have accepted the eight precepts need to observe them periodically for one day.

Eight ranks of true monks (八聖) refer to the four fruits of the voice-hearers on the Liberation Way and the respective preparatory positions preceding them. The four fruits in ascending order are (1) Śrotāpanna, the Stream-Enterer who has realized no-self in a person; (2) Sakradāgāmin, the Once-Returner who will be reborn as a human only once more before attaining Arhatship; (3) Anāgāmin, the Never-Returner who will attain Arhatship in a heaven in the form realm; and (4) the Arhat who has attained nirvāṇa by totally annihilating the clinging to self in a person and annihilating all afflictions.

Eighteen spheres (十八界), more detailed than the five aggregates and the twelve fields, are another way of analyzing a sentient being. Then a sentient being is a combination of 18 spheres, which include six sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mental base), six sense objects (sights, sounds, scents, flavors, tactile sensations, and mental objects), and six consciousnesses (eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and mental consciousness) which discriminate the corresponding sense objects. Note that mental consciousness refers to the sixth consciousness, which depends on the mental base, the seventh consciousness, the inborn sense of self. The seventh consciousness is inseparable from ālaya consciousness, the eighth consciousness.

Eightfold Right Path (八正道) is the path to liberation from the cycle of life and death. It includes (1) right view, (2) right thinking, (3) right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood, (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness, and (8) right meditative concentration (samādhi). (1)-(2) educate one with understanding, (3)-(5) ground one on morality, (7)-(8) develop one's insight and wisdom through meditation, and (6) is applied to the other seven areas of cultivation.

Endurance in the Dharma (法忍) includes endurance in abuse, endurance in sufferings, and endurance in the truth that dharmas are never born (See Enduring Realization of the No-birth of Dharmas).

Enduring Realization of the No-birth of Dharmas (無生法忍) is the lasting realization that dharmas are in true reality never born and hence never perish although dharmas are in appearance born and perish from causes and conditions.

Five aggregates (五蘊), or five skandhas, are the five components of a sentient being: rūpa (form), vedanā (sensory reception), saṁjñā (perception), saṁskāra (mental processing, excepting sensory reception and perception), and vijñāna (consciousness). Skandha means that which covers or conceals. Of the five skandhas the first skandha is physical and the rest four are mental. A sentient being perceives the combination of these five constantly changing skandhas as the existence of self, which covets and hates external objects also perceived as existing. This wrong view of self is a fundamental delusion which hinders one's realization of the truth.

Five Coverings (五蓋), or pañca āvaraṇāni, are desire, anger, torpor, restlessness, and doubt. These mental states obscure one's true mind.

Five desires (五欲) refer to the desires for pleasures in the five sense objects: (1) sights, (2) sounds, (3) smells, (4) flavors, and (5) tactile sensations. Six desires include, in addition to the preceding five, the desire for pleasure in (6) mental objects, which encompass all objects projected through mental processing, verbal or nonverbal, gross or subtle. These are defiled desires in the desire realm but pure desires in the form and formless realms. Human beings in the desire realm are driven especially by their five desires for (1) riches, (2) sex, (3) food and drink, (4) reputation, and (5) sleep.

Five eyes (五眼) include (1) the Physical-eye that a sentient being is born with; (2) the God-eye that can see anything anywhere; (3) the Wisdom-eye that can see emptiness of phenomena; (4) the Dharma-eye that can discriminate all illusory phenomena; and (5) the Buddha-eye of omniscience which includes the preceding four. (See three wisdom-knowledges.)

Five precepts (五戒) accepted by the lay Buddhists include (1) not to kill, (2) not to take anything not given, (3) not to engage in sexual misconduct, (4) not to lie, and (5) not to take intoxicating substances.

Five rebellious acts (五逆) are (1) patricide, (2) matricide, (3) killing an Arhat, (4) shedding the blood of a Buddha, and (5) destroying the harmony of a Saṅgha, the Buddhist community.

Five studies (五明) are (1) language and composition, (2) science and technology, (3) medical arts, (4) logic, and (5) inner knowledge in a certain discipline.

Five sūtras of the Pure Land School (淨土五經), in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, include (1) the Amitābha Sūtra [Text no. 366], (2) the Infinite-Life Buddha Sūtra [Text no. 360], (3) the Visualization of the Infinite-Life Buddha Sūtra [Text no. 365], (4) the Actions and Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Fascicle 40 of the Flower Adornment Sūtra in 40 fascicles [Text no. 293]), and (5) Great Might Arrived Bodhisattva's Thinking-of-the-Buddha as the Perfect Passage (a subsection in Fascicle 5 of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra [Text no. 945]). English translations of these five sūtras are available at Online Buddhist Sutras.

Five transcendental powers (五通) are (1) the God-eye to see anything anywhere; (2) the God-ear to hear any sound anywhere; (3) the ability to know the past lives of self and others; (4) the ability to know the thoughts of others; and (5) the ability to travel instantly to any place. Non-Buddhists can also develop these five powers through meditation. An Arhat has ended discharges of afflictions and liberated himself from the cycle of life and death. Hence, this exhaustion of discharges is said to be the sixth power of an Arhat, which makes his accomplishment of the first five powers superior to that of those who have not achieved Arhatship.

Five turbidities (五濁), or pañca kaṣāyas, are the five kinds of degeneracy which begin, in a decreasing kalpa, when the human lifespan has decreased from 80,000 years to 20,000 years, and become more severe as the human lifespan decreases down to 10 years. They include (1) the turbidity of a kalpa in decay, which is characterized by the next four turbidities; (2) the turbidity of views, which include the five wrong views (See afflictions); (3) the turbidity of passions, which include desire, anger, delusion, pride, and doubt; (4) the turbidity of sentient beings that live an unwholesome life and in increasing sufferings, (5) the turbidity of the human lifespan, which is decreasing to 10 years. The wrong views in (2) and the passions in (3) are the turbidity itself, which lead to the results in (4) and (5).

Flowers mentioned in the Sūtras are listed below. A question mark next to a Chinese name indicates the failure to find its corresponding Sanskrit name. Then a Sanskrit name is constructed phonetically from Chinese.

utpala (優波羅)—blue lotus
padma (波頭摩)—red lotus
kumuda (拘物頭)—white lotus
puṇḍarīka (分陀利華)—large white lotus
atimuktaka (阿提目多花)—an herbaceous plant which has fragrant red or white blooms
cāka (遮迦花?)
campaka (瞻蔔)—the champaka (玉蘭) tree which has fragrant golden or white flowers
caṇa (栴那花)—the chickpea plant
candana (栴檀那花)—the sandalwood tree
canuttara (栴奴多羅花?)
dhara (陀羅花?)
locana (盧遮那花)—a certain plant
māndarāva (曼陀羅花)—the red blooms of the coral tree, considered as celestial flowers
mañjūṣaka (曼殊沙花)—the white blooms of an herbaceous plant, considered as celestial flowers
palāśa (波樓沙花)—the flaming orange blossoms of a tree called Butea monosperma, native to India and Southeast Asia
pāṭali (波羅羅花)—a tree which has fragrant purple flowers
raṇi (羅尼花?)
gauraṇi (瞿羅尼花?)
suloci (蘇樓至?)
sumana (須曼那華)—the jasmine plant which has fragrant white, yellow, or red blooms
tāla (他邏)—the fan palm tree

Four Dharmas to Depend Upon (四依法) are given in Fascicle 6 of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (different from the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta in the Pāli Canon), in the Chinese Canon, Volume 15, Text no. 375. The Buddha has taught us to depend (1) upon the Dharma, not an individual; (2) upon the sūtras of definitive meanings, not those of provisional meanings; (3) upon the true meanings, not just the words; and (4) upon one's wisdom-knowledge, not consciousness.

Four Drawing-in Dharmas (四攝法) are helpful ways to draw sentient beings into the Dharma, which include (1) almsgiving, (2) loving words, (3) beneficial actions, and (4) collaborative work.

Four Fearlessnesses (四無畏) include (1) fearlessness in all-knowledge, (2) fearlessness in ending discharges of afflictions, (3) fearlessness in explaining dharmas that obstruct realization of bodhi, and (4) fearlessness in explaining how to end the path of suffering.

Four Foundations of Mindfulness (四念住), according to the Pāli Canon of the Therāveda School, include (1) mindfulness of one's body in stillness and in motion; (2) mindfulness of feelings when one's body comes in contact with objects: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral; (3) mindfulness of one's mental afflictions: desire, anger, and delusion; and (4) mindfulness of all mental contents, including the teachings of the Buddha. Being mindful of the constant changes in one's physical and mental states, one comes to the insight that there is no self in control. The Mahāyāna doctrine also includes a set of four remembrances: (1) observe that the body is impure; (2) observe that all feelings come down to misery; (3) observe that the mind is constantly changing; and (4) observe that all dharmas have no selves. (See right mindfulness.)

Four god-kings (四天王) reside halfway up Mount Sumeru, at the first of the six desire heavens. As protectors of the world, they ward off the attacks of asuras. On the east side is Dhṛtarsaṣtra, the god-king Upholding the Kingdom; on the south side is Virūḍhaka, the god-king Increase and Growth; on the west side is Virūpākṣa, the god-king Broad Eye; and on the north side is Vaiśravaṇa, the god-king Hearing Much.

Four grave prohibitions (四重), violations of which constitute the four grave root-sins, are (1) killing, (2) taking things not given, (3) sexual misconduct, and (4) lying.

Four Heavens (四天王天), ruled respectively by the four god-kings, constitute the first of the six desire heavens (See four god-kings.)

Four appearances or four views (四相四見) are the false projections that ordinary beings hold about themselves. As taught in the Diamond Sutra, these appearances are (1) a self which is autonomous; (2) a human being in comparison with other human beings; (3) a sentient being in comparison with other sentient beings; and (4) a living being that takes its life for real, hating it or cherishing it, wanting to end it or to prolong it. The latter three are derived from the first. (See five aggregates.)

Four Indian castes (四姓) include (1) brāhmaṇa, priests, (2) kṣatriya, royalty and warriors, (3) vaiśya, farmers and merchants, and (4) śūdra, serfs. The Buddha ruled that all from the four castes would be allowed to become Buddhist śramaṇas as the fifth caste, the highest of all castes.

Four modes of birth (四生) are the four modes through which a sentient being is born: (1) the womb, such as humans and other mammals; (2) the egg, such as the birds and fishes; (3) moisture, such as fishes and insects; and (4) metamorphosis, such as gods, ghosts, and hell-dwellers.

Four necessities (四事供養) offered to a monk include (1) food and drink, (2) clothing, (3) bedding, and (4) medicine.

Four Noble Truths (四聖諦) are the fundamental truths taught by the Buddha about saṁsāra and nirvāṇa. They include (1) suffering (duḥkha): transmigratory existence through six life-journeys is suffering; (2) arising (samudaya): suffering arises or accumulates from afflictions; (3) cessation (nirodha): nirvāṇa means cessation of afflictions and their consequences; and (4) the path (mārga): the Eightfold Right Path is the path to nirvāṇa.

Four types of armed forces (四種兵) include regiments of (1) cavalry, (2) elephants, (3) chariots, and (4) infantry.

Fourfold kindness (四重恩) comes from one's (1) parents, (2) teachers, (3) country, and (4) other sentient beings.

Gandharva (乾闥婆) means fragrance eater and is a class of celestial musicians playing in the court of gods.

Garuḍa (迦樓羅) is a large bird-like being that eats dragons.

God (天), or deva, is the highest life form in the Three Realms. Gods reside, according to their merit and mental states, in six desire heavens, 18 form heavens, and four formless heavens.

Good roots (善根), or kuśala-mūla, are the three roots of goodness planted in this life and past lives: (1) non-greed, (2) non-hatred, and (3) non-delusion.

Good Stay (善住), or Supratiṣṭhita, is the name of the god-son (devaputra) in the Buddha-Crown Superb Victory Sūtra .

Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain (耆闍崛山), or the Vulture Peak Mountain (靈鷲山), northeast of Rājagṛha, is where the Buddha pronounced the Lotus Sutra and other sutras.

Great seed (大種), or mahābhūta, refers to the four great elements or realms (四大): earth, water, fire, and wind, which have four corresponding appearances: solidity, moisture, heat, and mobility. In ancient Indian philosophy, matter is composed of these four great elements or seeds, considered truly existent. In many sūtras, the Buddha goes along with this tradition, but He has taught in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, a definitive sūtra, that these elements, like all phenomena, are also projections of one's mind.

Ground of No Regress (不退地), or avinivartanīya, is the level of spiritual progress from which a Bodhisattva will never fall back. Bodhisattvas at the sixth level of faith or above will never regress from faith; Bodhisattvas at the seventh level of stay or above will never renegade from Mahāyāna; Bodhisattvas on the First Ground or above will never lose their spiritual realization; and Bodhisattvas on the Eight Ground or above will never lose their mindfulness, and their progress will become effortless. (See stages of the Bodhisattva Way.)

Icchantika (一闡提迦) is one without the desire for Buddhahood, one who has cut off one's good roots. However, the Buddha does not abandon any sentient being, and, with His spiritual power, the icchantika may someday grow good roots. This name icchantika is also applied to a Bodhisattva who has made a vow not to become a Buddha until all sentient beings have been delivered. He is called the icchantika of great compassion.

Inversion (顛倒) is sevenfold: (1) taking impermanence for permanence; (2) taking misery for happiness; (3) taking defilement for purity; (4) taking no-self for self; (5) inverted perception, which refers to the inverted differentiations in the first four inversions; (6) inverted view, which refers to the establishment of, attachment to, and delight in the first four inversions; and (7) inverted mind, which refers to afflictions arising from the first four inversions.

Jambudvīpa (贍部洲), located south of Mount Sumeru and identified by the huge Jambu tree, is one of the four continents surrounding Mount Sumeru.

Jetavana, the Jeta Grove (衹樹園), is a garden near Śrāvastī, presented to the Buddha by the Elder Anāthapiṇḍika, who purchased it from Prince Jeta with gold covering the land. In honor of the two benefactors, the estate was henceforth known as the Garden of Jeta and Anāthapiṇḍika. The Buddha spent nineteen rainy seasons with His 1,250 monks in the monastery built on the land. There he gave many of His teachings.

Jīvajīva (耆婆耆婆) is a legendary two-headed bird (命命鳥) with a beautiful call.

Kalpa (劫) is an eon. A great kalpa is the long period of formation, existence, destruction, and nonexistence of a world. It is divided into eighty small kalpas, each lasting 16,800,000 years.

Karma (業) is an action, work, or deed, performed by one's body, voice, or mind, which will lead to a corresponding retribution in one's present life and/or future lives.

Kaṭa-pūtana (迦吒富單那) is a class of stinking hungry ghosts staying at cremation grounds.

Kiṁnara (緊那羅) is a class of bird-like celestial beings with a man's head, acting as musicians.

Koṭi (倶胝) means the edge, the highest point. As a numeral, koṭi means one hundred thousand, one million, or ten million.

Kṣaṇa (剎那) is the smallest unit of time, something like a nanosecond. According to the Buddhist doctrine, a thought lasts 60 kṣaṇas. In each kṣaṇa 900 sets of arising and ceasing of mental operation take place.

Kumbhānḍa (鳩槃荼) is a class of ghosts which are shaped like pots and eat the vitality of humans.

Kuśinagara (拘尸那竭), named after the sacred kuśa grass, the place where Śākyamuni Buddha entered parinirvāṇa, was the capital city of the ancient Malla Kingdom. It is, identified by Professor Vogel with Kasia, 180 miles northwest of Patna.

Laṅkā (楞迦) is the country Sri Lanka or the name of a mountain of gemstones in Sri Lanka.

Li (里) is a Chinese unit of length. A Chinese li equals half a kilometer.

Liberation of one-flavor (一味解脫) describes the reality state of all dharmas. As illusory appearances, all dharmas are self-liberated in the one-flavor of emptiness. (See true suchness.)

Life-journey (趣), life-path (道), or gati, is the karmic life experienced by a sentient being in the cycle of life and death. According to one's karma in previous lives, one continues to transmigrate through the six life-journeys in corresponding life forms: god, asura, human, animal, hungry ghost, and hell-dweller. The first three life-journeys are considered the good ones, and the last three are the evil or miserable ones. Given to anger and jealousy, asuras may also be considered the fourth evil life-journey. Sometimes, only five life-journeys are mentioned in the sūtras because asuras can be born among gods, humans, animals, and ghosts.

Magadha (摩竭陀) is a kingdom in central India, the headquarters of Buddhism up to 400 CE.

Mahāvaipulya sūtras (大方廣經) are extensive Mahāyāna sūtras that are great in explaining the right principles and great in their vast scope.

Mahāyāna (大乘) means the Great Vehicle that can carry many people to Buddhahood for self and benefiting others. It is also called the Bodhisattva Vehicle, the riders of which are Bodhisattvas who resolve to attain Buddhahood by perfecting their merit and wisdom through practicing the ten pāramitās. The Mahāyāna doctrine, widely followed in Northeast Asia (Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan), refers to the Theravāda School in Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia) as Hīnayāna, the Small Vehicle (小乘), which can be either of the Two Vehicles (二乘), carrying the rider to Arhatship or Pratyekabuddhahood for personal salvation.

Mahoraga (摩呼洛迦) is a class of serpents or land dragons.

Maṇḍala (道場), a circle, can be any geometric representation drawn on the ground or visualized, for spiritual practice.

Mantra (咒), as the speech of all Buddhas, is an esoteric incantation.

Māra (魔) means killer, the Destroyer, Evil One, or Devil. The four kinds of māra are (1) the celestial māra, a god named Pāpīyān, residing with legions of subordinates in Paranirmita-vaśa-vartin Heaven, situated at the top of the six desire heavens, (2) māra of the five aggregates, which obscures one's Buddha mind, (3) māra of afflictions, which causes one to create karma, and (4) māra of death, which ends one's life.

Mudrā (印) means a seal, symbolized by positions of the hands or intertwinings of the fingers. Used in ritual practices, a seal possesses secret meanings and magical efficacy.

Nāga (龍) is a class of dragon-like beings, one of the eight classes of Dharma protectors. It is also a symbol of the true mind, as the statement goes that the great nāga is always in samādhi, never moving. A Buddha or an Arhat is referred to the great dragon.

Namo (南無) means reverential homage, salutation, adoration, obeisance to. Based on the Sanskrit rule of pronunciation, this word may be spelled as namo, nama, namaḥ, namas, or namaś, according to the initial letter of the next word.

Nayuta (那由他) is a numeral, meaning one hundred thousand, one million, or ten million.

Nirgrantha-putra (尼乾子), was one of the six non-Buddhist groups in ancient India. Nirgrantha means untied, the former name of the devotees of Jainism, who wander naked, untied to possessions. Nirgrantha-jñātiputra (尼乾陀若提子), named after his mother, Jñāti, was the 24th and last patriarch of the Jain School, now revered as the Mahāvīra (great hero). Their doctrine is fatalistic, stating that no spiritual practice could change one's good or evil karma and that all sentient beings would be automatically liberated after 80,000 kalpas of life and death.

Nirvāṇa (涅槃) means extinguished or extinction of afflictions, ending the cycle of life and death, because one is enlightened in the emptiness of self and its afflictions. The four nirvāṇas include (1) the nirvāṇa of self-nature, which is the Buddha mind that every sentient being has but has not realized, (2) the nirvāṇa with remnant, which is the enlightenment of an Arhat or Pratyekabuddha who has not yet abandoned his body, the karmic remnant of his life, (3) the nirvāṇa without remnant, which is the death of an Arhat or Pratyekabuddha, and (4) the nirvāṇa that abides not, which is the supreme enlightenment of a Buddha. Beyond the duality of existence and nonexistence, saṁsāra and nirvāṇa, a Buddha continues to respond in the most suitable form to the needs of sentient beings.

Nourishment (食) is provided by (1) ingestion of food, (2) contact with enjoyable sense objects such as sights, sounds, scents, flavors, and touches, (3) formation of mental food such as ideas, expectations, and recollections, and (4) ālaya consciousness that maintains one's physiological and mental processes as well as carries karmic seeds which will lead to future rebirths. An ordinary being requires these four kinds of nourishment to survive.

Pāramitā (度) means gone from this shore of birth and death to that shore of nirvāṇa. To succeed in the crossing, one needs to perfect these six pāramitās: (1) dāna (generosity, giving alms), (2) śīla (moral conduct), (3) kṣānti (endurance), (4) vīrya (diligence, energetic progress), (5) dhyāna (meditation), and (6) prajñā (wisdom). In parallel with the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattva development, four more pāramitās are added to the list of six. These are: (7) upāya (helpful ways), (8) pranidhāna (vow), (9) bala (power), and (10) jñāna (wisdom-knowledge).

Parinirvāṇa (般涅槃), or the final nirvāṇa, sometimes mahā-parinirvāṇa, means the death of an Arhat or a Buddha. Whether or not He has abandoned His body, a Buddha is in the nirvāṇa that abides not, beyond the duality of existence and nonexistence. He dwells in neither saṁsāra nor nirvāṇa as He continues to manifest suitable forms to deliver sentient beings.

Past seven Buddhas (過去七佛) include Vipaśyin, Śikhin, and Visvabhū, the last three of the one thousand Buddhas of the preceding Majestic Kalpa, and Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kāśyapa, and Śākyamuni, the first four of the one thousand Buddhas of the present Worthy Kalpa.

Perfect Passage (圓通) is a Dharma Door, a perfect practice of meditation, through which one can pass from ignorance to significant realizations. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Arhats and Bodhisattvas twenty-five in number, at the Buddha's command, revealed their respective Perfect Passages.

Piśāca (畢舍遮) is a class of demonic ghosts that eat human flesh and suck human vitality.

Pippala (畢鉢羅), the sacred fig (ficus religiosa) tree, is a species of banyan fig, native to India. The tree is renamed the bodhi tree because the Buddha was enlightened sitting under it.

Pratyekabuddha (緣覺佛) is one who is enlightened by contemplating the Twelve Links of Dependent Origin. If he has attained realization without receiving this teaching from the Buddha, he is called a Solitary Buddha (獨覺佛).

Pure Abode Heavens (淨居天) are the top five of the nine heavens that constitute the fourth Dhyāna Heaven. (See Three Realms.)

Pūtana (富單那) is a class of stinking hungry ghosts, each shaped like a hog. They scare children.

Rājagṛha (王舍城) the capital city of Magadha in central India.

Rakṣasa (羅剎) is a class of demonic ghosts which eat human flesh. They are described as the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka.

Right mindfulness (正念), or samyak-smṛti, is the seventh in the Eightfold Right Path. A few examples of right mindfulness include (1) practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, (2) remembrance of the Dharma, such as the no-birth of all dharmas, (3) remembrance of a Buddha, and (4) the inconceivable mindfulness of a Buddha.

Sahā World (莎婆世界), or Sahā-lokadhātu, means the endurance world. It refers to the Threefold Realm of Existence, where sentient beings are able to bear their sufferings and may even find their lives enjoyable.

Śakro-Devānām-Indra (釋提桓因) is the king of the gods in Trayastriṁśa Heaven, the second of the six desire heavens. He is often referred to as Śakra or Indra.

Samādhi (定) is a state of mental absorption in meditation. Entering the Samādhi Door of the Buddha is to master innumerable samādhis. In brief, there are eight levels of samādhi (八定) above the mental state of the desire realm. The first four levels are the four dhyānas (四禪) of the form realm. The next four levels are the four samādhis of the formless realm (四空定): Boundless Space (空無邊), Boundless Consciousness (識無邊), Nothingness (無所有), and Neither Perception nor Non-perception (非想非非想). A Buddhist or non-Buddhist who has attained any of the eight levels of meditation can be reborn in a corresponding heaven in the form or formless realm. Only an Arhat can attain the ninth level called the Samādhi of Total Extinction (滅盡定), also more appropriately called the Samādhi of Total Suspension of sensory reception and Perception (滅受想定).

Śamatha (奢摩他), or stillness, is a mental state in which one's mind is concentrated in one position. (See vipaśyanā.)

Saṁsāra (輪迴) is the cycle of life and death, in which sentient beings transmigrate through the six life-journeys in the Threefold Realm of Existence.

Saṅgha (僧伽) is a Buddhist community consisting of the four groups of disciples (四眾) of the Buddha: bhikṣus (monks), bhikṣuṇīs (nuns), upāsakas (laymen), and upāsikās (laywomen).

Śārī (舍利) is a mynah bird. Śārikā was the name of Śāriputra's mother because her eyes were bright and clever like those of a mynah.

Sarvajña (See three wisdom-knowledges.)

Self-nature (自性), or svabhāva, means the unchanging nature of anything. To ordinary beings, phenomena seem to have fixed natures, for example, a tree has its own nature, and a dog has its own nature. In truth, any phenomenon, because it is constantly changing with causes and conditions, has no self-nature and is defined as śūnyatā (emptiness). In the Mahāyāna doctrine, true suchness, the base of all existence and nonexistence, is called the mind of pure self-nature.

Seven enlightenment factors (七覺分) include (1) investigation into the truth or falseness of doctrines, (2) energetic progress, (3) joyful mentality, (4) lightness and peacefulness in body and mind, (5) mindfulness in all activities and remembrance of the correct Dharma, (6) mental concentration, and (7) equability under favorable or adverse circumstances.

Seven noble treasures (七聖財) include (1) faith, (2) wisdom, (3) observing the precepts, (4) hearing teachings, (5) having sense of shame, (6) having sense of dishonor, and (7) abandoning afflictions.

Seven treasures (七寶) include suvarṇa (gold), rūpya (silver), vaiḍūrya (aquamarine), sphaṭika (crystal), musāragalva (conch shell or white coral), lohita-muktikā (ruby or red pearl), and aśmagarbha (emerald). Sometimes, coral and amber are included in place of crystal and ruby. F. Max Muller cited a reference, on page 92 in Buddhist Mahāyāna Texts edited by E. B. Cowell (New York: Dover publications, 1969), in which vaiḍūrya was matched with lapis lazuli and aśmagarbha with diamond. While lapis lazuli is an opaque intense blue stone, indications in the sūtras are that vaiḍūrya should be a transparent gemstone, such as aquamarine which is a blue beryl. According to the Monier-Williams Online Dictionary, aśmagarbha is emerald, and vajra (伐折羅) is diamond, an adamantine mineral (金剛).

Siddhi (悉地) is accomplishment through spiritual training using one's body, voice, and mind. The ultimate accomplishment is Buddhahood.

Six periods (六時) divide the day into morning (6-10 am), midday (10 am - 2 pm), and afternoon (2-6 pm) and the night into evening (6-10 pm), midnight (10 pm - 2 am), and post-midnight (2-6 am). Each period has four hours.

Śramaṇa (沙門) is an ascetic or a monk, one who has renounced family life and lives a life of purity, poverty, and diligent training, in search of the truth.

Śrāvastī (舍衛國) is the capital city of the ancient Indian state Kośala.

Stages of the Bodhisattva Way (菩薩階位) are the levels of a Bodhisattva on the Way to Buddhahood, as he realizes his dharma body part by part with profound meditation and develops the manifestation bodies of a Buddha with immeasurable virtuous actions. According to the Flower Adornment Sūtra, a Bodhisattva advances through fifty-two levels which are grouped into seven stages: (1) ten levels of faith, (2) ten levels of stay, (3) ten levels of action, (4) ten levels of transference of merit, (5) Ten Grounds, (6) equal enlightenment, and (7) wondrous enlightenment. A Bodhisattva is an ordinary being as he develops the ten levels of faith; he is a sage as he practices the ten pāramitās, progressing through the ten levels of stay, ten levels of action, and ten levels of transference of merit; and he is a holy being as he progresses through the Ten Grounds. A Bodhisattva makes a major breakthrough when he penetrates that all dharmas have no selves and ascends to the First Ground. From the First Ground to the Tenth Ground, he successively perfects the ten pāramitās in one-to-one correspondence. At the 51st level, his enlightenment is virtually equal to that of a Buddha. He will become a Buddha in his next life, attaining the wondrous enlightenment, the ultimate fruit of the aspiration and training of a Bodhisattva.

Store (藏) is a paraphrase of the Sanskrit word garbha, which means the womb or the child in the womb. Then, thus-come store (tathāgata-garbha) is one's true mind, and it is also the indestructible store, or vajra store. It is also called dharma store, the realm of all dharmas (phenomena). The aggregate of all Dharmas (Buddhas' teachings) is Dharma store; the collection of all precepts is precept store; all that is stored in the great earth is earth store; and all that is stored in the infinite space is space store, which is a metaphor of the true mind.

Stūpa (窣堵婆) is a pagoda for the remains of the Buddha, whether relics of bones or scriptures.

Suffering (苦), or duḥkha, is the first of the Four Noble Truths that the Buddha taught in His first turning of the Dharma wheel. In the Mahāyāna doctrine, suffering is generally classified into eight: (1) birth, (2) old age, (3) sickness, (4) death, (5) inability to get what one wants, (6) loss of what one loves, (7) encounter with what one hates, and (8) the impelling force of the five aggregates. Driven by the five aggregates, one experiences impermanence, misery, and sorrow as listed in the preceding seven situations.

Śūnyatā (空), or emptiness, is an insightful description of phenomena. Everything in the world is born and perishes according to causes and conditions. Because it has no self-nature (independent, inherent existence), it is said to be empty. For example, a sentient being composed of the five aggregates has an illusory existence, and therefore an independent autonomous self in a sentient being is imagined and nonexistent even though names and pronouns are conventionally used for the sake of reference. Śūnyatā is not nothingness because it does not deny the illusory existence of phenomena. The Mahāyānist goes further and views emptiness as the substance or true reality of all illusory phenomena. Emptiness is the true mind, which is non-dual, neither subject nor object, neither pure nor impure. However, manifestations are projected from one's ālaya consciousness, a function of the true mind. Therefore, as all phenomena are empty, from emptiness arise all phenomena. The non-duality of emptiness and manifestations, of nirvāṇa and saṁsāra, is the middle view of the Mahāyānist doctrine. (See two emptinesses.)

Sūtras in the twelve categories (十二部經) are the teachings of the Buddha classified by content and form into twelve categories: (1) sūtra (discourses in prose), (2) geya (songs that repeat the teachings), (3) vyākaraṇa (prophecies), (4) gāthā (stanzas), (5) udāna (self-initiated utterances), (6) nidāna (causes for the discourses), (7) avadāna (parables), (8) itivṛttaka (sūtras that begin with 'so it has been said'), (9) jātaka (past lives of the Buddha), (10) vaipulya (extensive teachings), (11) adbhuta-dharma (marvelous events), and (12) upadeśa (pointing-out instructions).

Tathāgata (如來), the Thus-Come One, which signifies the true reality (true suchness), is the first of the ten epithets of a Buddha. Although the Tathāgata (true reality) never moves, a Buddha appears to have come in the same way as past Buddhas.

Ten directions (十方) of space include east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, north, northeast, the nadir, and the zenith.

Ten evil deeds (十惡) are (1) killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) lying, (5) divisive speech, (6) abusive speech, (7) suggestive speech, (8) greed, (9) anger, and (10) wrong views.

Ten good deeds (十善) are the opposites of the ten evil deeds. They are the base of all precepts and the prerequisite for riding the Five Vehicles: Human, God, Voice-hearer, Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva. Bodhisattvas on the Second Ground will perfect their training in the ten good deeds.(See stages of the Bodhisattva Way.)

Ten fetters (十纏) are (1) no sense of shame, (2) no sense of dishonor, (3) jealousy, (4) stinginess, (5) remorse, (6) sleep, (7) excitement, (8) stupor, (9) rage, and (10) hiding one's wrong-doings.

Ten powers (十力), or daśabalāni, of a Buddha include the perfect knowledge of: (1) the right or wrong in every situation and its corresponding karmic consequences; (2) the karmic retributions of every sentient being—past, present, and future; (3) all stages of dhyāna and samādhi; (4) the capacity and future attainment of every sentient being; (5) the desires and inclinations of every sentient being; (6) the nature and condition of every sentient being; (7) the consequences of all saṁskṛta and asaṁskṛta actions; (8) all past lives of every sentient being and their karmic reasons; (9) all future rebirths of every sentient being and their karmic reasons; and (10) the termination of all afflictions and habits and their never-recurrence, upon attainment of Buddhahood.

Thirty-seven Elements of Bodhi (三十七道品) are practices for attaining enlightenment, which include (1) the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, (2) the Four Correct Endeavors: a. end forever the existing evil, b. do not allow new evil to arise, c. cause new goodness to arise, and d. expand existing goodness, (3) the Four Steps Toward Dhyāna: a. wish, b. effort, c. attention, and d. reflection, (4) the Five Roots of Goodness: a. faith, b. diligence, c. remembrance of the correct Dharma, d. dhyāna, and e. discriminative wisdom, (5) the Five Powers: a. power in faith, b. power in diligence, c. power in remembrance, d. power in dhyāna, and e. power in wisdom, (6) the Seven Bodhi Factors, and (7) the Eightfold Right Path.

Those who are still learning (有學), or śaikṣas, are the ones who have achieved any of the first three of the four fruits on the Liberation Way. There are 18 grades of śaikṣa. Those who have nothing more to learn (無學), or aśaikṣas, have attained the fourth fruit, Arhatship. (See eight ranks.)

Three bodies of a Buddha (三身) include (1) dharma-kāya (the dharma body or truth body), which is emptiness, the true reality of all dharmas, the mind of pure self-nature, (2) saṁbhoga-kāya (the reward or enjoyment body) in a sublime subtle form, which represents the infinite merit and virtue of a Buddha, and (3) nirmāṇa-kāya (the response or emanation body), which a Buddha manifests in response to sentient beings that are ready to accept the Dharma. While the truth body is the substance, the reward body and the response body are manifestations. These three bodies are inseparable. According to the Tiantai School of China, of the latest Buddha, Vairocana is the dharma-kāya, Rocana is the saṁbhoga-kāya, and Śākyamuni is the nirmāṇa-kāya.

Three Buddha natures (三佛性) include (1) the Buddha nature that all sentient beings innately have but are unaware of, (2) the Buddha nature gradually revealed through one's spiritual cultivation, and (3) the Buddha nature evident in a Buddha.

Three Clarities (三明) include (1) clarity of the past lives of self and others and their causes and conditions, (2) clarity of the God-eye, which sees the future lives of self and others and their causes and conditions, and (3) clear knowledge that one's afflictions have ended and will never arise again. These attainments of an Arhat are called the Three Clarities. These attainments of a Buddha are supreme and are called the Three Thorough Clarities (三達).

Three fortune fields (三福田) are (1) the fortune field of reverence (敬田), which includes the triple jewel, (2) the fortune field of repayment of kindness (恩田), which includes one's parents and teachers, and (3) the fortune field of compassion (悲田), which includes the poor, the sick, and animals. By making offerings to any of these three fortune fields, one has planted seeds which will yield harvests of fortune in one's present and future lives.

Three hindrances (三障) to realization of one's true mind are (1) afflictions, such as greed, anger, and delusion, which agitate one's mind and lead to karma, (2) karmas, such as the ten evil deeds, which lead to retributions, and (3) retributions, such as rebirth in the form of animal, hungry ghost, or hell dweller, to live a life of sufferings.

Three periods of the Dharma (正像末期) are the three successive stages by which the Dharma will end in this world: (1) The Dharma-proper age (正法) lasted 500 to 1,000 years after the passing of Śākyamuni Buddha. During this period, there were teachings, carrying out the teachings, and attaining of fruits. (2) The Dharma-likeness age (像法) lasted 500 to 1,000 years. During this period, there were teachings and carrying out the teachings, but no attaining of fruits. (3) The Dharma-ending age (末法) will last ten thousand years. During this period, the teachings will gradually vanish, and there will be neither carrying out the teachings nor attaining of fruits. Afterwards, only the Amitābha Sūtra will remain for one hundred years for the deliverance of the willing few. Since people will no longer be receptive, the Dharma will be hidden for a long time until the advent of the next Buddha. In the Bodhisattva in the Fetus Sūtra (the Chinese Canon, Text no. 384), the Buddha prophesied that, after 56 koṭi and 70 million years (converted into 630 million years), Maitreya Bodhisattva will descend from Tuṣita Heaven (the fourth of the six desire heavens) and become the next Buddha.

Three Realms (三界), or triloka, are the threefold world of illusory existence (三有) in which sentient beings transmigrate. It includes (1) the Desire Realm, where reside hell denizens, ghosts, animals, humans, asuras, and gods with desire, (2) the Form Realm, where Brahma gods, in subtle forms and free of desire, reside in 18 form heavens classified into four levels of meditation (four Dhyāna Heavens), and (3) the Formless Realm, where formless gods are in mental existence in four formless heavens, or at four levels of long, deep meditative absorption.

Three-Thousand Large Thousandfold World (三千大千世界) is actually a Large Thousandfold World, the educational district of a Buddha. It consists of a billion small worlds, each including a Mount Sumeru surrounded by four continents, eight oceans, and nine mountain ranges. One thousand such small worlds consititue a Small Thousandfold World. One thousand Small Thousandfold Worlds consitute a Medium Thousandfold World. Finally, one thousand Medium Thousandfold Worlds constitute a Large Thousandfold World. Therefore, Three-Thousand does not mean 3,000, but a thousand raised to the power of three, developed from a small thousandfold into a medium thousandfold, and then into a large thousandfold, as described above. It can also mean that there are three kinds of Thousandfold World: small, medium, and large.

Three turnings of the Dharma wheel in the twelvefold process are three advancing levels in the Buddha's teachings on the Four Noble Truths. During the first turning, the Buddha indicated to the five bhikṣus in the Deer Park that "This is suffering; this is the cause; this is cessation; and this is the path." During the second turning, He persuaded them that "This is the suffering you should know; this is the cause you should annihilate; this is the cessation you should attain; and this is the path you should walk." During the third turning, He confirmed that "This is the suffering I have known; this is the cause that I have annihilated; this is the cessation I have attained; and this is the path I have completed."

Three white foods (三白食) are milk, cream or curd, and white rice.

Three wisdom-knowledges (三智) include (1) overall knowledge, or sarvajña (一切智), which is the general wisdom in the emptiness of self in anything (Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas have only realized the emptiness of self in a person), (2) discriminative knowledge (道種智), which is developed in Bodhisattvas who recognize the distinct displays in illusory existence, and (3) all-encompassing knowledge (一切種智), or sarvajñatā, which is the perfect wisdom of a Buddha, of all beings and all things in their general and particular aspects, the non-duality of emptiness and myriads of display.

Trayastriṁśa Heaven (忉利天), on the top of Mount Sumeru, is the second of the six desire heavens. (The four god-kings are in the first desire heaven located halfway up Mount Sumeru. Except for the first two desire heavens on Mount Sumeru, all other heavens are in space.) Trayastriṁśa Heaven is subdivided into thirty-three heavens (三十三天) at the same level, all ruled by the god-king Śakro-Devānām-Indra, who is also called Śakra or Indra.

Tripiṭaka (三藏) means the three sections of the Buddhist canon: (1) the Sūtras, discourses of the Buddha, (2) the Vinayas, rules of conduct, and (3) the Abhidharma, treatises on the Dharma. A Tripiṭaka master is accomplished in all three areas.

Triple Jewel (三寶) consists of (1) the Buddha, the unsurpassed perfectly enlightened teacher, (2) the Dharma, His teachings, and (3) the Saṅgha, the spiritual community.

True suchness (真如), or bhūta-tathatā, is the substance or noumenon of all dharmas (phenomena). Indescribable with words, true suchness is the unchanging truth of all phenomena. It has other names such as emptiness, true emptiness, one appearance, one-flavor, true reality, reality state (bhūta-koṭi), primal state, Buddha mind, true mind, mind of pure self-nature, the Thus-Come One (tathāgata), the thus-come store (tathāgata-garbha), vajra store, dharma-kāya, Buddha nature, dharma nature, dharma realm, the one true dharma realm, the highest truth (paramārtha), the great seal, the great perfection, etc. One's body and mental states, and objects perceived as external are all manifestations of one's true suchness, projected from the pure, impure, and neutral seeds stored in ālaya consciousness.

Twelve fields (十二處), more detailed than the five aggregates, are another way of analyzing a sentient being. Then a sentient being is a combination of 12 fields, which include six sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mental base) and six sense objects (sights, sounds, scents, flavors, tactile sensations, and mental objects). In this way of analyzing a sentient being, consciousnesses and their functions are included in the mental base. These six sense objects, or percepts, are also called appearances. This is an understanding supported by modern neuroscientists, who have explained that percepts are brain representations. (See eighteen spheres.)

Twelve Links of Dependent Origin (十二因緣法) explains the reason why a sentient being continues to live in the cycle of life and death. These twelve conditions, each being a condition for the next, include (1) ignorance, (2) karmic actions, (3) ālaya consciousness, (4) name (mental functions) and form, (5) six sense faculties, (6) contact, (7) sensory reception, (8) cravings, (9) grasping, (10) karmic becoming, (11) birth, and (12) old age and death. Links (1)-(2) refer to karmic seeds sowed in the previous lives, (3)-(7) refer to the fruit in this life, (8)-(10) refer to the karma committed in this life, and (11)-(12) refer to the fruit in the next life. In the cycle of transmigration, one starts with ignorance and continues from afflictions to karmic deeds and to sufferings, and then starts all over again. In contrast, as a process of annihilation, by ending ignorance one will sequentially end the remaining eleven links and transcend the endless cycle.

Two emptinesses (二空) include (1) emptiness of self, the atman, or the soul, in a person because he is a combination of the five aggregates, constantly changing with causes and conditions, and (2) emptiness of selves in all dharmas—each of the five aggregates as well as everything else has no independent existence. The nonexistence of selves in all dharmas actually includes the nonexistence of self in a person, but the latter is separated out in the first category. Realization of the emptiness of self in a person will lead to attainment of Arhatship or Pratyekabuddhahood. Attainment of Buddhahood requires total realization of both emptinesses as well as perfection in merit and wisdom.

Two-footed Honored One (兩足尊), or dvipadottama, means the most honored one among gods and men. In this epithet of a Buddha, the two feet are compared to meditation and moral conduct, merit and wisdom, knowledge in the relative and absolute truth, knowledge and action, or vow and action. A Buddha has perfected both.

Unimpeded eloquence (無礙辯) includes (1) unimpeded understanding of dharmas, (2) unimpeded interpretation of their meanings, (3) unimpeded forms of expression, and (4) unimpeded delight in articulation according to the capacity of the listeners.

Upāsaka (優婆塞) is a Buddhist layman. (See saṅgha.)

Upāsikā (優婆夷) is a Buddhist laywoman. (See saṅgha.)

Vajra (伐折羅) means indestructible or adamantine (金剛), which is a description of the true suchness of phenomena. It is a diamond, considered to be as hard as the thunderbolt. Vajra is also a ritual object as a symbol of skillful means for delivering self and others from the cycle of life and death.

Vārāṇasī (波羅奈國), now Benares, is an ancient city state on the Ganges. Nearby is Deer Park, where the Buddha gave His first teachings to five monks.

View of Śūnyatā (空見) is held by those who have misunderstood śūnyatā, equating it to nothingness and claiming that causality is 'empty' and therefore can be ignored. (See śūnyatā for the correct meaning.)

Vipaśyanā (毗婆舍那) means correct observation or clear seeing, which leads to insight. Śamatha-vipaśyanā may be translated into stillness and insight (止觀), or silent illumination (默照). When śamatha and vipaśyanā are balanced in power, one may come to realize the non-dual state of one's mind.

Voice-hearer (聲聞), or śrāvaka, is one who received oral teachings from a Buddha. It is recorded in the Lotus Sūtra that the Buddha bestowed upon 1,200 Arhats and 2,000 voice-hearers the prophecy of attaining Buddhahood. Listed below are a few disciples of the Buddha:

Ājñātakauṇḍinya (阿若憍陳如) was one of the first five disciples of the Buddha. He is well regarded as an Elder.

Ānanda (阿難) was the younger brother of Devadatta. As the Buddha's attendant, he is noted for hearing and remembering all of the teachings of the Buddha. Ānanda became an Arhat after the Buddha's mahā-parinirvāṇa. He then recited from memory, in the first assembly of Arhats, all the teachings for the compilation of the sūtras. Succeeding Mahākāśyapa, he is reckoned as the second patriarch of the Buddhist lineage.

Aniruddha (阿那律) became a disciple soon after the Buddha's enlightenment. He used to fall asleep when the Buddha was teaching and was reproved by the Buddha. Ashamed, he practiced day and night without sleep and lost his eyesight. However, he was able to see with his God-eye.

Devadatta (提婆達多) was a cousin of the Buddha, with whom he had been competitive since childhood. He became a disciple after the Buddha had attained perfect enlightenment. He trained hard for twelve years but did not attain Arhatship. Disgusted, he studied magic and formed his own group. Devadatta beat a nun to death. He made several attempts to murder the Buddha and destroy the Saṅgha. He fell to hell after his death. However, in a previous life he had given the Buddha Mahāyāna teachings. In spite of his wicked deeds in this life, the Buddha has prophesied in the Lotus Sūtrathat Devadatta will become a Buddha named Devarāja.

Mahākāśyapa (摩訶迦葉), initially a Brahmin in Magadha, became a disciple, three years after the Buddha had attained enlightenment. In eight days, Mahākāśyapa accomplished Arhatship. He is considered the foremost in ascetic practices. When the Buddha raised a flower in His hand, only Mahākāśyapa in the huge assembly understood the meaning and responded with a smile. Then the Buddha entrusted him with the continuation of the lineage, and he became the first patriarch after The Buddha's mahā-parinirvāṇa. After transmitting the lineage to Ānanda, Mahākāśyapa went to the Vulture Peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa) Mountain , and there he has remained in samādhi. He will enter parinirvāṇa upon the arrival the next Buddha, Maitreya.

Mahākātyāyana (摩訶迦旃延) was born into the Brahmin caste in the kingdom Avanti in western India. He studied the Vedas under his uncle Asita, the seer, who foresaw that the prince Siddhārtha would attain Buddhahood. Mahākātyāyana then followed the Buddha in honor of Asita's death wish. After diligent training under the Buddha, Mahākātyāyana attained Arhatship. He often debated with the heretics after the parinirvana of the Buddha, and is known as the foremost in polemic.

Mahākauṣṭhila (摩訶拘絺羅) joined the Buddha's Order after his nephew Śāriputra. He soon attained Arhatship and achieved unimpeded eloquence. The Buddha praised him as the foremost in eloquence.

Mahāmaudgalyāyana (大目揵連), or Maudgalyāyana, is considered the foremost in transcendental powers among the disciples. Together with his own disciples, following his good friend Śāriputra, he became a disciple and accomplished Arhatship in a month. Śāriputra is represented as standing on the Buddha's right and Maudgalyāyana on His left. Maudgalyāyana was stoned to death by Brahmins shortly before the Buddha's mahā-parinirvāṇa.

Pūrṇa (富樓那), or Pūrṇa-Maitrāyaṇī-Putra, was given his mother's family name Maitrāyaṇī. His was the son of a minister of the king Śuddhodana of the kingdom of Kapilavastu. He was very intelligent and studied the Vedas at a young age. On the night the prince Siddhārtha left the palace to seek the truth, he too left with 30 friends to practice asceticism in the snow mountain. He attained the four dhyānas and the five transcendental powers. After Siddhārtha attained Buddhahood and did the first turning of the Dharma wheel in the Deer Park, he became a monk in the Buddha's Order. He soon attained Arhatship. He was known as the foremost among the disciples in expounding the Dharma because some 99,000 people were delivered through his teachings.

Rāhula (羅睺羅) was the only son of Śākyamuni Buddha and Yaśodharā. He had been in gestation for six years and was born on the lunar eclipse after the Buddha had attained perfect enlightenment. Rāhula was six years old when the Buddha returned to the city kingdom Kapila-vati, and he became a monk at the command of the Buddha. Foremost in secret training, he is to be reborn as the eldest son of every future Buddha.

Revata (離婆多) was the younger brother of Śāriputra. In his meditation at a temple, he saw two ghosts fighting to eat a corpse. Realizing the illusoriness of the body, he renounced family life and became a disciple of the Buddha. Traveling barefoot in a snow country, his feet were frostbitten. The Buddha praised him for his contentment with few material things and allowed him to wear shoes.

Śāriputra (舍利弗) is considered the foremost in wisdom among the disciples. Together with his own disciples, he joined the Buddha's order soon after the Buddha's enlightenment. After being a principal disciple for 44 years, to avoid his grief over the Buddha's mahā-parinirvāṇa, he requested and received the Buddha's permission to enter parinirvāṇa sooner than the Buddha.

Subhūti (須菩提) was foremost among the disciples in understanding the meaning of emptiness (śūnyatā). He is the principal interlocutor in the Prajñā-Pāramitā Sūtra.

Upāli (優波離) had been a barber in the royal court. He became a disciple, together with Ānanda, six years after the Buddha had attained perfect enlightenment. Foremost in observing the precepts, he contributed to the compilation of the Vinaya in the first assembly of the Arhats after the Buddha's mahā-parinirvāṇa.

Upananda (跋難陀) and his brother Nanda (難陀) often caused disciplinary problems. Because of their conduct, the Buddha had to add a few more precepts to the collection. Upananda rejoiced over the Buddha's mahā-parinirvāṇa because it, in his opinion, freed the disciples from restraint.

Water of the eight virtues (八功德水) fills all the pools of Amitābha Buddha's Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. According to the Praising the Pure Land Sūtra, these eight virtues are (1) purity and clarity, (2) coolness, (3) sweetness, (4) lightness and softness, (5) moisture, (6) peace and harmony, (7) quenching of thirst, and (8) nourishing and vitalizing.

Way (道) in the Mahāyāna doctrine is to find the ultimate truth within one's own mind. Those who see phenomena as existing outside their minds are considered not on the Way. It is not to be confused with Dao in Chinese Daoism, which means the natural order of phenomena.

Wheel-Turning King (轉輪王), or cakravartī-rāja, is a ruler, the wheels of whose chariot roll everywhere without hindrance. The wheel, or cakra, comes in four ranks: iron, copper, silver, and gold. The Iron Cakravartī rules over one continent, the south; the Copper, over two, east and south; the Silver, over three, east, west, and south; and the Gold over all four continents. The term is also applied to a Buddha as the universal spiritual king, who turns the Dharma wheel, giving teachings.

Wolf Track Mountain (狼跡山) is identified with the Cock's Foot Mountain, or Kukkuṭapāda, northeast of Buddhagayā, in central India. It has three spires, like the upturned foot of a cock. Mahākāśyapa is now in samādhi in this mountain, waiting for the descent of Maitreya Bodhisattva.

Yakṣa (夜叉) is a class of demonic ghosts that eat human flesh.

Yama (夜摩) is the lord of the underworld and acts as superintendent of the karmic punishment of hell-dwellers.

Yojana (由旬) is described as one day's march of the army or one day's walk of a yoked bull. One yojana may equal 4 or 8 krośas, each krośa being the distance at which a bull's bellow can be heard. The estimated distance of a yojana varies from 8 to 19 kilometers.

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