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| Explanations of some Buddhist terms. | |
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| Term | Definition | |
| Pandit | (skt.: pandita; tib.: khe pa) Scholar; used for accomplished Indian and Tibetan Buddhist masters; a learned man. | |
| Paramita | (skt.: paramita; tib.: par chin drug/pa rol tu chin pa) Perfection. Literal translation of Tibetan is went to the other side. These are the six virtues, or perfections, that the Bodhisattva must perfect during his development in order to reach Buddhahood. Six perfections belong to the sutra part of the Mahayana path which is called also Paramitayana, the Perfection Vehicle. 1. (skt.: dana, tib.: jin pa) Perfection of Generosity. There are three types: - giving of material things - giving of protection from fear - teaching the Buddhas doctrine, the dharma 2. (skt.: shila; tib.: tsultrim) Perfection of Ethics (or Morality). There are three types: - Restraint from harmful actions of body, speech, and mind by keeping the pratimoksha vows. - Cultivating, protecting, and increasing virtue. - Helping and benefiting living beings. 3. (skt.: kshanti; tib.: so pa) Perfection of Patience. There are three types: - Taking no account of those who harm, applying patience as the antidote to anger. - Accepting hardships and suffering and see it as a help to ripen the fruit, the outcome of those past negative actions, and in that way consuming negative karma. - Persistent study of the dharma, the Shakyamuni Buddhas teachings. This is the patience of continuous investigation of the Shakyamuni Buddhas doctrine. 4. (skt.: virya; tib.: tsun dru) Perfection of Joyous Effort. Arya Shantideva described Perfection of Joyous Effort as: What is joyous effort? It is enthusiasm for virtue. There are three kinds: - Enthusiastic effort as armor: The courage and energy that prepares one to withstand difficulties and continue until ones goal is achieved. - Diligence in positive actions: Striving to create virtue through the practice of the perfections. - Insatiable enthusiastic effort: Devoting all energy in working for others. 5. (skt.: dhyana; tib.: samten) Perfection of Meditation (or Concentration). There are two essential kinds of meditation: - Calm abiding meditation (skr.: shamata; tib.: shi ne). Calm abiding is called the perfect absorption of mind within mind. It is to cultivate a mind that is not being disturbed by mental wandering. - Special insight meditation (skt.: vipashyana; tib.: lhak thong). It is analytical meditation that makes it possible to gain insight into the true nature of reality. In that way it is the perfection of wisdom. 6. (skt.: prajna; tib.: she rab) Perfection of Wisdom. The Mahayana teachings on insight into emptiness. There are three types: - hearing the teachings - thinking about them - meditating on them Six perfections are called perfections for two reasons: 1. (tib.: pa rol tu chin pa) When you reach Buddhahood, they can be done perfectly. 2. (tib.: pa rol tu chin je) They will bring you to perfection - to Buddhahood. As Arya Nagarjuna said: These six paramitas are able to cause a person to cross over the great sea of miserliness, over the other afflictions and beyond defiled attachment so that one reaches to the other shore. It is for this reason that they are referred to as paramitas. | |
| Pecha | (tib.: pecha) Text or book written in Tibetan language. These books have a specific oblong shape and pages are usually stored between wooden plates and wrapped in cloth. Pages are unbound and printed on both sides. Pechas can be stored in the cubbyholes, small end to the fore, with a cloth label hanging from the visible end. Pechas were often printed on rice paper or other poor quality materials. The alternative was to copy each text by hand. Now pechas are usually printed by more modern means. | |
| Perfection | (skt.: paramita; tib.: par chin drug/pa rol tu chin pa) Perfection. Literal translation of Tibetan is went to the other side. These are the six virtues, or perfections, that the Bodhisattva must perfect during his development in order to reach Buddhahood. Six perfections belong to the sutra part of the Mahayana path which is called also Paramitayana, the Perfection Vehicle. 1. (skt.: dana, tib.: jin pa) Perfection of Generosity. There are three types: - giving of material things - giving of protection from fear - teaching the Buddhas doctrine, the dharma 2. (skt.: shila; tib.: tsultrim) Perfection of Ethics (or Morality). There are three types: - Restraint from harmful actions of body, speech, and mind by keeping the pratimoksha vows. - Cultivating, protecting, and increasing virtue. - Helping and benefiting living beings. 3. (skt.: kshanti; tib.: so pa) Perfection of Patience. There are three types: - Taking no account of those who harm, applying patience as the antidote to anger. - Accepting hardships and suffering and see it as a help to ripen the fruit, the outcome of those past negative actions, and in that way consuming negative karma. - Persistent study of the dharma, the Shakyamuni Buddhas teachings. This is the patience of continuous investigation of the Shakyamuni Buddhas doctrine. 4. (skt.: virya; tib.: tsun dru) Perfection of Joyous Effort. Arya Shantideva described Perfection of Joyous Effort as: What is joyous effort? It is enthusiasm for virtue. There are three kinds: - Enthusiastic effort as armor: The courage and energy that prepares one to withstand difficulties and continue until ones goal is achieved. - Diligence in positive actions: Striving to create virtue through the practice of the perfections. - Insatiable enthusiastic effort: Devoting all energy in working for others. 5. (skt.: dhyana; tib.: samten) Perfection of Meditation (or Concentration). There are two essential kinds of meditation: - Calm abiding meditation (skr.: shamata; tib.: shi ne). Calm abiding is called the perfect absorption of mind within mind. It is to cultivate a mind that is not being disturbed by mental wandering. - Special insight meditation (skt.: vipashyana; tib.: lhak thong). It is analytical meditation that makes it possible to gain insight into the true nature of reality. In that way it is the perfection of wisdom. 6. (skt.: prajna; tib.: she rab) Perfection of Wisdom. The Mahayana teachings on insight into emptiness. There are three types: - hearing the teachings - thinking about them - meditating on them Six perfections are called perfections for two reasons: 1. (tib.: pa rol tu chin pa) When you reach Buddhahood, they can be done perfectly. 2. (tib.: pa rol tu chin je) They will bring you to perfection - to Buddhahood. As Arya Nagarjuna said: These six paramitas are able to cause a person to cross over the great sea of miserliness, over the other afflictions and beyond defiled attachment so that one reaches to the other shore. It is for this reason that they are referred to as paramitas. | |
| Prajnaparamita | (skt.: prajnaparamita; tib.: she rab kyi pha rol tu chin pa) Literally means Perfection of Wisdom. It can refer to several things: - textual perfection of wisdom: prajnaparamita sutras which are the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. They are classified in three groups: long (100.000 verses), middle (20.000 verses) and short (8.000 verses) prajnaparamita sutras. All of them primarily explain the wisdom of emptiness and the path of the bodhisattva, so they are mahayana sutras. They are associated with the second turning of the wheel of Dharma. There are about 40 sutras which belong to the group of prajnaparamita sutras like Heart Sutra, Diamond cutter Sutra, etc. The most important interpreter of these sutras was Arya Nagarjuna (lived at around second century) who on the basis of these sutras set the middle way philosophy, which is considered supreme presentation of the wisdom of emptiness. - natural perfection of wisdom: refers to emptiness - path perfection of wisdom: wisdom of bodhisattva imbued with wisdom of emptiness and bodhicitta - result perfection of wisdom: refers to omniscience of a Buddha - Deity Great Mother (tib.: yum chen mo): said to be the Mother of all the Buddhas, because the perfection of wisdom produces all the Buddhas. | |
| Pratimoksha vows | (skt.: pratimoksha; tib.: so tar kyi dom pa) Individual freedom vows. The main subject of Vinaya, division of the Buddhist scriptures concerned with monastic discipline - the rules for the behavior of monks and nuns and the conduct of their communal business. Pratimoksha vows are divided in different types: 1. one day vows (tib.: nyen.ne) - eight vows which one takes for the period of 24 hours, also known as eight precepts 2. layman or laywoman vows (tib.: ge.nyen.pa or ge.nyen.ma) - five vows. 3. pre-noviciats vows (tib.: rab.jung) - 8 vows 4. novice monk or nuns vows (tib.: ge.tsul.pa or ge.tsul.ma) - 36 vows 5. fully ordained nuns vows (tib.: ge long ma) - consits of 364 vows 6. fully ordained monks vows (tib.: ge long pa) - consits of 253 vows In a commentary on Je Tsongkhapas text Essence of Ocean of Vinaya, Master Ngulchu Dharma Bhadra explains why these vows are named pratimoksha vows: ... is so named because those individuals who take them and keep them properly will escape the cycle of suffering, whereas those who do not, will not. | |
| Pratyekabuddha | (skt.: pratyekabuddha; tib.: rang gyel, rang sang gye) Usually translated as Self Made Buddha or Solitarily Enlightened one. It refers to those Hinayana practitioners who, with the motivation of renouncing the Samsara and to achieve permanent happines for themselves, strive to reach Nirvana. They do not rely on a teacher in that lifetime to reach their aim. However, they had been taught by teachers in previous lifetimes. They attain Nirvana mainly through contemplation on the Twelve links of dependant origination in reverse order. Despite the name Self Made Buddha, they are not real Buddhas, since they achieve only Nirvana, but not full Buddhahood. They live during dark ages when the teachings of a Buddha are no longer available. They do not study with spiritual teachers, because there are none, and they teach only by gestures, since others are not receptive. Living either singly or in small groups, they must rely on their instincts to learn of the Dharma. | |
| Preliminary practices | (tib.: ngon dro) Preliminary practices. Literally, to go before or preliminary. These practices are found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and are usually done 100,000 times each; there are many preliminary practices, but the four main ones are usually: recitation of refuge and bodhicitta prayer, mandala offering, prostrations, Vajrasattva mantra recitation. Sometimes the four main ones are: guru yoga, Vajrasattva mantra recitation, prostrations and mandala offerings. The Gelug tradition adds five more: guru yoga, water bowl offerings, Damtsig Dorje purifiyng meditation, making tsa-tsas (small sacred images, usually made of clay), Dorje Khadro burnt offering. Generally these practices help us to develop the two accumulations of merits and wisdom, necessary to our progression on the path. They help us to purify negativities which are obstacle to our practices, develop our faith and joy in the practice of Dharma. They also help us to stabilize our concentration. Here are more specific benefits of some of the preliminary practices: - preliminary practice of guru yoga is mainly done to receive the blessings of the guru in order to achieve realizations of the path to enlightenment - Vajrasattva practice and prostrations with meditation on and recitation of the holy names of the Thirty-five Buddhas are done to pacify obstacles - mandala offerings are done particularly to collect merit, the necessary condition to have realizations of the path to enlightenment. | |
| Puja | (skt.: puja; tib.: cho pa) Literally means offering. It refers to offering ritual during which we make offering to realized beings. There are several kinds of pujas like guru puja (tib.: lama cho pa), fire puja, etc. Sometimes during pujas there is also a ritual feast, which is called tsog. | |
| Pureland | (tib.: dag zhing) A Buddhas land is said to be blissful and free from impurity and is therefore called a pure land. It is said that any noise which we hear in a pure realm is like a Dharma teaching. These realms are presided over by various Buddhas such as Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara, and Maitreya who presides over Tushita. There are many purelands, since every Buddha has his own pureland. | |
| Purification | (tib.: sgrib yang) The removal and cleansing of negative karmas and imprints from the mind, which would otherwise ripen into suffering. The most effective methods of purification employ the four opponent powers of reliance, regret, resolution and the application of antidotes. More well known practices for purification are Vajrasattva mantras or prostrations to 35 Buddhas. | |
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