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Library/Glossary

The Glossary follows the Library listing.

Library

The sangha library currently has the following items to lend:
Books and recordings by Thich Nhat Hanh:

Books and items by other authors:

Periodicals:

Glossary*

Avalokiteshvara: (Avalokita, Avalokitesvara, Kannon, Kwan Yin, Quan Am) bodhisattva of compassion and deep listening

bodhi: (Sanskrit) awakening or enlightenment. Enlightenment is always enlightenment about something.

bodhichitta: (Sanskrit; also bodhicitta) mind of enlightenment; mind of love; awakened heart or mind; deepest, innermost aspiration to realize oneself and become awakened, free from concepts, to work for the well-being of all

bodhisattva: (Sanskrit) literally “enlightenment-being;” one on the path to awakening who vows to forego complete enlightenment until he or she helps liberate all other beings from suffering

Buddha: fully enlightened one, from Sanskrit root buddh, “to wake up;” refers also to the ability of all beings to become awake or enlightened. See also Three Jewels

Dharanimdhara: Earth Holder, the bodhisattva who preserves and protects the Earth; the energy that holds us together as an organism.

Dharma: (Sanskrit) the path of understanding and love, also referred to as buddhadharma, taught by the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni; literally, “the law.” See also Three Jewels

dharma: phenomenon, thing, object of mind

dukkha: (Sanskrit) suffering; the sense that things are unsatisfactory, flawed, awry

Eightfold Path: The path to well-being (the fourth Noble Truth): Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration

enlightenment: See bodhi

Five Mindfulness Trainings:

Four Noble Truths: Suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, the path that leads to the cessation of suffering (The Noble Eightfold Path)

Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha: the mantra from the Heart of the Prajnaparamita, uttered by Avalokiteshvara, meaning, “Gone, gone, gone all the way over, gone with all beings to the other shore, enlightenment, rejoice!”

gatha: a short poem or verse to recite during daily activities to help us dwell in mindfulness

interbeing: the Buddhist teaching that nothing can be by itself alone, that everything in the cosmos must “interbe” with everything else; also referred to as interdependent origination

interdependent origination: See interbeing

karma: action seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results; the law of cause and effect. Action as cause (karmahetu) and action as effect (karmaphala)

kleshas: (Sanskrit) sometimes translated as “afflictions” or “defiled emotions,” strong emotions that lead to suffering: aggression, craving, ignorance, jealousy, arrogance, pride, etc.

Mahayana: literally, “great vehicle;” northern schools (in China, Korea, Japan, Mongollia, Tibet) of Buddhism that emphasize the compassionate actions of bodhisattvas

Mara: the tempter, the Evil One, the killer, the opposite of the Buddha nature in each person; sometimes personified as a deity. The obstacles to our practice, which arise in our own minds.

Mindfulness Trainings: see Five Mindfulness Trainings

nirvana: the extinction of all ideas and concepts and of suffering based on them, to have no attachment to the realms of birth and death.  The ultimate dimension of reality.

Noble Truths: see Four Noble Truths

paramita(s): the six practices of the mahayana path: generosity, discipline, patience, exertion or enthusiasm, meditation, and wisdom. They are called “transcendent” because they carry us across the river of confused existence to “the other shore” of enlightenment.

prajna: (Sanskrit) understanding, wisdom

Prajnaparamita: (Sanskrit) Perfection of Wisdom, literally “understanding gone beyond;” Mahayana Buddhist literature developed in early years of the Christian era, called Mother of All Buddhas

Precepts: see Five Mindfulness Trainings

Pure Land: Sukhavati, the land of great happiness where the Buddha Amitabha dwells; an ideal place to practice understanding and loving-kindness under the guidance of a Buddha

Sangha: (Sanskrit) Buddhist community of monks, nuns, and laypersons that endeavors to practice the true teachings in harmony. See also Three Jewels

Seals, Three Dharma: see Three Dharma Seals

shamatha: (Sanskrit; also samatha) stopping, calming or calm abiding, tranquility; the first aspect of Buddhist meditation

skandhas: (Sanskrit) five elements that comprise a human being according to the Buddha: form (the body), feelings, perceptions, mental formations (intellectual concepts or constructs), and consciousness

sutra: a scriptural narrative, especially a text traditionally regarded as a discourse or dialogue of the Buddha with his students; literally, “thread”

Three Dharma Seals: in the Southern Transmission, impermanence, suffering and nonself; in the Samyukta Agama (favored by Thich Nhat Hanh), impermanence, nonself and nirvana.

Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha; also known as Three Gems or Three Refuges

vipashyana: (Sanskrit; also vipassana, vipasyana) insight, looking deeply; the second aspect of Buddhist meditation

Zen: school of Mahayana Buddhism that emphasizes meditation as its primary practice

*Definitions in this glossary are taken or modified from glossaries in books by Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chodron

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