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Nalanda Institute For Higher Buddhist Studies
Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhism, Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.Nalanda University Government of India Considered by historians to be the world's first residential university and among the greatest centers of learning in the ancient world, it was located near the city of Rajagriha (now Rajgir) and about southeast of Pataliputra (now Patna). Operating from 427 until 1197 CE, Nalanda played a vital role in promoting the patronage of arts and academics during the 5th and 6th century CE, a period that has since been described as the "Golden Age of India" by scholars. Nalanda was established during the Gupta Empire era, and was supported by numerous Indian and Javanese patrons – both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Over some 750 years, its faculty included some of the most reve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nalanda District
Nalanda district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the state of Bihar in India. Bihar Sharif is the administrative headquarters of this district. The districts contain the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara a UNESCO World Heritage site. Nalanda is located in the Magadh region of southern Bihar. History Nalanda became a fully-fledged district when it was split from Gaya on 9 November 1972. Geography Nalanda district occupies an area of . The Phalgu, Mohane, Jirayan, and Kumbhari rivers flow through it. The district is a part of Patna Division. Majority of the land in the district is fertile land of Indo Gangetic plane. In the extreme South, there lies the hills of Rajgir. There is also one small hillock in the district headquarters of Bihar Sharif. Flora and fauna In 1978 Nalanda district became home to the Pant Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajgir which has an area of . Demographics According to the 2011 census Nalanda district has a population of 2,877,653, roughly equal to the nati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism (the other being ''Theravāda'' and Vajrayana).Harvey (2013), p. 189. Mahāyāna accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism but also recognizes various doctrines and texts that are not accepted by Theravada Buddhism as original. These include the Mahāyāna Sūtras and their emphasis on the ''bodhisattva'' path and ''Prajñāpāramitā''. ''Vajrayāna'' or Mantra traditions are a subset of Mahāyāna, which make use of numerous tantric methods considered to be faster and more powerful at achieving Buddhahood by Vajrayānists. "Mahāyāna" also refers to the path of the bodhisattva striving to become a fully awakened Buddha (''samyaksaṃbuddha'') for the benefit of all sentient beings, and is thus als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nava Nalanda Mahavihara
Nava Nalanda Mahavihara (NNM) is an institute deemed to be university located in Nalanda, Bihar, India. It was established in 1951 under Rajendra Prasad to revive the ancient seat of learning in Nalanda. History Nava Nalanda Mahavihara was founded to develop as a centre of higher studies in Pali and Buddhism along the lines of ancient Nalanda Mahavihara. From the beginning, the Institute functioned as a residential institution, with a limited number of Indian and foreign students. It became a Deemed university in 2006. Academics NNM offers degree, certificate, diploma and research courses in the discipline of Pali, philosophy, ancient history, culture and archaeology, Tibetan studies, Hindi , Sanskrit and more. Campus The present campus of the Mahavihara is some 100 km from the metropolis of Patna, situated on the southern bank of the historical lake Indrapuskarani. Close to the northern bank lie the ruins of the ancient University of Nalanda. During India's firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( pi, bodhi, pi-Latn) under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. Since antiquity, Bodh Gaya has remained the object of pilgrimage and veneration both for Hindus and Buddhists. In particular, archaeological finds including sculptures show that the site was in use by Buddhists since the Mauryan period. For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History Bodh Gaya is considered to be the holiest site in Buddhism. Known as Uruwela in the Buddha's time, it is situated by the bank of Lilajan River. The first temple at the site was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance. The sites are judged to contain " cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a somehow unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or physical significance. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness areas. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of great natural beauty. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 193 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered at the World Heritage Centre in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions that facilitate its global mandate. UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.English summary). Its constitution establishes the agency's goals, governing structure, and operating framework. UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the Second World War, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboration and dialogue among nations. It pursues this objective t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shantideva
Shantideva (Sanskrit: Śāntideva; ; ; mn, Шантидэва гэгээн; vi, Tịch Thiên) was an 8th-century CE Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet, and scholar at the mahavihara of Nalanda. He was an adherent of the Mādhyamaka philosophy of Nāgārjuna. He is also considered to be one of the 84 mahasiddhas and is known as Bhusuku. Biography The ''Zhansi Lun'' of the East Asian Mādhyamaka identifies two different individuals given the name "Shant inideva": their founder of the Avaivartika Sangha in the 6th century CE and a later Shantideva who studied at Nalanda in the 8th century CE and appears to be the source of the Tibetan biographies. Archaeological discoveries support this thesis. Two Tibetan sources of the life of Shantideva are the historians Buton Rinchen Drub and Tāranātha. Recent scholarship has brought to light a short Sanskrit life of Shantideva in a 14th-century CE Nepalese manuscript. An accessible account that follows the Butön closely can be fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra
The ''Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra'' or ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' ( sa, बोधिसत्त्वाचर्यावतार; Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་ ''byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa;'' Chinese: 入菩薩行論; Japanese: 入菩薩行論) translated into English as ''A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life'', is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text written c. 700 AD in Sanskrit verse by Shantideva (Śāntideva), a Buddhist monk at Nālandā Monastic University in India which is also where it was composed. Structure It has ten chapters dedicated to the development of bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment) through the practice of the six perfections (''Skt.'' Pāramitās). The text begins with a chapter describing the benefits of the wish to reach enlightenment. The sixth chapter, on the perfection of patient endurance (''Skt.'' ), strongly criticizes anger and has been the subject of r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra
The ''Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra'' ('' Vairocana’s Awakening Sutra'', sa, 𑀯𑁃𑀭𑁄𑀘𑀦𑀸𑀪𑀺𑀲𑀁𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀽𑀢𑁆𑀭), also known as the ''Mahāvairocana Tantra'' ( sa, 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀯𑁃𑀭𑁄𑀘𑀦𑀢𑀦𑁆; ; also known as 大日經 ''Da Ri Jing'') is an important Vajrayana Buddhist text composed before 674 CE.Silk, Jonathan A. (editor) ''Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume I: Literature and Languages,'' p. 382. The Indian tantric master Buddhaguhya ( fl. c.700 CE) classified the text as a caryātantra, and in Tibetan Buddhism it is still considered to be a member of the carya classification. In Japan where it is known as the ''Mahāvairocana Sūtra'' (''Daibirushana jōbutsu jinpen kajikyō)'', it is one of two central texts in the Shingon school, along with the ''Vajrasekhara Sutra''. Both are also part of the Tendai school. The longer title of the scripture is ''Mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhivikurvitādhiṣṭhā ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring to Buddhism, Buddhist traditions associated with Tantra and "Secret Mantra", which developed in the Medieval India, medieval Indian subcontinent and spread to Tibet, Nepal, other Himalayan states, East Asia, and Mongolia. Vajrayāna practices are connected to specific lineages in Buddhism, through the teachings of lineage holders. Others might generally refer to texts as the Buddhist Tantras. It includes practices that make use of mantras, dharanis, mudras, mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas. Traditional Vajrayāna sources say that the tantras and the lineage of Vajrayāna were taught by Gautama Buddha, Śākyamuni Buddha and other figures such as the bodhisattva Vajrapani and Padmasambhava. Contemporary historians of Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yijing (monk)
Yijing (635–713CE), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as or , born Zhang Wenming, was a Tang dynasty, Tang-era Chinese people, Chinese bhikkhu, Buddhist monk famed as a traveller and translator. His account of his travels is an important source for the history of the medieval kingdoms along the maritime Silk Road, sea route between China and India, especially Srivijaya in Indonesia. A student of the Buddhist university at Nālandā (now in Bihar, India), he was also responsible for the translation of many Buddhist texts from Sanskrit and Pali into Chinese language, Chinese. Journey To Srivijaya and Nālandā Yijing was born . He became a monk at age 14 and was an admirer of Faxian, a famed monk who traveled to India in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. Provided funding by an otherwise unknown benefactor named Fong, he decided to visit the renowned Buddhist university of Nālandā, in Bihar, India, to further study Buddhism. Traveling by a boat out of Guangzhou, he arr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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