Trikāya
The Trikāya doctrine ( sa, त्रिकाय, lit. "three bodies"; , ) is a Mahayana Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of Buddhahood. The doctrine says that Buddha has three ''kāyas'' or ''bodies'', the ''Dharmakāya'' (ultimate reality), the ''Saṃbhogakāya'' (divine incarnation of Buddha), and the ''Nirmāṇakāya'' (physical incarnation of Buddha). Definition The doctrine says that a Buddha has three ''kāyas'' or bodies: # The ''Dharmakāya'', "Dharma body," ultimate reality, "pure being itself," Buddha nature, emptiness, it is usually associated with Vairocana; # The ''Saṃbhogakāya'', "Enjoyment (or Bliss) body," the divine Buddhas of the Buddha realms, it is usually associated with Amitabha; # The ''Nirmāṇakāya'', "Transformation (or Appearance) Body," physical appearance in the world, it is usually associated with Gautama. Origins The Dharmakāya doctrine was possibly first expounded in the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpār ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Three Roots
In Buddhism, the Three Jewels, Triple Gem, or Three Refuges are the supports in which a Buddhist takes refuge by means of a prayer or recitation at the beginning of the day or of a practice session. These Three Jewels are: * The Buddha, the fully enlightened one * The Dharma, the teachings expounded by the Buddha * The Saṅgha, the monastic order of Buddhism that practice Dharmas. The Three Roots (Tibetan: ''tsa sum'') of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition are the lama (Sanskrit: ''guru''), yidam (Sanskrit: ''ishtadevata''), and protector, which may be a ''khandroma'' (Sanskrit: ''dakini'') or ''chökyong'' (Sanskrit: ''dharmapala''). The Three Roots are the second of three Tibetan Buddhist refuge formulations, the ''Outer'', ''Inner'' and ''Secret'' forms of the Three Jewels. The 'Outer' form is the 'Triple Gem', (Sanskrit:''triratna''), the 'Inner' is the Three Roots and the 'Secret' form is the 'Three Bodies' or trikāya of a Buddha. The additional refuge formulations are emp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nirmāṇakāya
Nirmāṇakāya (Sanskrit; zh, t=應身, p=yīngshēn; Tib. སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, ''tulku'', Wyl. ''sprul sku'') is the third aspect of the trikāya and the physical manifestation of a Buddha in time and space. In Vajrayāna it is described as "the dimension of ceaseless manifestation." Indian Buddhism One early Buddhist text, the Pali ''Samaññaphala Sutta'', lists the ability to create a “mind-made body” (''manomāyakāya'') as one of the "fruits of the contemplative life". Commentarial texts such as the '' Patisambhidamagga'' and the ''Visuddhimagga'' state that this mind-made body is how Gautama Buddha and arhats are able to travel into heavenly realms using the continuum of the mindstream (''cittasaṃtāna'') and it is also used to explain the multiplication miracle of the Buddha as illustrated in the ''Divyavadana'', in which the Buddha multiplied his ''nirmita'' or emanated human form into countless other bodies which filled the sky. A Buddha or other reali ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Dharmakāya
The ''dharmakāya'' ( sa, धर्म काय, "truth body" or "reality body", zh, t=法身, p=fǎshēn, ) is one of the three bodies (''trikāya'') of a buddha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The ''dharmakāya'' constitutes the unmanifested, "inconceivable" (''acintya'') aspect of a buddha out of which buddhas arise and to which they return after their dissolution. Buddhas are manifestations of the ''dharmakāya'' called the ''nirmāṇakāya'', "transformation body". The Dhammakāya tradition of Thailand and the ''Tathāgatagarbha sūtras'' of the ancient Indian tradition view the ''dharmakāya'' as the '' ātman'' (true self) of the Buddha present within all beings. Origins and development Pali Canon In the Pāli Canon, Gautama Buddha tells Vasettha that the Tathāgata (the Buddha) is ''dhammakaya'', the "truth-body" or the "embodiment of truth", as well as ''dharmabhuta'', "truth-become", that is, "one who has become truth." During the Buddha's life great veneration was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Physical Characteristics Of The Buddha
There are no extant representations of the Buddha represented in artistic form until roughly the 2nd century CE, probably due to the prominence of aniconism in Buddhism in the earliest extant period of Buddhist devotional statuary and bas reliefs.Krishnan, Yuvraj. ''The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development.'' 2009. p. 51 A number of early discourses describe the appearance of the Buddha, and are believed to have served as a model for early depictions.Shaw, Sarah. ''Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from the Pali Canon.'' 2006. p. 114 In particular, the "32 signs of a Great Man" are described throughout the Pali Canon, and these are believed to have formed the basis for early representations of the Buddha. These 32 major characteristics are also supplemented by another 80 secondary characteristics (Pali:''Anubyanjana''). In Mahāyāna Buddhism, including the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism, the 32 major characteristics and 80 minor characteristics are understood to be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Enlightenment (spiritual)
Used in a religious sense, enlightenment translates several Glossary of Buddhism, Buddhist terms and concepts, most notably ''bodhi'', ''kensho,'' and ''satori''. Related terms from Asian religions are ''kaivalya'' and ''moksha'' (liberation) in Hinduism, ''Kevala Jnana'' in Jainism, and ''ushta'' in Zoroastrianism. In Christianity, the word "enlightenment" is rarely used, except to refer to the Age of Enlightenment and its influence on Christianity. Roughly equivalent terms in Christianity may be Divine illumination, illumination, kenosis, metanoia (theology), metanoia, revelation, salvation, Divinization (Christian), theosis, and Religious conversion, conversion. Perennial philosophy, Perennialists and Universalism, Universalists view enlightenment and mysticism as equivalent terms for religious or spiritual insight. Asian cultures and religions Buddhism The English term ''enlightenment'' is the western translation of the abstract noun ''bodhi'', the knowledge or wisdom, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Buddha-nature
Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone" (''tathāgata''), or "containing a ''tathāgata''", while ''buddhadhātu'' literally means "Buddha-realm" or "Buddha-substrate". Buddha-nature has a wide range of (sometimes conflicting) meanings in Indian and later East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist literature. Broadly speaking, the terms refer to the potential for all sentient beings to be a Buddha, since the luminous mind, "the natural and true state of the mind," the pure (''visuddhi'') mind undefiled by kleshas, is inherently present in every sentient being. It will shine forth when it is cleansed of the defilements, c.q. when the nature of mind is recognised for what it is. The ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (written 2nd century CE), which was very influential in the Ch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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śūnyatā
''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā; ), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is an Indian philosophical concept. Within Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and other philosophical strands, the concept has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. It is either an ontological feature of reality, a meditative state, or a phenomenological analysis of experience. In Theravāda Buddhism, ''Suññatā'' often refers to the non-self (Pāli: ''anattā'', Sanskrit: ''anātman'') nature of the five aggregates of experience and the six sense spheres. ''Suññatā'' is also often used to refer to a meditative state or experience. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, ''śūnyatā'' refers to the tenet that "all things are empty of intrinsic existence and nature (''svabhava'')", but may also refer to the Buddha-nature teachings and primordial or empty awareness, as in Dzogchen, Shentong, or Chan. Etymology "'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amitābha
Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awareness of emptiness for each phenomenon. According to a Pure Land Buddhist scripture, he possesses infinite merit that results from good deeds over countless past lives as Dharmākara. Doctrine Attainment of Buddhahood According to the '' Larger Sūtra of Immeasurable Life'', Amitābha was, in very ancient times and possibly in another system of worlds, a monk named Dharmākara. In some versions of the sūtra, Dharmākara is described as a former king who, having come into contact with Buddhist teachings through the buddha Lokeśvararāja, renounced his throne. He then resolved to become a Buddha and to create a ' (literally "buddha-field", often called a "Pureland" or "Buddha Land": a realm existing in the primordial universe outside ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Buddhism In Japan
Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a major influence on Japanese society and culture and remains an influential aspect to this day.Asia SocietBuddhism in Japan accessed July 2012 According to the Japanese Government's Agency for Cultural Affairs estimate, , with about 84 million or about 67% of the Japanese population, Buddhism was the religion in Japan with the second most adherents, next to Shinto, though a large number of people practice elements of both. According to the statistics by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2021, the religious corporation under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan had 135 million believers, of which 47 million were Buddhists and most of them were believers of new schools of Buddhism ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shingon Buddhism
Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. Known in Chinese as the Tangmi (; the Esoteric School in Tang Dynasty of China), these esoteric teachings would later flourish in Japan under the auspices of a Buddhist monk named Kūkai (), who traveled to Tang China to acquire and request transmission of the esoteric teachings. For that reason, it is often called Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, or Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism. The word ''shingon'' is the Japanese reading of the Chinese word ('), which is the translation of the Sanskrit word ("mantra"). History Shingon Buddhist doctrine and teachings arose during the Heian period (794-1185) after a Buddhist monk named Kūkai traveled to China in 804 to study Esoteric Buddhist practices in the city of Xi'an (), then called Chang-an, at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tendai
, also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese monk Saichō ( posthumously known as Dengyō Daishi). The Tendai school, which has been based on Mount Hiei since its inception, rose to prominence during the Heian period (794-1185). It gradually eclipsed the powerful ''Hossō'' school and competed with the rival Shingon school to become the most influential sect at the Imperial court. By the Kamakura period (1185-1333), Tendai had become one of the dominant forms of Japanese Buddhism, with numerous temples and vast landholdings. During the Kamakura period, various monks left Tendai (seeing it as corrupt) to establish their own "new" or "Kamakura" Buddhist schools such as Jōdo-shū, Nichiren-shū and Sōtō Zen. The destruction of the head temple of Enryaku-ji by Oda Nobunaga in 1571, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |