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Subitism
The term subitism points to sudden awakening, the idea that insight into Buddha-nature, or the nature of mind, is "sudden," c.q. "in one glance," "uncovered all together," or "together, completely, simultaneously," in contrast to "successively or being uncovered one after the other." It may be posited as opposite to gradualism, the original Buddhist approach which says that following the dharma can be achieved only step by step, through an arduous practice. Etymology The application of the term "subitism" to Buddhism is derived from the French '' illumination subite'' (sudden awakening), contrasting with 'illumination graduelle' (gradual awakening). It gained currency in this use in English from the work of sinologist Paul Demiéville. His 1947 work 'Mirror of the Mind' was widely read in the U.S. It inaugurated a series by him on subitism and gradualism. The Chinese term ''tun'', as used in ''tun- wu'', translated as "subite," sudden, has a broader meaning than "sudden." It ...
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Chan Buddhism
Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song dynasties. Chan is the originating tradition of Zen Buddhism (the Japanese pronunciation of the same character, which is the most commonly used English name for the school). Chan Buddhism spread from China south to Vietnam as Thiền and north to Korea as Seon, and, in the 13th century, east to Japan as Japanese Zen. History The historical records required for a complete, accurate account of early Chan history no longer exist. Periodisation The history of Chan in China can be divided into several periods. Zen, as we know it today, is the result of a long history, with many changes and contingent factors. Each period had different types of Zen, some of which remained influential while others vanished. Ferguson distinguishes three ...
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Huayan School
The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based primarily on the '' Avatamsaka Sutra'' () as well as on the works of the Huayan patriarchs, like Fazang. The name ''Flower Garland'' is meant to suggest the crowning glory of a Buddha's profound understanding of ultimate reality. The Huayan School is known as Hwaeom in Korea, Kegon in Japan and Hoa Nghiêm in Vietnam. This tradition also had a strong influence on Chan Buddhism. History Origins There are various versions of the ''Avatamsaka sutra.'' The earliest texts associated with the ''Avatamsaka sutra'' are the ''Dousha jing'' (Taisho 280), produced by Lokaksema in the latter part of the second century CE and the ''Pusa benye jing'' (T. 281), translated by Zhi Qian in the early to mid third century. There is evidence that these sm ...
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Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, a path of spiritual development that avoids both extreme asceticism and hedonism. It aims at liberation from clinging and craving to things which are impermanent (), incapable of satisfying ('), and without a lasting essence (), ending the cycle of death and rebirth (). A summary of this path is expressed in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind with observance of Buddhist ethics and meditation. Other widely observed practices include: monasticism; "taking refuge" in the Buddha, the , and the ...
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Enlightenment In Buddhism
The English term enlightenment is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi''), means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect, of a Buddha. The verbal root ''budh-'' means "to awaken," and its literal meaning is closer to awakening. Although the term '' buddhi'' is also used in other Indian philosophies and traditions, its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism. ''Vimukti'' is the freedom from or release of the fetters and hindrances. The term "enlightenment" was popularised in the Western world through the 19th-century translations of German-born philologist Max Müller. It has the Western connotation of general insight into transcendental truth or reality. The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts, which are used to denote (initial) insight ('' prajna'' (Sanskrit), '' wu'' (Chinese), '' kensho'' and ''satori' ...
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Subitizing
Subitizing is the rapid, accurate, and confident judgments of numbers performed for small numbers of items. The term was coined in 1949 by E. L. Kaufman et al., and is derived from the Latin adjective '' subitus'' (meaning "sudden") and captures a feeling of immediately knowing how many items lie within the visual scene, when the number of items present falls within the subitizing range. Sets larger than about four items cannot be subitized unless the items appear in a pattern with which the person is familiar (such as the six dots on one face of a die). Large, familiar sets might be counted one-by-one (or the person might calculate the number through a rapid calculation if they can mentally group the elements into a few small sets). A person could also estimate the number of a large set—a skill similar to, but different from, subitizing. The accuracy, speed, and confidence with which observers make judgments of the number of items are critically dependent on the number of ele ...
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Guifeng Zongmi
Guifeng Zongmi () (780–1 February 841) was a Tang dynasty Buddhist scholar and bhikkhu, installed as fifth patriarch of the Huayan school as well as a patriarch of the Heze school of Southern Chan Buddhism. He wrote a number of works on the contemporary situation of Tang Buddhism, which also discussed Taoism and Confucianism. He also wrote critical analyses of Chan and Huayan, as well as numerous scriptural exegeses. Zongmi was deeply interested in both the practical and doctrinal aspects of Buddhism. He was especially concerned about harmonizing the views of those that tended toward exclusivity in either direction. He provided doctrinal classifications of Buddhist and non-Buddhist teachings, accounting for the apparent disparities in doctrines by categorizing them according to their specific aims. Biography Early years (780-810) Zongmi was born in 780 into the powerful and influential He () family in what is now central Sichuan. In his early years, he studied the Chinese c ...
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Linji School
The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Song dynasty Before the Song dynasty, the Linji school was rather obscure and very little is known about its early history. Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960/979 CE) The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period () (907–960/979 CE) was an era of political upheaval between the fall of the Tang dynasty and the founding of the Song. During this period, five dynasties quickly succeeded one another in the north, and more than twelve independent states were established, of which only ten are traditionally listed. This division into various regions and kingdoms led to a diversification of Chan factions, reflected in the Five Houses of Chán. The Fayan school was especially influential in the Southern Tang (937-975) and Wuyue (907-9 ...
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Shenhui
Heze Shenhui (Chinese:菏泽神會/神会; Wade–Giles: Shen-hui; Japanese: Kataku Jinne, 684–758) was a Chinese Buddhist monk of the so-called "Southern School" of Zen, who "claimed to have studied under Huineng." Shenhui is notable for his strident attacks on Yuquan Shenxiu and the associated "Northern School", which was the most prominent branch of Chan Buddhism in China at the time. He accused them of propagating ''gradual teachings'', as opposed to his own ''sudden teachings''. Shenhui's own lineage, called the Heze lineage (菏泽宗), probably died out around the time of the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution in 845, with Guifeng Zongmi being the only notable monk in the lineage. Biography Shenhui was born in Xiangyang with the surname Gao (高). He learned The Five Classics of Confucius and the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi at a young age. At the age of 14 he became a monk under Huineng, a disciple of Hongren and the founder of the Southern School of Zen. For ...
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Enlightenment In Buddhism
The English term enlightenment is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi''), means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect, of a Buddha. The verbal root ''budh-'' means "to awaken," and its literal meaning is closer to awakening. Although the term '' buddhi'' is also used in other Indian philosophies and traditions, its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism. ''Vimukti'' is the freedom from or release of the fetters and hindrances. The term "enlightenment" was popularised in the Western world through the 19th-century translations of German-born philologist Max Müller. It has the Western connotation of general insight into transcendental truth or reality. The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts, which are used to denote (initial) insight ('' prajna'' (Sanskrit), '' wu'' (Chinese), '' kensho'' and ''satori' ...
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Wu (awareness)
''Wu'' () is a concept of awareness, consciousness, or spiritual enlightenment in the Chinese folk religion. According to scholarly studies, many practitioners who have recently "reverted" to the Chinese traditional religion speak of an "opening of awareness" (' ) or "awakening of awareness" (' ) of the interconnectedness of reality in terms of the cosmic-moral harmony ('' bào yìng'') as it relates to '' mìng yùn'' and '' yuán fèn''. This spiritual awareness, ''wu'', works as an engine that moves these themes from being mere ideas to be motivating forces in one's life: * awareness of ''mìng yùn'' ignites responsibility towards life; * awareness of ''yuan fen'' stirs one to respond to events rather than resigning. Awareness is a dynamic factor and appears in two guises: first, as a realisation that arrives as a gift, often unbidden, then as a practice that the person intentionally follows. See also * Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as ...
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Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
The ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' (Sanskrit, "Discourse of the Descent into Laṅka" bo, ལང་ཀར་བཤེགས་པའི་མདོ་, Chinese:入楞伽經) is a prominent Mahayana Buddhist sūtra. This sūtra recounts a teaching primarily between Gautama Buddha and a bodhisattva named Mahāmati, "Great Wisdom". The sūtra is set in Laṅkā, the island fortress capital of Rāvaṇa, the king of the rākṣasas. The ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' figured prominently in the development of Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism. It is notably an important sūtra in Chan Buddhism and Japanese Zen. Sūtra doctrine The ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' draws upon the concepts and doctrines of Yogācāra and Buddha-nature. The most important doctrine issuing from the ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' is that of the primacy of consciousness (Skt. '' ālayavijñāna'') and the teaching of consciousness as the only reality. In the sūtra, the Buddha asserts that all the objects of ...
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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 ...
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