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abhaya-mudrā
(Skt., ‘fearlessness’ + mudra).The gesture of being without fear (only acquired in full in the condition of mokṣa).
Abhidharma
(Skt.; Pāli, Abhidhamma). Term meaning ‘higher doctrine’ and denoting the scholastic analysis of religious teachings. The earliest Abhidharma material was composed over several centuries beginning ...
Abhirati
The eastern Buddha-field or Pure Land associated with the Buddha Akṣobhya and described in the Akṣobhya-tathāgatasya-vyūha Sūtra. Though the focus of some devotional interest in early ...
Abudatsuma
(Jap., for Skt., abhuta-dharma).An unusual or praeternatural event, a miracle performed by a deity in Hinduism, or by a Buddha in Buddhism.
ācariyamuṠṠhi
(Pāli, ‘teacher's fist’).A teacher's reluctance to impart the whole of his knowledge and skill to his pupils. Buddhism stresses that its founder is definitely not this kind of a teacher.[...]
acinteyyāni
(Pāli). Term denoting matters which are incomprehensible or unfathomable. These are commonly divided into four ‘spheres’ (visaya) concerning matters relating to the nature of (1) the Buddha; (2) the ...
Aciravatī
(Skt.). A river flowing near ancient Śrāvastī.the present-day Rapti. It is one of the five great rivers flowing from the Himalayas eastwards into the sea, and there are many references to it in early ...
Adam's Peak
Śrī Pada. Sacred mountain in Śri Lankā, at the top of which (a place of pilgrimage) a hollow shape is identified by adherents of the relevant religions as the footprint of Adam, the Buddha, Śiva, or ...
adbhuta-dharma
(Skt.; Pāli, abbhuta-dhamma). A marvellous or strange phenomenon. The term is used especially to designate one of the nine classes of Buddhist scriptures (nava-aṇga-buddha-śāsana) which comprises, as ...
adhiṣṠhāna
(Skt.). A transformative power, especially associated with Buddhas.which is used miraculously to transmute or manifest phenomena. The Pāli adhiṭṭhāna is the power of will which enables one to control ...
ādi Buddha
(Skt.). The primordial Buddha.a term only found in late Mahāyāna and Tibetan traditions of tantric Buddhism.possibly not attested in Indian Buddhism but generated through hyper-Sanskritization (see ...
Aditi and the Adityas
In Indian Vedic mythology, Aditi is “infinity,” the source of all forms of consciousness, even of the divine characteristics of the gods themselves. Aditi is also unity, whereas her sister ...
āgantuka-kleśa
(Skt.). Adventitious vices or negative emotions, a concept associated with the notion of the embryonic Buddha (tathāgata-garbha) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. According to the tathāgata-garbha teachings, the ...
Agonshu
Modern Japanese Buddhist sect founded by Seiyū Kiriyama, who claims that the Bodhisattva Kannon (Skt., Avalokiteśvara) appeared to him in 1970 and taught him new techniques to overcome the effects of ...
āhāra
(Pāli, nutriment).Four kinds of ‘food’ in the literal and figurative senses listed in Pāli sources. These are: (1) solid food that nourishes the body (kabaliṇkārāhāra); (2) sensory and mental ...
Ai
1 Love in Mo Tzu's system, usually in the form chien ai, universal love. Universal love is in a different category from jen, being more related to utilitarian considerations: altruism has benefits ...
Ajapāla-nigrodha
A banyan tree not far from the Bodhi Tree, located in Uruvelā on the banks of the Nairañjanā river. The Buddha spent a week meditating under it shortly after his awakening and revisited the spot many ...
Ajātaśatru
(Skt.; Pali, Ajātasattu).Second encumbent of the throne of Magadha which he secured by killing his father, Bimbisāra. Initially a follower of Devadatta, Ajātaśatru was at first hostile to the Buddha ...
Ajita Kesakambala
One of the Six Sectarian Teachers who were contemporaries of the Buddha. His teachings are described in the Sāmaññaphala Sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya as a form of nihilism which holds there is no such ...
