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 ...
Akṣobhya
(Skt.). The ‘Immovable One’, one of the five Jinas.normally depicted iconographically as a blue, or sometimes white, saṃbhoga-kāya Buddha associated with the eastern quarter. He is also viewed as the ...
Amida
The Japanese pronunciation of the name of the Buddha Amitābha or Amitāyus. This Buddha serves as the primary object of devotion and agent of salvation for the various schools of Pure Land Buddhism in ...
Amida Buddha
Amida nyorai (the Buddha Amitabha), the Buddha of Pure Light, is the closest entity to the Western idea of God that we find in Japanese Buddhism. Statues of Amida abound ...
Amidism
An English term sometimes used to refer to Japanese Pure Land Buddhism as a whole, as opposed to individual schools such as the Jōdo Shū, the Jōdo Shinshū, and the Jishū. See also ching-t'u tsung.
Amitabha
(Skt.). The Buddha ‘Infinite Light’, also known as Amitāyus (Infinite Life). One of the five Jinas.he is normally depicted iconographically as a red saṃbhoga-kāya Buddha associated with the western ...
Amoghasiddhi
(Skt., ‘the unerring achiever of the goal’).One of the five transcendent Buddhas in Mahāyāna and Zen Buddhism. His mudra is that of fearlessness, and his emblem is vajra, the absolute and ...
anjin
1 (Jap.). In east Asian Buddhism.a general term for a mind that is settled and unmoving.2 In Jōdo Shinshū thought, the mind that calls upon Amida Buddha with complete confidence that he will provide ...
Avalokiteshvara
Perhaps the most popular figure in Mahayana Buddhism, Avalokiteshvara is a bodhisattva of compassion who originated in northern India. He is concerned especially with the needs of those who suffer. ...
Bhaiṣajyaguru
The Medicine Buddha, a figure especially venerated in Tibet.China.and Japan. Bhaiṣajya-guru is a Buddha in the Mahāyāna who epitomizes the power of healing, both on a physical and a spiritual level. ...
Bodhiruci
(6th c. ce).A north Indian monk andesoteric master who came to China in 508 and became very active as a teacher and translator, producing translations of 39 works in 127 fascicles. Among these, the ...
Buddha-kṣetra
(Skt., Buddha-field).The sphere of influence and activity of a Buddha. In Buddhist cosmology, each world-system (cakravāla) is the domain of a particular Buddha within which he arises and leads ...
Buddhas
A buddha is literally a person who has moved from the stage of pre-enlightenment (arhat) to that of having been enlightened, or awakened to ultimate reality. The Sanskrit/Pali term “buddhi,” ...
Buddhism in Japan
The dominant religious tradition of Japan, Buddhism first entered Japan c.5th or 6th cent. ce, from the Chinese mainland (traditionally in 538 from Korea). Initially, a few powerful clans opposed ...
Buddhist schools
(sometimes referred to as ‘sects’).These are felt by Buddhists to be primarily a matter of lineage more than credal confession. A Buddhist is a Bauddha (Skt., ‘Follower of Buddha’) ...
Chih-hsü
(1599–1655).An eminent monk and revitalizer of Pure Land Buddhism in Ming-dynasty China. He was a bright Confucian scholar (see Confucianism) in his youth, and wrote anti-Buddhist pamphlets. However, ...
chih-kuan
(Skt., śamatha-vipaśyanā; Jap., shikan).Meditation methods in the T'ien-t'ai Buddhist school. ‘Chih’ is the calming of the restless and distracted mind; ‘Kuan’ is the insight which then arises.
Chih-tun
(314–66).Founder of the Prajña (wisdom) School of Chinese Buddhism. His particular importance was his adaptation of Chinese concepts in a Buddhist direction, thereby enabling the rapid assimilation ...
Chikamatsu Monzaemon
(1653–1725)Japanese playwright. Born Sugimori Nobumori in Fukui, the son of relatively high-ranking samurai, he was educated in Chinese and Japanese classics. The family moved to Kyoto where ...
Ching-t'u
(Chin., Jap. jōdo).Pure Land, or the untainted transcendent realm created by the Buddha Amitābha (Amida) to which his devotees aspire to be born in their next lifetime. Ching-t'u Tsung is thus the ...
