Ananda
Ananda (Venerable) One of the ten great disciples of the Buddha Shakyamuni. “Ananda was the Buddha’s first cousin and his attendant. He also compiled and edited the sutras. His name means rejoicing,Read More…
Amitabha Sutra
The complete title is The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra. Two sutras, the large and the small, have this title, both taking as subject Amitabha Buddha, his pure Buddhaland to the West,Read More…
Amitabha
Amita (Buddha) Amitabha’s body is the color of gold, The splendor of his hallmarks has no peer. The light of his brow shines round a hundred worlds, Wide as the sea areRead More…
Amita Buddha
See Amitabha Buddha.
Abhidharma
Abhidharma The Abhidharma is the third of the three divisions or “baskets” of the Tripitaka or Buddhist Canon. Its Dharma is organized thematically and logically; it can be said to be aRead More…
Ajita
Ajita (Bodhisattva) Another name for the Bodhisattva Maitreya. Ajita is Sanskrit and means “unconquerable”. See Maitreya (Bodhisattva).
Abbot
abbot The abbot is the head of a monastery. One Chinese term for abbot, fangzhang ‘ten feet square’ is a term used primarily in Chan monasteries and refers to the ideal sizeRead More…
Buddhism
Buddhism/Buddhadharma The Buddhadharma is subtle, wonderful, and difficult to measure. No words or speech are able to reach it. It is not combined, nor is it uncombined. In substance and nature itRead More…
Bodhisattva
“Bodhisattva (bodhi = enlightenment + sattva = being) is a Sanskrit word which can be interpreted in two ways: 1) Enlightener of Sentient Beings. The Bodhisattva takes the enlightenment that he hasRead More…
Corpus of Manifest Enlightenment
‘Corpus of Manifest Enlightenment‘ is called in Buddhist Sanskrit as the Abhisambodhikaya. According to some Dzogchen systems, the appearance-making aspect of the deep awareness of a Buddha‘s pure appearance. In other words, theRead More…