All living beings.
According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.
In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).
Dhyāna is defined as one-pointed abiding in an undistracted state of mind, free from afflicted mental states. Four states of dhyāna are identified as being conducive to birth within the form realm. In the context of the Mahāyāna, it is the fifth of the six perfections. It is commonly translated as “concentration,” “meditative concentration,” and so on.
All conditioned states or factors which in turn collectively make up ordinary states of being.
Confidence in (1) ascending dharmas, (2) all their teaching, (3) comprehending the path to nirvāṇa, and (4) their effort for the knowledge of exhausting negative influences.
One who has been consecrated; a consecrated king; a man of the kṣatriya caste.
This specifically refers to brahmins in the third stage of life (after the student and householder stages) where one abandons social responsibilities and lives as an ascetic in the forest for one’s twilight years.
A god of one of the heavens in the realm of form.
The Paranirmitavaśavartin gods, those who control enjoyments created by others, the sixth and highest of the six heavens of the desire realm. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities. These gods enjoy the creations of others, as opposed to the Nirmāṇarati gods who enjoy their own creations.
The Nirmāṇarati gods, the gods of Nirmāṇarati Heaven (the Heaven of Delightful Emanations), the fifth of the six heavens of the desire realm. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities. These gods create their own pleasing enjoyments.
Gods of the Heaven of the Four World Guardians/Great Kings (cāturmahārājika), first of the six heavens of the realm of desire. The name is of both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-three (trayastriṃśa), the second of the six heavens of the desire realm. The thirty-three are Indra and thirty-two other deities. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The gods of Tuṣita Heaven, the Joyous Heaven, the fourth of the six heavens of the desire realm. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities. Tuṣita is of note for being the abode of Maitreya until his eventual birth on Earth (and indeed all buddhas in their penultimate birth before their final birth).
The gods of the Yāma Heaven, the third of the six heavens of the desire realm. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The gods in the abode of Mahābrahmā, the fourth of the four classes of gods of the form realm in the first dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
One of the first Buddhist monasteries, located in a park outside Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. This park was originally owned by Prince Jeta, hence the name Jetavana, meaning Jeta’s grove. The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, sought to buy it from him, but the prince, not wishing to sell, said he would only do so if Anāthapiṇḍada covered the entire property with gold coins. Anāthapiṇḍada agreed, and managed to cover all of the park except the entrance, hence the name Anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ, meaning Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. The place is usually referred to in the sūtras as “Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park,” and according to the Saṃghabhedavastu the Buddha used Prince Jeta’s name in first place because that was Prince Jeta’s own unspoken wish while Anāthapiṇḍada was offering the park. Inspired by the occasion and the Buddha’s use of his name, Prince Jeta then offered the rest of the property and had an entrance gate built. The Buddha specifically instructed those who recite the sūtras to use Prince Jeta’s name in first place to commemorate the mutual effort of both benefactors.
Anāthapiṇḍada built residences for the monks, to house them during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It was one of the Buddha’s main residences, where he spent around nineteen rainy season retreats, and it was therefore the setting for many of the Buddha’s discourses and events. According to the travel accounts of Chinese monks, it was still in use as a Buddhist monastery in the early fifth century ᴄᴇ, but by the sixth century it had been reduced to ruins.
One of the two classes of pratyekabuddha, used for those living a solitary life. The other type is the vargacārin, “those who live in crowds.”
An epithet of a buddha. In one enumeration, the ten powers are (1) knowing what is possible and what is not possible; (2) knowing the results of actions; (3) knowing the aspirations of beings; (4) knowing the elements; (5) knowing the higher and lower powers of beings; (6) knowing the paths that lead everywhere; (7) knowing the dhyānas, liberations, absorptions, and equilibriums; (8) knowing previous lives; (9) the knowledge of transference and death; and (10) knowing that the defilements are exhausted.
An alternate name for Viṣṇu.
Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation, without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyekabuddha is not regarded as final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit, compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as “congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.
An ancient Indian spiritual title especially for divinely inspired individuals credited with creating the foundations for Indian culture.
This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.
During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
One of the standard epithets of the buddhas. A recurrent explanation offers three different meanings for su- that are meant to show the special qualities of “accomplishment of one’s own purpose” (svārthasampad) for a complete buddha. Thus, the Sugata is “well” gone, as in the expression su-rūpa (“having a good form”); he is gone “in a way that he shall not come back,” as in the expression su-naṣṭa-jvara (“a fever that has utterly gone”); and he has gone “without any remainder” as in the expression su-pūrṇa-ghaṭa (“a pot that is completely full”). According to Buddhaghoṣa, the term means that the way the Buddha went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su) and where he went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su).
A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A formless state, either a meditative state or its resultant realm of existence, i.e., a class of deities of the formless realm. (No equivalent of upaga in Tib.)
A formless state, either a meditative state or its resultant realm of existence, i.e., a class of deities of the formless realm. (No equivalent of upaga in Tib.)
A formless state, either a meditative state or its resultant realm of existence, i.e., a class of deities of the formless realm. (No equivalent of upaga in Tib.)
A formless state, either a meditative state or its resultant realm of existence, i.e., a class of deities of the formless realm. (No equivalent of upaga in Tib.)
The third (or sometimes second) of the four classes of gods of the form realm in the first dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The third of the three classes of gods of the form realm in the third dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The third of the five classes of gods dwelling in the Pure Abodes (śuddhāvāsa).
The fourth of the five classes of gods dwelling in the Pure Abodes (śuddhāvāsa). See n.37.
The second of the three classes of gods of the form realm in the second dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The second of the three classes of gods of the form realm in the third dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The first of the three classes of gods of the form realm in the second dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The first of the three classes of gods of the form realm in the third dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The second (or sometimes third) of the four classes of gods of the form realm in the first dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The highest, fifth, and final class of gods dwelling in the Pure Abodes (śuddhāvāsa).
The third of the three classes of gods of the form realm in the second dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The first of five classes of gods dwelling in the Pure Abodes (śuddhāvāsa).
The first of the four classes of gods of the form realm in the fourth dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The first of the four classes of gods of the form realm in the first dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The fourth of the four classes of gods of the form realm in the fourth dhyāna. The name is the same for both the location and the inhabitant deities.
The gods who dwell in the abode of the first dhyāna.
The gods who dwell in the abode of the fourth dhyāna.
The gods who dwell in the abode of the second dhyāna.
mi rtag pa nyid kyi mdo (Anityatāsūtra). Toh 310, Degé Kangyur vol. 72 (mdo sde, sa), folios 155b.5–157a.5.
Anityatāsūtra. Manuscript witness held in the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society, London. Hodgson Collection, Ms. no. 55 (H. 147), folios 60a2–62a1.
Anityatāsūtra. Manuscript witness held in the collection of the Tokyo University Library, Tokyo. Kawaguchu and Takakusu Collection, Ms. 416 no. 8, folios 46a3–47b4.
Anityatāsūtra. Manuscript witness held in the private collection of Mr. Padmajyoti Dhakhwa of Patan, folios 222b10–223b4.
ched du brjod pa’i tshoms (Udānavarga). Toh 326, Degé Kangyur vol. 72 (mdo sde, sa), folios 209.a–253.a. English translation in Champa Thupten Zongtse (1990).
mi rtag pa nyid kyi mdo (Anityatāsūtra). Toh 309, Degé Kangyur vol. 72 (mdo sde, sa), folios 155a.2–155b.4. English translation in Sakya Pandita Translation Group (2013).
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