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Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra
The ''Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dhāraṇī'', sometimes called the ''Pure Land Rebirth Mantra'', is considered an important ''dhāraṇī'' in Pure Land Buddhism and other schools of Buddhism, mainly following the Mahayana tradition. The full name of this ''dhāraṇī'' is the ''Dhāraṇī for pulling out the fundamental cause of karmic obstacles and obtaining rebirth in the Pure Lands'' ( Chinese: 拔一切業障根本得生淨土陀羅尼). It is also known as ''Pure Land Rebirth Dhāraṇī'' ( Chinese: 往生淨土神咒; Wang Sheng Jing Tu Shen Zhou), or ''Rebirth Mantra'' ( Chinese: 往生咒; Wang Sheng Zhou) for short. In East Asian Buddhism, reciting this dhāraṇī is believed to grant the reciter a peaceful and joyful life, and allow them to be reborn into the Buddha Amitabha's buddha-field of Ultimate Bliss, as well as to have a vision of Buddha Amitabha. It can also be recited to help the spirits of the animals that a person has killed in the past, including po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharani
Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as (Skt.) ''vidyās'' and ''paritas'' or (Pal.) ''parittas'', are lengthier Buddhist mantras functioning as mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, and almost exclusively written originally in Sanskrit while Pali dharanis also exist. Believed to generate protection and the power to generate merit for the Buddhist practitioner, they constitute a major part of historic Buddhist literature. Most dharanis are in Sanskrit written in scripts such as Siddhaṃ as can be transliterated into Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Sinhala, Thai and other regional scripts. They are similar to and reflect a continuity of the Vedic chants and mantras. Dharanis are found in the ancient texts of all major traditions of Buddhism. They are a major part of the Pali canon preserved by the Theravada tradition. Mahayana sutras such as the Lotus Sutra and the Heart Sutra include or conclude with dharani. Some Buddhist texts, such as ''Pancarakṣa'' found in the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lushan Huiyuan
Lushan Huiyuan (; 334–416 AD), meaning "Huiyuan of Mount Lu", was a Chinese Buddhist teacher who founded Donglin Temple at the foot of Mount Lu in Jiujiang province and wrote the text ''On Why Monks Do Not Bow Down Before Kings'' in 404 AD. He was born in Shanxi province but moved to Jiujiang, where he died in 416. Although he was born in the north, he moved south to live within the bounds of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Huiyuan was posthumously named First Patriarch of the Pure Land School of Buddhism, and founder of the White Lotus Society, an early Buddhist community devoted to Amitabha Buddha. His disciples included Huiguan (), Sengji (), and Faan (). Life Huiyuan began studying the ''Zhuangzi'', ''Laozi'', and the teachings of Confucius at a young age. However, at the age of 21 he was converted to Buddhism in Hebei Province by the monk Dao An, a Chinese disciple of a Kuchan missionary. Hearing the sermons of Dao An convinced Huiyuan to "leave the family" and embark on a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amrita
''Amrita'' (, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali language, Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred to in ancient Indian texts as an Elixir of life, elixir. Its first occurrence is in the Rigveda, where it is considered one of several synonyms for ''soma (drink), soma'', the drink of the Deva (Hinduism), devas. Amrita plays a significant role in the Samudra manthan, Samudra Manthana, and is the cause of the conflict between devas and asuras competing for amrita to obtain immortality. Amrita has varying significance in different Indian religions. The word ''Amrit'' is also a common first name for Sikhs and Hindus, while its feminine form is ''Amritā''. Amrita is cognate to and shares many similarities with ambrosia; both originated from a common Proto-Indo-European mythology, Proto-Indo-European source."Ambrosia" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tathātā
Tathātā (; ; ) is a Buddhist term variously translated as "thusness" or "suchness", referring to the nature of reality free from conceptual elaborations and the subject–object distinction. Although it is a significant concept in Mahayana Buddhism, it is also used in the Theravada tradition. The Buddha The Buddha referred to himself as the Tathāgata, which can mean either "One who has thus come" or "One who has thus gone", and can also be interpreted as "One who has arrived at suchness". Theravada Buddhism In Theravada, this term designates the nature of existence (''bhāva''), the truth which applies to things. According to the '' Kathavatthu'', ''tathātā'' is not an unconditioned or un-constructed (''asankhata'') phenomenon. The only phenomenon which is un- constructed in Theravada is Nibbana. According to Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, ''tathātā'' is merely the way things are, the truth of all things: "When tathātā is seen, the three characteristics of anicca mpermanence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tathāgata
Tathāgata () is a Pali and Sanskrit word used in ancient India for a person who has attained the highest religious goal. Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, used it when referring to himself or other past Buddhas in the Pāli Canon. Likewise, in the Mahayana corpus, it is an epithet of Shakyamuni Buddha and the other celestial buddhas. The term is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" (''tathā-gata''), "one who has thus come" (''tathā-āgata''), or sometimes "one who has thus not gone" (''tathā-agata''). This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathāgata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena. There are, however, other interpretations and the precise original meaning of the word is not certain.Chalmers, RobertThe Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1898. pp.103-115/ref> The Buddha is quoted on numerous occasions in the Pali Canon as referring to himself as ''the Tathāgata'' instead of using the pronouns ''me'', ''I'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heart Sutra
The ''Heart Sūtra'', ) is a popular sutra in Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the title ' translates as "The Heart of the Prajnaparamita, Perfection of Wisdom". The Sutra famously states, "Form is emptiness (''śūnyatā''), emptiness is form." It has been called "the most frequently used and recited text in the entire Mahayana Buddhist tradition." The text has been translated into English dozens of times from Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan, as well as other source languages. Summary of the sutra In the sutra, Avalokiteśvara addresses Sariputta, Śariputra, explaining the fundamental emptiness (śūnyatā) of all phenomena, known through and as the five aggregates of human existence (skandhas): form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), volitions (saṅkhāra), perceptions (saṃjñā), and mind (vijñāna). Avalokiteśvara famously states, "Form is Emptiness (śūnyatā). Emptiness is Form", and declares the other skandhas to be equally empty—that is, Pratītyasamutp� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sukhāvatī
Sukhavati (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Sukhāvatī''; "Blissful"; Chinese: 極樂世界, lit. "realm of ultimate bliss") is the pure land (or buddhafield) of the Buddha Amitābha in Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism. Sukhavati is also called the Land of Bliss or Western Pure Land and is the most well-known of the Mahayana Buddhist pure lands due to the popularity of Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia. Sukhavati is also an important postmortem goal for Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhists, and is a common buddhafield used in the practice of phowa ("transference of consciousness at the time of death"). Sukhavati was widely depicted in Mahayana Buddhist art and remains an important theme in Buddhist art. Different traditions understand the nature of Sukhavati differently. The Pure Land Buddhist traditions often sees it as a Trikaya, Samboghakaya pure land (this was the view of Shandao), while other traditions, like some Tibetan Buddhists, see it as a nirmanak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Vajrayana, Esoteric Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people. The Tantric masters Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, established the Esoteric Buddhist ''Zhenyan'' (, "true word", "mantra") tradition from 716 to 720 during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. It employed mandalas, mantras, mudras, abhisheka, abhiṣekas, and deity yoga. The Zhenyan tradition was transported to Japan as Tendai and Shingon Buddhism by Saichō and Kūkai, as well as influencing Korean Buddhism and Vietnamese Buddhism. The Song dynasty (960–1279) saw a second diffusion of Esoteric texts. Esoteric Buddhist practices continued to have an influence into the late imperial period and Tibetan Buddhism was also influential during the Yuan dynasty period and beyond. In the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) through to the modern period, esoteric practices and teachings became absorbed and merged with the other Chinese Buddhist tradi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Shakha of the many survive today, namely the Shakala Shakha, Śakalya Shakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum. The ''Rigveda'' is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text. Its early layers are among the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language. Most scholars believe that the sounds and texts of the ''Rigveda'' have been orally transmitted with precision since the 2nd millennium BCE, through Indian mathematics#Styles of memorisation, methods of memorisation of exceptional complexity, rigour and fidelity, though the dates are not confirmed and remain contentious till concrete evidence surfaces. Philolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amrita
''Amrita'' (, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali language, Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred to in ancient Indian texts as an Elixir of life, elixir. Its first occurrence is in the Rigveda, where it is considered one of several synonyms for ''soma (drink), soma'', the drink of the Deva (Hinduism), devas. Amrita plays a significant role in the Samudra manthan, Samudra Manthana, and is the cause of the conflict between devas and asuras competing for amrita to obtain immortality. Amrita has varying significance in different Indian religions. The word ''Amrit'' is also a common first name for Sikhs and Hindus, while its feminine form is ''Amritā''. Amrita is cognate to and shares many similarities with ambrosia; both originated from a common Proto-Indo-European mythology, Proto-Indo-European source."Ambrosia" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
