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Indra's Net
Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls, Sanskrit ''Indrajāla'', Chinese: 因陀羅網) is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of Śūnyatā (emptiness), pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination),. and interpenetration in Buddhist philosophy. The metaphor's earliest known reference is found in the Atharva Veda. It was further developed by the Mahayana school in the 3rd century '' Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra'' and later by the Huayan school between the 6th and 8th centuries. In the ''Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra'' "Indra's net" is an infinitely large net owned by the Vedic deva Indra, which hangs over his palace on Mount Meru, the axis mundi of Buddhist and Hindu cosmology. In East Asian Buddhism, Indra's net is considered as having a multifaceted jewel at each vertex, with each jewel being reflected in all of the other jewels. In the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, which follows the ''Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra'', the image of "Indra's net" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion, diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age#South Asia, Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a lingua franca, link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting effect on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Indo-Aryan languages# ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Asian Buddhism
East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism which developed across East Asia and which rely on the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Buddhism.Jones, Charles B. (2021). ''Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice'', p. xii. Shambhala Publications, . East Asian Buddhists constitute the numerically largest body of Buddhist traditions in the world, numbering over half of the world's Buddhists. East Asian forms of Buddhism all derive from the sinicized Buddhist schools which developed during the Han dynasty and the Song dynasty, and therefore are influenced by Chinese culture and philosophy. The spread of Buddhism to East Asia was aided by the trade networks of the Silk Road and the missionary work of generations of Indian and Asian Buddhists. Some of the most influential East Asian traditions include Chan (Zen), Nichiren Buddhism, Pure Land, Huay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic (paranormal)
Magic, sometimes spelled magick, is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed in the belief that they can manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices sometimes considered separate from both religion and science. Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history. Within Western culture, magic has been linked to ideas of the Other, foreignness, and primitivism; indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference" and likewise, a non-modern phenomenon. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people. Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), a British occultist, defined " magick" as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", adding a 'k' to distinguish c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), "Veda and Upanishad," in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, , page 38 The text is the fourth Veda, and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.Laurie Patton (1994), ''Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: Essays in Vedic Interpretation,'' State University of New York Press, , page 57 The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Rigvedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms. It is a collection of 730 Music of India#History, hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books.Maurice Bloomfield''The Atharvaveda'' Harvard University Press, pages 1-2 About a sixth of the Atharvaveda texts adapt verses from the Rigveda, and exce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rajiv Malhotra
Rajiv Malhotra (born 15 September 1950) is an Indian-born American right-wing Hindutva ideologue and the founder of Infinity Foundation, which focuses on Indic studies, and also funds projects such as Columbia University's project to translate the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur. Apart from the foundation, Malhotra promotes a Hindu nationalist view of Indic cultures. Malhotra has written prolifically in opposition to the western academic study of Indian culture and society, which he maintains denigrates the tradition and undermines the interests of India "by encouraging the paradigms that oppose its unity and integrity". Biography Malhotra studied physics at St. Stephen's College, Delhi and computer science at Syracuse University before becoming an entrepreneur in the information technology and media industries. He retired early in 1994 aged 44, to establish the Infinity Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1995. Besides directing this foundation, he also chairs the board of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fazang
Fazang (; 643–712) was a Sogdian- Chinese Buddhist scholar, translator, and religious leader of the Tang dynasty. He was the third patriarch of the Huayan school of East Asian Buddhism, a key figure at the Chinese Imperial Court, and an influential Chinese Buddhist philosopher. Some scholars see him as the main figure in or even '' de facto'' founder of the Huayan school. Fazang's ancestors came from the Central Asian region of Sogdia, a major center for Silk Road trade, but he was born in the Tang capital of Chang'an (now Xi'an), where his family had become culturally Chinese. Fazang was known for his skill as a translator, knowledge of Sanskrit, and for his efforts to produce a new translation of an extended edition of the '' Gaṇḍavyūha sūtra.'' He also composed an original commentary on the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'', called the ''Huayan jing tanxuan ji'' (''Record of Investigating the Mystery of the Huayan jing'').Lin, Weiyu (2021)''Exegesis-philosophy interplay : intr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dushun
Dushun ( zh, c=杜順, p=Dùshùn, w=Tu-shun) (557–640) was the First Patriarch of the Huayan School of Chinese Buddhism, which has the Indian Avatamsaka Sutra as its central scripture. Biography Dushun was born in present-day Shaanxi province. He ordained at the age of seventeen and became a student of a monk named Weichen, from whom he learned meditation at Yinsheng temple. Dushun later retired to Zhixiang temple, a monastery in the Zhongnan mountains in the south of Shaanxi. There, Dushun began an in-depth study of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. The second patriarch, Zhiyan (602-668 CE), studied under Dushun at Zhixiang temple and became recognized as his formal successor.Buswell, Robert E; Lopez, Donald S. ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism,'' p. 275. Princeton University Press, Nov 24, 2013. Dushun was also a devotee of Amitabha and Manjusri, and promoted their worship among the laity. Works Around fourteen works have been ascribed to Dushun throughout history; however ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharma Theory
The Abhidharma are a collection of Buddhist texts dating from the 3rd century BCE onwards, which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. It also refers to the scholastic method itself, as well as the field of knowledge that this method is said to study. Bhikkhu Bodhi calls it "an abstract and highly technical systemization of the uddhistdoctrine," which is "simultaneously a philosophy, a psychology and an ethics, all integrated into the framework of a program for liberation." According to Peter Harvey, the Abhidharma method seeks "to avoid the inexactitudes of colloquial conventional language, as is sometimes found in the Suttas, and state everything in psycho-philosophically exact language." In this sense, it is an attempt to best express the Buddhist view of "ultimate reality" (''paramārtha-satya''). There are different types of Abhidharma literature. The early canonical Abhidharma w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcosm–macrocosm Analogy
The microcosm–macrocosm analogy (or, equivalently, macrocosm–microcosm analogy) refers to a historical view which posited a structural similarity between the human being (the wikt:microcosm, microcosm, i.e., the ''small order'' or the ''small universe'') and the cosmos as a whole (the wikt:macrocosm, macrocosm, i.e., the ''great order'' or the ''great universe''). Given this fundamental analogy, truths about the nature of the cosmos as a whole may be inferred from truths about human nature, and vice versa. One important corollary of this view is that the cosmos as a whole may be considered to be alive, and thus to have a mind or soul (the Anima mundi, world soul), a position advanced by Plato in his ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus''. Moreover, this cosmic mind or soul was often thought to be divine, most notably by the Stoic physics#Soul, Stoics and those who were influenced by them, such as the authors of the ''Hermetica''. Hence, it was sometimes inferred that the human mind o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huayan
The Huayan school of Buddhism (, Wade–Giles: ''Hua-Yen,'' "Flower Garland," from the Sanskrit "''Avataṃsaka''") is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907).Yü, Chün-fang (2020). ''Chinese Buddhism: A Thematic History'', p. 160. University of Hawaii Press. The Huayan worldview is based primarily on the '' Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra'' ( zh, t=華嚴經, p=Huáyán jīng, ''Flower Garland Sutra'') as well as on the works of Huayan patriarchs, like Zhiyan (602–668), Fazang (643–712), Chengguan (738–839), Zongmi (780–841) and Li Tongxuan (635–730). Another common name for this tradition is the Xianshou school (''Xianshou'' being another name for patriarch Fazang).Hammerstrom, Erik J. (2020). ''The Huayan University network: the teaching and practice of Avataṃsaka Buddhism in twentieth-century China'', chapter 1. Columbia University Press. The Huayan School is known as Hwaeom in Korea, Kegon in Japan and Hoa Nghi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of human understanding. Some philosophers, including Aristotle, designate metaphysics as first philosophy to suggest that it is more fundamental than other forms of philosophical inquiry. Metaphysics encompasses a wide range of general and abstract topics. It investigates the nature of existence, the features all entities have in common, and their division into categories of being. An influential division is between particulars and universals. Particulars are individual unique entities, like a specific apple. Universals are general features that different particulars have in common, like the color . Modal metaphysics examines what it means for something to be possible or necessary. Metaphysicians also explore the concepts of space, time, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharmadhatu
Dharmadhatu (; ; ) is the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhātu) of the Dharma or Absolute Reality. Entire Dharmadhatu was filled with an infinite number of buddha-lands (Sanskrit: buddhakṣetra) with ineffable number of Buddhas. This realm is beyond of everything, and it is visible only to Buddhas and all other Bodhisattvas in existence. Definition In Mahayana Buddhism, dharmadhatu means "realm of all phenomena", "realm of all things" (the entire universe with all visible and invisible things) or "realm of eternal truth". It is referred to by several analogous terms from Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, such as ''tathātā'' (reality "as-it-is"), ''śūnyatā'' (emptiness), '' pratitya-samutpada'' (dependent co-arising) and eternal Buddha. It is the "deepest nature, or essence". Dharmadhatu is the purified mind in its natural state, free of obscurations. It is the essence-quality or primal nature of mind, the fundamental ground of consciousness of the trikaya, which is acc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
