|
Yi Xing
Yixing (, 683–727) was a Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty, recognized for his accomplishments as an astronomer, a reformer of the calendar system, a specialist in the ''I Ching, Yijing'' (易經), and a distinguished Buddhist figure with expertise in Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, Esoteric Buddhism.KotykYixing一行 (673/683–727), Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume II BRILL 2019 In the realm of secular affairs, Yixing gained prominence for his reforms to the imperial calendar and his construction of a armillary sphere, celestial globe featuring a liquid-driven escapement, the first in a long tradition of Chinese astronomical clockworks. Within Buddhist circles, he is particularly remembered for his contributions to the translation of the ''Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra, Mahāvairocana-sūtra'' and for authoring the authoritative commentary on that scripture, the ''Darijing shu'' 大日經疏 (T 1796). Due to his significant activities in both religious and secular spheres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiangsu
Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administrative divisions by area, third smallest, but the List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, fifth most populous, with a population of 84.75 million, and the List of Chinese administrative divisions by population density, most densely populated of the 22 provinces of the People's Republic of China. Jiangsu has the highest GDP per capita and second-highest GDP of Chinese provinces, after Guangdong. Jiangsu borders Shandong in the north, Anhui to the west, and Zhejiang and Shanghai to the south. Jiangsu has a coastline of over along the Yellow Sea, and the Yangtze flows through the southern part of the province. Since the Sui dynasty, Sui and Tang dynasty, Tang dynasties, Jiangsu has been a national economic and commercial center ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chang'an
Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in what is now the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty, China's first emperor, held his imperial court and constructed his massive mausoleum guarded by the Terracotta Army. From its capital at Xianyang, the Qin dynasty ruled a larger area than either of the preceding dynasties. The imperial city of Chang'an during the Han dynasty was located northwest of today's Xi'an. During the Tang dynasty, the area that came to be known as Chang'an included the area inside the Ming Xi'an fortification, plus some small areas to its east and west, and a substantial part of its southern suburbs. Thus, Tang Chang'an was eight t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vajrayana
''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition that emphasizes Eastern esotericism, esoteric practices and rituals aimed at Sudden awakening, rapid spiritual awakening. Emerging between the 5th and 7th centuries CE in medieval India, Vajrayāna incorporates a Tibetan tantric practice, range of techniques, including the use of mantras (sacred sounds), dhāraṇīs (mnemonic codes), mudrās (symbolic hand gestures), mandalas (spiritual diagrams), and the visualization of Buddhist deities, deities and Buddhahood, Buddhas. These practices are designed to transform ordinary experiences into paths toward Enlightenment in Buddhism, enlightenment, often by engaging with aspects of Taṇhā, desire and Dvesha, aversion in a ritualized context. A distinctive feature of Vajrayāna is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abhiṣeka (Buddhism)
In Vajrayāna Buddhism, an empowerment or consecration (Sanskrit'': abhiṣeka'', lit. ablution; sprinkling) is an esoteric initiation or transmission of secret teachings performed by a tantric guru (vajracharya) to a student in a ritual space containing the mandala of a Buddhist deity. The initiation is traditionally seen as transmitting a certain spiritual power (Sanskrit: adhiṣṭhāna, Tibetan: ''jinlap'', sometimes translated as "blessings") which allows the tantric yogi to reach enlightenment swiftly or to attain other yogic accomplishments. Many tantric practices are commonly said to be secret, and are only to be revealed after ritual initiation. Other tantric practices may be openly known, but are only considered to be effective after being initiated into the proper mandala which corresponds to a specific practice. The secrecy of teachings was often protected through the use of allusive, indirect, symbolic and metaphorical language (twilight language) which required i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vajrasekhara Sutra
The ''Vajraśekhara Sūtra'' is an important Buddhist tantra used in the Vajrayāna schools of Buddhism, but can refer to a number of different works. In particular a cycle of 18 texts studied by Amoghavajra (a Patriarch of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism), which included both '' Tattvasaṃgraha Tantra'', and the ''Guhyasamaja Tantra'', a Tibetan text which appears to be composed of two works grouped together and to further confuse matters in the Japanese Shingon school the is known by this name. In Tibetan it is considered to be the main representative of the Yogatantra class of texts. Outline The tantra begins with Vairocana Buddha preaching the Dharma to a great host of Bodhisattvas, including Vajrasattva, in the Pure Land of Akanishta. As he preaches the Dharma, Prince Sarvarthasiddhi, the esoteric name of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, is meditating under the Bodhi Tree. Enlightenment is imminent, but the Prince has still not attained it because he is still attached in so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vajrabodhi
Vajrabodhi (, , 671–741 CE) was an Indian esoteric Buddhist monk and teacher in Nalanda and later in Tang China. He is one of the eight patriarchs in Shingon Buddhism. He is notable for introducing Vajrayana Buddhism in the territories of the Srivijaya Empire which subsequently evolved into a distinct form known as Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism. Biography According to most accounts, Vajrabodhi was born to a family in South India. His father was said to have been a royal priest and architect in Kanchipuram. However some scholars including Sylvain Lévi claim that he was born in Central India and was the son of a King by the name of Īśānavarman. Vajrabodhi probably converted to Buddhism at the age of sixteen, although some accounts place him at the Buddhist institution of Nālandā in Magadha at the age of ten. As is common with many Buddhist masters, his biographers portray him as an intelligent child who studied many texts including those belonging to Jainism. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dà Zhìdù Lùn
The ''Dà zhìdù lùn'' (abbreviated DZDL), ( Chinese: 大智度論, Wade-Giles: ''Ta-chih-tu lun''; Japanese: ''Daichido-ron'' (as in Taishō Tripiṭaka no. 1509); ''The Treatise on the Great Prajñāpāramitā'') is a massive Mahāyāna Buddhist treatise and commentary on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (The Sūtra of Transcendental Wisdom in Twenty-five Thousand Lines).Chou, Po-kan, ''The Problem of the Authorship of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa: A Re-examination,'' BIBLID1012-8514(2004)34p.281-327 2004.10.19收稿，2004.12.21通過刊登 The title has been reconstructed into Sanskrit as ''Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa''. and ''Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra''. It is an encyclopedic compendium or summa of Mahayana Buddhist doctrine. The ''Dà zhìdù lùn'' was translated into Chinese by the Kuchean monk Kumārajīva (344–413 CE) and his Chinese team. The colophon to this work claims it is written by the Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nāgārjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahāyāna movement. His ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (''Root Verses on Madhyamaka'', MMK) is the most important text on the Madhyamaka philosophy of Śūnyatā, emptiness. The MMK inspired a large number of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese and continues to be studied today. History Background India in the first and second centuries CE was politically divided into various states, including the Kushan Empire and the Satavahana dynasty, Satavahana Kingdom. At ... [...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] |
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] |
Śubhakarasiṃha
Śubhakarasiṃha (637–735 CE) () was an eminent Indian Buddhist monk and translator of Esoteric Buddhist texts. He originally studied in Nalanda monastery and later arrived in the Chinese capital Chang'an (now Xi'an) in 716 CE and translated the ', better known as the ''Mahāvairocana Sūtra''. Four years later another master, Vajrabodhi (670–741 CE), and his pupil Amoghavajra (705–775 CE), would arrive and proceeded to translate other scriptures, thus establishing a second esoteric tradition. Along with these other masters, Śubhakarasiṃha was responsible for bringing Esoteric Buddhism to the height of its popularity in China. Biography Origins There are differing views regarding Śubhakarasiṃha's place of origin. According to Chinese sources, Śubhakarasiṃha was born in India as the oldest son of Buddhakara (Fo-shou Wang). Li Hua's ''Shan-wu-wei-hsing-chuang'' states that his family originated in Magadha. His funeral stele also refers to him as "''Late T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhist Tantric Literature
Buddhist tantric literature refers to the vast and varied literature of the Vajrayāna (or Mantrayāna) Buddhist traditions. The earliest of these works are a genre of Indian Buddhist tantric scriptures, variously named Tantras, Sūtras and Kalpas, which were composed from the 7th century CE onwards. They are followed by later tantric commentaries (called pañjikās and ṭīkās), original compositions by Vajrayana authors (called prakaraṇas and upadeśas), sādhanas (practice texts), ritual manuals (kalpas or vidhis), collections of tantric songs ( dohās) odes (stotra), or hymns, and other related works. Tantric Buddhist literature survives in various languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese. Most Indian sources were composed in Sanskrit, but numerous tantric works were also composed in other languages like Tibetan and Chinese. Overview History Buddhist Tantric texts may have begun appearing during the Gupta Period (320–550 CE). However, the earliest kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
