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Asura (Buddhism)
An asura (Sanskrit and Pali: असुर) in Buddhism is a demigod or Titan (mythology), titan of the Desire realm, Kāmadhātu. They are said to live more pleasurable lives than humans, but are also in thrall to qualities such as wrath, pride, envy, and insincerity. Origins and etymology The Buddhist ''asuras'' have a few myths distinctive from the ''Asura (Hinduism), asuras'' of Hinduism, which are only found in Buddhist texts. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated "Titan (mythology), titan", "demigod", or "wiktionary:antigod, antigod". Buddhaghosa explains that their name derives from the myth of their defeat at the hands of the god Śakra (Buddhism), Śakra. According to the story, the asuras were dispossessed of their state in Trāyastriṃśa because they became drunk and were thrown down Mount Sumeru. After this incident, they vowed never to drink sura (alcoholic drink), sura again. Character While all the gods of the Kāmadhātu are subject to pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asura Dvarapala Borobudur
Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Deva (Hinduism), Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhism, Buddhist context, the word is translated as "Titan (mythology), titan" or "wiktionary:antigod, antigod". According to Hindu texts, the asuras are in constant fear of the devas. Asuras are described in Indian texts as powerful superhuman Demigod#Hinduism, demigods with good or bad qualities. In early Vedic literature, the good Asuras are called ''Adityas'' and are led by Varuna, while the malevolent ones are called ''Danava (Hinduism), Danavas'' and are led by Vritra. In the earliest layer of Vedic texts, Agni, Indra and other gods are also called Asuras, in the sense of their being "lords" of their respective domains, knowledge and abilities. In later Vedic and post-Vedic texts, the benevolent gods are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garuda
Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the Devas, Gandharvas, Daityas, Danavas, Nāgas, Vanara and Yakshas. He is the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata. He is the younger brother of Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun. Garuda is mentioned in several other texts such as the Puranas and the Vedas. Garuda is described as the king of the birds and a kite-like figure. He is shown either in a zoomorphic form (a giant bird with partially open wings) or an anthropomorphic form (a man with wings and some ornithic features). Garuda is generally portrayed as a protector with the power to swiftly travel anywhere, ever vigilant and an enemy of every serpent. He is also known as Tarkshya and Vainateya. Garuda is a part of state insignia of India, Indonesia and Thailand. Both Indonesia and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mara (demon)
Mara,, '; ; or ; ; also マーラ, ''Māra'' or 天魔, ''Tenma''; ; ; Tibetan Wylie: ''bdud''; ; ; ; in Buddhism, is a malignant celestial Asura king who tried to stop The Buddha, Prince Siddhartha from Awakening by trying to seduce him with his celestial Army and a vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters. In Buddhist cosmology, Mara is associated with death, rebirth and desire. Nyanaponika Thera has described Mara as "the personification of the forces antagonistic to enlightenment." He is Yama's fearsome persona and all beings associated with him, darkness and death, become forces of Mara. These forces consist of Asuras, Rakshasa, Pishacha, Pisacas, Aratis and animals. Origin His name is first mentioned in the ''Atharvaveda, Atharva Veda'' (1200 BCE–1000 BCE) as Mrtyu and Agha Mara, the evil slayer. He is called the "evil one who kills" and "Papiyan", denoting a being which is not only morally bad but intertwined wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ekottara Āgama
The ''Ekottara Āgama'' (Sanskrit; ) is an early Indian Buddhist text, of which currently only a Chinese translation is extant (Taishō Tripiṭaka 125). The title ''Ekottara Āgama'' literally means "Numbered Discourses," referring to its organizational principle. It is one of the four Āgamas of the Sūtra Piṭaka located in the Chinese Buddhist Canon. Origins and history According to Tse Fu Kuan, "in 385 AD Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) completed a Chinese translation of the Ekottarika-āgama recited by Dharmanandin (曇摩難提), a monk from Tukhāra. This first translation, in forty-one fascicles, was later revised and expanded by Zhu Fonian into the Ekottarika-āgama in fifty-one fascicles that has since come down to us. Zhu Fonian probably added new material to his first translation and even replaced some passages of his first translation with new material." Scholars such as Yin Shun, Zhihua Yao and Tse Fu Kuan consider the Ekottara Āgama to belong to the Mahāsāṃghi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Je Tsongkhapa
Tsongkhapa ( Tibetan: ཙོང་ཁ་པ་, '','' meaning: "the man from Tsongkha" or "the Man from Onion Valley", c. 1357–1419) was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.Tsong khapa (2006), pp. ix-x. His philosophical works are a grand synthesis of the Buddhist epistemological tradition of Dignāga and Dharmakīrti, the Cittamatra philosophy of the mind, and the madhyamaka philosophy of Nāgārjuna and Candrakīrti.Tsong khapa (2006), pp. ix-xii.Sparham, Gareth"Tsongkhapa" ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Fall 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Central to his philosophical and soteriological teachings is "a radical view of emptiness" which sees all phenomena as devoid of intrinsic nature.Newland 2009, p. 8. This view of emptiness is not a kind of nihilism or a total denial of existence. Instead, it sees phenomena as existing " interdependen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhavacakra
The bhavachakra (Sanskrit: भवचक्र; Pāli: ''bhavacakka''; Tibetan: སྲིད་པའི་འཁོར་ལོ, Wylie: ''srid pa'i 'khor lo'') or wheel of life is a visual teaching aid and meditation tool symbolically representing saṃsāra (or cyclic existence). It is found on the walls of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries in the Indo-Tibetan region, to help both Buddhists and non Buddhists understand the core Buddhist teachings. The image consists of four concentric circles, held by Yama, the lord of Death, with an image of the Buddha pointing to the moon metaphorically representing the possibility for liberation from the suffering of reincarnation. Etymology ''Bhavachakra'', "wheel of life," consists of the words ''bhava'' and ''chakra''. ''bhava'' () means "being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, being, production, origin".Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archiveभव bhava In Buddhism, ''bh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as in Nepal. Smaller groups of practitioners can be found in Central Asia, some regions of China such as Northeast China, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and some regions of Russia, such as Tuva, Buryatia, and Kalmykia. Tibetan Buddhism evolved as a form of Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism stemming from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism (which included many Vajrayana, Vajrayāna elements). It thus preserves many Indian Buddhist Tantra, tantric practices of the Gupta Empire, post-Gupta Medieval India, early medieval period (500–1200 CE), along with numerous native Tibetan developments. In the pre-modern era, Tibetan Buddhism spread outside of Tibet primarily due to the influence of the Mongol Emp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desire Realm
The desire realm (Sanskrit: कामधातु, ''kāmadhātu'') is one of the trailokya or three realms (Sanskrit: धातु, ''dhātu'', Tibetan: ''khams'') in Buddhist cosmology into which a being caught in '' '' may be reborn. The other two are the Form Realm (Sanskrit: ''rūpadhātu'') and the Formless Realm (''ārūpadhātu''). Within the desire realm are either five or six domains (Sanskrit: ''gati'', also sometimes translated as "realm"). In Tibetan Buddhism, there are six domains (), and in Theravada Buddhism there are only five, because the domain of the Asuras is not regarded as separate from that of the Nāgas. The concept of these five realms is also to be found in Taoism and Jainism. The '' Śūraṅgama Sūtra'' in Mahayana Buddhism regarded the 10 kinds of Xian as separate immortal realms between the deva and human realms. The six domains of the desire realm are also known as the "six paths of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhist Cosmology
Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the Universe according to Buddhist Tripitaka, scriptures and Atthakatha, commentaries. It consists of a temporal and a spatial cosmology. The temporal cosmology describes the timespan of the creation and dissolvement of alternate universes in different aeons. The spatial cosmology consists of a vertical cosmology, the various planes of beings, into which beings are reborn due to their merits and development; and a horizontal cosmology, the distribution of these world-systems into an infinite sheet of existential dimensions included in the cycle of samsara. The entire universe is said to be made up of five basic elements of Earth (classical element), Earth, Water (classical element), Water, Fire (classical element), Fire, Air (classical element), Air and Aether (classical element), Space. Buddhist cosmology is also intwined with the belief of Karma in Buddhism, Karma. As a result, some ages are filled with pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phala
Phala is a Sanskrit term that means “fruit” of one's actions in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Buddhism, the following types of ''phala'' are identified: * ''Ariya-phala'' also refers to the fruition of following the Buddhist path. * ''Maha-phala'' refers the ''great fruits'' of the contemplative life. Within Hinduism In Hinduism, the term ''phala'' is translated as fruition, results, effects. In Hindu literature, a phalashruti is a meritorious verse that describes the benefits of listening to a given text and details its greatness. The Yoga-Sûtra of Patañjali (verse 2.36) states: : As truthfulness (satya) is achieved, the fruits of actions naturally result according to the will of the Yogi. (satya pratisthayam kriya phala ashrayatvam) Within Buddhism Within Buddhism, the term ''phala'' is used to refer to the fruition or results of actions according to the doctrine of karmic action and result. Alternate translations The term ''phala'' is translated as: * fruit (Harvey, 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saṃsāra (Buddhism)
Saṃsāra (in Sanskrit and Pali) in Buddhism is the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again. Samsara is considered to be suffering (Skt. '' duḥkha''; P. ''dukkha''), or generally unsatisfactory and painful. It is perpetuated by desire and ignorance (Skt. '' avidyā;'' P. ''avijjā''), and the resulting karma and sensuousness. Rebirths occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms ( heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, ghosts, hell). Saṃsāra ends when a being attains nirvāṇa, which is the extinction of desire and acquisition of true insight into the nature of reality as impermanent and non-self. Characteristics In Buddhism, ''saṃsāra'' is the beginningless and endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth characterized by suffering. Passages from the Samyutta Nikaya propose that this process is beginningless, fueled by the ignorance and craving of beings. This unending transmigration across the six re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
