Sudden Enlightenment
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Sudden Enlightenment
Sudden awakening or Sudden enlightenment (), also known as subitism, is a Buddhist idea which holds that practitioners can achieve an instantaneous insight into ultimate reality (Buddha-nature, or the nature of mind). This awakening is described as being attained "suddenly," "in one glance," "uncovered all together," or "together, completely, simultaneously," in contrast to "successively or being uncovered one after the other." It may be posited as opposite to gradualism, an approach which says that insight can be achieved only through a long gradual step by step process. Etymology The application of the term "subitism" to Buddhism is derived from the French '' illumination subite'' (sudden awakening), contrasting with 'illumination graduelle' (gradual awakening). It gained currency in this use in English from the work of sinologist Paul Demiéville. His 1947 work 'Mirror of the Mind' was widely read in the U.S. It inaugurated a series by him on subitism and gradualism. The Chine ...
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Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century Before the Common Era, BCE. It is the Major religious groups, world's fourth-largest religion, with about 500 million followers, known as Buddhists, who comprise four percent of the global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to Western world, the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of bhavana, development which leads to Enlightenment in Buddhism, awakening and moksha, full liberation from ''Duḥkha, dukkha'' (). He regarded this path as a Middle Way between extremes su ...
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Enlightenment In Buddhism
The English term ''enlightenment'' is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably ''bodhi'' and ''vimutti''. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi'') means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect, of a Buddha. The verbal root ''budh-'' means "to awaken", and its literal meaning is closer to awakening. Although the term '' buddhi'' is also used in other Indian philosophies and traditions, its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism. ''Vimutti'' is the freedom from or release of the fetters and hindrances. The term ''enlightenment'' was popularised in the Western world through the 19th-century translations of British philologist Max Müller. It has the Western connotation of general insight into transcendental truth or reality. The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts, which are used to denote (initial) insight ('' prajna'' (Sanskrit), '' wu'' (Chinese), '' kensho'' and ...
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Huayan School
The Huayan school of Buddhism (, Wade–Giles: ''Hua-Yen,'' "Flower Garland," from the Sanskrit "''Avataṃsaka''") is a Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty, 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 (monk), Chengguan (738–839), Guifeng Zongmi, 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 ...
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Rinzai School
The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school, Linji school of Chan Buddhism was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan Eisai (1141 –1215). Contemporary Japanese Rinzai is derived entirely from the Ōtōkan lineage transmitted through Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1769), who is a major figure in the revival of the Rinzai tradition. History Rinzai is the Japanese line of the China, Chinese Linji school of Chan Buddhism, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Linji Yixuan (Japanese: Rinzai Gigen). Kamakura period (1185–1333) Though there were several attempts to establish Rinzai lines in Japan, it first took root in a lasting way through the efforts of the monk Myoan Eisai, Myōan Eisai. In 1168, Myōan Eisai traveled to China, where he studied Tendai for twenty years. In 1187, he went to Ch ...
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Linji School
The Línjì school () is a school of Chan Buddhism named after Linji Yixuan (d. 866). It took prominence in Song dynasty, Song China (960–1279), spread to Japan as the Rinzai school and influenced the nine mountain schools of Korean Seon. History Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960/979 CE) Before the Song dynasty, the Linji school was rather obscure and very little is known about its early history. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period () (907–960/979 CE) was an era of political upheaval between the fall of the Tang dynasty and the founding of the Song. During this period, five dynasties quickly succeeded one another in the north, and more than twelve independent states were established, of which only ten are traditionally listed. This division into various regions and kingdoms led to a diversification of Chan factions, reflected in the Five Houses of Chán. The Fayan school was especially influential in the Southern Tang (937-975) and Wuyue (907-978 ...
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Sōtō
Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai school, Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dongshan Liangjie, Dòngshān Liángjiè. It emphasizes Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference. The Japanese brand of the sect was imported in the 13th century by Dōgen Zenji, who studied Caodong, Cáodòng Buddhism () abroad in China. Dōgen is remembered today as the ancestor of Sōtō Zen in Japan along with Keizan, Keizan Jōkin. With about 14,000 temples, Sōtō is one of the largest Japanese Buddhist organizations. Sōtō Zen is now also popular in the West, and in 1996 priests of the Sōtō Zen tradition formed the Soto Zen Buddhist Association based in North America. Histor ...
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Caodong School
Caodong school () is a Chinese Chan Buddhist branch and one of the Five Houses of Chán. The school emphasised sitting meditation (Ch: zuochan, Jp: zazen), and the " five ranks" teaching. During the Song dynasty, Caodong masters like Hongzhi Zhengjue developed " silent illumination" (mozhao) meditation. Etymology The key figure in the Caodong school was founder Dongshan Liangjie (807–869, 洞山良价, Jpn. Tozan Ryokai) and his heir Caoshan Benji (840–901, 曹山本寂, Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi, Jpn. Sōzan Honjaku). Some attribute the name "Cáodòng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan". The "Cao" may also be from ''Cáoxī'' (曹溪), the "mountain-name" of Huineng, the Sixth Ancestor of Chan, as Caoshan was of little importance unlike his contemporary and fellow Dharma-heir, Yunju Daoying. History The Caodong school was founded by Dongshan Liangjie and his Dharma-heir Caoshan Benji. Dongshan traced back his lineage to Shitou Xiqian (700–790), a contemporary of M ...
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śūnyatā
''Śūnyatā'' ( ; ; ), translated most often as "emptiness", " vacuity", and sometimes "voidness", or "nothingness" is an Indian philosophical concept. In Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, and other Indian philosophical traditions, the concept has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. It is either an ontological feature of reality, a meditative state, or a phenomenological analysis of experience. In Theravāda Buddhism, ' often refers to the non-self (Pāli: ', Sanskrit: ') nature of the five aggregates of experience and the six sense spheres. ' is also often used to refer to a meditative state or experience. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, ' refers to the tenet that "all things are empty of intrinsic existence and nature ('' svabhava'')", but may also refer to the Buddha-nature teachings and primordial or empty awareness, as in Dzogchen, Shentong, or Chan. Etymology ''Śūnyatā'' is usually translated as "devoidness", "emptiness", "hollow", "hollowness", "v ...
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Diamond Sutra
The ''Diamond Sutra'' (Sanskrit: ) is a Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist sutra from the genre of ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the ''Diamond Sūtra'' is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia, and it is particularly prominent within the Chan Buddhism, Chan (or Zen) tradition, along with the ''Heart Sutra''. A copy of the Tang dynasty ''Diamond Sūtra'' was found among the Dunhuang manuscripts in 1900 by Daoist monk Wang Yuanlu and sold to Aurel Stein in 1907. It dates back to May 11, 868 CE and is broadly considered to be the oldest extant printed book, although other, earlier, printed materials on paper exist that predate this artifact. It is in the collection of the British Library. The book of the diamond sutra is also the first known creative work with an explicit public domain dedication, as its colophon (publishing), colophon at the end states that it was created "for unive ...
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Prajnaparamita
file:Medicine Buddha painted mandala with goddess Prajnaparamita in center, 19th century, Rubin.jpg, A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala Prajñāpāramitā means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahayana, Mahāyāna. Prajñāpāramitā refers to a perfected way of seeing the Ontology, nature of reality, as well as to a particular body of Mahayana sutras, Mahāyāna scriptures (sūtras), known as the Prajñāpāramitā sutras, which includes such texts as the Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra. The word ''Prajñāpāramitā'' combines the Sanskrit words ''Prajñā (Buddhism), prajñā'' "wisdom" (or "knowledge") with ''pāramitā'', "excellence," "perfection," "noble character quality," or "that which has gone beyond," "gone to the other side," "Transcendence (philosophy), transcending." Prajñāpāramitā is a central concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism and is generally associated with ideas such as emptiness (''ś ...
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Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
The ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: लङ्कावतारसूत्रम्, "Discourse of the Descent into Laṅkā", , Chinese: 入楞伽經) is a prominent Mahayana Buddhist sūtra. It is also titled ''Laṅkāvatāraratnasūtram'' (''The Jewel Sutra of the Entry into Laṅkā,'' Gunabhadra's Chinese title: 楞伽阿跋多羅寶經 léngqié ābáduōluó bǎojīng) and ''Saddharmalaṅkāvatārasūtra'' (''The Sutra on the Descent of the True Dharma into Laṅkā''). A subtitle to the sutra found in some sources is "''the heart of the words of all the Buddhas''" (一切佛語心 yiqiefo yuxin, Sanskrit: ''sarvabuddhapravacanahṛdaya''). The ''Laṅkāvatāra'' recounts a teaching primarily between Gautama Buddha and a bodhisattva named Mahāmati ("Great Wisdom"). The sūtra is set in mythical Laṅkā, ruled by Rāvaṇa, the king of the rākṣasas. The ''Laṅkāvatāra'' discusses numerous Mahayana topics, such as Yogācāra philosophy of mind-only (' ...
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Dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold'' or ''to support'', thus referring to law that sustains things—from one's life to society, and to the Universe at large. In its most commonly used sense, dharma refers to an individual's moral responsibilities or duties; the dharma of a farmer differs from the dharma of a soldier, thus making the concept of dharma a varying dynamic. As with the other components of the Puruṣārtha, the concept of ''dharma'' is pan-Indian. The antonym of dharma is ''adharma''. In Hinduism, ''dharma'' denotes behaviour that is considered to be in accord with ''Ṛta''—the "order and custom" that makes life and universe possible. This includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living" according to the stage of life or social posi ...
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