[footnotes to Buddhism, an introduction]

¹A number of dates have been proposed for theBuddha's life. The earliest dating is by Sureshamati, who contends thatBuddha's attainment of final nirvana occurred in 2420 B.C.E, but contemporaryscholars generally place the Buddha around the fifth century B.C.E.

²Traditionally, one becomes a Buddhist by "taking refuge" in the"three refuges" (or "three jewels"): the Buddha, Buddhist doctrine(dharma), and the community of Buddhist monks and nuns (sangha).Taking refuge implies that one has made a conscious decision to rely on thesethree things as guides for religious practice, believing that they are able tolead one out of suffering and toward salvation.

³Sanskrit: Ashtasahasrika-prajnaparamita-sutra; the oldestextant version of this text is a Chinese translation by Lokakshema in thesecond century C.E.

⁴A "countless eon" is the amount of time that elapses between thecreation and destruction of the universe.

⁵This is the number needed for ordination of monks. Because this wasa mission of conversion, and because Buddhism generally places a high value onmonasticism, this number was required for the mission to achieve its primarygoal of convincing people to enter the Buddhist community of monks and nuns.

⁶See the "Taoism" chapter for details on its doctrines andpractices.

⁷According to the Historical Record of the Three Kingdoms(Samguk sagi), the Biographies of Eminent Korean Monks(Haedong kossung chon), and the Memorabaila and Mirabalia of theThree Kingdoms (Samguk Yusa), Buddhism was first introduced to Koreafrom China during the Three Kingdoms period. In 372 C.E., King Fu Chien (r.357-384) sent a monk named Shun-tao as an envoy to the Koguryo court. Hebrought Buddhist texts and images, and although this visit had little effect,later missionaries succeeded in bringing Buddhism to Korea.

⁸For an overview of the veneration of kami in Japan, see the"Shinto" chapter.

⁹These are: the Vimalakirti-nirdesha-sutra; the LotusSutra; and the Shrimala Sutra.

¹⁰In Mahayana mythology, Avalokiteshvara is said to be theembodiment of the compassion of all buddhas.

¹¹See Peter N. Gregory, "Chinese Buddhist Hermeneutics: The Case ofHua-yen", Journal of the American Academy of Religion, #I.1.2, pp.232-233. See also Kenneth Ch'en, Buddhism in China (Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1964), pp. 365-386.

¹²Pudön, History of Buddhism, tr. Eugene Obermiller(Heidelberg: Materialen zur Kunde des Buddhismus, 1931-3), p. 23.

¹³History of Buddhism, p. 24.

¹⁴The Voice of the Buddha (Lalitavistara-sutra), tr.Gwendolyn Bays (Berkeley: Dharma, 1983), p. 290.

¹⁵The Voice of the Buddha, p. 212.

¹⁶History of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 29.

¹⁷History of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 35.

¹⁸History of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 41.

¹⁹These are the components of the psycho-physical personality: (1)form; (2) feelings; (3) discriminations; (4) consciousness; and (5)compositional factors.

²⁰Sa[[dotaccent]]yutta-nik>ya, ed. Leon Feer (London: PaliText Society, 1960), V.420-23.

²¹This term generally refers to a life of celibacy of those pursuingreligious goals.

²²Majjhima-nik>ya III.248-52, ed. Robert Chalmers.

²³Digha-nik>ya, ed. T.W. Rhys Davids (London: Pali TextSociety, 1967), 1.4 ff.

²⁴ A[[ordmasculine]]guttara-nik>ya (Mah>-vagga),ed. Richard Morris (London: Pali Text Society, 1961), vol. I, p. 189.

²⁵Ud>na, in Khuddaka-nik>ya: tr. Stephan Beyer,The Buddhist Experience: Sources and Interpretations (Encino: Dickenson,1974), pp. 199-200.

²⁶These are the six senses and their objects of contact.

²⁷Sa[[dotaccent]]yutta-nik>ya, ed. Leon Feer (London: PaliText Society, 1960), III.90, pp. 134-135.

²⁸Majjhima-nik>ya 1. 256-266, ed. V. Trenckner.

²⁹Majjhima-nik>ya, ed. Robert Chalmers (London: Pali TextSociety, 1960), III.72, pp. 483-489.

³⁰Sa[[dotaccent]]yutta-nik>ya, ed. Leon Feer (London: PaliText Society, 1970), III.59, pp. 66-68.

³¹Saundarananda: tr. John Strong, The Experience ofBuddhism: Sources and Interpretations (Belmont: Wadsworth, 1995), pp.121-123.

³²These are terms indicating levels of spiritual attainment. Astream-winner has entered the path leading to liberation. A once-returner is aperson who in one more life will become and arhat and attain nirvana. Anon-returner will attain nirvana in the present life.

³³The eight rules require that: (1) any nun, no matter how senior,must respectfully salute a monk, no matter how junior; (2) aspiring nuns mustundergo a two-year training period, and then be ordained by both thecommunities of monks and nuns; (3) nuns must not criticize monks; (4) nuns maynot receive alms before monks; (5) nuns who violate rules of conduct aresubject to disciplinary action for a fortnight and must then seek restitutionfrom the communities of monks and nuns; (6) every fortnight the nuns should askthe monks for instruction; (7) nuns may not spend the rainy season retreat inthe company of monks; and (8) after finishing the rainy season retreat, nunsshould request the ceremony marking the end of the retreat from the communitiesof monks and nuns.

³⁴From the Rules of Discipline for Nuns(Bhik[[hungarumlaut]]u[[ring]]i Vinaya): tr. John Strong, TheExperience of Buddhism, pp. 52-56.

³⁵For her biography, see Susan Murcott, The First Buddhist Women:Translations and Commentary on the Therigatha (Berkeley: Parralax, 1991),pp. 31-34.

³⁶Therig>th>, ed. Hermann Oldenberg and Richard Pischel(London: Pali Text Society, 1883), pp. 134-135, psalm XLVII.

³⁷Ibid., psalm XXXVIII.

³⁸Majjhima-nik>ya, 2.147 ff., ed. Robert Chalmers.

³⁹Ibid., psalm XXII.

⁴⁰M>ras are malevolent entities that try to tempt living beingsinto actions and attitudes that increase afflictive emotions and ignorance.

⁴¹Dhammapada, ed. Sri Ramachandrudu (Hyderabad: PullelaSubblakshmi, 1976), pp. 31ff.

⁴²Digha-nik>ya, ed T.W. Rhys Davids (London: Pali TextSociety, 1967), pp. 100, 154.

⁴³Mah>parinibb>na-sutta, tr. T.W. and C.A.F. RhysDavids; London: Pali Text Society, 1959), p. 173.

⁴⁴Milinda-pañho, ed. V. Trenckner (London: Pali TextSociety, 1986), pp. 25-28.

⁴⁵Visuddhi-magga by Buddhaghosa, ed. C.A.F. Rhys Davids, pp.593-4.

[46]Milindapañha, ed. V. Trenckner, pp.40-41.

⁴⁷Milinda-pañha, ed. V. Trenckner, p. 73.

⁴⁸Prajñ>p>ramit>-h[[cedilla]]daya-sÒtraed. Edward Conze, Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies (Columbia: Universityof South Carolina Press, 1968), pp. 149-154.

⁴⁹Subhuti is one of Buddha's great Hinayana disciples. He oftenappears as an interlocutor in Mahayana sutras, however. The reason for this isprobably that in several Pali texts he is declared by Buddha to be the foremostof his disciples in understanding of emptiness, which is a central concept inMahayana literature.

⁵⁰Vajracchedik>prajñ>p>ramit>sÒtra,ed. Edward Conze (Rome: IsMEO, 1974), pp. 29-32.

⁵¹Hearers (shravaka) and solitary realizers(pratyeka-buddha) are the two main classes of Hinayana practitioners.The former are so called because they hear the words of Buddha, take themliterally, and put them into practice. Their main goal is the attainment of thenirvana of an arhat. Solitary realizers are practitioners who travel a moredifficult path than that of hearers, but who likewise attain nirvana forthemselves. Both of these paths are portrayed as selfish in Mahayanaliterature, because those who follow them are primarily concerned with personalsalvation, and not with the salvation of others.

⁵²Virtuous roots are the results of cultivating good qualities. Whena person engages in meritorious conduct and cultivates corresponding attitudes,this creates positive predispositions which motivate that person to continueacting in similar ways in the future.

⁵³Suchness refers to the true nature of phenomena, and is equated inBuddhist texts with emptiness.

⁵⁴Elaboration (prapancha) refers to proliferation ofconceptual thought.

⁵⁵A[[hungarumlaut]][[ogonek]]as>hasrik>prajñ>p>amit>sÒtra('Phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa'i mdo;Dharamsala, India: Tibetan Cultural Printing Press, 1985), pp. 11.471.4-475.3.The six perfections are the qualities in which bodhisattvas train on the pathto buddhahood, and which form the core of the exalted qualities of buddhas:generosity; ethics; patience; effort; concentration; and wisdom.

⁵⁶Ibid., 19.817.3.

⁵⁷P p. 36.

⁵⁸In other words, Shariputra is in effect asking her, "If you're sosmart, why are you a woman and not a man?"

⁵⁹From the Teaching of Vimalakirti Sutra(Vimalakirtinirde[[Ydieresis]]asÒtra ['Phags pa dri ma med pargrags pas bstan pa'i mdo], Sde dge edition, chapter 6.6-16).

⁶⁰From the Saddharma-pu[[ring]]~arika-sÒtra: tr. JohnStrong, The Experience of Buddhism, pp. 135-137.

⁶¹Ratnamegha-sÒtra, from the/ik[[hungarumlaut]]>samuccaya, ed. Cecil Bendall (Osnabruck: BiblioVerlag, 1970), pp. 121-122.

⁶²From Wisdom of Buddha: TheSa[[dotaccent]]dhinirmocana-sÒtra, tr. John Powers (Berkeley: DharmaPublishing, 1995), pp. 70-71. The reference to mind is based on a traditionaletymology that associates the Sanskrit word citta (mind) with the theverbal root ci, meaning to accumulate or pile up.

⁶³Latencies are the potentialities created by one's actions. Theseremain in latent form until the proper conditions occur for theirmanifestation, and then the person who initiated them experiences theirresults.

⁶⁴La[[ordmasculine]]k>vat>ra-sÒtra, ed. P.L.Vaidya (Dharbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1963), pp. 61-62.

⁶⁵These are: animals, hungry ghosts, and hell-beings.

⁶⁶/ik[[hungarumlaut]]>samuccaya, pp. 278-83.

⁶⁷Buddhacarita, 7.20.

⁶⁸This refers to the twelve stages of dependent arising, which aredescribed in the previous excerpt entitled "Dependent Arising."

⁶⁹Nagarjuna, Seventy Verses on Emptiness(/Ònyat>-saptati), tr. Christian Lindtner, in Master ofWisdom: Writings of the Buddhist Master N>g>rjuna (Berkeley: Dharma,1986), pp. 95-119.

⁷⁰These are all drawn from Indian mythology. A magical jewel is agem that gives its owner whatever he or she desires. An inexhaustible jar neverruns dry. Spells (mantra) are often used as magical incantations inorder to bring about desired results. A universal remedy is able to cure allillness, and a cow of plenty gives vast riches to those who capture it.

⁷¹Shantideva, Entering the Path of Enlightenment(Bodhic>ry>vatara), tr. Marion Matics (London: Macmillan, 1970),pp. 154-155.

⁷²Tsong Khapa, quoting Shantideva's Entering the Path ofEnlightenment: Tantra in Tibet, tr. Jeffrey Hopkins (London: GeorgeAllen & Unwin, 1977), p. 149.

⁷³This passage is from La Somme du Grand Véhiculed'Asa[[ordmasculine]]ga (Mah>y>nasa[[dotaccent]]graha), tr.Étienne Lamotte (Louvain: Université de Louvain, 1973)., Tome II,p. 27.

⁷⁴Asa[[ordmasculine]]ga's Abhidharmasamuccaya: Otani Sdedge, sems tsam vol. 12, p. 53b.7.

⁷⁵David Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (Boston: Shambhala,1987), vol. I, pp. 125-126.

⁷⁶This passage is quoted by Khenpo Könchog Gyaltsen in TheGarland of Mahamudra Practices (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1986), pp. 56-57.

⁷⁷Ca[[ring]]~amah>ro[[hungarumlaut]]a[[ring]]a-tantra: tr.Miranda Shaw, Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), p. 39.

⁷⁸David Snellgrove, The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study(London: Oxford University Press, 1959), vol. I, p. 83.

⁷⁹Ibid., p. 92.

⁸⁰Quoted in Tantra in Tibet, p. 161.

⁸¹David L. Snellgrove, The Hevajra Tantra, p. 81.

⁸²Quoted in The Garland of Mahamudra Practices, p. 58.

⁸³Mandalas are circular diagrams used as aids for visualizations intantric practice.

⁸⁴Longchen Rapjampa, in The Jewel in the Lotus, tr. StephenBatchelor (London: Wisdom, 1987), p. 151.

⁸⁵This refers to the three bodies of buddhas: the truth body(dharma-kaya), which is the buddha's mind and its emptiness of inherentexistence; the complete enjoyment body (sambhoga-kaya), a subtle bodythat resides in pure buddha lands; and emanation bodies (nirmana-kaya),which are physical emanations created by buddhas in order to benefit sentientbeings.

⁸⁶Bar do thos grol: The Tibetan Book of the Dead:Liberation through Understanding in the Between, tr. Robert A.F. Thurman(New York: Bantam, 1994), pp. 115-116.

⁸⁷The Jewel in the Lotus, p. 103.

⁸⁸From the Biography of Milarepa (Rje btsun mi la ras pa'irnam thar), ed. Sangye Gyeltsen, pp. 49b ff.

⁸⁹Niguma, Mahamudra as Spontaneous Liberation (Rang grolphyag rgya chen po zhes bya ba): tr. Miranda Shaw, in PassionateEnlightenment, p. 88.

⁹⁰Quoted in Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub, The Beautiful Ornament ofthe Three Visions (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1991), p. xvi.⁹¹Tsong Khapa, Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path(Lam rim chen mo: Lam rim mchan bzhi sbrags ma; New Delhi: Chos'phel legs ldan, 1972), p. 572.5.

⁹²Lam rim chen mo, p. 575.1. ⁹³The three treatises are the basic texts of the Chinese branch ofMadhyamaka, which is called the "Three Treatises School." The three texts are:Treatise on the Middle Way (Chung-lun); Hundred VerseTreatise (Po-lun); and Twelve Gate Treatise (Shih-erh-menlun).

⁹⁴A disciple of the Indian monk Kumarajiva (344-413), who iscredited with establishing the Madhyamaka teachings in China.

⁹⁵The three mysteries refer to Taoist teachings. The nine categoriesof Buddhist teachings are: sutra (discourses of the Buddha); geya(metrical verses); vyakarana (predictions of future enlightenment);gatha (verses); udana (impromptu or unsolicited addresses);ityukta or itivrittaka, narratives); jataka (stories ofthe Buddha's past lives); vaipulya (expanded sutras); andadbhuta (miracles).

⁹⁶This is a play on words, as the last character in the phrase alsomeans dark or obscure.

⁹⁷The p'eng is an enormous legendary bird whose wings aresaid to span the land between two oceans.

⁹⁸Ch'i-tsang, The Profound Meaning of the Three Treatises(San lun hsüan i), chapter one (from an unpublished transcript, pp.10-11).

⁹⁹Ko-lao. A term of insult, indicating that the inhabitantsof southern China, being barbarians, are close to wild animals.

¹⁰⁰Fu-t'ien. The term implies that by good works in thisworld a person prepares the ground (t'ien) which will produce the fruitsand flowers (fu) of the next world.

¹⁰¹The person who has received the patriarch's robe and dharma (andhis bowl) is officially designated as his spiritual heir and is the newpatriarch.

¹⁰²These are rebirth as hell-beings, hungry ghosts, or animals.

¹⁰³Fa-wo. A technical term designating the false conceptionof an objective thing as a thing in itself.

¹⁰⁴Birth, being, change, and death. This may possibly refer to fourof the eight forms of misconception, i.e., beliefs in some form of ego (self,being, soul, person), mentioned in the Diamond SÒtra.

¹⁰⁵I-hsing san-mei. EkavyÒha orek>k>ra sam>dhi.

¹⁰⁶This refers to a passage in theVimalakirti-nirde[[Ydieresis]]a-sÒtra T 14, p. 539c.

¹⁰⁷The teachers of the Northern School of Ch'an.

¹⁰⁸Adapted from Philip Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra of the SixthPatriarch (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967), pp. 135-138.

¹⁰⁹Livia Kohn, Early Chinese Mysticism, pp. 119-120.

¹¹⁰The most important text of the Shingon school is theMahavairochana-sutra (Japanese: Dainichi-kyo), which is said tohave been taught by the truth body (dharma-kaya) to advanced students.

¹¹¹Kukai's Petition to Supplement the Annual Reading of Sutra inthe Imperial Palace with Special Esoteric Buddhist (Shingon) Rites. Thiswas submitted to the court in 834, one year before Kukai's death. The emperorNimmyo ordered the ceremonies to be performed in the manner requested inperpetuity. They are still performed annually at New Years' time in Kyoto, theformer capital, and the emperor still regularly sends a representative fromTokyo. This text is translated by David Gardiner.

¹¹²Dogen's Manual of Zen Meditation, tr. Carl Bielefeldt(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), p. 181.

¹¹³Zen Comments on the Mumonkan, tr. Zenkei Shibayama (NewYork: Mentor, 1974), pp. 19-20.

¹¹⁴A buddha-land is created by a buddha after the attainment ofawakening and is designed to be an environment for a certain type of sentientbeing. The land of each buddha is a reflection of his or her enlightened mindand is a result of the meritorious actions performed by that buddha duringinnumerable lifetimes.

¹¹⁵This formula is referred to in Japanese Pure Land Buddhism as the"nembutsu."

¹¹⁶Shinran, Tannishß: A Primer, tr. Dennis Hirota(Kyoto, Ryukoku University, 1982), pp. 22-24.

¹¹⁷Nichiren, Hokke Damokushü, tr. Lauren Rodel, inNichiren: Selected Writings (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,1980), pp. 82, 85.

author: Greg Young
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updated: 28 Oct 1997