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| The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth in Buddhism. Every person has an immmortal soul, which after death is reborn into a new body. The new person ithat we become is conditioned by our unresolved karma. |
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| The extinguishing of the karmic causation leading to rebirth in Buddhism. If we think of karma as the energy that drives the wheel of samsara, then to achieve nirvana is to extinguish that energy. |
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| Enlightenment in Buddhism |
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| "Complete nirvana", with no ensuing rebirth, at the death of a Buddha |
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| "no-self" or "no-soul," a central doctrine in Buddhism, denying the reality of any independent, unchanging, autonomous selfhood. |
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| The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. The "Triple Refuge", taking refuge in all three, demonstrates a declaration of Buddhist faith. |
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| "Greater Vehicle," the branch of Buddhism that spread throughout East Asia. The tradition deified the Buddha, and included multiple eternal Buddhas who lived throughout the universe. Also, the tradition expanded the possibility of enlightenment to lay people. |
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| "lesser vehicle," a pejorative term coined by adherents of Mahayana Buddhism to refer to the Theravada and other earlier schools. Early Buddhism, the Buddha was still considered a human. |
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| The Buddha Amitabha, whose vows are the basis for Pure Land Buddhism |
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| Maitreya, Buddha of the Future |
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| Sanskrit Central doctrine in Mahayana Buddhism, stating that all things lack independent, autonomous, self-nature. |
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| The celestial paradise into which followers of Pure Land Buddhism hope to be reborn. Pure Land Buddhism emphasizes visualization and contemplations of Amitabha and his Pure Land. A school demonstrating the belief in mofa. |
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| One of the new Chinese schools of Buddhism. Used the Lotus Sutra as its most important text. Everyone practices the same Buddhism––but Tiantai is the true path. |
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| "Flower Garland", one of the new schools of Chinese Buddhism. |
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| Japanese Zen, the tradition attempted "silent illumination", where practitioners attempted to become unfocused and estrange themselves from their experience. Used koans to deepen rational and intuitive facilities. |
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| "End of the Dharma", the final period of the current cosmic epoch in Buddhism, in which people are no longer able to achieve enlightenment. |
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| The act of chanting the Buddha's name |
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| "True suchness", a term for the ultimate principle of emptiness in Tiantai Buddhism. Suchness expresses a middle ground between emptiness and non-existence––things lack self-existence or self-nature. |
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| The Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, was a kitchen boy who proved himself more enlightened than many monks to the Fifth Patriarch. |
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| One of the major lineages in Chan Buddhism, the Rinzai School in Japanese Zen. Named after Linji Yixuan, who shocked his students out of their habitual ways by shouting at them or hitting them. |
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| One of the major lineages in Chan Buddhism, the Soto School in Japanese Zen. Caoshan Benji. |
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| "public case", a brief anecdote or statement by a former Chan master, used as a focus of meditation |
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| Gateless Barrier, one of the most popular gongan (koan) collections in Chan Buddhism |
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| Blue Cliff Record, one of the most popular koan collections in Chan. |
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| Chief of the Eight Immortals in Daoist iconography, the gentleman. Falls asleep while his soup was cooking, in his dream, he learns the classics, becomes a literati ascends government positions, marries, and has children. Awakens and realizes an entire lifetime has gone by––demonstrating the unimportance of the ideal Confucian lifestyle. Lu Dongbin then decides to become an immortal. |
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| The Bodhisattva of Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism. Responsible for childbirth, and is the protector of children. Originally a male bodhissatva in other countries, but became a female goddess in Southern China. |
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| Most popular deity in Taiwan, patron deity of seafaring people. Daughter of a fisherman who saves her father from shipwreck, and dies in the process. Eventually became a national deity. |
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| Altar of Heaven in Beijing, site of the emperor's annual sacrifice to Heaven |
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| A religion entering China during the Tang dynasty composed of Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Buddhism |
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| Turkic-speaking Islamic culture, mainly in the far western province of Xinjiang. |
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| The earliest Christian sect to enter China, in the seventh century. |
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| Stove god in popular religion. |
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| the highest deity in the pantheon of popular religion. Seldom approached by ordinary people, went to lower gods with gifts. |
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| "clear and bright", spring festival, also called Tomb-sweeping day. |
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| Reformer of Buddhism in the early 20th century; stressed the need for Buddhist social activism. |
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| Manipulation or exercise of qi |
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| Dharma Wheel Exercise, the eclectic qigong practice founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992 and banned in 1999. |
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