Buddhism Flashcards RELG 175

Three Factors of the "Discovery" of Buddhism

According to King, the three 18th-century factors that led to the Western construction of "Buddhism" were the rationalist Enlightenment, the decline of religious authority, and the consolidation of colonialism.

Textualism in 19th Century Buddhology

The tendency of Western Orientalists to locate the "essence" of Buddhism in classical manuscripts and libraries, rather than in the living rituals and practices of Asian Buddhists.

"Protestant Buddhism" (Definition)

A term used by scholars (like Obeyesekere) to describe modern forms of Buddhism that internalized Protestant Christian norms (anti-ritual, emphasis on texts/psychology) while simultaneously protesting against Christian/colonial dominance.

Intercultural Mimesis

A concept by Charles Hallisey describing the process where Western knowledge of the "Orient" is not just a Western invention, but a mutual product of interchange between Orientalists and "native informants" (Asian Buddhists).

Nostalgia for Origins

The Romantic 19th-century view that India and the "Mystic East" represented the ancient "childhood of humanity," allowing the West to define itself as "modern" and "rational" by contrast.

The Buddha as "Luther"

A 19th-century Western projection that portrayed the Buddha as a social reformer who rebelled against a "corrupt" Brahmanical priesthood, mirroring the Protestant Reformation's rebellion against Catholicism.

Eugene Burnouf

The "founding father" of Western Buddhology whose 1844 work established the rational, textual framework for studying Buddhism, relying heavily on Sanskrit manuscripts rather than living practitioners.

"Scientific Buddhism"

A trend starting in the late 19th century where Asian Buddhists and Western sympathizers framed Buddhism as compatible with modern science (e.g., atomic theory, psychology) to prove its superiority over Christianity.

D.T. Suzuki's Zen

A modern construction of Zen that presented it as a "pure mystical experience" devoid of rituals or institutions; King argues this was influenced by Western psychology (William James) and Japanese nationalism.

The "Invisibility" of Native Informants

King argues that while Western scholars relied heavily on Asian pundits and monks to translate texts, the "authorial presence" of these Asians was usually hidden to maintain the authority of the Western Orientalist.

Brahmanization of Buddhism

The historical process (and later Orientalist trend) of viewing Buddhism as merely a sub-sect or reform movement within the larger "Hindu" tradition, often ignoring its distinct identity.

Neo-Vedanta and Perennialism

The modern movement (associated with Vivekananda) arguing that all religions share a common "mystical core"; King argues this influenced how Buddhism was stripped of its specific cultural context in the West.

The Politics of "Authenticity"

The dynamic where Western scholars claimed to know the "true" Buddhism (found in texts) better than contemporary Asian practitioners, whose practices were often dismissed as "corrupt" or "degenerate."

Agency of the Colonized

King's counter-argument to Said; he emphasizes that Asians were not passive victims of Orientalism but actively used Western concepts (like "science" or "textual authority") to resist colonial power and reform their own traditions.

Jataka

Stories of the Buddha's "births" or former lives as a bodhisattva (human or animal) before he became Siddhartha Gautama; these tales illustrate his practice of virtues necessary for enlightenment.

Bodhisattva

A being who has vowed to attain supreme enlightenment not just for themselves, but for the welfare of all beings; in the context of the Jatakas, this refers to the future Buddha in his previous incarnations.

Paramita

The "perfections" or virtues (such as giving, ethics, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom) that a bodhisattva must cultivate over countless lifetimes to achieve buddhahood.

King Shibi

An incarnation of the bodhisattva who was a king determined to attain enlightenment; he is famous for his demonstration of the perfection of giving by sacrificing his own flesh to save a dove.

Indra

The king of the gods who, in the Shibi Jataka, transforms himself into a hawk to test King Shibi's commitment to his vow of compassion.

Vishvakarman

The divine architect who assists Indra in testing King Shibi by transforming into a dove (pigeon) that seeks the King's protection.

Act of Truth (Satyakriya)

A solemn declaration of personal truth (e.g., asserting the sincerity of one's sacrifice) that has the magical power to alter reality; King Shibi uses this to restore his mutilated body.

The Hawk's Argument

In the story, the hawk argues that if King Shibi protects the dove, he is depriving the hawk of its natural food, thereby causing the hawk to die of starvation, which would contradict the King's compassion.

Shibi's Solution

To save the dove without starving the hawk, King Shibi offers to cut a piece of flesh from his own thigh equal in weight to the dove.

The Scale Test

When Shibi places his flesh on the scale, the dove remains heavier no matter how much flesh he cuts; this forces Shibi to eventually climb onto the scale himself, offering his entire body.

Shibi's Motivation

King Shibi declares that he sacrifices his body not for treasure, pleasure, or family, but solely to attain "Supreme Enlightenment" to save all living beings.

Vessantara Jataka

A famous Jataka story mentioned in the introduction where the bodhisattva, born as Prince Vessantara, performs the ultimate act of giving by giving away his own children.

Timeline of Enlightenment

The text clarifies that the Buddha's path did not begin when Prince Siddhartha left the palace at age twenty-nine, but billions of years earlier when he first vowed to become a buddha.

Jataka Tale

A story recounting one of the former lives of the Buddha (as a human or animal) in which he demonstrates a specific virtue or "perfection" (paramita) necessary for attaining enlightenment.

The Young Quail (Bodhisattva)

The central character of the story; the Buddha in a previous life born as a quail who was physically weak and unable to fly because he refused to eat living creatures, surviving only on vegetarian scraps.

Vegetarianism/Non-violence

The specific virtue practiced by the young quail; unlike his siblings who grew strong eating whatever they were given (presumably insects/worms), the Bodhisattva refused to kill or eat living beings, even at the cost of his own physical strength.

Act of Truth (Satyakriya)

A powerful spiritual act where a person makes a solemn declaration of truth that has the power to alter physical reality; in this story, the quail saves himself from the fire by reciting an "act of truth."

The Quail's Act of Truth

When the fire approached, the quail spoke to it: "My feet hardly deserve the name of feet, and my wings have not grown. Also, my parents, in awe of you, have taken flight. I have nothing suitable to offer you as a guest. So, Fire, it would be best if you turned back from this spot."

Result of the Act of Truth

Upon hearing the quail's words, the raging forest fire immediately died down "as though it had come to a swollen river," sparing the quail.

Power of Truth

The central moral lesson of the story; the text concludes that "even fire is powerless against words redolent of truth," urging the reader to never desert the truth.

Himalaya

The location where this story is set; the text notes that to this day, forest fires will die down when they reach the specific spot where this miracle occurred.

Karma and Diet

The story presents a paradox: those who eat without moral qualms (the siblings) prosper physically, while those who are "careful about what they eat" (the Bodhisattva) may suffer physically but possess spiritual power.

Therigatha

"Songs of the Female Elders"; a collection of poems by early Buddhist nuns (bhikkhunis) recounting their struggles and attainment of enlightenment. It is one of the earliest known collections of women's literature. [cite: 233]

Mahapajapati Gotami

The Buddha's aunt and stepmother who led the first group of women to seek ordination. She persisted despite the Buddha's initial refusal and eventually became the first nun. Her poem celebrates her liberation from the cycle of rebirth: "This is the last body… there is now no renewed existence." [cite: 233, 235]

Ananda

The Buddha's cousin and attendant who successfully advocated for the ordination of women. He asked the Buddha if women were capable of enlightenment (the Buddha said yes) and persuaded him to accept them, though with "heavy rules." [cite: 233]

Eight Heavy Rules (Gurudharma)

The strict rules imposed on nuns as a condition of their ordination, effectively making them subordinate to monks (e.g., a senior nun must bow to a junior monk). [cite: 233]

Patachara

A nun whose poem offers consolation to a grieving mother. She argues that death is natural and that we do not know where our loved ones came from or where they go, so grieving is futile: "Unasked he came from there, unpermitted he went from here… What lamentation is there in that?"

Vasitthi

A nun who was "deranged" with grief after the death of her son, wandering naked and homeless for three years until she met the Buddha, who taught her the Dharma, allowing her to cut out "all griefs."

Khema

A former queen or noblewoman who was extremely beautiful. Her poem rejects the temptation of sensual pleasures, describing them as "swords and stakes." She declares that "delight in sensual pleasures" is now "non-delight" for her.

Sujata

A woman who, while playing in a pleasure garden, wandered into a monastery, heard the Buddha preach, and attained the "stainless doctrine" (enlightenment) on the spot, realizing the "three knowledges."

Anopama

A woman of great beauty and wealth ("Majjha's own daughter") who was sought after by kings and merchants. She rejected their offers of gold and jewels to become a nun, cutting off her hair and attaining the "third fruit" of the path.

Gutta

A nun whose poem urges her to "give up your son" and not be deceived by the mind, warning that attachment leads to "Mara's realm" and the cycle of rebirth.

Vijaya

A nun who struggled for peace of mind, going out from her cell four or five times without success, until a fellow nun taught her the faculties, powers, and the Noble Eightfold Path. She then attained enlightenment after seven days of meditation.

Mangala Sutta

"Discourse on Good Fortune"; a famous text where the Buddha defines "supreme good fortune" not as luck, but as a series of ethical actions: honoring parents, avoiding fools, abstaining from intoxicants, and associating with the wise.

Women's Path to Ordination

Unlike men, who needed only parental consent, women required the consent of their husbands to ordain. Thus, many early nuns were widows, unmarried daughters, or courtesans who lacked this "protection."

Dangers of Women (Buddha's View)

The text notes that the Buddha predicted his teaching would last only 500 years (instead of 1000) because he admitted women. He also advised monks to "not look at" or "not speak to" women to maintain their purity.

Matty Weingast

The author of The First Free Women, a book marketed as a "translation" of the Therigatha (poems of early Buddhist nuns) which was later exposed as containing largely invented poetry with little resemblance to the original Pali text. Therigatha

"The First Free Women" Controversy

The scandal involving Weingast's book, which was praised by famous teachers and marketed by Shambhala Publications as a translation of the Therigatha, despite systematically erasing the original nuns' voices and replacing them with the author's own modern interpretations.

Cultural Erasure

The process by which the original cultural and religious context of a text is removed or obscured; in Weingast's case, he removed key Buddhist concepts like the Eightfold Path, enlightenment knowledges, and rebirth, replacing them with generic spiritual platitudes.

"Spiritual Colonialism"

A term used in the study guide (and implied in the critique) to describe the act of a dominant culture (e.g., a white American male author) co-opting and rewriting the sacred texts of a marginalized group (Asian Buddhist nuns) to fit modern Western tastes.

Coleman Barks

A translator mentioned as a comparison to Weingast; they are famous for their popular "translations" of Rumi which often remove specific Islamic content, similar to how Weingast removed Buddhist doctrinal content.

"Mansplaining" Enlightenment

The critique that Weingast, a lay man, effectively "mansplained" the experience of enlightenment by replacing the actual words of female arahants with his own male imagination of what they should have said.

Politics of Representation

The ethical issue of who gets to speak for whom; the critique argues that Weingast used his privilege to center his own voice while claiming to represent the voices of ancient women, effectively silencing them.

Counterfeit of the True Teaching

A concept from the Saddhammappatirupaka Sutta cited in the critique, warning that the "true teaching" (Dhamma) disappears not all at once, but when "counterfeit" versions (like misleading translations) appear and are mistaken for the real thing.

Role of Publishers (Shambhala)

The critique highlights that the publisher knowingly marketed the book as a translation (even providing false Library of Congress data) to sell copies, exploiting the sacred status of the text for commercial gain.

Ally-ship vs. Appropriation

The critique argues that while Weingast claimed to be an "ally" to women in Buddhism, his actions—rewriting their history and centering his own voice—were actually a form of cultural appropriation.

Doctrinal Omissions

Weingast consistently removed specific Buddhist teachings found in the original poems, such as the "Three Knowledges" (Tisso vijja), references to the Buddha's instructions, and the attainment of Nibbana, replacing them with vague metaphors like "hugs from mountains."

Satipatthana Sutta (Title Translation)

"The Discourse on the Establishment of Mindfulness."

The "Direct Path" (Ekayana Magga)

The term the Buddha uses to describe the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, stating it is the way for purification, overcoming sorrow, and realizing Nibbana.

Four Foundations of Mindfulness

The four specific domains of contemplation in the Satipatthana Sutta: 1. Body (kaya), 2. Feelings (vedana), 3. Mind (citta), and 4. Mind-objects/Dharmas (dhamma).

Mindfulness of the Body (Key Practices)

This foundation includes mindfulness of breathing, body postures (walking, standing, sitting), full awareness of daily activities, reviewing body parts (impurities), the four elements, and charnel ground (corpse) contemplations.

Purpose of Charnel Ground Contemplations

To compare one's own body with a decomposing corpse to realize: "This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate."

Mindfulness of Feelings

Contemplating feelings as pleasant, painful, or neither-painful-nor-pleasant, and distinguishing them as "worldly" or "unworldly."

Mindfulness of Mind (Citta)

Observing the state of the mind to see if it is affected by lust, hate, or delusion, or if it is concentrated or scattered.

Mindfulness of Mind-Objects (Dharmas)

Contemplating categories of phenomena, specifically: the Five Hindrances, the Five Aggregates, the Six Sense Bases, the Seven Enlightenment Factors, and the Four Noble Truths.

Sati

The Pali word for "mindfulness" (Sanskrit: smriti); it literally means "memory" but in meditation refers to the awareness that ties the mind to the object of focus.

Bhavana

The Sanskrit/Pali term often translated as "meditation," which literally means "cultivation" or "causing to be."

Passage ID: "Bhikkhus, this is the direct path…"

Text: Satipatthana Sutta (The Discourse on the Establishment of Mindfulness); Speaker: The Buddha.

Passage ID: "Thereupon the affluent man thought: this house is already engulfed in flames…"

Text: The Lotus Sutra (Parable of the Burning House); Speaker: The Father (symbolizing the Buddha) using "skillful means."

Passage ID: "Love resides not in learning… that is not the lovers' path"

Text: Sufi Poetry (referencing the madhhab-e ‘ishq or School of Love); likely Rumi or Hafez.

Passage ID: "I see a type of ‘spiritual colonialism’ at work here…"

Refers to the erasure of Islamic context from Sufi translations (like Rumi), occuping a spiritual landscape lived by Muslims to make it palatable for Western audiences.

Orientalism and Sufism (Carl Ernst)

The trend in 18th/19th-century scholarship to define Sufism as having no intrinsic relation to Islam, often attributing its origins to Aryan or Christian influences to separate "mystical beauty" from perceived "Semitic legalism."

The Four Sights

The four things Siddhartha Gautama saw when leaving the palace: 1. An old man, 2. A sick man, 3. A corpse, 4. An ascetic (monk). These inspired him to seek a solution to suffering.

The Four Noble Truths

1. Suffering exists (Dukkha), 2. The cause of suffering is craving (Samudaya), 3. Suffering can cease (Nirodha), 4. The path to cessation is the Eightfold Path (Magga).

Madhhab-e ‘ishq (School of Love)

A Sufi concept emphasized by poets like Rumi and Hafez, asserting that love (rather than legalism or intellect) is the essential path to the Divine.

Shams of Tabriz

The wandering dervish and spiritual mentor of Rumi; their intense, exclusive spiritual bond inspired Rumi's poetry and is sometimes viewed as controversial.

Engaged Buddhism

A term coined by Thich Nhat Hanh during the Vietnam War; it refers to the decision to leave the isolation of the monastery to actively engage with the suffering of people in the streets through nonviolent action.

Interbeing

Thich Nhat Hanh’s concept of deep interconnectedness; in the context of racial justice, it means that "when a Black person is able to obtain justice and peace, all people are going to benefit" because no one is separate from another.

"No Mud, No Lotus"

A phrase used by Thich Nhat Hanh meaning that suffering (mud) is necessary to generate happiness and beauty (lotus); suffering contains the "seeds of joy."

Spiritual Materialism

A critique of how mindfulness is often sold in the U.S. as a tool for personal gain (e.g., better focus to get a promotion or buy a car) rather than its original purpose of ethics and pro-social good.

Metta

"Loving-kindness" meditation; a practice where one cultivates friendship/love progressively for oneself, loved ones, strangers, enemies, and finally all beings.

Thich Nhat Hanh and MLK Jr.

Two leaders united by a "spiritual friendship" and a passion for nonviolent liberation; Dr. King nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, and they viewed their political work (Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War) as inseparable from their moral/spiritual concerns.

"Are You Sure?"

A phrase/calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh used as a practice to loosen attachment to fixed views and assumptions, allowing for flexibility and compassion.

Taking Refuge

In the context of social upheaval, Valerie Brown defines this not as escaping reality, but as recognizing the present moment ("I am alive, I can make a difference") and relying on the ethical foundation of mindfulness to create a more peaceful society.

Handling Anger (Storehouse of Seeds)

The Buddhist concept that the mind contains seeds of both anger and compassion; the practice involves recognizing when the seed of anger is watered/activated, calming it with breath, and not suppressing it but caring for the energy so it doesn't lead to violence.

Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarika)

A seminal Mahayana Buddhist text that presents the doctrine of the "One Vehicle" (Ekayana) and the concept of "skillful means" (upaya). It claims to be the final, highest teaching of the Buddha, superseding previous teachings.

Mahayana

Meaning "Great Vehicle," this movement in Buddhism emphasizes the path of the bodhisattva (who seeks enlightenment for all beings) over the path of the arhat (who seeks individual liberation). The Lotus Sutra is a key text of this tradition.

Skillful Means (Upayakaushalya)

The concept that the Buddha adapts his teachings to the capacity and needs of his audience. In the Lotus Sutra, this explains why he taught three different vehicles (paths) earlier but is now revealing they are actually just one.

Parable of the Burning House

A famous allegory in Chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra. A father (the Buddha) lures his distracted children (sentient beings) out of a burning house (samsara) by promising them three different types of carts (three vehicles), only to give them all a single, magnificent white ox cart (the One Vehicle) once they are safe.

Symbolism: The Burning House

Represents the "triple world" or samsara (the cycle of birth and death), which is "engulfed in flames" of suffering, old age, sickness, and the "three poisons" (greed, hatred, ignorance).

Symbolism: The Father

Represents the Buddha, who uses his wisdom and skillful means to save sentient beings from the dangers of the world.

Symbolism: The Children

Represent all sentient beings, who are ignorant of the dangers of samsara and attached to worldly pleasures (their "games").

Three Vehicles (in the Parable)

Represented by the carts yoked to a sheep (Shravaka/listener), a deer (Pratyekabuddha/solitary realizer), and an ox (Bodhisattva). The Buddha used these distinctions as a lure but ultimately provides only the "Great Vehicle."

Ekayana (One Vehicle)

The central doctrine of the Lotus Sutra that there is ultimately only one path to enlightenment—the Buddha vehicle—and that the distinction between the three vehicles was merely a provisional teaching (skillful means).

Shariputra

The Buddha's wisest disciple in the mainstream tradition. In the Lotus Sutra, he admits he previously felt "deprived" of the full Buddha-wisdom but rejoices upon learning that he too will become a Buddha, demonstrating that Arhats are not at a dead end.

Passage ID: "Thereupon the affluent man thought…"

Text: The Lotus Sutra (Parable of the Burning House); Speaker: The narrator (describing the father's thoughts, representing the Buddha).