The Indian Background; The Story of the Buddha; Buddhist Scriptures, Councils and Schools

Indus Valley Civilization

2600 BCE to 1900 BCE, upper Indus river, collapsed very slowly from overuse of land, large tanks and bricks

Harappa (Mohenjo-daro)

Two major city centers of the Indus Valley Civilization; Mohenjo-daro = city of the dead

Siva

Known as a god in later Hinduism, associated with a triton and animals, depicted in forests, erect penis

Dravidian

Tamil, Telugu, Kannada

Indo-European

First language speakers in 4000 BCE (Greek, Roman German, Czech, Indo-Iranian)

Indo-Aryan

Sub-branch of indo-european (Sanskrit, Vedic-sanskrit, Hindu, Avestan)

Sanskrit

An ancient and classical Indo-Aryan language, systematized by Panini from the 6th to the 4th century BCE

Pali

Sacred language used to write the scriptures and teachings of Theravada Buddhism

Prakit

Magadhi, Pali

Vedas

“Knowledge”, “Wisdom”, an ancient collection of texts in Sanskrit, formed the foundational scriptures of Hinduism, literature of the Brahmanism

Upanishads

Added commentary to the Vedas, focused on internal sacrifice

Sruti

Heard

Smrti

Remembered

Agni

The fire god, terrestrial god, transports to the celestial world

Mantra

You, O, Agni, Are Indra, constitutive productive power of speech

Soma

“Creator of the Gods”, hallucinogen, played with different levels of consciousness

Brahman

The supreme, formless spiritual reality of the universe

Brahmanism

Brahman, reincarnation, moksha,

Brahma

Hindu god of creation

Sramana

Rejected the authority of the Vedas

Samsara

Endless rounds of life and death

Rebirth

Being born multiple times

Karma

Cause and effect that drives your rebirth, action

Moksa

Liberation, release, happens at death, end of samsara

Renunciation

Leaving behind material comforts and worldly desires

Ascenticism

A lifestyle of strict self-discipline and abstention from pleasures

Internalization of the sacrifice

Powerful rejection of the vedas, inner spiritual acts of self control and moral purification

Yoga

Any kind of religious practice

Siddhartha Gautama

The Buddha, “The Awakened One”, Bodhi Tree

Sakyamuni

The Buddha, identified by his ancestral tribe and his spiritual status

Queen Maya

The Buddha’s mother

Mara

Satan, those who give in are trapped in the cycle of suffering, (temptation, delusion, death, desire, hunger, etc.)

Two bodies of a buddha

Rupakaya (physical body), Dharmakya (truth body, represents profound wisdom and ultimate reality)

First council

500 arhats took place in a communal recitation in Rajagaha

Anada

A primary disciple of Buddha, his cousin

Tripitaka

Discipline, discourse, further dharma (abhidharma)

Sutra/sutta

Authoritative brahmanical texts consisting of a string of terse, aphoristic verses in which a pupil might memorize and a teacher might take as the bases for exposition; always begins with “Thus have I heard. At one time the lord was staying at…”

Vinaya

Prescriptions for the lifestyle of the Buddhist monk

Abdhidharma

Further or higher dharma

Sariputra

One of the top disciples of Buddha

Ajatasattu

King of Haryanka dynasty, Magadha, sponsored the first buddhist council, exhibited support for buddhism

Asoka (304-232 BCE)

Ruler of Magadha, lived 200 years after Buddha, changed from a harsh conqueror to a peaceful leader, helped spread Buddhism globally