Glossary

Key: Sanskrit or English/Korean/Chinese

Amitabha/Amita/Amituo: literally, “Infinite Light”; the Buddha of the Western Paradise. Widely revered in Mahayana Buddhist traditions, Amitabha enables his followers to be reborn into his paradise and attain Buddhahood in one lifetime.

Ananda/Anan[da]/Anan[tuo]: literally, “Blissful”; a cousin and chief disciple of the Historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. Ananda remembered every word spoken by the Buddha and recounted them to the monks, who then recorded the Buddha’s teachings in sutras.

arhat/nahan/luohan: literally, “worthy one”; a disciple of Buddha Shakyamuni who has attained enlightenment. Arhats are typically represented as monks. In East Asia, they are often depicted with exaggerated features and expressions.

Avalokiteshvara/Gwaneum/Guanyin: literally, “Lord who Looks Down [from on High]”; the widely worshiped bodhisattva of compassion who protects and saves all beings. The Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, one manifestation of the deity, shows the bodhisattva lost in thought, looking at the moon reflected on the water. The bodhisattva is seated on the rocks near the water’s edge with a background of bamboos on Mount Potalaka. This imagery is based on the chapter “Entry into the Realm of Reality” in the Flower Garland Sutra.

bodhisattva/bosal/pusa: literally, “enlightenment being”; a person who, inspired by compassion, vows to become a Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Brahma/Beomcheon/Fantian: a Hindu god who was incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon as a guardian of teachings.

Buddha/Bucheo/Fo: literally, “Awakened One”; a being who has awakened to the true reality of existence and is thereby liberated from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. A Buddha teaches others the path to enlightenment.

Dharma/Bulbeop/Fofa: a term of unique importance in Indian culture that has several meanings. In Buddhism, it refers to the Buddha’s teachings or doctrines.

Enlightenment/Bori/Puti: a common English translation of the Sanskrit term “bodhi,” which more literally means “awakening.”

Indra/Jeseokcheon/Dishitian: an Indian god who was adopted into the Buddhist pantheon as a protector of dharma.

Karma/Eop/Ye: literally, “action”; the cumulative effect of all good and bad actions that a being performs over many lifetimes, determining his or her future suffering, happiness, and favorable or rebirths.

Kshitigarbha/Jijang/Dizang: a bodhisattva particularly popular in East Asia, venerated for his ability to aid those reborn in hells.

kundika/jeongbyeong/jingping: a vessel originally used by monks and nuns for holding water, which later became a ritual object for purification in Buddhist ceremonies. In East Asian Buddhist art, the kundika is primarily represented as an attribute of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Mahasthamaprapta/[Dae]seji/[Da]shizhi: literally, “One who Has Attained Great Power”; a bodhisattva who appears primarily as an attendant of the Buddha Amitabha alongside the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. His iconographic symbol is a small kundika bottle in his crown.

Mahayana/Daeseung/Dacheng: literally, “Great Vehicle”; a major Buddhist movement that emerged sometime before the second century CE and produced a large body of sacred texts. Encompassing several schools of practice, Mahayana encourages practitioners to follow the bodhisattva path and strive to become Buddhas.

Maitreya/Mireuk/Mile: literally, “the Benevolent One”, the bodhisattva currently waiting, in Tushita Heaven, to descend to Earth and become the next Buddha. He is therefore known as the Future Buddha.

mudra/suin/shouin: most commonly, a hand gesture with a consistent meaning, made during Buddhist ritual practice or depicted in Buddhist images.

Pure land/Jeongto/Jingtu: the purified realm of a Buddha; an auspicious place in which to be reborn.

Seon/Chan: literally, “School of Mediation”; a form of Mahayana Buddhism that was established in China and traces its origins to the legendary fifth-century Indian teacher Bodhidharma. It is famous for emphasizing distinctive meditative techniques and for transmitting teaching from master to student instead of relying on sutras.

Sudhana/Seonjae dongja/Shancai tongzi: Translated as a child of wealth, Sudhana is the protagonist of a chapter in the Flower Garland Sutra. On the instructions of the bodhisattva Manjushri, he takes on a journey to visit fifty-three virtuous masters in search of enlightenment. (The depiction of Sudhana in the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara painting shows the encounter between the young pilgrim and the deity during his pilgrimage.)

Sutra of the Perfect Enlightenment/Wongak gyeong/Yuanjue jing: The scripture, purportedly translated by Buddhatrata in 693, is now widely recognized as a Chinese apocryphon. In the sutra, twelve bodhisattvas including Manjushri receive teachings on how to attain a pure state perfect enlightenment through a series of discussion with the Buddha. The sutra was influential within the meditation schools of East Asia.

Tejaprabha/Chiseonggwang/Chishengguang: literally, “Blazing Light”; a personified Buddha of the Pole Star who oversees the planets and constellations.

Ten Kings of Hell/Siwang/Shiwang: the judges of the deceased in the underworld. The first seven kings in turn evaluate the deceased every seventh day for the first forty-nine days after death. The remaining three kings evaluate the deceased on the one-hundredth day, the first anniversary, and the third anniversary of the death.

Vairochana/Birojana/Pilushena: literally, “Resplendent”; one of the five primary buddhas, considered in some traditions to be the cosmic Buddha. He is significant in both the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, particularly in East Asia.

Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara/Suwol Gwaneum/Shuiyue guanyin: See Avalokiteshvara.

Western Paradise/Seobang jeongto/Xifang jingtu: known in Sanskrit as Sukhavati; the Pure Land of Buddha Amitabha. Although many pure lands are described in Buddhist sutras, the Western Paradise is the most famous and is known as an auspicious place in which to be reborn.