Teaching Comparative Religion Through Art and Architecture
 
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Working Glossary for Life of Buddha (orias)
People and Place | Concepts 
People and Places

Ananda: Buddha's closest disciple who prepares Buddha's last resting place and later relates the sutras (Buddhist canon)

Buddha's names:

Sumedha: early life of Buddha as an ascetic
Siddhartha: name of Buddha as prince before he acheives enlightenment
Gautama: Siddhartha's family name
Buddha Shakyamuni: Enlightened Buddha (see Shakya)
Tathagata("thus come") a term for the Buddha bodhisattva: In its earliest definition this is a being seeking Buddhahood. Later in comes to mean a being destined for Buddhahood who defers personal Enlightenment in order to help other sentient being on the path. In our story we refer to the Buddha as "Siddhartha" when he is a prince, "Bodhisattva" when he decides to pursue the path to Enlightenment, and "Buddha" once he as attained Enlightenment.

buddha: an enlightened being. There were buddha's before and after the Buddha (such as Dipamkara).

Chandaka: Siddhartha's charioteer

Devadatta: Buddha's cousin and disciple who plots to kill the Buddha by loosing the elephant Nalagiri.

Dipamkara: A buddha encountered by Sumedha (an earlier incarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni).  See notes on Dipamkara and a Nepalese image at Patan Museum site (http://www.asianart.com/patan-museum/e4.html).

Kapilavastu: Prince Siddhartha's kingdom

Kashyapa: 3 brahmin brothers who lead an order of ascetics who worship the Hindu fire god, Agni

Khsatriya: Caste of warriors/rulers into which Siddhartha was born.

Kushinagara: small village where Buddha dies

Lumbini: the garden where the Buddha was born; near the ancient city of Kapilavastu

Mahaprajapati: Siddhartha's maternal aunt who raises him after his own mother (Maya) dies.

Mara: ("bringer of death") demon who harasses the Buddha at the Bodhi Tree

Maya: Siddhartha's mother

naga: "divine serpent"; Venemous divine serpent of the fire-cult subdued by the Buddha (see Kashyapa).

Nirvana: "extinction"; The ultimate Buddhist goal of obtaining peace by extinguishing the illusion of ego and desire

Nalagiri: Raging elephant calmed by the Buddha

Rahula: Siddhartha's son

Sahampati: ("mighty lord") the god Brahma

sangha: a Buddhist community of monks

Shakya: Name of Siddhartha's clan

Shuddhodana: Siddhartha's father

stupa: A structure built to contain holy relics (formed in the shape of a large mound)
(Barabudur. View of the terminal stupa as seen from the plateau. Photo by Louise Yuhas.  See other images of this site (and other information on stupas) at http://www.buddhanet.net/boro.htm)

Subhadda: last person to be accepted into the Buddha's Order.

Tusita: Heaven of the Contented

Uruvela-Kashyapa: Hermitage of the fire-cult where Buddha subdues Naga and delivers the Fire Sermon

Yashodhara: Siddhartha's wife
 
 
Concepts

Four Noble Truths: 1)Life is full of suffering, 2)Suffering is caused by attachment, 3) Abandoning attachment brings release from suffering, 4)Release can be achieved through practicing the 8-fold path

dharma: divine law underlying reality; Buddhist doctrine of the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path.

dhyana: a state of mind acheived by meditation

Eight Fold Path: Eight teachings of Buddha that lead to the end of desire and suffering.

  1. Right opinion
  2. Right intentions
  3. Right speech
  4. Right conduct
  5. Right livelihood
  6. Right effort
  7. Right mindfulness
  8. Right concentration


Ten Perfections:   Charity, Morality, Forbearance, Effort, Meditation, Wisdom (to discern inner principal of things), Expedient Means (ability to convert sentient beings to true teaching), Vow (to attain enlightenment), Powers (personal occult/spiritual), Omniscience

32 Marks of the Great Man: A pan-Asiatic belief in physical marks that signify a person's spiritual destiny. There is a discussion of some of the phyical marks of the Buddha at http://www.buddhanet.net/budart.htm

Useful online introduction to Buddhism with text & illustrations by John C. Huntington.
Illustrated Life of Buddha

 
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