by Red Pine
masteries . The Sanskrit is bala. Usually five of these are listed: faith, effort, mindfulness, meditation and wisdom.
materialist . The Sanskrit is lokayata or lokayatika. This term included all those whose approach to knowledge was based on the five senses.
Meghavarna (fl. A.D. 350) . Ruler of Lanka when this sutra was written.
Mi-t’uo-shan (fl. 700) . Tokharin monk who refined Shikshananda’s draft translation of the Lankavatara. His Chinese name was Chi-yu
mind and what belongs to mind . The Sanskrit is citta-caitta-kalapa. This refers to the mind in general and all its possible states, functions and attributes.
Mount Kailash . A sacred peak in the Himalayas and a center of pilgrimage.
Mount Malaya . Mountain on the island of Lanka that provides the setting for the Lankavatara Sutra.
Mount Sumeru . Also known as Mount Meru, this peak occupies the center of the Buddhist universe.
Nagarjuna (fl. 175–200 A.D.) . Indian philosopher-monk who laid the foundation for the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism through his teaching of Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) based on the emptiness of the self-existence of all things.
Nan Huai-chin/Nan Huaijin (1918–) . Zen Buddhist teacher and lay practitioner whose books have been influential in renewing the interest in spiritual practice in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
Nanhai . Ancient name for the seaport of Kuangchou (Canton).
Nanjio, Bunyiu (1849–1927) . Japanese Buddhist scholar responsible for the recension of the Sanskrit text of the Lankavatara used by D.T. Suzuki for his translation.
nirodha . Extinction or cessation. It is used in the Lanka to describe one of the two kinds of cessation of thought.
nirmana-kaya . The apparition body manifested by a buddha for use in teaching others.
nirmita-nirmana buddha . This term, apparently unique to the Lankavatara, refers to a buddha who teaches the Dharma. An apparition or incarnation buddha. Later Buddhists settled on the term nirmana-kaya.
nirvana . The goal of early Buddhists, variously described but always in a way that includes the cessation of suffering and no further rebirth.
Nirvana Sutra . A major scripture of Mahayana Buddhism composed in stages between the second and third centuries, it includes one of the earliest presentations of such concepts as the tathagata-garbha and the buddha-nature.
nishyanda buddha . This term, also unique to the Lankavatara, refers to those buddhas created by the dharmata buddha who radiate light and perfect the worlds in which beings dwell and who lead practitioners to Akanishtha Heaven. Similar to what was later called a buddha’s sambhoga-kaya, or reward body.
nonanalytic cessation . The Sanskrit is apratisamkhya-nirodha. This is one of the two types of cessation of thought recognized by the Sarvastivadins and one of the six uncreated dharmas of the Yogacarins.
non-dharma . The Sanskrit is adharma. This term is used in Chapter One to refer to imaginary things. Names with no corresponding reality.
Northern Liang . Dynastic state that controlled various parts of the Kansu Corridor 397–439.
Northern Wei Dynastic state that controlled much of North China 386–534.
Nyaya . This term refers to logicians in general but especially to those who belonged to the school of this name that developed on the basis of a set of texts written in the second century.
one path . This refers to the teaching of personal realization.
Paramartha (499–569) . An Indian monk who translated a number of Yogacara texts and whose interpretations of their meaning were opposed by those of Hsuan-tsang.
paramitas . Referring to six paramitas, or means to the other shore, which include charity, morality, forbearance, vigor, meditation and wisdom, to which skillful means, vows, strength, and knowledge were later added to make ten.
perceptions of one’s own mind . The Sanskrit is sva-citta-drshya. An expression that occurs repeatedly throughout the Lanka to point out that whatever we see is a product of our own mind and that the categories of such perception are self-generated.
perfected reality . The Sanskrit is parinishpanna-svabhava. One of the three modes of reality, this refers to seeing what is truly so. It also corresponds to the last two of the five dharmas, namely, the correct knowledge of suchness. In the snake-rope analogy, it is seeing both snake and rope as (mis)perceptions of one’s own mind.
personal realization of buddha knowledge . The Sanskrit is sva-pratyatma-arya-jnana.
Pingcheng . Ancient city ofTatung/Datong in North China.
Platform Sutra . The record of the Zen teaching of Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch of Zen.
prajna . Sanskrit for “wisdom.”
Prajnaparamita . This is the name for the teaching of emptiness from which Mahayana Buddhism took its rise. The name means “transcendent wisdom” or “the wisdom that leads to the other shore.”
prajnapti-matra . This is the concept around which the Yogacara turns, that whatever we might say exists only exists as a verbal convention or designation. What is real cannot be designated or indicated, because it would include the finger and the one doing the pointing.
pratyatma-gati . Personal or self-realization.
pratyeka-buddhas . One of the two categories of Hinayana Buddhists. They are devoted to self-liberation and the attainment of nirvana as opposed to the liberation of others and the attainment of enlightenment, which characterize Mahayana Buddhism.
pretas . Hungry ghosts. One of the five or six categories of rebirth.
projection . This is my translation of Gunabhadra’s wang-hsiang (false-conception), which is his translation of such Sanskrit terms as vikalpa, parikalpa, kalpana and so on, all of which are derived from the root klp and have to do with imagining something that is not actually there.
projection body . The Sanskrit is mano-maya-kaya. This refers to any of the three bodies that are projected at will during samadhi.
projectionless . The Sanskrit is nirabhasa, which means “no false appearance”but also “not within range.”Usually, the first meaning has been emphasized by translators, who have tended to render it as “imageless.” However, the image or false appearance as understood in the Lanka is a self-generated projection and not something external.
Purusha . According to early Indian epics, the god who created the world out of his body.
Queen Shrimala . She was the daughter of King Prasenajit and Queen Mallika of Kosala. In a sutra named after her, she explains the tathagatagarbha as possessing two states: empty or not empty, pure or impure. This short but influential text was translated by Gunabhadra in 436.
rakshasas . Among the ancient tribes of India. They are often linked with the yakshas, both of which are demonized in early Indian epics.
Ravana . The ten-headed king of Lanka. His name means “He of the Terrifying Roar,” referring to his screams of agony while pinned under a mountain by Shiva. He is still reviled in India for his abduction of the wife of Rama.
realm of desire . One of the three realms.
realm of form . One of the three realms.
repository consciousness . The Sanskrit is alaya-vijnana. This is conceived of as the receptacle that contains whatever remains from our projections, whether they consist of thoughts, words or deeds. As such, it is also conceived of as a seedbed from which our subsequent projections arise. In its undifferentiated state, it is known as the tathagata-garbha, or womb of buddhas.
rishis . Recluses or ascetics.
Sagara . One of eight serpent kings of ancient India.
Sagathakam . Collection of 884 short four-line verses of mixed origin (208 of which also appear in the Lanka) appended to the end of the Lankavatara as early as the sixth century.
sakrid-agamin . One of the four fruits of the Hinayana path, this refers to those who will be reborn once more as humans in the realm of desire, after which they attain liberation in one of the heavens of the realm of form.
samadhi . Another name for meditation, especially w
hen it involves the non-discrimination of subject and object.
Samadhi of Cessation . The Sanskrit is nirodha-samapatti. This samadhi in which sensation and perception cease is characteristic of the sixth stage of the bodhisattva path. Hinayana practitioners interpret this as nirvana. However, Mahayana practitioners see it as transitional.
Samadhi of the Illusory . The Sanskrit is maya-upama-samadhi. This is a samadhi in which one acquires an illusory body, hence the name. Then illusory body that accompanies this samadhi is one of the three projection bodies.
samapatti . Another name for meditation, especially the four formless meditations.
sameness, difference, both, neither . The tetralemma or list of all possible outcomes.
Samkhya . The name of one of six prominent Hindu sects whose members believed in the constituent qualities or tendencies (gunas) of creation, statis, and destruction that combined to form reality.
samsara . Birth and death, the counterpart of nirvana.
Samudragupta (r. 335–375 B.C.) . Ruler of Central India when this sutra was written.
Samyuktagama . Collection of sutras on topics of meditation belonging to the Sarvastivadins. It was translated into Chinese by Gunabhadra.
Sandhinirmonacana Sutra . Early Yogacara text discussing the nature of consciousness and the meditations whereby enlightenment is attained. There is an English translation with the title: Wisdom of the Buddha.
sangha .The Buddhist spiritual community, both lay and monastic, which can be further characterized by the dominant form of practice: Zen, Pure Land, Tantric, Vipassana.
Sanmin Shuchu/Sanmin Shuju . Bookstore in Taipei on Chungching South Road.
Sarvastivadins . Major sect of Hinayana Buddhism during the first centuries of the first millennium in North and Northwest India. Its members believed in an underlying substance that survived change.
self and what belongs to a self . Other schools located the self in the skandha of consciousness and what belongs to the self in the remaining four skandhas.
self-existence . The Sanskrit is sva-bhava. The existence of something on its own and not dependent on anything else.
self-realization of buddha knowledge . The Sanskrit is sva-pratyatma-arya-jnana. The personal experience of what buddhas know.
Seng-ts’an (519–606) . Third Patriarch of Zen in China.
serpent king . The Sanskrit is naga-raja. In ancient India, as in other early civilizations, serpents were viewed as guardians of knowledge. Several deities are identified with this title in India.
Shakra (aka Indra) . Chief among gods.
Shakyamuni . Meaning “Sage of the Shakyas,” the Shakyas being the clan into which the Buddha was born.
Shaolin Monastery . Buddhist monastery at the foot of the Lesser Peak of Mount Sungshan near Loyang.
Shen-hsiu/Shenxiu (606–706) . Disciple of Hung-jen, Zen’s Fifth Patriarch, and considered by the Northern School of Zen as the rightful Sixth Patriarch.
Shikshananda (652–710) A Khotanese monk who translated the Lankavatara Sutra between 698 and 700 A.D. in Loyang.
shravakas . One of two categories of Hinayana Buddhists devoted to self-liberation and the attainment of nirvana, as opposed to the liberation of all beings and the attainment of enlightenment that characterizes Mahayana Buddhism.
siddhanta . This refers to “spiritual proofs,” and in such cases I have translated the word as “attainments.”Normally, siddhanta refers to a conclusion established as the result of inquiry or logic, but in this sutra it refers to a conclusion based on spiritual insight rather than logic.
six samadhis . Meditations aimed at attaining the six higher powers.
skandhas . These refer to the constituents that comprise what is thought of as the individual. They include form (external), sensation, perception, memory and consciousness (internal).
skillful means . The Sanskrit is upaya. This is seen as the counterpart of compassion: to use whatever means are appropriate to help others. It is also listed as the seventh paramita, or perfection.
srota-apanna . The first of the four Hinayana categories of attainment. it means to “reach the river,” the river of impermanence.
Stonehouse (1272–1352) . Reclusive Zen poet-monk of China.
suchness . The Sanskrit is tathata. Reality.
sugata . Another epithet of buddhas, it means “well gone.”
Sungshan/Songshan .The central member among China’s five sacred mountains.
Supplement to the Tripitaka . Compilation of Buddhist texts completed in 1915 in Japan that includes scriptures and commentaries not part of the earlier versions of the Tripitaka.
Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro . Japanese scholar and translator of Buddhist texts, especially those concerned with Zen. His translation of the Sanskrit version of the Lankavatara into English was published in 1932.
sva-bhava . What exists by itself. Hence, the essential building block of any conception of reality, be it imagined, dependent or perfected.
sva-citta-dryshya-matra . Sanskrit for “nothing but the perceptions of one’s own mind.”
sva-pratyatma arya-jnana . Sanskrit for “the self-realization of buddha knowledge.”
swastika . This ancient symbol of unknown origin is also referred to as a shrivatsa. It often appears as a white curl in the middle of the chest of a buddha or one of the Hindu gods, such as Vishnu.
T’ai-hsu/Taixu (1890–1947) . Scholar-monk who devoted himself to revitalizing and reforming Chinese Buddhism in the early twentieth century.
Taipei/Taibei . Capital of Taiwan.
Taisho (Revised) Tripitaka . This edition of the Mahayana Buddhist Canon was published in Japan between 1924 and 1934 and remains the primary reference source for Chinese Buddhist sutras.
Tanyang/Danyang . City near Nanching.
Tao-hsin/Daoxin (580–651) . Fourth Patriarch of Zen in China and responsible for establishing the first Zen monastery.
T’an-lin (506–574) . Chinese disciple of Bodhidharma.
Tao-hsuan/Daoxuan (596–667) . Scholar monk and founder of the Precept School of Chinese Buddhism. Among the works he produced, the most famous is the Hsukaosengchuan, which was a collection of biographies of nearly five hundred monks who were active from 502 to 645.
tathagata . One of several Sanskrit terms used to refer to a buddha. It means “to come/go in suchness.”
tathagata stage . The Sanskrit is tathagata–bhumi. This is another name for the tenth and final stage of the bodhisattva path.
tathagata–garbha . This Sanskrit term means “womb of buddhas.” In the Lankavatara, it is treated as the same as the alaya-vijnana (repository consciousness), two sides of the same coin. But it is the alaya-vijnana transformed and free of projections. Elsewhere, it is linked with the dharma body: hidden, it’s the tathagata-garbha, visible, it’s the dharma body. Ultimately, though, it is a palliative for those terrified by the idea of no self.
Te-ch’ing/Deqing (1546–1623) . Chinese scholar-monk and major figure in the renaissance of Zen in China during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
ten inexhaustible vows . Aimed at liberating all beings, they begin with: “If beings are inexhaustible, my vow is inexhaustible.”The same vow is then applied to worlds, space, the realm of reality, nirvana, the appearances of buddhas, the knowledge of a tathagata, the objects of the mind, the realms entered by buddha knowledge, and the knowledge that turns the wheel of the dharma.
