1.
Vegetarianism
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Vegetarianism /vɛdʒɪˈtɛəriənɪzəm/ is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat, and may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may be adopted for various reasons, many people object to eating meat out of respect for sentient life. Such ethical motivations have been codified under various religious beliefs, as well as animal rights advocacy, other motivations for vegetarianism are health-related, political, environmental, cultural, aesthetic, economic, or personal preference. A vegan diet excludes all animal products, including eggs and dairy, some vegans also avoid other animal products such as beeswax, leather or silk clothing, and goose-fat shoe polish. Often, prior to purchase or consumption, vegetarians will scrutinize products for animal-derived ingredients, vegetarians feelings vary with regard to these ingredients. Semi-vegetarian diets consist largely of vegetarian foods but may include fish or poultry, or sometimes other meats and those with diets containing fish or poultry may define meat only as mammalian flesh and may identify with vegetarianism. A pescetarian diet has been described as fish but no other meat, the term vegetarian has been in use since 1839 to refer to what was previously described as a vegetable diet. The word is believed to be a compound of vegetable. The term was popularized with the foundation of the Vegetarian Society in Manchester, the earliest occurrences of the term seem to be related to Alcott House, a school on the north side of Ham Common, London, opened in July 1838 by James Pierrepont Greaves. The earliest record of vegetarianism comes from Indus Valley Civilization as early as the 7th century BCE, in the Indian culture, the diet was closely connected with the attitude of nonviolence towards animals and was promoted by religious groups and philosophers. The ancient Indian work of Tirukkural explicitly and unambiguously emphasizes vegetarianism, chapter 26 of the Tirukkural, through couplets 251 to 260, deals exclusively on vegetarianism or veganism. Among the Hellenes, Egyptians and others, it had medical or ritual purification purposes and those nanny goats, ewes and sows which are with young or giving milk to their young are protected, and so are young ones less than six months old. Cocks are not to be caponized, husks hiding living beings are not to be burnt, one animal is not to be fed to another. —Edicts of Ashoka, Fifth Pillar Following the Christianization of the Roman Empire in late antiquity, vegetarianism practically disappeared from Europe, as it did on other continents, except India. Several orders of monks in medieval Europe restricted or banned the consumption of meat for ascetic reasons and it re-emerged during the Renaissance, becoming more widespread in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1847, the first Vegetarian Society was founded in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, in 1886, the vegetarian colony Nueva Germania was founded in Paraguay, though its vegetarian aspect would prove short-lived. The International Vegetarian Union, an association of the societies, was founded in 1908. In the Western world, the popularity of vegetarianism grew during the century as a result of nutritional, ethical
2.
Gautama Buddha
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Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region and he later taught throughout other regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala. Gautama is the figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as a teacher who attained full Buddhahood. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death, various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the facts of the Buddhas life. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddhas lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism. Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought, thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time. The times of Gautamas birth and death are uncertain, most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet accepted by all historians. It was either a republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, no written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, another one of his edicts mentions the titles of several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon and they are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different and these include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, a poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE, the Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE
3.
Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
4.
Schools of Buddhism
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Schools of Buddhism refers to the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism that have existed from ancient times up to the present. That have made up or currently make up the whole of Buddhist traditions, the sectarian and conceptual divisions of Buddhist thought are part of the modern framework of Buddhist studies, as well as comparative religion in Asia. The most common classification among scholars is threefold, with Mahāyāna itself split between the traditional Mahāyāna teachings, and the Vajrayāna teachings which emphasize esotericism, Vajrayāna, primarily in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia and the Russian republic of Kalmykia. The following terms may be encountered in descriptions of the major Buddhist divisions, Ekayāna Mahayana texts such as the Lotus Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra sought to unite all the different teachings into a single great way. These texts serve as the inspiration for using the term Ekayāna in the sense of one vehicle and this one vehicle became a key aspect of the doctrines and practices of Tiantai and Tendai Buddhist sects, which subsequently influenced Chán and Zen doctrines and practices. In Japan, the teaching of the Lotus Sutra also inspired the formation of the Nichiren sect. Esoteric Buddhism usually considered synonymous with Vajrayāna, some scholars have applied the term to certain practices found within the Theravāda, particularly in Cambodia. It is considered a term when applied by the Mahāyāna to mistakenly refer to the Theravāda school. Moreover, Hīnayāna refers to the now non extant schools with limited set of views, practices and results and its use in scholarly publications is now also considered controversial. Lamaism an old term, still used, synonymous with Tibetan Buddhism. Mahāyāna a movement that emerged from early Buddhist schools, together with its later descendants, Vajrayāna traditions are sometimes listed separately. The main use of the term in East Asian and Tibetan traditions is in reference to spiritual levels, mainstream Buddhism a term used by some scholars for the early Buddhist schools. Mantrayāna usually considered synonymous with Vajrayāna, the Tendai school in Japan has been described as influenced by Mantrayana. Newar Buddhism a non-monastic, caste based Buddhism with patrilineal descent, nikāya Buddhism or schools an alternative term for the early Buddhist schools. Non-Mahāyāna an alternative term for the early Buddhist schools, northern Buddhism an alternative term used by some scholars for Tibetan Buddhism. Also, a term still sometimes used to encompass both East Asian and Tibetan traditions. It has even used to refer to East Asian Buddhism alone. Secret Mantra an alternative rendering of Mantrayāna, a literal translation of the term used by schools in Tibetan Buddhism when referring to themselves
5.
Theravada
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Theravāda is a branch of Buddhism that uses the Buddhas teaching preserved in the Pāli Canon as its doctrinal core. The Pali canon is the only complete Buddhist canon which survives in a classical Indic Language, Pali, another feature of Theravada is that it tends to be very conservative about matters of doctrine and monastic discipline. As a distinct sect, Theravada Buddhism developed in Sri Lanka, Theravada also includes a rich diversity of traditions and practices that have developed over its long history of interactions with varying cultures and religious communities. It is the dominant form of religion in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is practiced by minority groups in Bangladesh, China, Nepal, and Vietnam. In addition, the diaspora of all of these groups as well as converts around the world practice Theravāda Buddhism, contemporary expressions include Buddhist modernism, the Vipassana movement and the Thai Forest Tradition. The name Theravāda comes from the ancestral Sthāvirīya, one of the early Buddhist schools, according to its own accounts, the Theravāda school is fundamentally derived from the Vibhajjavāda doctrine of analysis grouping, which was a division of the Sthāvirīya. Significantly, the Sthāviras in turn comprise three sub-nikāyas, the Jetavanīyas, the Abhayagirivāsins, and the Mahāvihāravāsins, according to Damien Keown, there is no historical evidence that the Theravāda school arose until around two centuries after the Great Schism which occurred at the Third Council. These teachings were known as the Vibhajjavada, emperor Ashoka is supposed to have assisted in purifying the sangha by expelling monks who failed to agree to the terms of Third Council. The elder monk Moggaliputta-Tissa was at the head of the Third council and compiled the Kathavatthu, later, the Vibhajjavādins in turn is said to have split into four groups, the Mahīśāsaka, Kāśyapīya, Dharmaguptaka, and the Tāmraparṇīya. The Theravāda is said to be descended from the Tāmraparṇīya sect, the most distinctive features of this phase and virtually the only contemporary historical material, are the numerous Brahmi inscriptions associated with these caves. They record gifts to the sangha, significantly by householders and chiefs rather than by kings, the Buddhist religion itself does not seem to have established undisputed authority until the reigns of Dutthagamani and Vattagamani. The first records of Buddha images come from the reign of king Vasabha, in the 7th century, the Chinese pilgrim monks Xuanzang and Yijing refer to the Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka as Shàngzuòbù, corresponding to the Sanskrit Sthavira nikāya and Pali Thera Nikāya. Yijing writes, In Sri Lanka the Sthavira school alone flourishes, the school has been using the name Theravāda for itself in a written form since at least the 4th century, about one thousand years after the Buddhas death, when the term appears in the Dīpavaṁsa. According to Buddhist scholar A. K. Warder, the Theravāda, spread rapidly south from Avanti into Maharashtra and Andhra and down to the Chola country, as well as Sri Lanka. According to Richard Gombrich this is the earliest record we have of Buddhist scriptures being committed to writing anywhere, the Theravada Pali texts which have survived are derived from the Mahavihara of Anuradhapura, the ancient Sri Lankan capital. Later developments included the formation and recording of the Theravada commentary literature, the Theravada tradition records that even during the early days of Mahinda, there was already a tradition of Indian commentaries on the scriptures. Of great importance to the tradition is the work of the great Theravada scholastic Buddhaghosa. Buddhaghosa wrote in Pali, and after him, most Sri Lankan Buddhist scholastics did as well and this allowed the Sri Lankan tradition to become more international through a lingua franca so as to converse with monks in India and later Southeast Asia
6.
Buddhist monk
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A bhikkhu is an ordained male monastic in Buddhism. Male and female monastics (nun, bhikkhuni are members of the Buddhist community, the lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the prātimokṣa or pātimokkha. Their lifestyles are shaped to support their practice, to live a simple and meditative life. A person under the age of 20 cannot be ordained as a bhikkhu or bhikkhuni, bhikkhu literally means beggar or one who lives by alms. The historical Buddha, Prince Siddhartha, having abandoned a life of pleasure and status and those of his more serious students who abandoned their lives as householders and came to study full-time under his supervision also adopted this lifestyle. In the Dhammapada commentary of Buddhaghosa, a bhikkhu is defined as the person who sees danger and he therefore seeks ordination to obtain release from it. The Dhammapada states, He is not a monk just because he lives on others alms, not by adopting outward form does one become a true monk. Whoever here lives a life, transcending both merit and demerit, and walks with understanding in this world — he is truly called a monk. In English literature before the century, Buddhist monks were often referred to by the term bonze, particularly when describing monks from East Asia. This term is derived Portuguese and French from Japanese bonsō, meaning priest and it is rare in modern literature. Buddhist monks were also called talapoy or talapoin from French talapoin, itself from Portuguese talapão, ultimately from Mon tala pōi. Having no tie, which unites their interests with those of the people, they are ready, at all times, with spiritual arms, the talapoin is a monkey named after Buddhist monks just as the capuchin monkey is named after the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Theravada monasticism is organized around the guidelines found within a division of the Pāli Canon called the Vinaya Pitaka, Laypeople undergo ordination as a novitiate in a rite known as the going forth. Sāmaneras are subject to the Ten Precepts, from there full ordination may take place. Bhikkhus are subject to a longer set of rules known. In the Mahayana monasticism is part of the system of vows of individual liberation and these vows are taken by monks and nuns from the ordinary sangha, in order to develop personal ethical discipline. In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the term sangha is, in principle, often understood to refer particularly to the aryasangha and these, however, need not be monks and nuns. The vows of individual liberation are taken in four steps, a lay person may take the five Upāsaka and Upāsikā vows
7.
Pork
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Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig. It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC, Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved. Curing extends the life of the pork products. Ham, smoked pork, gammon, bacon and sausage are examples of preserved pork, charcuterie is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, many from pork. Pork is the most popular meat in East and Southeast Asia and it is highly prized in Asian cuisines for its fat content and pleasant texture. Consumption of pork is forbidden by Jewish and Muslim dietary law, the sale of pork is illegal or severely restricted in Israel and in certain Muslim countries, particularly those where sharia law is part of their constitution. The pig is one of the oldest forms of livestock, having been domesticated as early as 5000 BC and it is believed to have been domesticated either in the Near East or in China from the wild boar. The adaptable nature and omnivorous diet of this creature allowed early humans to domesticate it much earlier than other forms of livestock. Pigs were mostly used for food, but people also used their hides for shields and shoes, their bones for tools and weapons, and their bristles for brushes. Charcuterie is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork. Originally intended as a way to preserve meats before the advent of refrigeration, in 15th century France, local guilds regulated tradesmen in the food production industry in each city. The guilds that produced charcuterie were those of the charcutiers, the members of this guild produced a traditional range of cooked or salted and dried meats, which varied, sometimes distinctively, from region to region. The only raw meat the charcutiers were allowed to sell was unrendered lard, the charcutier prepared numerous items, including pâtés, rillettes, sausages, bacon, trotters, and head cheese. Due to the nature of the meat in Western culinary history. The year-round availability of meat and fruits has not diminished the popularity of this combination on Western plates, Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, accounting for about 38% of meat production worldwide. Consumption varies widely from place to place, the meat is taboo to eat in the Middle East and most of the Muslim world because of Jewish kosher and Islamic Halal dietary restrictions. But pork is widely consumed in East and Southeast Asia, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, as the result, large numbers of pork recipes are developed throughout the world. Feijoada for example, the dish of Brazil, is traditionally prepared with pork trimmings, ears, tail
8.
Chicken
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The chicken is a type of domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the red junglefowl. It is one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, humans keep chickens primarily as a source of food, consuming both their meat and their eggs. From India, the chicken was imported to Lydia in western Asia Minor. In the UK and Ireland adult male chickens over the age of one year are known as cocks, whereas in America, Australia. Males less than a year old are cockerels, females over a year old are known as hens and younger females as pullets although in the egg-laying industry, a pullet becomes a hen when she begins to lay eggs at 16 to 20 weeks of age. In Australia and New Zealand, there is a generic term chook /ˈtʃʊk/ to describe all ages, the young are called chicks and the meat is called chicken. Chicken originally referred to domestic fowl. The species as a whole was then called domestic fowl, or just fowl. This use of chicken survives in the phrase Hen and Chickens, sometimes used as a British public house or theatre name, the word chicken is sometimes erroneously construed to mean females exclusively, despite the term hen for females being in wide circulation. In the Deep South of the United States chickens are also referred to by the slang term yardbird, in the wild, they often scratch at the soil to search for seeds, insects and even animals as large as lizards, small snakes or young mice. Chickens may live for five to ten years, depending on the breed, the worlds oldest chicken was a hen which died of heart failure at the age of 16 according to Guinness World Records. However, in some breeds, such as the Sebright chicken, the rooster has only slightly pointed neck feathers, the identification can be made by looking at the comb, or eventually from the development of spurs on the males legs. Adult chickens have a fleshy crest on their heads called a comb, or cockscomb, collectively, these and other fleshy protuberances on the head and throat are called caruncles. Both the adult male and female have wattles and combs, a muff or beard is a mutation found in several chicken breeds which causes extra feathering under the chickens face, giving the appearance of a beard. Domestic chickens are not capable of long distance flight, although birds are generally capable of flying for short distances. Chickens may occasionally fly briefly to explore their surroundings, but generally do so only to flee perceived danger, Chickens are gregarious birds and live together in flocks. They have an approach to the incubation of eggs and raising of young. Individual chickens in a flock will dominate others, establishing an order, with dominant individuals having priority for food access
9.
Fish
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A fish is any member of a group of animals that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. They form a group to the tunicates, together forming the olfactores. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous, tetrapods emerged within lobe-finned fishes, so cladistically they are fish as well. However, traditionally fish are rendered obsolete or paraphyletic by excluding the tetrapods, because in this manner the term fish is defined negatively as a paraphyletic group, it is not considered a formal taxonomic grouping in systematic biology. The traditional term pisces is considered a typological, but not a phylogenetic classification, the earliest organisms that can be classified as fish were soft-bodied chordates that first appeared during the Cambrian period. Although they lacked a true spine, they possessed notochords which allowed them to be more agile than their invertebrate counterparts, fish would continue to evolve through the Paleozoic era, diversifying into a wide variety of forms. Many fish of the Paleozoic developed external armor that protected them from predators, the first fish with jaws appeared in the Silurian period, after which many became formidable marine predators rather than just the prey of arthropods. Fish are abundant in most bodies of water and they can be found in nearly all aquatic environments, from high mountain streams to the abyssal and even hadal depths of the deepest oceans. With 33,100 described species, fish exhibit greater species diversity than any group of vertebrates. Fish are an important resource for humans worldwide, especially as food, commercial and subsistence fishers hunt fish in wild fisheries or farm them in ponds or in cages in the ocean. They are also caught by fishers, kept as pets, raised by fishkeepers. Fish have had a role in culture through the ages, serving as deities, religious symbols, fish do not represent a monophyletic group, and therefore the evolution of fish is not studied as a single event. Early fish from the record are represented by a group of small, jawless. Jawless fish lineages are mostly extinct, an extant clade, the lampreys may approximate ancient pre-jawed fish. The first jaws are found in Placodermi fossils, the diversity of jawed vertebrates may indicate the evolutionary advantage of a jawed mouth. It is unclear if the advantage of a hinged jaw is greater biting force, improved respiration, fish may have evolved from a creature similar to a coral-like sea squirt, whose larvae resemble primitive fish in important ways. The first ancestors of fish may have kept the form into adulthood. Fish are a group, that is, any clade containing all fish also contains the tetrapods
10.
Mahayana
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Mahayana is one of two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. The Buddhist tradition of Vajrayana is sometimes classified as a part of Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva who has accomplished this goal is called a samyaksaṃbuddha, or fully enlightened Buddha. A samyaksaṃbuddha can establish the Dharma and lead disciples to enlightenment, Mahayana Buddhists teach that enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime, and this can be accomplished even by a layperson. The Mahāyāna tradition is the largest major tradition of Buddhism existing today, with 53. 2% of practitioners, major traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism today include Chan Buddhism, Korean Seon, Japanese Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, and Nichiren Buddhism. It may also include the Vajrayana traditions of Tiantai, Tendai, Shingon Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism, according to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna was originally an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna — the vehicle of a bodhisattva seeking buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. The term Mahāyāna was therefore formed independently at a date as a synonym for the path. The earliest Mahāyāna texts often use the term Mahāyāna as a synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, the presumed dichotomy between Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna can be deceptive, as the two terms were not actually formed in relation to one another in the same era. Among the earliest and most important references to the term Mahāyāna are those that occur in the Lotus Sūtra dating between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE. Seishi Karashima has suggested that the term first used in an earlier Gandhāri Prakrit version of the Lotus Sūtra was not the term mahāyāna, the origins of Mahāyāna are still not completely understood. The earliest Western views of Mahāyāna assumed that it existed as a school in competition with the so-called Hīnayāna schools. The earliest textual evidence of Mahāyāna comes from sūtras originating around the beginning of the common era. There is also no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals. Membership in these nikāyas, or monastic sects, continues today with the Dharmaguptaka nikāya in East Asia, therefore, Mahāyāna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools. Paul Harrison clarifies that while monastic Mahāyānists belonged to a nikāya, from Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in India often lived in the same monasteries side by side. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas and read the Mahayana sūtras are called the Mahāyānists, much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyāna teachings were first propagated into China by Lokakṣema, the first translator of Mahāyāna sūtras into Chinese during the 2nd century CE. Guang Xing states, Several scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā probably developed among the Mahāsāṃghikas in southern India, in the Āndhra country, warder believes that the Mahāyāna originated in the south of India and almost certainly in the Āndhra country. They note that the ancient Buddhist sites in the lower Kṛṣṇa Valley, including Amaravati, Nāgārjunakoṇḍā and Jaggayyapeṭa can be traced to at least the third century BCE, akira Hirakawa notes the evidence suggests that many Early Mahayana scriptures originated in South India
11.
Brahmajala Sutra (Mahayana)
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The Brahmajāla Sūtra, also called the Brahmas Net Sutra, is a text of Mahayana Buddhism. It is known alternatively as the Brahmajāla Bodhisattva śīla Sūtra, the Brahmajāla Sūtra is related to the important Huayan metaphor of Indras net. It is not related to the Brahmajala Sutta of the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism The sutra is regarded as having been recorded in Sanskrit. However, according to Wendi Leigh Adamek, internal evidence suggests that it could not have been compiled before 431, scholars also speculate that it was written in East Asia by unknown authors in the mid-5th century, and is apocryphal. The sutra itself claims that it is the chapter of a much longer Sanskrit text. This sutra introduces Vairocana and his relationship to Gautama Buddha and it also states ten major precepts for Bodhisattvas and the 48 minor precepts to follow to advance along the bodhisattva path. The bodhisattva precepts of the Brahmajala Sutra came to be treated in China as a higher ethic a monastic would adopt after ordination in addition to the prātimokṣa vows. In Japan, the ten precepts came to displace monastic rules almost completely starting with Saichō and he said, The innumerable worlds in the cosmos are like the eyes of the net. Each and every world is different, its variety infinite, so too are the Dharma Doors taught by the Buddhas. Each flower supports a hundred million worlds, in each world a Sakyamuni Buddha appears, all are seated beneath a Bodhi-tree, all simultaneously attain Buddhahood. All these innumerable Buddhas have Vairocana as their original body, the Brahmajala Sutra has a list of ten major and forty-eight minor rules known as the Bodhisattva Precepts. The Bodhisattva Precepts may be called the Brahma Net Precepts, particularly in Buddhist scholarship. Typically, in East Asian Mahayana traditions, only the 10 Major Precepts are considered the Bodhisattva Precepts, according to the sutra, the 10 Major Bodhisattva Precepts are in summary, Not to kill or encourage others to kill. Not to steal or encourage others to steal, Not to engage in licentious acts or encourage others to do so. A monk is expected to abstain from sexual conduct entirely, Not to use false words and speech, or encourage others to do so. Not to trade or sell alcoholic beverages or encourage others to do so, Not to broadcast the misdeeds or faults of the Buddhist assembly, nor encourage others to do so. Not to praise oneself and speak ill of others, or encourage others to do so, Not to be stingy, or encourage others to do so. Not to harbor anger or encourage others to be angry, Not to speak ill of the Buddha, the Dharma or the Sangha ) or encourage others to do so
12.
Ashoka
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Ashoka was an ancient Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE. One of Indias greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over a realm that stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan to the state of Bangladesh in the east. It covered the entire Indian subcontinent except parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, the empires capital was Pataliputra, with provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain. In about 260 BCE, Ashoka waged a destructive war against the state of Kalinga. He conquered Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had done and he embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. Ashoka reflected on the war in Kalinga, which reportedly had resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations, Ashoka converted gradually to Buddhism beginning about 263 BCE. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia, Ashoka regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve as a cultural foundation for political unity. Ashoka is now remembered as a philanthropic administrator, in the Kalinga edicts, he addresses his people as his children, and mentions that as a father he desires their good. Ashokas name Aśoka means painless, without sorrow in Sanskrit, in his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya, and Priyadarśin. His fondness for his names connection to the Saraca asoca tree, along with the Edicts of Ashoka, his legend is related in the 2nd-century CE Ashokavadana, and in the Sri Lankan text Mahavamsa. The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka, Ashoka was born to the Mauryan emperor, Bindusara and a relatively lower ranked wife, Subhadrangī. Ashoka became a great emperor despite having an appearance that was unfavorable to his father. He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan dynasty, since, according to Roman historian Appian, Ashokas grandfather Chandragupta had made a marital alliance with Seleucus, there is a possibility that Ashoka had a Seleucid Greek grandmother. The Avadana texts mention that his mother was queen Subhadrangī, according to the Ashokavadana, she was the daughter of a Brahmin from the city of Champa. Though a palace intrigue kept her away from the emperor, this eventually ended and it is from her exclamation I am now without sorrow, that Ashoka got his name. The Divyāvadāna tells a story, but gives the name of the queen as Janapadakalyānī. Ashoka had several siblings, all of whom were his half-brothers from the other wives of Bindusara. His fighting qualities were apparent from an age and he was given royal military training
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Maurya Empire
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The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power founded by Chandragupta Maurya which dominated ancient India between c. 322 and 187 BCE. Originating from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the side of the Indian subcontinent. The empire was the largest to have existed in the Indian subcontinent. By 316 BCE the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by Alexander, Chandragupta then defeated the invasion led by Seleucus I, a Macedonian general from Alexanders army, gaining additional territory west of the Indus River. The Maurya Empire was one of the largest empires of the world in its time and it declined for about 50 years after Ashokas rule ended, and it dissolved in 185 BCE with the foundation of the Shunga dynasty in Magadha. After the Kalinga War, the Empire experienced nearly half a century of peace, Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge. Ashoka sponsored the spreading of Buddhist ideals into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, West Asia, the population of the empire has been estimated to be about 50–60 million, making the Mauryan Empire one of the most populous empires of Antiquity. Archaeologically, the period of Mauryan rule in South Asia falls into the era of Northern Black Polished Ware, the Arthashastra and the Edicts of Ashoka are the primary sources of written records of Mauryan times. The Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath has been made the national emblem of India, the Maurya Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, with help from Chanakya, at Takshashila. Chanakya swore revenge and vowed to destroy the Nanda Empire, meanwhile, the conquering armies of Alexander the Great refused to cross the Beas River and advance further eastward, deterred by the prospect of battling Magadha. Alexander returned to Babylon and re-deployed most of his troops west of the Indus River, soon after Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE, his empire fragmented, and local kings declared their independence, leaving several smaller disunited satraps. Chandragupta Mauryas rise to power is shrouded in mystery and controversy, on one hand, a number of ancient Indian accounts, such as the drama Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadatta, describe his royal ancestry and even link him with the Nanda family. A kshatriya clan known as the Mauryas are referred to in the earliest Buddhist texts, however, any conclusions are hard to make without further historical evidence. Chandragupta first emerges in Greek accounts as Sandrokottos, as a young man he is said to have met Alexander. He is also said to have met the Nanda king, angered him, Chanakyas original intentions were to train a guerilla army under Chandraguptas command. The Mudrarakshasa of Vishakhadatta as well as the Jaina work Parishishtaparvan talk of Chandraguptas alliance with the Himalayan king Parvatka, Chanakya encouraged Chandragupta Maurya and his army to take over the throne of Magadha. These men included the general of Taxila, accomplished students of Chanakya, the representative of King Porus of Kakayee, his son Malayketu. The Macedonians may then have participated, together with other groups, the Mudrarakshasa of Visakhadutta as well as the Jaina work Parisishtaparvan talk of Chandraguptas alliance with the Himalayan king Parvatka, often identified with Porus
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Meat consumption
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Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and killed animals for meat since prehistoric times, the advent of civilization allowed the domestication of animals such as chickens, sheep, pigs and cattle. This eventually led to their use in production on an industrial scale with the aid of slaughterhouses. Meat is mainly composed of water, protein, and fat and it is edible raw, but is normally eaten after it has been cooked and seasoned or processed in a variety of ways. Unprocessed meat will spoil or rot within hours or days as a result of infection with and decomposition by bacteria, most often, meat refers to skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as offal. The word meat comes from the Old English word mete, which referred to food in general, the term is related to mad in Danish, mat in Swedish and Norwegian, and matur in Icelandic and Faroese, which also mean food. The word mete also exists in Old Frisian to denote important food, differentiating it from swiets, paleontological evidence suggests that meat constituted a substantial proportion of the diet of even the earliest humans. Early hunter-gatherers depended on the hunting of large animals such as bison. Several breeds of sheep were established in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt by 3500–3000 BC, today, more than 200 sheep-breeds exist. Cattle were domesticated in Mesopotamia after settled agriculture was established about 5000 BC, modern domesticated cattle fall into the groups Bos taurus and Bos indicus, both descended from the now-extinct aurochs. The breeding of cattle, cattle optimized for meat production as opposed to animals best suited for draught or dairy purposes. Domestic pigs, which are descended from boars, are known to have existed about 2500 BC in modern-day Hungary and in Troy, earlier pottery from Jericho. Pork sausages and hams were of commercial importance in Greco-Roman times. Pigs continue to be bred intensively as they are being optimized to produce meat best suited for meat products. Other animals are or have raised or hunted for their flesh. The type of meat consumed varies much between different cultures, changes over time, depending on such as tradition and the availability of the animals. The amount and kind of meat consumed also varies by income, horses are commonly eaten in France, Italy, Germany and Japan, among other countries. Horses and other mammals such as reindeer were hunted during the late Paleolithic in western Europe
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Mahayana sutras
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The Mahayana sutras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures that various traditions of Mahayana Buddhism accept as canonical. They are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Tibetan Buddhist canon, around one hundred Mahayana sutras survive in Sanskrit, or in Chinese and Tibetan translations. The origins of the Mahayana are not completely understood, the earliest views of Mahayana Buddhism in the West assumed that it existed as a separate school in competition with the so-called Hīnayāna schools. These views have largely dismissed in modern times in light of a much broader range of early texts that are now available. The old views of Mahayana as a separate lay-inspired and devotional sect are now dismissed as misguided. The early versions of Mahayana sutras were not written documents but orally preserved teachings, the verses which were committed to memory and recited by monks were viewed as the substitute for the actual speaking presence of the Buddha. The earliest textual evidence of the Mahayana comes from sutras originating around the beginning of the common era. There is also no evidence that Mahayana ever referred to a formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage in East Asia, therefore, Mahayana was never a separate rival sect of the early schools. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas and read the Mahayana sutras are called the Mahayanists, much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahayana comes from early Chinese translations of Mahayana texts. These Mahayana teachings were first propagated into China by Lokakṣema, the first translator of Mahayana sutras into Chinese during the 2nd century CE, others such as A. K. Warder have argued that the Mahayana sutras are not historical. Western scholarship does not go so far as to impugn the religious authority of Mahayana sutras and it is widely accepted that Mahayana sutras constitute a body of literature that began to appear from as early as the 1st century BCE, although the evidence for this date is circumstantial. This picture may be qualified by the analysis of early manuscripts recently coming out of Afghanistan. In effect we have a vast body of anonymous but relatively coherent literature and this suggests that Mahayana was not simply an accretion of fabricated doctrines, as it is sometimes accused of being, but has a strong connection with the teachings of Buddha himself. However weak the claim to historicity that the Mahayana sutras hold, then these sutras may be properly regarded as the words of the Buddha. Some teachers take the view that all teachings that stem from the insights of Buddha constitute the Buddhas speech. There are scriptural supports for this even in the Pāli Canon. There the Buddha is asked how the disciples should verify, after his death and his statement is neither to be approved nor scorned
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Unpublished
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To publish is to make content available to the general public. While specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content on any traditional medium. The word publication means the act of publishing, and also refers to any printed copies, publication is a technical term in legal contexts and especially important in copyright legislation. An author of a work generally is the owner of the copyright on the work. One of the granted to the author of a work is the exclusive right to publish the work. In the United States, publication is defined as, the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of people for purposes of distribution, public performance, or public display. A public performance or display of a work not of itself constitute publication. Many countries around the world follow this definition, although some make some exceptions for particular kinds of works, in Germany, §6 of the Urheberrechtsgesetz additionally considers works of the visual arts published if they have been made permanently accessible by the general public. Australia and the UK do not have this exception and generally require the distribution of copies necessary for publication, in the case of sculptures, the copies must be even three-dimensional. In biological classification, the publication of the description of a taxon has to comply with some rules, the definition of the publication is defined in nomenclature codes. Traditionally there were the rules, The publication must be generally available. The date of publication is the date the published material became generally available, electronic publication with some restrictions is permitted for publication of scientific names of fungi since 1 January 2013. There is a variety of material types of publication, some of which are, Book. Bulletin, Information written in short on a flyer or inside another publication for public viewing, bulletins are also brief messages or announcements broadcast to a wide audience by way of TV, radio, or internet. Booklet, Leaflet of more than one sheet of paper, usually attached in the style of a book, broadside, A large single sheet of paper printed on one side, designed to be plastered onto walls. Produced from 16th - 19th cent, became obsolete with the development of newspapers and cheap novels. Flyer or handbill, A small sheet of printed on one side, designed to be handed out free Leaflet
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Noble Eightfold Path
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The Noble Eightfold Path is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth. The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices, right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, in the earliest Buddhism these practices started with insight, culminating in dhyana/samadhi as the core soteriological practice. In later Buddhism insight became the central instrument, leading to a different concept. The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the teachings of Theravada Buddhism. In the Theravada tradition, this path is also summarized as sila, samadhi, in Mahayana Buddhism it is contrasted with the Bodhisattva path, which culminates in full Buddhahood. In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by means of the dharma wheel, the Pali terms ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo is typically translated in English as Noble Eightfold Path. This translation is a convention started by the translators of Buddhist texts into English. However, the phrase does not mean the path is noble, the term maggo means path, while aṭṭhaṅgiko means eightfold. An alternate rendering of ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo is eightfold path of the noble ones, all eight elements of the Path begin with the word samyañc or sammā which means right, proper, as it ought to be, best. The Buddhist texts contrast samma with its opposite miccha, according to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term the middle way. In time, this description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path. Vetter and Bucknell both note that descriptions of the path can be found, which can be condensed into the eightfold path. Such an environment aids contemplation of impermanence, suffering, and non-Self, Right samadhi, practicing four stages of meditation culminating into unification of the mind. That is the ancient path, the ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times, following it, I came to direct knowledge of birth. Consciousness, direct knowledge of the origination of consciousness, direct knowledge of the cessation of consciousness, yet, Majjhima Nikaya 117, Mahācattārīsaka Sutta, describes the first seven practices as requisites for right samadhi. According to Vetter, this may have been the original practice in early Buddhism. Moral virtues group consists of three paths, right speech, right action and right livelihood, the meditation group of the path progresses from moral restraints to training the mind. These two factors fall under the category of wisdom, the Noble Eightfold Path, in the Buddhist traditions, is the direct means to nirvana and brings a release from the cycle of life and death in the realms of samsara
18.
Devadatta
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Devadatta was by tradition a Buddhist monk, cousin and brother-in-law of Gautama Siddhārtha, the Sākyamuni Buddha, and brother of Ānanda, a principal student of the Buddha. The name Devadatta has the meaning god-given in Palī and Sanskrit and it is composed from the stem form of deva and the past participle datta of the verb da, give, composed as a tatpurusa compound. In the Bhagavad Gītā, the shell used by Arjuna on the battle-field of Kurukshetra was named Devadatta. The name Devadatta is still given today, according to Andrew Skilton, modern scholarship generally agrees that the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya is the oldest extant Buddhist Vinaya. According to Reginald Ray, the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya mentions the figure of Devadatta, according to this study, the earliest vinaya material common to all sects simply depicts Devadatta as a Buddhist saint who wishes for the monks to live a rigorous lifestyle. This has led Ray to regard the story of Devadatta as a legend produced by the Sthavira group and he also points to other parts of the same vinaya that clearly portray Devadatta as a villain, as well as similar portrayals that exist in the Lokottaravādin Mahāvastu. Faxian and other Chinese pilgrims who travelled to India in the centuries of the current era recorded the continued existence of Gotamaka buddhists. Gotamaka are also referred to in Pali texts of the second, the followers of Devadatta are recorded to have honored all the Buddhas previous to Śākyamuni, but not Śākyamuni. However, there are still those who say they follow Devadatta today at Bodh Gaya, in Cullavagga section VII of the Vinayapiṭaka of the Theravādins which deals with schisms, it is told how Devadatta went forth along with a number of the Buddha’s other relatives and clansmen. In the first year he attained power, but made no supermundane achievement. Looking round to see whom he could convince to honour him he decided to approach Prince Ajātasattu, having psychic power he assumed the form of a young boy clad in snakes and sat in the Prince’s lap, which very much impressed the prince, who became his disciple. When told about the offerings that Devadatta was receiving, the Buddha remarked that all gains were only going towards his destruction. Shortly thereafter, Devadatta asked the Buddha to retire and let him take over the running of the Sangha, seeing the danger in this, Devadatta approached Prince Ajātasattu and encouraged him to kill his Father, the good King Bimbisāra, and meanwhile he would kill the Buddha. The King found out about his plan and gave over the Kingdom into the Prince’s control, Devadatta then tried to kill the Buddha himself by throwing a rock at him from on high, while the Buddha was walking on the slopes of a mountain. As this also failed he decided to have the elephant Nāḷāgiri intoxicated, however, the power of the Buddha’s loving-kindness overcame the elephant. The Buddha refused to make any of these compulsory, however, Devadatta then decided to create a schism and recite the training rules apart from the Buddha and his followers, with 500 newly ordained monks. The Buddha sent his two Chief Disciples Sāriputta and Moggallāna to bring back the young monks. Devadatta thought they had come to join his Sangha and, asking Sāriputta to give a talk, then the Chief Disciples persuaded the young monks to return to the Buddha
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Sangha
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Sangha is a word in Pali and Sanskrit meaning association, assembly, company or community and most commonly refers in Buddhism to the monastic community of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. These communities are referred to as the bhikkhu-sangha or bhikkhuni-sangha. As a separate category, those who have attained any of the four stages of enlightenment, according to the Theravada school, the term sangha does not refer to the community of sāvakas nor the community of Buddhists as a whole. In a glossary of Buddhist terms, Richard Robinson et al. define Sangha as, the two meanings overlap but are not necessarily identical. Some members of the ideal Sangha are not ordained, some monastics have yet to acquire the Dharma-eye, the Sangha is the third of the Three Jewels in Buddhism. Due to the temptations and vicissitudes of life in the world, monastic life is considered to provide the safest and most suitable environment for advancing toward enlightenment, in Buddhism, the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha each are described as having certain characteristics. These characteristics are chanted either on a daily basis and/or on Uposatha days, the Sangha also fulfils the function of preserving the Buddha’s original teachings and of providing spiritual support for the Buddhist lay-community. The Sangha has historically assumed responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the doctrine as well as the translation and propagation of the teachings of the Buddha. Between midday and the day, a strict life of scripture study, chanting, meditation. Transgression of rules carries penalties ranging from confession to permanent expulsion from the Sangha, saichō, the founder of the Japanese school of Tendai, decided to reduce the number of rules down to about 60 based on the Bodhisattva Precepts. The Order of Interbeing, established in 1964 and associated with the Plum Village movement, has fourteen precepts observed by all monastics and they were written by Thích Nhất Hạnh. In practice, they often have a few personal possessions. Traditionally, Buddhist monks, nuns, and novices eschew ordinary clothes, originally the robes were sewn together from rags and stained with earth or other available dyes. A Buddhist monk is a bhikkhu in Pali, Sanskrit bhikṣu while a nun is a bhikkhuni, Sanskrit bhikṣuṇī. An emphasis on working for food is attributed to additional training guidelines laid down by a Chan Buddhist master, Baizhang Huaihai, notably the phrase, the idea that all Buddhists, especially Sangha members, practice vegetarianism is a Western misperception. In the Pali Canon the Buddha rejected a suggestion by Devadatta to impose vegetarianism on the Sangha, according to the Pali Texts, the Buddha ate meat as long as the animal was not killed specifically for him. Consequently, the Theravada tradition does not practice vegetarianism, although an individual may do so as his or her personal choice. On this question Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions vary depending on their interpretation of their scriptures, in some Mahayana sutras, meat eating is strongly discouraged and it is stated that the Buddha did not eat meat
20.
Kassapa Buddha
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Kassapa Buddha, known as Kāśyapa in Sanskrit, is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 24 of the Buddhavamsa, one of the books of the Pāli Canon. The present kalpa is called the bhadrakalpa, the five Buddhas of the present kalpa are, Kakusandha Koṇāgamana Kassapa Gautama Maitreya Kassapa was born in Isipatana Deer Park. This place is located in Varanasi, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. His parents were the Brahmins Brahmadatta and Dhanavatī, of the Kashyap Gotra, according to legend, his body was twenty cubits high, and he lived for two thousand years in three different palaces. They are Hamsa, Yasa, and Sirinanda and his chief wife was Sunandā, who bore him a son named Vijitasena. Kassapa gave up his life traveling in his palace. He practiced austerities for only seven days, just before attaining enlightenment, he accepted a meal of milk-rice from his wife and grass for his seat from a yavapālaka named Soma. His Bodhi tree was a banyan, and he preached his first sermon at Isipatana to an assembly of monks who had renounced the world in his company, Kassapa performed the Twin Miracle at the foot of an asana tree outside Sundar Nagar. He held only one assembly of his disciples, among his most famous conversions was that of Nāradeva and his chief disciples among monks were Tissa and Bhāradvāja, and among nuns were Anulā and Uruvelā, his constant attendant being Sabbamitta. Among his patrons, the most eminent were Sumangala and Ghattīkāra, Vijitasenā, Kassapa died at the age of forty thousand years, in the city of Kashi, in the Kashi Kingdom. Over his relics was raised a stupa one league in height, there was initially a great difference of opinion on what should be the size of the stupa and of what material it should be built. Construction of the stupa was begun after these issues were finally settled, but then the citizens found they lacked sufficient funds to complete the stupa. An anāgāmi devotee named Sorata travelled throughout Jambudvipa, requesting money from the people for the completion of the stupa and he sent the money as he received it, and on hearing that the work was completed, he set out to go and worship the stupa. However, he was seized by robbers and murdered in the forest, upavāna, in a previous birth, became the guardian deity of the stupa, hence his great majesty in his last life. Among the thirty-seven goddesses noticed by Guttila when he visited heaven was one who had offered a scented five-spray at the stupa, alāta offered āneja-flowers and obtained a happy rebirth. The cause of Mahākāśyapas golden complexion was his gift of a brick to the building of Kassapas shrine. At the same stupa, Anuruddha, who was then a householder in Varanasi, offered butter and molasses in brass bowls, bhadrakalpikasutra Kassapa, der Pali Kanon des Theravāda-Buddhismus
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Elephant meat
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Elephant meat refers to the flesh and other edible parts of elephants. The consumption of elephant meat has likely been a source of food for humans and animals during the entire time of their coexistence. By the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic, around 120,000 BCE, a specimen of the now-extinct straight-tusked elephant was discovered in the Ebbsfleet Valley, near Swanscombe. The 400, 000-year-old skeleton was found with flint tools scattered around, suggesting the elephant had been cut up by a tribe of the early humans existing at the time, today, all species of elephant are hunted specifically for their meat. This occurs notably in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, during ivory hunts by poachers, meat may be taken as a by-product for eventual sale, or to feed the hunting party. As of 2007, wildlife experts expressed concerns that the threat to elephants may become the demand for meat rather than the ivory trade. An investigation into the elephant meat trade revealed that in four central African countries, in cities, the meat is considered to be prestigious, and as such, costs more to buy than most other meats. This acts as an incentive for poachers to hunt elephants for their meat as well as their tusks and these are individuals with wealth, usually people with influence in the military, government, or the business world, and are known to fund elephant hunts. They provide money, equipment, and also weapons and their main objective is to receive ivory in return, which they sell. Those working in logging camps provide local demand for elephant meat, construction of the associated logging roads eases access from areas that were once remote, to sites where the meat can be sold. Forest elephants in Africa are normally around 5,000 to 6,000 pounds, while the ivory may be sold for around $180, a poacher could sell the meat for up to $6,000. During this time, Africans living in the Congo Basin were earning an average of around $1 per day, in 2007, elephant meat was selling in Bangui markets at $5.45 per pound. This was at the time that ivory could be sold by poachers for $13.60 a pound. The meat was being transported and sold over the border of the Central African Republic, despite being illegal according to international law, both governments collected taxes for the transactions. In 2012, wildlife officials in Thailand expressed the concern that a new taste for elephant meat consumption could pose a risk to their survival and they were alerted to the problem upon discovering that two elephants in a national park were slaughtered. The director-general of the agency in Thailand stated that some of the meat was eaten raw. The meat may be charred on the outside and smoked at the site where the elephant is killed, assamese scriptures prescribe various meats, including that of the elephant, to recover from illness and to stay in good health. Buddhist monks, however, are forbidden from eating elephant meat, elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa, Summary report
22.
Ajahn Chah
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Chah Subhaddo or in honorific name Phra Bodhiñāṇathera was an influential teacher of the Buddhadhamma and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition. Respected and loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, beginning in 1979 with the founding of Cittaviveka in the United Kingdom, the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has spread throughout Europe, the United States and the British Commonwealth. The dhamma talks of Ajahn Chah have been recorded, transcribed and translated into several languages. More than one people, including the Thai royal family. He left behind a legacy of dhamma talks, students, Ajahn Chah was born on 17 June 1918 near Ubon Ratchathani in the Isan region of northeast Thailand. As is traditional, Ajahn Chah entered the monastery as a novice at the age of nine and he left the monastery to help his family on the farm, but later returned to monastic life on 16 April 1939, seeking ordination as a Theravadan monk. According to the book Food for the Heart, The Collected Writings of Ajahn Chah, he chose to leave the monastic life in 1946. He walked across Thailand, taking teachings at various monasteries, among his teachers at this time was Ajahn Mun, a renowned meditation master in the Forest Tradition. Ajahn Chah lived in caves and forests while learning from the monks of the Forest Tradition. He wandered through the countryside in quest of quiet and secluded places for developing meditation and he lived in tiger and cobra infested jungles, using reflections on death to penetrate to the true meaning of life. One of these teachers was the Venerable Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta, Ajahn Chah continued Ajahn Muns high standards of practise when he became a teacher. The monks of this tradition keep very strictly to the monastic rule laid down by the Buddha known as the vinaya. The early major schisms in the Buddhist sangha were largely due to disagreements over how strictly the training rules should be applied, some opted for a degree of flexibility whereas others took a conservative view believing that the rules should be kept just as the Buddha had framed them. The Theravada tradition is the heir to the latter view, an example of the strictness of the discipline might be the rule regarding eating, they uphold the rule to only eat between dawn and noon. In the Thai Forest Tradition monks and nuns go further and observe the one eaters practice and they might, for example, as well as eating only one meal a day, sleep outside under a tree, or dwell in secluded forests or graveyards. After years of wandering, Ajahn Chah decided to plant roots in a grove near his birthplace. In 1954, Wat Nong Pah Pong monastery was established, where Ajahn Chah could teach his simple and he attracted a wide variety of disciples, which included in 1966, the first Westerner, Venerable Ajahn Sumedho. Wat Nong Pah Pong includes over 250 branches throughout Thailand, as well as over 15 associated monasteries, in 1975, Wat Pah Nanachat was founded with Ajahn Sumedho as the abbot
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Thai Forest Tradition
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The tradition began circa 1900 with Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto and Ajahn Sao Kantasilo, two Dhammayut monks from the Lao-speaking cultural region of Northeast Thailand known as Isan. In the traditions beginning the founders famously neglected to record their teachings, the purpose of practice in the tradition is to the ultimate end of experiencing the Deathless, an absolute, unconditioned dimension of the mind free of inconstancy, suffering, or a sense of self. The Thai word kammatthaan originates from the Pali kammatthana and this reflects a tendency of Thai words to have Pali and Sanskrit roots. The Pali kammatthana is a word which is constructed from the bases kamma, meaning action or work. The monks are interchangeably referred to as Dhutanga Kammatthana monks, due to their tendency for practicing the dhutanga ascetic practices, according to Buddhist texts, the Buddha stated that his teachings would only survive uncorrupted for 500 years after his death. Before the 19th-century reforms that led the Ajahn Mun and Ajahn Saos forest meditation tradition. These traditions took interpretations of the Buddhist monastic code that allowed for certain activities, when Prince Mongkut lost to his brother in a bid for the throne, he decided to remain a Buddhist monk. Mongkut became dissatisfied with the caliber of Buddhist practice around him, monkgut eventually found better practice among the Mon people in a neighboring area, and decided to re-ordain with this community. Mongkut continued to advance his reforms throughout his life, using his influence as prince – and later, according to Thanissaro, the Dhammayut reform movement, founded by Mongkut, aimed to put claims about the possibility of reaching the noble attainments to the test. Some efforts to meditate and practice the authentic ascetic practices from the Pali Canon were carried out, however, Ajahn Mun agreed with Mongkut that adulterations had accumulated in the Pali Canon over time. However, by the time that Ajahn Mun and Ajahn Sao had begun their monastic careers and his successor, Chulalongkorn, strove to do away with all practical applications of Buddhist practice. The Thai Clergy was molded into a powerhouse as part of a campaign to prevent Thailand from being colonized. In the subsequent decades, Thailand would successfully thwart all attempts at colonization – the only Southeast Asian nation to maintain its independence, the relationship changed in the 1950s when a student of Ajahn Muns, Ajahn Lee Dhammadaro, taught meditation to Tisso Uan when the latter was sick. Ajahn Lees biography relates Tisso Uans change of heart, I used to live near Ajaan Mun and Ajaan Sao, busts of popular forest ajahns have been featured, and they are often ritually blessed to provide some supramundane charm to the wearer. Tensions arose between the dictatorial Thai government and a newly formed communist party in Thailand, several of the major figures in the Kammaṭṭhāna tradition alive at the time were accused of communist sympathies. The two, with a circle of senior students in later decades, formed a monastery network that has spanned all over the western world. In the last half of the 20th century, the vast majority of Thailands rainforest were lost, millions of villagers in the forest were driven from their homes as villages were bulldozed over to make room for eucalyptus plantations. Tiyavanich writes, The final closure of the forest began after devastating floods occurred in southern Thailand, in November 1988 floods and landslides, triggered by rain falling on denuded hillsides, wiped out several southern villages and killed hundreds of people
24.
Ajahn Sumedho
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Luang Por Sumedho or Ajahn Sumedho is the senior Western representative of the Thai forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism. He was abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, UK, from its consecration in 1984 until his retirement in 2010, Luang Por means Venerable Father, an honorific and term of affection in keeping with Thai custom, ajahn means teacher. A bhikkhu since 1967, Sumedho is considered a figure in the transmission of the Buddhas teachings to the West. Ajahn Sumedho was born Robert Kan Jackman in Seattle, Washington in 1934, during the Korean War he served for four years from the age of 18 as a United States navy medic. He then did a BA in Far Eastern studies and graduated in 1963 with an MA in South Asian studies at the University of California, Berkeley. After a year as a Red Cross social worker, Jackman served with the Peace Corps in Borneo from 1964 to 1966 as an English teacher. On break in Singapore, sitting one morning in sidewalk café, he watched a Buddhist monk walk by and thought to himself, in 1966 he became a novice or samanera at Wat Sri Saket in Nong Khai, northeast Thailand. He ordained as a bhikkhu in May the following year, from 1967-77 at Wat Nong Pah Pong, he trained under Ajahn Chah. He has come to be regarded as the latters most influential Western disciple, in 1975 he helped to establish and became the first abbot of the International Monastery, Wat Pa Nanachat in northeast Thailand founded by Ajahn Chah for training his non-Thai students. In 1977, Ajahn Sumedho accompanied Ajahn Chah on a visit to England, after observing a keen interest in Buddhism among Westerners, Ajahn Chah encouraged Ajahn Sumedho to remain in England for the purpose of establishing a branch monastery in the UK. This became Cittaviveka Forest Monastery in West Sussex, Ajahn Sumedho was granted authority to ordain others as monks shortly after he established Cittaviveka Forest Monastery. He then established a ten precept ordination lineage for women, Siladhara, until his retirement Ajahn Sumedho was the abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery near Hemel Hempstead in England, which was established in 1984. Ajahn Sumedho played a role in building this international monastic community. Ajahn Sumedhos imminent retirement was announced in February 2010, and he retired in November of that year and his successor is the English monk Ajahn Amaro, hitherto co-abbot of the Abhayagiri branch monastery in Californias Redwood Valley. Ajahn Sumedho now dwells as an agent in Thailand. In 2016, Ajahn Sumedho decided to visit theravada communities around the world and he stayed in Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Singapore and Australia. Ajahn Sumedho is a prominent figure in the Thai Forest Tradition and his teachings are very direct, practical, simple, and down to earth. In his talks and sermons he stresses the quality of immediate intuitive awareness and his most consistent advice can be paraphrased as to see things the way that they actually are rather than the way that we want or dont want them to be
25.
Vinaya
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The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the sangha or monastic community of Buddhism based on the canonical texts called the Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Gautama Buddha can be divided into two categories, Dharma doctrine and Vinaya discipline. Extant vinaya texts include those of the Theravada, the Kāśyapīya, the Mahāsāṃghika, the Mahīśāsaka, the Dharmaguptaka, the Sarvāstivāda, at the heart of the Vinaya is a set of rules known as Patimokkha in Pāli and Prātimokṣa in Sanskrit. The Vinaya was orally passed down from the Buddha to his disciples, eventually, numerous different Vinayas arose in Buddhism, based upon geographical or cultural differences and the different schools of Buddhism that developed. Three of these are still in use, Theravadin, Mulasarvastivadin and Dharmaguptakin, the Vinayas are the same in substance and have only minor differences. The Prātimokṣa is traditionally a section of the Vinaya, the Theravada Vinaya is preserved in the Pāli Canon in the Vinaya Piṭaka. The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya is preserved in both the Tibetan Buddhist canon in the Kangyur, in a Chinese edition, and in an incomplete Sanskrit manuscript. As the nuns died out in all areas of the Theravada school, traditionally womens roles as renunciates were limited to taking eight or ten Precepts. Such women appears as maechi in Thai Buddhism, dasa sil mata in Sri Lanka, thilashin in Burma, some schools in Japan technically follow this, but many monks there are married, which can be considered a violation of the rules. Other Japanese monks follow the Bodhisattva Precepts only, which was excerpted from the Mahāyāna version of Brahmajālasutra, and the Bodhisattva Precepts contains two parts of precepts, for lay and clergy. According to Chinese Buddhist tradition, one who wants to observe the Bodhisattva Precepts for clergy, must observe the Ten Precepts and High Ordination first. Tibetan Buddhists in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal, Ladakh and other follow the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. In addition to these rules, there are many supplementary ones. The Buddha constantly reminds his hearers that it is the spirit of the rules that counts, on the other hand, the rules themselves are designed to assure a satisfying life, and provide a perfect springboard for the higher attainments. Monastics are instructed by the Buddha to live as islands unto themselves, in this sense, living life as the vinaya prescribes it is, as one scholar puts it, more than merely a means to an end, it is very nearly the end in itself. Surrounding the rules is a range of texts, some of these explain the origins of the rules - it is possible to trace the development of the rules from responses to specific situations or actions to a general codification. There are also a number of texts that are more general statements about Buddhist doctrine, or that give biographical details of some of the great disciples. Other sections detail how the rules are to be applied, how breaches are to be dealt with and it is thought that originally there were no rules and the Buddha and his disciples just lived in harmony when they were together
26.
Manjushri
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Mañjuśrī is a bodhisattva associated with prajñā in Mahayana Buddhism. In Tibetan Buddhism, he is also a yidam and his name means Gentle Glory in Sanskrit. Mañjuśrī is also known by the name of Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, literally Mañjuśrī, Still a Youth or, less literally. Scholars have identified Mañjuśrī as the oldest and most significant bodhisattva in Mahāyāna literature, Mañjuśrī is first referred to in early Mahayana sutras such as the Prajnaparamita sutras and through this association very early in the tradition he came to symbolize the embodiment of prajñā. The Lotus Sutra assigns him a land called Vimala, which according to the Avatamsaka Sutra is located in the East. His pure land is predicted to be one of the two best pure lands in all of existence in all the past, present and future, when he attains buddhahood his name will be Universal Sight. In the Lotus Sūtra, Mañjuśrī also leads the Nagarajas daughter to enlightenment, an example of a wisdom teaching of Mañjuśrī can be found in the Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. This sūtra contains a dialogue between Mañjuśrī and the Buddha on the One Samadhi, constantly thus practicing, day or night, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down, finally one reaches an inconceivable state without any obstruction or form. This is the Samadhi of One Act, within Vajrayana Buddhism, Mañjuśrī is a meditational deity, and considered a fully enlightened Buddha. In Shingon Buddhism, he is one of the Thirteen Buddhas to whom disciples devote themselves and he figures extensively in many esoteric texts such as the Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa and the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti. His consort in some traditions is Saraswati, Mañjuśrī is depicted as a male bodhisattva wielding a flaming sword in his right hand, representing the realization of transcendent wisdom which cuts down ignorance and duality. The scripture supported by the padma held in his hand is a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra. Mañjuśrī is often depicted as riding on a lion, or sitting on the skin of a lion. This represents the use of wisdom to tame the mind, which is compared to riding or subduing a ferocious lion, in Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art, Mañjuśrīs sword is sometimes replaced with a ruyi scepter, especially in representations of his Vimalakirti Sutra discussion with the layman Vimalakirti. According to Berthold Laufer, the first Chinese representation of a ruyi was in an 8th-century Mañjuśrī painting by Wu Daozi, in subsequent Chinese and Japanese paintings of Buddhas, a ruyi was occasionally represented as a padma with a long stem curved like a ruyi. He is one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas of Chinese Buddhism, in China, he is often paired with Samantabhadra. In Tibetan Buddhism, Mañjuśrī is sometimes depicted in a trinity with Avalokiteśvara and this syllabary was most widely used for the Gāndhārī language with the Kharoṣṭhī script, but also appears in some Sanskrit texts. In some of these texts, the Arapacana syllabary serves as a mnemonic for important Mahāyāna concepts, due to its association with him, Arapacana may even serve as an alternate name for Mañjuśrī
27.
Bodhisattva
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Bodhisattvas are a popular subject in Buddhist art. In early Indian Buddhism, the term bodhisattva was primarily used to specifically to Gautama Buddha in his former life. The Jataka tales, which are the stories of the Buddhas past lives, depict the various attempts of the bodhisattva to embrace qualities like self-sacrifice, mount Potalaka, for example, is one of Bodhisattvayana. Because Hinayana was disliked and the terms Śrāvaka-Bodhisattva or Pratyekabuddha-Bodhisattva were not widely used, nevertheless, bodhisattva retained an implied reference to someone on the path to become an arhat or pratyekabuddha. In contrast, the goal of Mahayanas bodhisattva path is to achieve Samyaksambodhiṃ, when, during his discourses, he recounts his experiences as a young aspirant, he regularly uses the phrase When I was an unenlightened bodhisatta. The term therefore connotes a being who is bound for enlightenment, in other words, in the Pāli canon, the bodhisatta is also described as someone who is still subject to birth, illness, death, sorrow, defilement, and delusion. Some of the lives of the Buddha as a bodhisattva are featured in the Jataka tales. According to the Theravāda monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, the path is not taught in the earliest strata of Buddhist texts such as the Pali Nikayas which instead focus on the ideal of the Arahant. In later Theravada literature, the bodhisatta is used fairly frequently in the sense of someone on the path to liberation. He also quotes an inscription from the 10th Century king of Sri Lanka, Mahinda IV, paul Williams writes that some modern Theravada meditation masters in Thailand are popularly regarded as bodhisattvas. Like perhaps some of the early Mahāyāna forest hermit monks, or the later Buddhist Tantrics and they are widely revered, worshipped, and held to be arhats or bodhisattvas. Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva, according to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna was originally even an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, or the Bodhisattva Vehicle. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra contains a simple and brief definition for the term bodhisattva and this definition is given as the following. Because he has enlightenment as his aim, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is so called, the early Rastrapalapariprccha sutra also promotes a solitary life of meditation in the forests, far away from the distractions of the householder life. The Rastrapala is also critical of monks living in monasteries and in cities who are seen as not practicing meditation. These texts seem to indicate the initial Bodhisattva ideal was associated with a strict forest asceticism, Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the enlightenment of all sentient beings by practicing the six perfections. Indelibly entwined with the vow is merit transference
28.
Kama Sutra
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The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian Hindu text written by Vātsyāyana. It is widely considered to be the work on human sexual behaviour in Sanskrit literature. A portion of the consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse. It is largely in prose, with many inserted anustubh poetry verses, Kama Sutra, in parts of the world, is presumed or depicted as a synonym for creative sexual positions, in reality, only 20% of Kama Sutra is about sexual positions. The majority of the book, notes Jacob Levy, is about the philosophy and theory of love, what triggers desire, what sustains it, how, the Kama Sutra is the oldest and most notable of a group of texts known generically as Kama Shastra. Historians attribute Kamasutra to be composed between 400 BCE and 200 CE, john Keay says that the Kama Sutra is a compendium that was collected into its present form in the 2nd century CE. In the preface of Kama Sutra, Vatsyayana cites the work of authors based on which he compiled his own Kama Sutra. He states that the seven parts of his work were an abridgment of longer works by Dattaka, Suvarnanabha, Ghotakamukha, Gonardiya, Gonikaputra, Charayana, vatsyayanas Kama Sutra has 1250 verses, distributed in 36 chapters, which are further organised into seven parts. According to both the Burton and Doniger translations, the contents of the book are structured into seven parts like the following,1 and it describes 64 types of sexual acts. Acquiring a wife five chapters on forms of marriage, relaxing the girl, obtaining the girl, managing alone, duties and privileges of the wife two chapters on conduct of the only wife and conduct of the chief wife and other wives. Other mens wives six chapters on behaviour of woman and man, how to get acquainted, examination of sentiments, the task of go-between, occult practices two chapters on improving physical attractions, arousing a weakened sexual power. Some Indian philosophies follow the four goals of life, known as the purusharthas, Dharma. Dharma, Artha and Kama are aims of life, while Moksha is release from the cycle of death and rebirth. The Kama Sutra says, Dharma is better than Artha, but Artha should always be first practised by the king for the livelihood of men is to be obtained from it only. Again, Kama being the occupation of women, they should prefer it to the other two, and these are exceptions to the general rule. —Kama Sutra 1.2.14 Of the first three, virtue is the highest goal, a life the second and pleasure the least important. When motives conflict, the ideal is to be followed. Thus, in making money virtue must not be compromised, but earning a living should take precedence over pleasure, also the Buddha preached a Kama Sutra, which is located in the Atthakavagga
29.
D. T. Suzuki
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Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki was a Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin to the West. Suzuki was also a translator of Chinese, Japanese. Suzuki spent several lengthy stretches teaching or lecturing at Western universities, and devoted many years to a professorship at Ōtani University and he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1963. Suzuki was born Teitarō Suzuki in Honda-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, the Buddhist name Daisetsu, meaning Great Humility, the kanji of which can also mean Greatly Clumsy, was given to him by his Zen master Soen Shaku. Although his birthplace no longer exists, a monument marks its location. When he became old enough to reflect on his fate in being born into this situation and his naturally sharp and philosophical intellect found difficulty in accepting some of the cosmologies to which he was exposed. Suzuki studied at the University of Tokyo, Suzuki set about acquiring knowledge of Chinese, Sanskrit, Pali, and several European languages. During his student years at Tokyo University, Suzuki took up Zen practice at Engaku-ji in Kamakura, Suzuki lived and studied several years with the scholar Paul Carus. Suzuki was introduced to Carus by Soyen Shaku, who met him at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. Carus, who had set up residence in LaSalle, Illinois, Soyen Shaku instead recommended his student Suzuki for the job. Suzuki lived at Dr. Caruss home, the Hegeler Carus Mansion, in Illinois, Suzuki began his early work Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism. Carus himself had written a book offering an insight into, and overview of, Buddhism, Soyen Shaku wrote an introduction for it, and Suzuki translated the book into Japanese. At this time, around the turn of the century, quite a number of Westerners, in 1911, Suzuki married Beatrice Erskine Lane, a Radcliffe graduate and Theosophist with multiple contacts with the Baháí Faith both in America and in Japan. Later Suzuki himself joined the Theosophical Society Adyar and was an active Theosophist, besides living in the United States, Suzuki traveled through Europe before taking up a professorship back in Japan. Suzuki and his wife dedicated themselves to spreading an understanding of Mahayana Buddhism, until 1919 they lived in a cottage on the Engaku-ji grounds, then moved to Kyoto, where Suzuki began professorship at Ōtani University in 1921. While he was in Kyoto, he visited Dr. Hoseki Shinichi Hisamatsu, a famous Zen Buddhist scholar, in 1921, the year he joined Ōtani University, he and his wife founded the Eastern Buddhist Society. The Society is focused on Mahayana Buddhism and offers lectures and seminars, Suzuki maintained connections in the West and, for instance, delivered a paper at the World Congress of Faiths in 1936, at the University of London. Suzuki received numerous honors, including Japans National Medal of Culture and he went on a lecture tour of American universities in 1951, and taught at Columbia University from 1952 to 1957
30.
Jataka tales
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The Jātaka tales are a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. The future Buddha may appear as a king, an outcast, a god, in Theravada Buddhism, the Jātakas are a textual division of the Pāli Canon, included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka. The term Jātaka may also refer to a commentary on this book. The Jātakas were originally amongst the earliest Buddhist literature, with metrical analysis methods dating their average contents to around the 4th century BCE. The Mahāsāṃghika Caitika sects from the region took the Jātakas as canonical literature and are known to have rejected some of the Theravāda Jātakas which dated past the time of King Ashoka. The Caitikas claimed that their own Jātakas represented the original collection before the Buddhist tradition split into various lineages, according to A. K. Warder, the Jātakas are the precursors to the various legendary biographies of the Buddha, which were composed at later dates. Although many Jātakas were written from a period, which describe previous lives of the Buddha. The Jātaka-Mālā of Arya Śura in Sanskrit gives 34 Jātaka stories, at the Ajanta Caves, Jātaka scenes are inscribed with quotes from Arya Shura, with script datable to sixth century. It had already translated into Chinese in 434 CE. Borobudur contains depictions of all 34 Jatakas from Jataka Mala, the Theravāda Jātakas comprise 547 poems, arranged roughly by increasing number of verses. According to Professor von Hinüber, only the last 50 were intended to be intelligible by themselves, the commentary gives stories in prose that it claims provide the context for the verses, and it is these stories that are of interest to folklorists. Many of the stories and motifs found in the Jātaka such as the Rabbit in the Moon of the Śaśajātaka, are found in other languages. Many of the stories and motifs being translations from the Pali, at the Mahathupa in Sri Lanka all 550 Jataka tales were represented inside of the reliquary chamber. Reliquaries often depict the Jataka tales, many stupas in northern India are said to mark locations from the Jātaka tales, the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang reported several of these. A stupa in Puskaravati marks where Syama fulfilled his duty to his blind parents. Nearby the ascetic Ekasrnga was seduced by a beautiful woman, in Mangalura Ksantivadin submitted to mutilation by a king. At Hadda Mountain a young Brahmin sacrificed himself to learn a half verse of the dharma, at Sarvadattaan an incarnation sold himself for ransom to make offerings to a Brahmin. Faxian describes the four great stupas as being adorned with precious substances, at one site king Sibi sacrifices his flesh to ransom a dove from a hawk
31.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
32.
Ganachakra
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A ganacakra is also known as tsog, ganapuja, cakrapuja or ganacakrapuja. As a tantric practice, forms of gaṇacakra are practiced today in Hinduism, Bön, professor Miranda Shaw summarises the experience of a gaṇacakra, The feast is an esoteric ritual that unfolds in many stages. The sacred space for the ceremony is demarcated by geometric designs drawn on the ground with powdered pigments, the participants don special insignia like bone ornaments and crowns and use musical instruments of archaic design. The feast culminates in the performance of dances and music that must never be disclosed to outsiders. The revelers may also improvise songs of realization to express their heightened clarity, samual holds that, erious Tantric practice is generally seen as appropriate for a small minority only. The ancient Indian gaṇacakra, the circle ritual. discussed earlier, is far in the past, in Tibetan practice it has long been replaced by the gaṇapuja, a considerably tamer affair, still involving a sacramental meal but normally performed indoors and without possession or dancing. A Lord of the Cakra presides sitting with his Shakti in the center, during the Cakra, there is no distinction of caste, but Pashus of any caste are excluded. There are various kinds of Cakra—productive, it is said, of differing fruits for the participator therein, the ganachakra, or tantric feast, can be seen as a mandala of sacred space. The community is that experience, and ceases to exist without it, a place that elicits reverence should be sacred, and wherever the Jewels are found, the pieties of lay and ordained Buddhists are bound to be expressed. In Hindu tantra, a ganachakra typically consists of five known as panchamakara or the five Ms, madya, mamsa, matsya, mudra. These included the use of sexuality, although it is not clear how far this was performed literally. The gaṇacakra involved possession, dancing and singing, and also magical procedures and it was seen as an occasion to enter a non-ordinary state of consciousness. At the very least the two would force a monk to break his vows. Although there is a deal of ritual in the Yoga Tantras. One did the practice only in visualization, not in actuality. In this way the practices of the Higher Tantras could be taken into the monasteries and incorporated into the congregations practice, generally, participants are required by their samaya vow to partake of meat and alcohol, and the rite tends to have elements symbolic of coitus. Traditions of the Ganachakra liturgy and rite extends remains of food and other offerings to alleviate the insatiable hunger of the hungry ghosts, genius loci. In the twilight language of correspondences and substitutions there is no inconsistency, although, when modern tantric apologists and scholars employ the term symbolic as though no external practices were engaged in literally, they mislead and perpetuate an untruth
33.
Buddhist devotion
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Buddhist Devotion is an important part of the practice of most Buddhists. According to a spokesman of the Sasana Council of Burma, devotion to Buddhist spiritual practices inspires devotion to the Triple Gem, most Buddhists use ritual in pursuit of their spiritual aspirations. To images chanting, the Three Refuges protective chanting, in the Samyuktagama, the verse is mainly about loving-kindness, compassion, and doing no harm to all beings. The mantra is given to trae in Chinese transcription of the Sanskrit and this episode does not occur in the counterpart sutta in the Samyutta-Nikaya, and may have been added after the Sarvastivada/Vibhajjavada split. A very important form of Buddhist devotion is Pure Land Buddhism and it exists as a group of independent denominations in Japan, the most radical, and largest, of which, Jodo Shinshu, holds to a subtle idea of effortless salvation
34.
Tibet
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Tibet is a region on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia, spanning about 2.4 million km2 and nearly a quarter of Chinas territory. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an elevation of 4,900 metres. The highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earths highest mountain, the Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century, but with the fall of the empire the region soon divided into a variety of territories. The current borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century, following the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of Tibet Area. The region subsequently declared its independence in 1913 without recognition by the subsequent Chinese Republican government, later, Lhasa took control of the western part of Xikang, China. There are tensions regarding Tibets political status and dissident groups that are active in exile and it is also said that Tibetan activists in Tibet have been arrested or tortured. The economy of Tibet is dominated by agriculture, though tourism has become a growing industry in recent decades. The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism, in there is Bön, which is similar to Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism is an influence on the art, music. Tibetan architecture reflects Chinese and Indian influences, staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley, yak meat, and butter tea. The Tibetan name for their land, Bod བོད་, means Tibet or Tibetan Plateau, although it meant the central region around Lhasa. The Standard Tibetan pronunciation of Bod, is transcribed Bhö in Tournadre Phonetic Transcription, Bö in the THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription and Poi in Tibetan pinyin. Tibetan people, language, and culture, regardless of where they are from, are referred to as Zang although the geographical term Xīzàng is often limited to the Tibet Autonomous Region. The term Xīzàng was coined during the Qing dynasty in the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor through the addition of a prefix meaning west to Zang, the best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet is Tubo. This name first appears in Chinese characters as 土番 in the 7th century, in the Middle Chinese spoken during that period, as reconstructed by William H. Baxter, 土番 was pronounced thux-phjon and 吐蕃 was pronounced thux-pjon. Other pre-modern Chinese names for Tibet include Wusiguo, Wusizang, Tubote, the English word Tibet or Thibet dates back to the 18th century. Historical linguists generally agree that Tibet names in European languages are loanwords from Semitic Ṭībat orTūbātt, itself deriving from Turkic Töbäd, literally, according to Matthew Kapstein, From the perspective of historical linguistics, Tibetan most closely resembles Burmese among the major languages of Asia. More controversial is the theory that the Tibeto-Burman family is part of a larger language family, called Sino-Tibetan
35.
14th Dalai Lama
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The 14th Dalai Lama (/ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/, /ˌdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə/, is the current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are important monks of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism which is headed by the Ganden Tripas. From the time of the 5th Dalai Lama to 1959, the government of Tibet. The Gelug schools government administered an area corresponding to the Tibet Autonomous Region just as the nascent PRC wished to assert central control over it. During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India, the 14th Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. His family was of Monguor extraction and his mother, Diki Tsering, gave birth to him on a straw mat in the cowshed behind the house. He was one of seven siblings to survive childhood, the eldest was his sister Tsering Dolma, eighteen years his senior. His eldest brother, Thupten Jigme Norbu, had been recognised at the age of eight as the reincarnation of the high Lama Taktser Rinpoche and his sister, Jetsun Pema, spent most of her adult life on the Tibetan Childrens Villages project. The Dalai Lamas first language was, in his own words, a broken Xining language which was the Chinese language, a form of Central Plains Mandarin, and his family did not speak the Tibetan language. Sir Basil Gould, British delegate to Lhasa in 1936, related his account of the team to Sir Charles Bell, former British resident in Lhasa. The Regent, Reting Rinpoche, shortly afterwards had a vision at the lake of Lhamo La-tso indicating Amdo as the region to search. This vision also indicated a large monastery with a roof and turquoise tiles. This team, led by Kewtsang Rinpoche, went first to meet the Panchen Lama, the Panchen Lama had been investigating births of unusual children in the area ever since the death of the 13th. He gave Kewtsang the names of three boys whom he had discovered and identified as candidates, within a year the Panchen Lama had died. There they found a house, as described in the vision, according to the 14th Dalai Lama, at the time the village of Taktser stood right on the real border between the region of Amdo and China. When the team visited, posing as pilgrims, its leader and he held an old rosary that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama and the boy Lhamo Dhondup, aged two, approached and asked for it. The monk said if you know who I am, you can have it, the child said Sera Lama, Sera Lama and spoke with him in a Lhasa accent, in a language the boys mother could not understand. The next time the party returned to the house, they revealed their real purpose, one test consisted of showing him various pairs of objects, one of which had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama and one which had not
