Ahimsa ("noninjury"). The moral principle of avoiding harm to other forms of life, including animals and sometimes even the apparently inanimate world.

Ashram. A retreat or study center, usually with a guru in attendance.

Bodhicitta. (pronounced bo-dee-chit-ta). The energy of compassion for all "sentient beings." As presented in Mahayana Buddhism, it entails the wish that all beings might be liberated as quickly as possible.

Bodhisattva. In Mahayana Buddhism, one who has vowed to defer liberation in order to deliver others from samsara.

Buddha. A fully enlightened being. Generally refers to Siddhartha Gautama (c.563-c.483 B.C.), the historical founder of Buddhism. But Buddhists say there are many Buddhas past and to come; the historical Buddha is simply one in a long chain.

Dharma. (1) In Hinduism, the divine law underlying the universe. (2) Duty, especially in the sense of the work one has come into existence to carry out. The Bhagavad Gita says, "It is better to do one's own dharma badly than to do another's well." (3) The teaching of the Buddha, sometimes elided as Buddhadharma.

Guru. A spiritual teacher or master who imparts not only ideas and techniques, but knowledge and a quality of being. Sometimes the guru is seen as an embodiment of enlightened mind or deity. Guru bhakti is a devotional practice that focuses on the guru.

Hajj. In Islam, the pilgrimage to Mecca that is one of the requirements of the faith.

Hinayana. The "lesser vehicle" of Buddhism, emphasizing individual enlightenment. The oldest of the three major strains of the Buddhist religion (see Mahayana and Vajrayana), it is today practiced mainly in Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Hinayana is sometimes regarded as a derogatory term; hence the teaching is also called Theravada ("way of the elders").

Mahayana. The "greater vehicle" of Buddhism, emphasizing Bodhicitta, it includes the forms of Buddhism most often found in America, including the Zen and Tibetan lineages.

Moksha. In Hinduism, liberation or deliverance from the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Ultimate realization.

Nirvana ("extinctions"). Often translated as "enlightenment," in Buddhism it corresponds to the Hindu moksha, indicating final liberation from the wheel of birth and death.

Samadhi. A state of deep inner calm and concentration produced by meditation.

Samsara. The wheel of birth, death, and rebirth; the cycle of relative existence.

Satsang ("association with being"). Being in the presence of one who has realized the Self; generally refers to an audience with a guru or master.

Shakti. In Tantric practice, the primordial active energy of the universe, represented as female. Usually paired with Shiva or Siva, the god of transcendent reality, represented as male.

Siddhi. A paranormal power imparted by the practice of yoga.

Sunyata (sometimes shunyata; "emptiness" or "openness"). In Buddhism, a primordial quality of mind — open, spacious, and clear.

Tantra. A word with many connotations. In its most common meaning, a form of practice emphasizing spiritual attainment through the transformation of power, especially sexual energy, rather than asceticism.

Tathagata ("the one who has thus come"). A title of the Buddha.

Tathagatagarbha is the seed of the Buddha nature in all beings.

Vajrayana. The "adamantine vehicle" of Tibetan Buddhism, which emphasizes the immediate presence of the Buddha reality. Adherents view it as a greatly accelerated means of reaching enlightenment.

Vedanta ("the end of the Vedas," the principal sacred scriptures of Hinduism). (1) The purely metaphysical doctrine of Hindu teaching. (2) A version of Vedanta first brought to the West by Swami Vivekananda in 1893.

Vipassana ("insight"). A form of Buddhist meditation in which the practitioner observes inner states with alert detachment.

Yoga ("union"). Defined by the Indian sage Patanjali as the "stilling of the oscillation of the mental substance," yoga is a compendium of disciplines aimed at liberation. Hatha yoga, a physical practice involving poses called asanas, is the form that is most familiar in the U.S.

Zen A school of Mahayana Buddhism imported into Japan by way of China, Zen stresses a direct and strenuous approach to enlightenment, bypassing the rational mind.




From Gnosis: A Journal of the Western Inner Traditions, #39 (Spring 1996). Used by arrangement with the author and with Gnosis.
Copyright © 1996 by Richard Smoley

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