Buddhism

Guan Yin To Hell (Buddhism)

Guan Yin (Kuan Yin, J. Kannon; Chenresi in Tibetan, Kuan-em in Korean) The goddess of compassion in Mahayana Buddhism, and arguably the most widely worshipped Buddhist deity figure, strictly speaking, Guan Yin is a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who, moved by KARUNA (compassion) for the suffering of living beings, has taken a vow not to […]

Hesse, Hermann To Hsu Yun (pinyin: Xu Yun) (Buddhism)

Hesse, Hermann (1877-1962) German novelist The works of Hermann Hesse, the Nobel Prize-winning author, enjoyed a new birth of life in the 1960s as a new generation of alienated youth discovered his writings. one novel in particular stood out, Siddhartha—originally published in 1922 and originally translated into English in 1951. This novel transcended his other […]

Hua Yan To Hwaom Buddhism

Hua Yan (Avatamsaka) school Hua Yan is the Chinese translation of Avatamsa, the Sanskrit term for "garland." The Hua Yan school is that branch of Chinese Buddhist thought centered on the Flower Garland (Avatamsaka) Sutra. The school is also focused on worship of the bodhisattva Manjusri. It was sometimes called the Dharma nature school because […]

Icchantika To Ise Shinto (Watarai Shinto) (Buddhism)

Icchantika An icchantikia is, literally, a "nonbeliever." One Chinese definition is "one who has severed his good roots" and so allows himself to be full of desires. There are three kinds of icchantikas: the wicked, those bodhisattvas who choose to become icchantikas, and those without a nature (or bodhi mind) to attain final nirvana. The […]

Ise Shrine To Japan, Buddhism in

Ise Shrine (Jingu Shrine) There are two major Shinto shrines in Ise, on Japan’s eastern coast in Mie Prefecture. The Inner Shrine (Naiku) contains Amaterasu Omi-Kami, said to be the grandmother of Ninigi, who unified Japan. Six kilometers distant, the outer Shrine (Geku) houses the Ise deity, Toyouke. Toyouke is also the SHINTo goddess of […]

Japan, Daoism in To Jodo-Shu (Buddhism)

Japan, Daoism in The precise time of the arrival of Daoism in Japan is not clear. There are records of an effort to seek immortality in the Nihonshoki (Chronicle of Japan, 720 c.e.) which are similar to Daoism’s central theme of the search for immortality. Concrete evidence of Daoism in Japan, however, is found in […]

Jojitsu To Kaniska (Kanisska) (Buddhism)

Jojitsu The Jojitsu (Establishment of Truth) school was one of the six schools originally founded at Nara. It traced its origin to a fourth-century Indian Buddhist, Harivarman, who authored the Satyasiddhi Sastra (Treatise on the Establishment of Truth). This text was translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva in the fifth century. It emphasizes two propositions, that […]

Kantaka To Koan (gong’an) (Buddhism)

Kantaka Kantaka was the horse of Prince Siddhartha, who became the Buddha. When Prince Siddhar-tha left his youthful life, he also relinquished his horse Kantaka. According to the Buddhist canon Kantaka had been born at the same time as the Buddha, along with 499 other horses. Kantaka was the color of a polished conch shell […]

Kodo Kyodan To Korean Buddhist Federation

Kodo Kyodan Kodo Kyodan is an offshoot of Reiyukai, the lay Buddhist organization founded in Japan in 1920. Kyodan emphasizes study of the Lotus Sutra. Much of the group’s activity focuses on searching for the Lotus Sutra’s core meaning. In addition emphasis is placed on the idea of filial piety. An assumption is that honoring […]

Korean shamanism To Kusinagara (Kusinara) (Buddhism)

Korean shamanism Although most Koreans associate it with superstition, shamanism is widely practiced in modern South Korea. Indeed it may be more widespread in Korea than in other East Asian societies, although shamanistic elements are found in spiritual and medical practices in many countries. Shamanism generally entails practices in which an individual communicates with both […]

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