Buddhism

Kuya (Koya) To Lingyin (Buddhism)

Kuya (Koya) (903-972) earliest Japanese Buddhist monk to popularize the use of nembutsu After becoming tonsured as a novice priest around the age of 20, Kuya became a wanderer, and the first of a new class of wandering monks, the hijiri, "nembutsu wanderers." He was respected among the common people for his willingness to live […]

Linji Chan (Lin-chi Chan) To Lung-shan Temple (Buddhism)

Linji Chan (Lin-chi Chan) Linji is a major branch of Chan Buddhism and the forerunner of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen. The Linji school is renowned for its "lightning" or "shock" techniques. In these practices the master suddenly shocks the student, for example, by striking him or her, often with a fly swatter. For […]

Luofu, Mt. To Mahavamsa (Buddhism)

Luofu, Mt. A sacred mountain in Guangdong, southern China, Mt. Luofu was home to hermit practitioners as far back as the first century c.e. It was here that Ge Hong, the famous author of Baopuzi Neipian, retired and died—or, in some accounts, flew into the realm of the immortals. The mountain was thereafter associated with […]

Mahayana Buddhism To Mandala

Mahayana Buddhism Mahayana in Sanskrit is, literally, the "Great Vehicle." As a school of thought it refers to the school of Buddhist practice and teaching that developed around 200 b.c.e., probably in northern India and Kashmir, and then spread east into Central Asia, East Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia. Mahayana is generally seen as […]

Manjusri To Meiji Restoration (Buddhism)

Manjusri Manjusri, a prominent bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, is usually pictured as one of two bod-hisattvas attending Sakyamuni Buddha (along with Samantabhadra). He is seen as representing the perfection of wisdom and riding a lion, the voice of the dharma. He carries a sword to sever worshippers from illusion. Manjusri appears in the Flower Garland […]

Meiji Shrine To Monastery, Buddhist

Meiji Shrine The Meiji Shrine, a major structure of Japanese Shintoism, was constructed to memorialize Emperor Meiji (1851-1912) and his wife, Empress Shoken (1850-1914). Emperor Meiji was the first ruler of Japan after the fall of the Tokugawa sho-gunate at the end of 1867. In previous centuries, while Japan was ruled by a shogun, the […]

Mongolia, Buddhism in To Myanmar/Burma, Buddhism in

Mongolia, Buddhism in Buddhism reached Mongolia as part of its initial spread into China but did not come into its own until after the many tribes were united under Genghis Khan (1162-1227), whose kingdom stretched across northern China. In 1240, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Prince Godan, moved his army into Tibet, meeting only token resistance. As […]

Myochikai Kyodan To Nembutsu (Buddhism)

Myochikai Kyodan Myochikai Kyodan is an offshoot of Reiyukai, a Japanese new religion. Today there are more than 650,000 adherents in Japan. (The movement itself counts more than 1 million followers.) Myochikai was started by Miyamoto Mitsu (1900-84) in 1950. Miyamoto Mitsu is today known as Kaishu, "great spiritual master," within Myochikai. She and her […]

Neo-Confucianism (lixue) To Nichiren Shoshu (Buddhism)

Neo-Confucianism (lixue) Neo-Confucianism is a label given to a development in Chinese intellectual history that incorporated some of the metaphysical aspects of Buddhism into Confucianism. The Song dynasty (960-1279) saw an amazing convergence of talent and creativity in most areas of Chinese culture. Philosophically the major tenor of the age was a reenvisioning of the […]

Niguma To Olcott, Henry Steel (Buddhism)

Niguma (11th century) female yoga master Niguma was a teacher who practiced and conveyed to her pupils a path that centered on "Relying on the Body of Another Person" as a means of enlightenment, an obvious reference to sexual tantrism. Niguma was a student and consort of the Indian Vajrayana Buddhist teacher Naropa (1016-1100). To […]

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