Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century CE. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Buddhism to China, and is regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. He is also popularly regarded as the founder of Shaolin boxing, an idea popularized in the 20th century based on the 17th century Yijin Jing. He is known as Dámó in China and as Daruma in Japan. His name means "dharma of awakening (bodhi)" in Sanskrit.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tashi Paljor was a Vajrayana master, Terton, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 1988 to 1991, he is also considered an eminent proponent of the Rime tradition.
Thrangu Rinpoche was born in Kham, Tibet. He was deemed to be a prominent tulku in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, the ninth reincarnation in his particular line. His full name and title was the Very Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Maway Senge. The academic title Khenchen denotes great scholarly accomplishment, and the term Rinpoche is a Tibetan devotional title which may be accorded to respected teachers and exemplars.
In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (kechimyaku) theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself." The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family".
Dazu Huike is considered the Second Patriarch of Chan Buddhism and the twenty-ninth since Gautama Buddha. He was the successor to Bodhidharma.
Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje was known simply as Dudjom Rinpoche. He is considered by many Tibetan Buddhists to be from an important Tulku lineage of Terton Dudul Dorje (1615–1672), and was recognized as the incarnation of Terton Dudjom Lingpa (1835–1904), a renowned treasure revealer. He was a direct incarnation of both Padmasambhava and Dudjom Lingpa. He was a Nyingma householder, a yogi, and a Vajrayana and Dzogchen master. According to his secretary Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal and many others, he was revered as "His Holiness" (Kyabje) and as a "Master of Masters".
Machig Labdrön, or "Singular Mother Torch from Lab" (1055–1149), was a female Tibetan Buddhist monk believed to be a reincarnation of Yeshe Tsogyal, and the renowned 11th-century Tibetan tantric Buddhist master and yogini that originated several Tibetan lineages of the Vajrayana practice of Chöd.
Chöd is a spiritual practice found primarily in the Yundrung Bön tradition as well as in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Also known as "cutting through the ego," the practices are based on the Prajñāpāramitā or "Perfection of Wisdom" sutras, which expound the "emptiness" concept of Buddhist philosophy.
The somaya, is a set of vows or precepts given to initiates of an esoteric Vajrayana Buddhist order as part of the abhiṣeka ceremony that creates a bond between the guru and disciple.
Women in Buddhism is a topic that can be approached from varied perspectives including those of theology, history, anthropology, and feminism. Topical interests include the theological status of women, the treatment of women in Buddhist societies at home and in public, the history of women in Buddhism, and a comparison of the experiences of women across different forms of Buddhism. As in other religions, the experiences of Buddhist women have varied considerably.
Sudden awakening or Sudden enlightenment, also known as subitism, is a Buddhist idea which holds that practitioners can achieve an instantaneous insight into utlimate reality. This awakening is described as being attained "suddenly," "in one glance," "uncovered all together," or "together, completely, simultaneously," in contrast to "successively or being uncovered one after the other." It may be posited as opposite to gradualism, an approach which says that insight can be achieved only through a long gradual step by step process.
East Mountain Teaching denotes the teachings of the Fourth Ancestor Dayi Daoxin, his student and heir the Fifth Ancestor Daman Hongren, and their students and lineage of Chan Buddhism.
Dampa Sangye was a Buddhist mahasiddha of the Indian Tantra movement who transmitted many teachings based on both Sutrayana and Tantrayana to Buddhist practitioners in Tibet in the late 11th century. He travelled to Tibet more than five times. On his third trip from India to Tibet he met Machig Labdrön. Dampa Sangye appears in many of the lineages of Chöd and so in Tibet he is known as the Father of Chod, however perhaps his best known teaching is "the Pacification". This teaching became an element of the Mahamudra Chöd lineages founded by Machig Labdrön.
Kamalaśīla was an Indian Buddhist monk of Nalanda Mahavihara who accompanied Śāntarakṣita (725–788) to Tibet at the request of Trisong Detsen.
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty as the Chan School or the Buddha-mind school, and later developed into various sub-schools and branches. Zen was influenced by Taoism, especially Neo-Daoist thought, and developed as a distinguished school of Chinese Buddhism. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen.
Chan, from Sanskrit dhyāna, is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song dynasties.
In Dzogchen, trekchö means "(spontaneous) cutting of tension" or "cutting through solidity." The practice of trekchö reflects the earliest developments of Dzogchen, with its admonition against practice. In this practice one first identifies, and then sustains recognition of, one's own innately pure, empty awareness. The main trekchö instructions in the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo state "This instant freshness, unspoiled by the thoughts of the three times; You directly see in actuality by letting be in naturalness."
Though Zen is said to be based on a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not stand upon words", the Zen-tradition has a rich doctrinal and textual background. It has been influenced by sutras such as the Lankavatara Sutra, the Vimalakirti Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, and the Lotus Sutra.
Zen lineage charts depict the transmission of the dharma from one generation to another. They developed during the Tang dynasty, incorporating elements from Indian Buddhism and East Asian Mahayana Buddhism, but were first published at the end of the Tang.
