Buddhist cuisine is an Asian cuisine that is followed by monks and many believers from areas historically influenced by Mahayana Buddhism. It is vegetarian or vegan,and it is based on the Dharmic concept of ahimsa (non-violence). Vegetarianism is common in other Dharmic faiths such as Hinduism,Jainism and Sikhism,as well as East Asian religions like Taoism. While monks,nuns and a minority of believers are vegetarian year-round,many believers follow the Buddhist vegetarian diet for celebrations.
Guanyin is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara and has been adopted by other Eastern religions,including Chinese Buddhism,Taoism and Chinese folk religion. She was first given the appellation "Goddess of Mercy" or "Mercy Goddess" by Jesuit missionaries in China. Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin,which means "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World." On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month,Guanyin's attainment of Buddhahood is celebrated.
In Buddhism,Avalokiteśvara,also known as Lokeśvara and Chenrezig,is a tenth-level bodhisattva associated with great compassion (mahakaruṇā). He is often associated with Amitabha Buddha. Avalokiteśvara has numerous manifestations and is depicted in various forms and styles. In some texts,he is even considered to be the source of all Hindu deities.
A woodblock is a small slit drum made from a single piece of wood. The term generally signifies the Western orchestral instrument,but may also refer to the Chinese woodblock. Alternative names sometimes used in ragtime and jazz are clog box and tap box. In orchestral music scores,woodblocks may be indicated by the French bloc de bois or tambour de bois,German Holzblock or Holzblocktrommel,or Italian cassa di legno.
Kṣitigarbha is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism and usually depicted as a Buddhist monk. His name may be translated as "Earth Treasury","Earth Store","Earth Matrix",or "Earth Womb". Kṣitigarbha is known for his vow to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in the six worlds between the death of Gautama Buddha and the rise of Maitreya,as well as his vow not to achieve Buddhahood until all hells are emptied. He is therefore often regarded as the bodhisattva of hell-beings,as well as the guardian of children and patron deity of deceased children and aborted fetuses in Japanese culture.
The Golden Light Sutra or Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra,also known by the Old Uygur title Altun Yaruq,is a Buddhist text of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism. In Sanskrit,the full title is The Sovereign King of Sutras,the Sublime Golden Light.
Buddhist symbolism is the use of symbols to represent certain aspects of the Buddha's Dharma (teaching). Early Buddhist symbols which remain important today include the Dharma wheel,the Indian lotus,the three jewels and the Bodhi tree.
Vairocana is a cosmic buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpreted,in texts like the Avatamsaka Sutra,as the dharmakāya of the historical Gautama Buddha. In East Asian Buddhism,Vairocana is also seen as the embodiment of the Buddhist concept of śūnyatā. In the conception of the 5 Jinas of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism,Vairocana is at the centre and is considered a Primordial Buddha.
Buddhist culture is exemplified through Buddhist art,Buddhist architecture,Buddhist music and Buddhist cuisine. As Buddhism expanded from the Indian subcontinent it adopted artistic and cultural elements of host countries in other parts of Asia.
The Ōbaku-shū (黄檗宗) is one of three main schools of Zen in Japanese Buddhism,in addition to Sōtōand Rinzai. It had a strong influence on Japanese Rinzai,which partly adopted Ōbaku-practices,and partly reinstored older practices in response to the Ōbaku-school.
Buddhist music is music created for or inspired by Buddhism and includes numerous ritual and non-ritual musical forms. As a Buddhist art form,music has been used by Buddhists since the time of early Buddhism,as attested by artistic depictions in Indian sites like Sanchi. While certain early Buddhist sources contain negative attitudes to music,Mahayana sources tend to be much more positive to music,seeing it as a suitable offering to the Buddhas and as a skillful means to bring sentient beings to Buddhism.
Ākāśagarbha is a bodhisattva in Chinese,Japanese and Korean Buddhism who is associated with the great element (mahābhūta) of space (ākāśa).
Buddha's Birthday or Buddha Day is a primarily Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of South,Southeast and East Asia,commemorating the birth of the prince Siddhartha Gautama,who became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition and archaeologists,Gautama Buddha,c. 563-483 BCE,was born at Lumbini in Nepal. Buddha's mother was Queen Maya Devi,who delivered the Buddha while undertaking a journey to her native home,and his father was King Śuddhodana. The Mayadevi Temple,its gardens,and an Ashoka Pillar dating from 249 BCE mark the Buddha's birth place at Lumbini.
Dharanis,also known as Parittas,are Buddhist chants,mnemonic codes,incantations,or recitations,usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the Buddhist devotee,they constitute a major part of historic Buddhist literature. Many of these chants are in Sanskrit and Pali,written in scripts such as Siddhaṃas well as transliterated into Chinese,Korean,Japanese,Vietnamese,Sinhala,Thai and other regional scripts. They are similar to and reflect a continuity of the Vedic chants and mantras.
A khakkhara,sometimes referred to in English as a pewter staff,is a staff topped with metal rings traditionally carried by Buddhist monks,particularly in East Asian Buddhism.
Devotion,a central practice in Buddhism,refers to commitment to religious observances or to an object or person,and may be translated with Sanskrit or Pāli terms like saddhā,gārava or pūjā. Central to Buddhist devotion is the practice of Buddhānussati,the recollection of the inspiring qualities of the Buddha. Although buddhānussati was an important aspect of practice since Buddhism's early period,its importance was amplified with the arising of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Specifically,with Pure Land Buddhism,many forms of devotion were developed to recollect and connect with the celestial Buddhas,especially Amitābha.
This is the glossary of Japanese Buddhism,including major terms the casual reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk (*) are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galleries. Within definitions,words set in boldface are defined elsewhere in the glossary.
Bonshō,also known as tsurigane or ōgane are large bells found in Buddhist temples throughout Japan,used to summon the monks to prayer and to demarcate periods of time. Rather than containing a clapper,bonshō are struck from the outside,using either a handheld mallet or a beam suspended on ropes.
Templestay (Korean: 템플스테이) is cultural program offered in numerous South Korean Buddhist temples. Templestay allows participants to experience the life of Buddhist practitioners and learn the various aspects of Korean Buddhist culture and history through stories told by monks. The Templestay program has been operating since the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Buddhist coin charms are a category of Chinese,Japanese,Korean,and Vietnamese numismatic charms that depict Buddhist religious imagery or inscriptions. These coin charms often imitate the design of Chinese cash coins,but can exist in many different shapes and sizes. In these countries similar numismatic charms existed for Confucianism and Taoism,and at times Buddhist coin charms would also incorporate symbolism from these other religions.
