Eastern Spirituality

Glossary Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Agni (Sanskrit: Agni), pronounced " ăgˈnē ", is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices for onwards conveyance to other deities. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods. He is ever-young, because the fire is re-lit every day, and is immortal. In the Rig Veda (I.95.2), a Rishi prays - for the ten eternal powers to bless Tvashtr (the supreme mind which creates all things) with the birth of Agni which is a reference to the ten undisclosed powers that nourish Agni. Yaskacharya explains that the fire-god is called अग्नि (Agni) because he is अग्रणी (Agrani), the forward leader who is the ever awake disseminator of knowledge and the first principle of thought which manifests as Speech; it is carried at the front in all ritualistic undertakings (yajnas). Pippalāda, the sage of the Prashna Upanishad, merely highlights the एकायुः (the Sole person) status of Agni when he tells Kābandhi Katayāna – " That very one, Surya who is Aditya, rises up who is Prana and Agni, who is identified with all creatures and who is possessed of all fame. " The Vedic Rishis knew knowledge to be the quality of the Atman. Surya, Aditya, Prana and Agni stand for the Atman who reveals itself as knowledge by the all-illuminating bright rays of light and who reveals itself as objects cognized by the mind and described through speech (Rig Veda X.135.7). According to the Puranas, the origin of Krittika nakshatra (the Pleiades star-cluster) ruled by Agni, and the birth of Kartikeya is associated with Agni. The Death-conquering Agni-rahasya vidya, which was received by Prajapati from the self-existent Brahman, is detailed in the tenth kanda of the Shatapatha Brahmana. During Vedic times, animal sacrifices to propriate Agni were frequently made. Agni is also referred by the name Chagavahana.

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Five sub-divisions of the three periods following the Buddha's passing, significant for many Mahayana adherents:
  1. Age of enlightenment
  2. Age of meditation. These two ages comprise the Former Day of the Law
  3. Age of reading, reciting, and listening
  4. Age of building temples and stupas. These two ages comprise the Middle Day of the Law
  5. Age of conflict , an age characterized by unrest, strife, famine, and other natural and human-made disasters. This age corresponds to the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law when the (historical) Buddha's teachings would lose all power of salvation and perish and a new Buddha would appear to save the people.

The three periods and the five five-hundred year periods are described in the Sutra of the Great Assembly.

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Lord Krishna had a flute (called a Bansuri in Indian languages) which he used to play in the woods and all the herd-girls of Braj used to go out on the voice of this flute.

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The Four Noble Truths are "the truths of the Noble Ones," which express the basic orientation of Buddhism: this worldly existence is fundamentally unsatisfactory, but there is a path to liberation from repeated worldly existence. The truths are as follows:

  1. The Truth of Dukkha is that all conditional phenomena and experiences are not ultimately satisfying;
  2. The Truth of the Origin of Dukkha is that craving for and clinging to what is pleasurable and aversion to what is not pleasurable result in becoming, rebirth, dissatisfaction, and redeath;
  3. The Truth of the Cessation of Dukkha is that putting an end to this craving and clinging also means that rebirth, dissatisfaction, and redeath can no longer arise;
  4. The Truth of the Path Of Liberation from Dukkha is that by following the Noble Eightfold Path—namely, behaving decently, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation—an end can be put to craving, to clinging, to becoming, to rebirth, to dissatisfaction, and to redeath.

The four truths provide a useful conceptual framework for making sense of Buddhist thought, which has to be personally understood or "experienced." Many Buddhist teachers present them as the essence of Buddhist teachings, though this importance developed over time, substituting older notions of what constitutes prajna, or "liberating insight."

In the sutras the four truths have both a symbolic and a propositional function. They represent the awakening and liberation of the Buddha, but also the possibility of liberation for all sentient beings, describing how release from craving is to be reached.

Example via www.ramdass.org: The Four Noble Truths

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: Here & Now – Episode 6 – The Four Noble Truths

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In Zen, term for person who strikes the han.

Glossary Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z