In the vast corpus of the Mahayana tradition, one text, the Avatamsaka Sutra, stands supreme. Described by Dr. D. T. Suzuki as the “epitome of Buddhist thought, Buddhist sentiment and Buddhist experience”, the sutra recounts the story of the youth Sudhana, the perennial seeker of the Way, who toward the end of the sutra sought entrance into Maitreya’s Tower – his own Self-Nature and Mind.
The present Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism is devoted to this inner pilgrimage, as it attempts to make the treasures of Maitreya’s Tower accessible to the greatest number.
Thus, over the last several years, the editors have canvassed some 30 Buddhist dictionaries and encyclopedias and over 350 books on Buddhism, published in different languages, extracting what they believe are key terms and concepts useful to the average student of Buddhism.
Although the whole range of Buddhist thought is covered, special empha- sis is placed on the Pure Land and Hua-yen (Avatamsaka) world views, the so-called Schools of Existence (q.v.).
An important aspect of this Glossary is its extensive cross-referencing of key Buddhist terms, a feature which we believe is particularly useful at this stage of development of Buddhist terminology in the West.
Perceptive readers will no doubt find errors and omissions as well as (intentional) repetitions and (unintentional) redundancies.
For these and other lapses, we request their indulgence and encourage them to write to the Sutra Translation Committee,
To those pressed for time and hungry for solace, the Buddha bequeathed “countless” teachings leading to enlightenment – 84,000 paths corresponding to the 84,000 afflictions of sentient beings.
The most pervasive and most accessible in East Asia for the past millennium1 has been the Pure Land tradition and its practice of Buddha Recitation – the invocation and /or visualization of Buddha Amitabha.
Whether a seeker chooses the Pure Land path or any other of the 84,000, however, the main condition for success, indeed the sine qua non, is the development of the Bodhi Mind – the aspiration to achieve Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. To quote the Avatamsaka Sutra (Ch. 39):
Just as a diamond, even if cracked, relieves poverty and want, in the same way the diamond of the Bodhi-mind, even if split, relieves the poverty of the mundane whirl.
As this book was being readied for publication, two of the editors’ close family members, bà Nguyễn Thị Hoàng and Mrs. Lily Dickstein, unexpectedly passed away. Their sudden departure brought home to us, as never before, the transitory nature of human existence – the Truth of Impermanence.
To Má and Lily and to all sentient beings throughout the worlds of the Ten Directions, this Glossary is respectfully dedicated.
May they all develop the Bodhi Mind and swiftly return to the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha – to the Pure Land of their Self-Nature and Mind.
Just as when a lamp is lit in a darkened room, a thousand years of darkness immediately vanishes, in the same way when the lamp of the Bodhi-mind illuminates sentient beings, countless eons of darkness are immediately dispelled.
