Buddhism Reference Volume 1 and 2: Modern Nichiren School scholarship

By Sylvain Chamberlain

Volume 1 and 2 of Buddhism Reference compiles the first volume with many terms and words of scholarship from earlier sutra and commentaries on the teachings of the Dharma. The Threefold Lotus Kwoon is dedicated to the modern correct practice of the ultimate teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha as elucidated by Bodhisattva Nichiren for this age of Mappo to propagate the teachings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781304845962

Book preview

The Threefold Lotus Kwoon (sacred place of practice and study) is a sangha of like minded practitioners and students of the Lotus Method as founded on the doctrines and teachings of Bodhisattva Nichiren and his elucidations of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime of teachings.

Because Sifu Sylvain Chamberlain’s lifetime of study includes broad knowledge from sciences and engineering in many disciplines, as well as Nichiren teachings being directed to our modern experience of the teachings, the intricate relationship between the insights of Nichiren and Shakyamuni and throughout the scholarship of Buddhism to modern scientific insights on the nature of life and all phenomena are presented with this perspective freely. Sifu Sylvain refers to this school as Quantum Life Buddhism, to further exemplify the contemporaneity of Buddhist thought and understandings in our modern experience.

All of the content of this book is the documentation of over 40 years experience of study and practice of Sifu Sylvain Chamberlain and his teaching and sharing insights.

Copyright is Sylvain Chamberlain 2023

of this first printing through association and partnership with LULU.com online on demand publisher and printer.

Print book

ISBN: 978-1-304-91708-9

E-book

ISBN: 978-1-304-84596-2

Many Thanks

to My Patrons on Patreon.com/TLK and PayPal for their constant support.

Life is a verb, not a noun. We should experience life as a constantly refreshed series of re-birth moments, renewed and precious.

Sylvain

Table of Contents

Quantum Life Buddhism      3

Abhidharma      21

Modern scholarship      21

Other Abhidharma traditions      22

Mahāyāna Abhidharma      23

Agama Sutras (Buddhism)      25

The various āgamas      25

Dīrgha Āgama      25

Madhyama Āgama      25

Saṃyukta Āgama      26

Ekottara Āgama      26

Kṣudraka Āgama or Kṣudraka Piṭaka      27

Agama Sutras (Hinduism)      29

Amitabha      31

Ānanda      33

Anatman (anatta)      37

Buddhist concept of Anatman or Anatta      37

Anatman in Mahayana Buddhism      38

Annihilation      39

Anuttarasamyaksambodhi      41

Arhat - Arahant      43

Asuras      47

Attachment      49

Attitude and Intent      51

Avatamsaka Sutra      53

Avici – Avichi Hell      55

Awakening      57

Benefits      59

Bhagavat      61

Birth      63

Bodhisattva      65

Brahma      69

Brahma in Buddhism      69

Brahma World (realm)      70

Brahman-Conduct      71

The Brahman Conduct      71

Buddha      75

Buddhaness      76

Buddha of Absolute Freedom      76

Butsudan      77

Three Great Secret Laws      77

Cause / Effect      79

Ceremony in the Sky      81

Cessation      85

Chanting      87

Citta      89

Citta in Mahayana      91

Other Uses of Citta      91

Compassion      93

Consciousness      95

Cycle of Birth and Death      99

Daimoku      101

Death      105

Demons      107

Yaksas;      107

Raksasas;      107

Kumbhandas;      108

Pisacas      109

Krtyas      109

Putanas      109

Vetalas      110

Dengyo – Saicho      111

Life      111

Trip to China      113

Founding of Tendai      115

Dependent Origination      117

Devadatta      119

Lotus Sūtra      119

Devas      121

Etymology      121

Dharani      123

Etymology and nomenclature      124

Dharma      125

Dhuta – Dhuta-Tanga      127

From The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism      127

Dukkha      131

Earthly Desires:      135

I. What is the Cause of Suffering?      135

II. What are Earthly Desires?      135

III. Kinds of Earthly Desire      136

Five Desires      136

IV. What are the Three Illusions?      137

(1) Illusions of thought and desire      137

The Five Rishi are:      138

(2) Illusions Innumerable as Particles of Dust and Sand      139

(3) Illusions about the True Nature of Life      140

V. What are the Causes of Earthly Desires?      140

VI. Earthly Desires Contradict But Are Endowed With Enlightenment      141

Eagle Peak      143

Eight (8) Deliverances      145

Elongated Ears      147

Emptiness      149

Energy      151

Engine of Life      153

Enlightenment      157

Awakening      158

Epistemology      161

Equanimity      163

Eternal or Eternity      165

Evil      169

(Derailment from Path Buddhaness)      169

Extinction      171

Five Aggregates      173

The Five defilements      175

Formation      177

Four Kinds of Unobstructed Knowledge      179

Four Noble Truths      185

Fourfold Assembly      187

Gandhāra      189

Gandhara Civilization      191

The Extent of Gandhara      191

Gandhari Language      193

Gandhāran Buddhist texts      195

GoHonzon      197

Gongyo      201

Gosho      203

Habit Energy      205

Heaven      207

Hell or Hells      209

Hinayana      211

Homage      213

Honmon      215

Ichinen Sanzen      217

Identification      219

Invoke – Invocation      221

Kaidan      223

The Precept Platform (Kaidan)      223

Kalpa      224

Karma      227

Kosen Rufu      231

Law      233

A Priori      233

Liberate      235

Liberation      237

Life      239

Life Condition      241

Realms or Worlds of Life-Condition      242

Madhyamaka      245

Mahāprajñāpāramitā      247

Mahasattva      249

Maitreya      251

Mandala      253

Mara      255

What Is Mara?      256

Merit – Punya      257

Accumulating merit      257

Three bases of merit      258

Activities for monks      258

Activities for lay people      258

Ten Wholesome Actions      259

Miao-lo - Zhanran      261

Middle Way      263

Early Buddhist Texts      263

The Middle Way (majjhimāpaṭipadā)      263

Teaching by the Middle (majjhena desanā)      265

Dependent Origination and personal identity      267

Mind      271

Moment      273

Moment-to-Moment      277

Momentum      279

Monk      281

Monkey Mind      283

Nagas      284

MyoHoRenGeKyo      287

Nāgārjuna      289

Mūlamadhyamakakārikā      289

Major attributed works      290

NaMu      293

NaMuMyoHoRenGeKyo      295

Nidana      297

The Twelve Linked Causal Chain—Nidana:      298

Nine (9) Consciousnesses      305

Nirvana      309

noun      309

Noble Eightfold Path      311

Nichiren Doctrine for this age of Mappo      312

Non-Origination, Emptiness, Void and Self-No-Self      315

Omniscience      317

Opening of the Eye      319

Outflows - Asrava      321

Paramita      323

The 10 Powers      323

The ten powers are:      324

Ten 10 Paramita of Mahayana Buddhism      325

Parent      329

Attachment      330

Parinirvāna      333

To simplify;      334

Six (6) Penetrations      337

Personages      339

Potential      341

Practice      343

Prajna      347

Prajñāpāramitā      349

Prakrit      351

Pratyekabuddha      353

Pure Land      355

Amida Buddha      356

Pure Land across many traditions      356

The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa      357

The Pure Land is in the Mind      358

Qi      359

Quantum Fluctuations      361

Quiescence      363

Re-Birth      365

Refuge – Taking Refuge      367

Sad-Dharma-Pundarika-Sutram      371

Title      372

Samadhi      375

Some history for context of early training:      376

Indian Mahāyāna      376

Samma-samādhi and dhyāna      376

The rupa jhānas      377

Samsara      381

Sangha      383

Sarira      385

Japan      385

Save or Rescue      389

Secret      391

Self      393

A construct in psychology and neuropsychological evidence for its multiplicity      394

Abstract      395

Self-Manifestation      397

Seven Jewels      399

Shoten Zenjin      403

Single Mindedly Contemplate Buddha      405

Skandhas      407

Sovereign      409

Sravaka      411

Suchness      413

The ten suchnesses      413

Taiji      417

Tathāgata      421

Etymology      421

Eight meanings according to Buddhaghosa      422

Alternate contemporary interpretations      422

Teacher      423

Ten Factors      425

Ten Worlds or Realms      427

The Ten Realms (worlds)      428

Hell (Jap. Jigoku).      428

Hunger or Hungry Ghosts (Jap. Gaki).      428

Animality or Animals (Jap. Chikusho).      429

Anger or Asuras (Jap. Shura).      429

Humanity (also called Tranquility, Jap. Nin).      430

Rapture or Heavenly Beings (Jap. Ten).      430

Learning or Voice Hearers (Jap. Shomon).      431

Realization or Cause-Awakened Ones (Jap. Engaku).      431

Bodhisattva (Jap. Bodhisattva).      432

Buddhahood or Buddha (Jap. Butsu).      432

Third Eye (tuft of hair)      435

Three Bodies of Buddha      437

three bodies      437

The Thus Come One;      438

Three (3) Clarities      439

Three Illuminations      439

Three Periods of Buddhist Teaching and Practice (Dharma)      441

True Dharma      441

Counterfeit Dharma      441

Final Dharma      441

Latter Day of the Dharma      442

Three Realms of Existence – Three Spheres      445

Three Vehicles      449

3000 Realms in a Single Thought Moment of Life      451

Ichinen Sanzen      452

Thus Come One      455

Time and Time/Space      457

T’ien-T’ai (Zhiyi)      459

History      460

Early figures      461

Zhiyi      462

Zhanran      463

Post-Tang crisis and Song revival      464

Yuan, Ming and Qing      466

Modern era      467

Texts      468

Tiantai Treatises      469

The Three Great Tiantai Treatises:      470

The Five Lesser Tiantai Treatises:      470

Philosophy      471

The Threefold Truth      471

The Threefold Contemplation      474

The One Vehicle      475

The Unity of the Dharmadhatu      475

Three Thousand Realms in One Thought Moment      477

Buddhahood      478

Buddha-nature      480

The Six Degrees of Identity      480

Non-dual Ethics      481

The Subtle Dharma: One Reality, One Vehicle, many Skillful Means      482

Classification of teachings      483

Five Periods      483

Eight Teachings      484

The Fourfold Method:      485

The Four Siddhanta      486

Practice      487

Timelessness      491

Tongue (long broad tongue)      495

Topknot      497

Transmigrate      499

Treasure Tower      501

Trichiliocosm      503

Tripitaka      505

Origins of the Tripitaka      505

Variations of the Tripitaka      506

Are These Scriptures True to the Original Version?      507

Nichiren      507

Triple World      513

Twelve divisions of the teachings      515

Vasubandhu      517

Life and works      517

Philosophy      519

Abhidharma      519

Critique of the self      519

Momentariness      521

Yogacara theories      522

Appearance only      522

The Twenty verses begins by stating:      523

Three natures and non-duality      524

Logic      525

Virtuous Family – Good Family      527

So what is a "virtuous family"?      527

Pali tradition      528

Sanskrit tradition      529

Vulture Peak      531

In Buddhist literature      531

World Peace      533

World System      537

Wuji      539

Yin/Yang      541

APPENDIX A      543

The Mahayana      543

Shoju versus Shakubuku      544

Identification      545

Scholarship      547

Buddhism is about the Mind      548

Stratification of the Mind      549

The Eighth Consciousness      551

Buddhahood and Stuff      552

The Ninth Consciousness      553

APPENDIX B      555

Bodhisattvas from Beneath the Earth      555

ANALOGIES      557

Attachment: Collecting Sea shells      557

Enlightenment: Rolling Snowball      558

Samsara: Fountain Analogy      559

Time: The Picket Fence      561

APPENDIX C      563

Buddhist Hyperbole and Non-specific WORDS and TERMS      563

APPENDIX D      565

Non-BUDDHIST WORDS to Avoid      565

Faith      566

Substitute      566

Worship      566

Substitute      567

Prayer      567

Substitute      568

Priest      568

Substitute      569

Reincarnation      569

Substitute      570

Religion      570

Substitute      571

Soul      571

Substitute      574

Bardo      574

Substitute?      575

This is a very large compendium of formalized teachings written after the extinction of Shakyamuni Buddha to represent scholarship in the practice of Buddhism. A large subject for study, it must be recognized that several schools claiming Abhidharma texts vary greatly in their interpretations and implementations.

From Wikipedia:

Modern scholars generally believe that the canonical Abhidharma texts emerged after the time of the Buddha, in around the 3rd century BCE. Therefore, the canonical Abhidharma works are generally claimed by scholars not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of later Buddhists. Peter Skilling describes the Abhidharma literature as the end-product of several centuries of intellectual endeavor.

The various Vinaya accounts of the compilation of the Buddhist canon after the death of the Buddha offer various sometimes conflicting narratives regarding the canonical status of Abhidharma. While the Mahāsāṅghika Vinaya does not speak of an Abhidharma apart from the Sutra Pitaka and the Vinaya Pitaka, the Mahīśāsaka, Theravāda, Dharmaguptaka and Sarvāstivāda Vinayas all provide different accounts which mention that there was some kind of Abhidharma to be learned aside from the Sutras and Vinaya. According to Analayo, the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya does not explicitly mention the Abhidharma, although it reports that on this occasion Mahākāśyapa recited the mātṛkā(s). Analayo thinks that this reflects an early stage, when what later became Abhidharma was called the mātṛkās. The term appears in some sutras, such as the Mahāgopālaka-sutta (and its parallel) which says that a learned monk is one who knows the Dharma, Vinaya and the mātṛkās.

The Śāriputra Abhidharma Śāstra (舍利弗阿毘曇論 Shèlìfú Āpítán Lùn) (T. 1548) is a complete abhidharma text that is thought to come from the Dharmaguptaka sect. The only complete edition of this text is that in Chinese. Sanskrit fragments from this text have been found in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, and are now part of the Schøyen Collection. The manuscripts at this find are thought to have been part of a monastery library of the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda sect.

Several Pudgalavada Abhidharma type texts also survive in Chinese, such as the Traidharmakasastra  and the Sammatiyanikayasastra. These texts contain traditional Abhidharma type lists and doctrines, but they also attempt to expound and defend the unique Pudgalavada doctrine of the person (pudgala).

Many Abhidharma texts have been lost- likely more than have survived. This includes texts brought from India by Xuanzang belonging to a variety of Indian schools that were never translated into Chinese. Many Abhidharma sastras discovered among the Gandharan Buddhist texts have no parallel in existing Indic languages or Chinese or Tibetan translation, suggesting the former breadth of Abhidharma literature.

According to some sources, abhidharma was not accepted as canonical by the Mahāsāṃghika school. The Theravādin Dīpavaṃsa, for example, records that the Mahāsāṃghikas had no abhidharma. However, other sources indicate that there were such collections of abhidharma. During the early 5th century, the Chinese pilgrim Faxian is said to have found a Mahāsāṃghika Abhidharma at a monastery in Pāṭaliputra. When Xuanzang visited Dhānyakaṭaka, he wrote that the monks of this region were Mahāsāṃghikas, and mentions the Pūrvaśailas specifically. Near Dhānyakaṭaka, he met two Mahāsāṃghika bhikṣus and studied Mahāsāṃghika abhidharma with them for several months, during which time they also studied various Mahāyāna śāstras together under Xuanzang's direction. On the basis of textual evidence as well as inscriptions at Nāgārjunakoṇḍā, Joseph Walser concludes that at least some Mahāsāṃghika sects probably had an abhidharma collection, and that it likely contained five or six books.

Another complete system of Abhidharma thought is elaborated in certain works of the Mahāyāna Yogācāra tradition (which mainly evolved out of the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma). This Yogācāra Abhidharma can be found in the works of figures like Asanga, Vasubandhu, Sthiramati, Dharmapāla, Śīlabhadra, Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang), and Vinītadeva.

Yogācāra Abhidharmikas discussed many concepts not widely found in non-Mahāyāna Abhidharma, such as the theory of the eight consciousnesses (see first volume of Buddhism Reference) (aṣṭa vijñānakāyāḥ) which includes the novel ālayavijñāna, the three natures (trisvabhāva), mere cognizance (vijñapti-mātra), the fundamental revolution of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti), the Mahāyāna buddhology of the three bodies of the Buddha, the ten pāramitā and the ten bhūmi.

From Encyclopedia of Buddhism:

abhidharma (P. abhidhamma; T. chos mngon pa ཆོས་མངོན་པ་; C. apidamo/duifa 阿毘達磨/對法) — refers to a set of texts developed by the early Buddhist schools and the system of thought that is presented in those texts. The Abhidharma texts define many of the topics mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings (sutras), and arrange them into classifications, such as the five skandhas, the twelve ayatanas, the eighteen dhatus, and so on, thereby providing tools for generating a precise understanding of all experience.

Contemporary scholar Steven D. Goodman describes the abhidharma as:

    ...an in-depth study, both analytically and experientially, of what makes up the entire universe, the person, and their world. [The abhidharma] speaks about different patternings of what make up this entire universe, for the sole purpose...of helping beings along the path to the cessation of suffering.

The Abhidharma texts are categorized as the third of the three pitakas, or collections, into which the Buddhist teachings are traditionally divided. The Abhidharma Pitaka is associated with the training in wisdom (Skt. prajñā).

The various āgamas

There are four extant collections of āgamas, and one for which we have only references and fragments (the Kṣudrakāgama). The four extant collections are preserved in their entirety only in Chinese translation, although small portions of all four have recently been discovered in Sanskrit, and portions of four of the five āgamas are preserved in Tibetan.

The five Āgamas are:

The Dirgha Agama (Long Discourses, Cháng Ahánjīng) corresponds to the Dīgha Nikāya of the Pali Canon.

A complete version of the Dīrgha Āgama of the Dharmaguptaka (法藏部) school was done by Buddhayaśas (佛陀耶舍) and Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) in the Late Qin dynasty (後秦), dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sūtras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravadin Dīgha Nikāya. A very substantial portion of the Sarvāstivādin Dīrgha Āgama survives in Sanskrit, and portions survive in Tibetan translation.

The Madhyama Āgama (Middle-length Discourses) corresponds to the Majjhima Nikāya of the Pali Canon. A complete translation of the Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school was done by Saṃghadeva in the Eastern Jin dynasty in 397-398 CE. The Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school contains 222 sūtras, in contrast to the 152 suttas of the Pāli Majjhima Nikāya. Portions of the Sarvāstivāda Madhyama Āgama also survive in Tibetan translation.

The Saṃyukta Āgama (Connected Discourses, Zá Ahánjīng Taishō 2.99) corresponds to the Saṃyutta Nikāya of the Theravada school. A Chinese translation of the complete Saṃyukta Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda  school was done by Guṇabhadra in the Song state, dated to 435-443 CE. Portions of the Sarvāstivāda Saṃyukta Āgama also survive in Sanskrit and Tibetan translation. In 2014,The Collation and Annotation of Saṃyuktāgama, Chinese version, written by Wang Jianwei and Jin Hui, was published in China.

There is also an incomplete Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama (Taishō 100) of the Kāśyapīya  school by an unknown translator, from around the Three Qin period, 352-431 CE. A comparison of the Sarvāstivādin, Kāśyapīya, and Theravadin texts reveals a considerable consistency of content, although each recension contains texts not found in the others.

The Ekottara Āgama (Numbered Discourses, Zēngyī Ahánjīng, Taishō 125) corresponds to the Anguttara Nikāya of the Theravada school. A complete version of the Ekottara Āgama was translated by Dharmanandi  of the Fu Qin state, and edited by Gautama Saṃghadeva in 397–398 CE. Some believed that it came from the Sarvāstivāda school, but more recently the Mahāsāṃghika branch has been proposed as well. According to A.K. Warder, the Ekottara Āgama references 250 Prātimokṣa rules for monks, which agrees only with the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, which is also located in the Chinese Buddhist canon. He also views some of the doctrine as contradicting tenets of the Mahāsāṃghika school, and states that they agree with Dharmaguptaka views currently known. He therefore concludes that the extant Ekottara Āgama is that of the Dharmaguptaka school.

Of the four Āgamas of the Sanskritic Sūtra Piṭaka in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, it is the one which differs most from the Theravādin version. The Ekottara Āgama contains variants on such standard teachings as the Noble Eightfold Path. According to Keown, there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the [Chinese] versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date.

The Kṣudraka Āgama (Minor Collection) corresponds to the Khuddaka Nikāya, and existed in some schools. The Dharmaguptaka in particular, had a Kṣudraka Āgama. The Chinese translation of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya provides a table of contents for the Dharmaguptaka recension of the Kṣudraka Āgama, and fragments in Gandhari appear to have been found. Items from this Āgama also survive in Tibetan and Chinese translation—fourteen texts, in the later case. Some schools, notably the Sarvāstivāda, recognized only four Āgamas—they had a Kṣudraka which they did not consider to be an Āgama. Others—including even the Dharmaguptaka, according to some contemporary scholars—preferred to term it a Kṣudraka Piṭaka." As with its Pāḷi counterpart, the Kṣudraka Āgama appears to have been a miscellany, and was perhaps never definitively established among many early schools.

The Agamas (Devanagari: आगम, IAST: āgama) (Tamil: ஆகமம், romanized: ākamam) are a collection of several Tantric literature and scriptures of Hindu schools. The term literally means tradition or that which has come down, and the Agama texts describe cosmology, epistemology, philosophical doctrines, precepts on meditation and practices, four kinds of yoga, mantras, temple construction, deity worship and ways to attain sixfold desires. These canonical texts are in Tamil and Sanskrit.

The three main branches of Agama texts are Shaiva, Vaishnava, and Shakta. The Agamic traditions are sometimes called Tantrism, although the term Tantra is usually used specifically to refer to Shakta Agamas. The Agama literature is voluminous, and includes 28 Shaiva Agamas, 64 Shakta Agamas (also called Tantras), and 108 Vaishnava Agamas (also called Pancharatra Samhitas), and numerous Upa-Agamas.

The origin and chronology of Agamas is unclear. Some are Vedic and others non-Vedic. Agama traditions include Yoga and Self Realization concepts, some include Kundalini Yoga, asceticism, and philosophies ranging from Dvaita (dualism) to Advaita (monism). Some suggest that these are post-Vedic texts, others as pre-Vedic compositions dating back to over 1100 BCE. Epigraphical and archaeological evidence suggests that Agama texts were in existence by about middle of the 1st millennium CE, in the Pallava dynasty era.

Scholars note that some passages in the Hindu Agama texts appear to repudiate the authority of the Vedas, while other passages assert that their precepts reveal the true spirit of the Vedas. The Agamas literary genre may also be found in Śramaṇic traditions (i.e. Buddhist, Jaina, etc.). Bali Hindu tradition is officially called Agama Hindu Dharma in Indonesia.

Amitabha

Amitabha, (Sanskrit: Infinite Light) in Mahayana Buddhism, and particularly in the so-called Pure Land sects, the great saviour buddha. As related in the Sukhavati-vyuha-sutras (the fundamental scriptures of the Pure Land sects), many ages ago a monk named Dharmakara made a number of vows, the 18th of which promised that, on his attaining buddhahood, all who had resolve in him and who called upon his name would be reborn in his paradise and would reside there in bliss until they had attained enlightenment. Having accomplished his vows, Dharmakara reigned as the buddha Amitabha in the Western Paradise, called Sukhavati, the Pure Land.

Devotion to Amitabha came to the fore in China about 650 ce and from there spread to Japan, where it led in the 12th and 13th centuries to the formation of the Pure Land school and the True Pure Land school, both of which continue to have large followings today. Depictions of Amitabha’s Pure Land and of Amitabha descending to welcome the newly dead are beautifully expressed in the raigō paintings of Japan’s late Heian period (897–1185).

(Pali and Sanskrit: आनन्द; 5th–4th century BCE) was the primary attendant of the Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Among the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the best memory.

Most of the texts of the early Buddhist Sutta-Piṭaka (Pali: सुत्त पिटक; Sanskrit: सूत्र-पिटक, Sūtra-Piṭaka) are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council. For that reason, he is known as the Treasurer of the Dhamma, with Dhamma (Sanskrit: धर्म, dharma) referring to the Buddha's teaching. In Early Buddhist Texts, Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha. Although the early texts do not agree on many parts of Ānanda's early life, they do agree that Ānanda was ordained as a monk and that Puṇṇa Mantānīputta (Sanskrit: पूर्ण मैत्रायणीपुत्र, Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra) became his teacher.

Twenty years in the Buddha's ministry, Ānanda became the attendant of the Buddha, when the Buddha selected him for this task. Ānanda performed his duties with great devotion and care, and acted as an intermediary between the Buddha and the laypeople, as well as the saṅgha (Sanskrit: संघ, romanized: saṃgha, lit. 'monastic community'). He accompanied the Buddha for the rest of his life, acting not only as an assistant, but also a secretary and a mouthpiece.

Scholars are skeptical about the historicity of many events in Ānanda's life, especially the First Council, and consensus about this has yet to be established. A traditional account can be drawn from early texts, commentaries, and post-canonical chronicles. Ānanda had an important role in establishing the order of bhikkhunīs (Sanskrit: भिक्षुणी, romanized: bhikṣuṇī, lit. 'female mendicant'), when he requested the Buddha on behalf of the latter's foster-mother Mahāpajāpati Gotamī (Sanskrit: महाप्रजापती गौतमी, Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī) to allow her to be ordained.

Ānanda also accompanied the Buddha in the last year of his life, and therefore was witness to many tenets and principles that the Buddha conveyed before his death, including the well-known principle that the Buddhist community should take his teaching and discipline as their refuge, and that he would not appoint a new leader. The final period of the Buddha's life also shows that Ānanda was very much attached to the Buddha's person, and he saw the Buddha's passing with great sorrow.

Shortly after the Buddha's death, the First Council was convened, and Ānanda managed to attain enlightenment just before the council started, which was a requirement. He had a historical role during the council as the living memory of the Buddha, reciting many of the Buddha's discourses and checking them for accuracy. During the same council, however, he was chastised by Mahākāshyapa (Sanskrit: महाकाश्यप, Mahākāshyapa) and the rest of the saṅgha for allowing women to be ordained and failing to understand or respect the Buddha at several crucial moments.

Ānanda continued to teach until the end of his life, passing on his spiritual heritage to his pupils Sāṇavāsī (Sanskrit: शाणकवासी, Śāṇakavāsī) and Majjhantika (Sanskrit: मध्यान्तिक, Madhyāntika), among others, who later assumed leading roles in the Second and Third Councils. Ānanda died 20 years after the Buddha, and stūpas (monuments) were erected at the river where he died.

Ānanda is one of the most loved figures in Buddhism. He was known for his memory, erudition and compassion, and was often praised by the Buddha for these matters. He functioned as a foil to the Buddha, however, in that he still had worldly attachments and was not yet enlightened, as opposed to the Buddha. In the Sanskrit textual traditions, Ānanda is considered the patriarch of the Dhamma who stood in a spiritual lineage, receiving the teaching from Mahākasyapa and passing them on to his own pupils. Ānanda has been honored by bhikkhunīs since early medieval times for his merits in establishing the nun's order.

As a modified teaching of Hinduism, Shakyamuni used this term to define the impermanence of all phenomena and specifically in reference to our perception of an enduring self. The concept of no-self or non-self is deep understanding of impermanence that makes impossible the idea of a soul as well. Interchangeable in this impermanence, the soul or self is the very idea that there is some eternal or enduring entity that exists in any form. The soul is simply an additional clinging of the illusion of self as an enduring entity.

From Wikipedia:

Buddhists believe that there is no permanent underlying substance called self or soul (Ātman) in human beings. They believe that anattā/anātman (non-self), impermanence and dukkha (suffering) are the three characteristics (trilakkhana) of all existence, and understanding of these three constitutes right understanding. The anātman doctrine was in no sense an addendum, since it was fundamental to the other two doctrines; that is, because there is no real human self, there is no duration in human experience; and because there is no duration in human experience, there is no genuine happiness.

Nāgārjuna's explication of the theory of anātman as śūnyatā (emptiness) in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā was part of his restatement of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths as well as a rejection of the philosophies of the early Buddhist schools of the Sarvastivadins and the Sautrāntika.

From Encyclopedia of Buddhism:

anātman (P. anattā; T. bdag med བདག་མེད་; C.wuwo 無我) is the last of the three marks of existence and a central doctrine of Buddhism. This term is translated as not-self, non-self, impersonality, etc.

The Buddha said I have taught one thing and one thing only: that is suffering and the end of suffering. His teachings on anātman are taught in this vein.

The doctrine of anātman is not an ontological statement. It is a soteriological statement. That is, it is not a statement about whether or not a so-called self (ātman) exists or does not exist. It is a statement about how we can relate to the self (I, me, mine) in a skillful way.

Specifically, the Buddha noted that we tend to think of the self as something that is permanent and as something that exists independently from the world around us. We think and act as if there is an I or me that is somehow unique, independent and permanent. This way of relating to I or me leads to different types of attachment that cause us to suffer. In the teaching on anātman (not-self), the Buddha presents a skillful way to relate to the self that can lead to a decrease in suffering, and eventually to liberation.

From Learnreligions.com:

Anatman in Mahayana Buddhism

Nāgārjuna saw that the idea of a unique identity leads to pride, selfishness, and possessiveness. By denying the self, you are freed from these obsessions and accept emptiness. Without eliminating the concept of self, you remain in a state of ignorance and caught in the cycle of rebirth.

When we read words like annihilation, revulsion, or destroy in the context of Buddhist texts translation, it is very important that we understand that Buddhist teachings are always about the mind. That is to say that there is a hard dividing line in the Dharma teachings between Samsara, the physical, material world of moment-to-moment manifestations of amalgams of energy, and the sentient mind and its constant analysis of this world of Samsara.

What is annihilated is not the material or physical of the cosmos or our very bodies. It is the mental identification (see first volume) of our selves invested into those objects, that is the subject of annihilation. In other words, it is the cravings and clingings that are the subject of annihilation, having nothing to do with the actual object of our attachments, but rather our intent in identification of it and ourselves.

Ultimately a transliteration from Sanskrit (anuttarā samyak sambodhi, literally highest perfect awakening), via Middle Chinese(MC 'a nowk ta la sam maewk sam bu dej), possibly through Pali anuttara sammā sambodhi.

The English term enlightenment is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti. The abstract noun bodhi (/ˈboʊdi/; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: bodhi), means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect, of a Buddha. The verbal root budh- means to awaken, and its literal meaning is closer to awakening. Although the term buddhi is also used in other Indian philosophies and traditions, its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism. Vimukti is the freedom from or release of the fetters and hindrances.

The term enlightenment was popularised in the Western world through the 19th-century translations of German-born philologist Max Müller. It has the Western connotation of general insight into transcendental truth or reality. The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts, which are used to denote (initial) insight (prajna (Sanskrit), wu (Chinese), kensho and satori (Japanese)); knowledge (vidya); the blowing out (nirvana) of disturbing emotions and desires; and the attainment of supreme Buddhahood (samyak sam bodhi), as exemplified by Gautama Buddha.

What exactly constituted the Buddha's awakening is unknown. It may have involved the knowledge that liberation was attained by the combination of mindfulness and dhyāna, applied to the understanding of the arising and ceasing of craving. The relation between dhyana and insight is a core problem in the study of Buddhism, and is one of the fundamentals of Buddhist practice.

In the Western world, the concept of spiritual enlightenment has taken on a romantic meaning. It has become synonymous with self-realization and the true self and false self, being regarded as a substantial essence being covered over by social conditioning.

(Sanskrit: one who is worthy) , Pali arahant, in Early or Hinayana Buddhism, a perfected person, one who has gained insight into the true