Questions tagged [buddhism]
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11 questions
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Is "Heavenly King" an accurate English translation for 天王?
The Chinese have long used the word 天 to translate the Sanskrit word deva, in names of such devas as 多聞天 and 辯才天. This means that 天 is not a mythological location, but a mythological species. However, ...
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What is the pronunciation of 行 in the meaning 'saṃskāra'?
One of the meanings of 行 is saṃskāra, 'formations', one of the five Buddhist skandhas. What is the pronunciation of 行 in this meaning?
The question is motivated by Kroll's Student's Dictionary of ...
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What does 流通 mean as a metaphor for Nirvāṇa?
In the 890th sūtra of the Saṃyuktāgama, at the end of the sūtra, the text transmits a number of metaphors, such as "the deathless" (不死) and "the island" (洲渚). One of these terms is ...
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How to parse 轉所依識?
From the Lankavatara Sutra:
sūkṣmamabhivijñānaparāvṛttikuśalānāṃ
Bodhiruci: 能轉一切微細識
Śikṣānanda: 能以妙慧轉所依識
Suzuki: to cause a revulsion in the depth of the mind fittingly by means of an exquisite ...
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Distinguishing a verb from a substantive (执着)
In the Lankavatara Sutra, it says: 能舍一切我见执着.
Red Pine translates: "who eliminate attachment to a self."
Suzuki translates: "to keep themselves properly away from ego centered notions.&...
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What is the original quote of “To be calm is the highest achievement of the self"?
This is allegedly a "Zen proverb":
“To be calm is the highest achievement of the self”
I tried to look for it by searching on Google, but I could not find the original. What is the original text ...
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Where would one find a library of Chinese classics that have never been translated into English?
Suppose an English-speaking software developer and data scientist were interested in finding ancient Chinese writings that have never before been translated into English. Suppose a developer desired ...
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Usage of 何 in Buddhist Hybrid Chinese
This is from T263, the Lotus Sūtra, eight groups of 4 characters:
如來所詔 常以知時 為其眾生 而行智慧
|| 以何方便 而受道法 何因令獲 從佛經教
Does 何, particularly in 以何方便, mean that there is a question being asked here? Or is it ...
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方便: a "skillful means" of translating upāya or not?
In Chinese Buddhism, 方便 is used to translate the word/concept Upāya. Was 方便 an existing Chinese word that already meant "convenient" (or something else) and then given this technical meaning for ...
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Usage of 行 as "walk" in Literary Chinese
In Buddhist Hybrid (Literary?) Chinese, 行 occupies several functions, including "to walk", "volitional fabrication" (as a translation of the Sanskrit/Pāli: saṃskāra/saṅkhāra), "[religious] practice", ...
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Any formula for final sentences in 長爪梵志請問經 (Dirghanakha-sutra)?
The two closing phrases of 長爪梵志請問經(Dirghanakhasutra) in Taisho's Tripitaka go as follows:
皆大歡喜。信受奉行
1) Although I haven't read all the texts of the Taisho'c compendium, the phrases are likely to be ...