Chinese BuddhismChinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism () is a Chinese form of Mahāyāna Buddhism which draws on the Chinese Buddhist Canon (大藏經, Dàzàngjīng, "Great Storage of Scriptures") as well as numerous Chinese traditions. Chinese Buddhism focuses on studying Mahayana sutras and Mahāyāna treatises and draws its main doctrines from these sources. Some of the most important scriptures in Chinese Buddhism include: Lotus Sutra, Flower Ornament Sutra, Vimalakirtī Sutra, Nirvana Sutra, and Amitābha Sutra.
PrajnaparamitaPrajñāpāramitā (प्रज्ञापारमिता) means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna and Theravāda Buddhism. Prajñāpāramitā refers to a perfected way of seeing the nature of reality, as well as to a particular body of Mahāyāna scriptures (sūtras) which discusses this wisdom. It also refers to the female deity Prajñāpāramitā Devi, a personification of wisdom also known as the "Great Mother" (Tibetan: Yum Chenmo). The word Prajñāpāramitā combines the Sanskrit words prajñā "wisdom" (or "knowledge") with pāramitā "perfection" or "transcendent".
The Buddha_Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha ("the awakened"), was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic (śramaṇa). After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India.
Lotus SutraThe Lotus Sūtra (妙法蓮華經; सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. It is the main scripture on which the Tiantai, Tendai, Cheontae, and Nichiren schools of Buddhism were established. It is also influential for other East Asian Buddhist schools, such as Zen. According to the British Buddhologist Paul Williams, "For many Buddhists in East Asia since early times, the Lotus Sūtra contains the final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha—complete and sufficient for salvation.
ŚūnyatāŚūnyatā (ʃuːnˈjɑːtɑː ; śūnyatā; suññatā), translated most often as "emptiness", "vacuity", and sometimes "voidness", or "nothingness" is an Indian philosophical concept. Within Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and other philosophical strands, the concept has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. It is either an ontological feature of reality, a meditative state, or a phenomenological analysis of experience. In Theravāda Buddhism, suññatā often refers to the non-self (Pāli: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman) nature of the five aggregates of experience and the six sense spheres.
YogacharaYogachara (योगाचार, IAST: ; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. Yogachara was one of the two most influential traditions of Mahayana Buddhism in India, the other being Madhyamaka.
AvalokiteśvaraIn Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर, IPA: ˌʌvəloʊkɪˈteɪʃvərə), also known as Avalokitasvara, is a bodhisattva who contains the compassion of all Buddhas and is the principal attendant of Amitabha Buddha on the right. He has 108 avatars, the most notable of which is Padmapāṇi (the lotus bearer). He is variably depicted, described, and portrayed as either male or female in different cultures. Guanyin is one of the female depictions of Avalokiteśvara usually seen in East Asia.
