Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣa ŚāstraThe Abhidharma Śāstra (अभिधर्म महाविभाष शास्त्र) is an ancient Buddhist text. It is thought to have been authored around 150 CE. It is an encyclopedic work on Abhidharma, scholastic Buddhist philosophy. Its composition led to the founding of a new school of thought, called Vaibhāṣika ('those [upholders] of the Vibhāṣā'), which was very influential in the history of Buddhist thought and practice. is a Sanskrit term meaning 'compendium', 'treatise' or simply 'explanation', derived from the prefix vi + the verbal root √bhāṣ, 'speak' or 'explain'.
Indra's netIndra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls, Sanskrit Indrajāla, Chinese: 因陀羅網) is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of Śūnyatā (emptiness), pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination), and interpenetration in Buddhist philosophy. The metaphor's earliest known reference is found in the Atharva Veda. It was further developed by the Mahayana school in the 3rd century Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra and later by the Huayan school between the 6th and 8th centuries.
Essence-FunctionEssence-Function (體用, Chinese pinyin: tǐ yòng, Korean: che-yong), also called Substance and Function, is a key concept in Chinese philosophy and other Far-Eastern philosophies. Essence is Absolute Reality, the fundamental "cause" or origin, while Function is relative or concrete reality, the concrete manifestation of Essence. Ti and yong do not represent two separate things, such as Absolute Reality and Concrete Reality. They are always two, flexibly-viewed aspects of a single thing.
ŚīlabhadraŚīlabhadra (Sanskrit; ) (529–645) was a Buddhist monk and philosopher. He is best known as being an abbot of Nālandā monastery in India, as being an expert on Yogācāra teachings, and for being the personal tutor of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang. Śīlabhadra was born in a Brahmin family in Magadha. As a young man he went westward to Nālandā, and was trained there by Dharmapāla of Nālandā, who also ordained him as a Buddhist monk. According to Xuanzang's account, Śīlabhadra gradually became famous for his learning even in foreign countries.
ParamarthaParamārtha (Sanskrit, Devanagari: परमार्थ; ) (499-569 CE) was an Indian monk from Ujjain, who is best known for his prolific Chinese translations of Buddhist texts during the Six Dynasties era. He is known as one of the four great translators in Chinese Buddhist history (along with Kumārajīva and Xuanzang). He is also known for the various oral commentaries he gave on his translations which were written down by his disciples (and now only survive in fragmentary form).
Rimé movementThe Rimé movement is a movement or tendency in Tibetan Buddhism which promotes non-sectarianism and universalism. Teachers from all branches of Tibetan Buddhism – Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma, Jonang, Gelug, and Bon – have been involved in the promoting Rimé ideals. According to Sam van Schaik, eclectic and non-sectarian tendencies existed in Tibetan Buddhism before the 19th century, and figures like Tsongkhapa, Longchenpa and Shabkar are widely known to have studied with teachers from different traditions.
AnutpadaAnutpāda (अनुत्पाद) is a Buddhist concept for the absence of an origin. In Mahayana Buddhism, "anutpāda" is often symbolized by the letter A. "Anutpāda" means "having no origin", "not coming into existence", "not taking effect", "non-production". "An" also means "not", or "non" "Utpāda" means "genesis", "coming forth", "birth" The Buddhist tradition uses the term "anutpāda" for the absence of an origin or sunyata (voidness). Anutpāda means that dharmas, the constituting elements of reality, do not come into existence.
KamalaśīlaKamalaśīla (Skt. Kamalaśīla; Tib. པདྨའི་ངང་ཚུལ་, Pemé Ngang Tsul; Wyl. pad+ma'i ngang tshul) (c. 740-795) was an Indian Buddhist of Nalanda Mahavihara who accompanied Śāntarakṣita (725–788) to Tibet at the request of Trisong Detsen. He is considered one of the most important Madhyamaka authors of late Indian Buddhism although little is known about his life aside from details left in Tibetan sources. Tibetan sources refer to him, Santaraksita and Jñānagarbha as rang rgyud shar gsum meaning the “three eastern Svātantrikas” indicating their origins from Eastern India.
JizangJizang (. Japanese: 吉蔵) (549–623) was a Persian-Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar who is often regarded as the founder of East Asian Mādhyamaka. He is also known as Jiaxiang or Master Jiaxiang () because he acquired fame at the Jiaxiang Temple. Jizang was born in Jinling (modern Nanjing). Although his father had emigrated from Parthia, he was educated in the Chinese manner. He was quite precocious in spiritual matters, and became a monk at age seven.
RatnakīrtiRatnakīrti (11th century CE) was an Indian Buddhist philosopher of the Yogācāra and epistemological (pramāṇavāda) schools who wrote on logic, philosophy of mind and epistemology. Ratnakīrti studied at the Vikramaśīla monastery in modern-day Bihar. He was a pupil of Jñānaśrīmitra, and Ratnakīrti refers to Jñānaśrīmitra in his work as his guru with phrases such as yad āhur guravaḥ. Ratnakīrti's work has been termed as "more concise and logical though not so poetical" compared to that of his teacher, although he does build on much of Jñānaśrīmitra's work.
