Buddhism

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Mindfulness Quotes

Mindfulness Quotes We have collected and put the best Mindfulness Quotes. Enjoy reading these insights and feel free to share this page on your social media to inspire others. May these Mindfulness Quotes inspires you to never give up and keep working towards your goals. Who knows—success could be just around...

Buddha's Birthday celebration in Seoul, South Korea

Buddha’s Birthday

Buddha’s Birthday Buddha’s Birthday (also known as Buddha Jayanti, also known as his day of enlightenment – Buddha Purnima, Buddha Pournami) is a Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of East Asia and South Asia commemorating the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Gautama Buddha, who was the founder of Buddhism. According to Buddhist...

A Dehua ware porcelain statuette of Bodhidharma from the late Ming dynasty, 17th century

Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Buddhism to China and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. According to a debunked 17th century apocryphal story found in a manual called Yijin Jing, he began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that...

Japanese illustration depicting white lotuses in Chapter 25: "Universal Gateway" of the Lotus Sutra. Text inscribed by Sugawara Mitsushige, Kamakura period, c. 1257, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lotus Sutra

Lotus Sutra The Lotus Sutra or Lotus Sūtra (सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, ‘Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma’) 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...

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Satipatthana

Satipatthana Satipatthana (Satipaṭṭhāna; smṛtyupasthāna) is an important Buddhist term which means “the establishment of mindfulness“ or “presence of mindfulness,” or alternatively “foundations of mindfulness,” aiding the development of a wholesome state of mind. In the Buddhist tradition, especially Theravada Buddhism, applying mindful attention to four domains, the body, feelings, the mind,...

Kamakura Daibutsu of Kōtoku-in temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Shingon Buddhism

Shingon Buddhism Shingon Buddhism (真言宗, Shingon-shū) is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. Known in Chinese as the Tangmi (唐密; the Esoteric School in Tang Dynasty of China), these esoteric teachings would later flourish in...

A Buddhist painting displaying Impermanence

Impermanence

Impermanence Impermanence, also known as the philosophical problem of change, is a philosophical concept addressed in a variety of religions and philosophies. In Eastern philosophy it is notable for its role in the Buddhist three marks of existence. It is also an element of Hinduism. In Western philosophy, it is most famously known through its first appearance in Greek philosophy in the writings of Heraclitus and in...

Tang dynasty Zhuangzi manuscript preserved in Japan (1930s replica)

Zhuangzi (Book)

Zhuangzi (Book) The Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzŭ) is an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period (476–221 BC) which contains stories and anecdotes that exemplify the carefree nature of the ideal Taoist sage. Named for its traditional author, “Master Zhuang” (Zhuangzi), the Zhuangzi is one of the two foundational texts of Taoism, along with...

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Prayer Flag

Prayer Flag A Tibetan prayer flag is a colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes. Prayer flags are believed to have originated with Bon. In Bon, shamanistic Bonpo used primary-colored plain flags in Tibet. Traditional prayer flags include woodblock-printed text and images....

Hearts Receive Hands Light Appreciation

Siddhi

Siddhi In Hinduism, Siddhis (सिद्धि siddhi; fulfillment, accomplishment) are material, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of yogic advancement through sādhanās such as meditation and yoga. The term ṛddhi (iddhi, “psychic powers”) is often used interchangeably in Buddhism. Etymology Siddhi is a Sanskrit noun which can be translated as “accomplishment”, “attainment”, or “success”. Method The Visuddhimagga is one...

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Niyama

Niyama The Niyamas (नियम, Niyama) are positive duties or observances. In Indian traditions, particularly Yoga, niyamas and their complement, Yamas, are recommended activities and habits for healthy living, spiritual enlightenment, and a liberated state of existence. It has multiple meanings depending on context in Hinduism. In Buddhism, the term extends to the determinations of nature, as in...

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Yoga Quotes

Yoga Quotes We have collected and put the best Yoga Quotes. Enjoy reading these insights and feel free to share this page on your social media to inspire others. May these Yoga Quotes inspire you to never give up and keep working towards your goals. Who knows—success could be just...

hands praying

Buddhist Prayers

Buddhist Prayers We have collected some of the best Buddhist Prayers for protection and support to use in our request to God. May these prayers for safety bring you comfort and peace of mind. May these prayers for strength encourage your spirit and strengthen your faith. Buddhism is the world’s fourth-largest religion with...

Some pages from a historic Yogasutra manuscript (Sanskrit, Devanagari). The verses are highlighted and are embedded inside the bhasya (commentary).

Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali

Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a collection of 195 Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga. The Yoga Sutra was compiled sometime between 500 BCE and 400 CE by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions. The Yoga Sūtra...

Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga

Ashtanga

Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga) Ashtanga yoga (aṣṭāṅgayoga, “the eight limbs of yoga”) is Patanjali’s classification of classical yoga, as set out in his Yoga Sutras. He defined the eight limbs as yama (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (postures), pranayama (breathing), pratyahara (withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption). The eight limbs form...

Live by faith

Transtheism

Transtheism Transtheism refers to a system of thought or religious philosophy which is neither theistic nor atheistic, but is beyond them. The word was coined by either philosopher Paul Tillich or Indologist Heinrich Zimmer. Zimmer applies the term to Jainism, which is theistic in the limited sense that gods exist but are irrelevant as they are transcended...

A vegetarian thali from Rajasthan, India. Since many Indian religions promote vegetarianism, Indian cuisine offers a wide variety of vegetarian delicacies

Outline Of Indian Religions

Outline Of Indian Religions This article is the Outline of Indian Religions. Enjoy…! Indian religions, sometimes also termed as Dharmic faiths or Dharmic religions (Dharma), are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely Hinduism (2 schools Vedanta and Yoga, and 7 denominations Ayyavazhi, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, Smartism, and Śrauta),...

Bathing the dieties - 'Abhisheka' at Krishna Janmashtami

Abhisheka

Abhisheka Abhiṣeka or abhisheka in Sanskrit means “bathing of the divinity to whom worship is offered.” It is a religious rite or method of prayer in which a devotee pours a liquid offering on an image or murti of a God or Goddess. Abhiṣeka is common to Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Hinduism An abhiṣeka...

Satguru Bodhinatha gives samaya diksha, initiation into the sacred Aum Nama Sivaya mantra, to a devotee at Tirunnavamalai in 2008.

Diksha

Diksha Diksha (दीक्ष, dīkṣā) also spelled deeksha or deeksa in common usage, translated as a “preparation or consecration for a religious ceremony”, is giving of a mantra or an initiation by the guru (in Guru–shishya tradition) of Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Diksa is given in a one-to-one ceremony, and typically includes the taking on...

Shingon Buddhist priests practice homa ritual, which sometimes includes beating drums and blowing horagai (lower, conch).

Homa (Ritual)

Homa (Ritual) Homa is Sanskrit for a ritual, wherein an oblation or any religious offering is made into fire. A homa is sometimes called a “sacrifice ritual” because the fire destroys the offering, but a homa is more accurately a “votive ritual“. The fire is the agent, and the offerings include those that...