322 GLOSSARYwhich-in line with the intention it em-
bodies-will result in happiness or du~kha
in this or a future rebirth [1.4].
Kuan-yin (Chinese). The Chinese trans-
lation of A valokitdvara, the bodhisattva of
compassion. During the Sung dynasty
(960-1279), this bodhisattva changed from
male to female but later became male
again in Japan. Kuan-yin is petitioned for
earthly favors such as money, good luck,
and children.
Lama (Tibetan; in Sanskrit, guru). Spiri-
tual teacher; mentor; master ofTantric
ritual [11.5].
Madhyamik.a. "Middle School," so
called because it claimed to teach the
doctrine of sfinyatii as a middle position
between 'being' and 'non-being'; a
Mahiiyiina school based on the writings
ofNagaljuna [4.2].
Mahayana. The Great Vehicle or Course.
The self-bestowed name of the teachings
of the bodhisattva Path that began to appear
between 100 B.C.E. and 100 C.E. [4.1].
Mal}-gala. Power circle; cosmoplan used
in Tantric meditation and ritual [6.3.1].
Mantra. "Instrument"; short verse or col-
lection of syllables used to evoke a deity,
to gain protection against evil or adverse
forces, or as a meditation object, especially
in Tantra [6.3.1].
Mara. "Destroyer," "Tempter," the per-
sonification of evil or attachment to con-
ditioned reality; the god of desire and
death; defilement and the skandhas as per-
sonifications of obstacles to release from
smpsiira. In Buddhist iconography,
Brahma, Vigm, Siva, and Indra are occa-
sionally depicted as four forms of Mara,
indicating the Buddhist antipathy for the
Hindu gods of worldly continuance.
Maya. Illusion, trick. A term favored by
Mahiiyiina writers to describe the apparent
"reality" of saiJ1siira, which, because it
lacks any substantial independent reality, is
akin to a bubble or a mirage [4.2].
Mudra. Sign, seal token; especially a posi-
tion of the fmgers and hands characterizing
images of the Buddha or other Buddhist
figures and practiced in Tantric ritual per-
formance [5.3, 6.3.1].
Nembutsu (Japanese). Japanese transla-
tion of the Chinese nienjo [10.5.2].
Neo-Confucianism (Chinese). A
renewal and development of Confucian-
ism in the Sung dynasty (960-1279), in-
spired partly in reaction to Buddhism but
also incorporating many Buddhist ideas.
This "new" Confucianism received defini-
tive interpretation in the hands of Chu Hsi
(1130-1200) and remained the official
state orthodoxy until the ushering in of
the Republic in 1912 [8.6].
Nien-fo (Chinese). "Reciting Buddha's
name," "concentrating on the Buddha";
eventually the practice of reciting the
name of the Buddha Amitabha as an ex-
pression of having received his saving
grace [8.5.3].
Nikaya. (1) Grouping of Sfitras found in
the Sfitra Pi[aka, also called Agama, text,
scripture [3.1.1]; (2) school of early Bud-
dhism [3.2].
Nirmal}-a-kaya. The "apparition-body"
of a Buddha, corresponding to his physical
body and to the apparitions of him that
may appear to human beings in visions or
dreams [4.3].
Nirval}-a (Nibbana). "Unbinding, the
extinguishing of a fire." Metaphorical
name for the Buddhist goal, conveying
connotations of stilling, cooling, limitless
emancipation, and peace; release from the
limitations of sa111siira through the extin-
guishing of the "fires" of passion, aversion,
and delusion, and through the ending of
the iisravas [2.3.2].
Paramita. "Supremacy"; perfection,
practice of a virtue to the point of
supreme perfection, especially by a
bodhisattva [5 .1].
Parinirval}.a (Parinibhana). Total
nirviil;za; denotes (1) the attainment of re-
lease from avidyii, tr~IJii, and attachment to
the five skandhas; and (2) the utter release
from sa1J1siira attained at the death of a.
Buddha or arhant [2.5].
Perfection of Wisdom. In this text, the
translation equivalent for the Sanskrit term
prajfiii-piiramitii.
Phenomenology. Study of the phenom-
ena of consciousness as they are directly