Glossary of Japanese Buddhism

Part of a series on
Buddhism in Japan
Schools Jōjitsu Hosso Sanron Kegon Ritsu Kusha Tendai Shingon Jōdo-shū Jōdo Shinshū Rinzai Sōtō Nichiren Ōbaku Fuke-shū Shugendo Japanese new religions Zen in the US
Key figures Shōtoku Tori Busshi Rōben Saichō Kūkai Jōchō Kūya En no Gyōja Hōnen Myōe Shinran Jōkei Eison Ninshō Dōgen Eisai Ingen Nichiren Unkei Enni Issan Ichinei Musō Soseki Sen no Rikyū Rennyo Sesshū Tōyō Takuan Sōhō Ingen Hasegawa Tōhaku Sakuden Tenkai Inoue Enryō Murakami Senshō Nishida Kitarō Shaku Sōen D. T. Suzuki Suzuki Shunryū
Key topics Nihon Shoki Art Deities Architecture Temples Hongaku Honji suijaku Shinbutsu-shūgō Gongen Nenbutsu Death poem Zen garden Zazen Daimoku Sōhei Ikkō-ikki Butsudan Obon Kaichō Kanjin Senjafuda Danka system Shinbutsu bunri Haibutsu kishaku Gozan Bungaku
Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
v t e

This is the glossary of Japanese Buddhism, including major terms the casual (or brand-new) reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk (*) are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galleries. Within definitions, words set in boldface are defined elsewhere in the glossary.

• Top
• 0–9
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z

A

• agyō* (阿形) – A type of statue (of a Niō, komainu, etc.) with its mouth open to pronounce the sound "a", first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet and symbol of the beginning of all things.^[1] See also ungyō.
• Amida Nyorai (阿弥陀如来) – Japanese name of Amitabha, deity worshiped mainly by the Pure Land sect.^[2]
• Anjitsu/Anshitsu (庵室, lit. "Hermitage Residence") – A Hermitage.
• arhat – see arakan.
• arakan* (阿羅漢) – the highest level of Buddhist ascetic practice, or someone who has reached it.^[2] The term is often shortened to just rakan (羅漢).

B

• bay – see ken.
• bettō (別当) – Previously the title of the head of powerful temples, e.g. Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, etc. (still in use at the former). Also a monk who was present at Shinto shrines to perform Buddhist rites until the Meiji period, when the government forbade with the shinbutsu bunri policy the mixing of Shinto and Buddhism.^[2]
• bodai – from the Pāli and Sanskrit word for way or knowledge.^[2]
  • satori, or Buddhist enlightenment.^[2]
  • Ceremonies and other efforts to ensure someone's happiness in the next world, after death.^[2]
• bodaiji – lit. "bodhi temple". A temple which, generation after generation, takes care of a family's dead giving them burial and performing ceremonies in their favor.^[2] See for example the Tokugawa's Kan'ei-ji.^[2]
• Bon (盆) – See Bon Festival
• bosatsu (菩薩)
  • A bodhisattva
  • The historical Gautama Buddha, before enlightenment.^[2]
  • In Mahayana Buddhism, someone who could enter paradise but chooses not to, to help others achieve enlightenment.
  • Someone who is in pursuit of satori.^[2]
  • during the shinbutsu-shūgō period, an honorific used for Japanese kami, as for example in "Hachiman Bosatsu".^[2]

Look up Buddha in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.