Eightfold path (Skt., ashtangika-marga [as­tangika-mārga]; Pali, atthangika-magga); the path leading to release from suffering (duh­kha), constituting the contents of the last of the four noble truths. It is one of the thirty-seven limbs of enlightenment (bodhipākshika­dharma) and encompasses all aspects of the threefold training (trishiksha). The eight parts of the path are (1) perfect view (Skt., sa­myag-dristhi; Pali, sammā-ditthi), i.e., the view based on understanding of the four noble truths and the nonindividuality of existence (anātman); (2) perfect resolve (Skt., samyak-samkalpa; Pali, summā-sankappa), i.e., resolve in favor of renunciation, goodwill, and nonharming of sentient beings; (3) perfect speech (Skt., samyag-vāch; Pali, sammā-vāchā), i.e., avoidance of lying, slander, and gossip; (4) perfect conduct (Skt., samyak-karmānta; Pali, sammā-kamanta), i.e., avoidance of actions that conflict with moral discipline (shīla); (5) perfect livelihood (Skt., samyag- ājīva; Pali, sammā-ājīva), i.e. avoidance of professions that are harmful to sentient beings, such as slaughterer, hunter, dealer in weaponry or narcotics, etc.; (6) perfect effort (Skt., samyag-vyāyāma; Pali, sammā-vāyāma), i.e., cultivation of what is karmically wholesome and avoidance of what is karmically unwholesome; (7) perfect mindfulness (Skt., samyak-smriti; Pali, sammā-sati), i.e., ongoing mindfulness of body, feelings, thinking, and objects of thought (satipatthāna); (8) perfect concentration (Skt., samyak-samādhi; Pali, sammā-samādhi), i.e., concentration of mind that finds its highpoint in the four absorptions (dhyāna).

Eisai Zenji also Myōan Eisai (Yōsai) or Senkō (Zenkō) Kokushi, 1141–1215; Japanese Zen master of the Ōryō lineage of Rinzai Zen, who was the first successfully to transmit the Zen tradition in Ja­pan. Although his lineage did not last long, Eisai is considered the founder of the Japanese Zen tradition. He traveled twice (in 1168 and 1187) to China. During his second stay there, he re­ceived the seal of confirmation (inka­shōmei) from the Chinese master Hsü-an Huai-ch’ang (Jap., Kian Eshō) of the Ōryō lin­eage. On his return to Japan he founded the Shōfuku-ji near Hakata in Kyūshu, the first monastery in Japan in which Rinzai Zen was practiced. Later he was appointed abbot of the Kennin-ji monastery in Kyōto, where he taught Zen and also the teachings of the Tendai and Shingon schools. Later Eisai trans­ferred the main center of his activities to Kama­kura in the “shadow capital” of the shōguns. There in 1215 he founded the Jufuku-ji monas­tery. Kamakura became, along with Kyōto, the most important center of Zen in Japan. As the first Zen master of Dōgen Zen­ji, who later transmitted the Zen of the Sōtō school in Japan, Eisai is also important for that Zen lineage.

Emptiness See Shūnyatā.

Enlightenment The word used to translate the Sanskrit term bodhi (lit., “awakened”) and the Japanese satori or kenshō. A person awakens to a nowness of emptiness, which he or she is—even as the en­tire universe is emptiness—and which alone en­ables him or her to comprehend the true nature of things. Since enlightenment is repeatedly mis­understood as an experience of light and experi­ences of light wrongly understood as enlighten­ment, the term awakening is preferable, since it more accurately conveys the experience. The emptiness experienced here is no nihilistic emp­tiness; rather it is something unperceivable, un­thinkable, unfeelable, and endless beyond exis­tence and nonexistence. Emptiness is no object that could be experienced by a subject, since the subject itself is dissolved in the emptiness.

The perfect enlightenment of Shākyamu­ni Buddha is the beginning of the buddha­dharma, i.e., that which is known as Buddhism. Buddhism is basically a religion of enlighten­ment; without this experience there would be no Buddhism.

Although enlightenment by its nature is always the same, nevertheless there are quite different degrees of this experience. If we compare the process to breaking through a wall, then the experience can vary between a tiny hole in the wall (a small kenshō) and the to­tal annihilation of this wall as in the complete enlightenment of Shākyamuni Buddha—and all the degrees in between. The differences in clari­ty and accuracy of insight are enormous, even though in both cases the same world is seen.

Although this example makes the differences clear, it falls short insofar as it makes the world of enlightenment seem like an object that one as subject perceives. It also awakens the false impression that the world of enlightenment, emptiness, is separate from the world of phe­nomena. But this is not the case. In a profound experience it becomes clear that emptiness and phenomena, absolute and relative, are entirely one. The experience of true reality is precisely the experience of this oneness. “Form is no oth­er than emptiness, emptiness no other than form,” it is said in the Prajñāpāramitā-hridaya­sūtra (Heart Sūtra)— there are not two worlds. In profound enlightenment the ego is annihilated, it dies. Thus it is said in Zen, “You have to die on the cushion.” The result of this “dying,” of this “great death,” is “great life,” a life of freedom and peace.

Five Precepts See Shīla.

Four noble truths (Skt., ārya-satya; Pali, ariya-satta); these are the basis of the Buddhist teaching. The four noble truths are (1) the truth of suffering (duhkha); (2) the truth of the ori­gin (samudāya) of suffering; (3) the truth of the cessation (nirodha) of suffering; (4) the truth of the path that leads to the cessation of suf­fering.

The first truth says that all existence is charac­terized by suffering and does not bring satisfac­tion. Everything is suffering: birth, sickness, death; coming together with what one does not like; separating from what one does like; not ob­taining what one desires; and the five aggregates (skandha) of attachment that constitute the personality.

The second truth gives as the cause of suffer­ing craving or desire, the thirst (trishnā) for sensual pleasure, for becoming and passing away. This craving binds beings to the cycle of existence (samsāra).

The third truth says that through remainderless elimination of craving, suffering can be brought to an end. The fourth truth gives the eightfold path as the means for the ending of suffering.

Nonrecognition of the four noble truths is ig­norance (avidyā).

The discovery of the four noble truths by the Buddha constituted, according to the various traditions, his actual enlightenment (bodhi). Buddha expounded these truths in the Benares discourse as his first teaching immediately after his enlightenment.

Geluk (dgelugs-pa), Tib., roughly “school of the virtuous”; the last to be established of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Tsongkhapa. This doctrinal tra­dition, pursuant to that of the Kadampa, lays particular emphasis on the observation of mo­nastic rules and thorough study of authoritative texts. Principal among these is the literature on the stages of the path and the systematic works on the various Buddhist doctrinal views. Since the installation of the dalai la­mas as heads of state in the 17th century, the Gelugpas have held political leadership.

Hīnayāna Skt., “Small Vehicle”; originally a derogatory designation used by representatives of the Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”) for early Buddhism. The followers of Hīnayāna themselves usually refer to their teaching as the Theravāda (Teaching of the Elders), although strictly speaking, Theravāda was one of the schools within the Hīnayāna; it is, however, the only one still existing today. Hīnayāna is also referred to as Southern Bud­dhism, since it is prevalent chiefly in countries of southern Asia (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Kampuchea, Laos).

The Hīnayāna enumerates the traditions of eighteen schools that developed out of the origi­nal community; however, the texts make refer­ence to many more.

The Hīnayāna school developed between the death of the Buddha and the end of the first century BCE. According to its adherents it repre­sents the original, pure teaching as it was taught by the Buddha. Its doctrines are essentially based on the sūtras, which are said to have been spoken by the Buddha himself.

The Hīnayāna presents primarily the path to liberation. Philosophical speculations have no role in this; on the contrary, they are considered a hindrance on the path. The Hīnayāna teaching provides an analysis of the human situation, the nature of existence, and the structure of individ­uality, and shows methods for the resolution of suffering (duhkha). The ideal figure of Hīnayāna corre­sponding to these principles is the arhat, who through his or her own effort has attained release.

Hīnayāna avoids affirming anything about the ultimate goal of spiritual striving, nirvāna, beyond the experiential fact of enlightenment and the concomitant extinction of the illusion of an ego and its cravings.

The Buddha is regarded by these schools as a historical person, an earthly man and teacher, not as a transcendent being.

The essence of the teaching is expressed in the four noble truths, the doctrine of dependent arising (pratītya-samutpāda), the teaching of anātman, and the law of karma. The basic practice of the Hīnayāna is described in the teaching of the eightfold path.