Rime (ris-med), Tib., lit., “unbiased”; term for a current in Tibetan Buddhism that had its origin in east Tibet in the 19th century. It arose from the need to overcome sectarian bias in the evaluation of the doctrinal traditions of the various schools and to accept each tradition on its own merits. The movement was initiated by the Sakyapa teacher Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–92). Among his many students, the most important were Chogyur Dechen Ling­pa (1829–70) and Jamgon Kongtrul (1811–99). The fundamental attitude of unbiasedness of the movement is most evident in the person and work of Jamgon Kongtrul. The influence of the Rime movement is still palpable today, es­pecially in the Karma Kagyü and Nying­ma schools. The main concern of the first Rime teachers and the succeeding generations of their students was a clear structuring of doc­trinal and practical materials, based on the ex­ample of the Gelug school.

Rōshi Jap., lit., “old [venerable] master”; title of a Zen master. Traditional training in Zen takes place under a rōshi, who can be a monk or layperson, man or woman. It is the task of the rōshi to lead and inspire his or her students on the way to enlightenment, for which, naturally, the prerequisite is that the rōshi has experienced profound enlighten­ment.

Sādhana Skt.; derived from sādh, “to arrive at the goal” and meaning roughly “means to completion or perfection.” In Vajrayāna Buddhism, a term for a particular type of liturgi­cal text and the meditation practices presented in it. Sādhana texts describe in a detailed fash­ion deities to be experienced as spiritual reali­ties and the entire process from graphic visual­ization of them to dissolving them into formless meditation. Performing this type of religious practice, which is central to Tibetan Buddhism, requires empowerment and consecration by the master for practice connected with the particular deity involved. Part of this is trans­mission of the mantra associated with the deity.

Sakya (sa-skya-pa), Tib.; a major school of Tibetan Buddhism named after the Sakya (lit., “Gray Earth”) Monastery, located in south­ern Tibet. In accordance with a prophecy of Atīsha, the Sakya Monastery was founded in the year 1073, and its abbots, members of the Khön family, devoted themselves primarily to the transmission of a cycle of Vajrayāna teachings known by the name of “path and goal.” This school concerned itself with creating a systematic order for the tantric writings, but also turned its atten­tion to problems of Buddhist logic. In the 13th and 14th centuries it had great political influence in Tibet.

Sambhogakāya See Trikāya.

Samsāra (samsāra), Skt., lit., “journeying”; the “cycle of existences,” a succession of re­births that a being goes through within the vari­ous modes of existence until it has at­tained liberation and entered nirvāna. Imprisonment in samsāra is conditioned by the three “unwholesome roots” : hatred (dvesha), desire or craving (trishnā), and delusion (avidyā). The type of rebirth within samsāra is determined by the karma of the being. In the Mahāyāna, samsāra refers to the phenomenal world and is considered to be es­sentially identical with nirvāna.

Sangha (samgha), Skt., lit., “crowd, host”; the Buddhist community. In a narrower sense the sangha consists of monks (bhikshu), nuns (bhikshunī), and novices (shrāmanera). In a wider sense the sangha also includes lay fol­lowers.

Satori Jap.; Zen term for the experience of awakening. The word de­rives from the verb satoru, “to know”; however, it has nothing to do with “knowledge” in the or­dinary or philosophical sense, because in the ex­perience of enlightenment there is no distinc­tion between knower and known. The word kenshō is also often used as a synonym for satori.

Sayadaw Burm., lit., “teacher”; Burmese title for a Buddhist monk. This title properly only ap­plies to the abbot of a monastery but is frequently used also as an honorific form of address for monks in general.

Shamatha (śamatha), Skt., lit., “dwelling in tranquillity.” In the Gelug school of Tibet­an Buddhism it is stressed that the precondition of “concentration” (samādhi) is intentional development of “dwelling in tranquillity” and “special insight” (vipashyanā ). Dwelling in tranquillity calms the mind, while special in­sight, through analytical examination, leads to vision of genuine reality, which is emptiness (shūnyatā). Shamatha is first developed in preliminary practice and later further refined in connection with vipashyanā. Dwelling in tranquillity is compared to a still, clear lake in which the “fish of special insight” plays.

Shambhala (Śambhala), Skt.; name of a mythical kingdom, the geographical location of which is uncertain, but which according to leg­end lies northeast of India. It is considered the place of origin of the Kālachakra teachings and, with all its associations as a “source of aus­piciousness,” plays a central role in Tibetan Buddhism. A key part of the myth is that the savior of humanity will come out of Shambhala at a time when the world is dominated by war and destruction.

The various speculations concerning the pre­cise location of Shambhala range from areas of Central Asia to China and the North Pole. The importance of this kingdom has less to do with the possibility of locating it precisely than with the spiritual quality that is associated with it. The Tibetan tradition includes Shambhala among the “hidden valleys,” certain places that become accessible at times of urgent need.

The twenty-five teachers who proclaim the Kālachakra teaching also play a role in the Shambhala myth. At the time of the last of these, a golden age will dawn and all negative forces will be overcome. Under the influence of this prophecy, Shambhala has in the course of time become associated with the epic of Gesar and with the coming of Maitreya.

The third Panchen Lama composed a guide for finding this kingdom that was very popular in Tibet and was based on a work preserved in the Tibetan canon.

Shikantaza Jap., lit., “nothing but (shikan) precisely (ta) sitting (za)”; a form of the practice of zazen in which there are no more supportive techniques of the types beginners use, such as counting the breath or a kōan. According to Dōgen Zenji, shikantaza—i.e., resting in a state of brightly alert attention that is free of thoughts, directed to no object, and attached to no particular content—is the highest or purest form of zazen, zazen as it was practiced by all the buddhas of the past.

Shīla (śīla) Skt. (Pali, sīla), “obligations, pre­cepts”; refers to the ethical guidelines that in Buddhism determine the behavior of monks, nuns, and laypersons and that constitute the precondition for any progress on the path of awakening. The ten shīlas for monks, nuns and novices are: (1) refraining from killing, (2) not taking what is not given, (3) refraining from prohibited sexual activity, (4) refraining from unjust speech, (5) abstaining from intoxi­cating drinks, (6) abstaining from solid food af­ter noon, (7) avoiding music, dance, plays, and other entertainments, (8) abstaining from the use of perfumes and ornamental jewelry, (9) re­fraining from sleeping in high, soft beds, (10) re­fraining from contact with money and other valuables. The first five shīlas apply also to Bud­dhist laypersons, who on certain days observe the first eight.

Shraddhā (śraddhā), Skt., lit., “belief, faith”; (Pali saddhā); the inner attitude of faith and devotion toward the Buddha and his teaching. Shraddhā is the basis of the first two elements of the eightfold path—perfect view and perfect resolve. In the Mahāyāna shraddhā plays an even more important role, being regarded as the virtue out of which all the others develop and which opens the door of liberation to even those who do not have the self-discipline to tread the path of meditation. In Buddhism, however, faith in the sense of “pure faith” of Christianity is out of place. Shraddhā consists rather in the conviction that grows in students through their own direct experience with the teaching; blind faith in the words of the Buddha and the master goes against the spirit of Buddhism, and the Buddha himself warned his followers against it.

Trust and belief in the Buddha Amitābha is nevertheless the principal factor in the practice of the Pure Land school, which is often described as a “Way of Faith.”

Shūnyatā (śūnyatā), Skt. (Pali, sunnatā; Jap., kū), lit., “emptiness, void”; central notion of Buddhism. Ancient Buddhism recognized that all composite things are empty, impermanent (anitya), devoid of an essence (anātman), and characterized by suf­fering (duhkha). In the Hīnayāna emptiness is only applied to the “person”; in the Ma­hāyāna, on the other hand, all things are regard­ed as without essence, i.e., empty of self-nature (svabhāva). All dharmas are fundamentally devoid of independent lasting substance, are nothing more than mere appearances. They do not exist outside of emptiness. Shūnyatā carries and permeates all phenomena and makes their development possible. One should not, howev­er, take this view of the emptiness of everything existing simply as nihilism. It does not mean that things do not exist but rather that they are nothing besides appearances. Shūnyatā is often equated with the absolute in Ma­hāyāna, since it is without duality and empirical forms. Be­yond that, the individual schools present differ­ing interpretations of shūnyatā.

Siddhārtha Gautama Skt. (Pali, Siddhatta Gotama); founder of Buddhism, the historical Buddha. Sid­dhārtha was born in 566 or 563 BCE into a no­ble family of the Shākya clan in Kapilavastu, a city in present-day Nepal. His father, Suddho­dana, was the head of the Shākyas; his mother, Māyādevī, who brought Siddhārtha into the world in the Lumbinī Grove, died seven days af­ter his birth. Siddhārtha was brought up by his aunt on his mother’s side, Mahāprajāpatī. Care­fully raised in wealthy circumstances, Sid­dhārtha married Yashodharā at the age of six­teen. At twenty-nine, after the birth of his son, Rāhula, he entered homelessness and attend­ed on various ascetic teachers, without, howev­er, reaching his goal, spiritual liberation. Thus he gave up the ascetic way of life and turned to meditation. At thirty-five he realized complete enlightenment, awakening (bodhi). After re­maining silent at the beginning—because he was aware of the impossibility of communicat­ing directly what he had experienced in enlight­enment—he began at the request of others to ex­pound insights drawn from his experience of enlightenment. He spent the rest of his life mov­ing from place to place teaching, and a great number of disciples gathered around him. Siddhārtha Gautama, who came to be known by the name Shākyamuni (Sage of the Shākya Clan), died at the age of eighty after eating some spoiled food.

Skandha Skt. (Pali, khanda), lit., “group, aggregate, heap”; term for the five aggregates, which constitute the entirety of what is generally known as “personality.” They are (1) corpo­reality or form (rupa), (2) sensation (vedanā), (3) perception (Skt., samjñā; Pali, sannā), (4) mental formations (samskāra), (5) consciousness (vijñāna). These aggregates are frequently referred to as “aggregates of attach­ment,” since (except in the case of arhats and buddhas) craving or desire attaches itself to them and attracts them to itself; thus it makes of them objects of attachment and brings about suffering.

The characteristics of the skandhas are birth, old age, death, duration, and change. They are regarded as without essence (anātman), im­permanent (anitya), empty (shūnya), and suffering-ridden (duhkha).

Stūpa Skt. (Pali, thūpa; Sinh., dagoba; Tib., chöten), lit., “hair knot”; characteristic expres­sion of Buddhist architecture, one of the main symbols of Buddhism and a focal point in tem­ples and monasteries.

Originally stūpas were memorial monuments over the mortal remains of the his­torical Buddha and other saints. They also served, however, as symbolic reminders of vari­ous decisive events in the life of Shākya­muni Buddha. Thus stūpas were built at Lumbinī, Bodh-gayā, Kushinagara, Sārnāth, and so on. At the latest by the time of King Ashoka (3d century BCE) the venera­tion of saints had become a general custom; the stūpas from his time are still preserved.

Not every stūpa contains relics in the proper sense; in their place sacred texts and representa­tions are also enshrined, which confer their sa­credness on the stūpa. Stūpas are often purely symbolic structures; examples are Borobudur and the three-dimensional mandalas of Tibet.

The veneration of stūpas, in which the Bud­dha is “present,” has been known since the early period of Buddhism. Such veneration is usually expressed by circumambulating the stūpa in the direction of the sun’s course but also through other forms of worship (pūjā). It is not, how­ever, the relics themselves that are venerated; rather the stūpa serves as a support for medita­tion and as a symbolic reminder of the awak­ened state of mind.

Sūtra Skt., lit., “thread”; (Pali, sutta; Jap., kyō); discourses of the Buddha. The sūtras are collected in the second part of the Buddhist canon, the Sūtra-pitaka, or “Basket of the Teachings.”

The sūtras have been preserved in Pali and Sanskrit, as well as in Chinese and Tibetan translations. According to tradition they derive directly from the Buddha. The sūtras are prose texts, each introduced by the words “Thus have I heard.” These words are ascribed to Ānanda, a student of the Buddha. He is sup­posed to have retained the discourses of the Buddha in memory and to have recited them at the first Buddhist council, immediately after the death of the Buddha. After these introducto­ry words, the circumstances that occasioned the Buddha to give the discourse are described, as well as the place, the time of year, etc. Then the actual instruction follows, sometimes in the form of a dialogue. The style of the sūtras is sim­ple, popular, and didactically oriented. They are rich in parables and allegories. In many sūtras, songs are interpolated. Each sūtra constitutes a self-sufficient unit.

The Hīnayāna sūtras are divided into “collec­tions,” which in the Pali canon are called Nikāyas and in the Sanskrit version, Agamas. The Nikāyas are the Dīgha-nikāya, Majjhima-nikāya, Samyutta-nikāya, Anguttara-nikāya, and Khuddaka-nikāya.

Along with these Hīnayāna sūtras, a great number of Mahāyāna sūtras have also been pre­served. They were originally composed in San­skrit but are for the most part extant only in Chi­nese or Tibetan translations. They are thought to have been composed between the 1st century BCE and the 6th century CE. They adopted the external form of the Hīnayāna sūtras—they also begin with the words Thus have I heard and a description of the place, occasion, and the per­sons present. Three types of Mahāyāna sūtras are differentiated: Vaipulya-sūtras, dhāranīs, and independent sūtras.