Glossary of

Terms and Pronunciation (original) (raw)

Glossary of Terms and Pronunciation
Arhat –enlightened being with Attainment Status in the Buddha School who is beyond the Triple World but lower than Bodhisattva. Baihui (buy-hway) point – acupuncture point located at the crown of one’s head. Bodhisattva – enlightened being with Attainment Status in the Buddha School who is higher than Arhat but lower than Tathagata. Dafa (dah-fah) – “The Great Way,” or “The Great Law”; short for the practice’s full name, Falun Dafa, “The Great (Cultivation) Way of the Law Wheel.” dan (dahn) – an energy cluster which forms in the bodies of some cultivators in internal alchemy; in external alchemy, it is referred to as the “Elixir of Immortality.” dantian (dahn-tyen) – “field of dan,” a field located at the lower abdominal area. Dao (dow) – “the Way” (also spelled “Tao”). eight Extra Meridians –in Chinese Medicine, these are meridians that exist in addition to the twelve Regular Meridians. Most of the eight Extra intersect with the acupuncture points of the twelve Regular, so they are not considered independent or major meridians. Fa (fah) – “Way,” “Law,” or “Principles.” Falun (fah-luhn) – “Law Wheel” (see color insert). Falun Dafa (fah-luhn dah-fah) –“The (Cultivation) Way of the Law Wheel.” Falun Gong (fah-luhn gong) –“Law Wheel Qigong.” Both the names Falun Gong and Falun Dafa are used to describe this practice. gong (gong) – “cultivation energy.” karma – a black substance that results from wrongdoing. Master –the Chinese term used here, shifu, is composed of two characters: one meaning “teacher,” the other “father.” meridians – the network of energy channels in one’s body that are thought to be conduits of qi. In Traditional Chinese Medicine and popular Chinese thought, illness is said to arise when qi is not flowing properly through these meridians, such as when qi is congested, blocked, travelling too fast or slow, moving in the wrong direction, etc. qi (chee) – in Chinese thought, this substance/energy is said to assume many forms in the body and the environment. Usually translated as “vital energy,” qi is thought to determine a person’s health. “Qi” can also be used in a much broader sense to describe substances that are invisible and amorphous, such as air, odor, anger, etc. qigong (chee-gong) – a general name for certain practices that cultivate the human body. In recent decades, qigong exercises have been very popular in China. samadhi – Buddhist meditation. Sakyamuni –Buddha Sakyamuni, or “the Buddha,” Siddhartha Gautama. Popularly known as the founder of Buddhism, he lived in ancient India around the 5th century B.C. Tathagata (tah tah-gah-tah) –enlightened being with Attainment Status in the Buddha School who is above the levels of Bodhisattva and Arhat. Third Eye – sometimes translated as “the Celestial Eye,” this term (tianmu) is used flexibly and can refer to the Third Eye system or a particular component of that system, such as the pineal gland. xinxing (shin-shing) – “mind nature,” or “heart nature”; “moral character.” yin (yin) and yang (yahng)– The Dao School believes that everything contains opposite forces of yin and yang which are mutually exclusive, yet interdependent, e.g. female (yin) vs. male (yang), front of the body (yin) vs. back of the body (yang). Zhen-Shan-Ren (jhun-shahn-ren) –“Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance.”