Key Concepts in Chinese History and Buddhism

same cycle like Hinduism, but in Buddhism there is 'no soul'. Each lifetime impacts the next but it is not a soul transmigrating through the cycle like in Hinduism.

• Samsara

• Theravada

• Arhat

• Wo

'The Greater Vehicle'; Buddhism for the masses, making it easier to go to Nirvana without being a monk/nun.

similar concept in Buddhism like in Hinduism; impacts the future of the individual; karma keeps a person tied to the cycle.

The Buddha, was a royal heir (prince) in India who encountered four sights, which led him to abandon palace life for the life of self-denial.

• Four Noble Truths

• Siddhartha Gautama

  
  

• Dharma

• Buddha

'Way of the Elders'; has a more conservative view towards gaining enlightenment.

in Hinduism, it means 'duty' but in Buddhism it is the teachings of the Buddha.

means one who has been awakened, but we call Siddhartha Gautama 'The Buddha', who is the founder of the faith known as Buddhism.

an individual emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, who is seen as an individual who achieved enlightenment and decided to remain in the cycle of samsara; most famous example today is Dalai Lama, who is regarded as the embodiment of the Bodhisattva of Compassion

• ashoka

• bodhisattva

• buddha

• wu ding

a ruler of an Indian kingdom who was affected deeply by war at Kalinga and then adopted Buddhism; it became the state religion of his empire.

a figure emphasized in Theravada Buddhism, who achieved enlightenment and goes on to Nirvana (the place of the extinction of self) at death; freed from the cycle of samsara.