Fa-hsiang: See “Consciousness-Only Sect.”
faith (sraddha, xinxin): Confidence in your teacher that he or she can lead you to liberation, confidence that the dharma provides the path to achieve liberation; and confidence in yourself that you can do it. All three are very important in the practice of esoteric Buddhism. See “shraddha,” DHARMA.
fearlessness, fourteen kinds: See Shurangama Sutra.
feng shui: The Chinese art of positioning buildings and objects in buildings and other places based on the belief in positive and negative effects of the patterns of “yin and yang” and the flow of “qi” (chi), the vital force or energy inherent in all things.
fetters: See five lower and higher fetters listed below.
fifty-five Bodhisattva stages: include the Ten Faiths; the Ten Dwellings; the Ten Practices; the Ten Transferences; the Four Aiding Practices; the Ten Grounds (Bhumi) or stages of cultivation of a bodhisattva; and Equal Enlightenment, which comes before the Wonderful Enlightenment of Buddhahood. Also explained as the beginning (the stage of “dry wisdom” which precedes the Ten Faiths), to the intermediate stages (the long period of cultivation as a bodhisattva), and the end (the Wonderful Enlightenment or Buddhahood). See Shurangama Sutra.
First Council: 500 Arhats convened at Rajagrha by Venerable Mahakasyapa to codify the teachings of the Buddha immediately after the Buddha’s parinirvana. See “Ananda” and “Upali.”
five afflictions: (1) process of birth, aging, illness and death; (2) parting with what is loved; (3) meeting with what is hated; (4) inability to obtain what is desired; and (5) the distresses arises from the body and mind (five aggregates).
five aggregates (panchaskandha, wuyun, phung po nga ): Also known as the five skandhas, which literally means “heaps.” They are the five basic transformations that perceptions undergo when an object is perceived. They are (1) form, which includes all sounds, smells, sights, etc.; (2) feelings or pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations; (3) perceptions that deal with identification; (4) mental formations (impulses. fabrications) that are the mental events that actually include the second and third aggregates; and (5) ordinary consciousness such as the sensory and mental consciousenesses. All five aggregates are intrinsically empty. There is no self underlying them. However, the ignorant person thinks that there is a self underlying them or that one or more of the five aggregates are the self. See Shurangama Sutra and “skanda-mara.”
five ascetics: The five hermits with whom the Buddha practiced and to whom He taught His first sermon at Deer Park on the Four Noble Truths— Ajnata Kaundinya (AnnataKodanna or Kondanna), Mahanaman (Mahanama), Bhadrika (Bhaddiya), Dashabala Kasyapa (Vappa), and Ashvajit (Assaji), all brahmins.
five bonds are: greed, hatred, delusion, false views, and conceit.
five buddha families (rig nga): The buddha, vajra, ratna, padma, and karma families.
Five Cardinal Sins (five heinous crimes, contrary acts, boundless actions or gravely wrong acts) are variously defined, but the most common is: (1) killing one’s father, (2) killing one’s mother, (3) killing an arhat, (4) shedding the blood of a buddha, and (5) causing a schism or destroying the harmony of the sangha. They are sometimes also referred to as the five immediate misdeeds since they bring about almost immediate karmic retribution either in the same life or upon death. See also “seven cardinal sins.”
five charkas (wu mai-lun): It is a term for the centers of subtle or refined energy in the human body. They can be manipulated by the “dharma protecting deities” to allow for the development of supernormal powers. The chakra system in Buddhism developed differently from that practiced by yogis in India. One develops the three “meridians” or channels and five charkas by means of the Mind (Heart) Wind Bright Spots (Point) Dharma and other advanced tantric practice.
Five Classics: The Five treatises or commentaries that are used in most Tibetan monasteries to train practitioners in the key teachings of exoteric Buddhism. See “Five Treatises.”
five corruptions: 1) The turbidity of views. This is when incorrect, perverse thoughts and ideas are predominant. (2) The turbidity of passions. This is when all kinds of transgressions are exalted. (3) The turbidity of the human condition. This is when people are usually dissatisfied and unhappy. (4) The turbidity of the life span. This is when the human life span as a whole decreases. (5) The turbidity of the world-age. This is when war and natural disasters are rife.
five dhyani (meditation) Buddhas: See “five transcendent Buddhas.”
five divisions of esoteric practice: Mantras, mudras, visualizations, mandalas, and inner and outer tantra initiation or empowerment.
five dominants (indriya): Part of the thirty-seven branches or factors of enlightenment.
five feelings: pleasant bodily feelings, painful bodily feelings, happiness, sadness, and indifference. See Maha-Satipatthana Sutta.
five “higher fetters”: craving for the divine realms with form, craving for the formless realms, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance are to be abandoned by arhats.
five indriya: See “indriya.”
five Inner Tantra Initiations: Vajra-mallet Samaya, Auspicious Selection, Buddha’s Descending or Bestowed Nectar, Golden Vase Petition Selection, and Dharma Wheel Communicates with the Buddhas. See “initiation“.
five “lower fetters”: self-illusion, doubt, belief in rites and rituals, lust and ill-will. The first three are to be cut off by Stream-enterers and Once-returners, and the next two are weakened in the Once-returners and cut off by the Non-returners. See ARHAT.
five paths (panca-marga, lam nga): In the Mahayana tradition these are held to be 1) the path of accumulation (sambhara-marga), which emphasizes purifying one’s obscurations and accumulating merit; 2) the path of junction or application (preparation or prayoga-marga), in which one develops profound understanding of the four noble truths and cuts the root to the desire realm; 3) the path of insight or seeing (darsana-marga) where one develops greater insight and enters the first bodhisattva level; 4) the path of cultivation or meditation (bhavana-marga), in which one cultivates insight in the second through tenth bodhisattva levels; and 5) the path of no further learning or fulfillment (asaiksa-marga), which is the complete attainment of Buddhahood. Traditionally, these are the five stages that one goes through or paths taken to enlightenment, but are defined somewhat differently in the hinayana and vajrayana traditions. See DISCOURSE by Patrul Rinpoche.
five poisons: (1) greed, which also includes selfish desire, avarice, craving, etc.; (2) hatred, which also includes anger, ill-will, aversion, resentment, etc.; (3) ignorance, sometimes referred to as delusion; (4) pride, which also includes arrogance and conceit; and (5) doubt, which is basically limited to doubt about the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the Master. The first three are also known as the three poisons.
five powers (bala): Part of the thirty-seven branches or factors of enlightenment.
five precepts (panca-sila, wu jie): These precepts apply to all Buddhists, whether lay or ordained. They are (1) not killing; (2) not stealing; (3) not engaging in prohibited sexual activity; (4) not engaging in wrong speech; (5) not drinking, serving, or dealing in intoxicants or taking substances that befuddle or numb the mind.
five pungent plants: Onions, garlic, shallots, leeks and chives. In the Shurangama Sutra it is said that “If these five are eaten cooked, they increase one’s sexual desire; if they are eaten raw, they increase one’s anger” and that they should be avoided by those who go through the three gradual stages in seeking samadhi.
five rebellious acts: See “Five Cardinal Sins.”
five sciences: See five vidyas.
five spiritual faculties (indriya): Faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom.
five superknowledges: See “six supernormal powers.”
five supernormal powers: See SEVEN JEWELS.
five transcendent buddhas (wu fozhiwuzhi) who symbolize the various aspects of enlightened consciousness. These five buddhas are Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, and Mahavairocana. Each one represents a family of related beings and a direction. Also known as cosmic buddhas, jinas, or tathagatas. See also“five wisdoms of a buddha.”
five treatises or five classic treatises: Five major commentaries recommended by both Dorje Pa Mu and Dorje Losang that are used in Tibetan monasteries and that need to be mastered: Master Asanga’s The Jewel of Realization (Abhisamaya-lamkara), a commentary on the Prajnaparamita Sutras; Master Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara or Madhyamika Treatise (Guide or Introduction to the Middle Way); Master Dharmakirti’s The Commentary on Valid Perception (Pramana Varttika or Hetu-Vidya Treatise); Master Gunaprabha’s, A Summary of Vowed Morality (Vinayasutra), also referred to as the Precepts and Discipline Treatise; and Master Vasubandhu’s, Abhidharmakosa Treatise.
Five Treatises of Maitreya: Texts transmitted to Asanga by Lord Maitreya that form the heart of the Yogachara School. These include the Jewel/Ornament for Clear/Manifest Realization (Abhisamaya-lamkara), Ornament for the Mahayana Sutras (Mahayanasutra-lamkara), Sublime Continuum of the Mahayana (The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra or Mahayanottaratantra-shastra, Ratnagotravibhaga), Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being (Dharmadharmatavibhanga), and Distinguishing the Middle and the Extremes (Madhyantavibhanga).
five vidyas (wu míng): They include everything that is good and bright and helps living beings and are grouped into five categories: 1) the healing vidya of medicine, health, and fixing that which is broken (cikitsvidya or cikitsadvidya); 2) the craftsmanship vidya of arts and crafts, mathematics, science and technology (silpakarmasthanavidya or silpasthanavidya); 3) the sound vidya of speech, grammar and composition, linguistics, phonology, literary studies, and music (sabdavidya); 4) the causal vidya of logic and reasoning (hetuvidya); and 5) the inner realization vidya of metaphysics, psychology, or inner special philosophy (adhyatmavidya) which in this context means knowledge of the ultimate truths of the universe as taught by the Buddhas and the ability to apply this knowledge to help living beings, including the use of supernormal powers. They represent the realization of enlightened beings. THey are the result of what they do. Referred to as the Five Brightnesses (wu-ming) in Chinese. Part of the “Supermundane Dharmas.” The Great Dharma King has told us that the Sanskrit term vidya, in its limited translation as an area of knowledge is not the correct. However, since “science” which is also sometimes used to translate this principle is also inadequate, we will continue to use vidyas since there does not seem to be any better term available in English with the caveat that it is used here to include everything in the universe that benefits living beings. “Vidya” is after all the opposite of “avidya” which is the classic Sanskrit term for ignorance. See SEVEN JEWELS and “ten vidyas.” The concept is also explained and demonstrated in H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.
five wisdoms of a buddha (wu zhong-zhi-hui): Represented in the Five Wisdom Buddhas—The Great Reflecting Wisdom or the Mirror-like Wisdom of Akshobhya Buddha; the Wisdom of Equality in Nature or the Wisdom of Equanimity of Ratnasambhava Buddha; the the Subtle Observing Wisdom or the Discriminating Wisdom of Amitabha Buddha; the the Wisdom of Fulfillment of Deeds or the All-Accomplishing Wisdom of Amoghasiddhi Buddha, and the Wisdom of the Dharmadhatu itself of Mahavairocana Buddha. Sometimes the last wisdom is not included since it includes the wisdoms of other four. See SEVEN JEWELS.
Foe Destroyer: See “arhat.”
form body: See “rupakaya.”
form sphere or world (rupadhatu, sèjiè): The desireless and middle of the three spheres of the universe (samsara). It is so named because beings therein do have material bodies or form, but their pleasures come from four stable meditative states with no need for exterior projections.
formless sphere or realm or world (arupadhatu, wusèjiè): The purely spiritual or immaterial and highest of the three spheres of the universe (samsara) that is occupied only by the highest level celestial beings. It is so named because beings therein do not have gross bodies, but are pure consciousness.
fortune telling (xiangmìng): The practice of predicting the future, usually of an individual, through seemingly mystical or supernatural means and often for commercial gain.
fortune (fu): See “good fortune.”
four activities of a Buddha: Pacifying, increasing, attracting, and fierce subduing or destroying. See “samudacara.”
four all-embracing Bodhisattva virtues (sishe): Known as the four methods that Bodhisattvas employ to approach and save living beings. Includes giving gifts that people like, using kind words, acting to benefit them by teaching them the path according to their level of intelligence, and working together with them. The Tibetans translated the last one to mean practicing what you preach by putting into action what you have told them.
four applications of mindfulness (smrty-upasthana): contemplate the body as impure; contemplate feelings as suffering; contemplate thoughts as impermanent; and contemplate dharmas as being without self. Part of the thirty-seven branches or factors of enlightenment.
four bases of psychic power (rhdi-pada): Part of the thirty-seven branches or factors of enlightenment.
four bodies of a Buddha (si shen): Dharmakaya, samboghakaya, nirmanakaya, and svabhavikakaya. There is also a fifth body, the great happiness wisdom body. See “three bodies of a Buddha.”
Four Books and Five Scriptures (Sishu Wujing): Chinese classics that contain most Confucian beliefs.
four great elements (maha-bhuta, si dajie): Earth (principle of solidity), wind (principle of movement), water (principle of liquidity), and fire (principle of warmth). See also “six great elements.
four groups (divisions) of yogas (catvari tantra, si mixu): Classification of tantras into action, performance, yoga, and highest or supreme yoga tantra.
four heavenly kings (catumaharaja, si dawang tian): Vaishravana (Kuvera) of the North (“Very Famous”=wealth), the yellow King of the Kinnaras and Yaksas; Dhritirastra of the East (“Protector of the Nation”=strength), the white King of the gandharvas; Virudhaka of the South (“Growing Large”=prosperity), the green king of the Kumbhandas; and Virupaksa of the West (“Wide Eyes”=awareness), the red King of the Nagas. See “lokapalas.”
Four Jewels or Gems (Shang-shi Sanbao); The Master, the Buddha, The Dharma, and The Sangha. See “Three Jewels.”
four kinds of eating: that is, eating by portions, eating by contact, eating by thought, and eating by consciousness. See the “Shurangama Sutra.”
four levels of concentration: 1) State of Joy Apart from Production: 2) State of Joy from Achieving Samadhi; 3) State of Wonderful Bliss Detached from Joy; 4) the State of Pure Renunciation of Thought.
Four Limitless States of Mind (apramana, si wuliangxin): The four states of Brahman or four immeasurables that one receives when one takes refuge in the Buddha. Also known as the four sublime attitudes. Practice of these states can cause one to be reborn in one of the Brahma realms or worlds. One of the “wholesome dharmas” that produces good “karma.” See SEVEN JEWELS, Metta Sutta, .
four maras: Skandha-mara, klesha-mara, devapuirmara (devaputra-mara), and marana-mara (matyu-mara or death itself); the main obstacles or demonic forces that hinder our progress to liberation and enlightenment. See “Mara.”
four methods of Bodhisattvas (sishe): See “four all-embracing Bodhisattva virtues.”
Four Noble Truths (catvaryarya-satyani, si shengdi): The truth of suffering, the truth of the origination of suffering, the truth of cessation (nirvana), and the truth of the noble eight-fold path. These basic principles are expressed many ways in Buddhism. See the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta and the Maha-Satipatthana Sutta.
four opponent powers or forces : The powers that are essential for successful purification: 1) the power of reliance, 2) the power of regret, 3) the power of the antidote, and 4) the power of resolve.
Four Outer Tantra Initiations: Disciple’s Entry, Five Dhyani Buddhas, Kusuma-mala (wreath), and Acarya. Most initiations are given as Outer Tantra Initiations including the well known high level Kalachakra and Great Perfection Dharmas.
four perspectives: Four ways to understand various teachings of the Buddha: 1) definitive meaning; 2) provisional meaning; 3) intent that is straight forward or has direct or literal meaning; and 4) intent that requires interpretation. See “dharma doors.”
four preliminary practices (purvam-gama): The preliminary or preparatory practices of esoteric Buddhism which are practiced before initiation takes place. A disciple must past certain tests before these practices are given.
four [constituents of] psychic power (riddhipada) are concentration due to zeal (chanda), energy (virya), purity of mind (chitta), and investigation (mimamsa). Part of the thirty-seven branches or factors of enlightenment.
four reliances (pratisarna): Rely on the teaching (dharma), not the teacher (pudgala); rely on the meaning or import (artha), not the text or letter (vyanjana); rely on the definitive meaning (niratha), not the priovisional or interpretive meaning (neyartha); and rely on non-dual intuition (jhana), not on dualistic consciousness (vijnana).
four right efforts (samyak-prahana): Part of the thirty-seven branches or factors of enlightenment.
four roads to psychic power: See “riddhipada.”
four sacred mountains (China): Wu Tai (Five Peaks) of Manjushri Bodhisattva in Shanxi Province; E Mei (Mt. Omi) of Samanthbhadra Bodhisattva in Szechwan Province; Chiu (Jyou) Hua (Nine Flowers) of Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva in Anhui Province; and Pu Tuo of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva in Joujong Province.
four stages of the hinayana supra mundane path: Stream enterer, once-returner, non-returner, and arhat.
four truths or wisdoms (catvari jnanani, si zhi): Mirror-like Wisdom of Akshobha Buddha, Wisdom of Equanimity of Ratnasambhava Buddha, Discriminating Wisdom of Amitabha Buddha, Accomplishing Wisdom of Amoghasiddhi Buddha. Sometimes the Wisdom of the Dharmadhatu of Mahavairocana Buddha that includes the other four is included as the fifth wisdom.
four types of birth (catur yoni): Womb, egg, transformational, and miraculous or spontaneous generation.
four types of disciples: monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen.
four types of liberation: 1-immortal body which is the highest and cannot be learned by ordinary beings; 2-rainbow body transformation; 3-Passing while in a sitting position and freeing oneself from the cycle of birth and death; and 4-being reborn in the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss.
four unconjecturables: See Acintita Sutta.
four wisdoms of a Buddha: See “five wisdoms of a Buddha.”
fourteen kinds of fearlessness: See Shurangama Sutra.
Fu Hui Si: Good Fortune and Wisdom Temple. Buddhist Temple in San Francisco that opened March 2006 and was renamed Macang Monastery in 2008.