Nonduality
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Compiled and Edited by Greg Goode, Ph.D.
Greg is editor of the Nondualism and Western Philosophers page, author of Presence, and compiled and edited Nondualism, Yogas, and Personality Characteristics
In Buddhism, the creation of numbered lists such as The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path have been time-honored ways of presenting information. During much of Buddhism's 2,500-year history, the teachings have been conveyed and recited orally. Numbered lists in the sutras and commentaries serve to make the teachings more easily remembered. Even in the modern world of print and electronic media, presenting the multi-faceted Buddhist teachings in list form makes them easier to remember and ponder. It also has the psychological advantage of making the teachings stand out against the background of non-numbered information.
The present list is a beginning compilation of Buddhist numbered lists on prominent subjects in Buddhist teaching. This compilation has been for my own study. In many texts I have often encountered the mention of a seemingly important numbered list (such as “The Five Corruptions” or “The Six Dusts”) with no explanation. There are over one hundred lists in the present compilation, culled from a wide variety of sutras, commentaries, treatises and reference books. Nevertheless, this is only a beginning and vastly incomplete effort. There has been no effort at providing alternative translations of the English coming from Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, or Tibetan sources (passion vs. desire, or corruptions vs. defilements, etc.) The lists are stronger in the areas of Mahayana, Pure Land, and Zen/Ch'an, and weaker in the areas of Theravada, Abhidharma (psychology and philosophy), Tantra and Dzogchen. Any assistance, additions or corrections are gratefully welcomed!
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Numbered Item |
Description |
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| (01) One Vehicle |
Great Vehicle Dharma – Mahayana, vehicle of the Bodhisattva. |
| (02) Two Branches of Mahayana |
(1) Paramitayana,
practice of the 6 paramitas or perfections, (2) Vajrayana/Mantrayana/Tantrayana,
the way of the diamond, following the thread of
knowledge. Involves mantra, symbolic, esoteric and
magical practices. |
| (02) Two Good
Things, Merit and Virtue |
From Pure Land
Buddhism, and the Sutra Translation Committee and the Van
Hien Study Group. The same action can lead to merits or
virtues, according to the intention. The motive of
mundane rewards leads to merits, and the motive of
transcendence leads to virtues. (1) Merits are the blessings (wealth,
intelligence, etc.) of the human and celestial realms. They
are temporary and subject to birth and death. (2) Virtues transcend birth and death, and
lead to Buddhahood. Pure Land Buddhism mentions four
virtues: (i) eternity, (ii) happiness, (iii) True Self,
(iv) Purity. |
| (02) Two Major
Afflictions |
These have a
greater and more causal effect than minor afflictions: (1) Shamelessnes, (2) Impudence. Back to index |
| (02) Two Truths |
Two kinds of
truths, each has many instances. (1) Conventional truth
of the mundane world, "manifests stillness but is
always illuminating" (Hsu Heng Chi/P.H. Wei, quoted
in Horizontal Escape) and is immanent in
everything. (2) The Ultimate truth transcends dichotomies
and is inexplicable. There is the conventional truth of
the table (the conventional designation of the table) and
the ultimate truth of the table (emptiness of the
inherent existence of the table). |
| (02) Two Kinds of
Patience |
From the Upasakashila
Sutra, quoted in Hsing Yun's Being Good. (1)
Patience of this world, includes the endurance of hunger,
thirst, heat, cold, suffering, and joy. (2) Patience
which transcends this world, which includes learning to
be steady in belief, wisdom, generosity, compassion, and
open-mindedness; learning to be steadfast in our loyalty
to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; and learning to endure
insults, beatings, taunting, evil plots against us,
greed, anger, ignorance and all the other vile and
humiliating things of this world. We learn to endure the
unendurable and to accomplish the impossible." (pp.
91-92). Back to index |
| (02) Two Zen
Qualities |
(1) Kyogai
– (Visaya=world/place in Sanskrit) Unified
mind/body/behavior, the opposite of dry
intellectualization; it is the absence of
self-reflectiveness, self-consciousness; it is totally
poured into behavior. Like being "narikitta" or
totally one with the thing. Can be learned. From G.
Victor Sogen Hori, "Koan and Kensho in the Rinzai
Zen Curriculum. (2) Majime – wisdom
and courage to eliminate the distinctions between actions
and thoughts. Both kyogai and majime can be learned,
trained. They bespeak genuineness, authenticity. Back
to index |
| (03) Three Baskets (tripitaka) |
(1) Regulations
of the lives of monastics (Vinaya-pitaka), (2) discourses
coming from the mouth of the Buddha or his immediate
disciples and arranged into 5 collections (Digha-nikaya,
Majjhima-nikaya, Samyutta-nikaya, Anguttara-nikaya,
Khuddaka-nikaya), (3) Buddhist psychology and
philosophy (Abhidharma-pitaka). Back
to index |
| (03) Three Dharma
Ages |
(1) Dharma
Perfect Age, Buddha Shakyamuni's demise to 500 years,
when enlightenment was often attained, (2) Dharma
Semblance Age was the next 1,000 years, when
enlightenment was seldom attained, (3) Dharma Ending Age,
the next 10,000 years, when enlightenment will rarely be
attained. Back to index |
| (03) Three Dharma
Seals |
Three insights,
often used as criteria to determine the genuine-ness of
Buddhist teachings – (1) All composite things
(samskaras) are impermanent, (2) All dharmas do not have
an independent self, (3) Nirvana is perfect peace. Sometimes
a fourth is used (4) emptiness. Can be used to determine
whether a sutra is authentic, such as the Platform Sutra,
about Hui Neng, not Buddha! If it conforms to the Dharma
seals, then it's authentic. Back to index |
| (03) Three
Insights |
Trividya
(Sanskrit) (1) All phenomena are impermanent, (2) All
phenomena are sorrowful, (3) All phenomena are devoid of
essence. Back to index |
| (03) Three Jewels
(triratna) |
Buddha, Dharma,
Sangha. Back to index |
| (03) Three Ways
Phenomena are Interdependent |
(1) Phenomena are
dependent upon other phenomena (red/yellow/green or
hot/cold), (2) Phenomena are dependent in part/whole
relationships (the chariot and the parts of the chariot),
(3) Phenomena are dependent upon a perceiving or
cognizing consciousness. Back to index |
| (03) Three
Liberations |
Also known as the
Three gates of nirvana (vimoksha). Meditation that
prepares the way for nirvana through the realization of
emptiness (shunyata), formlessness (animitta),
and passionlessness. The three liberations are (1) the
recognition of ego and all dharmas as empty, (2) the
recognition of all dharmas as formless and devoid of
distinctions, (3) the recognition of existence as
unworthy of desire. Back to index |
| (03) Three
Poisons |
Fundamental evils
in life which give rise to human suffering. (1) Greed,
(2) Anger, (3) Delusion. In the Dhammapada Sutra it is
taught that attachment is the root cause of suffering: "From
craving [attachment] springs grief, from craving springs
fear; For him who is wholly free from craving, there is
no grief, much less fear." Back to index |
| (03) Three Root
Precepts |
All Bodhisattva
precepts or vows derive from these root precepts. (1) Do
not do what is evil, (2) Do what is good, (3) Be of
benefit to all sentient beings. Back to index |
| (03) Three
Teachings |
Also known as the
Three Learnings – (1) Morality, (2) Meditation, (3)
Wisdom. Back to index |
| (03) Three truths
(T'ien-t'ai school) |
(1) Dharmas
possess no independent reality and thus are empty, (2) A
dharma has the temporally limited apparent existence of
phenomena and can be detected by the senses, (3) the
"middle," suchness, the true state is not to be
found anywhere other than in phenomena; phenomena and the
absolute are one. This truth stands above the other two
and includes them. Back to index |
| (03) Three
Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma |
(1) Theravada,
(2) Mahayana, (3) Vajrayana/Mantrayana/Tantrayana. Back
to index |
| (03) Three
Vehicles |
Middle level,
"Sravaka Vehicle" or "Theravada"
– Sravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva (Sravakas
follow Theravada and eventually become arhats as a result
of listening to the Buddhas and following their
teachings. Pratyekabuddhas become fully enlightened by
meditating on the principle of causality). Back
to index |
| (03) Three woeful
paths (apaya) |
Hell beings,
hungry ghosts, animals Back to index |
| (03) Three worlds
(triloka) |
(1) Kamaloka,
desire world, includes humans, hell beings, animals,
asuras, and the six classes of gods (2) Rupaloka,
desireless corporality or form, includes gods in the
dhyana heaven. Rebirth here possible through the four
absorptions (3) Arupaloka, formlessness, surely spiritual
continuum, consists of the four heavens in which one is
born via the practice of the four stages of formlessness.
Back to index |
| (03) Threefold
refuge (trisharana) |
Taking refuge in
(1) the Buddha, (2) the Dharma, and (3) the Sangha. Back
to index |
| (03) Triple Realm |
Also Three
Realms, Three Worlds. (1) Realm of Desire (our world),
(2) Realm of form (for lesser deities), (3) Realm of
formlessness (for higher deities). The Western Pure Land
is outside the Triple Realm, beyond retrogression and
samsara. Back to index |
| (04) Four Bases of Spiritual Power |
From the Anapanasati
Sutra (1) Joy, from composure of mind and determined striving. (2) Energy, the energy that it takes to recognize that the mind is tense. Comes from concentration and determined striving. (3) Purity of mind from concentration/tranquillity and determined striving. (4) The ability to investigate, from concentration/composure and determined striving. Back to index |
| (04) Four
Benefits of Patience |
From Master
Hsing-Yun's Being Good – (1) Patience
dissipates the anger of the one practicing patience, and
others as well, (2) Patience is a reliable refuge, (3)
Patience is the source of great goodness and is a hidden
virtue, (4) Patience is the source or cause of bodhi
wisdom. Back to index |
| (04) Four Bodies
(kayas) |
(1) Dharmakaya,
dharma body – the space from which everything
arises. Also, the Buddha's true nature, and his unity
with everything else. Originally the teaching expounded
by the historical Buddha. Also called dharmadhatu. Realized
through prajna. Vairochana Buddha (transcendental Buddha)
is a symbol. (2) Sambhogakaya, enjoyment body – points to the experience that there's energy and color and movement. Sound is often a symbol of Sambhogakaya. Also, the result of previous good actions, as the body for a bodhisattva. It exhibits the 32 major marks and the eighty minor marks of a buddha and can be perceived only by a bodhisattva in its last stage of development. Also the ecstasy of enlightenment, the means to convey the experience of emptiness. Amitabha Buddha is a symbol. (3) Nirmanakaya, body of transformation – the experience that emptiness manifests in form and that form is emptiness, yet we solidify it. Embodied in earthly buddhas and bodhisattvas projected into the world through the meditation of the Sambhogakaya buddhas as a result of their compassion. Nirmanakaya manifestations are to expound the teaching, and are guides on the way to liberation but have no causal force. They are human beings subject to the misery of illness, old age and death, but have the divine eye and divine hearing. Individuality dissolves after death. Shakyamuni Buddha an example. (4) Svabhavikakaya, "self-nature" body – the fact that the three bodies arise at once. It is the essenceless, emptiness, called svabhaha-shunyata, and related to Madhyamika's teachings on emptiness. Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya are the three bodies possessed by a Buddha in Mahayana. In Tibetan Buddhism and vajrayana, the body, speech and mind of the master are equated with the three bodies. Back to index |
| (04) Four
Constituents |
(1) Earth, (2)
Water, (3) Wind, (4) Fire. Back to index |
| (04) Four
Elements |
(1) the firm, (2)
fluid, (3) heating (4), and moving. Back to index |
| (04) Four Evils
(sometimes called "Four Devils") |
(1) The evil from
the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception,
tendencies, and consciousness, (2) The evil of death, (3)
the evil of suffering. (4), the evil of the Samsaric
world. Back to index |
| (04) Four Great
Bodhisattva Virtues |
(1) Giving, (2)
Amiable speech, (3) Conduct beneficial to others, (4)
Cooperation. Back to index |
| (04) Four
Foundations (awakenings) of mindfulness |
(Satipatthana,
Hinayana) (1) Mindfulness of body, including breath,
bodily elements, and charnel ground contemplation, (2)
Mindfulness of feeling, including pleasant/unpleasant,
worldly/supramundane and transitory, (3) Mindfulness of
mind, incl. Every state of consciousness, (4) Mindfulness
of mental objects, including the conditioned-ness and
inessentiality of things, presence/absence of the five
hindrances, and the fact that all is the five skandas. Back
to index |
| (04) Four Fruits |
Four stages of
spiritual attainment in the Theravadin tradition:
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| (04) Four Great
Debts |
Debts to (1)
One's parents, (2) the Three Treasures, (3) The founders
of the nation and enlightened temporal leaders, (4) All
sentient beings, as having been one's parents in past
lives. Back to index |
| (04) Four Aspects
of Friendship |
From the Dirgha
Agama – (1) Stop bad behavior, (2) Be kind, (3)
Help each other, (4) Share the same lot. Back
to index |
| (04) Four Kinds
of Right Striving |
From the
Anapanasati Sutra (1) Cultivate
zeal for the non-arising of non-arisen unwholesome states
of mind. That is, cultivate a mind that has joyful
interest and enthusiasm so that is free of unwholesome
states. The result is joy and upliftment. (2) Cultivate
zeal for the abandonment of arisen unwholesome states of
mind. That is, turn away from burdensome emotional states
such as anger, sadness, jealousy, anxiety, stress,
depression, fear, etc., and replace them with a mind of
joyful interest and enthusiasm. (3) Cultivate
zeal for the arising of non-arisen wholesome states of
mind. That is, strive to make effort, arouse energy,
exert the mind, and strive. (4) Cultivate
zeal for the continuation and non-disappearance of
already-arisen wholesome states of mind. Strive for the
continuation, the increase and fulfillment of these
states of mind, making effort, exerting the mind and
striving. In this way, many of [the Buddha's] students
have reached the consummation of perfection of direct
knowledge. |
| (04) Four
Immeasurables |
(Brahma-vihara,
a meditation where the practitioner arouses these four
positive states of mind and radiates them outwards in all
directions) – (1) limitless kindness (maitri)
towards all beings, (2) limitless compassion (karuna)
towards those who are suffering, (3) limitless joy
(mudita) over the salvation of others from suffering, (4)
limitless equanimity (upeksha) towards friend and foe. Back
to index |
| (04) Four Levels
of Teachings |
From Gyel-tsap's Illumination
of the Essential Meanings of (Nagarjuna's) "Precious
Garland of Madhyamika," quoted in Jeffrey
Hopkins' Precious Garland, pp. 90-91. "[Buddhas]
teach the doctrines that they (the students) can bear as
objects of their minds. The stages are as follows: (1) To
some they teach doctrines to turn them away from
ill-deeds such as killing; this is so that these trainees
who have the thought-patterns of beings of small capacity
may achieve the ranks of gods or humans as fruits of
their merit. (2) To
some trainees who have the thought-patterns of beings of
middle capacity they teach doctrines based on the duality
of apprehended object and apprehending subject and that
cyclic existence one-pointedly is to be abandoned and
nirvana is one-pointedly to be adopted. (3) To
some trainees they teach ultimately established
consciousness empty of a difference in substantial entity
between apprehended object and apprehending subject,
thereby teaching to them [doctrine that is] not based on
duality. (4) To
some trainees of highest faculties, who will achieve
unsurpassed enlightenment, they teach [doctrine] that has
an essence of emptiness – the profound mode of
subsistence [of phenomena] frightening to the fearful who
adhere to the true existence of things – and
compassion." Back to index |
| (04) Four Noble
Truths |
(1) The Truth of
Suffering, (2) The Truth of the origin of suffering
through desire, (3) The Truth of the cessation of
suffering through the elimination of desire, (4) The
Truth of the means of the ending of suffering through the
eightfold path. Back to index |
| (04) Four Perfect
Exertions |
(Samyak-prahanani)
The Buddha recommended these to avoid unwholesome factors
in the future and eliminate the present ones: (1) the
exertion of restraint (avoiding unwholesome factors), (2)
the exertion of overcoming (unwholesome factors), (3) the
exertion of developing wholesome factors, esp.
enlightenment, (4) the exertion of maintaining wholesome
factors. These are identical with the sixth of the
eight-fold path, Right Effort/exertion. Back
to index |
| (04) Four
Propositions |
(1) Existence,
(2) Non-existence, (3) Both, (4) Neither. The 100 errors
are derived from these propositions. Back
to index |
| (04) Four Basic
Qualities of Nirvana |
From Master
Hsing-Yun's Being Good – (1) Nothing arises
in nirvana, (2) Nothing abides in Nirvana, (3) Nirvana is
selfless, (4) Nirvana lacks nothing. Back
to index |
| (04) Four Rules
to Observe |
(1) Follow the
Dharma, not the teacher, (2) Follow the meaning, not the
words, (3) Follow wisdom, not knowledge, (4) Follow the
ultimate truth, not apparent truths. Back
to index |
| (04) Four Stages
of Absorption |
(Dhyana, Ch'an,
Zen) (1) Relinquishing of desires and unwholesome
factors, reached by conceptualization and discursive
thought; there is joyful interest and well-being, (2)
Coming to rest of conceptualization and discursive
thought, attainment of inner calm, one-pointedness of
mind; joyful interest and well-being continue, (3) Joy
disappears, replaced by equanimity (upeksha); one is
alert, aware, feels well-being, (4) Only equanimity and
wakefulness are present. Back to index |
| (04) Four Stages
of Cultivation |
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