Glossary of Japanese Zen Terms, by Stan Rosenthal

Contents
1 A
2 C
3 D
4 E
5 F
6 G
7 H
8 I
9 J
10 K
11 L
12 M
13 N
14 O
15 R
16 S
17 T
18 W
19 Y
20 Z
 
A

Ai-nuke (mutual escape)
Ai-uchi (mutual striking down)
Akago no kokoro (mind of an infant; child's mind)
Amado ("rain door")
Angya (travelling on foot: a Buddhist pilgrimage)
Antan (assignment of living space)
Arayashiki (all conserving consciousness)
Baito (tea made with plum seed and sugar served as the ceremony for the
beginning of each day)
Banka (evening services)
Banka soji (evening cleaning)
Bhutakoti (limit of reality)
Bodhi (enlightenment)
Bodhidharma (also P'u-t'i Ta-mo or Ta-mo or Daruma; the twenty- eighth Buddhist
patriarch, founder of Zen)
Bosatsu (Bodhisattva or p'u-sa; a great enlightened one)
Buddha (also, Butsudo or hondo; Guatarma Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism)
Bukkwa (becoming and being; see Wu-hua)
Bushi (a knight or military scholar)
Bushido ("the way or code of the military or martial scholar")
Busshin-gyo (Buddha-mind act)
Butsuden (temple building enshrining an image or images of the Buddha)
 
C

Ch'a-ch'a/sassatsu (lively and self assured)
Chado (the way of tea; the ritual of the tea ceremony)
Ch'an (Zen)
Ch'ang (forever)
Ch'ang-tao ("always-so-ness")
Cha-no-yu (the tea ceremony)
Chen/tei (perseverance)
Cheng (the state of things as they are)
Ch'eng/makoto (sincerity)
Ch'eng-ch'eng/jojo (droop and drift)
Chen-jen (true man)
Chih/jaku/chi (wisdom, tranquility)
Ch'i/ki (spirit, abstract form of energy originating in the Tan Tien or Hara)
Chih-jen : see Shijin
Chih-mo : see Shih-mo (suchness)
Choka (Morning services)
Chu-chang/shujo (staff)
Ch'un ch'i (pure spirit)
Chung Yung : see Chuyo (doctrine of the Mean)
Chuyo/Chung Yung (doctrine of the Mean)
 
D

Daido mumon (from the preface to the Mumonkan, a Zen text by Hui- k'ai
(1183-1260), a monk of the later Sung dynasty. Discourses on the text,
comprising forty-eight cases are frequently held in Zen monasteries.
Daienkyochi (mirror wisdom)
Daigaku/Ta Hsueh (great learning)
Dai-hannya (ceremony of reading the sutra titles)
Daikon-hatsu (collecting white radishes for pickling)
Daiyu/Ta-yung or Myoyu/Miao-yung (an aesthetic quality perceivable in a work of
art or in nature itself. The sword in the hand of a swordsman, or any activity
carried out with something more than technique)
Daruma (Japanese name for Bodhidharma)
Daruma-ki (memorial day for the Bodhidharma, 5th October)
Dentoroku/Ch'uan-teng Lu ("transmission of the lamp")
Deshi (a disciple or pupil of a Shisho [spiritual master or teacher])
Doka (poetry of the Tao)
Dokusan (individual consultation with a Zen master; a form of sanzen)
Donai (that part of a monastery other than its administrative quarters)
Donai fugin (chanting scriptures in the meditation hall)
 
E

ekagrata (one-pointedness)
Enju (growing vegetables)
Enjudo (life prolonging room; the healing room of a monastery)
 
F

Fen/bun (mutuality)
Fudo-shin (immovable mind)
Fuga (refinement of life)
Fugin (chanting scriptures)
Funi (nonduality)
Furyu (feeling for nature)
Fushiki or Fuchi/Pu-shih (beyond knowledge)
Fusu (monk in charge of the accounts and business affairs of a monastery)
Fuzui (a monk assigned as attendant to the head monk)
 
G

Gaki (hungry spirits)
Gyodo (ceremony of chanting scriptures whilst moving)
 
H

Haiku (form of poetry having three lines; five syllables in the first line,
seven in the second, five in the third)
Hakama (a divided skirt worn as 'over-trousers')
Haka naki (transient vain)
Handaikan (waiting on the table of the dining room)
Hange (mid-term or half term day)
Hansai (special meal)
Haori (upper or outer coat)
Happo biraki (open on all sides)
Hashin kyuji (rest, mending and preparation; taking up the needle and moxa
treatment)
Heijo-shin (everyday mind) Higan-hatsu ("Equinox bowl"; equinox begging)
Hin/P'in (poverty)
Hinsetsu (receiving visitors at the head temple)
Hoben (skillful means)
Hokku (dharma drum)
Hoko (escapade at night)
Hondo ('main hall'; alternative name for the Butsuden or Buddha Hall)
Honrai no memmoku/Pen-lai mien-mu (original face)
Honshin (original mind)
Hoshin/Fang-hsin (runaway mind)
Ho....u (chanting, used by monks whilst walking in the street, begging. "The
rain of Dharma")
Hsi-hsi/Kiki (wreathed in smiles)
Hu-jan nien ch'i/Kotsunen nenki (sudden awakening of thought)
 
I

i/gi (justice)
ichinen/i-nien (one thought)
iho/ihori (hut)
Inji [sanno] (attendant to the master)
Inji gyo (secret good deeds)
innen (anecdote or incident)
isagi-yoku (leaving no regrets; with a clear conscience; like a brave man; with
no reluctance)
 
J

jaku (tranquility)
jaku metsu (absolute tranquility; absolute nothingness; complete annihilation of
the ego)
jen-jin (love)
ji/shih (the particular, as distinct from the universal ri/li)
Jihatsu (the bowl used by a monk for meals and begging)
Jikijitsu (the elder monk who supervises the others during meditatin, worship,
etc.)
jisei ('parting-with-life verse')
jiyu/tzu-yu (self-reliance)
jizai/tzu-tsai (self being)
jodo/ch'ang-tao ("always-so-ness")
Joju (the administrative quarters of a monastery; such as offices, kitchen,
etc.)
Joju fugin (chanting scriptures in the administrative quarters)
Josaku (a day or period of relaxation from monastery routine)
juan ho ho ti (softness)
 
K

Kaichin ("Release from the samadhi meditation"; retiring at night)
Kaihan ("opening the han"; the thrice-daily announcement of time)
Kaijo ("opening the samadhi meditation"; arising in the morning)
Kaiko (an opening discourse by the master)
Kaisan-ki (memorial day for the founder of the monastery)
Kaisei (end of training term)
Kaiyoku ("opening the bath"; bathing)
kake mono (scroll) kami nagara no michi (to leave things to the will of the
gods; non interference with natural affairs)
kan-mi (the 'taste' of sabi)
Kansho (a summon from the master)
kara (a small kesa)
karma (
karuna/hi/pei (love for sentient beings)
Kashaku ("hanging up the priest's staff")
Katan (participation in a large general Zen meeting)
kaya (bodily existence)
Kayu (soft cooked rice)
Keisaku (the staff or stick used to administer discipline during meditation)
kendo (the art of swordsmanship)
Kensho ("seeing one's nature"; another term for satori)
Kentan ("inspecting the platform"; the master's visit to the meditation hall)
kesa/kasaya (a garment worn by a Zen monk around the neck, covering the chest)
ki (see ch'i)
Kiin (returning to the monastery)
ki-in/ch'i-yun (spiritual rhythm)
Kikan (the master's address of encouragement)
Kiku (rules for daily routine)
Kinhin ("sutra-going"; the practice of meditation while walking in the
meditation hall)
Kitan ryshaku (end of term examination)
klesa/bonno (affect)
ko/heng (success)
koan (
Koe (seasonal change of robes)
Koju-sai (reception day for lay followers)
kokoro/hsin (the mind or heart)
kokoro tomeru
kokoro tomuna (not to have the mind 'stopped')
kokoro wo tomeru (drifting or shifting from one thing to another; the attention
being taken by an object, transferred to it and staying there)
Kokuho (informal encouragement)
kono-mama (suchness)
Konsho (striking the evening bell)
Kotai (exchange or rotation of duties)
ksanti (meakness of spirit)
ku/k'ung (emptiness)
kufu (a device, or means, usually used for aiding satori)
kufu/kung-fu (escape from dilemma)
kyo/hsu (the emptiness in which infinite possibilities exist)
kyogai/ching-chieh/ching-ai (the field of conscious thought)
Kyoo (a treat or special meal)
Kyusoku (day of rest)
 
L

Li/rei (propriety)
Li/ri (furthering)
Li/ri (reason)
Liao-hsi/ryotari (blown adrift
 
M

Manjusri [name] (Monju Bosatsu)
meijin (genius)
misai no ichinen (subtle trace of thought)
Miso (bean paste)
Mogusa (the plant 'yomogi' used in moxabustion)
mondo/wen-ta (questions and answers; discussion)
Monju Bosatsu [name] (Manjusri)
moshin (delusive mind)
mu/wu (nothing, negation)
muga (no ego)
mujushin-ken (sword of no abiding mind)
Mumonkan (a collection of forty-eight koan compiled in China in the thirteenth
century)
Mumyo (abiding state of ignorance)
mushin (no-mind-ness)
mushin no shin (no mind's mind)
Musho-bonin (recognising the reality which is not subject to birth and death;
supreme enlightenment)
muso (no thought)
myo/miao (wonder)
myoyu/miao-yung (something mysterious arising from the inner being, without
intellect)
 
N

naniyara yukashi (moved, without knowing why, by something aesthetic)
Nikki (diary or journal)
Nisshitsu (entering the master's room)
Nitten soji (daily cleaning)
Niwa-zume ("occupying the courtyard")
Niya sannichi (two nights and three days)
nyunan-shin (soft heartedness)
 
O

Obon (a mid-August festival celebrating the return of ancestral spirits)
omou (to think of or long for)
omowanu (to keep the mind empty)
O-shikunichi (twice monthly day of rest; the fourteenth day and the last day of
the month)
osho (master)
 
R

Rohatsu ("the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month" a week of training
beginning on the 1st December and finishing on the 8th December, commemorating
the Buddha's enlightenment day on the latter of these dates) Roshi (Old scholar
or old teacher; a Zen master)
 
S

Saba (left over rice)
Sabi (loneliness)
Saiza (lunch)
Samu (working in the garden)
Sando (proceeding to the hall)
Sanno (attendant; attending to the master)
Sanzen (going to a Zen master to receive instruction, usually by the use of a
koan)
Sarei (daily tea ceremony)
Satori/Wu (enlightenment)
Segaki (feeding the hungry spirits [gaki])
Sembutsu-jo (the 'Buddha-selecting place', another name for the Zendo or
meditation hall)
Sesshin (a twice yearly week of intensive meditation and special lectures)
'gathering one's thoughts?'
Shijo (meditation in complete quietness) 'gathering one's thoughts?'
Shika (the head monk or chief administrator of a Zen monastery)
Shikaryo (the quarters of the head monk or administrator)
Shikunichi (days in the month containing the digits four or nine)
Shisho (a teacher or master of scholarship, religion or art; the spiritual
father of a student or disciple)
Shitaku (preparation)
Shogatsu shitaku (preparations for the new year)
Shokei (a brief rest whilst out begging)
Shoken ("mutual seeing"; the first interview between a novice and master)
shugendo (an eclectic religion consisting of Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism and
shamanism, its priests known as yamabushi [priests who lie down in the
mountains])
Shujo : see Chu-chang (staff)
Shukushin (going to service at the Buddha hall of the head temple on the first
and fifteenth day of each month)
Shukuza (breakfast)
Shumai ("gathering rice")
Shussai (serving special Zen dishes to lay followers)
Shutto (to put in an appearance [usually at a ceremony])
Shuya (fire watching)
Sodo ("priest or monk hall"; a Zen monastery)
Soji (house cleaning)
Sosan (general consultation with a Zen master; a form of sanzen)
Sozarei ("general tea ceremony")
 
T

Ta Hsueh : see Daigaku (great learning)
Takuhatsu ("carrying the bowl"; the practice of begging carried out by monks)
Tan ("platform"; seat)
Tana-gyo (honouring family ancestors)
Tanga (staying overnight as a guest)
Tanga-ryo (a room set aside for overnight lodging, used by pilgrims or novices
who desire to enter the monastery)
Tanga-zume ("occupying the overnight room")
Teihatsu (shaving the head)
Teisho (discourse or commentary by a Zen master)
Tenjin (visiting a lay follower's home)
Tenzo (kitchen)
Toya (a party on the night of the winter solstice)
Tsukemono (pickled Japanese vegetables)
 
W

Wabi (solitariness; transcendentiality)
wu (see mu) (nothing, negation)
wu chi (limitless)
Wu-hua (becoming, being)
Wu-ming (abiding state of ignorance)
 
Y

yamabushi (priests who lie down in the mountains) (see shugendo)
Yawaragai (gentleness of spirit)
Yaza (individual seated meditation by night)
 
Z

Zanka (returning to one's home temple, monastery or school)
Zazen (seated meditation)
Zendo ("meditation hall"; building in which monks live and practice zazen; zen
monastery or school)
Zen-shu (a Buddhist Zen sect)
Zuii-za ("sitting as one pleases"; release from daily routine)