• INCENSE BOARD: (Chinese: hsiang-pan; Japanese: kyosaku) a long, flat board used in the meditation hall to hit dozing practitioners or to help provide the final impetus to realization for those who are "ripe." Not to be confused with "INCENSE STICK."
• INCENSE STICK: one sitting period; the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn down, approximately thirty minutes. Not to be confused with "INCENSE BOARD."
• KARMA: Basically, the law of cause and effect, to which all sentient beings, indeed, all things, are subject. Also, the cumulative causal situation affecting one's destiny as a result of past acts, thoughts, emotions.

• KARMIC AFFINITY: A bond or connection between people due to a relationship (either good or bad) formed in a previous life. Frequently such an affinity is discussed in terms of "causes and conditions." Cause focuses on the specific karmic disposition of the individual; conditions refer to the nexus of causes that make up his situation.
• KARMIC OBSTRUCTIONS: Hindrances to one's practice or life arising specifically as a result of deeds performed in this life or in past lives.
• KSITIGARBHARAJA: (Chinese: Ti-tsang, "earth store") bodhisattva known for his great vows to liberate all sentient beings, even descending into the hell realm in order to lead the beings there out of suffering.
• KUAN-YIN: (Sanskrit: Avalokitesvara, "the lord who looks down") literally, "he/she who observes the sounds, " the Great Bodhisattva of compassion who hears and responds to the cries of all living beings. Avalokitesvara can be both male and female, but in China is usually depicted in the female form of Kuan-Yin.
• KUNG-AN: (Japanese: koan) literally, a "public case, "as in a law case. Ch'an method of meditation in which the practitioner energetically and singlemindedly pursues the answer to an enigmatic question posed by his master, or which arises spontaneously. The question can only be answered by abandoning logic and reasoning, and by intuitively resolving the "doubt sensation" that gave rise to the question. Famous kung-an encounters were recorded and used by masters to test their disciples' understanding, or to arouse in them the enlightenment experience. The term "kung-an" is often used interchangeably with "hua-t'ou." See "HUA-T'OU."

• LOTUS SUTRA: (Sanskrit: Saddharmapundarika sutra, "the Sutra of the Lotus of the True Dharma") One of the earliest and most influential scriptures in the Mahayana, translated six times into Chinese between 255-601 A.D, the Lotus Sutra describes the bodhisattva ideal, and holds that the perfect vehicle to ultimate liberation is the Great Vehicle, the Mahayana. See "ARHAT" "BODDHISATTVA, " "HINAYANA, " "MAHAYANA."

• MILAREPA: great eleventh-century Tibetan Buddhist yogi, poet, and saint, noted for his poems, collected as "The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa." To eradicate Milarepa's bad karma, his guru, Marpa, ordered him repeatedly to build a house single-handedly, and then tear it down again and again.

• PLATFORM SUTRA OF THE SIXTH PATRIARCH: a scripture attributed to the seventh-century Ch'an master, Hui-Neng. Hui-Neng was the sixth patriarch in the Ch'an school, and perhaps the most famous of Chinese patriarchs.
• PURE LAND: (Sanskrit: Sukhavati) the land of Supreme Bliss, or the Western Paradise of Amitabha Buddha. It is a pure realm perfected by the power of Amitabha Buddha's vow to save living beings. Through Amitabha's grace, any person who sincerely invokes his name and expresses the wish to be born there will be reborn in the Pure Land. See "AMITABHA BUDDHA."
• SAKYAMUNI: the historical Buddha who lived in northern India during the sixth century, B.C. Son of a provincial king, he renounced the royal life, practiced austerities in the forest for six years, and finally attained Supreme Enlightenment. The rest of his life was spent wandering and teaching, thereby laying the foundations of Buddhism.
• SAMADHI: Like dhyana, samadhi also refers to states of meditative absorption, but is a broader and more generic term than dhyana. Although numerous specific samadhis are mentioned in Buddhist scriptures, the term "samadhi" itself is flexible and not as specific as dhyana. In this book it refers to the state of "one mind, " or expanded sense of self ─ a unity of mind and body, self and environment.
• SANSKRIT: The classic Indian literary language in which the major Mahayana Buddhist scriptures are written.
• SHIH-FU: (Chinese "teacher-father") A term of respect used by a disciple when referring to or addressing his master.
• SRAMANERA: novice Buddhist monk.
• SRAMANERIKA: novice Buddhist nun.
• SUTRAS: generally, scriptures. Specifically, the recorded teachings of the Buddha. The distinctive mark of a Buddhist sutra is the opening line, "Thus have I heard." This indicates that what follows are the direct teachings of Buddha, as remembered and recorded by his disciples.

• TAN-T'IEN: Watching the tan-t'ien is a method of meditation in which one fixes one's attention on an imaginary point three finger-widths below the navel. This method has a stabilizing and centering effect, and can lead to the state of "one mind."
• THREE JEWELS: collective term referring to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Buddha refers to the historical founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni. Dharma is the truth realized by the Buddha, transmitted in the scriptures, and through a lineage of enlightened masters. Sangha is the Buddhist community, originally Sakyamuni Buddha's immediate disciples. In a limited sense it consists of Buddhist monks, nuns, and disciples; in a broader sense it includes all persons connected through belief in and practice of Buddhism. "Taking refuge" in the Three Jewels confirms one as a Buddhist practitioner. Faith in the Three Jewels is the recognition that Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are all contained within all sentient beings.