Advaita Vedanta (Sanskrit; Advaita, “monism” Vedanta, literally, “end of the Vedas”): in Hinduism, a school of Vedanta philosophy that believes in the oneness of God, soul, and universe.
Amitabha: in Mahayana Buddhism, a Buddha who vowed to create a pure land, to be glorified as the Buddha of Boundless Light, and to save all having faith in his vows.
ananda (Sanskrit, “bliss”): bliss or pure joy; in Hinduism, an important attribute of the supreme being Brahman, and therefore also the highest state of the individual self; unconditioned union of the self with the Godhead.
anapanasati: in Buddhism and yoga, a technique for developing the ability to meditate, to free the mind from every other thought except the awareness of breathing in and out; when this concentration has been achieved, one is ready to move on to higher forms of meditation.
anatma (n) (Sanskrit), anatta (Pali): in Buddhism, the doctrine of non-ego, the denial of a permanent, unchanging self.
anatta: See anatma(n).
anicca (Pali); in Theravada Buddhism, impermanence or change; with anatta (no-self) and dulclcha (suffering) it is one of the “Three Signs of Being.”
arhat: one who has reached the end of the fourfold way and attained nirvana.
atman (Sanskrit), atta (Pali): in Hinduism, “breath,” self, soul, universal self, Supreme Spirit; the innermost essence of each individual that is eternal and of the same nature as the supreme universal soul. Buddha taught the opposing doctrine of anatman (Pali, anatta), in which he showed that humans possessed no permanent element, nor anything comparable to the unchanging, immortal “soul” of Christianity.
avidya: in Buddhism, ignorance or non-awareness.
Bardo Thödöl: The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
bardo: in Tibetan Buddhism, the period following death and before rebirth.
bhakti (Sanskrit): in Hinduism, religious devotion, love directed toward a personal deity.
bhikkhu (Pali), bhikshu (Sanskrit): a Buddhist monk, mendicant holy man, or priest.
Bodhgaya: the place in northeast India (near Gaya in Bihar State) where the Buddha received enlightenment as he sat meditating under a bo (or bodhi, actually a pipal) tree.
bodhi (Sanskrit, Pali): perfect wisdom or enlightenment; the full perception of transcendental wisdom.
bodhicitta: in all sects of Buddhism, the thought of enlightenment, human consciousness, the Buddha-mind, the Buddha-nature, the mind of an Enlightened Being, or enlightened-mindedness.
bodhisattva: in Mahayana Buddhism, one who, having attained enlightenment (bodhi), is on the way to Buddhahood but postpones this goal to keep a vow to help all life attain salvation.
brahman (Sanskrit): in Madhyamika Buddhism, the absolute; in Hinduism, the supreme being, reality, and principle oflife.
brahmanishtas: in Hinduism, devotees.
chorten (Tibetan): a cenotaph in memory of Buddha or a canonized saint.
citta (Pali): in Buddhism, mind, pure consciousness.
dharma (Sanskrit), dhamma (Pali): in both Hinduism and Buddhism, variously according to context, the way, the law, righteousness, reality; the path that one should follow in accordance with one’s nature and station in life.
dharmakaya (Sanskrit): the cosmic body of the Buddha, the essence of all beings.
dhyana (Sanskrit), jhana (Pali): in both Buddhism and Hinduism, concentrated contemplation, a state of mind achieved through higher meditation. Ch’an, the Chinese form of dhyana, forms the basis for the Japanese term “Zen.”
dukkha (Pali): in the Abhidharma and other schools of Buddhism, suffering or pain.
dzogchen (Tibetan, “great perfection”): the simplest and most beneficial way to rediscover instantly for oneself the transcendental awareness that is within, whose all-inclusive qualities are either presently active or lying latent in human beings, thus dissolving in the process all discrimination such as ignorance and awareness.
Five Precepts: in Buddhism, not to kill, to steal, to do sexual wrong, to lie, or to use intoxicants or drugs.
Gelugpa: the “Yellow Hats,” one of the four principal sects of Tibetan Buddhism and the one to which the Dalai Lama belongs. It was founded in the late fourteenth century by Tsongkapa, one of the greatest Buddhist scholars of the period.
geshe: in Tibetan Buddhism, a title of respect for a learned lama, roughly equivalent to the Western Doctor of Divinity.
gompa (Tibetan, literally, “a solitary place”): in Tibet and the neighboring Himalayan regions, a Buddhist monastery.
Hesychast (from the Greek, “hermit”): one of a sect of Eastern Christian mystics that originated among the monks of Mt. Athos in the fourteenth century.
Hinayana: See Theravada.
japa (Sanskrit): the repetition of a holy word as a form of prayer or devotion.
jnana (Sanskrit): in Hinduism, transcendent knowledge through which the believer is aware of identity with Brahman, the supreme being.
jnanasattva (Sanskrit;jnana, “knowledge” sattva, “state of being”): in Tibetan Buddhism, ideal being, the projection of God into a regenerated being who has offered to God all honor and worship.
Kagyudpa: one of the four principal schools of Tibetan Buddhism, renowned for its emphasis on meditation. Sometimes called “The School of Successive Order, it was founded in the eleventh century by Marpa and Milarepa.
karma (Sanskrit), kamma (Pali): literally “action” the law of cause and effect.
karuna: in Mahayana Buddhism, compassion, a trait of bodhisattvas.
koan: in Zen Buddhism, a problem that cannot be solved by the intellect alone.
lama: title applied in the Tibetan world to any spiritual figure of unusual eminence, notably to those dynasties of abbots (such as the Dalai Lama) through which a recognized spiritual influence has perpetuated itself by successive incarnations.
Madhyamika: the “Middle Path” school of Buddhism, based largely in the teachings of Nagarjuna, who probably lived in the second or third century A.D. Its doctrine draws heavily on the Prajnaparamita Sutras, and it was the forerunner of the more extensive Mahayana school of Buddhism.
Mahayana: (Sanskrit; mahat, “great” yana, “vehicle”): also called the Great Vehicle, a branch of Buddhism made up of various syncretistic sects that are found chiefly in Tibet, Nepal, China, and Japan, have scriptures based on a Sanskrit canon, believe in a god or gods, and usually teach the bodhisattva ideal of compassion and universal salvation.
mandala (Sanskrit): in both Buddhism and Hinduism, a diagrammatic picture used as an aid in meditation or ritual.
maya (Sanskrit): an extra-physical wonder-working power in the Vedas; the illusion-creating power of a god or demon; or the powerful force that creates the cosmic illusion that the phenomenal world is real.
Middle Path, or Middle Way: Buddhism’s description of the path lying between all extremes, as, for instance, between asceticism and self-indulgence; advocated by the Buddha as the proper path for many to follow.
mudra (Sanskrit, “seal,” “token”): a mystic or symbolic gesture of the hand and fingers.
nirvana (Sanskrit), nibbana (Pali): the attainment of final enlightenment; freedom from rebirth; the ultimate stage of realization according to the teachings of Buddha.
nivritti (Sanskrit): the negation or control of passion, as opposed to pravritti (passion).
Nyingmapa: the “Red Hats,” the oldest of the four principal schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It traces its origins to Padma Sambhava, who came to Tibet in the eighth century, translated many Tantric works into Tibetan, and founded the first monastery.
prajna (Sanskrit): in Buddhism, supreme knowledge or wisdom; spiritual awakening; wisdom that brings liberation.
Prajnaparamita Sutras (Sanskrit): in Buddhism, one of the most important early texts of the Mahayana and Madhyamika philosophies. The core of the sutras, which describes the emptiness of all form, is called the Prajnaparamita Hridaya, and is recited daily in thousands of monasteries in Asia.
prakriti (Sanskri
t): in Hinduism and Buddhism, primitive matter, the primordial ground of phenomena, the ultimate material cause of the universe, world substance.
puja (Sanskrit): in Hinduism, worship of or devotional service to a deity, usually at a shrine; worship may range from simple prayers and lighting incense to more elaborate rituals with a priest.
purusha (Sanskrit, “human”): in Hinduism and Buddhism, consciousness, as opposed to prakriti (matter).
rajas (Sanskrit): in Hinduism and Buddhism, the principle of activity or restlessness; passion.
rinpoche (Tibetan, “the precious one”): in Tibetan Buddhism, the deferential title given to the religious elite, spiritual masters, and ecclesiastical dignitaries.
roshi (Japanese): in Rinzai Zen Buddhism, one who has finished his entire training with a teacher and is considered qualified to be a teacher in turn. Of the many men who spend some years in Zen monasteries, only a few actually receive permission to teach by the koan method.
sadhaka (Sanskrit): in Hinduism, an aspirant dedicated to the practice of a spiritual discipline; a devotee.
Sakyapa: one of the four principal schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded in the eleventh century as a reform movement to correct “abuses” in the Nyingmapa school and was responsible for the conversion of Kubla Khan and Mongolia to Buddhism and for the compilation of the Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, the Kangyur and the Tangyur, in the fourteenth century.
samadhi (Sanskrit, Pali): profound meditation; in Hinduism, the final stage in yoga, in which the mind is so deeply absorbed that it loses itself; in Buddhism, the final step in the Eightfold Path, which leads to liberation and the achievement of nirvana.
samsara (Sanskrit): transmigration of the soul, metempsychosis; the ceaseless round of birth and death; the phenomenal realm of flux; the opposite of nirvana.
Sangha (Sanskrit, Pali): the Buddhist monastic order. It was founded by the historic Buddha himself and still continues in the Theravada sect.
sannyasin (Sanskrit): in Hinduism, a monk, a wandering religious mendicant, or any person who has renounced the material world and entered into the fourth and final stage of human life in the Hindu worldview.
sat (Sanskrit): in Hinduism, reality or being, absolute existence.
satipatthana (Pali): the four awakenings of mindfulness, one of the fundamental meditation practices of Theravada Buddhism, which consists of mindfulness of body, feeling, mind, and mental objects, in that order.
satori (Japanese): in Zen Buddhism, awakening, illumination, enlightenment; the state of consciousness held to be comparable to that special level of insight attained by the Buddha while seated in meditation under the sacred Tree of Enlightenment in the sixth century B.C.
sila (Sanskrit): in Buddhism, the practice of moral virtues, morality.
stupa (Sanskrit): originally a mound for relics, in particular the Buddha’s, but later developed into elaborate architectural forms.
sunya, sunyata (Sanskrit): in certain schools of Buddhism, particularly Madhyamika and Zen, emptiness, the Void; the nature of reality; enlightenment of the nature of essencelessness.
sutra (Sanskrit), sutta (Pali): Buddhist scripture, a discourse by the Buddha or a disciple that is accepted as authoritative teaching.
tamas (Sanskrit): in Hinduism, ignorance, indifference, or inertia.
tanka: in the art of Tibet, a religious painting executed on silk or brocade; it is used as an aid to meditation, for the invocation of deities, or carried in processions.
Theravada (Pali, “a doctrine or teaching of the elders”): the Southern school of Buddhism, now dominant in Burma, Thailand, and Ceylon. Earlier than the Mahayana (“Greater Vehicle”), it is often called Hinayana (“Lesser Vehicle”). Based solely on the Pali canon of scriptures, it is nontheistic and dominantly monastic.
tulku (Tibetan, “living Buddha”): in Tibetan Buddhism, a person recognized as the reincarnation of one who had advanced far on the path to enlightenment in an earlier incarnation. After being recognized, usually at a young age, a tulku is brought to the monastery of his previous incarnation and thoroughly trained to assume its leadership upon his maturity.
Vajrayana (Sanskrit, “thunderbolt” or “adamantine,” “invincible”): the Tantric school of Tibetan Buddhism.
vinaya (Sanskrit, Pali): discipline; the rule or code that governs the life and training of the Sangha, the Buddhist monastic orders. The Vinaya Pitaka is one of the most important works in the Pali canon of Abhidarmika Buddhism.
vipassana (Pali): in Theravada Buddhism, the meditation that brings insight; the step of realization that follows samatha, the meditation that brings tranquillity.
wat (Thai, “temple” from the Sanskrit vata, “enclosed space”): a Buddhist temple or monastery in Thailand.
Zen (Japanese): a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism that teaches self-discipline, deep meditation, and the attainment of enlightenment by direct intuitive insight into a self-validating transcendent truth beyond all intellectual conceptions and usually expresses its teaching in paradoxical and non-logical forms.
Searchable Terms
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Abdesalam, Sidi, 112
Aberle, Kathleen,
Abeyta, G., 178
Aelred (Hallier), 163
Aesthetic experience versus religious, 305
Agnes, Mother, Abbess of Poor Clares, 21
Agudelo, William, 144
Air travel, nine rules, 197–98
Alaska, xiii, xvi, 157, 165, 182–98; Anchorage, 183, 187, 188, 190, 194–95; Archbishop Ryan of, 152, 153, 161, 187, 193, 194, 195, 197, 199; Convent of the Precious Blood, Eagle River, 182, 186, 194, 195, 197; Cordova, 188; 189, 192; Dillingham, 183, 196, 197, 199; en route, 179–82, 186; Juneau, 191, 192, 193, 195; Merton’s possible move there, 153, 154, 158, 160, 193, 195, 252, 282, 293; mosaic by Merton on, 183–85; Valdez, 183, 189–90, 192; Yakutat, 191, 192
Alban, Bro., 133, 153
Allchin, Donald, 57, 77, 252
Allport, Gordon, 46
Altizer, Thomas J. J., 72, 72n.
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), 12
Amin, Vatsala, 221–22, 223
Among Women (Pavese), 155
Anastasius, Fr., 25, 28–29, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37–38, 40, 62, 144
Anathemata (Jones), 41
Angela, Mother, of Savannah Cannel, 123
Anita, Sr., Carmelite nun, 123
Antiwar movement, 5, 12–13, 22, 47, 52, 56, 58, 62, 65, 109, 110, 112, 124, 150, 155
Antoniutti, Cardinal, 31, 36, 69
Aron, Raymond, 271, 271n.
Art and the artist, 27, 230
Ascension (Coltrane), 48
Asian Abbots meeting. See Bangkok
Asian journey: en route, 205–9; invitation and preparation, xiv–xv, xvi, 35, 55, 65, 66, 86, 100, 129, 133, 134, 141, 143, 145, 146, 149, 154, 159; significance for Merton, 281–82–323–24. See also Bangkok, Ceylon; India; Indonesia; Singapore
Asphodel Bookshop, 125, 134
Astavakra Gita, 82, 91, 91n., 93, 94, 98, 100, 103, 104
Atkins, Fr. Anselm, 31, 134
At Sundry Times (Zaehner), 164
Attack upon Christendom (Kierkegaard), 136, 138
Augustine, Dom (of Conyers), 24, 32, 38, 41
Auto-da-Fé (Canetti), 309
Autumn, 176
Auwas, Chairil, 163
Baez, Joan, 7
Baha’i faith, 225, 225n.
Baker, James, 57, 129
Baldwin, Fr., 24–25, 26, 28, 32, 35, 38, 41, 125
Bamberger, Fr. Eudes, 25, 26, 46, 124, 161, 298
Bane, Sr. Elaine, 20, 20n., 21, 22
Bangkok, Thailand, xvi, 210–14; Asian Abbots meeting, xiv, xvii, xviii, 132, 149, 166, 268, 298, 325, 326, 327–28; death of Merton, xvii–xix; en route from America, 205–10; en route from Ceylon, 328–29;
Oriental Hotel, xvii, 328; Phra Pathom Chedi, 213–14; preparation and anticipation, 35, 55. 65, 66, 86, 129; Red Cross headquarters, xvii–xviii, 327; Temple of the Emerald Buddha, 326–27; Wat Bovoranives, 210, 210n., 211, 215
Bardo, 172n., 175, 179
Bardo Thodol (Evans-Wentz), 172n., 179, 179n., 180
Barnard, Roger, 5
The Other Side of the Mountain Page 40