One of the functions of the Abhidharma is definition. Definition is important because, to successfully communicate about a rather technical subject, we must know precisely what our terms mean. Thus I would like to look at a number of terms used frequently and popularly in speaking about Buddhist thought.

The Abhidharma is supposed to deal with four ultimate realities--consciousness (chitta), mental states (chetasika), matter (rupa), and nirvana. Matter shares with consciousness and mental states the character of being a conditioned reality, whereas nirvana is an unconditioned reality. In considering the three conditioned realities, we can simultaneously treat the five aggregates of psycho-physical existence.

The topic of my Dharma talk today is Buddhist cosmology, a term which does not occur in everyday conversation. What then, is cosmology? The dictionary defines it as a branch of philosophy dealing with the origin, processes and structure of the universe.

The topic of this panel is "Biotechnology: Boon or Bane for Spiritual Development." It has very often been said that we are on the threshold of the biotech century, and I am sure that all of you are very clearly aware that genetic engineering is going to totally reshape life on this planet in many ways: economically, politically, scientifically--particularly in terms of medicine, and also environmentally.

Since the German philosopher Schleiermacher (1768～1834) Western philosophy has adopted a distinction between problems of “interpretation” and problems of “hermeneutics”.  “Interpretation” is the application of rules to an object (for example, a text) in order to distinguish wrong from correct interpretations.

The introduction of the Avatamsaka-sutra into Chinaprovided the scriptural basis for one of the most influentialphilosophies in Chinese (and Japanese) Buddhism, developed byTu-shun, Chih-yen, Fa-tsang, Cheng-kuan, and Tsung-mi, duringthe T'ang dynasty.

　IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT, after the Buddha, the single most important figure in the entire Buddhist tradition was a monk named Acharya Nagarjuna, sometimes called the Second. Buddha.

The purpose of meditation is to gain realizations leading to the cessation of delusion and superstition. This cessation depends, first of all, on recognizing the character or function of the deluded mind. In addition, it is necessary to understand the various factors causing such a deluded mind to arise.

Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, the senior tutor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, was the 97th holder of the Ganden throne and thus head of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was ordained by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, to whom his predecessor had also been tutor. This teaching was given at Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre on November 14, 1979. Edited by Nicholas Ribush from an oral translation by Lama Gelek Rinpoche.

The Buddha taught so that beings would be happy and satisfied. Having attained the ultimate happiness of enlightenment himself, out of love and compassion for each sentient being he wanted to share his experience with them all. But he could not transplant his realizations into the minds of others, remove their suffering by hand or wash away their ignorance with water-he could only teach them to develop their minds for themselves, as he had done. Thus he showed the path to enlightenment.