Historical Dictionary of Buddhism by Carl Olson

Author:Carl Olson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Published: 2009-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

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MACHIG LAPGI DRÖNMA (1055–1145). A Tibetan female saint and practitioner of tantra. She was an expert in the chöd method in which a person visualizes a demon dismembering one’s body with the purpose of becoming detached from one’s body. It was believed that Machig was originally a male, who fled from India to Tibet to avoid hostile Brahmins. He transformed himself into a female by projecting his consciousness into the body of a living female.

MĀDHYAMIKA. An influential Mahāyāna school of thought founded by Nãgãrjuna (second century CE) and based on his text Fundamentals of the Middle Way (Mūlamadhyamaka-kãrikã). Nãgãrjuna envisioned his philosophy as a middle path between two extremes: externalism (is) and nihilism (is not). This position entails that nothing in the world exists absolutely and nothing perishes completely because the middle is transcendental and thus beyond language and concepts, which implies that no philosophical position is ultimate. The path envisioned by Nãgãrjuna does not lead to a definite goal, but it does lead to the end of all theorizing, which he grasps as the perfection of wisdom (prajñãpāparamitā).

By means of his negative dialectic, Nãgãrjuna attacks the existence of all dharmas (things), concepts, or theories devised by Abhidharma scholars because they lack any self-nature (svabhāva), which means that it is impossible to predicate existence or non-existence to them. Because everything is subject to causation and lacks self-nature, everything is empty (śūnyatā). The school was promoted by Āryadeva, a disciple of its founder, before it split later into two branches: Svātantrika led by Bhāvaviveka (ca. 490–570) and Prāsaṅgika promoted by Candrakīrti (ca. 650). The two branches disagreed respectively about the use of a positive or a negative dialectic. The school had a widespread influence in Tibet, in China in the form of the San-lun school, and in Japan with its Sanron school.

MAGADHA. During the lifetime of Siddhārtha (Buddha), it was a major kingdom south of the Ganges River ruled by King Bimbisāra before dying from maltreatment by his son and successor, Ajātaśatru. Father and son were both followers of Buddhism and gave support to the new religion. After the death of the Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held at the capital of Rājagṛha and later the third council was held at its new capital of Pāṭaliputra during the reign of King Aśoka.

MAHĀBODHI SOCIETY. The Buddhist society founded by Anagārika Dharmapala (1864–1933) in 1891 with the purpose of revitalizing the religion. He was motivated initially to restore Bodhgayā, which was the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment, to Buddhist control. The society spread internationally with its first office in England opening in 1925. Before this event, the society gained wider public attention when its founder attended the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1891. Branches of the society around the world today reach people through their publications.

MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA. Sanskrit name for the Pãli monk Mahāmoggallāna, who was a senior disciple and life-long friend of the Buddha. After achieving enlightenment rather swiftly, he became famous for his miraculous powers by changing his own form and conjuring various living shapes.

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