Amida Net

Site 1 Mandalas of the Three Pure Land Sutras *Jodo Mandala* Mandala-Index	Site 7 A Comprehensive Dictionary of Buddhism *Zuio Jirin* Dictionary-Index
Site 2 The Three Sutras and Works by Shinran and the Seven Masters *Dharma Treasury* Dharma-Treasury-Index	Site 8 Dharma Thunder Horai Dharma Net Horai-Index
Site 3 Illustrated Pure Land Scriptures *Sukhavati* Sukhavati-Index	Site9 Dharma Masters Bodhisattva Masters-Index
Site 4 Sayings and Poems on Pure Land Faith and Practice *Kalyanamitra* Kalyanamitra-Index	Site10 Information on Publications, Conferences, etc. Appendix & Index Appendix-Index
Site 5 Mahayana Scriptures, Hymns and Writings *Mahayana* Mahayana-Index	Site 11 Poems In classical Chinese By Zuio Hisao Inagaki *Poems* Poems-Index
Site 6 Articles and Essays by Hisao Inagaki (Zuio) *Nembutsu* Nembutsu-Index	Site 12 Dharma essays by Contemporary Shin Buddhists Essays Essays-index

nembutsu-index

　　　　　　　　　　　Zuio Jirin　瑞雄辞林

　　　A Comprehensive Dictionary of Buddhism

　　　　　　　　　　　　　By Zuio Hisao Inagaki

Foreword

(1) It has been my long-cherished desire and, I believe of all Buddhist students, to have a comprehensive, and yet practical, dictionary of Buddhism. A Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Terms., first published in 1984, was my initial attempt to realize this desire. Over the years, this handy dictionary, with some 5,000 entries packed in less than 480 pages, has served the purpose of making general Japanese Buddhist terms accessible to Western students. The demand for this disctionary has necessitated reprints in enlarged editions; the most recent (fifth) edition published in 2003 contained about 5,500 entries in nearly 550 pages.

(2) My wish to enlarge this dictionary substantially proved impractical due to the fact that the printing which used to be set manually is now electronically processed. Therefore, I had no other choice but to edit a new version using more updated methods. As it turned out, this change has given me unlimited freedom in relation to both the scope and content of this work. Many new entries drawn from various sources in India and China - not just Japan - have been added, covering the range of different schools of thought and including even non-Buddhist thoughts, such as the Vedas and Upanishads from India, Confucianism and Taoism from China, and Shinto and new religions from Japan. Apart from adding a number of entries derived from Chinese and Japanese Buddhist texts, I have ventured to explore further dimensions of Buddhist studies, both Mahayana and Hinayana, esoteric and exoteric, historical as well as doctrinal. Although the entry words are in Romanized Japanese, I have tried to give their Sanskrit and Chinese equivalents wherever possible.

(3) The total number of entries is now nearing 13,000 covering more than 1,200 pages. Single entries often cover a ｆｅｗ pages. A separate volume comprising comprehensive indeces of terms in various languages, e.g. an index of Chinese characters, arranged according to the number of strokes, will prove a useful guide for readers with varied interests.

(4) In 2009, while preparing for the final proofreading, the publisher told me that the publication of this dictiionary would have to be suspended - for some unforeseen reasons. I have looked for anothe publisher to take over the work without success. While groping about for the solution, a flash of thought occurred to me. It was to upload the bulk of files in this web. Although this no doubt entails an enormous time and labor on my side, this change will bring about a lot of benefit - unlimited chances to revise and enlarge the contents. I trust this dictionary will grow bigger as long as I live.

(5) When I began to produce this web site more than ten years ago, I thought of making some contribution to the dissemination of Buddhism throughout the world, side by side with continuing to publish translations of Buddhist texts. While keenly aware of the great advantage of internet facilities for communication purposes, I became incresingly convinced that unspecified number of visitors would be led to Buddhism through Buddhist web sites.

(6) At that time, however, it did not occur to me that a dictionary of this dimension would be successfully loaded on the web site. My immediate concern was as follows: (1) to introduce the Horai school of Shin Buddhism which my father, Zuiken, succeeded from his master, Riken Katsura and devoted himself to develop; (2) to disseminate Pure Land Buddhism, especially Shin Buddhism, by presenting translations of the Three Pure Land Sutras, works by the Seven Pure Land Masters and Shinran Shonin; (3) to study and introduce to many readers the precious mandalas of the Three Pure Land Sutras, which came into my hand through the late Mr. Harold Stewart of Australia; (4) to clarfify the Mahayana thoughts by presenting Mahayana sutras and discourses; (5) to introduce the academic activities of Shin Buddhism; (6) to make public Chinese poems which I have composed over the years; (7) to publish Buddhist essays, often in a question-and-answer form; and (8) to publish a comprehensive dictionary of Buddhism. When the new project was introduced, a few hundred entries had already been embodied in the Amida Net. Now a bulk of entries from the dictionary files will be added every day.

In compiling this web site, I owe a debt of gratitude to many Dharma friends but would like to mention two names for their special contribution: Rev. George Gatenby and Rev. John Paraskevopoulos of Australia. They have carefully checked the dictionary entries and supplied useful suggestions.

Gassho,
Zuio Hisao Inagaki
September 1, 2009
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