| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Ascetic | A person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion. |
| Atman | The individual soul or essence. |
| Autonomy | immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority: political independence |
| Cairn | a mound of stones piled up as a memorial or to mark a boundary or path |
| Holy Cow video | "Cattle reflect the values of the societies ..." |
| Central Asia | 150M; 80% humid cold |
| Chinese middle class | From "Gilded Age, Gilded Cage" article, Zhou Jiaying's family is part of it |
| Chuba | Long sheepskin coat made of thick Tibetan wool |
| Confucianism | the teachings of Confucius emphasizing love for humanity |
| Cultural Revolution | a radical reform in China initiated by Mao Zedong in 1965 and carried out largely by the Red Guard |
| Daoism | philosophical system developed by of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu advocating a simple honest life and noninterference with the course of natural events |
| Develop The West | A program in Tibet that is being used to moderize Tibet (build roads, schools etc.). |
| Dharma | In Hinduism, it stands for law, obligation and duty. To follow it, it means to perform and live life as one should. |
| Dukkha | suffering |
| East Asia | 1.5B; 45% humid warm |
| Eightfold Path | right views, right thought, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right endeavor, right awareness, and right contemplation. seen as the "middle way" |
| Tibetans Article | "Everywhere (I went there) were the silent but dynamic signs of Buddhism" |
| Five Basic Relationships | ruler/subject; father/son; husband/wife; older brother/younger brother; friend/friend |
| Four Passing Sights | the sights that Siddartha saw when he went out of the palace-death,sickness,old age, and a monk |
| Four Noble Truths | The foundation of Buddhism: All existance is full of suffering, which is caused by human desire, but there is a way out of suffering, if one follows the middle way. |
| Gama Sera | Owner of a shiny new hotel in the burgeoning town of Jyekundo from "Tibetans" article |
| The Great Going Forth | Siddartha's renounciation of the world and taking up of the homeless life |
| Han Fei | a Chinese philosopher who, along with Li Si, developed Xun Zi's mutualism into the doctrine embodied by Legalism |
| Huadon | Man from "Tibetans" article who owns cement plant |
| Indra's Net | a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of emptiness |
| Karma | (Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation |
| Kong Fuzi | Confucius' true name |
| Lama | In Tibetan Buddhism, a teacher. |
| Laozi | Chinese philosopher who is traditionally regarded as the founder of Taoism |
| Legalism | strict conformity to the letter of the law rather than its spirit |
| Li | Chinese distance measure |
| Mantra | a commonly repeated word or phrase |
| Mara | according to the early Buddhists, the devil who tempted Buddha |
| Mattu Pongal | The third day of Pongal dedicated to cattle |
| Nandi | the bull which Siva rides and the gate keeper of Siva and Parvati in Hindu mythology |
| Nirvana | state of blissful peace without desire or suffering |
| Norbu Choden | Tibetan middle-man from "Tibetans" article |
| Om Mani Padme Hum | Buddhist Mantra that invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. |
| Patriotic Education | one of the Communist Party's most successful post-Mao political crusades |
| Prostrate | throw down flat, as on the ground |
| Samsara | (Hinduism and Buddhism) the endless cycle of birth and suffering and death and rebirth |
| Siddhartha | A person of both legend and reality. He lived from about 563 to 483 B.C. He established Buddhism, which is one of the world's major religions. He is also known as the Buddha, a title meaning "enlightened one". |
| South Asia | 1.4B; 45% humid tropical |
| Southeast Asia | 600M; 90% tropical |
| Southwest Asia | 250M; 95% dry |
| Stupa | memorial mound ettected over the ashes of buddha and important monks |
| Tanha | The second of the Four Noble Truths, selfish desire, which causes dukkha. |
| Two Pillars of Tibetan Identity | Tibetan language and tantric Buddhism |
| Warring States Period | covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC when regional warlords battled amongst eachother and there was no ruler |
| Gilded Age, Gilded Cage Article | "We are a traditional family" |
| Zhou Jiaying | Girl from "Gilded Age, Gilded Cage" article |
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