Note to the Text
One of the challenges any reader encounters with a book dealing with more than one Buddhist tradition such as this one is the large number of technical terms. However, a basic understanding of these words is critical for the reader to understand these traditions. Throughout this book, Sanskrit and Chinese words are marked in italics, except for names, sources, and places. Both Chinese characters and pinyin are used, and where together, the Chinese follows directly the pinyin with no intervening punctuation. Although Indic and Chinese languages and dialects make no distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters, I use capitals to indicate proper nouns (Mahāyāna, Yogācāra, Faxiang, Huayan). Acknowledging the importance of sound and pronunciation in Sanskrit, I have given all Sanskrit terms in diacritics, including those that have been anglicized in form or have come into English usage (saṃsāra, nirvāṇa, sūtra, śāstra, etc.); only the adjectives that are not themselves Sanskrit terms appear without italics and with no diacritics (such as karmic or samsaric). The plural form of non-English words is used as in English; however, the plural ending is not italicized (e.g., śrāvakas). Anglicized terms such as “dharma,” “karma,” and “bodhisattva” appear in italics for the sake of consistency in the text, except where they are used in the sense of a proper noun (“the wheel of Dharma”). Some words are formatted according to their context, so for instance Faxiang or Weishi as Buddhist schools of thought, but faxiang and weishi as doctrinal paradigms. The titles of Sanskrit and Chinese primary sources are given in italics with anglicized or translated forms in roman, though an exception is made for Awakening of Faith, since it is extensively dealt with. All quotations that appear from non-English sources are my own translation unless otherwise stated and follow the same formatting style set out in this note.