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Amitabha Sutra Frontispiece
The frontispiece in gold and silver of the Amitabha sutra showing a scene in paradise. Goryeo Dynasty, Korea, 1341 CE. (The British Museum, London)

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Portion of a Japanese Buddhist Sutra
This is a portion of the "Bussetsu zoho ketsugi kyo," which was a sutra copied by hand in ink on paper in 12th-century CE Japan. (Tokyo National Museum)

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Illuminated Sutra from Jingoji Temple
This illuminated sutra is from Jingoji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, and it dates to 1179 CE, which corresponds to Japan's Heian period. It is made of gold and silver on indigo paper. (Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford...

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Sutra Case from Heian Period Japan
This sutra case was excavated at Hatogamine in Kyoto, Japan. It is made of gilt bronze and dates to the 1116 CE, which was during the Heian period in Japanese history. (Tokyo National Museum)

Definition
Saichō
Saichō, also known as Dengyo Daishi (767-822 CE), was a monk and scholar who founded the Buddhist Tendai Sect in Japan. Based on the teachings of the Chinese Tiantai Sect, Saichō's simplified and inclusive version of Buddhism grew in popularity...

Definition
Esoteric Buddhism
Esoteric Buddhism is the mystical interpretation and practice of the belief system founded by the Buddha (known as Sakyamuni Buddha, l. c. 563 - c. 483 BCE). It is known by several names and is characterized by a personal relationship with...

Definition
Dhammapada
Tipitaka (Sansktrit: Tripitaka), the Buddhist canon, consists of three pitaka (Tri means three and Pitaka refers to boxes), namely Vinaya or Monastic regimen, Sutta (Sanskrit: Sutra) or Discourses and Abhidhamma (Sanskrit: Abhidharma) or...

Definition
Jainism
Jainism is one of the oldest religions in the world. The name comes from jiva (soul or life force but, capitalized, is also given as Spiritual Conqueror) as it maintains that all living things possess an immortal soul which has always and...

Definition
Charvaka
Charvaka (also given as Carvaka) was a philosophical school of thought, developed in India c. 600 BCE, stressing materialism as the means by which one understands and lives in the world. Materialism holds that perceivable matter is all that...

Definition
Enryakuji
The Enryakuji is a Buddhist monastic complex on the sacred Mt. Hiei, near Kyoto, Japan. The site was selected by the monk Saicho to become the headquarters of the Tendai sect, which he founded in Japan in the early 9th century CE. Enryakuji...