Glossary - individual

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student (gakunin 學人)

A "person" (nin人) who "studies" or "practices" (gaku 學). Also translated herein as "trainee." In modern Japanese, the word gaku means "knowledge" or "learning," and the intellectual "study" that is necessary to acquire it. In pre-modern Buddhist texts written in classical Chinese, however, gaku refers to all three of the basic modes of training, which were summarized as (1) keeping moral precepts, (2) calming the mind through meditation, and (3) cultivating wisdom by reading sutras and commentaries.