vihara

American  

[vi-hahr-uh] / vɪˈhɑr ə /

noun

1. a meeting place of Buddhist monks.

2. a Buddhist monastery.

3. Also called Brahma Vihara. (initial capital letter) one of the four states of mind, namely love, compassion, sympathetic gladness, and equanimity, to be developed by every Buddhist.

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Etymology

Origin of vihara

First recorded in 1875–80, vihara is from the Sanskrit word vihāra

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vihara

South of the city seven le there is a vihara, called the Maha-vihara, where 3000 monks reside.

From A Record of Buddhistic kingdoms: being an account by the Chinese monk Fa-hsien of travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist books of discipline by Faxian

In the chief hall of the vihara was a life-sized statue of Bhavani, the feminine aspect of Shiva.

From From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan by H. P. (Helena Petrovna) Blavatsky

On that night the Brahmans themselves kept watch, when they saw the deva spirits which they served take the lamps and go three times round the vihara of Buddha and present offerings.

From A Record of Buddhistic kingdoms: being an account by the Chinese monk Fa-hsien of travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist books of discipline by Faxian

I sprang up: a tremendous roar deafened me, filling the vihara, wakening the slumbering echoes, and resounding, like the softened rumbling of thunder, over all the borders of the precipice.

From From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan by H. P. (Helena Petrovna) Blavatsky

In the city there has been reared also the vihara of Buddha's tooth, on which, as well as on the other, the seven precious substances have been employed.

From A Record of Buddhistic kingdoms: being an account by the Chinese monk Fa-hsien of travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist books of discipline by Faxian