shōdō

(Japanese). Written with various Chinese characters, this can mean different things. (1) The abbot's quarters in a zen monastery; (2) the true or orthodox path of practice; (3) an abbreviation for the Noble Eightfold Path; (4) to ‘sing the path’, or preach the Buddha or Bodhisattva Path; (5) also meaning ‘to sing the path’, a Zen term for followers of non-Zen schools; (6) in the Pure Land schools, the ‘path of the sages’, entailing ascetic practice to attain the goals of enlightenment and liberation in this world, as opposed to the ‘path of purity’ (or the Pure Land) (Japanese, jōdo) of reliance upon the grace of Amida for liberation; (7) obstacles on the path of practice.