A ![[go up]](A%20Glossary%20of%20Pali%20and%20Buddhist%20Terms.files\scrollup.gif)
· Abhidhamma [abhidhamma]: (1) In the discourses of the Pali canon, this term simply
means "higher Dhamma," and a systematic attempt to define the
Buddha's teachings and understand their interrelationships. (2) A later
collection of analytical treatises based on lists of categories drawn from the
teachings in the discourses, added to the Canon several centuries after the
Buddha's life. [MORE]
· abhiñña [abhi~n~naa]: Intuitive powers that come from the practice of concentration:
the ability to display psychic powers, clairvoyance, clairaudience, the ability
to know the thoughts of others, recollection of past lifetimes, and the
knowledge that does away with mental effluents (see asava).
· acariya [aacariya]: Teacher; mentor. See kalyanamitta.
· adhitthana [adhi.t.thaana]: Determination; resolution. One of the ten perfections (paramis).
· ajaan, ajahn, achaan, etc.: (Thai). Teacher; mentor. Equivalent to the Pali acariya.
· akaliko [akaaliko]: Timeless; unconditioned by time or season.
· akusala [akusala]: Unwholesome, unskillful, demeritorious. See its opposite, kusala.
· anagami [anaagaamii]: Non-returner. A person who has abandoned the five lower fetters
that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth (see samyojana),
and who after death will appear in one of the Brahma worlds called the Pure
Abodes, there to attain nibbana,
never again to return to this world.
· anapanasati [aanaapaanasati]: Mindfulness of breathing. A
meditation practice in which one maintains one's attention and mindfulness on
the sensations of breathing. [MORE]
· anatta [anattaa]: Not-self; ownerless. [MORE]
· anicca [anicca]: Inconstant; unsteady; impermanent.
· anupadisesa-nibbana [anupaadisesa-nibbaana]: Nibbana
with no fuel remaining (the analogy is to an extinguished fire whose embers are
cold) — the nibbana
of the arahant after his passing away. Cf. sa-upadisesa-nibbana.
[MORE]
· anupubbi-katha [aanupubbii-kathaa]: Gradual instruction. The Buddha's method of teaching Dhamma that
guides his listeners progressively through increasingly advanced topics:
generosity (see dana),
virtue (see sila),
heavens, drawbacks, renunciation, and the four noble truths. [MORE]
· anusaya [anusaya]: Obsesssion; underlying
tendency. (The etymology of this term means "lying down with"; in
actual usage, the related verb (anuseti) means to be obsessed.) There
are seven major obsessions to which the mind returns over and over again:
obsession with sensual passion (kama-raganusaya), with resistance (patighanusaya),
with views (ditthanusaya), with uncertainty (vicikicchanusaya),
with conceit (manusaya), with passion for becoming (bhava-raganusaya),
and with ignorance (avijjanusaya). Compare samyojana.
· apaya-bhumi [apaaya-bhuumi]: State of deprivation; the
four lower levels of existence into which one might be reborn as a result of
past unskillful actions (see kamma):
rebirth in hell, as a hungry ghost (see peta), as
an angry demon (see Asura), or as
a common animal. None of these states is permanent. Compare sugati. [MORE]
· appamada [appamaada]: Heedfulness; diligence; zeal. The cornerstone of all skillful
mental states, and one of such fundamental import that the Buddha's stressed it
in his parting
words to his disciples: "All fabrications are subject to decay. Bring
about completion by being heedful!" (appamaadena sampaadetha). [MORE]
· arahant [arahant]: A "worthy one" or "pure one"; a person whose
mind is free of defilement (see kilesa),
who has abandoned all ten of the fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of
rebirth (see samyojana),
whose heart is free of mental effluents (see asava),
and who is thus not destined for further rebirth. A title for the Buddha and
the highest level of his noble disciples.
· arammana [aaramma.na]: Preoccupation; mental object.
· ariya [ariya]: Noble, ideal. Also, a "Noble One" (see ariya-puggala).
· ariyadhana [ariyadhana]: Noble Wealth; qualities
that serve as 'capital' in the quest for liberation: conviction (see saddha),
virtue (see sila),
conscience, fear of evil, erudition, generosity (see dana), and
discernment (see pañña).
· ariya-puggala [ariya-puggala]: Noble person; enlightened individual. An individual who
has realized at least one of the four noble paths (see magga) or
their fruitions (see phala).
Compare puthujjana
(worldling).
· ariya-sacca [ariya-sacca]: Noble Truth. The word "ariya" (noble) can also
mean ideal or standard, and in this context means "objective" or
"universal" truth. There are four: stress, the origin of stress, the
disbanding of stress, and the path of practice leading to the disbanding of
stress. [MORE]
· asava [aasava]: Mental effluent, pollutant, or fermentation. Four qualities —
sensuality, views, becoming, and ignorance — that "flow out" of the
mind and create the flood of the round of death and rebirth.
· asubha [asubha]: Unattractiveness, loathsomeness, foulness. The Buddha recommends
contemplation of this aspect of the body as an antidote to lust and
complacency. See also kayagata-sati.
[MORE]
· Asura [asura]: A race of beings who, like
the Titans of Greek mythology, fought the devas for
sovereignty over the heavens and lost. See apaya-bhumi.
[MORE]
· avijja [avijjaa]: Unawareness; ignorance; obscured awareness; delusion about the
nature of the mind. See also moha. [MORE]
· ayatana [aayatana]: Sense medium. The inner sense media are the sense organs: eyes,
ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The outer sense media are their respective
objects.
B
· bhante [bhante]: Venerable sir; often used when addressing a Buddhist monk.
· bhava [bhava]: Becoming. States of being that develop first in the mind and can
then be experienced as internal worlds and/or as worlds on an external level.
There are three levels of becoming: on the sensual level, the level of form,
and the level of formlessness.
· bhavana [bhaavanaa]: Mental cultivation or development; meditation. The third of the
three grounds for meritorious action. See also dana and sila. [MORE]
· bhikkhu [bhikkhu]: A Buddhist monk; a man who has given up the householder's life to
live a life of heightened virtue (see sila) in
accordance with the Vinaya in
general, and the Patimokkha
rules in particular. See sangha, parisa, upasampada.
[MORE]
· bhikkhuni [bhikkhunii]: A Buddhist nun; a man (woman) who has given up the householder's
life to live a life of heightened virtue (see sila) in
accordance with the Vinaya in
general, and the Patimokkha
rules in particular. See sangha, parisa, upasampada.
[MORE]
· bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma [bodhi-pakkhiya-dhammaa]: "Wings to Awakening" — seven
sets of principles that are conducive to Awakening and that, according to the
Buddha, form the heart of his teaching: [1] the four frames of reference (see satipatthana);
[2] four right exertions (sammappadhana) — the effort to prevent unskillful
states from arising in the mind, to abandon whatever unskillful states have
already arisen, to give rise to the good, and to maintain the good that has
arisen; [3] four bases of success (iddhipada) — desire, persistence,
intentness, circumspection; [4] five dominant factors (indriya) —
conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, discernment; [5] five
strengths (bala) — identical with [4]; [6] seven factors for Awakening
(bojjhanga) — mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, persistence, rapture
(see piti),
serenity, concentration, equanimity; and [7] the eightfold path (magga) —
Right View, Right Attitude, Right Speech, Right Activity, Right Livelihood,
Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. [MORE]
· bodhisatta [bodhisatta]: "A being (striving) for Awakening"; the term
used to describe the Buddha before he actually become Buddha, from his first
aspiration to Buddhahood until the time of his full Awakening. Sanskrit form:
Bodhisattva.
· brahma [brahma, brahmaa]: "Great One" — an inhabitant of the non-sensual heavens
of form or formlessness. [MORE]
· brahma-vihara [brahma-vihaara]: The four "sublime" or "divine" abodes
that are attained through the development of boundless metta
(goodwill), karuna
(compassion), mudita
(appreciative joy), and upekkha
(equanimity).
· brahman (from Pali braahmaa.na): The brahman (brahmin) caste of India has long maintained that its
members, by their birth, are worthy of the highest respect. Buddhism borrowed
the term brahman to apply to those who have attained the goal, to show that
respect is earned not by birth, race, or caste, but by spiritual attainment.
Used in the Buddhist sense, this term is synonymous with arahant.
· buddho [buddho]: Awake; enlightened. An epithet for the Buddha.
· Buddha [buddha]: The name given to one who rediscovers for himself the liberating
path of Dhamma, after a long period of its having been forgotten by the world.
According to tradition, there is a long line of Buddhas stretching into the
distant past. The most recent Buddha was born Siddhattha Gotama in India in the
sixth century
BCE. A well-educated and wealthy young man, he relinquished his family and
his princely inheritance in the prime of his life to search for true freedom
and an end to suffering (dukkha).
After seven years of austerities in the forest, he rediscovered the
"middle way" and achieved his goal, becoming Buddha. [MORE]
C
· cankama [cankama]: Walking meditation, usually in the form of walking back and forth
along a prescribed path.
· cetasika [cetasika]: Mental concomitant (see vedana, sañña, and
sankhara).
· ceto-vimutti [ceto-vimutti]: See vimutti.
· citta [citta]: Mind; heart; state of consciousness.
D
· dana [daana]: Giving, liberality; offering, alms. Specifically, giving of any
of the four requisites to the monastic order. More generally, the inclination
to give, without expecting any form of repayment from the recipient. Dana is
the first theme in the Buddha's system of gradual training (see anupubbi-katha),
the first of the ten paramis,
one of the seven treasures (see dhana),
and the first of the three grounds for meritorious action (see sila and bhavana).
[MORE]
· deva; devata [deva,
devataa]: Literally, "shining
one" — an inhabitant of the heavenly realms (see sagga and sugati). [MORE]
· Devadatta [devadatta]: A cousin of the Buddha who tried to effect a schism in the sangha
and who has since become emblematic for all Buddhists who work knowingly or
unknowingly to undermine the religion from within.
· dhamma [dhamma; Skt.
dharma]: (1) Event; a phenomenon in
and of itself; (2) mental quality; (3) doctrine, teaching; (4) nibbana.
Also, principles of behavior that human beings ought to follow so as to fit in
with the right natural order of things; qualities of mind they should develop
so as to realize the inherent quality of the mind in and of itself. By
extension, "Dhamma" (usu. capitalized) is used also to denote any
doctrine that teaches such things. Thus the Dhamma of the Buddha denotes both his
teachings and the direct experience of nibbana,
the quality at which those teachings are aimed.
· Dhamma-vinaya [dhamma-vinaya]: "doctrine (dhamma)
and discipline (vinaya)."
The Buddha's own name for the religion he founded.
· dhana [dhana]: Treasure(s). The seven qualities of conviction, virtue (see sila),
conscience & concern, learning, generosity (see dana), and
wisdom.
· dhatu [dhaatu]: Element; property, impersonal condition. The four physical
elements or properties are earth (solidity), water (liquidity), wind (motion),
and fire (heat). The six elements include the above four plus space and
consciousness.
· dhutanga [dhutaanga]: Voluntary ascetic practices that monks and other meditators may
undertake from time to time or as a long-term commitment in order to cultivate
renunciation and contentment, and to stir up energy. For the monks, there are
thirteen such practices: (1) using only patched-up robes; (2) using only one
set of three robes; (3) going for alms; (4) not by-passing any donors on one's
alms path; (5) eating no more than one meal a day; (6) eating only from the
alms-bowl; (7) refusing any food offered after the alms-round; (8) living in
the forest; (9) living under a tree; (10) living under the open sky; (11)
living in a cemetery; (12) being content with whatever dwelling one has; (13)
not lying down. [MORE]
· dosa [dosa]: Aversion; hatred; anger. One of three unwholesome roots (mula) in the
mind.
· dukkha [dukkha]: Stress; suffering; pain; distress; discontent. [MORE]
E
· effluents: See asava.
· ekaggatarammana [ekagattaa.rammana]: Singleness of preoccupation; "one-pointedness."
In meditation, the mental quality that allows one's attention to remain
collected and focused on the chosen meditation object. Ekaggatarammana
reaches full maturity upon the development of the fourth level of jhana.
· ekayana-magga [ekaayana-magga]: A unified path; a direct path. An epithet for the practice of
being mindful of the four frames of reference: body, feelings, mind, and mental
qualities.
· evam [eva.m]: Thus; in this way. This term is used in Thailand as a formal
closing to a sermon.
F
· foundation of mindfulness: see Satipatthana.
· frame of reference: see Satipatthana.
G
· gotrabhu-ñana [gotrabhuu-~naana]: "Change of lineage knowledge": The glimpse of nibbana
that changes one from an ordinary person (puthujjana)
to a Noble One (ariya-puggala).
H
· Hinayana [hiinayaana]: "Inferior Vehicle," originally a pejorative term —
coined by a group who called themselves followers of the Mahayana, the
"Great Vehicle" — to denote the path of practice of those who adhered
only to the earliest discourses as the word of the Buddha. Hinayanists refused
to recognize the later discourses, composed by the Mahayanists, that claimed to
contain teachings that the Buddha felt were too deep for his first generation of
disciples, and which he thus secretly entrusted to underground serpents. The Theravada
school of today is a descendent of the Hinayana.
· hiri-ottappa [hiri-ottappa]: "Conscience and concern"; "moral shame and moral
dread." These twin emotions — the "guardians of the world" — are
associated with all skillful actions. Hiri is an inner conscience that
restrains us from doing deeds that would jeopardize our own self-respect; ottappa
is a healthy fear of committing unskillful deeds that might bring about harm to
ourselves or others. See kamma. [MORE]
I
· idappaccayata [idappaccayataa]: This/that conditionality.
This name for the causal principle the Buddha discovered on the night of his
Awakening stresses the point that, for the purposes of ending suffering and
stress, the processes of causality can be understood entirely in terms of
forces and conditions that are experienced in the realm of direct experience,
with no need to refer to forces operating outside of that realm. [MORE]
· indriya [indriya]: Faculties; mental factors. In the suttas the term can refer
either to the six sense media (ayatana) or
to the five mental factors of saddha
(conviction), viriya
(persistence), sati
(mindfulness), samadhi
(concentration), and pañña
(discernment); see bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma.
J
· jhana [jhaana; Skt.
dhyana]: Mental absorption. A state
of strong concentration focused on a single physical sensation (resulting in rupa
jhana) or mental notion (resulting in arupa jhana). Development of
jhana arises from the temporary suspension of the five hindrances (see nivarana)
through the development of five mental factors: vitakka
(directed thought), vicara
(evaluation), piti
(rapture), sukha
(pleasure), and ekaggatarammana
(singleness of preoccupation). [MORE]
K
· kalyanamitta [kalyaa.namitta]: Admirable friend; a mentor or teacher of Dhamma. [MORE]
· kamaguna [kaamagu.na]: Strings of sensuality. The objects of the five physical senses:
visible objects, sounds, aromas, flavors, and tactile sensations. Usually
refers to sense experiences that, like the strings (guna) of a lute when
plucked, give rise to pleasurable feelings (vedana). [MORE]
· kamma [kamma; Skt.
karma]: Intentional acts that result in states
of being and birth. [MORE]
· kammatthana [kamma.t.thaana]: Literally, "basis of work" or "place of
work." The word refers to the "occupation" of a meditating monk:
namely, the contemplation of certain meditation themes by which the forces of
defilement (kilesa),
craving (tanha),
and ignorance (avijja)
may be uprooted from the mind. In the ordination procedure, every new monk is
taught five basic kammatthana that form the basis for contemplation of the
body: hair of the head (kesa), hair of the body (loma), nails (nakha),
teeth (danta), and skin (taco). By extension, the kammatthana
include all the forty classical meditation themes. Although every meditator may
be said to engage in kammatthana, the term is most often used to
identify the particular Thai forest tradition lineage that was founded by Phra
Ajaan Mun and Phra Ajaan Sao. [MORE]
· karuna [karu.naa]: Compassion; sympathy; the aspiration to find a way to be truly
helpful to oneself and others. One of the ten perfections (paramis) and
one of the four "sublime abodes" (brahma-vihara).
· kathina [ka.thina]: A ceremony, held in the fourth month of the rainy season, in
which a sangha of bhikkhus receives a gift of cloth from lay people, bestows it
on one of their members, and then makes it into a robe before dawn of the
following day. [MORE]
· kaya [kaaya]: Body. Usually refers to the physical body (rupa-kaya; see rupa), but
sometimes refers to the mental body (nama-kaya; see nama).
· kayagata-sati [kaayagataa-sati]: Mindfulness immersed in the body. This is a blanket term
covering several meditation themes: keeping the breath in mind; being mindful
of the body's posture; being mindful of one's activities; analyzing the body
into its parts; analyzing the body into its physical properties (see dhatu);
contemplating the fact that the body is inevitably subject to death and
disintegration. [MORE]
· khandha [khandha]: Heap; group; aggregate. Physical and mental components of the
personality and of sensory experience in general. The five bases of clinging
(see upadana).
See: nama
(mental phenomenon), rupa
(physical phenomenon), vedana
(feeling), sañña
(perception), sankhara
(mental fashionings), and viññana
(consciousness).
· khanti [khanti]: Patience; forbearance. One of the ten perfections (paramis).
· kilesa [kilesa]: Defilement — lobha
(passion), dosa
(aversion), and moha
(delusion) in their various forms, which include such things as greed,
malevolence, anger, rancor, hypocrisy, arrogance, envy, miserliness,
dishonesty, boastfulness, obstinacy, violence, pride, conceit, intoxication,
and complacency.
· kusala [kusala]: Wholesome, skillful, good, meritorious. An action characterized
by this moral quality (kusala-kamma) is bound to result (eventually) in
happiness and a favorable outcome. Actions characterized by its opposite (akusala-kamma)
lead to sorrow. See kamma.
[MORE]
L
· lakkhana [lakkha.na]: See ti-lakkhana.
· lobha [lobha]: Greed; passion; unskillful desire. Also raga. One of
three unwholesome roots (mula) in the
mind.
· loka-dhamma [loka-dhamma]: Affairs or phenomena of the world. The standard list
gives eight: wealth, loss of wealth, status, loss of status, praise, criticism,
pleasure, and pain. [MORE]
· lokavidu [lokaviduu]: Knower of the cosmos. An epithet for the Buddha.
· lokuttara [lokuttara]: Transcendent; supramundane (see magga, phala, and
nibbana).
M
· magga [magga]: Path. Specifically, the path to the cessation of suffering and
stress. The four transcendent paths — or rather, one path with four levels of
refinement — are the path to stream-entry
(entering the stream to nibbana,
which ensures that one will be reborn at most only seven more times), the path
to once-returning, the path to non-returning, and the path to arahantship. See phala.
· mahathera [mahaathera]: "Great elder." An honorific title automatically
conferred upon a bhikkhu
of at least twenty years' standing. Compare thera.
· majjhima [majjhima]: Middle; appropriate; just right.
· Mara [maara]: The personification of evil and temptation.
· metta [mettaa]: Loving-kindness; goodwill. One of the ten perfections (paramis) and
one of the four "sublime abodes" (brahma-vihara).
· moha [moha]: Delusion; ignorance (avijja)..
One of three unwholesome roots (mula) in the
mind.
· mudita [muditaa]: Appreciative/sympathetic joy. Taking delight in one's own
goodness and that of others. One of the four "sublime abodes" (brahma-vihara).
· mula [muula]: Literally, "root." The fundamental conditions in the
mind that determine the moral quality — skillful (kusala) or
unskillful (akusala)
— of one's intentional actions (see kamma). The
three unskillful roots are lobha
(greed), dosa
(aversion), and moha
(delusion); the skillful roots are their opposites. See kilesa
(defilements).
N
· naga [naaga]: A term commonly used to refer to strong, stately, and heroic
animals, such as elephants and magical serpents. In Buddhism, it is also used
to refer to those who have attained the goal of the practice.
· nama [naama]: Mental phenomena. This term refers to the mental components of
the five khandhas,
and includes: vedana
(feeling), sañña
(perception), sankhara
(mental fashionings), and viññana
(consciousness). Compare rupa.
· nama-rupa [naama-ruupa]: Name-and-form; mind-and-matter; mentality-physicality. The union
of mental phenomena (nama) and
physical phenomena (rupa) that
constitutes the five aggregates (khandha),
and which lies at a crucial link in the causal chain of dependent co-arising (paticca-samuppada).
[MORE]
· nekkhamma [nekkhamma]: Renunciation; literally, "freedom from sensual lust."
One of the ten paramis.
[MORE]
· nibbana [nibbaana;
Skt. nirvana]: Liberation; literally, the
"unbinding" of the mind from the mental effluents (see asava),
defilements (see kilesa),
and the round of rebirth (see vatta), and
from all that can be described or defined. As this term also denotes the
extinguishing of a fire, it carries the connotations of stilling, cooling, and
peace. (According to the physics taught at the time of the Buddha, a burning
fire seizes or adheres to its fuel; when extinguished, it is unbound.)
"Total nibbana" in some contexts denotes the experience of Awakening;
in others, the final passing away of an arahant.
[MORE]
· nibbida [nibbidaa;]: Disenchantment; aversion; disgust; weariness. The skillful
turning-away of the mind from the conditioned samsaric world towards the
unconditoned, the transcendent — nibbana
· nimitta [nimitta]: Mental sign, image, or vision that may arise in meditation. Uggaha
nimitta refers to any image that arises spontaneously in the course of
meditation. Paribhaga nimitta refers to an image that has been subjected
to mental manipulation.
· nirodha [nirodha]: Cessation; disbanding; stopping.
· nivarana [niivara.na]: Hindrances to concentration — sensual desire, ill will, sloth
& drowsiness, restlessness & anxiety, and uncertainty.
O
· opanayiko [opanayiko]: Referring inwardly; to be brought inward. An epithet for the
Dhamma.
PQ
· pabbajja [pabbajjaa]: "Going forth (from home to the homeless life)";
ordination as a samanera
(samaneri), or novice monk (nun). See upasampada.
· paccattam [paccatta.m]: Personal; individual.
· paccekabuddha [paccekabuddha]: Private Buddha. One who, like a Buddha, has gained Awakening
without the benefit of a teacher, but who lacks the requisite store of paramis
to teach others the practice that leads to Awakening. On attaining the goal, a
paccekabuddha lives a solitary life. [MORE]
· Pali [paali, paa.li]: The canon of texts (see Tipitaka) preserved
by the Theravada school and, by extension, the language in which those texts
are composed. [MORE]
· pañña [pa~n~naa]: Discernment; insight; wisdom; intelligence; common sense;
ingenuity. One of the ten perfections (paramis).
· pañña-vimutti [pa~n~naa-vimutti]: See vimutti.
· papañca [papa~nca]: Complication, proliferation. The tendency of the mind to
proliferate issues from the sense of "self." This term can also be
translated as self-reflexive thinking, reification, falsification, distortion,
elaboration, or exaggeration. In the discourses, it is frequently used in
analyses of the psychology of conflict. [MORE]
· parami, paramita [paaramii,
paaramitaa]: Perfection of the
character. A group of ten qualities developed over many lifetimes by a bodhisatta,
which appear as a group in the Pali canon only in the Jataka ("Birth
Stories"): generosity (dana), virtue (sila),
renunciation (nekkhamma),
discernment (pañña),
energy/persistence (viriya),
patience/forbearance (khanti),
truthfulness (sacca),
determination (adhitthana),
good will (metta),
and equanimity (upekkha). [MORE]
· parinibbana [parinibbaana]: Total Unbinding; the complete cessation of the khandhas
that occurs upon the death of an arahant.
· parisa [parisaa]: Following; assembly. The four groups of the Buddha's following
that include monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. Compare sangha.
See bhikkhu,
bhikkhuni,
upasaka/upasika.
· pariyatti [pariyatti]: Theoretical understanding of Dhamma
obtained through reading, study, and learning. See patipatti
and pativedha.
[MORE]
· paticca-samuppada [pa.ticca-samuppaada]: Dependent co-arising; dependent origination. A map showing the
way the aggregates (khandha)
and sense media (ayatana)
interact with ignorance (avijja) and
craving (tanha)
to bring about stress and suffering (dukkha). As
the interactions are complex, there are several different versions of paticca
samuppada given in the suttas. In the most common one, the map starts with
ignorance. In another common one, the map starts with the interrelation between
name (nama)
and form (rupa)
on the one hand, and sensory consciousness (viññana) on
the other. [MORE: SN
12.2, DN
15 ]
· Patimokkha [paatimokkha]: The basic code of monastic discipline, consisting of 227
rules for monks (bhikkhus)
and 311 for nuns (bhikkhunis).
See Vinaya.
· patipada [pa.tipadaa]: Road, path, way; the means of reaching a goal or destination. The
"Middle way" (majjhima-patipada) taught by the Buddha; the
path of practice described in the fourth noble truth (dukkhanirodhagamini-patipada).
[MORE]
· patipatti [pa.tipatti]: The practice of Dhamma,
as opposed to mere theoretical knowledge (pariyatti).
See also pativedha.
[MORE]
· pativedha [pa.tivedha]: Direct, first-hand realization of the Dhamma.
See also pariyatti
and patipatti.
[MORE]
· Peta [peta; Skt.
preta]: A "hungry shade" or
"hungry ghost" — one of a class of beings in the lower realms,
sometimes capable of appearing to human beings. The petas are often depicted in
Buddhist art as starving beings with pinhole-sized mouths through which they
can never pass enough food to ease their hunger. [MORE]
· phala [phala]: Fruition. Specifically, the fruition of any of the four
transcendent paths (see magga).
· phra: (Thai). Venerable. Used as a prefix to the name of a monk (bhikkhu).
· piti [piiti]: Rapture; bliss; delight. In meditation, a pleasurable quality in
the mind that reaches full maturity upon the development of the second level of
jhana.
· puja [puujaa]: Honor; respect; devotional observance. Most commonly, the
devotional observances that are conducted at monasteries daily (morning and
evening), on uposatha
days, or on other special occasions. [MORE]
· puñña [pu~n~na]: Merit; worth; the inner sense of well-being that comes from
having acted rightly or well and that enables one to continue acting well.
· puthujjana [puthujjana]: One of the many-folk; a "worlding" or
run-of-the-mill person. An ordinary person who has not yet realized any of the
four stages of Awakening (see magga).
Compare ariya-puggala.
R
· raga [raaga]: Lust; greed. See lobha.
· run-of-the-mill person: See puthujjana.
· rupa [ruupa]: Body; physical phenomenon; sense datum. The basic meaning of this
word is "appearance" or "form." It is used, however, in a
number of different contexts, taking on different shades of meaning in each. In
lists of the objects of the senses, it is given as the object of the sense of
sight. As one of the khandha, it
refers to physical phenomena or sensations (visible appearance or form being
the defining characteristics of what is physical). This is also the meaning it
carries when opposed to nama, or
mental phenomena.
S
· sabhava-dhamma [sabhaava-dhamma]: Condition of nature; any phenomenon, event, property, or
quality as experienced in and of itself.
· sacca [sacca]: Truthfulness. One of the ten perfections (paramis).
· saddha [saddhaa]: Conviction, faith. A confidence in the Buddha that gives one the
willingness to put his teachings into practice. Conviction becomes unshakeable
upon the attainment of stream-entry (see sotapanna).
· sadhu [saadhu]: (exclamation) "It is well"; an expression showing
appreciation or agreement.
· sagga [sagga]: Heaven, heavenly realm. The dwelling place of the devas. Rebirth
in the heavens is said to be one of the rewards for practicing generosity (see dana) and
virtue (see sila).
Like all waystations in samsara,
however, rebirth here is temporary. See also sugati. [MORE]
· sakadagami [sakadaagaamii]: Once-returner. A person who has abandoned the first three
of the fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth (see samyojana),
has weakened the fetters of sensual passion and resistance, and who after death
is destined to be reborn in this world only once more.
· sakkaya-ditthi [sakkaaya-di.t.thi]: Self-identification view. The view that mistakenly
identifies any of the khandha as
"self"; the first of the ten fetters (samyojana).
Abandonment of sakkaya-ditthi is one of the hallmarks of stream-entry
(see sotapanna).
[MORE]
· Sakyamuni [saakyamuni]: "Sage of the Sakyans"; an epithet for the Buddha.
· sakya-putta [saakya-putta]: Son of the Sakyan. An epithet for Buddhist monks, the
Buddha having been a native of the Sakyan Republic.
· sallekha-dhamma [sallekha-dhamma]: Topics of effacement (effacing defilement) — having few
wants, being content with what one has, seclusion, uninvolvement in companionship,
persistence, virtue (see sila),
concentration, discernment, release, and the direct knowing and seeing of
release.
· samadhi [samaadhi]: Concentration; the practice of centering the mind in a single
sensation or preoccupation, usually to the point of jhana. [MORE]
· samana [sama.na]: Contemplative. Literally, a person who abandons the conventional
obligations of social life in order to find a way of life more "in
tune" (sama) with the ways of nature.
· samanera (samaneri): Literally, a small samana; a
novice monk (nun) who observes ten precepts and who is a candidate for
admission to the order of bhikkhus
(bhikkhunis).
See pabbajja.
· sambhavesin [sambhavesin]: (A being) searching for a place to take birth.
· sammati [sammati]: Conventional reality; convention; relative truth; supposition;
anything conjured into being by the mind.
· sampajañña [samoaja~n~na]: Alertness; self-awareness; presence of mind; clear
comprehension. See sati.
· samsara [sa.msaara]: Transmigration; the round of death and rebirth. See vatta. [MORE]
· samvega [sa.mvega]: The oppressive sense of shock, dismay, and alienation that comes
with realizing the futility and meaninglessness of life as it's normally lived;
a chastening sense of one's own complacency and foolishness in having let
oneself live so blindly; and an anxious sense of urgency in trying to find a
way out of the meaningless cycle. [MORE]
· samyojana, sanyojana [sa.myojana]: Fetter that binds the mind to the cycle of rebirth (see vatta) —
self-identification views (sakkaya-ditthi),
uncertainty (vicikiccha), grasping at precepts and practices (silabbata-paramasa);
sensual passion (kama-raga), resistance (vyapada); passion for
form (rupa-raga), passion for formless phenomena (arupa-raga),
conceit (mana), restlessness (uddhacca), and unawareness (avijja).
Compare anusaya.
· sanditthiko [sandi.t.thiko]: Self-evident; immediately apparent; visible here and now.
An epithet for the Dhamma.
· sangha [sangha]: On the conventional (sammati)
level, this term denotes the communities of Buddhist monks and nuns; on the
ideal (ariya)
level, it denotes those followers of the Buddha, lay or ordained, who have
attained at least stream-entry (see sotapanna),
the first of the transcendent paths (see magga)
culminating in nibbana.
Recently, particularly in the West, the term "sangha" has been
popularly adapted to mean the wider sense of "community of followers on
the Buddhist path," although this usage finds no basis in the Pali canon.
The term "parisa"
may be more appropriate for this much broader meaning. [MORE]
· sankhara [sankhaara]: Formation, compound, fashioning, fabrication — the forces and factors
that fashion things (physical or mental), the process of fashioning, and the
fashioned things that result. Sankhara can refer to anything formed or
fashioned by conditions, or, more specifically, (as one of the five khandhas)
thought-formations within the mind.
· sañña [sa~n~naa]: Label; perception; allusion; act of memory or recognition;
interpretation. See khandha.
· sanyojana: See samyojana.
· sasana [saasana]: Literally, "message." The dispensation, doctrine, and
legacy of the Buddha; the Buddhist religion (see Dhamma-vinaya).
· sati [sati]: Mindfulness, self-collectedness, powers of reference and
retention. In some contexts, the word sati when used alone covers
alertness (sampajañña)
as well. [MORE]
· satipatthana [satipa.t.thaana]: Foundation of mindfulness; frame of reference — body,
feelings, mind, and mental events, viewed in and of themselves as they occur.
· sa-upadisesa-nibbana [sa-upaadisesa-nibbaana]: Nibbana with fuel remaining (the
analogy is to an extinguished fire whose embers are still glowing) — liberation
as experienced in this lifetime by an arahant. Cf. anupadisesa-nibbana.
[MORE]
· savaka [saavaka]: Literally, "hearer." A disciple of the Buddha,
especially a noble disciple (see ariya-puggala.)
· sayadaw: (Burmese). Venerable teacher; an honorific title and form of
address for a senior or eminent bhikkhu.
· sekha [sekha]: A "learner" or "one in training"; a noble
disciple (ariya-puggala)
who has not yet attained arahantship.[MORE]
· sila [siila]: Virtue, morality. The quality of ethical and moral purity that
prevents one from falling away from the eightfold path. Also, the training
precepts that restrain one from performing unskillful actions. Sila is the
second theme in the gradual training (see anupubbi-katha),
one of the ten paramis,
the second of the seven treasures (see dhana), and
the first of the three grounds for meritorious action (see dana and bhavana).
[MORE]
· sima [siima]: Boundary or territory within which the monastic sangha's formal
acts (upasampada,
patimokkha
recitation, settling of disputes, etc.) must be performed in order to be valid.
[MORE]
· sotapanna [sotaapanna]: Stream winner. A person who has abandoned the first three of the
fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth (see samyojana)
and has thus entered the "stream" flowing inexorably to nibbana,
ensuring that one will be reborn at most only seven more times, and only into
human or higher realms. [MORE]
· stream-entry, stream-winner: see sotapanna.
· stress: See dukkha.
· stupa (Pali thupa (thuupa)): Originally, a tumulus or burial mound enshrining relics of a holy
person — such as the Buddha — or objects associated with his life. Over the
centuries this has developed into the tall, spired monuments familiar in
temples in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma; and into the pagodas of China,
Korea, and Japan.
· "such": See tadi.
· sugati [sugati]: Happy destinations; the two higher levels of existence into which
one might be reborn as a result of past skillful actions (see kamma):
rebirth in the human world or in the heavens (See sagga). None
of these states is permanent. Compare apaya-bhumi.
[MORE]
· sugato [sugato]: Well-faring; going (or gone) to a good destination. An epithet
for the Buddha.
· sukha [sukha]: Pleasure; ease; satisfaction. In meditation, a mental quality
that reaches full maturity upon the development of the third level of jhana.
· sutta [sutta; Skt.
sutra]: Literally, "thread"; a
discourse or sermon by the Buddha or his contemporary disciples. After the
Buddha's death the suttas were passed down in the Pali language according to a
well-established oral tradition, and were finally committed to written form in
Sri Lanka around 100 BCE. More than 10,000 suttas are collected in the Sutta Pitaka, one
of the principal bodies of scriptural literature in Theravada Buddhism. The
Pali Suttas are widely regarded as the earliest record of the Buddha's
teachings. [MORE]
T
· tadi [taadi]: "Such," an adjective to describe one who has attained
the goal. It indicates that the person's state is indefinable but not subject
to change or influences of any sort.
· tanha [ta.nhaa]: Craving — for sensuality, for becoming, or for not-becoming (see bhava). See
also lobha
(greed; passion) [MORE]
· tapas [taapas]: The purifying "heat" of meditative practice.
· Tathagata [tathaagatha]: Literally, "one who has truly gone (tatha-gata)"
or "one who has become authentic "(tatha-agata)," an
epithet used in ancient India for a person who has attained the highest
spiritual goal. In Buddhism, it usually denotes the Buddha, although
occasionally it also denotes any of his arahant disciples. [MORE]
· than, tan: (Thai). Reverend, venerable.
· thera [thera]: "Elder." An honorific title automatically conferred
upon a bhikkhu
of at least ten years' standing. Compare mahathera.
· Theravada [theravaada]: The "Doctrine of the Elders" — the only one of the
early schools of Buddhism to have survived into the present; currently the
dominant form of Buddhism in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma. See also Hinayana.
[MORE]
· ti-lakkhana [ti-lakkha.na]: Three characteristics inherent in all conditioned
phenomena — being inconstant, stressful, and not-self.
· tipitaka [tipi.taka;
Skt. tripitaka]: The Buddhist (Pali) Canon.
Literally, "three baskets," in reference to the three principal
divisions of the Canon: the Vinaya Pitaka
(disciplinary rules); Sutta Pitaka
(discourses); and Abhidhamma
Pitaka (abstract philosophical treatises). [MORE]
· tiratana [tiratana]: The "Triple Gem" consisting of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha — ideals
to which all Buddhists turn for refuge. See tisarana.
[MORE]
· tisarana [tisara.na]: The "Threefold Refuge" — the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. See tiratana.
[MORE]
U
· ugghatitaññu [uggha.tita~n~nu]: Of swift understanding. After the Buddha attained
Awakening and was considering whether or not to teach the Dhamma, he perceived
that there were four categories of beings: those of swift understanding, who
would gain Awakening after a short explanation of the Dhamma; those who would
gain Awakening only after a lengthy explanation (vipacitaññu); those who would
gain Awakening only after being led through the practice (neyya); and those
who, instead of gaining Awakening, would at best gain only a verbal
understanding of the Dhamma (padaparama).
· Unbinding: See nibbana.
· upadana [upaadaana]: Clinging; attachment; sustenance for becoming and birth —
attachment to sensuality, to views, to precepts and practices, and to theories
of the self.
· upasampada [upasampadaa]: Acceptance; full ordination as a bhikkhu
or bhikkhuni.
See pabbajja.
· upasaka/upasika [upaasaka/upaasikaa]: A male/female lay follower of the Buddha. Compare parisa.
· upekkha [upekkhaa]: Equanimity. One of the ten perfections (paramis) and
one of the four "sublime abodes" (brahma-vihara).
[MORE]
· uposatha [uposatha]: Observance day, corresponding to the phases of the moon, on which
Buddhist lay people gather to listen to the Dhamma and to observe special
precepts. On the new-moon and full-moon uposatha days monks assemble to recite
the Patimokkha
rules. [MORE]
V
· vassa [vassaa]: Rains Retreat. A period from July to October, corresponding
roughly to the rainy season, in which each monk is required to live settled in
a single place and not wander freely about.
· vatta [va.t.ta]: The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. This denotes both the
death and rebirth of living beings and the death and rebirth of defilement (kilesa)
within the mind. See samsara.
· vedana [vedanaa]: Feeling — pleasure (ease), pain (stress), or neither pleasure nor
pain. See khandha.
· Vesak, Vesakha, Visakha,
Wesak, etc. [visaakha]: The ancient name for the
Indian lunar month in spring corresponding to our April-May. According to
tradition, the Buddha's birth, Awakening, and Parinibbana
each took place on the full-moon night in the month of Visakha. These events
are commemorated on that day in the Visakha festival, which is celebrated
annually throughout the world of Theravada Buddhism. [MORE]
· vicara [vicaara]: Evaluation; sustained thought. In meditation, vicara is
the mental factor that allows one's attention to shift and move about in
relation to the chosen meditation object. Vicara and its companion
factor vitakka
reach full maturity upon the development of the first level of jhana.
· vijja [vijjaa]: Clear knowledge; genuine awareness; science (specifically, the
cognitive powers developed through the practice of concentration and
discernment).
· vijja-carana-sampanno [vijjaa-cara.na-sampanno]: Consummate in knowledge and conduct; accomplished in the
conduct leading to awareness or cognitive skill. An epithet for the Buddha.
· vimutti [vimutti]: Release; freedom from the fabrications and conventions of the
mind. The suttas distinguish between two kinds of release. Discernment-release (pañña-vimutti)
describes the mind of the arahant,
which is free of the asavas.
Awareness-release (ceto-vimutti) is used to describe either the mundane suppression
of the kilesas
during the practice of jhana and
the four brahma-viharas
[see AN
6.13], or the supramundane state of concentration in the asava-free mind of
the arahant.
· Vinaya [vinaya]: The monastic discipline, spanning six volumes in printed text,
whose rules and traditions define every aspect of the bhikkhus'
and bhikkhunis'
way of life. The essence of the rules for monastics is contained in the Patimokkha.
The conjunction of the Dhamma
with the Vinaya forms the core of the Buddhist religion: "Dhamma-vinaya"
— "the doctrine and discipline" — is the name the Buddha gave to the
religion he founded. [MORE]
· viññana [vi~n~naa.na]: Consciousness; cognizance; the act of taking note of sense data and
ideas as they occur. There is also a type of consciousness that lies outside of
the khandhas
— called consciousness without feature (viññanam anidassanam) — which is
not related to the six senses at all. See khandha.
· vipaka [vipaaka]: The consequence and result of a past volitional action (kamma).
· vipassana [vipassanaa]: Clear intuitive insight into physical and mental phenomena as
they arise and disappear, seeing them for what they actually are — in and of
themselves — in terms of the three characteristics (see ti-lakkhana)
and in terms of stress, its origin, its disbanding, and the way leading to its
disbanding (see ariya-sacca).
· vipassanupakkilesa [vipassanuupakkilesa]: Corruption of insight; intense
experiences that can happen in the course of meditation and can lead one to
believe that one has completed the path. The standard list includes ten: light,
psychic knowledge, rapture, serenity, pleasure, extreme conviction, excessive
effort, obsession, indifference, and contentment.
· viriya [viriya]: Persistence; energy. One of the ten perfections (paramis),
the five faculties (bala; see bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma),
and the five strengths/dominant factors (indriya;
see bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma).
· vitakka [vitakka]: Directed thought. In meditation, vitakka is the mental
factor by which one's attention is applied to the chosen meditation object. Vitakka
and its companion factor vicara reach
full maturity upon the development of the first level of jhana.
WXYZ
· yakkha [yakkha]: One of a special class of powerful "non-human" beings —
sometimes kindly, sometimes murderous and cruel — corresponding roughly to the
fairies and ogres of Western fairy tales. The female (yakkhini) is
generally considered more treacherous than the male. [MORE]