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Akusala:
| Bad, demerit, unskillful
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Akaliko:
| Timeless
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Anapanasati:
|
Mindfulness of breathing, a common meditation technique which can lead to joyous, trance-like states known as jhanas.
It is often used in samatha meditation as a means of developing concentration and calm.
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Anathma:
| egolessness
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Anatta:
|
Not-self. This doctrine is unique to Buddhism.
During his enlightenment experience, as he sat under the Bodhi tree, the Buddha saw there was no such
thing as a permanent self or soul. What we nominally call the self or personality is made up of five
factors known as khandhas (literally 'heaps')
none of which, either separately or together, can be viewed as a permanent self or soul.
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Anicca:
|
Impermanence. Central to Buddhist teaching is the idea that all things are impermanent.
This is the nature of all conditioned phenomena.
Nothing lasts, nothing stays the same. Thus, to cling to anything will inevitably lead to suffering (dukkha).
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|
Arahant:
| An Enlightened One, One who is worthy, One gone beyond dukkha.
Noble one. An arahant is an individual who has realized Nibbana, brought an end to his own suffering and the cycle of birth and death.
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Arammana:
| Support or supporting condition for the mind, an object of
the mind, an emotion
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Arupa:
| Formless
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Avijja:
| Ignorance, not seeing the truth of Dhamma
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Bhava:
| Being, existence, realm of birth
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Bhavana:
| Development through meditation
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Bhikkhu:
|
Monk. A person who has renounced the world in search of enlightenment.
Traditionally, monks followed over 200 rules with celibacy as an essential requirement.
During the Buddha's life time Bhikkunis (nuns) were also admitted to the Buddhist order (the Sangha)
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Bhikkhuni:
| Buddhist nun
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Bodhi:
| Enlightenment
|
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Bodhi-Mind:
| Intrinsic wisdom; the inherently enlightened heart-mind; also the aspiration toward perfect enlightenment
|
|
Bodhicitta:
|
Enlightenment Mind. Bodhicitta is the desire to win enlightenment not ultimately for oneself but for the benefit of all beings.
This is a key concept within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions with their emphasis on compassion.
Many Buddhists seek to generate Bodhicitta as a means of developing compassion for all living beings without exception.
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Bodhisattva:
| An enlightened being who, deferring his own full Buddhahood, dedicates himself to helping others attain liberation.
In his self-mastery, wisdom and compassion a Bodhisattva represents a high stage of Buddhahood, but he is not yet a supremely
enlightened fully perfected Buddha. "Bodhisattvas, like Buddhas, are not merely personifications of abstract principles ...
but are prototypes of those states of highest knowledge, wisdom, and harmony which have been realized in humanity and will ever
have to be realized againa and again ... "
(Govinda p. 90)
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Brahmavihara:
| The four states of: Metta (loving-kindness), Karuna
(compassion), Mudita (gladness at the well being of others), Upekkha
(equanimity)
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Buddha:
|
Enlightened One. This is the term used to describe Sidhattha Gotama (Siddhartha Gautama). Gotama was not the only Buddha.
There have been Buddhas in the past and there will be Buddhas in the future. The future Buddha is referred to as Maitreya.
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Buddha-nature:
|
(J., bussho) - A concrete expression for the substratum of perfection, of completeness,
intrinsic to both sentient and insentient life.
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Butsudan:
| literally, "shrine of the Buddha," a buddhist altar-shrine, a small model of which most Japanese
Buddhists maintain in their own home.
In addition to a figure of one of the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, it usually contains a tablet with the names
of the family dead. Offerings of food and flowers are regularly offered up to the memory of the deceased at the
butsudan, andon special occasions certain sutras are chanted before it.
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Cakka:
| Wheel, circle
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Cave of Satan:
| also called the "pit of pseudo-emancipation." This is a stage in zazen where one experiences
absolute serenity and is bedeviled into believing to be Self-realization.
It requires an inspired effort to break out and go beyond this state.
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Citta:
| The underlying essence of all mental factors, mind/heart
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Dalai Lama:
|
The religious leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Dalai means 'Great Ocean (of Wisdom)' and Lama means 'spiritual master'.
The Dalai Lama is revered as the manifestation of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
When a Dalai Lama dies he is reborn and a rigorous search is made for his reincarnation, based partly based on instructions
left before his death. The present Dalai Lama is the fourteenth incarnation.
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Dana:
| Giving
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Dharma:
| Dhamma (J., ho) - a fundamental Buddhist term having several meanings, the broadest of which is
1) "phenomenon" All phenomena are subject to the law of causation, and this fundemental truth comprises the core
of the Buddha's teaching. Thus dharma also means: 2) law, 3) ultimate truth, 4) the Buddha's teaching and 5)
the doctrines of Buddhism.
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Ditthi:
| Views, opinions
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Dukkha:
|
Suffering. The first noble truth. This is the starting point for the Buddhist analysis of the human condition.
Suffering refers to mental, physical and emotional suffering in both their gross and subtle forms.
Importantly, dukkha also refers to the essential unsatisfactoriness of life. There is happiness in the world but it
is never permanent and all life is prone to old age, sickness and eventual death.
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|
Ego:
| According to Buddhism, the notion of an ego, that is, the awareness of oneself as a discrete individuality,
is an illusion.
It arises because, misled by our bifurcating intellect (the sixth sense) into postulating the dualism of "myself"
and "not-myself," we are led to think and act as though we were a separated entity confronted by a world external to us.
Thus in the unconscious the idea of "I," or selfhood, becomes fixed, and from this arise such thought patterns as
"I hate this, I love that; this is mine, that is yours." Nourished by this fodder, the ego-I comes to dominate the
personality, attracting whatever threatens its position and grasping at anything which will enlarge its power.
Antagonism, greed, and alienation, culminating in suffering, are the inevitable consequences of this circular process.
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Ekacitta:
| Singleness of the heart/mind, of one heart/mind
|
|
Five Hindrances:
|
Lust, ill-will, anxiety, sloth, doubt. These need to be absent for the experience of jhanas, rapturous states
resulting from samatha or 'calm' meditation.
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|
Five Precepts:
|
These are the essential moral guidelines for lay Buddhists. Basically, these are abstention from harming other
living beings, sensuous misconduct, false speech, taking what is not given, and taking intoxicants.
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|
Four Noble Truths:
|
These encapsulate the essential teaching of Buddhism:
1. The Noble Truth of Suffering
2. The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering
3. The Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering
4. The Noble Truth that leads to the Extinction of Suffering.
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Jhana:
|
Literally means 'meditation'. Jhanas are rapturous states achieved through the practice of samatha meditation.
They consist of four material jhanas and four formless jhanas.
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Karma:
| Kamma - Lit: "action". In Buddhism it is the intentional acts
done by body speech and mind which may be good, bad or neutral which have a
resultant effect on the doer
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Karuna:
|
Compassion. This is one of the key virtues Buddhism promotes. It was the Buddha's compassion for all sentient beings that led to
him teaching the dhamma. It is the Bodhisattva's compassion that leads him to postpone his own entry into nibbana and help others to it first.
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Kasinas:
|
These are objects used in samatha meditation as a means of gaining concentration. Traditionally there are ten of these: earth, water,
fire, blue, yellow, red, white, space and light.
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Kayanupassana:
| Contemplation of the body
|
|
Khandha:
| A heap, aggregate, usually referring to the five khandhas the physical and mental personality: Body, Feeling, Perception.
Thought formations and Consciousness (Rupa, Vedana, Sanna, Sankhara, Vinnana).
None of these individually or collectively can be said to constitute a permanent self.
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Kilesa:
| The defilements based upon greed, hatred and delusion
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Koan:
|
A zen 'riddle' which, unlike conventional riddles, doesn't have a rational explanation. The purpose of koans is to jolt the mind
out of its habitual thought processes. 'What's the sound of one hand clapping?' is perhaps the one that is most widely known.
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Lama:
|
Spiritual master/teacher. A term used in the Tibetan tradition.
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Lobha:
| Greed
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Loka:
| World
|
|
Lokuttara:
| Beyond the relative conventions of the world
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Lotus:
|
Pali; paduma, Tibetan; padma -
The lotus is one of Buddhism's most
significant symbols. It is a symbol of enlightenment and mental purity.
The lotus has its roots in mud but blossoms into a beautiful flower.
Similarly, though an individual may be impure, there is the potential
to gain enlightenment and the perfect state.
An open blossom signifies full enlightenment; a closed blossom
signifies the potential for enlightenment. The historical Buddha,
Sakyamuni, is associated with a pink lotus. Avalokitesvara is
associated with the red lotus, which symbolizes love and compassion.
The blue lotus is associated with Manjusri and symbolizes wisdom.
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are often depicted sitting on a fully opened
lotus.
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Magga:
| The Path, Way (usually referring to the Eightfold Path)
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|
Mahayana:
|
The Great Vehicle. This form of Buddhism emerged somewhere between 150 BCE and 100CE. Its distinctive features include the
new emphasis given to compassion and the Bodhisattva ideal, the three-bodies of the Buddha doctrine, emptiness or sunyata
and skill in means.
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Mandala:
|
'Circle'. A design used in Tibetan Buddhism to represent a spiritual map of the cosmos. Used as a meditational device.
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Mantra:
|
Repetition of a word or phrase which has spiritual significance. This can be a simple word such as 'Buddha' or a whole phrase.
One of the most widely known is the Tibetan Om Mani Padme Hum ('Hail to the Jewel of the Lotus'). Pure Land Buddhism uses the Namu
Amida Butsu which venerates Amitabha Buddha.
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Metta:
|
Loving-kindness. This quality is given especial emphasis in Buddhism with its ideal of unselfish and all-embracing love.
In the words of the metta sutta, just as mother would give her own life to save that of her child, so we too must cultivate
loving-kindness for all beings.
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Mittasati:
| Wrong mindfulness
|
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Moha:
| Delusion
|
|
Mudita:
| Gladness at the well being of others, sympathetic joy
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Nama:
| The Four mental factors of the five Khandhas
|
|
Nirvana:
| Nibbana -
To cease blowing. Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhism, the third noble truth. In nirvana, the suffering and the desire that
causes suffering have come to an end, as has the cycle of birth and death. Sometimes nirvana was referred to by the Buddha as
'unborn' and 'unconditioned', in contrast to the phenomenal world we experience in our unenlightened state.
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Nimitta:
| Mental image, vision
|
|
Noble Eightfold Path:
|
This is the pathway to enlightenment, combining wisdom, morality and meditation. The eight factors are: right understanding,
right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.
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Pali:
|
This is the language that the early Buddhist scriptures, the Tipitaka, were written in.
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|
Panchabigna:
| phenomena known as clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition and psychokinesis.
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|
Panna:
| Wisdom
|
|
Parikamma:
| Preparatory practice for meditation
|
|
Parinibbana:
|
This is the entry into nibbana at death for one who has attained enlightenment in this life.
For this individual, there are no further rebirths.
|
|
Paticcasamuppada:
|
Dependent origination. This is a Buddhist analysis of existence in terms of cause and effect. There are twelve links to this,
forming a circle. The starting point is ignorance which leads to the following in turn: volition, consciousness, mental and physical
existence, sense organs, sense impressions, feeling, craving, clinging, process of existence, rebirth, decay and death.
To destroy craving (tanha), therefore, is to break the circle.
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|
Piti:
| Rapture, joy, delight
|
|
Punarbhava:
| Rebirth --
Buddhism, like Hinduism, adheres to the view that at death beings are reborn. However, unlike Hinduism, the idea of a
permanent self or soul that passes from one birth to the next is denied. Beings are reborn according to their deeds, according
to the seeds they sow. Good deeds will lead to rebirth as a human or a god. Bad deeds lead to rebirth in one of the hell worlds or
as a ghost or an animal. (Tibetan)
|
|
Rupa:
| Material form, referring to the body in the five khandhas
|
|
Sacca:
| Truth
|
|
Saddha:
| Faith
|
|
Samadhi:
| Calm
|
|
Samatha:
|
Calm meditation. This is one of two principal methods of Buddhist meditation. The emphasis at first is on attaining concentration
or 'one-pointedness'. As the practice deepens, states of great joy known as jhanas can be entered into. Samatha meditation is seen
to have many benefits, offering tranquility of mind and body. However, for attaining nibbana, vipassana meditation is needed.
Often both types of meditational practice are combined so they should not be seen as necessarily in conflict with each other.
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|
Sammuti:
| Conventional, relative truth, accepted opinion
|
|
Sampajanna:
| Clear comprehension
|
|
Samsara:
| The alternation of birth and death, sometimes called the "Wheel of Birth and Death".;
This is explained by reference to the other alternating processes of life - day and night, waking and sleeping, the seasons, etc.
The rise of a wave is one "birth7quot; and the fall one "death." The size of each is conditioned by the
force of the previous one, itself being the progenitor of the succeeding wave. The process infinitely repeated is birth-and-death.
Death is only a pause for rest in the life-process of the individual and arises because his physical body is worn out.
But this wearing out does not imply the end of his life-process, and new bodies are created in order that he may continue
to work out his karma. -- The world of relativity; the transformation which all phenomena, including our thoughts and feelings,
are ceaselessly undergoing in accordance with the law of causation.
|
|
Samudaya:
| Cause, uprising (referring to the uprising of dukkha)
|
|
Sangha:
|
The Buddhist community of monks and nuns. The third of the three refuges/jewels.
|
|
Sankhara:
| All conditioned things
|
|
Sanna:
| Perceptions, memory, labels
|
|
Sati:
| Mindfulness
|
|
Satipatthana:
| The practice and method of developing mindfulness
|
|
Sila:
| Morality, Virtue, Following the Precepts
|
|
Sotapanna:
| "One who enters the stream" to Nibbana
|
|
Sukha:
| Happiness
|
|
Sunyata
|
Emptiness of self. The idea in Mahayana Buddhism that nothing has a self, soul or essence, that the world is made up of a
stream of ever changing mental and physical phenomena.
|
|
Sutra
|
Discourse. Sutta (Pali), Sutra (Sanskrit) consists of the Buddhist teaching on a particular aspect of the doctrine.
It is from these, written down in the Pali Canon (tipitaka), that form the basis of Buddhism.
|
|
Tanha:
|
Craving. This is the second noble truth. Craving causes suffering because we constantly desire what is ultimately passing and impermanent.
|
|
Tathagata:
|
Thus gone one. A term the Buddha used about himself as an individual who has brought an end to suffering and has reached nibbana.
|
|
Theravada:
| "Way of the elders", Buddhism of the southern school found in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia,
parts of south Vietnam and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia
|
|
Three Jewels:
|
The Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. Jewels, as precious stones, signify the extent to which these three essentials of Buddhism are valued.
|
|
Ti-Lakkhana:
| (The Three Marks of Existence) -- The three characteristics of existence, dukkha, impermanence, no-self
|
|
Tipitaka:
|
(The Three Baskets) -- This is the Pali term for the earliest Buddhist scripture known as the Pali canon.
It consists of three categories of writings: Discipline (Vinaya Pitaka), Discourses (Sutta Pitaka) and Higher Teachings (Abhidhamma Pitaka).
The first consists of a list of rules for monks and nuns. The second comprises the teachings of the Buddha arranged into discourses (suttas).
The third provides a philosophical and psychological systemization of the Buddha's teaching.
|
|
Upacara:
| Approach, access, the name of the second stage of samadhi
|
|
Upekkha:
| Equanimity
|
|
Vajra:
|
In Vajrayana Buddhism, the vajra is a diamond (but can also be
translated as thunderbolt). It symbolizes what are seen to be essential
qualities of Buddhism. Just as the diamond is hard, so the Buddha's
teachings are indestructible. The power of the thunderbolt is similar
to the power of the Buddha's message that has the power to cut through
ignorance and lead all beings to enlightenment.
|
|
Vatta:
| Circular, a round, unbroken, self-continuing cycle
|
|
Vedana:
| Feeling (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral)
|
|
Vibhava:
| Wanting to change, not wanting the present status to remain,
not wanting to be
|
|
Vimutti:
| Freedom, liberation
|
|
Vinaya:
| The Buddhist rules (usually only referring to monkâs rules)
|
|
Vipassana:
|
Insight meditation. A form of meditation widely practiced in Theravada Buddhism in particular. Its purpose is to get us to see
things as they really are; to realize experientially that all things have the underlying characteristics of suffering, impermanence
and not-self.
|
|
Visuddhi:
| Purity
|
|
Vijja:
| Knowledge
|
|
Zazen:
|
Sitting meditation. This is a form of meditation widely practiced in the Zen school of Buddhism. In one sense, this form of
meditation is simply just sitting, often with a blank wall in front of one. The idea is to let go of thoughts and let the Buddha
nature emerge naturally from within. Paradoxically, one shouldn't strive to attain anything otherwise the original pure mind,
the Buddha nature, will remain obscured.
|
|
Zen:
|
Japanese; Ch'an (Chinese); a branch of Mahayana Buddhism which developed in China during the sixth and seventh
centuries after Bodhidharma arrived; it later divided into the Soto and Rinzai schools; Zen stresses the importance
of the enlightenment experience and the futility of rational thought, intellectual study and religious ritual in
attaining this; a central element of Zen is zazen, a meditative practice which seeks to free the mind of all thought
and conceptualization.
|
