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Glossary

Key concepts of Buddhism and the Pali Canon

74 terms

Ānanda Ānanda The Buddha's cousin, his personal attendant for 25 years, and the traditional voice behind "Thus have I heard" at the start of the suttas.

Personalities →

Anatta anattā Non-self - the absence of a permanent, unchanging self. One of the three marks of existence, pointing to the impersonal nature of all phenomena

Anicca anicca Impermanence, changeability - the fundamental characteristic of all conditioned existence and the foundation of mindfulness practice

Appamada appamāda Heedfulness, diligence - a sustained caring awareness, one of the key concepts in Buddhist practice

Arahant arahant A fully liberated being who has destroyed all mental defilements, ended suffering, and broken the cycle of rebirth

Asavas āsavā Cravings, defilements, flows: āsava literally means what "flows" or "seeps". Asavas both intoxicate the mind and poison it.

Avijjā The first link in dependent origination and the hardest thing to notice. After all, it is genuinely difficult to notice something you do not know.

Interdependent Origination →

Avijjā avijjā Avijjā is ignorance of the Four Noble Truths, the first link of dependent origination and a distortion we can learn to recognize through its effects.

Interdependent Origination →

Bhava bhava Becoming, existence - the tenth link of dependent origination: the process of forming a new mode of being once it has gathered momentum

Interdependent Origination →

Bojjhaṅga satta bojjhaṅgā Seven interrelated qualities that support awakening, from mindfulness and investigation to concentration and equanimity.

Brahma-viharas brahma-vihāra The 'Divine Abodes' - four sublime states of mind: metta, karuna, mudita, and upekkha

Brahmaviharas →

Buddha buddha The Awakened One - not a name but a title for one who has realized the truth and is fully liberated from suffering

Personalities →

Cetana cetanā Intention, volition - the volitional impulse from which action arises. It is precisely this that the Buddha calls kamma

Doctrine Ethics →

Dāna dāna Generosity, giving. One of the three bases of merit (the other two are sīla - ethical conduct, and bhāvanā - spiritual practice).

Dependent Origination paṭiccasamuppāda The law of conditionality of all phenomena, describing the mechanism of suffering through twelve interconnected links

Interdependent Origination →

Devadatta devadatta The Buddha's cousin and monk who became his chief antagonist - an illustration of power without wisdom

Personalities →

Dhamma dhamma The universal law of reality and the Buddha's teaching, the second of the Three Jewels. The word also means virtue and mental phenomena

Dukkha dukkha Unsatisfactoriness, suffering - the first Noble Truth, encompassing all forms of vulnerability inherent in conditioned existence

False Views The suttas repeatedly give the formula of the view of denial (natthika-diṭṭhi): ten points the Buddha calls false views (MN41, 60, 76, 110, 117).

Five Aggregates khandhā Five groups of psychophysical phenomena whose interaction gives rise to experience and the illusion of a permanent self

Four Noble Truths cattāri ariyasaccāni The foundational teaching of Buddhism - a practical analysis of the human condition: suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path to liberation

Four Stages of Awakening ariya-puggala The four stages of awakening in Theravada - from stream-enterer to arahant

Hiri and ottappa hiri-ottappa Moral shame and moral dread - the two "guardians of the world" that protect against unwholesome deeds from within and through understanding consequences

Jati, jaramarana jāti, jarāmaraṇa Birth and ageing-and-death - the eleventh and twelfth links of dependent origination, the end of the chain

Interdependent Origination →

Jhana jhāna A state of deep meditative absorption, temporarily free from hindrances, achieved through systematic mental training

Kalyāṇa-mittatā kalyāṇa-mittatā Kalyāṇa - "beautiful, wholesome", mitta - "friend". Spiritual friendship: good friends help us move toward liberation. In SN 45.2 the Buddha calls it the entire holy life.

Kamma kamma The law of cause and effect - intentional actions shape habits, perception, and experience, creating conditions for the future

Ethics Doctrine →

Karuna karuṇā Compassion without suffering - the second brahmavihāra, an active wish to remove the suffering of another being

Brahmaviharas →

Kilesas (Defilements) upakkilesa Mental defilements - the emotional coloring of perception that prevents seeing reality as it truly is

Mara māra A multi-layered figure in Buddhism - at once a character, a metaphor and a cosmic force representing everything that obstructs liberation

Metta mettā Goodwill, loving-kindness - the first of the four brahmavihāras, a stable attitude of active friendliness toward all beings

Brahmaviharas →

Moggallana moggallāna One of the Buddha's two chief disciples, master of supernatural powers, embodiment of energy and mental strength

Personalities →

Mudita muditā Sympathetic joy - the third brahmavihāra, sincere joy in another's happiness without appropriation or comparison

Brahmaviharas →

Namarupa nāmarūpa Mentality-and-materiality - the two inseparable aspects of psychophysical existence that form the basis of perception

Nekkhamma nekkhamma Renunciation - a conscious letting go of the superfluous, a turn from getting to becoming free, part of right intention

Practice Ethics →

Nibbana nibbāna Complete cessation of suffering and its causes - an unconditioned state of mind, the ultimate goal of the Noble Eightfold Path

Cosmology Doctrine →

Noble Eightfold Path ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo The Fourth Noble Truth - a practical path to the cessation of suffering comprising eight interconnected factors

Panna paññā Wisdom - direct insight into the nature of things, immediate realization of the three marks of existence

Doctrine Meditation →

Papanca papañca Mental proliferation - the uncontrolled multiplication of thoughts, judgments and interpretations from a single sensation

Phassa phassa Contact - the meeting of a sense faculty, its object and the corresponding consciousness, the sixth link of dependent origination

Interdependent Origination →

Punna puñña Merit - a wholesome action and the kammic potential it creates: a seed capable of ripening into fortunate circumstances

Ethics Doctrine →

Rupa rūpa Form and materiality - the first of the five aggregates: the body, the sense faculties and the forms they perceive

Saddhā saddhā Trust, conviction, confidence. Often translated as "faith," which is not quite accurate: the word comes with contexts we attach to it automatically.

Salayatana saḷāyatana The six sense bases - eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind: the working stations through which all experience is assembled

Interdependent Origination →

Samadhi samādhi Mental concentration - a state of complete collectedness and one-pointedness of mind, an instrument for developing insight

Sampajanna sampajañña Clear comprehension - vigilant awareness of the context and quality of experience, complementing sati (mindfulness)

Samsara saṃsāra The cycle of birth and death - an endless process of conditioned existence that continues as long as ignorance and craving persist

Samvega saṁvega A feeling of spiritual urgency and noble 'haste' in the pursuit of liberation from the suffering of samsara

Saṁyojanas saṁyojana Ten fetters bind the mind to saṃsāra. A practitioner's stage of liberation depends on which fetters have been broken or weakened.

Sangha saṅgha Community of practitioners - one of the Three Jewels of Buddhism, those who walk the path of the Dhamma together

Sankharas saṅkhārā Volitional formations - intentions or mental constructions that shape our experience and sustain the cycle of rebirth

Aggregates Doctrine →

Sanna saññā Perception and recognition - the third of the five aggregates: the capacity to distinguish the marks of experience before any thinking

Sariputta sāriputta The Buddha's chief disciple, embodiment of wisdom, known as the 'General of the Dhamma'

Personalities →

Sati sati Mindfulness, recollection. In the canon: the seventh factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, the first of the seven factors of awakening and the core of satipaṭṭhāna practice.

Satipatthana satipaṭṭhāna Foundations of mindfulness - four domains of observation for developing clarity, purifying the mind, and ending suffering

Sila sīla Moral discipline - one of the three pillars of Buddhist practice, encompassing right speech, right action, and right livelihood

Suchness tathatā The nature of things in their unconditioned truth - reality as it is, free from concepts and the division into subject and object

Taṇhā taṇhā The heart of the second noble truth: the source of suffering. Literally "thirst," like a desert traveler's dry throat that drives him on in search of water.

Doctrine Interdependent Origination →

Tathagata tathāgata Epithet of the Buddha - 'Thus Come' or 'Thus Gone', one who has realized the suchness of things and transcended conditioned existence

Personalities →

The Five and Eight Precepts pañcasīla The basic set of rules that frames a lay Buddhist's ethics. Although sīla is often rendered as "precepts," this list is closer to "training rules" (sikkhāpada).

The Five Hindrances pañca nīvaraṇāni Nīvaraṇa literally means "covering" or "barrier": what veils the mind as a cloud veils the sun. While the hindrances are active, neither jhāna nor insight is within reach.

The Middle Way majjhimā paṭipadā The Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha, leading to the end of suffering through wisdom, ethical conduct and spiritual discipline while avoiding extreme views and practices.

Upadana upādāna Clinging, grasping - the ninth link of Dependent Origination, the active seizing that fuels the fire of samsara

Upaya upāya-kosalla Skillful means - Buddhist methods of teaching and practice tailored to specific situations and levels of understanding

Upekkha upekkhā Equanimity, imperturbable clarity - the fourth brahmavihara and the foundation for the other three sublime states

Brahmaviharas Meditation →

Uposatha uposatha The regular observance day: for monastics, recitation of the Patimokkha; for lay people, intensified practice and the eight precepts

Practice Ethics →

Vedanā vedanā The feeling tone of experience: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral (neither pleasant nor unpleasant). One of the most important concepts in Buddhism and a key to practice.

Vimutti vimutti Liberation - what happens to the mind on the way out of samsara: it is released from a cage it largely built itself

Vinnana viññāṇa Consciousness - the fifth aggregate and third link of dependent origination: the act of cognising an object, not a soul and not an observer

Aggregates Interdependent Origination →

Vipassanā vipassanā Vipassanā literally means "special seeing": the ability to see things as they really are.

Viriya viriya Viriya is the steady energy of practice: cultivating wholesome states, abandoning unwholesome ones, and finding an effort you can sustain.

Wellbeing Cascade A sequence of spiritual evolution: virtuous habits give rise to well-being, joy, tranquility, happiness, and concentration

Wholesome and Unwholesome Actions kusala-akusala kammapatha The ten courses of wholesome and unwholesome action - patterns of kamma creation through body, speech, and mind

Yoniso Manasikara yoniso manasikāra Thorough, wise attention - a way of examining experience according to its source, the primary internal condition for right view

Practice Doctrine →