Glossary

Glossary

Abhidhamma: (1) In the discourses of the Pāli 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 treatises collating lists of categories drawn from the teachings in the discourses, added to the Canon several centuries after the Buddha’s life.

Ājīvaka: A contemplative sectarian who espouses the doctrine that action is either non-existent or ineffectual.

Arahant: A “worthy one” or “pure one;” a person whose mind is free of defilement and thus is not destined for further rebirth. A title for the Buddha and the highest level of his noble disciples.

Āsava: Effluent; fermentation. Three qualities—sensuality, becoming, and ignorance—that “flow out” of the mind and create the flood of the round of death and rebirth. In some texts, views are added as an additional āsava.

Asura: A member of a race of beings who, like the Titans in Greek mythology, battled the devas for sovereignty in heaven and lost.

Avijjā: Ignorance; lack of skill.

Bhikkhu: Monk.

Bhikkhunī: Nun.

Bodhi: Awakening.

Bodhisatta: “A being (striving) for awakening;” the term used to describe the Buddha before he actually became Buddha, from his first aspiration to Buddhahood until the time of his full awakening. Sanskrit form: Bodhisattva.

Brahman: In common usage, a brahman is a member of the priestly caste, which claimed to be the highest caste in India, based on birth. In a specifically Buddhist usage, “brahman” can also mean an arahant, conveying the point that excellence is based, not on birth or race, but on the qualities attained in the mind.

Brahmā: An inhabitant of the heavenly realms of form or formlessness.

Deva (-tā): Literally, “shining one.” An inhabitant of the terrestrial or heavenly realms higher than the human.

Dhamma: (1) Event; action; (2) a phenomenon in and of itself; (3) mental quality; (4) doctrine, teaching. The True Dhamma is the Dhamma as taught by the Buddha, free from the admixture of conflicting teachings. Sanskrit form: Dharma.

Dukkha: Suffering; stress; pain.

Gandhabba: Celestial musician, the lowest level of the celestial devas, often portrayed as tricksters who are obsessed with sex.

Gotama: The Buddha’s clan name.

Iddhipāda: Base of power. The Canon describes the four bases of power as qualities that can be dominant in the practice of concentration: desire, persistence, intent, and discrimination.

Jhāna: Mental absorption. A state of strong concentration focused on a single sensation or mental notion. This term is derived from the verb jhāyati, which means to burn with a steady, still flame. In the context of the bodhisatta’s austerities, this denotes the painful trance that comes from stifling one’s in-and-out breathing. In the context of the noble eightfold path, it denotes the four absorptions that begin with non-sensual pleasure and culminated in purity of mindfulness and equanimity.

Kamma: Intentional act. Sanskrit form: Karma.

Khandha: Aggregate. Physical and mental phenomena as they are directly experienced; the raw material for a sense of self: rūpa—physical form; vedanā—feelings of pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain; saññā—perception, mental label; saṅkhāra—fabrication, thought construct; and viññāṇa—sensory consciousness, the act of taking note of sense data and ideas as they make contact with the senses. Sanskrit form: Skandha.

Mātikā: A list of Dhamma topics—such as the seven lists that comprise the thirty-seven Wings to Awakening—that formed the basis for the Abhidhamma.

Māra: The personification of temptation, mortality, and all forces, within and without, that create obstacles to release from saṁsāra.

Nāga: 1) A magical serpent, technically classed as a common animal, but possessing many of the powers of a deva, including the ability to take on human shape. 2) A large elephant. 3) A large man. Sometimes this term is used metaphorically, in the sense of “Great One,” to indicate an arahant.

Nibbāna: Literally, the “unbinding” of the mind from passion, aversion, and delusion, and from the entire round of death and rebirth. As this term also denotes the extinguishing of a fire, it carries connotations of stilling, cooling, and peace. “Total nibbāna” in some contexts denotes the experience of awakening; in others, the final passing away of an arahant. Sanskrit form: Nirvāṇa.

Nigaṇṭha: Literally, “one without ties.” An ascetic in the Jain religion.

Nikāya: A large group. The suttas in the Pāli Canon are organized into five such groups, the first four being generally considered the earliest records of the Buddha’s teachings on Dhamma. The fifth group, although it contains many collections regarded as later, contains other collections that are considered early as well.

Pāli: The oldest complete extant Canon of the Buddha’s teachings and—by extension—the language in which it was composed.

Papañca: Objectification. A type of thinking that begins with the assumption “I am the thinker,” and then develops perceptions and needs based around that assumption. Frequently cited in the suttas as a source of conflict.

Pārājika: The most serious offense in the Vinaya. Any monk who commits this offense is automatically no longer a monk and cannot reordain in this lifetime.

Pāṭimokkha: Basic code of monastic discipline, composed of 227 rules for monks and 311 for nuns.

Pavāraṇā: Invitation. A monastic ceremony marking the end of the Rains residence on the full moon in October. During the ceremony, each monk invites his fellow monks to accuse him of any offenses they may have suspected him of having committed.

Sakya: The Buddha’s family name.

Saṁsāra: Transmigration; the process of wandering through repeated states of becoming, with their attendant death and rebirth.

Saṁvega: A sense of dismay or terror over the meaninglessness and futility of life as it is ordinarily lived, combined with a strong sense of urgency in looking for a way out.

Saṅgha: 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.

Saṅghādisesa: The second most serious category of offense in the Vinaya. Any monk who commits this offense most undergo a penance of six days. If he hides the offense from his fellow monks, then when he is found out he must also undergo an added probation for as many days as he hid it.

Sutta: Discourse. Sanskrit form: Sūtra.

Tādin: “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.

Tathāgata: Literally, “one who has become authentic (tatha-āgata) or is truly gone (tathā-gata)”: an epithet used in ancient India for a person who has attained the highest religious goal. In Buddhism, it usually denotes the Buddha, although occasionally it also denotes any of his arahant disciples.

Upādāna: Clinging; the act of taking sustenance. There are four types of clinging: to sensuality, to views, to habits and practices, and to doctrines of the self.

Uposatha: Observance day, coinciding with the full moon, new moon, and half-moons. Lay Buddhists often observe the eight precepts on this day. Monks recite the Pāṭimokkha on the full-moon and new-moon Uposathas.

Vinaya: The monastic discipline, whose rules and traditions comprise six volumes in printed text.

Yakkha: Spirit. A lower level of deva—sometimes friendly to human beings, sometimes not—often dwelling in trees or other wild places.