Buddhism Vocab

Camille & Patrick

Dukkha/ dukha (suffering)

Birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief & despair are all dukkha. Not getting what one wants, and leaving loved ones are both dukkha.

Tanha/ Trishna (craving)

Suffering is a result of craving, Tanha/ Trishna. There are three basic forms of Tanha; these include lusty craving, craving to live, and the death wish.

Anicca/ Anitya (change)

Is the concept of impermanence; the non-lasting nature of the world.

Anatta/Anatman (lack of permanent self)

Anatta is the absence of a soul. The Anatta doctrine encourages for Buddhists to detach themselves from “his or her self”.

Nirvana/ Nibbana (enlightenment)

Is a state attained from the complete liberation from dukkha, suffering.

Arhat/ Arahant (enlightened person)

Signifies a spiritual practitioner who has who has realized certain high stages of attainment.

Samsara (cycle of life)

Is the cycle of birth, life and death that continues until enlightenment is achieved.

Kamma/ Karma (action leading to a state of rebirth)

Are the actions that and individual does, which determines their state of rebirth. If the individual’s karma/ kamma is good then they can escape samsara or are reborn into a higher state of life.

Buddha (enlightened or awakened one)

This means “one who is awake” in the sense of having “woken up to reality.” This title was first given to a man named Siddartha Gautama, who lived 2,500 years ago in northern India.

Bodhissata/ Bodhisattva (an enlightened one who strives for the enlightenment of others)

It is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, attains enlightenment, and strives to help others attain enlightenment as well.

Sangha (community)

A community with similar goals, which often times are monks.

Dhamma/ Dharma (teachings of Buddha)

These are teachings and doctrines of Buddha that describe why the world is the way it with life lessons.

Bhavana (mental discipline or meditation/formal training)

“spiritual cultivation” / “development of body and mind”

Karuna (compassion)

Active sympathy, gentle affection and a willingness to bear the pain of others.

Maya

Maya, in Sanskrit, means illusion or enchantment, but the mother of Siddhartha Gautama was also named Maya.

Upaya

Upaya refers to something, which brings one up. It is often used with cleverness to infer skill in means and to encourage practicing Buddhists to find their own way to reach enlightenment.

Lama

This is the title of a teacher of the dharma. It is similar in meaning to guru. It can also be used as monk, nun, a symbol of high achievement, or in titles to show lineages.

Mudras

Mudras are symbolic gestures used in practice to evoke particular ideas or buddhas in the mind during meditation.

The Three Jewls

The three jewels are taking refuge in the Buddha, Refuge in the Dharma, and refuge in the Sangha

Theravada

Theravada is translated as the “way of the elders”, or “doctrine of the elders” and is considered to be the oldest surviving method of the Buddha’s teachings.

Mahayana

This can be translated to “the Great Vehicle” because it is more easily accessible for the general public rather than to just monks and ascetics.

Mandala

In Sanskrit, Mandala means circle and in Buddhism and Hinduism the sacred art usually takes the form of a circle. They are used to represent the universe and can be made with colored rice, colored sand, stone, metal, or painted.

Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path is the path or the steps one must participate in to reach enlightenment and end suffering. It is the practical guideline to ethical and moral development with the goal of freeing oneself from the attachments of the physical world.

- Prajna is wisdom in Buddhism and is a step toward achieving enlightenment

- Sila is the moral and ethical conduct in buddhism and is heavily influenced in the five precepts and in the step of Right Action.

- Samadhi is concentration or composing of the mind and refers mostly to meditation and.

Four Noble Truths

These are the fundamental teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. They taught that life is suffering, suffering is caused by “desire”, there is a way to end the suffering, and to follow the eightfold path.

- Dukkha is suffering in sanskrit and life is suffering to Buddhists

- Tanha is what causes Dukkha and is desire or craving

Five Precepts

The Five Precepts make up the general code of ethics in Buddhism that are undertaken by everyday followers. They are much like the Ten Commandments but these encourage in abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication. They are not imperative but more guidelines.

Skandhas

The Skandhas are the five elements that summarize and individual’s existence. These are matter or body, sensations or feelings, senses or perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness or awareness.

Trikaya

The Trikaya is a dctrine teaching of the three bodies of the Buddha. These bodies are the created body, the body of mutual enjoyment, and the body of truth.

Tripitaka

The Tripitaka is also known as the Pali Canon and is a collection of texts from the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism. It is divided into three parts – the Vinaya Pitaka which concerns governing of daily affairs – the Sutta Pitaka which is the set of discourses attributed to the Buddha and his followers and containing the central most teachings of Buddhism – The Abhidhamma Pitaka which highlights the underlying principles presented in the Sutta Pitaka.