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(Skt.) Sanskrit; (Pali) Pali; (Tib.) Tibetan; (Chin.) Chinese; (Jap.) Japanese.
A A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
abhava (Skt.) non-existent; a non-entity.
Abhidharmakosha, Abhidharmakosa (Skt.) Treasure Chamber of the Abhidharma, compilation of the Sarvastivada teaching, compiled by Vasubandhu in Kashmir in the 5th century.
abhidhatavya (Skt.) what is to be designated by words.
abhipraya (Skt.) intention, purpose, purport.
abhishtapratijña, abhistapratijña (Skt.) preferred proposition.
abhrantajñana (Skt.) nonerroneous cognition or awareness.
abhutva (Skt.) without prior existence.
abhyudaya (Skt.) increase, progress, prosperity; in Hinduism, material or worldly prosperity or excellence.
abhyupagama (Skt.) presupposition.
adhama (Skt.) low.
adhigama (Skt.) attainment, realization.
adhigata (Skt.) attained, realized.
adhilaya (Skt.) obsession; refutation.
adhipateya (Skt.) decisive factor.
adhipateya-pratyaya (Skt.) dominant condition.
adhva (Skt.) sector of a trajectory.
adhvajata (Skt.) trajectory.
adhvan (Skt.) time, period.
adhyaropa (Skt.) forcing distorting ideas onto things.
adhyatma (Skt.) internal.
adhyatmikayatana (Skt.) subjective poles of consciousness.
adi (Skt.) beginning.
advaita (Skt.) without duality, having no duplicate; sole, unique.
advaitavada (Skt.) theory of ontological non-difference or identity; Yogachara is an advaitavada, and not an advayavada (T.R.V. Murti, V. Bhattacharyya).
Advaita-Vedanta (Skt.) belief in Hinduism, developed in India by Shankara early in the 9th century, in the identity of Brahman (God) and the atman (soul).
advaya (Skt.) not two, without a second, unique, nondual; non-duality; indicator of the truth of things.
advayavada (Skt.) doctrine of nonacceptance of either of two extreme views; transcendence of the dichotomy of existence and non-existence, eternity and destruction.
Advayavada Buddhism a secular form of Buddhism, which postulates progress (pratipada) as the fourth sign or mark of being and considers the Middle Way (madhyama-pratipad, ashtangika-marga) as a reflexion, at the human level and in human terms, of this fundamental property of overall existence. The purpose of Advayavada Buddhism is 'to become a true part of the whole'.
Advayavadananda Buddhist name of John Willemsens (1934), co-founder and the current chairman of the Advayavada Foundation and the director of its mouthpiece, the Advayavada Buddhism Information Center, of Amsterdam.
agama (Skt.) appear, come into existence; testimony; authorative scripture; general name for Theravada scriptures.
agata (Skt.) come (see thatagata).
agra (Skt.) beginning.
agrihita, agrhita (Skt.) uncomprehended; incomprehensible.
aham iti (Skt.) I am.
ahamkara (Skt.) the pervasive I-me sense; mamakara is the pervasive sense of mine.
ahetu (Skt.) without cause.
ajiva (Skt.) livelihood.
akara (Skt.) image, aspect.
akasha, akasa (Skt.) space.
aklistajñana (Skt.) unafflicted ignorance.
akritrima (Skt.) cannot be artificially produced.
akushala, akusala (Skt.) karmically unwholesome; the three evil or unwholesome roots (akushala-mulas) are: greed (lobha) or craving, depicted as a red cock; anger or hatred (dvesha), depicted as a green snake; and delusion (moha) arising from ignorance or foolishness, depicted as a black pig. Also called the three afflictions, fires or poisons.
alam (Skt.) adequate.
alambana (Skt.) objective support; objective basis or cause of perception.
alaya-vijñana (Skt.) store-house (or eighth) consciousness of sentient beings in the Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism, seen as a reservoir of all ideas, memories, and desires.
aloka (Skt.) light.
Amitabha, Amitayus (Skt.) the Buddha of Infinite Light, a transcendent (imaginary, mythical, make-believe) buddha; he rules over Sukhavati, the mythical Western Paradise.
Amidism a religious form of Buddhism, venerating the buddha Amitabha (Jap. Amida, Chin. Omito), popular in particularly Japan and China; there are several schools of this so-called tariki (other-power) form of Buddhism, which promises rebirth in the "pure land" ruled by the buddha Amitabha (Sukhavati).
amoha (Skt.) absence of ignorance or delusion.
amrita, amrta (Skt.) immortal, immortality; eternal.
amsha, amsa (Skt.) a part.
anagama (Skt.) non-appearance.
anagamya (Skt.) unattainable.
anagata (Skt.) what is not yet realized; the future.
anaikantikahetu (Skt.) uncertain reason.
ananta (Skt.) infinite.
anantara (Skt.) immediate; immediately preceding.
anantara-pratyaya (Skt.) continuous or consequential condition.
anantavat (Skt.) infinite, not finite.
anapaya (Skt.) indefeasible; inelictable.
anapeksha, anapeksa (Skt.) unrelated; independent.
anapekshya, anapeksya (Skt.) no mutual dependency.
anatta (Pali) see anatman.
anatman (Skt.) without a self or self-nature, selfless; therefore finite; denial of the atman; the Buddhist anatmata doctrine teaches that 'no self exists in the sense of a permanent, eternal, integral, and independent substance within an individual existent'; a fundamental precept in Buddhism that 'since there is no subsistent reality to be found in or underlying appearances, there cannot be a subsistent self or soul in the human appearance'; everything arises, abides, changes, and extinguishes according to pratityasamutpada; one of the three (in Advayavada Buddhism, four) signs or marks or basic facts of being (see further anitya, duhkha, and pratipada, and also shunyata).
anatmata (Skt.) selflessness (see further anatman).
anavaragra (Skt.) without prior end or purpose.
anavastha (Skt.) endless series; ad infinitum; infinite regress, groundlessness in an argument.
anavasthayitva (Skt.) instability; changeableness.
anicca (Pali) see anitya.
aniksha, aniksa (Skt.) incapable of perception.
anishcaya, aniscaya (Skt.) negative assertion making cognitive claim.
anitya (Skt.) impermanent, changeable, unstable; the Buddhist anityata doctrine teaches that impermanence or changeability is one of the fundamental properties of everything existing, without which existence would not be possible; it is also the precondition for the possibility of attaining liberation; one of the three (in Advayavada Buddhism, four) signs or marks or basic facts of being (see further anatman, duhkha, and pratipada, and also shunyata).
anityata (Skt.) impermanence; transient existence or nature (see further anitya).
añjana (Skt.) proposition.
anonya (Skt.) mutual; together.
anta (Skt.) end, limit; extreme; one-sided view.
antara (Skt.) between; mediate.
antavat (Skt.) finite.
anubhava (Skt.) perception; experience; unmediated knowledge.
anuccheda (Skt.) non-annihilation.
anukampa (Skt.) compassion, sympathy.
anumana (Skt.) inference or reasoning.
anumana-pramana (Skt.) valid knowledge acquired by inference or reasoning, as compared to knowledge by direct perception (pratyaksha-pramana).
anupadaya (Skt.) beyond dependence.
anupalabdha (Skt.) not experienced; inexperienciable.
anupalambha (Skt.) having no sense of; not perceiving.
anupashyana, anupasyana (Skt.) contemplation; way of regarding.
anutpada (Skt.) non-origination.
anutpatti (Skt.) non-arisal in time.
anvaya (Skt.) positive concomitance.
anya (Skt.) other, another, different.
anyatha (Skt.) otherwise; differently.
anyathabhava (Skt.) alteration, change.
anyathatva (Skt.) difference; otherness.
apadyate (Skt.) it follows or ensues.
apakarshana, apakarsana (Skt.) elimination.
apara (Skt.) posterior.
aparapratyaya (Skt.) non-relational to another entity.
aparoksha, aparoksa (Skt.) not mediated.
aparyayaparamartha (Skt.) inexpressible or nonconceptual ultimate.
apavada (Skt.) verbal denial of existence.
apeksha, apeksa (Skt.) dependence, mutuality; contingent, contingency.
aprasanga (Skt.) what does not follow logically.
apratitya (Skt.) non-dependent.
apravritti, apravrtti (Skt.) the ceasing to function as.
arahant (Pali) see arhat.
arhat (Skt.) lit. worthy one, person who has attained the highest level in Theravada Buddhism.
ariya-magga (Pali) see arya-marga.
artha (Skt.) purpose; meaning; object(ive).
arthakriya (Skt.) effective or purposeful action.
arthakriyakari (Skt.) efficacious.
arya (Skt.) a wise man; often a synonym for yogi.
Aryadeva, Kanadeva disciple of Nagarjuna, probably born in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century.
aryamarga (Skt.) lit. the noble path, ashtangika-marga.
aryasatya (Skt.) noble truth; the four noble truths of Buddhism are (1) the truth of suffering (duhkha), (2) the truth of the origin (samudaya) of suffering, which is caused by trishna, (3) the truth of the cessation (nirodha) of suffering, and (4) the truth of the path (madhyama-pratipad, ashtangika-marga) that leads to the cessation of suffering, which includes the practice of discipline, meditation and intuitive wisdom.
asambaddha (Skt.) incoherent.
asamjñika (Skt.) non-conceptual realm.
asamkhya (Skt.) innumerable, infinite.
asamskrita, asamskrta (Skt.) indeterminate; indescribable; the unconditioned dharmas, or things.
Asanga the founder of the Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism, and initiator of its subtradition Chittamatra, who lived in India in the 4th to 5th century and was the brother of Vasubhandu.
asat (Skt.) non-existent.
asattva (Skt.) non-existence.
ashraya, asraya (Skt.) base, substrate.
ashtangika-marga, astangika-marga (Skt.) the noble eightfold path, traditionally composed of right or perfect view, right or perfect intention or resolve, right or perfect speech, right or perfect action or conduct, right or perfect livelihood, right or perfect effort, right or perfect mindfulness, and right or perfect concentration; in Advayavada Buddhism it is interpreted dynamically as an autonomous and non-prescriptive process of progressive insight and is composed of (1) our very best (samyak) comprehension followed by (2) our very best resolution, (3) our very best enunciation, (4) our very best disposition or attitude, (5) our very best implementation, (6) our very best effort, (7) our very best observation or reflection (and self-correction), and (8) our very best meditation or concentration towards samadhi, which brings us to (1) a yet better comprehension, and so forth.
ashuba, asubha (Skt.) bad.
Ashvaghosha, Asvaghosa Mahayana philosopher who lived in India in the 1st to the 2nd century, author of the Buddhacaritam (Acts of the Buddha), and possibly of The Awakening of Faith in Mahayana.
asiddhashraya, asiddhasraya (Skt.) unproven substratum.
asiddhavyapti (Skt.) unproven invariable concomitance.
astamgata (Skt.) ceased; extinguished.
asthita (Skt.) variable in time.
astitva (Skt.) it is-ness, is-ness, being-ness.
asukham (Skt.) unhappy.
asvabhava (Skt.) without self-nature, not self-existent.
Atisha, Atisa (ca. 985-1055) Indian Buddhist scholar who founded the Kadampa school of Tibetan Buddhism. His main disciple was the Tibetan Dromtön (1003-1064).
atita (Skt.) what is past; the past.
atma, atman (Skt.) self; form; in Hinduism, the soul or self; ego; individuality; false conceptualization of the I-me sense (ahamkara); see anatman.
atmasamvedana (Skt.) self-recognition.
atyantashunyata, atyantasunyata (Skt.) the Voidness that is beyond all limits.
avacya (Skt.) indefinable.
avacyata (Skt.) the inexpressible.
Avalokiteshvara, Avalokitesvara (Skt.) the transcendent (imaginary, mythical, make-believe) bodhisattva of compassion (karuna), perhaps the most important boddhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism.
avara (Skt.) beginning; end.
avarana (Skt.) obscuration, obstruction.
avarapara (Skt.) successively.
avasthita (Skt.) determinate; constituted; invariable.
Avatamsakasutra (Skt.) the Garland Sutra; see Buddhavatamsakasutra.
Avatamsaka Buddhism see Hua-yen Buddhism.
avayava (Skt.) part; portion; member.
avidya (Skt.) ignorance, delusion; primal ignorance; the fundamental cause of suffering.
avidyamana (Skt.) non-factual; inexistent.
aviparita (Skt.) inerrant; veritable; description of the Buddhist path.
avisamvadaka (Skt.) free of contradiction.
avisamvadijñana (Skt.) reliable cognition.
avyakrita, avyakrta (Skt.) indeterminate; indescribable.
avyakritavastuni, avyakrtavastuni (Skt.) the (fourteen) non-questions the Buddha declined to answer.
avyavartana (Skt.) incontrovertible.
ayatana (Skt.) seats of perception, sense fields; they number twelve, corresponding to the six sense faculties and their corresponding objects.
ayonisha, ayonisa (Skt.) uncaused; groundless.
B A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
bahyartha (Skt.) external objects.
bala (Skt.) lit. power; the five powers (panchabalani), which are developed by strengthening the five roots or controlling faculties (indriya), are: faith, devotion (shraddha); exertion, perseverence (virya); perfect mindfulness (smriti); perfect concentration (samadhi); and wisdom (prajña). See further bodhipakshika-dharma.
bardo, bar-do (Tib.) lit. in-between state, in Tibetan Buddhism the state supposedly connecting death and rebirth.
Batchelor, Stephen former monk in the Tibetan and Zen traditions born in Scotland in 1953, author of a.o. Buddhism Without Beliefs.
bharanti, bharanta (Skt.) delusion.
bhava (Skt.) being, becoming, existing, occurring; entity.
bhavanamarga (Skt.) in Yogachara, the path of meditation.
bhavanamaya (Skt.) produced by imagination or meditation.
bhavanamaya prajña (Skt.) wisdom or insight produced by meditation.
bhavanamaya vidya (Skt.) knowledge obtained by meditation.
Bhavaviveka, Bhavya (ca. 490-570) the South Indian founder of the Svatantrika sub-school of Madhyamaka Buddhism; the other main sub-school of Madhyamaka Buddhism is the Prasangika school founded by Buddhapalita. Bhavaviveka criticized Prasangika Madhyamaka for merely refuting without advancing an opposite view.
bhikku (Pali) see bhikshu.
bhikkuni (Pali) see bhikshuni.
bhikshu, bhiksu (Skt.) mendicant, fully ordained Buddhist monk.
bhikshuni, bhiksuni (Skt.) mendicant, fully ordained Buddhist nun.
bhranti, bhranta (Skt.) delusion.
bhumi (Skt.) earth; or a stage, e.g. of enlightenment.
bhumishvara, bhumisvara (Skt.) one who has mastered the ten bodhisattva stages.
Bhutatathata (Skt.) Reality, the suchness of reality, the ultimate.
bodhi (Skt.) lit. awakened, i.e. awakened to the true nature of reality; enlightenment, perfect wisdom; the state or "fruit" of the supreme enlightenment of Buddhahood.
Bodhicaryavatara (Skt.) A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, written by Shantideva in the 7th century.
bodhichitta, bodhicitta (Skt.) the thought of awakening, also the awakened mind, the mind awakened to the true nature of reality.
Bodhidharma the founder of Ch'an or Zen Buddhism in China and therefore considered its first patriarch.
bodhipakshikadharma, bodhipaksikadharma (Skt.) lit. things pertaining to enlightenment, the general term for the thirty-seven prerequisites for the attainment of enlightenment (comprising, for many, the entire doctrine of the Buddha): the four foundations of mindfulness (smritiupasthana), the four perfect efforts (samyak-pradhana), the four roads to power (riddhipada), the five roots or controlling factors (indriya), the five powers (bala), the seven limbs of enlightenment (bodhyanga), and the noble eightfold path (ashtangika-marga).
bodhisattva (Skt.) lit. enlightened being, person who has attained buddhahood but postpones 'entry into nirvana' until all beings are saved; the main transcendent (imaginary, mythical, make-believe) bodhisattvas are Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri; also the practitioner of Mahayana Buddhism who aspires to the attainment of enlightenment for the sake of all living beings.
bodhyanga (Skt.) lit. factors of enlightenment, the seven limbs of enlightenment: mindfulness (smriti), discriminative knowledge (dharmavicaya), energy (virya), delight (priti), overcoming the passions (passaddhi), concentration (samadhi), and equanimity (upeksha). See further bodhipakshika-dharma.
bojjhanga (Pali) see bodhyanga.
Bön (Tib.) lit. invocation, recitation, the various religions of Tibet before the introduction of Buddhism in the 8th century, and since the 11th century an independent school that claims to preserve the old Bön traditions.
bönpo (Tib.) Bön priest.
Brahman the Absolute or Ultimate in Hinduism.
brahmaviharas (Skt.) lit. divine dwellings, virtuous states of mind attained by meditation; the four brahma-viharas are: kindness or benevolence (maitri), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), and equanimity (upeksha).
buddha, the Buddha (Skt.) lit. awakened one, the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama.
Buddhacharita, Buddhacarita (Skt.) lit. Life of the Buddha, poetic life story of the Buddha, by Ashvaghosha.
Buddhadharma (Skt.) the teaching of the Buddha.
Buddhaghosa Buddhist scholar and writer; was born in India and moved to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in about 430 A.D.
Buddha-nature the true nature of all beings; the innate capacity of all sentient beings to gain enlightenment; in Advayavada Buddhism, the real (pratityasamutpada) as the true ground of all sentient beings.
Buddhapalita author of the Mulamadhyamakavritti, a commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika, and a founder of the Prasangika sub-school of Madhyamaka Buddhism, probably born in South India in ca. the 5th century.
buddhashasana, buddhasasana (Skt.) lit. message of the Buddha, the Buddhadharma.
buddhata (Skt.) see Buddha-nature.
Buddhavatamsakasutra (Skt.) lit. Sutra of the Garland of the Buddhas (the Garland Sutra), the foundational Mahayana sutra of Hua-yen Buddhism.
buddhi (Skt.) intellect; enlightenment, intelligence, intuition; direct awareness of Reality.
bussho (Jap.) Buddha-nature.
butsu, butsuda (Jap.) buddha, the Buddha.
butsudo (Jap.) lit. buddha way, the Buddhadharma.
C A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
caturtha lakshana (Skt.) in Advayavada Buddhism, the fourth sign or mark or basic fact of being (cf. conatus).
catuttha lakkhana (Pali) see caturtha lakshana.
caturvidhya (Skt.) fourfold method.
catushkoti, catuskoti (Skt.) four alternatives.
chaitanya, caitanya (Skt.) conscious principle.
chaitasa, caitasa (Skt.) see chaitta.
chaitta, caitta (Skt.) content of the mind (chitta).
chakshu, caksu (Skt.) eye; eyesight.
Ch'an (Chin.) Chinese word for dhyana, meditation; Zen.
Chandrakirti, Candrakirti important philosopher of Prasangika Madhyamaka Buddhism, abbot of Nalanda university, probably born in South India in the 6th or early 7th century, author of the Mulamadhyamakavritti Prasannapadanama (the Prasannapada), a seminal commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika. He regarded himself as the successor of Buddhapalita and it was due to his efforts that prasangavakya ('reductio ad absurdum') became the main reasoning method of Madhyamaka.
Chenrezig (Tib.) see Avalokiteshvara.
cheshta, cesta (Skt.) effort.
chetana, cetana (Skt.) volition.
chitta, citta (Skt.) mind, thinking, thought, the mental processes.
chittagochara, cittagocara (Skt.) sphere of thought.
Chittamatra, Cittamatra (Skt.) lit. mind only; subtradition of the Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism, which can be qualified as psychological idealism, initiated by Asanga.
D A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
darshana, darsana, darshan (Skt.) seeing, observing, perception; view, vision; discernment, understanding; insight based on reason.
darshanamarga, darsanamarga (Skt.) way leading to insight.
dassana (Pali) see darshana.
dashabhumi, dasabhumi (Skt.) ten highest stages of bodhisattva attainment.
delusion see avidya.
dependent origination, dependent arising see pratityasamutpada.
deshana, desana (Skt.) teaching.
deva (Skt.) divine being.
dhamma (Pali) see dharma.
Dhammapada famous Pali scripture, comprising 423 verses.
dharma (Skt.) law, rule; custom, usage, norm, duty, prescribed conduct; virtue, morality, meritorious conduct; doctrine, teaching; the teaching of the Buddha; quality, property, peculiarity; thing, phenomenon; constituent element of experience.
dharmachakra, dharmacakra (Skt.) wheel symbolizing the Buddhist teaching, usually depicted with eight spokes representing the noble eightfold path (ashtangikamarga).
dharmadeshana, dharmadesana (Skt.) dharma teaching.
Dharmadhatu (Skt.) lit. realm of the dharmas, the all-encompassing space, or totality, where all phenomena 'arise, dwell, and pass away'.
dharmah (Skt.) concepts.
Dharmakaya (Skt.) The Body of the Law; the transcendent Buddha as the personification of the Truth, the first of the threefold body of the transcendent Buddha; the ultimate or true body of the transcendent Buddha, which is beyond all forms, attributes, and limits. See further Trikaya.
Dharmakirti philosopher of the Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism, probably born in South India in the 7th century. A disciple of Dignaga, he studied at Nalanda university with (or as a disciple of) Dharmapala.
dharmanairatmya (Skt.) absence of self in all dharmas: selflessness of phenomena, of things; emptiness.
Dharmapala Indian philosopher of the Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism, who lived in the 6th to the 7th centuries, disciple of Dignaga and abbot of Nalanda university.
dharmata (Skt.) Buddha-nature; the nature, or self-so, of all existents, which is no other than shunyata.
dharmataparisthitu (Skt.) nature?
dharmavicaya (Skt.) investigation of the dharma; discriminative knowledge. See further bodhyanga.
dharmin (Skt.) syllogistic subject, subject of a thesis, minor term.
dhatu (Skt.) element, factor, or constituent.
dhatuvada (Skt.) essentialist philosophy or teaching.
dhyana (Skt.) meditation; stages of absortion; a synonym of samadhi.
dhyani buddhas (Skt.) lit. meditation buddhas; the five transcendent (imaginary, mythical, make-believe) dhyani buddhas are: Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava and Vairochana.
Diamond Sutra see Vajrachchedikaprajñaparamitasutra.
Dignaga, Dinnaga (ca. 480-540) Indian philosopher of the Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism, a disciple of Vasubandhu, and who taught for a long time at Nalanda university; his main disciple was Dharmakirti (?).
dkyil-khor (Tib.) see mandala.
dorje (Tib.) see vajra.
dosha, dosa (Skt.) error, fault, logical flaw.
doshaprasanga, dosaprasanga (Skt.) discursive absurdity; affront to common sense.
drashta, drasta (Skt.) the one who sees.
drashtavya, drastavya (Skt.) object of vision.
drishtanta, drstanta (Skt.) example.
drishti, dristi, drsti (Skt.) lit. seeing, sight, view; belief, speculative opinion; refers mostly to a wrong or evil view or opinion.
dukkha (Pali) see duhkha.
duhkha (Skt.) undergoing suffering, sorrow; dissatisfaction; frustration, stress; pervasive unsatisfactoriness; gnawing unease; the existential distress nonliberated human beings are prone to, one of the three (in Advayavada Buddhism, four) signs or marks or basic facts of being (see further anitya, anatman, and pratipada); suffering in the sense of suffocation: 'the state of the Infinite delusionally imprisoned in the finite, that manifests as human suffering' (Kimura); does not include emotional grief or physical pain; suffering is 'not a permanent feature of reality' and is 'only admitted and entertained as a possible contingency in life as it is generally lived' (B.C. Law); 'basic frustration that reality does not conform to our innermost desires' (Loy).
dushana, dusana (Skt.) faultiness, inadequacy.
Dvadashadvarashastra, Dvadasadvarasastra Twelve Gates Treatise, by Nagarjuna, now available only in Chinese.
Dvadashanikaya, Dvadasanikaya see Dvadadashadvarashastra.
dvaya (Skt.) duality; pairs of opposites; a pervasive mark of everyday life.
dvesha, dvesa (Skt.) aversion; hatred; see also akushala.
dzogchen, rdzogs-chen (Tib.) lit. great perfection, the primary teaching of the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
E A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ego
eightfold path see ashtangikamarga.
eight negations the eight negations of Madhyamaka are: no elimination, no production, no destruction, no eternity, no unity, no manifoldness, no arriving, no departing.
eka (Skt.) one.
ekada (Skt.) at the same time, simultaneous.
ekadesha, ekadesa (Skt.) a part, portion.
ekaika (Skt.) one by one; individually.
ekakala (Skt.) contemporaneous.
ekatra (Skt.) in the same place.
ekatva (Skt.) one; unity; identity.
ekartha (Skt.) oneness, identity; one meaning.
ekibhava (Skt.) becoming one; coalition.
enlightenment the comprehension of the true nature of reality; see samadhi.
F A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Fa-Hsiang (Chin.)
fetters see samyojana.
five aggregates see skandha.
five hindrances see nivarana.
fo-hsing (Chin.) Buddha-nature.
four clingings to passions, dogmatic views, rigid rules, and selfhood.
four foundations (awakenings) of mindfulness see smritiupasthana.
four noble truths see aryasatya.
G A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
gamana (Skt.) moving; movement.
gambhira (Skt.) deep, profound.
ganta (Skt.) one moving; what is in motion.
gantavya (Skt.) space to be traversed.
gantum (Skt.) to move, motion.
Garland Sutra see Buddhavatamsakasutra.
gata (Skt.) gone; traversed.
gati (Skt.) going; walking; motion.
Gelugpa, dgelugs-pa (Tib.) lit. school of the virtuous; the last to be established of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Tsongkhapa.
gochara, gocara (Skt.) sphere.
graha (Skt.) grasping; seizing; holding on to.
grahana, samgrahana (Skt.) the act of believing something.
grahita (Skt.) the one who believes.
Great vehicle see Mahayana.
grihita, grhita (Skt.) grasped.
grihyate, grhyate (Skt.) perceiving as..
guru (Skt.) a religious teacher.
H A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Harivarman 4th century Buddhist scholar from central India, author of the Satyasiddhi (Perfection of the Truth), about the concept of emptiness (shunyata).
Heart Sutra see Mahaprajñaparamitahridayasutra.
hetu (Skt.) cause; reason.
hetupratyaya (Skt.) main or chief cause.
Hinayana (Skt.) lit. small vehicle, originally a derogatory term for the early Buddhism of which the Theravada is now the only surviving school.
Hosso (Jap.)
Huang-po
Hua-yen, Hwa-yen, Huayan (Chin.) lit. flower garland, school of Chinese Buddhism centering on the Buddhavatamsakasutra, and based on the fundamental tenet of dependent co-arising (pratityasamutpada), which claims the interconnectedness of all existents. According to Hua-yen Buddhism 'all phenomena arise simultaneously from the universal principle of the Dharmadhatu. The ultimate principle and manifested things mutually interpenetrate without obstruction. At the same moment all phenomena both embody the Absolute, and reflect and are identified with each other.'
Hui-neng (638-713) also called Wei-lang, and E'no (Jap.), sixth patriarch of Ch'an Buddhism, author of the Platform Sutra.
I A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ichchantika, iccantika (Skt.) an unbeliever who does not wish to attain buddhahood.
iddhipada (Pali) see riddhipada.
ignorance see avidya.
immanent internal, intrinsic, indwelling, inner; 'pratitya-samutpada is the immanent dynamic principle of existence, the way of the universe, the norm, the rhythm, the driving power and ordering principle in all nature'; see also transcendent.
indriya (Skt.) root; sense organ, our physical and psychological capabilities and faculties; the five controlling faculties (pañchaindryani) are (1) faith, devotion (shraddha); (2) exertion, perseverence (virya); (3) perfect mindfulness (smriti); (4) perfect concentration (samadhi); and (5) wisdom (prajña). See further bodhipakshika-dharma.
itaretara (Skt.) reciprocal, mutual.
ishyamana, isyamana (Skt.) being conceived or postulated; one who is conceiving or postulating.
J A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
jagat (Skt.) universe.
jana (Skt.) people.
janaka (Skt.) producer.
janma (Skt.) birth.
jara (Skt.) decay, age.
jina (Skt.) victorious one.
jiriki (Jap.) lit. one's own power, self-power; see also tariki.
jiva (Skt.) in Hinduism, the embodied self (atman); a mortal being.
jñana (Skt.) awareness, cognition; knowledge, spiritual wisdom.
jñeya (Skt.) object of cognition.
K A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Kadampa, 'ka'-gdams-pa (Tib.) lit. Oral Instruction, school of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Atisha, later absorbed by the other schools.
Kagyüpa, bka'-rgyud-pa (Tib.) lit. Oral Transmission Lineage, one of the four principal schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
kala (Skt.) time.
kalachakra, kalacakra (Skt.) lit. the wheel of time.
kalpa (Skt.) fabrication.
kalpana (Skt.) imagining; discriminating; thinking, thought; conception; thesis.
kama (Skt.) sensual desire, longing, sexual pleasure; as one wishes
Kamalashila, Kamalasila
kamma (Pali) see karma.
Kannon, Kanzeon, Kwannon (Jap.) see Avalokiteshvara.
Kapilavastu the capital city of the Shakyas, possibly located in present-day Nepal, where the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama reportedly spent his childhood and youth, having been born presumably at nearby Lumbini.
karaka (Skt.) one who creates or produces; agent; making; doing.
karana (Skt.) cause; means of doing, making or effecting.
karanatva (Skt.) cause; efficaciousness.
karma, karman (Skt.) lit. act, action, deed; law of cause and effect; in Advayavada Buddhism, dependent origination (pratityasamutpada) at the sentient level, including human choice and responsibility; causal nexus.
karmaja (Skt.) born of action.
karmaka (Skt.) action; function; what is done or produced.
Karma Kagyü, kar-ma bka'-brgyud (Tib.) lit. Oral Transmission Lineage of the Karmapas, a subschool of the Kagyüpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
karmapatha (Skt.) path of karma.
karmavadha (Skt.) denial or destruction of karma.
kartir (karta) (Skt.) doer; maker; agent.
kartrika, kartrka (Skt.) of or by productive agent.
karuna (Skt.) compassion, mercy, together with wisdom (prajña), the principal virtue of Buddhism; it is symbolized by the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
karya (Skt.) that which is created or effected; effect.
karyahetu (Skt.) reason of causality.
katham (Skt.) how, in what manner.
kaya (Skt.) body.
kayika (Skt.) bodily.
Kegon (Jap.) see Hua-yen Buddhism.
kensho (Jap.) lit. seeing nature, enlightenment; also self-realization.
kevala (Skt.) exclusively; entirely; all.
kilesa (Pali) see klesha.
kirta, krta (Skt.) done, caused.
klesha, klesa, klesh, kles (Skt.) defilement, affliction, corruption, emotional obscuration, disturbing emotion, passion, impurity; the five kleshas are the three akushala-mulas (greed or craving, anger or hatred, and delusion), followed by pride and envy or jealousy. See further akushala-mulas.
koti (Skt.) extremity, end.
krama (Skt.) method, mode.
kramavikasha, kramavikasa (Skt.) in Hinduism, gradual development of divinity.
kritaka, krtaka (Skt.) made, created, things arisen from causes.
kriya (Skt.) activity.
ksaya (Skt.) wasting away; coming to an end.
Kumarajiva (344-413) the most important translator of Buddhist Sanskrit texts into Chinese. His translations of the Mulamadhyamakakarika, the Mahaprajñaparamitashastra, and the Dvadashadvashastra, contributed greatly to the propagation of the Madhyamaka (San-lun) in China.
kushala, kusala (Skt.) lit. wholesome, karmically wholesome; see further akushala.
Kushinagara, Kusinagara, Kushinara present-day Kasia, in Northern India, where the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama is said to have died around 483 B.C.E.
Kwan-yin, Kuan-yin, Quan-yin, Guanyin (Chin.) Avalokiteshvara; goddess of mercy; in Advayavada Buddhism, Kwan-yin symbolizes the goodness of all life's inner driving force.
L A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
lakkhana (Pali) see lakshana.
lakshana, laksana (Skt.) distinctive mark, sign, indication, characteristic or designation
lama, bla-ma (Tib.) lit. none above, in Tibetan Buddhism a religious teacher or guru.
lamaism another name for the Buddhism of Tibet, Mongolia and parts of China.
Lamrim, lam-rim (Tib.) lit. stages of the path, a body of Tibetan manuals with practical introductions to all aspects of the Buddhist teachings.
Lankavatarasutra (Skt.) Sutra on the Descent to Sri Lanka.
lohan (Chin.) see arhat.
lokaprasiddhapramana (Skt.) conventional valid instruments of cognition.
Lumbini place near ancient Kapilavastu, possibly in present-day Nepal, where the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama is said to have been born around 563 B.C.E.
M A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
madhyama (Skt.) the middle.
Madhyamaka (Skt.) the school of the Middle Way or Middle Doctrine school, important philosophical school of Mahayana Buddhism which stresses the doctrines of shunyata and of the two truths (satyadvaya), founded in India by Nagarjuna in the 1st or 2nd century. The other great school of Mahayana Buddhism is the Yogachara, founded two or three centuries later.
madhyamapratipada (Skt.) the Middle Way.
Madhyamika (Skt.) follower of the Madhyamaka school.
Madhyamikakarika (Skt.) the Middle Way Stanzas, written by Nagarjuna, generally considered to be the most important text of the Madhyamaka school.
Madhyamikashastra, Madhyamikasastra (Skt.) the Treatise on the Middle Doctrine by Nagarjuna.
Magadha North Indian kingdom at the time of the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama and the country of origin of Buddhism.
magga (Pali) see marga.
mahamudra (Skt.) lit. great seal.
Mahaprajñaparamitasutra, Prajñaparamitasutra (Skt.)
Mahaprajñaparamitahridayasutra (Skt.) the Heart Sutra is the shortest of the forty sutras of the Mahaprajñaparamitasutra, and is considered the most important sutra of Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism. It is frequently recited by monks and nuns of all orders.
Mahasanghika (Skt.)
mahasiddha (Skt.)
Mahayana (Skt.) lit. Great Vehicle, the form of Buddhism which arose in India between about the 3rd century B.C.E. and the 1st century C.E.; also called the Northern School. Mahayana Buddhism presumably developed from the teachings of the Mahasanghikas and Sarvastivadins.
Mahayanashraddhotpadashastra, Mahayanasraddhotpadasastra (Skt.) Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Awakening of Faith), attributed to Ashvaghosha.
Maitreyanatha
maitri (Skt.) kindness, benevolence; a brahma-vihara.
maitrikaruna (Skt.) lit. kindness and compassion; two important Buddhist virtues combined.
Majjhima Nikaya (Skt.)
majjhimapatipada (Pali) see madhyamapratipada.
Maka hannyaharamita shingyo (Jap.) see Mahaprajñaparamitahridayasutra.
manas (Skt.) to think, the capacity of thought; mind; intelligence.
manasapratyaksa (Skt.) perception by the mental faculty alone.
mandala (Skt.) two- or three-dimensional, often circular, symbolic representation of cosmic forces and the like.
Manjushri, Mañjushri (Skt.) the transcendent (imaginary, mythical, make-believe) bodhisattva of wisdom (prajña).
mantra, mantram (Skt.) an incantation.
marga (Skt.) path or way, generally used to describe the Middle Way or the Noble Eightfold Path.
Marpa
maya (Skt.) lit. deception, delusion or illusion, the everchanging phenomenal world when misunderstood as the only reality by the unenlightened mind.
mayoi (Jap.) see maya.
Meng-tzu, Men-k'o, Mencius (372-289 B.C.E.) Chinese Confucianist philosopher who postulated that man is inherently good.
metta (Pali) see maitri.
Middle Way see madhyamapratipad.
Milarepa, Mi-la-ras-pa (Tib.)
mimamsa (Skt.)
Mind-Only Buddhism see Yogachara.
mithya (Skt.) false.
Mulamadhyamakakarika, Madhyamakakarika (Skt.) Basic Verses on the Middle Way, the "MMK", main work by Nagarjuna, explaining his philosophy of emptiness (shunyata) in 27 short chapters.
Mulamadhyamakavrittiprasannapadanama (Skt.) the Prasannapada, a commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika, by Chandrakirti.
mutual interpenetration see Hua-yen.
N A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
naga (Skt.)
Nagarjuna the foundational thinker of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism, author of a.o. the Mulamadhyamakakarika, probably born in South India in the middle of the 1st century. He taught at what was to become Nalanda university.
nairarthya (Skt.) meaningless.
nairatmya (Skt.) selflessness, substanceless.
Nalanda
namarupa (Skt.) psychophysical personality.
nana (Skt.) different.
nanartha (Skt.) variant, of various meanings.
Naro Chödrug, Naro chos-drug (Tib.) lit. Six Doctrines of Naropa.
Naropa, Na-ro-pa
nasha, nasa (Skt.) destruction.
nastika (Skt.) naturalist, or nihilist.
nastita, nastitva (Skt.) non-existence.
naya (Skt.) method, mode.
nehan (Jap.) see nirvana.
neyartha (Skt.) for those not yet comprehending the buddhadharma.
nibbana (Pali) see nirvana.
nigamana (Skt.) conclusion.
nihasarana (Skt.) exhaustion of theories.
nihshreyas, nishreyas (Skt.) having no better, the best; ultimate bliss; in Hinduism, spiritual progress, growth, or fulfilment.
nihsvabhava, nisvabhava (Skt.) no self-nature; equal to emptiness.
nihsvabhavata, nisvabhavata (Skt.) insubstantiality, nonsubstantiality; no self-nature theory.
nikaya (Skt.)
nimitta (Skt.) sign; characteristic; pervasive mark of the everyday; 'Nirvana is said to be without nimitta'.
nirakarana (Skt.) rejection.
nirakirta, nirakrta (Skt.) fallacious.
nirapeksha, nirapeksa (Skt.) not dependent on others.
nirgama (Skt.) departing, moving away.
nirhetuka (Skt.) without cause, without effect.
Nirmanakaya (Skt.) the transformation body of the transcendent Buddha, which manifests itself for the sake of those who cannot yet approach the Dharmakaya. See further Trikaya.
nirmita (Skt.) created.
nirmukta (Skt.) separated.
nirodha (Skt.) lit. destruction, dissolution; elimination (e.g. of the causes of suffering).
niruddha (Skt.) ceased.
nirvana (Skt.) lit. extinction; cessation; freedom; the overcoming of the three evil or unwholesome roots (akushala-mulas) which ultimately confine us to samsaric existence; the phenomenal world as viewed by the enlightened mind.
nirvartaka (Skt.) causing, bringing forth.
nirvikalpa (Skt.) beyond thought.
nirvikalpakajñana (Skt.) nonconceptual cognition.
nishchaya, niscaya (Skt.) ascertainment, certainty, definitive awareness; determination; judgement.
nishedha, nisedha (Skt.) refutation, negation; rejection; repudiation.
nitartha (Skt.) for those comprending the buddhadharma.
nitya (Skt.) permanent, eternal, enduring.
nityata (Skt.) permanence.
nivarana (Skt.) lit. hindrances, obstructions; the 'five hindrances to knowing the truth' are desire (abhidya), ill will (pradosha), sloth and torpor (styana and middha), restlessness and compunction (anuddhatya and kaukritya), and doubt (vichikitsa).
nivritti, nivrtti (Skt.) cessation.
niyama (Skt.) inherent regularity; law.
nyaya (Skt.) reason, logic, argument.
Nyaya-Vaishesika, Nyaya-Vaisesika
Nyingmapa, rnying-ma-pa (Tib.) lit. School of the Ancients, one of the four principal schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
O A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Occidentalism an uninformed and biased conception of the so-called West as something essentially inferior to the so-called East (see also Orientalism).
Om Mani Padme Hum (Skt.) lit. Om, Jewel in the Lotus, Hum.
Om Mani Peme Hung (Tib.) see Om Mani Padme Hum.
Orientalism an uninformed and biased conception of the so-called Orient as something essentially inferior to the so-called West (see also Occidentalism).
P A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
padartha (Skt.) everyday thing.
Padmasambhava one of the founders of Tibetan Buddhism in the 8th century.
paksha, paksa (Skt.) view, position, proposition.
pakshadharma, paksadharma (Skt.) minor premise.
pakshadharmata, paksadharmata (Skt.) property of the subject.
pakshadosha, paksadosa (Skt.) invalid argument.
Pali Indian dialect derived from Sanskrit adopted by the Theravadins to memorize the teachings of the Buddha.
Pali Canon see Tipitaka.
Pali School another name for Theravada Buddhism.
pañchamarga, pañcamarga (Skt.) a description of the spiritual path in five phases: (1) sambharamarga: path of accumulation; (2) prayogamarga: path of preparation; (3) darshanamarga: path of seeing; (4) bhavanamarga: path of meditation; (5) ashaikshamarga: path of no more learning. The beginning of the path of seeing coincides with the first stage of a bodhisattva.
pañchashila, pañcasila (Pali) the first five Buddhist precepts. The five fundamental Buddhist precepts are not to kill, not to steal, sexual restraint, not to lie, and abstinence from alcohol and drugs.
pañchavayavi-hetu, pañcavayavi-hetu (Skt.) five-membered inference.
pañña (Pali) see prajña.
para (Skt.) other, the other.
parabhava (Skt.) other-nature, other existence; existence as other; in dependence on other.
paramartha (Skt.) supreme reality or truth; ultimate fruit or purpose.
paramarthajñana (Skt.) ultimate truth cognition.
paramarthasatya (Skt.) absolute or ultimate truth, as compared to conventional truth (samvritisatya).
paramita (Skt.) perfection, especially the perfected virtue of a bodhisattva; in Mahayana Buddhism usually six: (1) danaparamita: generosity, charity; (2) shilaparamita: discipline, moral conduct; (3) kshantiparamita: patience; (4) viryaparamita: energy, exertion, vigor, devotion; (5) dhyanaparamita: meditation, contemplation; and (6) prajñaparamita: wisdom, knowledge. Often added are: (7) upayakaushalaparamita: right method or means; (8) pranidhanaparamita: vow; (9) balaparamita: manifestation of the ten powers (dashabala); and (10) jñanaparamita: knowledge of all dharmas.
paraprasiddhaanumana (Skt.) inference familiar to the opponent.
parapratijña (Skt.) counter argument.
paraspara (Skt.) mutually, reciprocal.
paratah (Skt.) from another.
paratantra (Skt.) in Yogachara, the dependent or caused character of things; the Yogachara version of dependent arising, that all things are manifestations of the mind.
paratantra-svabhava (Skt.)
parata-utpatti (Skt.) origination from another.
parikalpita (Skt.) imagined, conceptualized, imputed; in Yogachara, the delusion that the phenomenal world is truly existent and outside of one's mind.
parikalpita-svabhava (Skt.)
pariksha, pariksa (Skt.) examination.
parinibbana (Pali) see parinirvana.
parinirvana (Skt.) total extinction.
parinishpanna, parinispanna (Skt.) absolute reality; in Yogachara, transcendental reality.
parinishpanna-svabhava, parinispanna-svabhava (Skt.)
paryayaparamartha (Skt.) conceptual ultimate, expressible ultimate, corresponding ultimate.
paryayasamvriti, paryayasamvrti (Skt.) corresponding conventional.
paryudasa (Skt.) implicative negation, nominally-bound negation.
passaddhi (Skt.)
patipada (Pali) see pratipada.
phala (Skt.) effect.
phyag-rgya chen-po (Tib.) Tibetan term for mahamudra.
Platform Sutra
pradhana (Skt.) primordial matter.
pragati (Skt.) progress, advancement, increase.
prajña (Skt.) wisdom, reason, insight; transcendental wisdom, non-dual and non-discriminative; together with compassion (karuna), the principal virtue of Buddhism; it is symbolized by the bodhisattva Manjushri.
Prajñaparamita (Skt.) the perfection of wisdom; the intuitive knowledge of shunyata.
Prajñaparamitasutras (Skt.)
pramana (Skt.) valid instruments of cognition; valid cognition, valid awareness, unmistaken cognition.
pramanasiddha (Skt.) established by valid instruments of cognition.
prapañcha, prapañca (Skt.) discursive thoughts, conceptual elaboration, thought construction.
prasajyapratishedha, prasajyapratisedha (Skt.) pure negation.
prasanga (Skt.) consequence, reductio.
prasangavakya (Skt.) reductio ad absurdum.
prasangaviparyaya (Skt.) reversal of consequence, implied probative argument.
Prasangika-Madhyamaka (Skt.) one of the two major schools of Madhyamaka Buddhism, the other being the Svatantrika-Madhyamaka. According to Prasangikas the true method of Nagarjuna and Aryadeva is prasangavakya (i.e. reductio ad absurdum) and that one should not uphold any position of one's own. See Buddhapalita and Chandrakirti, and also Bhavaviveka.
Prasannapada the Mulamadhyamakavritti-Prasannapadanama, a commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika, by Chandrakirti.
prasiddha (Skt.) commonly known, generally accepted.
pratibhasa (Skt.) appearances.
pratibhasadharma (Skt.) given or apparent fact.
pratijña (Skt.) syllogistic thesis, proposition.
pratipada (Skt.) road, path, way; the means of reaching a goal or destination; a way of life; the all-pervading (universal) course of conduct; progress, in Advayavada Buddhism one of the four signs or marks or basic facts of being (see further anitya, anatman, and duhkha); evolution. See also pragati.
pratishedha, pratisedha (Skt.) negation, refutation.
pratishedhya, pratisedhya (Skt.) negandum, object of negation or refutation.
pratityasamutpada (Skt.) dependent origination, the spontaneous dynamic principle of existence; the interdependent and conditioned co-arising or coming-to-be of the world; the universal relativity of all phenomena; the essential interdependence, the infinite relatedness of all things; causal field (Westerhoff); represents at the same time the doctrine of shunyata; is Buddha-nature in sentient beings; similar to the Chinese concept of te, the 'virtuous power' of the Tao (the Whole).
prativadi (Skt.) opponent.
pratyaksha, pratyaksa (Skt.) perception.
pratyakshapramana, pratyaksapramana (Skt.) valid knowledge acquired by direct perception, as compared to knowledge by inference or reasoning (anumanapramana).
pratyaya (Skt.) condition, cause.
pratyekabuddha (Skt.)
prithagjana, prthagjana (Skt.) ordinary people.
pudgala (Skt.) personal self; empirical individual; ego.
pudgalanairatmya (Skt.) absence of self in persons.
Pudgalavadin (Skt.) a believer in the existence of a personal self.
punarjanma (Skt.) rebirth.
purvajanma (Skt.) previous birth.
Q A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
R A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
rakan (Jap.) see arhat.
reductio ad absurdum (Lat.)
religionism the encroachment of organized belief systems on our secular and impartial common ground; acting politically in the name of religion.
riddhipada (Skt.) lit. roads or ways to power, the four roads to power are: concentration of wish, desire or intention (chanda); concentration of effort or energy (virya); concentration of thought, mind or consciousness (chitta); and concentration of reasoning, inquiry or investigation (mimamsa). See further bodhipakshika-dharma.
riddhisampad, rddhisampada (Skt.) supernatural power.
rime, ris-med (Tib.)
rina, rna (Skt.) duty, obligation; debt.
rishi, risi, rsi (Skt.) ascetic.
rita, rta (Skt.) lit. the cosmic order or universal law; the course or the evolving process of Nature; the Dharma of the whole;
rite, rte (Skt.) without; separation.
rupa (Skt.) form, matter, body.
rupaskandha (Skt.)
S A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
saddha (Pali) see sraddha.
saddharma (Skt.) true doctrine.
sadhana (Skt.) proof.
sadharmya (Skt.) similar example.
sadhya (Skt.) major term, probandum.
sadhyadharma (Skt.) property of the proposition.
Saha (Skt.) our world or the earth.
Sakyapa, sa-skya-pa (Tib.) one of the four principal schools of Tibetan Buddhism, named after the Sakya (Grey Earth) Monastery.
samadhi (Skt.) concentration; total or perfect concentration (of the mind, cf. enstasy); non-dualistic state of consciousness in which the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object; total absortion in the object of meditation; transcendence of the relationship between mind and object; merging of subject and object; to contemplate the world without any perception of objects; suspension of judgement; satori; bodhi; rigpa; realization of the sameness of the part and the whole, of the identity of form and emptiness, of samsara and nirvana, of the immediate and the ultimate; mystic oneness; perfect dynamic attunement with overall existence; oceanic feeling; wonder, awe, rapture; essential purity; deep love and compassion; awareness of our common ground and the innocence of sex.
samahitajñana (Skt.) gnosis in contemplative concentration.
samanapratibhasa (Skt.) commonly given, commonly established.
samanapratibhasasiddhadharmin (Skt.) commonly established substratum.
samanyalakshana, samanyalaksana (Skt.) universal, generally characterized phenomenon.
samanyamatra (Skt.) only in general.
samaropa (Skt.) imputation, superimposition.
Samantabhadra (Skt.) bodhisattva symbolizing the vows and will of all the transcendent buddhas; the leading figure in the Buddhavatamsakasutra.
Samboghakaya see Trikaya.
samkalpa, sankalpa (Skt.) intention; resolve.
Samkhya (Skt.) lit. School of the Count, a pre-Buddhist philosophy, so-called because of their reckoning up of twentyfive categories.
samma (Pali) see samyak.
sammappadhana (Pali) see samyak-pradhana.
samsara (Skt.) lit. journeying; the cycle of existences; the phenomenal world, not different from nirvana when viewed by the enlightened mind.
samskrita, samskrta (Skt.) conditioned or created things and states.
samudaya (Skt.) origin; the origin or cause of suffering, the second noble truth.
samvritijñana, samvrtijñana (Skt.) conventional cognition.
samvritisatya, samvrtisatya (Skt.) conventional, relative or worldly truth, as compared to absolute truth (paramarthasatya); phenomenal truth.
samyag-ajiva (Skt.) right livelihood; fifth step on the ashtangika-marga.
samyag-drishti (Skt.) right view; first step on the ashtangika-marga.
samyag-vac (Skt.) right speech; third step on the ashtangika-marga.
samyag-vyayama (Skt.) right effort; sixth step on the ashtangika-marga.
samyak (Skt.) usually rendered perfect or right; very best possible.
samyak-karmanta (Skt.) right action; fourth step on the ashtangika-marga.
samyak-samkalpa (Skt.) right intention; second step on the ashtangika-marga.
samyakpradhana (Skt.) the four perfect efforts: the effort to avoid unwholesome thoughts or states, the effort to overcome unwholesome thoughts or states, the effort to develop wholesome thoughts and states, and the effort to maintain wholesome thoughts and states. See further bodhipakshika-dharma.
samyakprahanani (Skt.) samyakpradhana.
samyak-samadhi (Skt.) right concentration; eighth step on the ashtangika-marga.
samyak-smriti (Skt.) right mindfulness; seventh step on the ashtangika-marga.
samyojana (Skt.) fetters; in Theravada Buddhism, the 10 fetters that restrict us to samsaric existence are: 1) belief in individuality, 2) scepticism, 3) clinging to rites and rules, 4) craving or desire, 5) hatred, 6) craving for refined corporeality, 7) craving for incorporeality, 8) conceit, 9) excitability, and 10) ignorance; in Advayavada Buddhism: 1) belief in the self, 2) scepticism regarding the Path, 3) attachment to rituals, 4) partiality for certain things, 5) prejudice against certain things, 6) clinging to physical life, 7) hope of a hereafter, 8) conceit and pride, 9) intolerance and irritability, and 10) the last remnants of our ignorance. The first five are the orambhagiya or lower fetters that tie us to the sensuous world and the five last ones are the uddhambhagiya or higher fetters that tie us to the immaterial world.
sangha (Skt.) the Order, assembly or congregation of Buddhist monks and nuns, and by extension of the followers of Buddhism generally. It is the third of the three jewels of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dharma (i.e. the teaching), and the Sangha. See Triratna.
San-lun zong, San-lun tsung (Chin.) lit. Three Treatises School, the Chinese form of the Indian Madhyamaka. It is based on the teachings of the Madhyamikashastra and Dvadashanikayashastra (or Dvadadashadvarashastra) by Nagarjuna, and the Shatashastra by his disciple Aryadeva.
sanmai, zanmai (Jap.) see samadhi.
Sanron (Jap.) Three Treatises School, Japanese form of the San-lun school.
Sanskrit the classical Aryan language of India, in which most of the texts of Mahayana Buddhism are written.
Santarakshita, Santaraksita
Santideva
sarvajña (Skt.) the omniscience of the transcendental Buddha.
Sarvastivada
sati (Pali) see smriti.
satkayadristi, satkayadrsti (Skt.) clinging to the existence of the atman; see anatman.
satipatthana (Pali) see smritiupasthana.
satori (Jap.)
satya (Skt.) truth; true.
satyadvaya (Skt.) two truths.
satyasiddha (Skt.) truly established.
Sautantrika
Sautantrika-Madhyamaka (Skt.)
Sauntantrika-Yogachara (Skt.) subtradition of Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism, initiated by Dignaga and Dharmakirti. It can be qualified as the logico-epistemological branch of the Yogachara school.
Sen-chao (ca. 376-414)
Shakyas, Sakyas the clan or tribe in Nepal to which Siddhartha Gautama belonged.
Shakyamuni, Sakyamuni (Skt.) "the sage of the Shakya tribe", another name for Siddhartha Gautama.
shamatha, samatha (Skt.)
Shankara, Sankara outstanding philosopher of the Vedanta school of Hinduism.
Shantarakshita, Santaraksita
Shantideva, Santideva
shashvatavada, sasvatavada (Skt.) eternalism, the theory that the real is changeless and permanent.
shastra, sastra (Skt.) to discuss; discussion; treatises.
Shatashastra, Satasastra (Skt.) One Hundred Verses Treatise, by Aryadeva.
shila, sila (Skt.) precept, virtue, morality, discipline, rule.
shuddhadristijñana, suddhadrstijñana (Skt.) knowledge of the right vision.
shunya, sunya (Skt.) empty, void, vacant.
shunyata, sunyata (Skt.) emptiness, voidness; in Madhyamaka all things are empty (shunya) because they arise by dependent origination (pratityasamutpada) and are devoid of self-nature (svabhava); 'referring to the absence of self-sufficiency or substantiality in persons, emotions, or things, emptiness describes the lack of just those qualities of independence and individual identity that we so instinctually impute' (Mark Epstein).
Shunyatasaptati, Sunyatasaptati (Skt.)
shunyatavada, sunyatavada (Skt.) other term for shunyavada.
shunyavada, sunyavada (Skt.) emptiness philosophy or teaching.
siddha (Skt.) established.
siddhanta (Skt.)
siddhasadhana (Skt.) proving what is already proved.
Siddhartha Gautama
signs or marks of being, three see trilakshana.
skandha (Skt.) aggregate, heap, cluster; in Buddhism human beings are traditionally composed of five skandhas: the rupaskandha (aggregate of corporeality or form), vedanaskandha (aggregate of sensation or feeling), samjñaskandha (aggregate of perception), samskaraskandha (aggregate of mental formations or impulses), and vijñanaskandha (aggregate of consciousness); they are the sole constituents of the personality and are often referred to as upadanaskandhas (aggregates of attachment), because craving or desire (trishna) can attach itself to them.
smriti, smrti (Skt.) mindfulness.
smritiupasthana, smrtiupasthana, smrtyupasthana (Skt.) lit. awarenesses of mindfulness, the four foundations of mindfulness with regard to body (kaya), feeling (vedana), mind (chitta), and mental objects (dharma). See further bodhipakshika-dharma and shunyata.
sraddha (Skt.)
sramana (Skt.) ascetic.
sravaka (Skt.) a disciple of the Buddha who understands the Four Noble Truths.
Sthaviravada (Skt.) see Theravada.
Sthiramati
sub specie aeternitatis (Lat.) 'When we understand things in this way, we see them from the infinite and eternal perspective of God, without any relation to or indication of time and place. When we perceive things in time, they appear in a continuous state of change and becoming; when we perceive them under a form of eternity, what we apprehend abides permanently. We see the necessity of all things in nature, including all the facts about ourselves and our determinate place in the world.' (Steven Nadler); see further samadhi.
sutra (Skt.) lit. a thread on which jewels are strung; a sermon or discourse of the Buddha.
sutta (Pali) see sutra.
svabhava (Skt.) self-nature, self-being, self-existence, own-being; essence, intrinsic nature; essential property or characteristic.
svabhavagraha (Skt.) clinging to selfhood.
svabhavahetu (Skt.) reason of identity.
svalakshana, svalaksana (Skt.) particular character or characteristic.
svamata, svatma (Skt.) own substantiality.
svasamvedana (Skt.) self-cognition.
svasamvitti (Skt.) self-cognition.
svatantra (Skt.) argument.
svatantra-anumana (Skt.) independent syllogism.
svatantranumana (Skt.) independent inference.
svatantrapratijña (Skt.) independent proposition.
svatantraprayoga (Skt.) independent argument.
Svatantrika (Skt.) a follower of Svatantrika-Madhyamaka.
Svatantrika-Madhyamaka (Skt.) One of the two major schools of Madhyamaka Buddhism, the other being the Prasangika-Madhyamaka. It was founded by Bhavaviveka in the 6th century. According to this school empirical things are not real from the standpoint of ultimate truth, yet have phenomenal reality. They criticise the Prasangika-Madhyamaka school for merely indulging in refutation without advancing a counter-position, claiming that the true Madhyamika can consistently advance an opposite view.
Svatantrika-Yogachara, Svatantrika-Yogacara (Skt.)
svautpatti (Skt.) self-origination.
svikara (Skt.) accepted.
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tantra (Skt.)
Tao, Dao (Chin.) lit. way; the Whole, the One; all-embracing existence, totality becoming; natura naturans; its spontaneous power is te (see pratityasamutpada); 'while its working or movement may possibly be discernible to man, its purposes, or lack of them, are beyond man's ultimate understanding' (Philip H. Ashby).
Tao-an (312-385)
Tao-sheng (355-434)
Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing (Chin.)
tariki (Jap.) lit. the power of the other, other-power; see also jiriki.
Tarkiki (Skt.) Logicians
Tathagata (Skt.) thuscome; thusgone; the fully enlightened being; title of the historical Buddha.
tathagatagarbha (Skt.) lit. buddha embryo or womb; buddha potential, indwelling capacity for becoming a buddha; Buddha-nature.
Tathagatagarbhasutras (Skt.)
tathata (Skt.) soness, thusness, suchness, thatness; see also Buddha-nature.
tattva (Skt.) itself; truth; identity; the way things truly are.
tattvachinta, tattvacinta (Skt.) conception of the way things truly are.
tattvadarshana, tattvadarsana (Skt.) perception of truth.
tathya (Skt.) real in everyday sense.
te, de (Chin.) lit. virtue, power; the spontaneous power of the Tao (see pratityasamutpada).
ten fetters see samyojana.
terma, gter-ma (Tib.)
Theravada (Pali) lit. teaching of the elders of the order, the monastic Buddhist school prevalent in Southeast Asia; see also arhat.
three fires see akushala.
three poisons see akushala.
Tibetan Buddhism
tilakkhana (Pali) see trilakshana.
Tilopa, Ti-lo-pa (989-1069)
Tipitaka (Pali), lit. three baskets, the three "baskets" of the Theravada scriptures: Suttapitaka (doctrine, discourses), Vinayapitaka (rules of discipline), and Abhidhammapitaka (discussion, metaphysics). See also Tripitaka.
tiraskirta, tiraskrta (Skt.) separated.
Tiratana (Pali) see Triratna.
tirthika (Skt.) heretic; non-Buddhist.
trairupya (Skt.) trimodal criteria, triple characterization of a valid reason, three characteristics of valid evidence.
transcendent is applied to 'imaginary affirmations and speculations concerning what lies beyond the reach and limits of human knowledge'; mythical, make-believe. See also immanent.
Trikaya (Skt.) lit. three bodies, the three bodies possessed by the transcendent Buddha: Dharmakaya, the cosmic body of the law; Sambhogakaya, the body of the delight or ecstasy of enlightenment, which can only be seen by advanced bodhisattvas; and Nirmanakaya, the body of transformation, which accommodates to the different sentient beings' karmas, including adopting the human form.
trilakshana, trilaksana (Skt.) lit. the three signs or marks of being: anitya, anatman, duhkha; see also pratipada, and caturtha lakshana.
Triloka (Skt.) lit. three worlds, the three transcendent worlds or spheres of samsara: Kamaloka, Rupaloka, Arupaloka.
Tripitaka (Skt.) lit. three baskets, the three "baskets" of the Theravada scriptures: Sutrapitaka, Vinayapitaka, Abhidharmapitaka; see further Tipitaka.
Triratna (Skt.) lit. three jewels, the three jewels of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dharma (i.e. the teaching), and the Sangha.
trirupa-anumana (Skt.) three-membered syllogism.
trisharana, trisarana (Skt.) lit. threefold refuge, in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
trishiksha, trisiksa (Skt.) lit. threefold training: shila, samadhi, prajña.
trishna, trsna (Skt.) thirst, craving, longing, desire; thirst for existence; the cause of duhkha.
trisvabhava (Skt.) three natures or identities.
trividya (Skt.) three knowledges, i.c. of the trilakshana.
Tsongkhapa, Tson-kha-pa (1357-1419)
tulya (Skt.) equal, same.
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ubhayasiddhatva (Skt.) rule of common establishment.
uccheda (Skt.) annihilation; extirpation; cutting off; end.
udaharana (Skt.) example.
udaya (Skt.) production; creation; uprising.
udayavyayadharmin (Skt.) nature of arising and ceasing.
udbhava (Skt.) arise; becoming visible; uprising.
ukta (Skt.) asserted as a considered view.
ultimate truth see paramarthasatya.
upachara, upacara metaphor, figure of speech.
upadana (Skt.) appropriating; grasping; attachments that restrict us to samsaric existence; also the five skandhas. The Abhidharmakosha distinguishes four kinds of attachments: sensual attachment, attachment to views, attachment to rites and rules, and attachment to belief in an individuality.
upadata (Skt.) appropriator.
upadatir (Skt.) grasper.
upadaya (Skt.) based upon; presupposing; having received or acquired; mutuality.
upadayaprajñapti (Skt.) a conventional existent or conceptualization produced by pratityasamutpada, both equal to shunyata.
upalabdha (Skt.) censured.
upalabdhi; upalambha (Skt.) perception; taking things in a certain way.
upalabhyate (Skt.) taken to be real; immediately experienced.
upalambha (Skt.) taking things in a certain way.
upalambhopashana, upalambhopasana (Skt.) the coming to rest of ways of taking things.
upama (Skt.) example.
upamana (Skt.) comparison.
upanaya (Skt.) application.
upapadyate (Skt.) it happens, is possible, is thinkable, is intelligible; the contrary is naupapadyate.
upapatti (Skt.) conclusive argument, denied by Madhayamaka.
upapattiniyukta (Skt.) not in accord with reason.
upapattiviruddha (Skt.) contrary to reason.
upasaka, upasika (Skt.) Buddhist lay adherent.
upashanta, upasanta (Skt.) quiescence; appeased.
upashama, upasama (Skt.) cessation; quiescence; coming to rest.
upasthana (Skt.) moving into the presence of; penetration.
upaya (Skt.) means; skillful means, device or method; practical wisdom.
upayasa (Skt.) despair.
upeksha, upeksa (Skt.) equanimity; evenness of mind, based on wisdom and compassion; the middle way.
utccheda (Skt.) terminating in time.
utcchedadarshana, utcchedadarsana (Skt.) nihilism or naturalism; that all things perish without rebirth.
utpada (Skt.) rise, arise; origination; appearance; arising in time; coming to be.
utpadotpada (Skt.) force behind origination.
utpatti (Skt.) origination.
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vac (Skt.) speech.
vadi (Skt.) proponent.
vajra (Skt.) diamond or adamantine.
Vajrachchedikaprajñaparamitasutra (Skt.) Sutra of the Diamond-Cutter of Supreme Wisdom, one of the most popular and important chapters in Prajñaparamita literature.
Vajrayana (Skt.)
vastu (Skt.) entity, object.
vastuvadin (Skt.) realist.
vastuvalapravrittapramana, vastuvalapravrttapramana (Skt.) objective valid instruments of cognition.
Vasubandhu (420-500) a great philosopher of the Mind-Only teaching of Buddhism. He and his half brother Asanga founded the Yogachara School.
vedana (Skt.)
vichara, vicara (Skt.) analysis.
vidya (Skt.) knowledge.
Vigrahavyavartani (Skt.)
vijñana (Skt.) consciousness, to know.
Vijñanavada (Skt.) lit. doctrine of consciousness; subtradition of the Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism, also called Vijñaptimatra, initiated by Vasubandhu in the 5th century and developed by his disciples Sthiramati and especially Dharmapala. It can be qualified as a Buddhist phenomenology of consciousness. It is a metaphysical idealism in which our consciousness supposedly creates its own objects and can also ideally exist quite by itself as pure consciousness. This seems to make it an essentialist or substantialist doctrine. The name Vijñanavada is often used as synonymous for Yogachara.
vikalpa (Skt.) concept, false notion; discrimination; imagination.
vikalpatah (Skt.) one who discriminates.
Vimalakirti legendary Indian Buddhist, depicted as the ideal bodhisattva.
Vimalakirtinirdeshasutra, Vimalakirtinirdesasutra (Skt.) Discourse of Vimalakirti.
vimansa (Pali) see mimamsa.
vinaya (Skt.) rules of the order of monks and nuns of Theravada Buddhism; one of the three baskets of the Pali Canon.
vipaka (Skt.)
viparyasa (Skt.) error.
vipashyana, vipasyana (Skt.) intuitive vision during deep meditation.
vipassana (Pali) see vipashyana.
viriya (Pali) see virya.
viruddha, virodha (Skt.) contradiction.
viruddha-hetu (Skt.) contradictory reason.
virya (Skt.)
vishesahetu, visesahetu (Skt.) ground of distinction.
vyakta (Skt.) manifested.
vyapaka (Skt.) probandum.
vyapti (Skt.) pervasion; major premise, invariable concomitance.
vyapya (Skt.) probans.
vyatireka (Skt.) negative concomitance.
vyavahara (Skt.) convention; conventional usage.
vyavaharasatya (Skt.) conventional truth.
vyayama (Skt.) effort.
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X A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Y A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
yana (Skt.) vehicle.
yathabhutam (Skt.)
yathadarshana, yathadarsana (Skt.) as it is seen.
Yogachara, Yogacara (Skt.) see Vijñanavada.
Yogacharabhumishastra, Yogacarabhumisastra (Skt.) Treatise on the Stages of the Yogachara.
Yogachara-Madhyamaka (Skt.)
Yogachara-Svatantrika-Madhyamaka (Skt.)
yukti (Skt.) logic.
Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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