Buddhist
terms and concepts
Several
Buddhist terms and concepts lack
direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term.
In this list, the terms are in languages most relevant to their traditions, that
is:
English
for terms that are common to all traditions.
Pali
for
Theravada,
Sanskrit
for mainstream
Mahayana,
Tibetan for
Vajrayana
and
Japanese
for
Zen. A short translation and
a link to a (hopefully) more in-depth article is given, as well as the relevant
tradition(s).
- acarya - "teacher" (Pali)
- ajahn - "teacher" in the Thai
language derived from the (Pali)
word acarya. In the Theravada tradition it is generally a title given to a Bhikkhu
or Bhikkhuni who has been fully ordained for ten rain retreats (10 years).
-
alayavijnana
- See Store Consciousness.
- anagarika - A white-robed student in the
Theravada tradition, who for a few months, awaits being considered for Samanera
ordination
- anapanasatti - Mindfulness of the breath meditation
-
anicca/anitya
- Impermanence (Pali/Sanskrit)
- anatta/anatman
- No-self or Non-self (Pali/Sanskrit)
- arahant/arhat
- A living person that has reached the Enlightenment (Pali/Sanskrit)
- bhikkhu/bhikshu - A Buddhist monk
- bhikkhuni/bhikshuni - A
Buddhist nun
- bodhi
- Awakening or Enlightenment
- bodhi
tree - The type of tree under which Gautama reached Enlightenment
-
bodhisattva - A
person with a measure of enlightenment who dedicates his or her life for the liberation
of other sentient beings from suffering.
- Buddha
- The Awakened being who has taught the Dharma
- dependent origination
- See pratitya-samutpada
- dukkha//duhkha
- Suffering, unsatisfactoriness, stress
- dharma(dhamma)
- Truth, nature of reality
- gassho
- a gesture of respect; palms placed together (Japanese)
- kinhin
- Zen walking meditation
- koan/gongan
- Lit. "Public case." A meditative method developed in the Chan/Seon/Zen
traditions, generally consisting of a problem that defies solution by means of
rational thought
- kyosaku - stick used to strike zazen practitioners
in order to improve concentration (Japanese)
- Jhana/Dhyana]
- A state of meditative contemplation. See also: shamata, samadhi,
samapatti.(Pali/Sanskrit)
- Lama
- A Tibetan teacher, monk or master
- moksha
- Liberation or freedom from dukkha
- middle
way - The practice of avoidance of extreme views
- nirvana(nibbana)
- Unbinding; the deathless liberation from the rounds of rebirth and death
-
oryoki - Zen eating ceremony (Japanese)
- paramita
- Lit. "reaching the other shore," usually rendered in English as "perfection."
The Mahayana practices
for obtaining enlightenment
- paranibbana/parinirvana - Final liberation (Pali/Sanskrit)
- pratitya-samutpada
- "Dependent origination," "conditioned genesis," etc.
- Purisa - The
practicing Buddhist community as a whole; Sangha and laity
- rebirth
- The proccess of continuity of life after death
- Rinpoche - Tibetan
teacher
- samanera/shramanera - A male novice monk, who, after a year
or until the ripe age of twenty, will be considered for the higher Bhikkhu ordination.
- samatha/shamatha - Mental stabilization; tranquility meditation (Pali/Sanskrit)
- samsara - This
world of suffering, seen as temporary and illusory
- sangha
- The community of Buddhist monks and nuns.
- Sayadaw - Burmese meditation
master
- satori -
[J.] Awakening; understanding. A Japanese term for enlightenment
- sensei
- [J.] Teacher; Zen teacher
- shunyata
- Emptiness
- store
consciousness - The base consciousness (alayavijnana)
taught in Yogacara Buddhism
- tanha - Craving or desire
- Tathagata - The "Thus-Come One";
One of the Buddha's ten
epithets
- tipitaka/tripitaka
- The "Three Baskets"; canon containing the sacred texts for Buddhism (Pali)
- Tulku - A re-incarnated Tibetan teacher
- vinaya
- The monastic rules of discipline for Buddhist monks & nuns. (Sanskrit,
Pali)
- vipassana/vipashana
- Insight meditation practiced in the Theravada tradition. In the tipitaka (Pali)
it was stressed by the Buddha to be practiced in conjunction with Samatha.
-
zazen - Zen meditation (Japanese)
