Index of Terms

A:
  • Anagami: Non-returner. This is a being, who could be a layperson or monastic, who has untied the first five fetters. They have transcended the sense-sphere, and thus, on death, they will be reborn in the Pure Abodes (Aviha, Atappa, Sudassa, Sudassi, Akaniṭṭha; see DN 14), where they will eventually attain the complete liberation from suffering. An example of a householder who had attained the state of Anagami is Hatthaka, who was reborn in the Aviha realm (AN 3.127).

  • Arahant: One who has attained the fourth and final stage of awakening, no more subject to rebirth. They have extinguished the three fires of greed, hatred and delusion and made an end of suffering by diligently practising the teachings laid out by the Buddha (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

B:

C:
  • Craving: Taṇhā, which the Buddha said is the root of suffering. Coupled with ignorance, craving and ignorance drive future births and thus future suffering (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

D:
  • Dāna: The act of giving. It is also a means to cultivate generosity (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Dependent Origination: The universal principle explaining how all phenomena arise dependent upon their causes and conditions - "When this exists, that is; due to the arising of this, that arises. When this doesn’t exist, that is not; due to the cessation of this, that ceases" (AN 10.92) (for more details see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Deva: Deities who live in the heavenly realms and have an abundance of lifespan, beauty, happiness and strength (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Dhamma: The Teachings expounded by the Buddha, which when diligently applied, leads one to the complete ending of suffering (for more details see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Dukkha: Commonly translated as "suffering", this reflects the unsatisfactory nature of conditioned existence. There are eight types of dukkha mentioned - (1) birth is dukkha, (2) aging is dukkha, (3) sickness is dukkha, (4) death is dukkha, (5) association with the unpleasant is dukkha, (6) separation from the pleasant is dukkha, (7) not getting what one wants is dukkha, (8) and in brief, the five grasped-at aggregates are dukkha (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

F:
  • Five Aggregates: (1) Rupa (form, 色), (2) Vedanā (feeling, 受), (3) Saññā (perception, 想), (4) Saṅkhāra (mental formations, 行), (5) Viññāṇa (consciousness, 识). Together, they are mistakenly taken to make up the "self".

  • Five Faculties:  (1) Faith, (2) Energy, (3) Mindfulness, (4) Concentration, (5) Wisdom (for more details, see SN 48.10).

  • Five Hindrances: (1) Sensual desire, (2) ill-will, (3) dullness and drowsiness, (4) restlessness and worry, and (5) doubt, are the five mental hindrances that prevent people from seeing clearly into their own minds. The Buddha in SN 46.55 gave a simile comparing the five hindrances to five different bowls of water, all of which do not give a clear reflection when a person wishing to see his own reflection looks into the water (for more details, see Hindrances To Meditation).

  • Five Themes for Regular Reflection: (1) ‘I am subject to old age; I am not exempt from old age.’ (2) ‘I am subject to illness; I am not exempt from illness.’ (3) ‘I am subject to death; I am not exempt from death.’ (4) ‘I must be parted and separated from everyone and everything dear and agreeable to me.’ (5) ‘I am the owner of my kamma, the heir of my kamma; I have kamma as my origin, kamma as my relative, kamma as my resort; I will be the heir of whatever kamma, good or bad, that I do.’ (AN 5.57)

  • Four Brahma Viharas: (1) Metta (loving-kindness), (2) Karuna (compassion), (3) Mudita (rejoicing), (4) Upekkha (equanimity). These are the four most sublime abidings (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Four Noble Truths: Noble truths of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the (eightfold) path leading to the cessation of suffering (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

K:

N:

P:
  • Pāli: The language in which the Canonical Buddhist Scriptures were preserved (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

S:
  • Sakadagami: Once-returner. This is a being, who could be a layperson or monastic, who has untied the first three fetters as the Sotapanna has, and in addition also attenuated greed, hatred and delusion. They have at most one more rebirth before they will attain the complete liberation from suffering.

  • Saṃsāra: The perpetual cycle of births and deaths, the transcending of which is the goal of practising the Dhamma (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Saṅgha: The community of disciples of the Buddha, consisting of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Seven Factors of Enlightenment: (1) Mindfulness, (2) investigation of phenomena, (3) energy, (4) rapture, (5) tranquility, (6) concentration, (7) equanimity (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Sīla: Virtuous bodily and verbal conduct - the minimum for a layperson to uphold are the five precepts of abstinence from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and taking intoxicants (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Six Sense Fields: (1) Eyes and sights, (2) ears and sounds, (3) nose and odours, (4) tongue and tastes, (5) body and touches, (6) mind and thoughts (for more details, see MN 137).

  • Sotapanna: Stream-enterer. This is a being, who could be either a layperson or monastic, who has attained fruition of the first of four stages of awakening - stream entry. They have untied the first three fetters - self-identity view, clinging to rites and rituals and doubt. They also have unwavering conviction in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, and have impeccable ethical conduct. They have directly experienced for themselves that whatever is subject to arising, all that will be subject to cessation - the first person to realise this was Venerable Añña Koṇḍañña (SN 56.11). They have at most seven more lives remaining before the attainment of complete liberation from suffering (SN 56.49 - SN 56.60), and within these seven lifetimes, they will be exempt from taking birth in the three woeful states (SN 55.24 - SN 55.25).

T:
  • Ten Fetters: Self-identify view, clinging to rites and rituals, doubt, sensual desire, ill-will, attachment to the form realm, attachment to the formless realm, conceit, restlessness and ignorance (for more details, see AN 10.13).

  • Tilakkhana: Three characteristics of existence, namely impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and not-self (anatta).

  • Tipiṭaka: The three collections of texts making up the Canonical Buddhist Scriptures - Sutta Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka. In the 21st century, we are extremely fortunate to have the scriptures digitalised - one of the best websites that preserve these scriptures is SuttaCentral (for more details, see Guide To Buddhism A To Z).

  • Triple Gem: The Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha - they are what Buddhists take refuge in and have unwavering experiential confidence in (for more details, see Refuges, The Three).