Theravada Buddhism: The View of the Elders

Glossary of Pali Terms

Glossary of Pali Terms In the pronunciations within square brackets, double vowels indicate the long sound. Italicized letters indicate d as in dog; t as in tough; c as in chunk; and n as in lasagna. abhidamma (Skt. abhidharma): refers to the third “basket” (pitaka) of the Pali canon; it means splendid or higher (abhi) doctrine (dhamma) anatta (Skt. anatma): no-soulness or nonsubstantiality; the view that there is nothing permanent or substantial in reality; the third of the three characteristics of reality arahant/arhat (The English adaptation of Pali araha): “worthy one”: one who has attained the fourth and final stage of the path. Usually it refers to a disciple who has achieved the highest fruit by following the path taught by the Buddha. The term in its Pali form, araha, is used to describe the Buddha’s virtue of being worthy of respect from others askusala: morally unwholesome acts or thoughts; acts or thoughts characterized by attachment (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha) avijja [avijjaa] (Skt. avidyaa): ignorance; the lack of understanding of the four noble truths; the first of the links of the cycle of dependent origination bhavana [bhaavanaa]: development/culture; it means meditation, which is of two types, namely, samatha (serenity) and vipassana (insight) bhikkhu: almsman; one who begs for his food; male monastic disciple of the Buddha; Buddhist monk bhikkhuni [bhikkhunii]: almswoman; one who begs for her food; female monastic disciple of the Buddha; Buddhist nun bodhi: knowledge/realization; knowledge of the four noble truths. Now mainly used to refer to the tree under which the Buddha attained awakening, the Bodhi Tree; sacred Buddhist tree 166 Glossary dagoba/cetiya [daagoba]: A solid brick structure in which the relics of the Buddha are enshrined; an object of worship among Buddhists. Dagoba (da + goba, “repository of bodily relics”) is the Sinhala term for Pali cetiya. Both terms are used equally in the literature dayaka [daayaka]: giver or donor; usually refers to a lay Buddhist supporter of a monastery or monk. Dayika is its female form devalaya [devaalaya]: “house of gods”; a shrine dedicated to a deity Dhamma (Skt. Dharma): Basically this refers to the teaching of the Buddha; the second of the Triple Gem. The Dhamma in this sense is distinguished from the vinaya (discipline) dukkha: The first of the four noble truths; pain, suffering, affliction, unsatisfactoriness, discontent, anguish, the fundamental sense of incompleteness caused by endless thirst for pleasurable experiences. The ordinary painful experience or sensation denoted by the term “suffering” (or by any other similar term) does not exhaust the meaning of this crucial Buddhist term. It covers all forms of unpleasantness in human existence, starting from ordinary mental and physical pain and extending to subtle forms of deep unrest and anguish kamma (Skt. karma): action preceded by volition/intention; morally significant action—physical, verbal, or mental kusala: morally wholesome acts or thoughts; acts or thoughts characterized by lack of attachment (alobha), hatred (adosa), and delusion (amoha) lobha: attachment, craving, desire; the first of the three roots of akusala magga: the path; the eightfold path; the four noble truths—namely, the path leading to the cessation of suffering maha-thera [mahaa-thera]: a monk who has completed twenty years or more after his full admission (“higher ordination”; upasampada) moha: delusion; the third of the roots of akusala; lack of understanding of the four noble truths nibbana [nibbaana] (Skt. nirvaana; Eng. nirvana): The ultimate goal of Buddhism; etymologically it means “extinguishment” or Glossary 167 “blowing out (defilements)” or “covering from (defilements)”; it is traditionally defined as the state without thirst (desire) nikaya [nikaaya]: group, chapter, collection; a collection of the discourses of the Buddha, as in the Long Discourses (Dighanikaya ), etc.; a group or a division of the Sangha, as in Mahanikaya and Dhammayuttika-nikaya in Southeast Asia or Siyamnikaya , Amarapura-nikaya, and Ramanna-nikaya in Sri Lanka pabbajja [pabbajjaa]: “going forth”; literally, self-banishment; initial admission to the Sangha (erroneously rendered as “ordination”) panna [pannaa]: understanding (often translated as “wisdom”); the third of the three forms of training papa [paapa]: unmeritorious deed, evil or harmful action; namely, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, telling lies, malicious gossip, harsh and empty words, severe craving, severe hatred, and holding wrong views; the demerit accumulated by committing papa parinibbana [parinibbaana] (Skt. parinirvana): “comprehensive extinguishment”; the passing away of the Buddha (which is usually called “maha parinirvana”) or an arahant; twofold, as the extinguishing of defilements and the extinguishing...