rs buddhism terms

Buddhism

A religion founded around 2500 years ago surrounding the Buddhas birth and his life

Buddha

A title given to someone who has achieved enlightenment usually used to refer to siddhartha gautarma

The four sights

Old age, illness, death and a holy man; these four sights led the Buddha to leave his life of luxury in the place

Jataka

The Jataka tales are popular stories about the lives of the Buddha

Ascetic

Living a simple and strict lifestyle with few pleasures or possessions; someone who follows ascetic practices

Meditation

A practice of calming and focusing the mind, and reflecting deeply on specific teachings to penetrate their true meaning

Enlightenment

The gaining of true knowledge of the nature of reality, usually through meditation and self-discipline; in Buddhist traditions, gaining freedom from the cycle of rebirth

Mara

A demon that represents spiritual obstacles, especially temptation

The three watches of the night

The three realisations that the Buddha made in order to achieve enlightenment

The Five Ascetics

The Buddha's first five students; five monks who followed ascetic practices

Dependent Arising

The idea that all things arise in dependence upon conditions (life is an independent web of conditions)

The Tibetan Wheel of Life

an image that symbolises samsara often found in Tibetan monasteries and temples

Nidanas

12 factors that illustrate the process of birth, death and rebirth

Samsara

The repeating cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth

Kamma

A person's actions in life; the idea that skilful actions result in happiness and unskilful ones in unhappiness

Nibbana

(Nirvana)

A state of complete enlightenment, happiness & peace

Dhamma

(Dharma)

The Buddha's teachings

Pali

The language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures

Sanskrit

The language used in later Indian Buddhist texts

Dukkha

The first noble truth: there is suffering

Dukkha-dukkhata

Ordinary pain or suffering - both physical and mental pain

Viparinama-dukkha

Suffering produced by change (losing something good)

Samkhara-dukkha

Suffering linked to attachment or craving

Anicca

Impermanence; The idea that everything changes

Anatta

No fixed self; The idea that people do not have a permanent, fixed self

The Five Aggregates

The 5 aspects that make up a person

The Four Noble Truths

The 4 truths that the Buddha taught about suffering

Dukkha

The first noble truth: there are causes of suffering

Samudaya

The second noble truth: there are causes of suffering

Nirodha

The third noble truth: suffering can be stopped

Magga

The fourth noble truth: the way to stop suffering; the Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path

Eight aspects that Buddhists practise and live by in order to achieve enlightenment

The Threefold Way

The Eightfold Path grouped into the three sections of ethics, meditation and wisdom

Ethics

(Sila)

A section of the Threefold Way that emphasises the importance of skilful action as the basis for spiritual progress

Meditation

(Samadhi)

A section of the Threefold Way that emphasises the role of meditation in the process of spiritual development

Wisdom

(Panna)

A section of the Threefold Way that deals with Buddhist approaches to understanding the nature of reality

Therevada Buddhism

'the school of the elders'

An ancient Buddhist tradition found in Southern Asia

Mahayana Buddhism

An umbrella term to describe some later Buddhist traditions, including Pure Land Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Zen Buddhism

Arhat

For Therevada Buddhists, someone who has become enlightened

Bodhisattva

For Mahayana Buddhists, someone who has become enlightened but chooses to remain in the cycle of samsara to help others achieve enlightenment aswell

Pure Land Buddhism

A Mahayana form of Buddhism based on belief in Amtabha Buddha

Amitabha Buddha

The Buddha worshipped by Pure Land Buddhists

Sukhavati

The paradise where Amitabha Buddha lives, and where Pure Land Buddhists aim to be reborn