RS Buddhism key vocab

Anatta

No fixed self, no soul; the Universal Truth that the soul is insubstantial.

Anicca

Impermanence, instability, not permanent.

Arhat

A perfected person in Theravada Buddhism who has attained nibbana.

Ascetic

A life free from worldly pleasures to pursue religious and spiritual goals.

Bodhisattva

A being destined for enlightenment who postpones final attainment of Buddhahood to help others.

Buddha

The enlightened one; an awakened person in historical Buddhism.

Buddhahood

Enlightenment.

Buddha-nature

The fundamental nature of all beings, signifying everyone can attain Buddhahood.

Chanting

Singing or rhythmic repetition of a word, prayer, or sound.

Compassion (karuna)

Sympathy or concern for the suffering of others.

Concentration

Focusing one’s attention.

Consciousness

Awareness without or before recognition (perception), the fifth of the Five Aggregates.

Craving (tanha)

The ongoing state of desire that causes suffering.

Dependent arising

Paticcasamupada; the belief in the interconnectedness of all existence.

Dhamma

The universal law; ultimate truth; the teachings of Buddha.

Dhammapada

A sacred text of the Pali tradition containing 426 verses.

Dukkha

Suffering; everything leads to suffering; ill.

The Eightfold Path

The fourth Noble Truth; the way to wisdom and morality with eight stages.

Energy

Effort made to attain enlightenment, one of the six perfections.

Enlightenment

Wisdom enabling clarity of perception and freedom from rebirth.

Ethics

Sila; moral conduct.

The Five Aggregates

The five skandhas: form, sensation, perception, mental formation, consciousness.

The five moral precepts

A part of Buddhist ethics; includes the guidelines against harmful actions.

Form

The first of the Five Aggregates; refers to matter and sense organs.

The Four Noble Truths

Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha, Magga; the core concepts of Buddhism.

The Four Sights

Four encounters of Gautama with illness, old age, death, and a holy man.

Generosity

Selfless desire to benefit others without expectation of reward.

Gompa

Tibetan monasteries for learning and studying the dhamma.

Greed

Attachment to material things; one of the Three Poisons.

Hate

Wishing harm upon others; one of the Three Poisons.

Ignorance

Inability to see things as they really are; one of the Three Poisons.

Intoxicants

Substances that cloud the mind and are discouraged in Buddhism.

Impermanence

The idea that nothing is permanent; synonymous with anicca.

Jataka

Tales about the previous lives of the Buddha.

Kamma

Deliberate actions that affect circumstances in this and future lives.

Karuna

Compassion; part of the spiritual path.

Loving kindness

Metta; a pure love that is not possessive.

Mantra recitation

A short sequence of words or syllables chanted repetitively.

Magga

The Eightfold Path, known as 'The Middle Way' leading to freedom from suffering.

Mahayana

A form of Buddhism focusing on achieving enlightenment for all beings.

Malas

Strings of beads used as a prayer aid.

Mental formations

The fourth of the Five Aggregates; refer to mental activities that guide actions.

Meditation

A spiritual experience leading to the highest state of consciousness.

Metta

Loving kindness; a non-possessive form of pure love.

Mindfulness of breathing

A meditative practice focusing on mindful breathing.

Monasteries

Buildings housing monks and nuns, often with shrines for study.

Morality

Following the five moral precepts; one of the six perfections.

Nibbana

A state of perfect peace; liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

No fixed self

Anatta; the denial of a real or permanent self.

Panna

Insight into the true nature of reality.

Parinirvana Day

A festival celebrating the death of the Buddha and his final nibbana.

Paticcasamupada

The concept of dependent arising; everything exists due to other factors.

Patience

Tolerance and forbearance; one of the six perfections.

Perception

The ability to distinguish objects through senses; the third of the Five Aggregates.

Puja

Ceremonies that involve meditation, prayer, and offerings.

Pure Land

The dominant form of Buddhism in Japan focusing on Amitabha Buddha.

Rebirth

The belief in continual rebirth until achieving nibbana.

Retreats

Temporarily leaving everyday life for spiritual development.

Samatha

Concentration and tranquillity; a method of meditation.

Samudaya

The causes of suffering; the Second Noble Truth.

Sensation

The second of the Five Aggregates; feelings from contact with the sense organs.

Shrine

A room or part of a room containing a Buddha rupa and offerings.

Sila

Ethics or moral conduct in Buddhism.

The six perfections

Guides in Mahayana Buddhism leading to enlightenment.

Skandhas

The Five Aggregates that make up a person's being.

Suffering

Dukkha; the unsatisfactoriness of life.

Sunyata

Emptiness; absence of intrinsic nature in all phenomena.

Tanha

Craving or desire that causes suffering.

Temple

A building for religious activities, usually containing a shrine.

Theravada

The form of Buddhism found in Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The Threefold Way

Three divisions of the Eightfold Path: ethics, meditation, and wisdom.

The Three Marks of existence

Dukkha, anicca, anatta; also known as the Three Universal Truths.

The Three Poisons

Ignorance, greed, and hate.

The Three Refuges

Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha; sources for seeking shelter.

The Three Universal Truths

Dukkha, anicca, anatta; the fundamental truths of existence.

Unsatisfactoriness of life

Dukkha; the experience indicating life is unsatisfactory.

Vipassana (insight)

A method of meditation focused on insight into true nature.

Visualisation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

Imagining a Buddha or Bodhisattva to help others in Mahayana Buddhism.

Wesak

A Buddhist festival celebrating the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death.

Wisdom

Insight into true reality; realization of sunyata in Mahayana Buddhism.

Zazen

Meditation in Zen Buddhism aimed at gaining insight into the dhamma.

Zen

A Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism focusing on meditation.