Buddhist texts and practice vocabulary

Buddha

An awakened one; in common introductions, the historical teacher associated with the beginning of Buddhism.

Buddhism

Diverse traditions of teaching and practice associated with the Buddha; a shared name does not erase doctrinal differences.

Dhamma

Pali vocabulary for the Buddha’s teaching and other context-dependent meanings; distinguish it from a generic personal opinion.

Also found as: Buddhist Dharma

Sangha

The community in Buddhist vocabulary, with narrower monastic and broader communal usages.

Four Noble Truths

The teaching on suffering, its origin, its cessation and a path of practice; read their relationship together.

Dukkha

Suffering or unsatisfactoriness in Buddhist vocabulary; the term’s range exceeds a single passing emotion.

Craving

Tanha in Pali discussions of suffering’s origin; identify the type and context of the craving.

Also found as: tanha · taṇhā

Cessation

The ending discussed in the third Noble Truth; it is not a promise that every difficulty disappears immediately.

Noble Eightfold Path

A coordinated path involving understanding, intention, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration.

Right view

The understanding component of the Eightfold Path; its account depends on the teaching context.

Right intention

The Eightfold Path’s orientation of resolve, associated with renunciation, goodwill and harmlessness.

Also found as: right resolve

Right speech

The Eightfold Path’s attention to truthful and responsible speech; conduct is the focus rather than a person’s permanent worth.

Right action

The bodily-conduct component of the Eightfold Path; learn its precepts within the tradition’s own instruction.

Right livelihood

The Eightfold Path’s concern with how a living is made and its ethical effects.

Right effort

The cultivation and abandonment of mental qualities in Buddhist practice; not a demand for relentless exhaustion.

Right mindfulness

A component of Buddhist training in sustained attention and recollection, explained through specific contemplative teachings.

Right concentration

The collectedness component of the Eightfold Path; not synonymous with every experience of intense focus.

Impermanence

Anicca in Pali vocabulary, the changing character of conditioned things.

Also found as: anicca

Not-self

Anatta in Pali teaching; its meaning differs from a claim that a person lacks dignity or value.

Also found as: anatta · anātman

Dependent origination

A Buddhist account of arising through conditions; it requires its own explanation rather than a loose appeal to connectedness.

Also found as: dependent arising

Nibbana

The Pali term commonly corresponding to Sanskrit nirvana, understood within Buddhist accounts of liberation.

Also found as: nirvana

Metta

Goodwill or loving-kindness in Pali practice vocabulary; it does not require continued contact with someone harmful.

Also found as: mettā

Karuna

Compassion in Buddhist vocabulary; particular practices and doctrinal explanations vary.

Also found as: karuṇā

Anapanasati

Mindfulness of breathing, the subject of Majjhima Nikaya 118 and other teachings.

Also found as: ānāpānasati

Tripitaka

The three-basket organization of Buddhist textual collections; canons and languages differ across traditions.

Also found as: Tipitaka