| TERM |
DEFINITION |
| bodhi |
enlightenment |
| four noble truths |
the summary of Gautama's teaching |
| -dukkha |
suffering |
| -samudaya |
the cause of suffering |
| -nirodha |
the cesation of suffering |
| -magga |
the 8-fold path |
| karma |
(literally:action) belief that every action, good or bad, will influence the future status quo of a person in the sense of "what goes around comes around." |
| reincarnation |
belief that every human person will be reborn until s/he is able to break out of the cycle of death-and-rebirth. |
| avidya |
ignorance |
| tanha |
desire |
| samsara |
the cycle of death-and-rebirth |
| nirvana |
extinction (of desire and karma) |
| anatman |
no-self: the denial of the belief in an eternal self |
| 5 skandhas |
the five aggregates that make up the human individual |
| -rupa |
the physical dimension of a person |
| -vedana |
feeling: the emotional dimension of a person |
| -samjna |
perceptions |
| -samkhara |
mental formations and dispositions |
| -vijnana |
consciousness |
| pratitya-samutpada |
co-dependant-origination: (i) the belief that all things are interconnected, (ii) denotes the twelvefold wheel of existence |
| karuna |
compassion |
| sila |
precepts |
| sangha |
community |
| dharma |
(i)teaching of Buddha, (ii) a thing, (iii) a single moment |
| upaya |
skillful means |
| sunyata |
emptiness |
| tathata |
suchness |
| dhyana/ch'an/zen |
(the school of) meditation |
| manadala |
symmetric objects of meditation |
| mudra |
meditative posture of one's hands |
| mantra |
sacred syllable |
| koan |
paradoxical riddle (such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?") which aims at tranforming one's consciousness |
| satori |
enlightenment in Zen |
| zazen |
seated meditation |
| nembutsu |
prayer: "I entrust myself to Amida Buddha" |
