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" |