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Buddhism vocabulary
• Amita/Amitabha – Buddha associated with Pure Land
Buddhism very popular in Japan.
• Anatman – Buddhist doctrine of no-self. There is no “self”
that migrates from one life to the next in reincarnation
because we are only a composite of five skandhas or
elements.
• Arhat – Someone who has achieved nirvana.
• Bardo – A period of transition between death and rebirth
when a person must travel through the stages (bardos) of
death in the hope of reaching nirvana. These bardos are
explained in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
• Bodhi – The Buddhist concept of enlightenment. Once
enlightenment occurs then one can enter nirvana, a state of
non-consciousness.
• Bodhisattva – An enlightened being who remains in the world to
help others.
• Buddha – An enlightened being. Someone who has achieved
bodhi.
• Dalai Lama – The leader of Tibetan Buddhists.
• Dharma – The teaching of the Buddha, truth, and virtue.
• Dukkha – Suffering. There are three kinds of dukkha: physical
suffering, suffering that comes from greed and anxiety, and
suffering that comes from discontentment with life.
• Eightfold Path –Buddhist virtues and lifestyle that help a person
achieve enlightenment: right knowledge, intention, speech, action,
livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and meditation.
• Five Precepts – Buddhist ethical precepts: do not harm, do not
steal, do not lie, do not engage in improper sexual behavior, and do
not use intoxicants.
Four Noble Truths –
1) Life is dukkha, suffering.
2) Dukkha or suffering is caused by tanha desire, craving, and
attachment to the things of this world.
3) The problem of suffering can be solved. Attachment to the
things of this world can be conquered. Dukkha and tanha can be
overcome through nirvana. Nirvana means “no craving”. When
we reach Nirvana we no longer crave the things of this life so
Dukkha or suffering comes to an end.
4) Dharma (the teaching of the Buddha) and the Eightfold Path is
the way to nirvana and enlightenment. We can have victory
over attachment to this world and can attain Nirvana through
following the Eightfold Path.
• Impermanence – Buddhist doctrine concerning the transient nature
of reality. Everything is changing.
• Karma – Thee effects of a person’s actions that determine their fate
in this life and the what will happen to them in the next life.
• Karuna – Compassion.
• Koan – A paradoxical story, riddle, or question that has no solution;
used in Zen Buddhism to show the weakness of logic and reason.
• Mahayana – The most popular form of Buddhism. Mahayana is
prevalent in Tibet and East Asia. Mahayana Buddhists emphasize
compassion (karuna) and the desire to bring all beings to
enlightenment.
• Maitreya – The future Buddha who will appear on earth lead people
back to the teachings of Siddhartha’s Dharma.
• Mandala – Geometric designs that symbolize the universe or reality.
Mandalas are used by Buddhist monks to help them focus during
meditation.
• Mantra –A word, syllable, or phrase repeated over and over
during meditation.
• Nirvana – The cessation of consciousness. When a person
reaches nirvana they experience the extinction of desire,
suffering, consciousness.
• Samsara - Cycle of repeated birth, death, and rebirth.
• Sangha - Buddhist community of monks and nuns
• Shakyamuni – The historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama.
Shakyamuni means “wiseman (muni) of the Shakya clan”.
• Skandhas – Elements of which people are made. There are five
skandhas: form, sensation, perception, thoughts, and
consciousness.
• Sutra – Buddhist Scripture
• Tanha –Grasping, attachment, and desire for things and pleasure.
• Tantra – Esoteric teachings about activities and purification
rituals that help the practitioner reach supernatural powers.
• Theravada – The ‘tradition of the Elders’. A conservative and
smaller group of Buddhists who emphasize personal salvation
through your own efforts.
• Three Jewels – Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
• Three Characteristics of Existence –
1) Dukkha, suffering
2) Anitya, impermanence
3) Anatman, no-self
• Vajrayana – “thunderbolt vehicle” Tantric Buddhism found in
Tibet.