Buddhist technical vocabulary comes in two languages — Pali, used in Theravada, and Sanskrit, used in Mahayana and Vajrayana — plus the Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese terms each tradition added.

Where the Pali and Sanskrit differ, both are given: Pali / Sanskrit. Diacritics are omitted throughout for readability; see Buddhist Texts in Translation on why that costs something.

A #

Abhidhamma / Abhidharma — the third “basket” of the canon: systematic analysis of experience into its constituent dhammas. See What Is the Abhidharma?

Anatta / anatman — non-self. The teaching that no permanent, independent self is found among or behind the five aggregates. See Non-Self (Anatta) Explained.

Anicca / anitya — impermanence. See Impermanence (Anicca).

Anapanasati — mindfulness of breathing. See Anapanasati.

Arahant / arhat — one who has destroyed the taints and will not be reborn; the fourth and final stage of awakening.

Asava — taint, effluent, canker. The deep drives destroyed at awakening: sensual desire, becoming, and ignorance.

Avalokiteshvara — the bodhisattva of compassion; Guanyin, Kannon, Chenrezig. See Avalokiteshvara and the Bodhisattvas.

Avijja / avidya — ignorance. The first of the twelve links and the root of the unwholesome.

B #

Bardo — Tibetan: intermediate state, especially between death and rebirth. See The Bardo.

Bhavana — cultivation, development; the general word for meditation.

Bhavanga — Theravada Abhidhamma: the passive “life-continuum” consciousness between active cognitive processes.

Bhikkhu / bhikshu, bhikkhuni / bhikshuni — fully ordained monk, nun. See Bhikkhuni Ordination.

Bodhi — awakening. Better rendered so than “enlightenment.”

Bodhicitta — the mind of awakening: the resolve to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all beings. See The Bodhisattva Ideal.

Bodhisatta / bodhisattva — a being oriented towards full buddhahood for the sake of all beings.

Brahmavihara — divine abode; the four immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity. See The Four Brahmaviharas.

C #

Cetana — volition. The Buddha’s definition of karma.

Cetasika — mental factor; the qualities accompanying a moment of consciousness. See Mind and Mental Factors.

Chan — Chinese meditation school; ancestor of Zen, Seon, and Thien. See Chan Buddhism in China.

Chanda — desire-to-do; ethically neutral, distinguished from tanha.

Citta — mind, consciousness, heart.

D #

Dana — generosity, giving. The first perfection and the central lay practice. See Dana.

Dhamma / dharma — (1) the Buddha’s teaching; (2) a phenomenon or constituent of experience; (3) nature, law.

Dhyana / jhana — meditative absorption. See The Jhanas Explained.

Dukkha / duhkha — unsatisfactoriness, suffering, stress. The first noble truth. See Understanding Dukkha.

Dzogchen — Tibetan: the Great Perfection, the highest Nyingma teaching. See Dzogchen and Mahamudra.

G–J #

Garudhamma — the eight “rules of respect” attached to nuns’ ordination.

Gatha — verse; in Plum Village practice, a short verse recited during an ordinary activity.

Jataka — stories of the Buddha’s previous lives.

Jhana — see dhyana.

K #

Kalpa — an aeon; an immense period of cosmic time.

Kamma / karma — intentional action, and the process by which it conditions results. See Understanding Karma.

Kangyur — the Tibetan canonical collection of the Buddha’s word. See The Kangyur and Tengyur.

Karuna — compassion.

Khandha / skandha — aggregate. The five: form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness. See The Five Aggregates.

Koan — a case used in Rinzai Zen training. See Koan Practice.

Kusala / akusala — skilful / unskilful, wholesome / unwholesome.

L–M #

Lamrim — Tibetan: the graduated stages of the path.

Lojong — Tibetan: mind training. See Tonglen.

Madhyamaka — the Middle Way school founded by Nagarjuna. See Nagarjuna and the Middle Way School.

Mahamudra — Tibetan: the Great Seal, principally a Kagyu transmission.

Mala — string of 108 beads for counting recitations. See Using Mala Beads.

Mappo — Japanese: the degenerate final age of the Dharma.

Mara — the personification of death and of what binds beings to samsara.

Metta / maitri — loving-kindness. See Loving-Kindness (Metta).

Mudita — sympathetic joy; delight in others’ good fortune.

Mudra — a ritual or iconographic hand gesture. See Buddhist Art and Symbols.

N #

Nembutsu / nianfo — recitation of Amitabha’s name. See Pure Land Buddhism.

Nibbana / nirvana — the extinguishing of greed, hatred, and delusion. See What Is Nirvana?

Nidana — link; the twelve of dependent origination.

Nikaya — (1) a collection of discourses in the Pali Canon; (2) an ordination lineage.

P #

Pali Canon — the Theravada scriptures, in three “baskets.” See What Is the Tipitaka?

Paramita / parami — perfection. The six or ten of the bodhisattva path.

Parajika — the four gravest monastic offences, entailing expulsion. See The Vinaya Pitaka.

Parinibbana / parinirvana — final nibbana, at the death of one who has attained it.

Paticca-samuppada / pratitya-samutpada — dependent origination. See Dependent Origination.

Patimokkha — the list of monastic rules recited fortnightly.

Preta — hungry ghost. See The Six Realms.

Panna / prajna — wisdom; the sixth perfection.

R–S #

Rigpa — Tibetan: awareness, the knowing quality of mind, in Dzogchen.

Rupa — form, materiality; the first aggregate.

Samadhi — concentration, meditative composure.

Samatha — calm, tranquillity; concentration practice.

Samsara — the round of rebirth. See Rebirth and Samsara Explained.

Sangha — the community; strictly, those who have attained at least stream-entry. See The Role of the Sangha.

Sankhara / samskara — formations, fabrications, conditioned things.

Sanna / samjna — perception, recognition; the third aggregate.

Sati / smrti — mindfulness; also memory, recollection. See Right Mindfulness.

Satipatthana — establishment of mindfulness; the four foundations. See The Satipatthana Sutta.

Sila — ethical conduct, virtue. See Buddhist Ethics & the Precepts.

Sotapanna — stream-enterer; the first stage of awakening.

Stupa — a reliquary mound; pagoda, chedi, chorten, dagoba.

Sunnata / sunyata — emptiness; the absence of intrinsic existence. See Emptiness (Sunyata) Explained.

Sutta / sutra — a discourse. See How to Read a Sutta.

Svabhava — intrinsic existence, own-being; what emptiness denies.

T–Z #

Tanha / trishna — craving, thirst. The second noble truth. See Craving and Its End.

Tathagata — “thus-gone”; an epithet the Buddha uses of himself.

Tathagatagarbha — buddha-nature. See Buddha-Nature.

Terma — Tibetan: concealed treasure teachings. See The Terma Tradition.

Theravada — “the way of the elders”; the surviving early school. See Theravada Buddhism.

Tipitaka / Tripitaka — the “three baskets”: Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma.

Tonglen — Tibetan: giving and taking. See Tonglen.

Tulku — Tibetan: a recognised reincarnation. See The Dalai Lama Lineage.

Upaya — skilful means.

Upekkha / upeksha — equanimity; the fourth brahmavihara.

Uposatha — observance day; the fortnightly monastic recitation. See Buddhist Holidays & Observances.

Vajrayana — the “diamond vehicle”; tantric Buddhism. See Tibetan / Vajrayana Buddhism.

Vedana — feeling; the pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral tone of an experience. The second aggregate.

Vinaya — the monastic code. See The Vinaya Pitaka.

Vinnana / vijnana — consciousness; the fifth aggregate.

Vipassana / vipashyana — insight. See Vipassana Insight Meditation.

Yogacara — the “mind-only” school. See Yogacara.

Zazen — Japanese: seated meditation. See Zen Zazen Sitting Practice.