Glossary of Buddhism

Several Buddhist terms and concepts lack direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term. Below are given a number of important Buddhist terms, short definitions, and the languages in which they appear. In this list, an attempt has been made to organize terms by their original form and give translations and synonyms in other languages along with the definition.

Languages and traditions dealt with here:

• English (Eng.)
• Pāli: Theravāda Buddhism
• Sanskrit (or Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit): primarily Mahāyāna Buddhism
• Burmese (Bur): Burmese Buddhism
• Khmer: Theravāda Buddhism
• Mon (Mon): Theravāda Buddhism
• Mongolian (Mn): Mongolian Buddhism
• Shan (Shan): Theravāda Buddhism
• Tibetan (Tib): Tibetan Buddhism
• Thai: Theravāda Buddhism
• CJKV languages
  • Chinese (Cn): Chinese Buddhism
  • Japanese (Jp): Japanese Buddhism
  • Korean (Ko): Korean Buddhism
  • Vietnamese (Vi): Vietnamese Buddhism

Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
abhidhamma A category of scriptures that attempts to use Buddhist teachings to create a systematic, abstract description of all worldly phenomena	abhi is "above" or "about", dhamma is "teaching" Pāli: abhidhamma Sanskrit: abhidharma	Bur: အဘိဓမ္မာ abhidhamma (IPA: [əbḭdəmà]) Tib: chos mngon pa Mn: их ном, билиг ухаан; ikh nom, bilig ukhaan Thai: อภิธรรม a-pi-tam 阿毘達磨／阿毗昙 Cn: Āpídámó Jp: Abidatsuma Ko: 아비달마, Abidalma Vi: a-tì-đạt-ma
Abhidhamma Pitaka The third basket of the Tripitaka canon, the reorganization of all doctrines in a systematic way	Pāli: Abhidhamma-piṭaka Sanskrit: Abhidharma-piṭaka	Bur: အဘိဓမ္မာပိဋကတ် Abidhamma Pitakat (IPA: [əbḭdamà pḭdəɡaʔ]) Mon: အဘိဓဝ်ပိတကတ ([əpʰìʔtʰò pɔeʔtəkɔt]) Thai: อภิธรรมปิฎก a-pi-tam-pi-dok 論藏, 論蔵 Cn: Lùnzàng Jp: Ronzō Ko: 논장, Nonjang Vi: Luận tạng, Tạng luận, tạng thứ ba trong ba tạng là kinh, luật và luận Mn: Илт ном, Ilt nom
acariya, lit. "teacher", One of the two teachers of a novice monk - the other one is called upādhyāya	Pāli: ācariya[1] Sanskrit: ācārya	Bur: ဆရာ saya (IPA: [sʰəjà]) Shan: ဢႃႇၸရီႉယႃႉ atsariya ([ʔaː˨ tsa˩ ri˥ jaː˥]) Thai: อาจารย์ ajahn 阿闍梨 or 阿闍梨耶 Cn: āshélí or āshélíyē Jp: ajari or ajariya Ko: 아사리, asari or 아사리야 asariya Vi: a-xà-lê or a-xà-lê-da
adhitthana Determination, to pray, to wish	Pāli: Adhiṭṭhāna Sanskrit:	Bur: အဓိဋ္ဌာန် (IPA: [ədeiʔtʰàɴ]) Thai: อธิษฐาน ah-tid-taan 決心 or 決意 Cn: Juéxīn, juéyì Jp: kesshin Ko: 결심, gyeolsim or 결의, gyeolui Vi:
Agama The non-Mahayana divisions of the Sutra Pitaka	Sanskrit: Āgama	Pāli: Āgama (but usually called Nikāya) 阿含 Cn: Āhán Jp: Agon Ko: 아함, Aham Vi: A-hàm
ahimsa The devotion to non-violence and respect for all forms of life. Practicers of ahimsa are often vegetarians or vegans	Sanskrit: ahiṃsā Pāli: ahiṃsā	Thai: อหิงสา 'ah-hing-sa' 不害 Cn: bù hài Jp: fugai Ko: 불해, bulhae Vi: bất hại
Akshobhya	Sanskrit: Akṣobhya	Mn: ᠬᠥᠳᠡᠯᠦᠰᠢ ᠦᠭᠡᠢ᠂ ᠦᠯᠦ ᠬᠥᠳᠡᠯᠦᠭᠴᠢ; Үл Хөдлөгч, Хөдөлшгүй; Ködelüsi ügei, Ülü hödelügci
alayavijnana, see store consciousness	Sanskrit: ālayavijñāna	Tib: ཀུན་གཞི་རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ་ kun gzhi rnam par shes pa 阿賴耶識, 阿頼耶識 Cn: ālàiyēshí Jp: araya-shiki Ko: 아뢰야식, aroeyasik Vi: a-lại-da thức
Amitabha Lit. "The Buddha of Infinite Light". The main buddha of the Pure Land school, but is popular in other Mahayana sects as well. The image is of light as the form of wisdom, which has no form. Also interpreted as the Tathagata of Unhindered Light that Penetrates the Ten Quarters by Tan Luan, Shinran and others	Sanskrit: amitābha (lit. "limitless light") and amitāyus (lit. "limitless life")	阿彌陀 or 阿彌陀佛, 阿弥陀 or 阿弥陀仏 Cn: Ēmítuó or Ēmítuó fó Jp: Amida or Amida-butsu Ko: 아미타, Amita or 아미타불, Amitabul Vi: A-Di-Đà, A-Di-Đà Phật, or Phật A-Di-Đà Tib: འོད་དཔག་མེད། Mn: ᠠᠮᠢᠨᠳᠠᠸᠠ᠂ ᠴᠠᠭᠯᠠᠰᠢ ᠦᠭᠡᠢ ᠭᠡᠷᠡᠯᠲᠦ; Аминдаваа, Цаглашгүй гэрэлт; Amindava, Tsaglasi ügei gereltü
Amoghasiddhi	Sanskrit: Amoghasiddhi	Tib: Dön yö drub pa Mn: ᠲᠡᠭᠦᠰ ᠨᠥᠭᠴᠢᠭᠰᠡᠨ᠂ ᠦᠢᠢᠯᠡ ᠪᠦᠲᠦᠭᠡ᠋᠌᠋᠋ᠺᠴᠢ; Төгс Нөгчигсөн, Үйл Бүтээгч; Tegüs nögcigsen, Üyile Bütügegci
anagarika A white-robed student in the Theravada tradition who, for a few months, awaits being considered for Samaneras ordination	Pāli: anāgarika	Thai: อนาคาริก a-na-ka-rik
anapanasati Mindfulness of the breath meditation	Pāli: ānāpānasati Sanskrit: ānāpānasmṛti Bur: အာနာပါန anapana (IPA: [ànàpàna̰])
anatta The principle denial of the soul in any phenomena. See also negative theology.	Pāli: anattā Sanskrit: anātman	Bur: အနတ္တ anatta (IPA: [ənaʔta̰]) Shan: ဢၼတ်ႉတႃႉ ([ʔa˩ nat˥ taː˥]) 無我 Cn: wúwǒ Jp: muga Ko: 무아, mua Vi: vô ngã
anicca Impermanence	Pāli: anicca Sanskrit: anitya	Bur: အနိစ္စ aneissa (IPA: [əneiʔsa̰]) Shan: ဢၼိၵ်ႈၸႃႉ ([ʔa˩ nik˧ tsaː˥]) 無常 Cn: wúcháng Jp: mujō Ko: 무상, musang Vi: vô thường
anuttara Unsurpassing	Pāli: anuttara Sanskrit: anuttara	阿耨多羅／阿耨多罗 (無上／无上) Cn: Ānòuduōluó ("wǔshàng") Jp: ? Ko: 아뇩다라, anyokdara Vi: A-nậu-đà-la (vô thượng) Fi: Ylittämätön
arhat, lit. "the Worthy One", A living person who has reached Enlightenment	Pāli: arahat or arahant Sanskrit: arhat or arhant	Bur: ရဟန္တာ yahanda (IPA: [jaháɴdà]) Shan: ရႁၢၼ်းတႃႇ rahanta ([ra˩ haːn˦ taː˨]) Tib: དགྲ་ཅོམ་པ་, dgra com pa Mn: архад, arkhad 阿羅漢 Cn: āluóhàn Jp: arakan Ko: 아라한, arahan Vi: a-la-hán
anuttara samyak sambodhi,	Pāli: Sanskrit:	Tib: , Thai: อรหันต์ uh-ra-hann 阿耨多罗三藐三菩提 Cn: Jp: Ko: 아뇩다라삼먁삼보리, Anyokdara sammyak sambori Vi: A-nậu-đà-la tam-miệu tam-bồ-đề, Vô-thượng chánh-đẳng chánh-giác, Sáng-suốt giác-ngộ hoàn-toàn
atman literally "self", sometimes "soul" or "ego". In Buddhism, the predominant teaching is the negating doctrine of anatman, that there is no permanent, persisting atman, and that belief in atman is the prime consequence of ignorance, the foundation of samsara	Pāli: atta Sanskrit: ātman	Bur: အတ္တ atta (IPA: [aʔta̰]) 我 Cn: wǒ Jp: ga Ko: 아, a Vi: ngã
Avalokitesvara, lit. "One Who Hears the Suffering Cries of the World", The bodhisattva of compassion (see also Guan Yin)	Sanskrit: Avalokiteśvara Bur: လောကနတ် lawka nat (IPA: [lɔ́ka̰ naʔ])	Tib: སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་ spyan ras gzigs Mn: Жанрайсиг, Janraisig 觀世音 or 觀音 Cn: Guānshì Yīn or Guān Yīn Jp: Kanzeon or Kannon Ko: 관세음, Gwanse-eum or 관음, Gwaneum Vi: "Quan Thế Âm Bồ Tát" , "Quán Thế Âm Bồ Tát' or "Quan Âm"
avidya "ignorance" or "delusion"	Sanskrit: avidyā	Pāli: avijjā Bur: အဝိဇ္ဇာ aweizza (IPA: [əweiʔ zà]) Shan: ဢဝိၵ်ႉၸႃႇ awitsa ([ʔa wik˥ tsaː˨]) Thai: อวิชชา aa-wit-sha Tib: མ་རིག་པ་ ma rig-pa 無明 Cn: wúmíng Jp: mumyō Ko: 무명, mumyeong Vi: vô minh

Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

B

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
bardo, lit. "intermediate state" or "in-between state", According to Tibetan tradition, the state of existence intermediate between two lives	Tib: བར་མ་དོའི་སྲིད་པ་ bar ma do'i srid pa	Sanskrit: antarābhava Mn: зуурд, zuurd 中有,中陰身 Cn: zhongyǒu Jp: chūu Ko: 중유 jungyu or 바르도 bareudo Vi: trung hữu, trung ấm thân, thân trung-ấm
bhavacakra/bhavacakka A circular symbolic representation of samsara, also known as Wheel of becoming	Pāli: bhavacakka Sanskrit: bhava-cakra	Bur: ဘဝစက် bawa set (IPA: [bəwa̰ sɛʔ]) Mon: ဘဝစက် ([həwɛ̀ʔ cɛk]) Shan: ၽဝႃႉၸၢၵ်ႈ ([pʰa˩ waː˥ tsaːk˧]) Tib: སྲིད་པའི་འཁོར་ལ Mn: Орчлонгийн хүрдэн, Orchlongiin khurden 有輪 Cn: yǒulún Jp: ?? Ko: 유륜, yuryun Vi: hữu luân
bhante The polite particle used to refer to Buddhist monks in the Theravada tradition. Bhante literally means "Venerable Sir."	Pāli	Bur: ဘန္တေ bhante (IPA: [bàɴdè])
bhava Becoming, being, existing; the 10th link of Pratitya-samutpada	Pāli, Sanskrit: bhava	Bur: ဘဝ bawa (IPA: [bəwa̰]) Mon: ဘဝ ([həwɛ̀ʔ]) Shan: ၽဝႃႉ ([pʰa˩ waː˥]) Thai: ภาวะ pa-wah 有(十二因緣) Cn: yǒu Jp: u Ko: 유, yu Vi: hữu (thập nhị nhân duyên)
bhikkhu/bhikshu, lit. "beggar", A Buddhist monk	Pāli: bhikkhu Sanskrit: bhikṣu	Bur: ဘိက္ခု bheikkhu (IPA: [beiʔkʰù]) Shan: ၽိၵ်ႈၶူႇ ([pʰik˧ kʰu˨]) Tib: དགེ་སློང་ dge slong Mn: гэлэн, gelen Thai: ภิกขุ bhikku 比丘 Cn: bǐ qiū Jp: biku Ko: 비구, bigu or 스님 seunim, also 중, jung (pejorative) Vi: tỉ-khâu, tỉ-khưu or tì-kheo, tăng
bhikkhuni/bhikshuni A Buddhist nun	from bhikkhu Pāli: bhikkhuni Sanskrit: bhikṣuni	Bur: ဘိက္ခုနီ bheikkhuni (IPA: [beiʔkʰùnì]) Shan: ၽိၵ်ႈၶူႇၼီႇ ([pʰik˧ kʰu˨ ni˨]) Tib: དགེ་སློང་མ་ sde slong ma Mn: гэлэнмаа, gelenmaa Thai: ภิกษุณี bhiksuni 比丘尼 Cn: bǐqiūní" Jp: bikuni Ko: 비구니, biguni, 여승 (女僧), yeoseung Vi: tỉ-khâu-ni, tỉ-khưu-ni or tì-kheo-ni, ni
bija, lit. "seed", A metaphor for the origin or cause of things, used in the teachings of the Yogacara school	Sanskrit: bīja	Bur: ဗီဇ biza (IPA: [bì za̰]) 種子 Cn: zhŏngzi Jp: shuuji Ko: 종자, jongja Vi: chủng tử, hạt giống, hột giống
bodhi Awakening or Enlightenment	Pāli, Sanskrit: bodhi	Bur: ဗောဓိ bawdhi (IPA: [bɔ́dḭ]) Shan: ပေႃးထီႉ ([pɔ˦ tʰi˥]) Thai: โพธิ์ poe Tib: བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་ byang chub Mn: бодь, bodi 菩提 Cn: pútí Jp: bodai Ko: 보리, bori Vi: bồ-đề, giác, giác ngộ
Bodhi tree The Sacred Fig (Ficus religiosa) tree under which Gautama reached Enlightenment	from bodhi above	Bur: ဗောဓိညောင် bawdhi nyaung (IPA: [bɔ́ dḭ ɲàuɴ]) Shan: ၺွင်ႇပေႃးထီႉ ([ɲɔŋ˨ pɔ˦ tʰi˥]) 菩提樹 Cn: Pútíshù Jp: Bodaiju Ko: 보리수, Borisu Vi: Bồ-đề thụ, Bồ-đề thọ, cây Bồ-đề
bodhicitta The motivation of a bodhisattva	Pāli, Sanskrit: bodhicitta	Bur: ဗောဓိစိတ္တ bawdhi seitta (IPA: [bɔ́dḭ seiʔ da̰]) Tib: བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་, phyang chub kyi sems Mn: бодь сэтгэл, bodi setgel 菩提心 Cn: pútíxīn Jp: bodaishin Ko: 보리심, borisim Vi: bồ-đề tâm
bodhisattva One with the intention to become a Buddha in order to liberate all other sentient beings from suffering	Pāli: bodhisatta Sanskrit: bodhisattva	Bur: ဗောဓိသတ် bawdhi that (IPA: [bɔ́ dḭ θaʔ]) Mon: တြုံ လၟောဝ် ကျာ် ([kraoh kəmo caik]) Thai: โพธิสัตว์ poe-ti-satt Tib: བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ, phyang chub kyi sems pa Mn: бодьсад(ва), bodisad(va) 菩薩 Cn: púsà Jp: bosatsu Ko: 보살, bosal Vi: bồ-tát
Boghda Holy, living Buddha, living Boddhisattva. The title of Jebtsundamba Khutuktu; also title used with the names of highest Buddhist masters, e.g. boghda Tsongkhapa, Panchen boghda	Shan: ၽၵ်ႈၵဝႃႇ ([pʰak˧ ka˩ waː˨]) Mn: богд, bogd	Tib: བོག་ད་ bogda
Buddha A Buddha; also, the Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama.	from √budh: to awaken Pāli, Sanskrit: buddha	Bur: ဗုဒ္ဓ bodha (IPA: [bouʔda̰]) Shan: ပုၵ်ႉထႃႉ ([puk˥ tʰaː˥]) Tib: སངས་རྒྱས sans rgjay Mn: бурхан, burhan 佛, 仏 Cn: fó Jp: butsu or hotoke Ko: 불, Bul or 부처, Bucheo Vi: Phật or Bụt
buddha nature The uncreated and deathless Buddhic element or principle concealed within all sentient beings to achieve Awakening; the innate (latent) Buddha essence (esp. in the Tathagatagarbha sutras, Tendai/Tiantai, Nichiren thought)	Sanskrit: buddha-dhatu, buddha-svabhāva, "tathagata-dhatu", or tathagatagarbha.	佛性, 仏性 Cn: fóxìng Jp: busshō Ko: 불성, bulseong Vi: Phật tính, Phật tánh, Cái tánh sáng-suốt giác-ngộ hoàn-toàn
Buddhism	from √budh: to awaken Pāli, Sanskrit:	Bur: ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ boddha batha (IPA: [bouʔda̰ bàðà]) Shan: ပုၵ်ႉထႃႉၽႃႇသႃႇ ([puk˥ tʰaː˥ pʰaː˨ sʰaː˨]) Mon: ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ ([pùttʰɛ̀ʔ pʰɛ̀asa]) Tib: ནང་བསྟན། Mn: Бурханы Шашин, Burhanii Shashin 佛教, 仏教 Cn: Fójiào Jp: bukkyō Ko: 불교, bulgyo Vi: Phật-giáo

Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

C

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
cetana Volition	Pali: cetana	Bur: စေတနာ sedana (IPA: [sèdənà])
Cetiya A reliquary holding holy objects of veneration	Pali: cetiya Sanskrit: caitya	Bur: စေတီ zedi (IPA: [zèdi]) Khm: Mon: စေတဳ setaow ([cetɔe]) Shan: ၸေႇတီႇ tseti ([tse˨ ti˨]) Sin: චෛත්‍යයය chedi Thai: เจดีย์ chedi Tib: མཆོད་རྟེན༏ mchod rten (chorten) 塔 Zh: Ta Vi: Tháp Ko: Tap Jp: 卒塔婆 sotōba

D

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
dakini A supernatural female with volatile temperament who serves as a muse for spiritual practice. Dakinis are often depicted naked to represent the truth	Sanskrit: ḍākinī	Tib: མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ་ mkha` `gro ma Mn: дагина, dagina 空行女 Cn: khong xing mu Jp: ?? Ko: 다키니 dakini or 공행녀 gonghaengnyeo Vi: không hành nữ
Dalai Lama, lit. "the lama with wisdom like an ocean", secular and spiritual leader of Tibet as nominated by the Mongols	Mn: далай, dalai, lit. "ocean" Tibetan: ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ་ taa-la'i bla-ma	達賴喇嘛 Cn: Dálài Lǎma Jp: Darai Rama Ko: 달라이 라마 dalai rama Vi: Đạt Lai Lạt Ma or Đạt-lại Lạt-ma
dana Generosity or giving; in Buddhism, it also refers to the practice of cultivating generosity	Pāli, Sanskrit: dāna	Bur: ဒါန dana (IPA: [dàna̰]) Mon: ဒါန ([tɛ̀anɛ̀ʔ]) or ဒါန် ([tàn]) Thai: ทาน taan 布施 Cn: bùshī Jp: fuse Ko: 보시 bosi Vi: bố thí Mn: өглөг
deva many different types of non-human beings who share the characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, living more contentedly than the average human being	Pāli and Sanskrit: deva	Bur: ဒေဝ dewa (IPA: [dèwa̰]) Khmer: ទេព or preah (ព្រះ) Mn: тэнгэр tenger Mon: ဒေဝတဴ tewetao ([tèwətao]) Shan: တေႇဝႃႇ ([a˨ wɔ˨]) 天 Zh: tiān Ko: cheon Jp: ten Vi: thiên
dependent origination, see Pratityasamutpada	Pāli: paṭicca-samuppāda Sanskrit: pratītya-samutpāda	Bur: ပဋိစ္စသမုပ္ပါဒ် padeissa thamopad (IPA: [pədeiʔsa̰ θəmouʔpaʔ]) Tib: rten.cing.'brel.bar.'byung.ba Mn: шүтэн барилдлага shuten barildlaga 因縁, also 緣起, 縁起 Cn: yīnyuan, also yuánqǐ Jp: innen, also engi Ko: 인연 inyeon, also 연기 yeongi Vi: nhân duyên, duyên khởi
dhamma/dharma Often refers to the doctrines and teachings of the faith, but it may have broader uses. Also, it is an important technical term meaning something like "phenomenological constituent." This leads to the potential for confusion, puns, and double entendres, as the latter meaning often has negative connotations	from √dhṛ: to hold Pāli: dhamma Sanskrit: dharma	Bur: ဓမ္မ dhamma (IPA: [dəma̰]) Mon: ဓဝ် ([thò]) Thai: ธรรมะ tam-ma Tib: ཆོས་, choi Mn: дээдийн ном, deediin nom 法 Cn: fă Jp: hō Ko: beop Vi: pháp
dhammavinaya The dharma and vinaya (roughly "doctrine and discipline") considered together. This term essentially means the whole teachings of Buddhism as taught to monks		Mn: суртгаал номхотгол, surtgaal nomkhotgol
dhammacakka/dharmacakra A symbolic representation of the dharma, also known as the Wheel of Dharma	Sanskrit: dharmacakra Pāli: dhammacakka	Bur: ဓမ္မစကြာ dhamma sekya (IPA: [dəməsɛʔtɕà]) Tib: ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ, chai gyi khorlo Mn: номын хүрдэн, momiin khurden 法輪 Cn: Fǎlún Jp: hōrin Ko: beopryun Vi: pháp luân
Dhammapada a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha	Pāli: Dhammapada Sanskrit: Dharmapada	Bur: ဓမ္မပဒ Dhammapada (IPA: [dəma̰pəda̰]) 法句經 Cn: Fǎ jù jīng (sc. 法句经) Jp: Hō-ku kei (shin. 法句経) Ko: Vi: Kinh Pháp Cú
dhammapala/dharmapala A fearsome deity, known as protector of the Dharma	Sanskrit: dharmapāla Pāli: dhammapāla	Tib: chos-kyong Mn: догшид, dogshid; хангал, khangal 護法 Cn: hùfǎ Jp: gohou Ko: hobeop Vi: Hộ Pháp
Dhyana, see jhana	Pāli: jhāna Sanskrit: dhyāna	Bur: ဈာန် zan (IPA: [zàɴ]) Mon: ဇျာန် ([chàn]) Mn: дияан, diyan 禪 or 禪那, 禅 or 禅那 Cn: Chán or Chánnà Jp: Zen or Zenna Ko: Seon Vi: Thiền or Thiền-na
Dīpankara Buddha	Pāli: Dīpamkara Sanskrit: Dīpankara	Bur: ဒီပင်္ကရာ dipankara (IPA: [dìpɪ̀ɴkəɹà]) Thai: พระทีปังกรพุทธเจ้า 燃燈佛 Zh: Rándēng Fo
doan In Zen, a term for person sounding the bell that marks the beginning and end of Zazen	Japanese: 堂行
dokusan A private interview between a Zen student and the master. It is an important element in Rinzai Zen training, as it provides an opportunity for the student to demonstrate understanding	Japanese: 独参 dokusan	獨參 Cn: dúcān Ko: dokcham Vi: độc tham
dukkha Suffering, dissatisfaction, stress	Pāli: dukkha Sanskrit: duḥkha	Bur: ဒုက္ခ doukkha (IPA: [douʔkʰa̰]) Shan: တုၵ်ႉၶႃႉ ([tuk˥ kʰaː˥]) Thai: ทุกข์ took Tib: སྡུག་བསྔལ་ sdug bsngal Mn: зовлон, zovlon 苦 Cn: kǔ Jp: ku Ko: go Vi: khổ
dzogchen The natural, intrinsic state of every sentient being	Tibetan: རྫོགས་པ་ཆེན་པོ་ rdzogs pa chen po	Sanskrit: atiyoga 大究竟 Cn: dàjiūjìng Jp: daikukyou Ko: daegugyeong Vi: đại cứu cánh

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F

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
Five Five-Hundred-Year Periods Five sub-divisions of the three periods following the Buddha's passing (三時繫念 Cn: sānshí; Jp: sanji; Vi: tam thời), significant for many Mahayana adherents: Age of enlightenment (解脱堅固 Cn: jiětuō jiāngù; Jp: gedatsu kengo) Age of meditation (禅定堅固 Cn: chándìng jiāngù; Jp: zenjō kengo) These two ages comprise the Former Day of the Law (正法時期 Cn: zhèngfǎ; Jp: shōbō) Age of reading, reciting, and listening (読誦多聞堅固 Cn: sòngduōwén jiāngù; Jp: dokuju tamon kengo) Age of building temples and stupas (多造塔寺堅固 Cn: duōzào tǎsì jiāngù; Jp: tazō tōji kengo) These two ages comprise the Middle Day of the Law (像法時期 Cn: xiàngfǎ; Jp: zōhō) Age of conflict (闘諍堅固 Cn: zhēng jiāngù; Jp: tōjō kengo), an age characterized by unrest, strife, famine, and other natural and human-made disasters. This age corresponds to the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law (末法時期 Cn: mòfǎ; Jp: mappō) when the (historical) Buddha's teachings would lose all power of salvation and perish (白法隠没 Cn: báifǎméi; Jp: byakuhō onmotsu) and a new Buddha would appear to save the people. The three periods and the five five-hundred year periods are described in the Sutra of the Great Assembly (大集 Cn: dàjí; Jp: Daishutu-kyō, Daijuku-kyō, Daijikkyō, or Daishukkyō).		五箇五百歲, 五箇五百歳 Cn: 五箇五百歲 wǔ ge wǔbǎi suì Jp: 五箇の五百歳 go no gohyaku sai Vi: ??
Four Noble Truths Suffering: Dukkha (Sanskrit: duḥkhāryasatya; Bur: ဒုက္ခ dokkha; Thai: ทุกข์; 苦諦 Cn: kǔdì; Jp: kutai; Vi: khổ đế; Mn: зовлон, zovlon) Attachment (desire): Samudaya (Sanskrit: samudayāryasatya; Bur: သမုဒယ thamodaya; Thai: สมุทัย; 集諦 Cn: jídì; Jp: jittai; Vi: tập khổ đế; ; Mn: зовлонгийн шалтгаан, zovlongiin shaltgaan) Elimination of attachment (desire): Nirodha (Sanskrit: duḥkhanirodhāryasatya; Bur: နိရောဓ niyawdha; Thai: นิโรธ; 滅諦 Cn: mièdì; Jp: mettai; Vi: diệt khổ đế; Mn: гэтлэх, getlekh) The path that leads out of suffering: Magga (Sanskrit: duḥkhanirodhagāminī pratipad; Bur: မဂ် meg; Thai: มรรค; 道諦 Cn: dàodì; Jp: dōtai; Vi: đạo đế; Mn: мөр, mör)		Pāli: cattāri ariya-saccāni Sanskrit: चत्वारि आर्यसत्यानि catvāry āryasatyāni Bur: သစ္စာလေးပါး thissa lei ba (IPA: [θɪʔsà lé bá]) Khmr: អរិយសច្ចៈទាំង៤ 四聖諦 Cn: Sìdì Jp: Shitai Vi: Tứ diệu đế Mn: Хутагтын дөрвөн үнэн, khutagtiin dörvön unen
fukudo In Zen, term for person who strikes the han	Japanese: 副堂

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G

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
gassho A position used for greeting, with the palms together and fingers pointing upwards in prayer position; used in various Buddhist traditions, but also used in numerous cultures throughout Asia. It expresses greeting, request, thankfulness, reverence and prayer. Also considered a mudra or inkei of Japanese Shingon. See also: Añjali Mudrā, Namaste and Wai.	Japanese: 合掌 gasshō	Sanskrit: anjali 合掌 Cn: hézhǎng (more common to say 合十 héshí) Vi: hiệp chưởng
Gautama Buddha	Pāli: Gotama Sanskrit: Gautama	Bur: ဂေါတမ (IPA: [ɡɔ́dəma̰])
geshe A Tibetan Buddhist academic degree in the Gelug tradition, awarded at the conclusion of lengthy studies often lasting nine years or more	Tibetan: དགེ་ཤེས་	Mn: гэвш gevsh 格西
gongan, lit. "public case", A meditative method developed in the Chán/Seon/Zen traditions, generally consisting of a problem that defies solution by means of rational thought; see koan	Chinese 公案 gōng-àn	公案 Jp: kōan Ko: gong'an Vi: công án
Guan Yin The bodhisattva of compassion in East Asian Buddhism, with full name being Guan Shi Yin. Guan Yin is considered to be the female form of Avalokiteshvara but has been given many more distinctive characteristics.	Chinese 觀音 Guān Yīn or 觀世音 Guān Shì Yīn	觀音 or 觀世音 Jp: Kannon or Kanzeon Ko: Gwaneum or Gwanse-eum Vi: Quan Âm or Quan Thế Âm

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H

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
han In Zen monasteries, wooden board that is struck announcing sunrise, sunset and the end of the day	Japanese: 板
Hinayana, lit. "inferior vehicle", A coinage by the Mahayana for the Buddhist doctrines concerned with the achievement of Nirvana as a Śrāvakabuddha or a Pratyekabuddha, as opposed to a Samyaksambuddha	Sanskrit: hīnayāna	Bur: ဟီနယာန hinayana (IPA: [hḭna̰jàna̰]) 小乘 or 小乗, 二乘 Cn: Xiǎoshèng Jp: Shōjō Vi: Tiểu thừa Mn: Бага хөлгөн, Baga hölgön

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I

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
Ino, Jp. lit. "bringer of joy to the assembly." Originally from Sanskrit karmadana, lit. bestower of conduct [karma]. In Zen, the supervisor of the meditation hall [sodo]. One of the six senior temple administrators.	Japanese: 維那

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J

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
jhana Meditative contemplation; more often associated with śamatha practices than vipaśyana. See also: shamata, samadhi, samapatti	from √dhyā: to think of, to contemplate, meditate on Pāli: jhāna Sanskrit: dhyāna	Bur: ဈာန် zan (IPA: [zàɴ]) Mon: ဇျာန် ([chàn]) Thai: ฌาน chaan 禪 or 禪那, 禅 or 禅那 Sinhala: ජාන jhāna Cn: Chán or Chánnà Jp: Zen or Zenna Ko: Seon Vi: Thiền or Thiền-na Mn: дияан, diyan
jisha In Zen, a senior priest's attendant	Japanese: 侍者 jisha
jukai Zen public ordination ceremony wherein a lay student receives certain Buddhist precepts.	Chinese: 受戒, shou jie Korean: 수계, sugye

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K

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
Kakusandha Buddha	Pāli: Kakusandha Sanskrit: Krakkucchanda	Bur: ကကုသန် Kakuthan (IPA: [ka̰kṵθàɴ]) 拘留孙佛 Zh: Jūliúsūn Fó
karma, lit. "action", The law of cause and effect in Buddhism	from √kri: to do Sanskrit: karma Pāli: kamma	Bur: ကံ kan (IPA: [kàɴ]) or ကြမ္မာ kyamma (IPA: [tɕəmà]) Mon: ကံ ([kɔm]) Shan: ၵျၢမ်ႇမႃႇ ([kjaːm˨ maː˨]) or ၵၢမ်ႇ ([kaːm˨]) Thai: กรรม gum Tib: ལས, lai Mn: үйлийн үр, uiliin ür 業¹, 因果² Cn: ¹yè, comm.: ²yīnguǒ Jp: gō, inga Ko: 업 eob Vi: nghiệp
Kassapa Buddha	Pāli: Kassapa Sanskrit: Kasyapa	Bur: ကဿပ Kathapa (IPA: [kaʔθəpa̰]) 迦葉佛 Zh: Jiāyè Fó
kensho In Zen, enlightenment; has the same meaning as satōri, but is customary used for an initial awakening experience	Japanese: 見性 kenshō	見性 Cn: jiànxìng Vi: kiến tính
khyenpo, also khenpo, An academic degree similar to a doctorate in theology, philosophy, and psychology	Tibetan
khanti patience		Bur: ခန္တီ khanti (IPA: [kʰàɴ dì]) Shan: ၶၼ်ႇထီႇ ([kʰan˨ tʰi˨]) Thai: ขันติ kanti 耐心 Cn: Nàixīn Vi:
kinhin Zen walking meditation	Japanese: 経行 kinhin or kyōgyō	經行 Cn: jīngxíng Vi: ??
koan A story, question, problem or statement generally inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to Intuition	Japanese: 公案 kōan	公案 Cn: gōng-àn Ko: gong'an Vi: công án
ksanti The practice of exercising patience toward behaviour or situations that might not necessarily deserve it—it is seen as a conscious choice to actively give patience as a gift, rather than being in a state of oppression in which one feels obligated to act in such a way.	Sanskrit
Koṇāgamana Buddha	Pāli and Sanskrit: Koṇāgamana	Bur: ကောဏာဂုံ Kawnagon (IPA: [kɔ́nəɡòuɴ]) 拘那含佛 Zh: Jūnàhán Fó
kyosaku In Zen, a flattened stick used to strike the shoulders during zazen, to help overcome fatigue or reach satori	Japanese: 警策 kyōsaku, called keisaku in Rinzai	香板 Cn: xiangban

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L

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
lama A Tibetan teacher or master; equivalent to Sanskrit "guru"	Tibetan: བླ་མ་ lama	Sanskrit: guru 喇嘛 Cn: lǎma Jp: rama Vi: lạt-ma Mn: лам, lam
lineage The official record of the historical descent of dharma teachings from one teacher to another; by extension, may refer to a tradition		傳承

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M

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophical school, founded by Nagarjuna. Members of this school are called Madhyamikas	Sanskrit: mādhyamika	Tib: དབུ་མ་པ་ dbu ma pa Mn: төв үзэл, töv üzel 中觀宗 Cn: Zhōngguānzōng Jp: ?? Vi: Trung quán tông
mahabhuta four great elements in traditional Buddhist thought	Pāli and Sanskrit: Mahābhūta	Bur: မဟာဘုတ် Mahabhot (IPA: [məhà bouʔ])
mahamudra A method of direct introduction the understanding of sunyata, of samsara and that the two are inseparable	Sanskrit: mahāmudrā	Bur: မဟာမုဒြာ maha modra (IPA: [məhà mouʔdɹà]) Tib: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་ chag-je chen-po Mn: махамудра, mahamudra 大手印 Cn: dàshŏuyìn Jp: daisyuin Vi: đại thủ ấn
mahasiddha litt. great spiritual accomplishment. A yogi in Tantric Buddhism, often associated with the highest levels of enlightenment	Sanskrit: mahāsiddha	Bur: မဟာသိဒ္ဒ maha theidda (IPA: [məhà θeiʔda̰]) Thai: มหายาน 大成就 Cn: dàchéngjiù Jp: daijōjyu Vi: đại thành tựu
Mahayana, lit. "great vehicle", A major branch of Buddhism practiced in China, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Main goal is to achieve buddhahood or samyaksambuddha	Sanskrit: mahāyāna	Bur: မဟာယာန mahayana (IPA: [məhàjàna̰]) 大乘 or 大乗 Cn: Dàshèng Jp: Daijō Vi: Đại thừa Mn: Ikh khölgön
Maitreya The Buddha of the future epoch	Pāli: Metteyya Sanskrit: Maitreya	Bur: အရိမေတ္တေယျ arimetteya (IPA: [əɹḭmèdja̰]) Shan: ဢရီႉမိတ်ႈတေႇယႃႉ ([ʔa˩ ri˥ mit˧ ta˨ jɔ˥]) Tib: བྱམས་པ, byams pa Mn: Майдар, maidar 彌勒 or 彌勒佛, 弥勒 or 弥勒仏 Cn: Mílè or Mílè Fó Jp: Miroku or Miroku-butsu Vi: Di-lặc or Phật Di-lặc
makyo In Zen, unpleasant or distracting thoughts or illusions that occur during zazen	Japanese: 魔境 makyō
Māna conceit, arrogance, misconception	Pāli and Sanskrit: Māna	Bur: မာန mana (IPA: [màna̰]) Mon: မာန် man ([màn]) Shan: မႃႇၼႃႉ ([maː˨ naː˥])
mantra Chant used primarily to aid concentration, to reach enlightenment. The best-known Buddhist mantra is possibly Om mani padme hum	Sanskrit: mantra	Thai: มนตร์ moan Mn: маань, тарни; maani, tarni 咒 Cn: zou Jp: shingon Vi: chân âm
Mappo The "degenerate" Latter Day of the Law. A time period supposed to begin 2,000 years after Sakyamuni Buddha's passing and last for "10,000 years"; follows the two 1,000-year periods of Former Day of the Law (正法 Cn: zhèngfǎ; Jp: shōbō) and of Middle Day of the Law (像法 Cn: xiàngfǎ; Jp: zōhō). During this degenerate age, chaos will prevail and the people will be unable to attain enlightenment through the word of Sakyamuni Buddha. See the Three periods	Japanese: 末法 mappō	末法 Cn: mòfǎ Vi: ??
merit	Pāli: puñña Sanskrit: puṇya	Bur: ကုသိုလ် kutho (IPA: [kṵðò]) Mon: ကုသဵု ([kaoʔsɒ]) or ပိုန် ([pɒn]) Shan: ပုင်ႇၺႃႇ ([puŋ˨ ɲaː˨]) or ၵူႉသူဝ်ႇ ([ku˥ sʰo˨]) or ၵူႉသလႃႉ ([ku˥ sʰa˩ laː˥])
metta loving kindness	Pāli: Sanskrit:	Bur: မေတ္တာ myitta (IPA: [mjɪʔtà]) Mon: မေတ္တာ ([mètta]) Shan: မိတ်ႈတႃႇ ([mit˧ taː˨]) or မႅတ်ႈတႃႇ ([mɛt˧ taː˨]) Thai: เมตตา metta 慈 Ch: Cí Jp: ji Vi:
Middle way The practice of avoidance of extreme views and lifestyle choices	Pāli: majjhimāpaṭipadā Sanskrit: madhyamāpratipad	Bur: မဇ္ဇိမပဋိပဒါ myizima badi bada (IPA: [mjɪʔzḭma̰ bədḭ bədà]) 中道 Ch: zhōngdào Jp: chūdō Vi: trung đạo Mn: дундаж зам мөр, dundaj zam mör
(right) mindfulness The practice whereby a person is intentionally aware of his or her thoughts and actions in the present moment, non-judgmentally. The 7th step of the Noble Eightfold Path		Pāli: (sammā)-sati Sanskrit: (samyag)-smṛti Bur: သတိ thadi (IPA: [ðadḭ]) Thai: สัมมาสติ samma-sati 正念 Cn: zhèngniàn Jp: syōnen Vi: chính niệm
moksha Liberation	Sanskrit: mokṣa	Pāli: vimutti Bur: ဝိမုတ္တိ wimouti (IPA: [wḭmouʔtḭ]) 解脱 Cn: jiětuō Jp: gedatsu Vi: giải thoát
mokugyo A wooden drum carved from one piece, usually in the form of a fish	Japanese: 木魚 mokugyo	木魚 Cn: mùyú Vi: mõ
mondo In Zen, a short dialogue between teacher and student	Japanese: 問答　mondō	問答 Cn: wèndǎ Vi: ??
mudra lit. "seal", A gesture made with hands and fingers in meditation	Sanskrit: mudrā	Bur: မုဒြာ modra (IPA: [mouʔdɹà]) Tib: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ phyag rgya Mn: чагжаа, chagjaa 手印 Cn: sohyìn (commonly only yìn) Jp: syuin Vi: ấn

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N

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
namo An exclamation showing reverence; devotion. Often placed in front of the name of an object of veneration, e.g., a Buddha's name or a sutra (Nam(u) Myōhō Renge Kyō), to express devotion to it. Defined in Sino-Japanese as 帰命 kimyō: to base one's life upon, to devote (or submit) one's life to Derivatives: Namo Amitabha	Pāli: namo Sanskrit: namaḥ or namas Derivatives: Sanskrit: namo-'mitābhāya	Bur: နမော namaw (IPA: [nəmɔ́]) Tib: ཕྱག་འཚལ་(ལོ), chag tsal (lo) Mn: мөргөмү, mörgömü 南無 Cn: nánmó Jp: namu or nam Ko: namu Vi: nam-mô Derivatives: 南無阿弥陀佛 Cn: Nánmó Ēmítuó fó Jp: Namu Amida butsu Ko: Namu Amita Bul Vi: Nam-mô A-di-đà Phật 南無觀世音菩薩 Cn: Nánmó Guán Syr Yín Pū Sá Jp: Namu Kanzeon Butsu Ko: Namu Gwan Se Eum Bo Sal Vi: Nam-mô Quan Thế Âm Bồ Tát
nekkhamma renunciation	Pāli: Sanskrit:	Bur: နိက္ခမ neikhama (IPA: [neiʔkʰəma̰]) Thai: เนกขัมมะ nekkamma Mn: магад гарахуй, magad garahui 出世 Cn: Chūshì Jp: syusse Vi:
Nibbana/Nirvana Extinction or extinguishing; ultimate enlightenment in the Buddhist tradition	from niḥ-√vā: to extinguish Pāli: nibbāna Sanskrit: nirvana	Bur: နိဗ္ဗာန် neibban (IPA: [neiʔbàɴ]) Thai: นิพพาน nípphaan Tib: མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ, mya-ngan-las-'das-pa Mn: нирван, nirvan 涅槃 Cn: Nièpán Jp: Nehan Ko: Yeolban Vi: Niết-bàn
Nikaya, lit. "volume", The Buddhist texts in Pāli	Pāli: nikāya	Sanskrit: Āgama Bur: နိကာယ nikaya (IPA: [nḭkəja̰]) 部經 Cn: Bùjīng Jp: ?? Vi: Bộ kinh
Noble Eightfold Path Right View (Pāli: sammā-diṭṭhi; Sanskrit: samyag-dṛṣṭi; 正見 Cn: zhèngjiàn; Vi: chính kiến) Right Thought (Pāli: sammā-saṅkappa; Sanskrit: samyak-saṃkalpa; 正思唯 Cn: zhèngsīwéi; Vi: chính tư duy) These 2 constitute the path of Wisdom (Pāli: paññā; Sanskrit: prajñā) Right Speech (Pāli: sammā-vācā; Sanskrit: samyag-vāk; 正語 Cn: zhèngyǔ; Vi: chính ngữ) Right Action (Pāli: sammā-kammanta; Sanskrit: samyak-karmānta; 正業 Cn: zhèngyè; Vi: chính nghiệp) Right Living (Pāli: sammā-ājīva; Sanskrit: samyag-ājīva; 正命 Cn: zhèngmìng; Vi: chính mệnh) These 3 constitute the path of Virtue (Pāli: sīla; Sanskrit: śīla) Right Effort (Pāli: sammā-vāyāma; Sanskrit: samyag-vyāyāma; 正精進 Cn: zhèngjīngjìn; Vi: chính tinh tiến) Right Mindfulness (Pāli: sammā-sati; Sanskrit: samyag-smṛti; 正念 Cn: zhèngniàn; Vi: chính niệm) Right Concentration (Pāli: sammā-samādhi; Sanskrit: samyak-samādhi; 正定 Cn: zhèngdìng; Vi: chính định) The last 3 constitute the path of Concentration (Pāli, Sanskrit: samādhi)	Pāli: aṭṭhāṅgika-magga Sanskrit: aṣṭāṅgika-mārga	Bur: မဂ္ဂင် meggin (IPA: [mɛʔɡɪ̀ɴ]) Thai: อริยมรรค ariya-mak 八正道 Cn: Bāzhèngdào Jp: Hasshōdō Ko: Paljeongdo Vi: Bát chính đạo

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O

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
oryoki A set of bowls used in a Zen eating ceremony	Japanese: 応量器 ōryōki
osho A term used to address a monk of the Zen Buddhist tradition. Originally reserved for high ranking monks, it has since been appropriated for everyday use when addressing any male member of the Zen clergy	Japanese: 和尚 oshō

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P

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
panca skandha The five constituent elements into which an individual is analyzed. They are: "form": Pāli, Sanskrit: rūpa; Bu: ရူပ yupa; 色 Cn: sè; Jp: shiki "sensation": Pāli, Sanskrit: vedanā; Bu: ဝေဒန wedana; 受 Cn: shòu; Jp: ju "cognition": Pāli: saññā; Sanskrit: saṃjñā; Bu: သညာ thinnya; 想 Cn: xiàng; Jp: sō "mental formations": Pāli: saṅkhāra; Sanskrit: saṃskāra; Bu: သင်္ခါရ thinkhaya; 行 Cn: xíng; Jp: gyō "consciousness": Pāli: viññāṇa; Sanskrit: vijñāna; Bu: ဝိညာဉ် winyin; 識 Cn: shí; Jp: shiki	Sanskrit: pañca skandha Pāli: pañca khandha	Bur: ခန္ဒာငါးပါး khanda nga ba (IPA: [kʰàɴdà ŋá bá]) Shan: ႁႃႈ ၶၼ်ႇထႃႇ ([haː˧ kʰan˨ tʰaː˨]) 五蘊, 五陰, 五薀 Cn: wǔyùn Jp: go-on, sometimes go-un Vi: ngũ uẩn
Panchen Lama The second highest ranking lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. after the Dalai Lama	Tibetan: པན་ཆེན་བླ་མ་ pan-chen bla-ma	Sanskrit: paṇḍitaguru Mn: Банчин Богд, Banchin Bogd 班禪喇嘛 Cn: Bānchán Lǎma Jp: ?? Vi: Ban-thiền Lạt-ma
paññā, see prajna	Sanskrit:	Bur: ပညာ pyinnya (IPA: [pjɪ̀ɴɲà]) Mon: ပညာ ([pɔnɲa]) Shan: ပိင်ႇၺႃႇ ([piŋ˨ ɲaː˨]) Tibetan: shes rab Mn: билиг, bilig 智慧 or 知恵 or 般若 Cn: Zhìhuì, zhīhuì, bōrě Jp: chie,hannya Vi:
paramartha Absolute, as opposed to merely conventional, truth or reality; see also samvrti	Sanskrit: paramārtha	Bur: ပရမတ် paramat (IPA: [pəɹəmaʔ]) Thai: ปรมัตถ์ paramutt
paramita, lit. "reaching the other shore," usually rendered in English as "perfection." The Mahayana practices for obtaining enlightenment; giving, ethics, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom	Pāli: pāramī Sanskrit: pāramitā	Bur: ပါရမီ parami (IPA: [pàɹəmì]) Mon: ပါရမဳ ([parəmɔe]) Thai: บารมี baramee Mn: барамид, baramid 波羅蜜 or 波羅蜜多 Cn: bōluómì or bōluómìduō Jp: haramitsu or haramita Vi: ba-la-mật or ba-la-mật-đa
parinibbana/parinirvana The final nibbana/nirvana	from nibbana/nirvana above Pāli: parinibbāna Sanskrit: parinirvāṇa	Bur: ပရိနိဗ္ဗာန် pareineibban (IPA: [pəɹeiʔneiʔbàɴ]) Thai: ปรินิพพาน pari-nippaan 般涅槃 Cn: bōnièpán Jp: hatsunehan Vi: bát-niết-bàn
Perfection of Wisdom	from pāramitā ("perfection") above and prajñā/paññā ("wisdom") below Sanskrit: prajñāpāramitā Pāli: paññāparami	Bur: ပညာပါရမီ pyinnya parami (IPA: [pjɪ̀ɴɲà pàɹəmì]) Mon: ပညာပါရမဳ ([pɔnɲa parəmɔe]) Mn: билиг барамид, bilig baramid 般若波羅蜜 or 般若波羅蜜多 Cn: bōrě-bōluómì or bōrě-bōluómìduō Jp: hannya-haramitsu or hannya-haramita Vi: bát-nhã-ba-la-mật or bát-nhã-ba-la-mật-đa
Pointing-out instruction The direct introduction to the nature of mind in the lineages of Essence Mahamudra and Dzogchen. A root guru is the master who gives the 'pointing-out instruction' so that the disciple recognizes the nature of mind	Tibetan: ངོ་སྤྲོད་ ngo-sprod
prajna/paññā "wisdom", "insight"	Pāli: paññā Sanskrit: prajñā	Bur: ပညာ pyinnya (IPA: [pjɪ̀ɴɲà]) Thai: ปัญญา pun-ya Mn: хөтлөх, khötlökh 般若 Cn: bōrě or bānruò Jp: hannya Vi: bát-nhã
pratitya-samutpada "Dependent origination," the view that no phenomenon exists (or comes about) without depending on other phenomena or conditions around it. In English also called "conditioned genesis," "dependent co-arising," "interdependent arising," etc. A famous application of dependent origination is the Twelve Nidana, or 12 inter-dependences (Sanskrit: dvādaśāṅgapratītyasamutpāda; 十二因緣, 十二因縁 Cn: shíàr yīnyuán; Jp: jūni innen; Vi: thập nhị nhân duyên), which are: Ignorance (Pāli: avijjā; Sanskrit: avidyā; 無明 Cn: wúmíng; Jp: mumyō; Vi: vô minh; Mn: мунхрахуй, munhrahui) Ignorance creates Mental Formation (Pāli: saṅkhāra; Sanskrit: saṃskāra; 行 Cn: xíng; Jp: gyō; Vi: hành; Mn: хуран үйлдэхүй, khuran uildehui) Mental Formation creates Consciousness (Pāli: viññāṇa; Sanskrit: vijñāna; 識 Cn: shí; Jp: shiki; Vi: thức; Mn: тийн мэдэхүй, tiin medehui) Consciousness creates Name & Form (Pāli, Sanskrit: nāmarūpa; 名色 Cn: míngsè; Jp: myōshiki; Vi: danh sắc; Mn: нэр өнгө, ner öngö) Name & Form create Sense Gates (Pāli: saḷāyatana; Sanskrit: ṣaḍāyatana; 六入 or 六処 Cn: liùrù; Jp: rokunyū or rokusho; Vi: lục căn; Mn: төрөн түгэхүй, törön tugehui) Sense Gates create Contact (Pāli: phassa; Sanskrit: sparśa; 觸, 触 Cn: chù; Jp: soku; Vi: xúc; Mn: хүрэлцэхүй, khureltsehui) Contact creates Feeling (Pāli, Sanskrit: vedanā; 受 Cn: shòu; Jp: ju; Vi: thụ; Mn: сэрэхүй, serehui) Feeling creates Craving (Pāli: taṇhā; Sanskrit: tṛṣṇā; 愛 Cn: ài; Jp: ai; Vi: ái; Mn: хурьцахуй, khuritsahui) Craving creates Clinging (Pāli, Sanskrit: upādāna; 取 Cn: qǔ; Jp: shu; Vi: thủ; Mn: авахуй, avahui) Clinging creates Becoming (Pāli, Sanskrit: bhava; 有 Cn: yǒu; Jp: u; Vi: hữu; Mn: сансар, sansar) Becoming creates Birth (Pāli, Sanskrit: jāti; 生 Cn: shēng; Jp: shō; Vi: sinh; Mn: төрөхүй, töröhui ) Birth leads to Aging & Death (Pāli, Sanskrit: jarāmaraṇa; 老死 Cn: láosǐ; Jp: rōshi; Vi: lão tử; Mn: өтлөх үхэхүй, ötlöh uhehui)	Pāli: paṭicca-samuppāda Sanskrit: pratitya-samutpāda	Bur: ပဋိစ္စသမုပ္ပါဒ် padeissa thamopad (IPA: [pədeiʔsa̰ θəmouʔpaʔ]) Tib: རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ་ rten cing `brel bar `byung ba Mn: шүтэн барилдлага, shuten barildlaga 緣起 (thought to be an abbreviation for 因緣生起), 縁起 Cn: yuánqǐ Jp: engi Vi: duyên khởi Also called 因緣, 因縁 Cn: yīnyuán Jp: innen Vi: nhân duyên
Pratyekabuddha/Paccekabuddha, lit. "a buddha by his own", A buddha who reaches enlightenment on his own	Pāli: paccekabuddha Sanskrit: pratyekabuddha	Bur: ပစ္စေကဗုဒ္ဓါ pyiseka boddha (IPA: [pjɪʔsèka̰ bouʔdà]) 辟支佛 Cn: Bìzhī Fó Jp: Hyakushibutsu Vi: Bích-chi Phật
Pure Land Buddhism A large branch of Mahayana, dominantly in East Asia. The goal of Pure Land Buddhism is to be reborn in the Western sukhavati of Amitabha, either as a real place or within the mind, through the other-power of repeating the Buddha's name, nianfo or nembutsu.		净土宗(Ch), 浄土教(Jp) Cn: Jìngtǔ-zōng Jp: Jōdo-kyo Ko: Jeongtojong Vi: Tịnh độ tông
purisa The practicing Buddhist community as a whole; sangha and laity

Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

R

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
rebirth The process of continuity of life after death	Pāli: punabbhava Sanskrit: punarbhava	輪廻 Cn: lunhui Jp: rinne Vi: luân hồi
Ratnasambhava	Sanskrit: Ratnasambhava	Tib: རིན་ཆེན་འབྱུང་གནས Rinchen Jung ne Mn: ᠡᠷᠳᠡᠨᠢ ᠭᠠᠷᠬᠣ ᠢᠢᠨ ᠣᠷᠣᠨ᠂ ᠲᠡᠭᠦᠰ ᠡᠷᠳᠡᠨᠢ; Эрдэнэ гарахын орон, Төгс Эрдэнэ; Erdeni garkhu yin oron, Tegüs Erdeni
refuge Usually in the form of "take refuge in the Three Jewels"	Pāli: saraṇa Sanskrit: śaraṇa	Bur: သရဏဂုံ tharanagon (IPA: [θəɹənəɡòuɴ]) Mn: аврал, avral Tib: skyabs Thai: สรณะ sorana 歸依 Cn: guīyī Jp: kie Vi: quy y
Rinpoche, lit. "precious one", An honorific title for a respected Tibetan lama, such as a tulku	Tibetan: རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, rin-po-che	Mn: римбүчий, rimbuchii 仁波切 Cn: rénbōqiē Jp: ?? Vi: ??
Rinzai Zen sect emphasizing koan study; named for master Linji	Japanese: 臨済宗 Rinzai-shū	臨濟宗 Cn: Línjì-zōng Vi: Lâm Tế tông
Rohatsu A day traditionally honored as the day of the Buddha's enlightenment. While deep in meditation under a bodhi tree, he attained enlightenment upon seeing the morning star just at dawn; celebrated on the 8th day either of December or of the 12th month of the lunar calendar	Japanese: 臘八 Rōhatsu or Rohachi
roshi, lit. "Master", An honorific given to Zen teachers in the Rinzai and Obaku sects.	Japanese 老師 Rōshi	禅師 Cn: '’chan shī (lit., old master)

Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

S

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
sacca truthfulness	Sanskrit: Satya	Bur: သစ္စာ thissa (IPA: [θɪʔ sà]) Mon: သစ္စ ([sɔtcɛʔ]) Shan: သဵတ်ႈၸႃႇ ([sʰet˧ tsaː˨]) Thai: สัจจะ sadja 真 Cn: zhēn Jp: shin Vi:
samanera/shramanera A male novice monk, who, after a year or until the ripe age of 20, will be considered for the higher Bhikkhu ordination	Sanskrit: śrāmaṇera	Bur: (ရှင်)သာမဏေ (shin) thamane (IPA: [(ʃɪ̀ɴ) θàmənè]) Mon: သာမ္မဏဳ ([samənɔe]) Shan: သႃႇမၼေႇ ([sʰaː˨ mne˨]) Thai: สามเณร sama-naen 沙彌 Cn: shāmí Jp: shami Vi: ??
samatha Mental stabilization; tranquility meditation. Distinguished from vipassana meditation	Pāli: samatha Sanskrit: śamatha	Bur: သမထ thamahta (IPA: [θəmətʰa̰]) Thai: สมถะ samatha 舍摩他 Cn: shěmótā Jp: ?? Vi: ??
samsara The cycle of birth and rebirth; the world as commonly experienced	Pāli, Sanskrit: saṃsāra	Bur: သံသရာ thanthaya (IPA: [θàɴðəjà]) Thai: สังสารวัฏ sung-sara-wat Tib: འཁོར་བ khor ba Bur: သံသရာ Mn: орчлон, orchlon 輪迴, 輪廻 Cn: lúnhúi Jp: rinne Vi: luân hồi
samu Work, conceived as a part of Zen training.[2]	Japanese: 作務 samu	作務 Cn: zuòwù Vi: ??
samvrti Conventional, as opposed to absolute, truth or reality; see also paramartha	Sanskrit: saṃvrti	Bur: သမ္မုတိ thamudi (IPA: [θəmṵdḭ]) Thai: สมมุติ sommoot
sangha The community of Buddhist monks and nuns. Teachers and practitioners.	Sanskrit: saṅgha	Bur: သံဃာ thangha (IPA: [θàɴɡà]) Mon: သဳလ ([sɛŋ]) Shan: သၢင်ႇၶႃႇ ([sʰaːŋ˨ kʰaː˨]) Thai: สงฆ์ song Tib: ཚོགས་ཀ་མཆོག tsog gyu chog Mn: хуврагийн чуулган, khuvragiin chuulgan 僧團 Cn: sēng tuan Jp: sō, sōryō Vi: tăng già
Sanlun Buddhist philosophical school based on the Madhyamaka school	Chinese: 三論 sānlùn	三論宗 Cn: Sānlùnzōng Jp: Sanron-shū Vi: Tam luận tông
sanzen A formal interview with a teacher in many traditions of Zen. Similar to dokusan	Japanese
satori Awakening; understanding. A Japanese term for enlightenment	Japanese: 悟り satori	悟 Cn: wú Vi: ngộ
sayadaw Burmese meditation master	Bur: ဆရာတော် sayadaw (IPA: [sʰəjàdɔ̀])
seichu In the Zen Buddhist calendar, a period of intensive, formal monastic training. It is typically characterized by week-long Daisesshins and periodic sanzen	Japanese: 制中 seichu
sesshin A Zen retreat where practitioners meditate, eat and work together for several days	Japanese: 接心, 摂心	佛七 Cn: '’fóqī 坐臘/坐腊 Cn: zuòlà
shikantaza Soto Zen. "Only concentrated on sitting" is the main practice of the Soto school of Japanese Zen Buddhism	Japanese: 只管打座	默照 Cn: mòzhào
shunyata Emptiness; see also Nagarjuna	Pāli: suññatā Sanskrit: śūnyatā	Bur: သုည ' (IPA: [θòuɴɲa̰]) Shan: သုင်ႇၺႃႉ ([sʰuŋ˨ ɲaː˥]) Tib: stong pa nyid Mn: хоосон чанар, khooson chanar 空 Cn: kōng Jp: kū Vi: tính Không
sila "morals", "morality", "ethics": precepts	Pāli: sīla Sanskrit: śīla	Bur: သီလ thila (IPA: [θìla̰]) Mon: သဳ ([sɔelaʔ]) Shan: သီႇလႃႉ ([sʰi˨ laː˥]) Thai: ศีล seen 尸羅,戒 Cn: jiè Jp: kai Vi: giới Mn: шагшаабад, shagshaabad
Sōtō Sect of Zen emphasizing shikantaza as the primary mode of practice; see also Dogen	Japanese: 曹洞宗 Sōtō-shū	曹洞宗 Cn: Cáodòng-zōng Vi: Tào Ðộng tông
store consciousness The base consciousness (alayavijnana) taught in Yogacara Buddhism	Pāli, Sanskrit: ālayavijñāna	阿頼耶識 Cn: āyēshí Jp: arayashiki Vi: a-lại-da thức
sutra Scripture; originally referred to short aphoristic sayings and collections thereof	from √siv: to sew Sanskrit: sutra Pāli: sutta	Bur: သုတ် thoht (IPA: [θouʔ]) Mon: သုတ် ([sɔt]) Mon: သုၵ်ႈ ([sʰuk˧]) Thai: สูตร soothe Mn: судар, sudar 經, 経 Cn: jīng Jp: kyō Vi: kinh
Sutra Pitaka The second basket of the Tripitaka canon, the collection of all Buddha's teachings	Pāli: Sutta-piṭaka Sanskrit: Sūtra-piṭaka	Bur: သုတ် thoht (IPA: [θouʔ]) Mon: သုတ် ([sɔt]) Mon: သုၵ်ႈ ([sʰuk˧]) Mn: Судрын аймаг Sudriin aimag 經藏, 経蔵 Cn: jīngcáng Jp: kyōzō Vi: Kinh tạng

Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

T

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
tangaryō A period of waiting for admission into a Zen monastery at the gate, lasting anywhere from one day to several weeks—depending on the quality of one's sitting. Refers to the room traveling monks stay in when visiting, or await admittance into the sōdō.	Japanese: 旦過寮
tanha Craving or desire	Pāli: taṇhā Sanskrit: tṛṣṇā	Bur: တဏှာ tahna (IPA: [tən̥à]) Thai: ตัณหา tunha Mn: хурьцахуй, khuritsahui 愛 Cn: ài Jp: ai Kr: 애 ae Vi: ái
Tanto In Zen, one of the main temple leaders, lit."head of the tan." In a Zen temple, the Tanto is one of two officers (with the Godo) in charge monks' training.[2]	Japanese:単頭
tantra Esoteric religious practices, including yoga, mantra, etc. See also Vajrayana.	Sanskrit: tantra	Mn: тарнийн ёс, дандар, tarniin yos, dandar 續部,怛特羅 Cn: dátèluó Jp: ?? Vi: đát-đặc-la
Tathagata one of the Buddha's ten epithets	Sanskrit: tathāgata; The "Thus-Gone One"	Bur: တထာဂတ tahtagata (IPA: [ta̰tʰàɡəta̰]) Thai: ตถาคต tatha-kohd Mn: түүнчлэн ирсэн, tuunchlen irsen 如来 Cn: rúlái Jp: nyorai Vi: như lai
tathagatagarbha Buddha-nature or the seed of enlightenment	Sanskrit: tathāgatagarbha	佛性, 仏性 Cn: fóxìng Jp: busshō Also 覚性 Cn: juéxìng Jp: kakushō Vi: giác tính Also 如来藏, 如来蔵 Cn: rúláizàng Jp: nyuoraizō Vi: như lai tạng
teisho A presentation by a Zen master during a sesshin. Rather than an explanation or exposition in the traditional sense, it is intended as a demonstration of Zen realisation	Japanese: 提唱 teishō
tenzo In Zen, the head cook for a sesshin. In Zen temples, the officer in charge of the kitchen	Japanese: 典座 tenzo	典座 Cn: diǎnzuò Vi: điển toạ
Theravada, lit. "words of the elders", Most popular form of Buddhism in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka.	Pāli: theravāda Sanskrit: sthaviravāda	Bur: ထေရဝါဒ hterawada (IPA: [tʰèɹa̰wàda̰] or [tʰèja̰wàda̰]) Thai: เถรวาท tera-waad 上座部 Cn: shàngzuòbù Jp: jōzabu Vi: Thượng toạ bộ
thera or theri, lit. "elder", Honorific applied to senior monks and nuns in the Theravada tradition.	Pāli: thera	Bur: ထေရ htera (IPA: [tʰèɹa̰])
Three Jewels Three things that Buddhists take refuge in: the Buddha, his teachings (Dharma) and the community of realized practitioners (Sangha), and in return look toward for guidance (see also Refuge (Buddhism))	Pāli: tiratana Sanskrit: triratna	Bur: သရဏဂုံသုံးပါး tharanagon thon ba (IPA: [θəɹənəɡòuɴ θóuɴ bá]) OR ရတနာသုံးပါး yadana thon ba ([jədənà θóuɴ bá)]) Thai: ไตรรัตน์ trai-rut Tib: དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ, dkon mchog gsum Mn: чухаг дээд гурав chuhag deed gurav 三寶 Cn: sānbăo Jp: sanbō Vi: tam bảo
Three periods Three divisions of the time following the historical Buddha's passing: the Former (or Early) Day of the Law (正法 Cn: zhèngfǎ; Jp: shōbō), the first thousand years; the Middle Day of the Law (像法 Cn: xiàngfǎ; Jp: zōhō), the second thousand years; and the Latter Day of the Law (末法 Cn: mòfǎ; Jp: mappō), which is to last for 10,000 years. The three periods are significant to Mahayana adherents, particularly those who hold the Lotus Sutra in high regard; e.g., Tiantai (Tendai) and Nichiren Buddhists, who believe that different Buddhist teachings are valid (i.e., able to lead practitioners to enlightenment) in each period due to the different capacity to accept a teaching (機根 Cn: jīgēn; Jp: kikon) of the people born in each respective period. The three periods are further divided into five five-hundred year periods (五五百歳 Cn: wǔ wǔbǎi suì; Jp: go no gohyaku sai), the fifth and last of which was prophesied to be when the Buddhism of Sakyamuni would lose all power of salvation and a new Buddha would appear to save the people. This time period would be characterized by unrest, strife, famine, and other, natural disasters. The three periods and the five five-hundred year periods are described in the Sutra of the Great Assembly (大集経 Cn: dàjí jīng; Jp: Daishutu-kyō, Daijuku-kyō, Daijikkyō, or Daishukkyō). Descriptions of the three periods also appear in other sutras, some of which ascribe different lengths of time to them (although all agree that Mappō will last for 10,000 years).		三時 Cn: Sānshí Jp: Sanji Vi: Tam thời
Three Poisons or Three Fires The three primary causes of unskillful action or creation of "negative" karma: Greed or selfish desire (Pāli: taṇhā; Sanskrit: tṛṣṇā; Tib.: འདོད་ཆགས་ 'dod chags; Mn: тачаал, tachaal; 貪 Cn: tān; Jp: ton; Vi: ái) Hatred or anger (Sanskrit: dveṣa; Tib.: ཞེ་སྡང་ zhe sdang; Mn: урин хилэн, urin khilen; 瞋 Cn: chēn; Jp: jin; Vi: sân) Ignorance or delusion (Pāli: avijjā; Sanskrit: avidyā; Tib.: གཏི་མུག་ gti mug; Mn: мунхаг, munhag; 癡 Cn: chī; Jp: chi; Vi: vô minh)	Pāli: kilesa (Defilements) Sanskrit: kleśa	Bur: မီးသုံးပါး mi thon ba (IPA: [mí θóuɴ bá]) Tib: düsum (Wylie: dug gsum) Mn: гурван хор, gurvan khor 三毒 Cn: Sāndú Jp: Sandoku Vi: Tam độc
Tiantai/Tendai A Mahayana school of China that teaches the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra	Chinese: 天台 tiāntái	天台宗 Cn: tiāntái zōng Jp: tendai-shū Vi: Thiên Thai tông
trailõkya The 3 "regions" of the world: Kamaloka or Kamadhatu: world of desires (Sanskrit, Pāli: kāmaloka, kāmadhātu; Tibetan: འདོད་ཁམས་ `dod khams; Mn: амармагийн орон, amarmagiin oron; 欲界 Cn: yùjiè, Jp: yokkai Vi: dục giới) Rupaloka or Rupadhatu: world of form (Sanskrit: rūpaloka, rūpadhātu; Tibetan: གཟུགས་ཁམས་ gzugs khams; Mn: дүрстийн орон, durstiin oron; 色界 Cn: sèjiè; Jp: shikikai , Vi: sắc giới) Arupaloka or Arupadhatu: world without form or desire (Sanskrit: arūpaloka, arūpadhātu; Tibetan: གཟུགས་མེད་ཁམས་ gzugs med khams; Mn: дүрсгүйн орон, dursquin oron; 無色界 Cn: wú sèjiè, Jp: mushikikai Vi: vô sắc giới)	Sanskrit: triloka	Pāli: tisso dhātuyo Tibetan: ཁམས་གསུམ་ khams gsum Mn: гурван орон, gurvan oron 三界 Cn: sānjiè Jp: sangai Vi: tam giới
trikaya The 3 "bodies" of Buddha: Dharma-kaya (Sanskrit: dharmakāya; 法身 Cn: fǎshēn; Jp: hosshin; Vi: pháp thân) Sambhoga-kaya (Sanskrit: saṃbhogakāya; 報身 Cn: bàoshēn; Jp: hōshin; Vi: báo thân) Nirmana-kaya (Sanskrit: nirmāṇakāya; 應身,化身,応身 Cn: yìngshēn; Jp: ōjin; Vi: ứng thân)	Sanskrit: trikāya	三身 Cn: sānshēn Jp: sanjin Vi: tam thân
Tripitaka The "Three Baskets"; canon containing the sacred texts for Buddhism (Pāli) Vinaya Pitaka (Pāli, Sanskrit: Vinaya-piṭaka; Tib: འདུལ་བའི་སྡེ་སྣོད་ `dul ba`i sde snod; Mn: винайн аймаг сав vinain aimag sav; 律藏, 律蔵 Cn: lǜzàng; Jp: Ritsuzō; Vi: Luật tạng) Sutra Pitaka (Pāli: Sutta-piṭaka; Sanskrit: Sūtra-piṭaka; Tib: མདོ་སྡེའི་སྡེ་སྣོད་ mdo sde`i sde snod; Mn: судрын аймаг сав sudriin aimag sav; 經藏, 経蔵 Cn: jīngzàng; Jp: Kyōzō; Vi: Kinh tạng) Abhidhamma Pitaka (Pāli: Abhidhamma-piṭaka; Sanskrit: Abhidharma-piṭaka; Tib: མངོན་པའི་སྡེ་སྣོད་ mngon pa`i sde snod; Mn: авидармын аймаг сав avidarmiin aimag sav; 論藏, 論蔵 Cn: lùnzàng; Jp: Ronzō; Vi: Luận tạng)	Pāli: tipiṭaka Sanskrit: tripiṭaka	Burmese: တိပိဋက Tipitaka (IPA: [tḭpḭtəka̰]) Thai: ไตรปิฎก Traipidok སྡེ་སྣོད་་གསུམ, sde snod gsum Mn: гурван аймаг сав, gurvan aimag sav 三藏, 三蔵 Cn: Sānzàng Jp: Sanzō Ko: Samjang Vi: Tam tạng
Triratna/Tiratana, see Three Jewels above	Pāli: tiratana Sanskrit: triratna	Tib: དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ, dkon mchog gsum Mn: гурван эрдэнэ, gurvan erdene
trsna, see tanha above
tulku A re-incarnated Tibetan teacher	Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་ tulku	Mn: хувилгаан, khuvilgaan 再來人 (轉世再來的藏系師長) Cn: Zài lái rén Jp: keshin Vi: hoá thân

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U

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
upadana Clinging; the 9th link of Pratitya-Samutpada; the Ninth Twelve Nidanas	Pāli, Sanskrit: upādāna	Bur: ဥပါဒါန် upadan (IPA: [ṵpàdàɴ]) Shan: ဢူႉပႃႇတၢၼ်ႇ ([ʔu˥ paː˨ taːn˨]) Thai: อุปาทาน u-pa-taan Tib: ལེན་པ, len pa Mn: авахуй, avahui 取(十二因緣第九支) Cn: qǔ Jp: shu Vi: thủ
Upajjhaya spiritual teacher	Pāli: Upajjhaya Sanskrit: upādhyāy	Bur: ဥပဇ္ဇာယ်ဆရာ Upyizesaya (IPA: [ṵ pjɪʔzèsʰajà])
upasaka A lay follower of Buddhism	Sanskrit: upāsaka	Bur: ဥပါသကာ upathaka (IPA: [ṵpàθəkà]) Mon: ဥပါသကာ ([ʊʔpasəka]) Thai: อุบาสก u-ba-sok 近事男,優婆塞 Cn: jìnshìnán Jp: ?? Vi: cận sự nam
upasika A female lay follower	from upasaka above Sanskrit: upāsika	Bur: ဥပါသိကာ upathika (IPA: [ṵpàθḭkà]) Thai: อุบาสิกา u-ba-sika 近事女,優婆夷 Cn: jìnshìnǚ Jp: ?? Vi: cận sự nữ
upaya Expedient though not necessarily ultimately true. Originally used as a polemical device against other schools - calling them "merely" expedient, lacking in ultimate truth, later used against ones own school to prevent students form forming attachments to doctrines In Mahayana, exemplified by the Lotus Sutra, upaya are the useful means that Buddhas (and Buddhist teachers) use to free beings into enlightenment	Sanskrit: upāya	Bur: ဥပါယ် upe (IPA: [ṵ pè]) Tib: ཐབས, thabs Mn: арга, arga 方便 Cn: fāngbiàn Jp: hōben Vi: phương tiện
upekkha equanimity	Pāli: upekkhā Sanskrit: upekṣā	Bur: ဥပက္ခာ upyikkha (IPA: [ṵpjɪʔkʰà]) Thai: อุเบกขา u-bek-kha Tib: བཏང་སྙོམས་, btang snyoms Mn: тэгшид барихуй, tegshid barihui 镇定，沉着 Cn: Zhèndìng, chénzhuó
urna A concave circular dot on the forehead between the eyebrows	Sanskrit: urna	Mn: билгийн мэлмий, bilgiin melmii

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V

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
Vajrayana, The third major branch, alongside Hinayana and Mahayana, according to Tibetan Buddhism's view of itself	Sanskrit: vajrayāna, lit. "diamond vehicle"	Bur: ဝဇိရယာန wazeirayana (IPA: [wəzeiɹa̰ jàna̰]) Thai: วชิรญาณ wachira-yaan Mn: Очирт хөлгөн, ochirt khölgön 金剛乘 Cn: Jīngāng shèng Jp: Kongō jō Vi: Kim cương thừa
Vairocana,	Sanskrit: वैरोचन	Tib: རྣམ་པར་སྣང་མཛད། rNam-par-snang mdzad Mn: ᠪᠢᠷᠦᠵᠠᠨ᠎ ᠠ᠂ ᠮᠠᠰᠢᠳᠠ ᠋᠋ᠭᠡᠢᠢᠭᠦᠯᠦᠨ ᠵᠣᠬᠢᠶᠠᠭᠴᠢ᠂ ᠭᠡᠭᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠭᠡᠷᠡᠯᠲᠦ; Бярузана, Машид Гийгүүлэн Зохиогч, Гэгээн Гэрэлт; Biruzana, Masida Geyigülün Zohiyaghci, Gegegen Gereltü
Vāsanā habitual tendencies or dispositions	Pāli and Sanskrit: Vāsanā	Bur: ဝါသနာ wathana (IPA: [wàðanà])
Vinaya Pitaka, The first basket of the Tripitaka canon, which deals with the rules of monastic life	Pāli, Sanskrit: vinaya-piṭaka, lit. "discipline basket"	Bur: ဝိနည်းပိဋကတ် wini pitakat (IPA: [wḭní pḭdəɡaʔ]) Mon: ဝိနဲ ([wìʔnòa]) Shan: ဝီႉၼႄး ([wi˥˩ ɛ˦]) Thai: วินัย wi-nai Tib: འདུལ་བའི་སྡེ་སྣོད་ dul-bai sde-snod Mn: Винайн аймаг сав, vinain aimag sav 律藏 Cn: Lǜzàng Jp: Ritsuzō Vi: Luật tạng
vipassana Usually translated as "Insight" meditation, most associated with the Theravāda tradition, but also present in some other traditions such as Tiantai. Often combined with śamatha meditation	from vi-√dṛś: to see apart Pāli: vipassanā Sanskrit: vipaśyanā, vidarśanā	Bur: ဝိပဿနာ wipathana (IPA: [wḭpaʔθanà]) Shan: ဝီႉပၢတ်ႈသၼႃႇ ([wi˥ paːt˧ sʰa˩ naː˨]) Thai: วิปัสสนา wipadsana Tib: ལྷག་མཐོངlhag mthong Mn: үлэмж үзэл, ulemj uzel 觀,観 Cn: guān Jp: kan Vi: quán
viriya energy, enthusiastic perseverance	from Pāli: viriya Sanskrit: vīrya,	Tib: brtson-grus Thai: วิริยะ wiriya 能量 Cn: néngliàng Jp: nōryō Vi: năng-lượng

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Z

Definition	Etymology	In other languages
zazen Sitting meditation as practiced in the Zen School of Buddhism	Japanese: 坐禅	坐禪 Cn: zuòchán Kr: jwaseon Vi: toạ thiền
Zen School A branch of Mahayana originating in China that originally emphasizes non-dualism and intuition. Modern monastic forms have a strong emphasis on zazen (Korean) or on zazen combined with militaristic top-down hazing (Japanese)	Japanese: 禅宗 Zen-shu	禪宗 Cn: Chánzōng Vi: Thiền tông
zendo In Zen, a hall where zazen is practiced	Japanese: 禅堂	禪堂 Cn: chántáng Vi: thiền đường

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See also

• Buddhism
• Buddhist texts
• Glossary of Japanese Buddhism

References

1. ^ Leighton / Okumura (1996). Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community. Albany, NY: SUNY. pp. 214. ISBN 0-7914-2710-2. 
2. ^ Leighton/ Okumura (1996). Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community. Albany: SUNY. pp. 231. ISBN 0-7914-2710-2. 

External links

• Pali Text Society Dictionary (Be sure to check the "Unicode font" option, and to have one; also, if looking for a word, choose "words that match")
• Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary
• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (Login with userid "guest")
• Kadampa Glossary of Buddhist Terms