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
Khmer: អភិធម្ម

Bur: အဘိဓမ္မ abhidhamma (IPA: [əbḭdəmà])

Tib: ཆོས་མངོན་པ 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, thắng pháp

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: အဘိဓမ္မပိဋကတ် 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: ဆရ saya (IPA: [sʰəjà])

Shan: ဢၸရီယ 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 or giáo thọ sư
ADHITTHANA Determination, to pray, to wish

Pāli: Adhiṭṭhāna
Sanskrit: अधिष्ठान

Bur: အဓိဋ္ဌန် (IPA: [ədeɪʔtʰàɴ])

Thai: อธิษฐาน ah-tid-taan
決心 or 決意
Cn: Juéxīn, juéyì
Jp: kesshin
Ko: 결심, gyeolsim or 결의, gyeolui
Vi: nguyện lực

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;
阿閦如來
Cn: Āchùrúlái
 Jp: Ashuku Nyorai
Vi: A-súc Như Lai

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: အနပန 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: ဢၼတ်တ ([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: [əneɪʔsa̰ ])

Shan: ဢၼိၵ်ၸ ([ʔa˩ nik˧ tsaː˥])
Thai: อนิจจา anijja
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: anokutara
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: ရဟန္တ yahanda (IPA: [jaháɴdà])

Shan: ရႁၼ်တ rahanta ([ra˩ haːn˦ taː˨])
Tib: དགྲ་ཅོམ་པ་, dgra com pa
Mn: архад, arkhad
Thai: อรหันต์ uh-ra-hann
阿羅漢
Cn: āluóhàn
Jp: arakan
Ko: 아라한, arahan
Vi: a-la-hán

ANUTTARA SAMYAK SAMBODHI, unsurpassable, complete, perfect enlightenment;

unsurpassable, right, and full enlightenment

Pāli:
Sanskrit:

Khmer: អនុត្តរសម្មា សម្ពោ ធិ "ak-nut-tha-rak-sam-ma-sam-po-thi"

Tib:,
阿耨多罗三藐三菩提 (or 無上正等正覺)
Cn: ānòuduōluó sānmiǎosānpútí (or wúshàng zhèngděng zhèngjué)
Jp: anokutara sanmyakusanbodai
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: လေကနတ် 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

Pāli: avijjā
Bur: အဝိဇ္ဇ aweizza (IPA: [əweɪʔ zà])
Shan: ဢဝိၵ်ၸ 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

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: ၽဝၸၵ် ([pʰa˩ waː˥ tsaːk˧])
 Tib: སྲིད་པའི་འཁོར་ལ
Mn: Орчлонгийн хүрдэн, Orchlongiin khurden
有輪
Cn: yǒulún
Jp: ariwa
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: ၽဝ ([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: [beɪʔkʰù])

Shan: ၽိၵ်ၶူ ([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: tì-kheo

BHIKKHUNI/BHIKSHUNI A Buddhist nun

from bhikkhu
Pāli: bhikkhuni
Sanskrit: bhikṣuni
 Bur: ဘိက္ခုနီ bheikkhuni (IPA: [beɪʔkʰùnì])
Shan: ၽိၵ်ၶူ ၼီ ([pʰik˧ kʰu˨ ni˨])
Kar: ဘံ ကူ နံ or ဖံ ဝ "beegoonee" or "hpeewah"
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: shūji
Ko: 종자, jongja
Vi: chủng tử, hạt giống, hột giống

BODHI Awakening or Enlightenment

Pāli, Sanskrit: bodhi

Bur: ဗေဓိ bawdhi (IPA: [bɔ́dḭ])

Shan: ပေထီ ([pɔ˦ tʰi˥])
Thai: โพธิ์ poe
Tib: བྱང་ཆུབ 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: ဗေဓိညေင် bawdhi nyaung (IPA: [bɔ́ dḭ ɲàʊɴ])

Shan: ၺွင်ပေထီ ([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: ဗေဓိစိတ္တ bawdhi seitta (IPA: [bɔ́dḭ seɪʔ da̰ ])

Tib: བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་, byang 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: ဗေဓိသတ် bawdhi that (IPA: [bɔ́ dḭ θaʔ])

Mon: တြုံ လၟေ ဝ်ကျ ကျာ်([kraoh kəmo caik])
Thai: โพธิสัตว์ poe-ti-satt
Tib: བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ, byang chub sems dpaʼ
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: ၽၵ်ၵဝ ([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: ဗု ဒ္ဓ bodha (IPA: [boʊʔda̰ ])

Shan: ပု ၵ်ထ ([puk˥ tʰaː˥])
Tib: སངས་རྒྱས sangs rgyas
Mn: бурхан, burhan
 佛, 仏, 仏陀
Cn: fó
Jp: butsu or hotoke or budda
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: ဗု ဒ္ဓဘသ boddha batha (IPA: [boʊʔda̰ bàðà])

Shan: ပု ၵ်ထၽသ ([puk˥ tʰaː˥ pʰaː˨ sʰaː˨])
Mon: ဗု ဒ္ဓဘသ ([pùttʰɛ̀ʔ pʰɛ̀asa])
Tib: ནང་བསྟན།
Mn: Бурханы Шашин, Burhanii Shashin
佛教, 仏教
Cn: Fójiào
Jp: bukkyō
Ko: 불교, bulgyo
Vi: Phật-giáo

C
Definition Etymology In other languages
CETANA Volition

Pali: cetana

Bur: စေတန 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: ၸေတီ tseti ([tse˨ ti˨])
Sin: චෛත්‍යය chaithya
Thai: เจดีย์ chetiya
Tib: མཆོད་རྟེན༏ mchod rten (chorten)
塔
Zh: Ta
Vi: Tháp
Ko: Tap
Jp: 卒塔婆 sotōba

CHANDA intention, interest, desire to act, aspiration

Pali: chanda
Sanskrit: chanda

Tib: འདུན་པ།

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

Tibetan: མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ་, Wylie: mkha' 'gro ma

Mn: дагина, dagina
空行女, 荼枳尼天
Cn: kong xing mu
Jp: Dakini-ten
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 nama
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: ဒန dana (IPA: [dàna̰ ])
Mon: ဒန ([tɛ̀anɛ̀ʔ]) or ဒန် ([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 (ព្)
Mn: тэнгэр tenger
Mon: ဒေဝတဴ tewetao ([tèwətao])
Shan: တေဝ ([a˨ wɔ˨])
天
Zh: tiān
Ko: cheon
Jp: ten
Vi: thiên

DEPENDENT ORIGINATION, see Pratityasamutpada

Pāli: paṭicca-samuppāda
Sanskrit: pratītya-samutpāda

Bur: ပဋိစ္စသမု ပ္ပဒ် padeissa thamopad (IPA: [pədeɪʔsa̰ θəmoʊʔpaʔ])

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 tharrma
Tibetan: ཆོས་, Wylie: chos
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: ဓမ္မစကြ dhamma sekya (IPA: [dəməsɛʔtɕà])

Tibetan: ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ, Wylie: chos kyi ʼkhor lo
Mn: номын хүрдэн, momiin khurden
法輪
Cn: Fǎlún
Jp: hōrin
Ko: beomnyun
Vi: pháp luân

DHAMMAPADA a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha

Pāli: Dhammapada
Sanskrit: Dharmapada

Bur: ဓမ္မပဒ Dhammapada (IPA: [dəma̰ pəda̰ ])

法句經
Chinese: 法句经; pinyin: Fǎjù jīng
Jp: Hokkukyō (shin. 法句経)
Ko: Beopgugyeong
Vi: Kinh Pháp Cú

DHAMMAPALA/DHARMAPALA A fearsome deity, known as protector of the Dharma

Sanskrit: dharmapāla
Pāli: dhammapāla

Tib: ཆོས་སྐྱོང་ chos skyong

Mn: догшид, dogshid; хангал, khangal
護法
Cn: hùfǎ
Jp: gohō
 Ko: hobeop
Vi: Hộ Pháp

DHYANA, see jhana

Pāli: jhāna
Sanskrit: dhyāna

Bur: ဈန် zan (IPA: [zàɴ])

Mon: ဇျန် ([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

DIPANKARA BUDDHA

Pāli: Dīpamkara
Sanskrit: Dīpankara

Bur: ဒီပင်္က ရ dipankara (IPA: [dìpɪ̀ɴkəɹà])

Thai: พระทีปังกรพุทธเจ้า
燃燈佛
Cn: Rándēng Fo
Jp: Nentōbutsu
Vi: Nhiên-đăng Phật

DOAN In Zen, a term for person sounding the bell that marks the beginning and end
of Zazen

Japanese: 堂行 dōan

DOKUSAN A private meeting 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

DUDIE official certificate for monks and nuns issued by government

度牒
Cn: dùdié
Jp: dochō
Ko: ??
 Vi: ??

DUKKHA Suffering, dissatisfaction, unsatisfactoriness, stress

Pāli: dukkha
Sanskrit: duḥkha

Bur: ဒု က္ခ doukkha (IPA: [doʊʔkʰa̰ ])

Shan: တု ၵ်ၶ ([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: daikukyō
Ko: daegugyeong
Vi: đại cứu cánh

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

Truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, stress) (Sanskrit: duḥkhāryasatya; Bur:

ဒု က္ခ dokkha; Thai: ทุกข์; 苦諦 Cn: kǔdì; Jp: kutai; Vi: khổ đế; Mn: зовлон, zovlon)
Truth of the origin (samudaya) of dukkha (Sanskrit: samudayāryasatya; Bur:
သမု ဒယ thamodaya; Thai: สมุทัย; 集諦 Cn: jídì; Jp: jittai; Vi: tập khổ đế; Mn:
зовлонгийн шалтгаан, zovlongiin shaltgaan)
Truth of the cessation (nirodha) of dukkha (Sanskrit: duḥkhanirodhāryasatya;
Bur: နိရေဓ niyawdha; Thai: นิโรธ; 滅諦 Cn: mièdì; Jp: mettai; Vi: diệt khổ đế; Mn:
гэтлэх, getlekh)
The path (marga) that leads out of dukkha (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: သစ္စလေပ thissa lei ba (IPA: [θɪʔsà lé bá])
Khmr: អរិយសច្ចៈទាំង៤
四諦, 四聖諦, 苦集滅道
Cn: Sìdì
Jp: shitai, shishōtai, kujūmetsudō
Vi: Tứ diệu đế
Mn: Хутагтын дөрвөн үнэн, khutagtiin dörvön unen

FUKUDO In Zen, term for person who strikes the han

Japanese: 副堂 fukudō

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, Sampeah and Wai. Shaolin monks use half a gassho using
only one arm to greet.
In Japan, it is used not only during rituals concerning Buddhism but also as a
gesture to appease the opposite party when making apologies or asking for
permission or favors. In addition, there are cases where a person greets them
during a greeting before and after a meal, which is a custom derived from Buddhism.
In Shinto, they clap hands together as hands, but then lower their hands, bow and
worship (in Shinto worship, they do not share hands).

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: ဂေတမ (IPA: [ɡɔ́dəma̰ ])

瞿曇 悉達多
Jp: Kudon Shiddatta

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

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. "small 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. While sometime thought as
derogatory, it means in fact that the Hinayana doctrine is made to save but 1
individual, the one who follows its teachings, just like a 1 place vehicle, while
the Mahayana allow the monk to take other people along with him, like a bus or a
great plane.

Sanskrit: hīnayāna

Bur: ဟီနယန hinayana (IPA: [hḭna̰ jàna̰ ])

小乘 or 小乗, 二乘
Cn: Xiǎoshèng
Jp: Shōjō
Vi: Tiểu thừa
Mn: Бага хөлгөн, Baga hölgön

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

[1]
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: ဈန် zan (IPA: [zàɴ])
Mon: ဇျန် ([chàn])
Thai: ฌาน chaan
Sinhala: ජාන jhāna
禪 or 禪那, 禅 or 禅那
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

K
Definition Etymology In other languages
KAKUSANDHA BUDDHA

Pāli: Kakusandha
Sanskrit: Krakkucchanda

Bur: ကကု သန် Kakuthan (IPA: [ka̰ kṵθàɴ])

拘留孙佛
Zh: Jūliúsūn Fó
Vi: Câu-lưu-tôn Phật

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 ကြမ္မ kyamma (IPA: [tɕəmà])

Mon: ကံ ([kɔm])
Shan: ၵျမ်မ ([kjaːm˨ maː˨]) or ၵမ် ([kaːm˨])
Thai: กรรม gum
Tib: ལས, las
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
Cn: Jiāyè Fó
Jp: Kashōbutsu
Vi: Ca-diếp Phật

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, kiến tánh

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: ၶၼ်ထီ ([kʰan˨ tʰi˨])
Thai: ขันติ kanti
耐心
Cn: Nàixīn
Vi: nhẫn (trong lục ba-la-mật)

KINHIN Zen walking meditation

Japanese: 経行 kinhin or kyōgyō

經行
Cn: jīngxíng
Vi: kinh hành

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

忍辱
Jp: ninniku

KONAGAMANA BUDDHA

Pāli and Sanskrit: Koṇāgamana

Bur: ကေဏဂုံ Kawnagon (IPA: [kɔ́nəɡòʊɴ])

拘那含佛
Zh: Jūnàhán Fó
Vi: Câu-na-hàm-mâu-ni Phật

KUMBHANDA

Sanskrit: Kumbhāṇḍa
Pāli: Kumbhaṇḍa

Thai: กุมภัณฑ์ gum-pan

Tib: གྲུལ་བུམ་ (grul bum)
鳩槃荼 or 鳩盤拏
Ko: 구반다 gubanda
Zh: Jiū pán tú
Jp: kubanda
Vi: Cưu bàn trà

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
kr: jukbi(죽비)
L
Definition Etymology In other languages
LAMA A Tibetan teacher or master; equivalent to Sanskrit "guru"

Tibetan: བླ་མ་ bla ma

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

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, 中観派
Cn: Zhōngguānzōng
Jp: Chūganha
Vi: Trung quán tông

MAHABHUTA four great elements in traditional Buddhist thought

Pāli and Sanskrit: Mahābhūta

Bur: မဟဘု တ် Mahabhot (IPA: [məhà boʊʔ])

MAHAMUDRA A method of direct introduction the understanding of sunyata, of samsara

and that the two are inseparable

Sanskrit: mahāmudrā

Bur: မဟမု ဒြ maha modra (IPA: [məhà moʊʔdɹà])

Tib: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་ chag-je chen-po
Mn: махамудра, mahamudra
大手印
Cn: dàshŏuyìn
 Jp: daishuin
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: မဟသိဒ္ဒ maha theidda (IPA: [məhà θeɪʔda̰ ])

Thai: มหายาน
大成就
Cn: dàchéngjiù
Jp: daijōju
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: မဟယန 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: အရိမေတ္တေ ယျ arimetteya (IPA: [əɹḭmèdja̰ ])

Shan: ဢရီမိတ်တေယ ([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

Vi: ma chướng

MANA conceit, arrogance, misconception

 Pāli and Sanskrit: Māna

Bur: မန mana (IPA: [màna̰ ])

Mon: မန် man ([màn])
Shan: မၼ ([maː˨ naː˥])
慢
Jp: man

MANDALA a spiritual and ritual symbol representing the Universe

Sanskrit: मण्डल Maṇḍala (lit. "circle")

曼荼羅
Cn: màntúluó
Jp: mandara
Vi: mạn-đà-la

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, 真言
Cn: zou
Jp: shingon, ju
Vi: chân âm, thần chú

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: mạt pháp

MERIT

Pāli: puñña
Sanskrit: puṇya
 Bur: ကု သို လ် kutho (IPA: [kṵðò])
Mon: ကု သဵု ([kaoʔsɒ]) or ပို န် ([pɒn])
Shan: ပု င်ၺ ([puŋ˨ ɲaː˨]) or ၵူ သူ ဝ် ([ku˥ sʰo˨]) or ၵူ သလ ([ku˥ sʰa˩ laː˥])
功徳
Jp: kudoku

METTA loving kindness

Pāli:
Sanskrit:

Bur: မေတ္တ myitta (IPA: [mjɪʔtà])

Mon: မေတ္တ ([mètta])
Shan: မိတ်တ ([mit˧ taː˨]) or မႅတ်တ ([mɛt˧ taː˨])
Thai: เมตตา metta
慈
Ch: Cí
Jp: ji
Vi: từ

MIDDLE WAY The practice of avoidance of extreme views and lifestyle choices

Pāli: majjhimāpaṭipadā
Sanskrit: madhyamāpratipad

Bur: မဇ္ဇိမပဋိပဒ 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: shōnen
Vi: chính niệm, chánh niệm

MOKSHA Liberation

Sanskrit: mokṣa

Pāli: vimutti
Bur: ဝိမု တ္တိ wimouti (IPA: [wḭmoʊʔtḭ])
 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: မု ဒြ modra (IPA: [moʊʔdɹà])

Tib: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ phyag rgya
Mn: чагжаа, chagjaa
手印
Cn: sohyìn (commonly only yìn)
Jp: shuin
Vi: ấn

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: နမေ 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: [neɪʔkʰəma̰ ])

Thai: เนกขัมมะ nekkamma
Mn: магад гарахуй, magad garahui
出世
Cn: Chūshì
Jp: shusse
Vi: xuất thế

NIRVANA/NIBBANA Extinction or extinguishing; ultimate enlightenment in the Buddhist

tradition

from niḥ-√vā: to extinguish

Pāli: nibbāna
Sanskrit: nirvana

Bur: နိဗ္ဗန် neibban (IPA: [neɪʔbàɴ])

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: နိကယ nikaya (IPA: [nḭkəja̰ ])
部經
Cn: Bùjīng
Jp: bukyō
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

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

P
Definition Etymology In other languages
PABBAJJA, (a layperson) leaving home to join a community of monks and nuns (lit.
"to go forth")

Sanskrit: pravrajya
Pali: Pabbajja

出家
Cn: chūjiā
Jp: shukke
Vi: xuất gia

PANCA SKANDHA The five constituent elements into which an individual is analyzed.
They are:

"form": Pāli, Sanskrit: rūpa; Bu: ရူ ပ yupa; 色 Cn: sè; Jp: shiki
"sensation": Pāli, Sanskrit: vedanā; Bu: ဝေဒန wedana; 受 Cn: shòu; Jp: ju
"cognition": Pāli: saññā; Sanskrit: saṃjñā; Bu: သည thinnya; 想 Cn: xiàng; Jp:
sō
"mental formations": Pāli: saṅkhāra; Sanskrit: saṃskāra; Bu: သင်္ခ ရ thinkhaya; 行
Cn: xíng; Jp: gyō
"consciousness": Pāli: viññāṇa; Sanskrit: vijñāna; Bu: ဝိညဉ် winyin; 識 Cn: shí;
Jp: shiki

Sanskrit: pañca skandha

Pāli: pañca khandha

Bur: ခန္ဒငပ khanda nga ba (IPA: [kʰàɴdà ŋá bá])

Shan: ႁ ၶၼ်ထ ([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

PANNA, see prajna

Sanskrit:

Bur: ပည pyinnya (IPA: [pjɪ̀ɴɲà])

Mon: ပည ([pɔnɲa])
Shan: ပိင်ၺ ([piŋ˨ ɲaː˨])
Tibetan: ཤེས་རབ་ shes rab
Mn: билиг, bilig
智慧 or 知恵 or 般若
Cn: Zhìhuì, zhīhuì, bōrě
Jp: chie,hannya
Vi: bát-nhã

PARAMARTHA Absolute, as opposed to merely conventional, truth or reality; see also

samvrti

Sanskrit: paramārtha

Bur: ပရမတ် paramat (IPA: [pəɹəmaʔ])

Thai: ปรมัตถ์ paramutt
真諦
Jp: shintai

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: ပရမီ parami (IPA: [pàɹəmì])

Mon: ပရမဳ ([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: ပရိနိဗ္ဗန် pareineibban (IPA: [pəɹeɪʔneɪʔbàɴ])

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: ပညပရမီ pyinnya parami (IPA: [pjɪ̀ɴɲà pàɹəmì])

Mon: ပညပရမဳ ([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/PANNA "wisdom", "insight"

Pāli: paññā
Sanskrit: prajñā

Bur: ပည pyinnya (IPA: [pjɪ̀ɴɲà])

Thai: ปัญญา pun-ya
Tibetan: ཤེས་རབ་ shes rab
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 contingent with 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: ပဋိစ္စသမု ပ္ပဒ် padeissa thamopad (IPA: [pədeɪʔsa̰ θəmoʊʔpaʔ])

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: ပစ္စေကဗု ဒ္ဓ pyiseka boddha (IPA: [pjɪʔsèka̰ boʊʔdà])

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

PURUSA Man (ep. representative of the male gender); human being

Pāli: purisa
Sanskrit: puruṣa

Tib: skyes pa
人
Ch: rén
Jp: hito

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
寶生佛, 宝生如来
Jp: Hōshō Nyorai
Vi: Bảo-sanh Như Lai

REFUGE Usually in the form of "take refuge in the Three Jewels"

Pāli: saraṇa
Sanskrit: śaraṇa

Bur: သရဏဂုံ tharanagon (IPA: [θəɹənəɡòʊɴ])

Mn: аврал, avral
Tib: skyabs
Thai: สรณะ sorana
歸依
Cn: guīyī
Jp: kie
Vi: quy y

RIGPA, the knowledge that ensues from recognizing one's nature

Tibetan: རིག་པ (rig pa)

Sanskrit: विद्या (vidyā)

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: rénbōqiè
Jp: リンポチェ rinpoche
Vi: ??

RINZAI Zen sect emphasizing koan study; named for master Linji Yixuan

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)

S
Definition Etymology In other languages
SACCA truthfulness

Sanskrit: Satya

Bur: သစ္စ thissa (IPA: [θɪʔ sà])

Mon: သစ္စ ([sɔtcɛʔ])
Shan: သဵတ်ၸ ([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: (ရှ င်)သမဏေ (shin) thamane (IPA: [(ʃɪ̀ɴ) θàmənè])

Mon: သမ္မဏဳ ([samənɔe])
Shan: သမၼေ ([sʰaː˨ mne˨])
Thai: สามเณร sama-naen
沙彌
Cn: shāmí
Jp: shami
Vi: sa-di, chú tiểu

SAMATHA Mental stabilization; tranquility meditation. Distinguished from vipassanā

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: သံ သရ thanthaya (IPA: [θàɴðəjà])

Thai: สังสารวัฏ sung-sara-wat
Tib: འཁོར་བ khor ba
Bur: သံ သရ
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: saṃvriti

Bur: သမ္မုတိ thamudi (IPA: [θəmṵdḭ])

Thai: สมมุติ sommoot
俗諦
Jp: zokutai

SANGHA The community of Buddhist monks and nuns. Teachers and practitioners.

Sanskrit: saṅgha

Bur: သံ ဃ thangha (IPA: [θàɴɡà])

Mon: သဳလ ([sɛŋ])
Shan: သင်ၶ ([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: ဆရတေ 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: သု ည (IPA: [θòʊɴɲa̰ ])

Shan: သု င်ၺ ([sʰuŋ˨ ɲaː˥])
Tib: stong pa nyid
Mn: хоосон чанар, khooson chanar
空
Cn: kōng
Jp: kū
Vi: tính Không

SIKHI BUDDHA Buddha of Knowledge

Pāli: Sikhī Buddha

Sanskrit: Śikhīn Buddha

Jp: Shiki Butsu

SILA "morals", "morality", "ethics": precepts

Pāli: sīla
Sanskrit: śīla

Bur: သီလ thila (IPA: [θìla̰ ])

Mon: သဳ ([sɔelaʔ])
Shan: သီလ ([sʰi˨ laː˥])
Thai: ศีล seen
尸羅,戒
Cn: jiè
Jp: kai
Vi: giới
Mn: шагшаабад, shagshaabad

SOTO Sect of Zen emphasizing shikantaza as the primary mode of practice; see also
Dōgen

Japanese: 曹洞宗 Sōtō-shū

曹洞宗
Cn: Cáodòng-zōng
Vi: Tào Động 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

SUKHA happiness; ease; pleasure; bliss

Pāli: sukha
Sanskrit: sukha

Bur: သု ခ
Mon: ??
Mn: ??
樂
Cn: lè
Jp: ??
Vi: ??

SUTRA Scripture; originally referred to short aphoristic sayings and collections

thereof

from √siv: to sew

Sanskrit: sutra
Pāli: sutta

Bur: သု တ် thoht (IPA: [θoʊʔ])

Mon: သု တ် ([sɔt])
Mon: သု ၵ် ([sʰuk˧])
Thai: สูตร soothe
Mn: судар, sudar
經, 経
Cn: jīng
Jp: kyō
Vi: kinh

SUTRA PITAKA The second basket of the Tripiṭaka canon, the collection of all
Buddha's teachings

Pāli: Sutta-piṭaka
Sanskrit: Sūtra-piṭaka

Bur: သု တ် thoht (IPA: [θoʊʔ])

Mon: သု တ် ([sɔt])
Mon: သု ၵ် ([sʰuk˧])
 Mn: Судрын аймаг Sudriin aimag
經藏, 経蔵
Cn: jīngcáng
Jp: kyōzō
Vi: Kinh tạng

T
Definition Etymology In other languages
TANGARYO 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: တဏှ 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: တထဂတ tahtagata (IPA: [ta̰ tʰàɡəta̰ ])
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: ထေရဝဒ hterawada (IPA: [tʰèɹa̰ wàda̰ ] or [tʰèja̰ wàda̰ ])

Thai: เถรวาท tera-waad
 上座部
Cn: shàngzuòbù
Jp: jōzabu
Vi: Thượng toạ bộ

THERA or THEIR, 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: သရဏဂုံ သုံ ပ tharanagon thon ba (IPA: [θəɹənəɡòʊɴ θóʊɴ bá]) OR ရတနသုံ ပ yadana
thon ba ([jədənà θóʊɴ 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 that lead to the creation of
"negative" karma; the three root kleshas:

Attachment (Pāli: lobha; Sanskrit: rāga; Tib.: འདོད་ཆགས་ 'dod chags)

Aversion (Pali: doha; Sanskrit: dveṣa; Tib.: ཞེ་སྡང་ zhe sdang; Mn: урин хилэн,
urin khilen; 瞋 Cn: chēn; Jp: jin; Vi: sân)
Ignorance (Pāli: moha; Sanskrit: moha; Tib.: གཏི་མུག་ gti mug)

Pāli: kilesa (Defilements)

Sanskrit: kleśa

Sanskrit: triviṣa
Tib: düsum (Wylie: dug gsum)
Bur: မီသုံ ပ mi thon ba (IPA: [mí θóʊɴ bá])
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

TRAILOKYA 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

U
Definition Etymology In other languages
UPADANA Clinging; the 9th link of Pratitya-Samutpada; the Ninth Twelve Nidanas

Pāli, Sanskrit: upādāna

Bur: ဥပဒန် upadan (IPA: [ṵpàdàɴ])

Shan: ဢူ ပတၼ် ([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: ဥပဇ္ဇယ်ဆရ Upyizesaya (IPA: [ṵ pjɪʔzèsʰajà])

UPASAKA A lay follower of Buddhism

Sanskrit: upāsaka

Bur: ဥပသက upathaka (IPA: [ṵpàθəkà])

Mon: ဥပသက ([ʊʔpasəka])
Thai: อุบาสก u-ba-sok
近事男, 優婆塞
Cn: jìnshìnán
Jp: ubasoku
Vi: cư sĩ

UPASIKA A female lay follower

from upasaka above

Sanskrit: upāsika

Bur: ဥပသိက upathika (IPA: [ṵpàθḭkà])

Thai: อุบาสิกา u-ba-sika
近事女, 優婆夷
Cn: jìnshìnǚ
Jp: ubai
Vi: (nữ) cư sĩ

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 one's 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: ဥပယ် 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: ဥပက္ခ upyikkha (IPA: [ṵpjɪʔkʰà])

Thai: อุเบกขา u-bek-kha
 Tib: བཏང་སྙོམས་, btang snyoms
Mn: тэгшид барихуй, tegshid barihui
镇定，沉着, 捨
Cn: Zhèndìng, chénzhuó
Jp: sha

URNA A concave circular dot on the forehead between the eyebrows

Sanskrit: urna

Mn: билгийн мэлмий, bilgiin melmii

白毫
Jp: byakugō
Vi: bạch hào

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: ဝဇိရယန 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
毗盧遮那佛, 大日如來
Cn: Pílúzhēnàfó
Jp: Dainichi Nyorai, Birushana-butsu
Vi: Đại Nhật Như Lai

VASANA habitual tendencies or dispositions

 Pāli and Sanskrit: Vāsanā

Bur: ဝသန wathana (IPA: [wàðanà])

習気
Jp: jikke

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: ဝိနည်ပိဋကတ် wini pitakat (IPA: [wḭní pḭdəɡaʔ])

Mon: ဝိနဲ ([wìʔnòa])
Shan: ဝီၼႄ ([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: ဝိပဿန wipathana (IPA: [wḭpaʔθanà])

Shan: ဝီပတ်သၼ ([wi˥ paːt˧ sʰa˩ naː˨])
Thai: วิปัสสนา wipadsana
Tib: ལྷག་མཐོང lhag 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

Y
Definition Etymology In other languages
YANA divisions or schools of Buddhism according to their type of practice (lit.
"vehicle")

Pāli: yāna
Sanskrit: yāna

乘
Cn: shèng
Jp: jō
Vi: thừa

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