Buddhist learning for everyday life.
A small glossary
Essential terms for learning across Buddhist traditions. Definitions are starting points; their meaning and use vary with context.
- Dhamma / Dharma
- The Buddha’s teaching; the term has other meanings in context.
- Dukkha
- Suffering, stress or unsatisfactoriness; more than ordinary sadness.
- Dāna
- Generosity and giving.
- Sīla
- Ethical conduct and training.
- Bhāvanā
- Cultivation or development, including mental cultivation.
- Saṅgha
- Monastic or noble community in traditional contexts; also used more broadly today.
- Anicca
- Impermanence: conditioned things change.
- Anattā
- Not-self: the aggregates should not be taken as a permanent, controlling self.
- Kamma / Karma
- Intentional action; not a reason to blame people for misfortune.
- Mettā / Karuṇā
- Loving-kindness / compassion.
- Śūnyatā
- Emptiness; in Mahāyāna, the absence of independent inherent existence, not simple nothingness.
- Triple Gem / Tiratana
- Buddha, Dhamma/Dharma and Sangha: the three refuges. Interpretations of each deserve context.
- Theravāda
- Tradition of the Elders; a diverse Buddhist family centring the Pāli Tipiṭaka. Do not use Hīnayāna as its neutral modern name.
- Mahāyāna
- Great Vehicle; diverse traditions centrally emphasising the bodhisattva aspiration and accepting Mahāyāna sūtras.
- Vajrayāna
- Vajra Vehicle; tantric Buddhist approaches generally within Mahāyāna. Some practices require empowerment and guidance.
- Bodhisattva / Bodhisatta
- A being aspiring to Buddhahood; central in Mahāyāna, with bodhisatta traditions also present in Theravāda. Context shapes the term’s use.
- Arahant / Arhat
- One who has attained liberation; especially prominent as a goal in Theravāda. Comparisons with Buddhahood vary by tradition.
- Ekayāna
- One Vehicle; a doctrinal idea in particular Mahāyāna texts, including the Lotus Sūtra. Not a neutral synonym for institutional merger.
- Sutta / Sūtra
- Related Pāli and Sanskrit terms for discourses; the title alone does not tell you which canon accepts a text.
- Vinaya
- Monastic discipline and its textual traditions. Different ordination lineages cannot simply be merged by changing a community’s name.
- Non-sectarian learning
- Learning across traditions without contempt or forced agreement; it still requires accurate explanations and respect for commitments.