Buddhist beliefs

• Anatta

  No-self, absence of soul
• Anicca

  Impermanence, nothing is permanent, everything ceases to exist
• Arahant


  Anyone who has achieved enlightenment and subsequently at death will escape the cycle of Samsara (Theravada Buddhism)
• Ascetic


  Someone who chooses to live an extremely disciplined life and abstain from luxuries
• Bodhisattva


  Anyone who has achieved enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings (Mahayana)
• Buddhahood (general)


  The condition or rank of being a Buddha (Awakened One)
• Buddhahood (Mahayana)


  Rebirth as a transcendent being that has special powers to help and aid all other sentient beings in achieving enlightenment
• Buddhahood (Theravada)

  One who has become awakened through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point out the dhamma, and then goes on to teach the dhamma to others (e.g. Siddhartha Gautama)
• Buddha-nature


  A part of everyone that can allow them to become enlightened (there is an enlightened part in everyone and it has to be found.) Prominent in Mahayana Buddhism
• Dhamma/Dharma

  • Refers to the cosmic law and order of the universe
  • Refers to the specific teachings of the Buddha
  • Refers to phenomena (ways of reality)
• Dhammapada

  Buddhist scriptures, a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form
• Dukkha


  Suffering/pain
• Eightfold Path


  A set of 8 principals: Right Understanding, Intention, Speech, Action, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration that if followed ends suffering. Also known as the Threefold way or Middle way (avoids both indulgence and severe ascetism)
• Enlightenment

  Awakening or attaining nibbana, release from the cycle of Samsara
• First Noble Truth

  The truth of suffering (dukkha) - three types: pain, change and fabrication
• Fourth Noble Truth


  The truth of the path to cessation of suffering(magga)
• Kamma/Karma

  Action, driven by intention, leads to future consequences
• Karuna

  Compassion for all living things
• Lay

  People who are not monks
• Dhamma

  The teachings of the Buddha
• Mahayana

  Means 'great vehicle'. One of two main denominations of Buddhism. Associated with Tibet and China. Uses scripture in Sanskrit (Sutras). Includes Tibetan, Pure Land and Zen Buddhism
• Fourth Noble Truth

  The path to the cessation of suffering. (The middle way and noble eightfold path)
• Metta

  Loving kindness- universal love for all beings
• Nibbana/Nirvana


  State of profound spiritual joy (release from samsara once enlightenment has been attained; ultimate goal of Buddhism)
• Nirodha

  The end of suffering and its causes (tanha)
• Paticca-Samuppada

  Dependent origination - all dhamma is dependent on something else for its' existence
• Samsara


  Suffering-laden cycle of life, death and rebirth
• Sangha

  Buddhist community of monks
• Second Noble Truth


  The truth of the origin of suffering (samudaya) - Three poisons: greed, anger, ignore
• Sunnata

  The teaching that all things are empty and there is no-self (anatta)
• Tanha

  Craving, lust, greed and desire
• The Bodhi Tree

  The tree Buddha sat under when he attained enlightenment
• The Buddha

  Siddhartha Gautama (the enlightened one, founder of Buddhism)
• The five Khandas

  Constitute and explain a sentient being: 1.Form, 2.Sensations, 3. Perception, 4. Mental formations/impulses, 5. Consciousness
• The five moral precepts (Pancha Sila)


  Basic code of ethics undertaken by lay followers of Buddhism (no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no violence/harm to living things, no lying, no intoxication)
• The Four Noble Truths


  The key teachings of Buddhism (suffering, origin of suffering, cessation of suffering, path of the cessation of suffering)
• The Four sights

  Buddha saw these when he left the palace for the first time; old age, disease, death, asceticism
• The Paramitas (The six Perfections)

  Qualities of character that one should aim to perfect (wisdom, generosity, patience, diligence, moral discipline, meditative concentration)
• The six realms

  1. Abode of gods; 2. World of men; 3. World of animals; 4. Hell: 5. world of ghosts; 6 world of titans.
• Theravada

  Means 'teaching of the elders'. One of two main denominations of Buddhism. Associated with South and South East Asia and closer to the original Indian form of Buddhism. More conservative with greater emphasis on the original Pali language as the birth language of the Buddha.