buddhism beliefs

• Ascetic


  Living a simple and strict lifestyle with few pleasures or possessions
• Buddhahood


  When someone achieves enlightenment and becomes a Buddha
• Buddha-nature


  The idea that everyone has the essence of a Buddha inside them
• Buddhism


  A religion founded around 2,500 years ago by Siddhartha Gautama
• Dependent Arising


  The idea that all things arise in dependence upon conditions
• Enlightenment


  The gaining of true knowledge about God, self or the nature of reality, usually through meditation and self-discipline; gaining freedom from the cycle of rebirth
• Meditation


  A practice of calming and focusing the mind, and reflecting deeply on specific teachings to penetrate their true meaning
• Pure Land Buddhism


  Mahayana form of Buddhism based on belief in Amitabha Buddha
• Tibetan Wheel of Life


  An image that symbolises samsara, often found in Tibetan monasteries and temples
• Threefold Way


  The Eightfold Path grouped into the three sections of ethics (sila), meditation (samadhi) and wisdom (panna)
• Three Marks of Existence

  Three characteristics that are fundamental to all things: suffering (dukkha), impermanence (anicca), no fixed self / soul (anatta)
• Three Poisons


  Greed, hatred and ignorance; the main causes of suffering
• Three Refuges / Jewels / Treasures

  The three key sources of Buddhist teachings in which Buddhists find protection and inspiration. They are: the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. Also known as the Triple Gem
• Three Watches of the Night

  The three realisations that the Buddha made to achieve enlightenment: knowledge of all his previous lives, understanding of samsara, understanding of why suffering happens and how to overcome it
• Four Noble Truths


  The four truths that the Buddha taught about suffering
• Four Sights


  Old age, illness, death and a holy man; these four sights led the Buddha to leave his life of luxury in the palace
• Five Aggregates


  The five aspects that make a person – which are: form, sensation, perception, mental formations (or thoughts / impulses) and consciousness
• Five Ascetics


  The Buddha's first five students; five monks who followed ascetic practices
• Eightfold Path


  Eight aspects that Buddhists practise and live by in order to achieve enlightenment. Also known as the Middle Way. Can be summed up as the right… understanding, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration
• Amitabha Buddha


  The Buddha worshipped by Pure Land Buddhists
• Anatta


  The idea that people do not have a permanent, fixed, self or soul
• Anicca


  Impermanence; the idea that everything changes
• Arhat


  'Perfected person' – for Theravada Buddhists, someone who has become enlightened. (And therefore escaped samsara.)
• Bodhisattva


  For Mahayana Buddhists, someone who has become enlightened but chooses to remain in the cycle of samsara to help others to achieve enlightenment as well
• Buddha


  'The enlightened one' – the title given to someone who has achieved enlightenment; usually used to refer to Siddhartha Gautama
• Dhamma


  The Buddha's teachings. (Also known as Dharma.)
• Dukkha


  Translated as suffering, a dissatisfactory state of all things; the first Noble Truth
• Dukkha-dukkhata


  Ordinary pain or suffering – e.g. breaking a leg, being separated from someone you love, being upset at not achieving as goal
• Samkhara-dukkha


  Suffering caused by the idea of attachment to other people, objects, activities, etc: when people crave and try to hold on to the things they are attached to, they suffer
• Viparinama-dukkha


  The sorrow and unhappiness that a person feels as a result of a change (small changes, gradual changes or larger changes) or losing something good (e.g. moving, getting older, etc)
• Jataka


  The Jataka tales are popular stories about the lives of the Buddha
• Kamma


  A person's actions; the idea that skilful actions result in happiness and unskilful ones, in suffering. (Also known as karma.)
• Mega


  The fourth Noble Truth: the way to stop suffering is the Eightfold Path
• Mahayana


  'The great vehicle'; an umbrella term to describe later Buddhist traditions, including Pure Land Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. (Mostly practised in China, Korea and Japan.)
• Mara


  A demon that represents spiritual obstacles, especially temptation
• Nibbana (Nirvana)


  A state of complete enlightenment, happiness and peace, where all greed, hatred and delusion are ended. Extinguishment, an escape from samsara
• Nidanas


  Twelve factors that illustrate the process of birth, death and rebirth
• Nirodha


  The third Noble Truth: suffering can be stopped
• Panna


  Wisdom - section of the Threefold Way that deals with Buddhist approaches to understanding the nature of reality
• Pali


  The language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures – known as the 'three baskets' (Tripitaka, or Pali Canon), covering the life and teachings of the Buddha and Buddhist philosophy