Pali Buddhist Dictionary

anusaya (anusaya): Obsesssion; underlying tendency. (The etymology of this term means "lying down with"; in actual usage, the related verb (anuseti) means to be obsessed.)

There are seven major obsessions to which the mind returns over and over again:

obsession with sensual passion (kama-raganusaya),

with resistance (patighanusaya),

with views (ditthanusaya),

with uncertainty (vicikicchanusaya),

with conceit (manusaya),

with passion for becoming (bhava-raganusaya), and

with ignorance (avijjanusaya).

Compare: samyojana.

 (See also: Anusaya , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

anapanasati (aanaapaanasati): Mindfulness of breathing. A meditation practice in which one maintains one's attention and mindfulness on the sensations of breathing.

 (See also: Anapanasati , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

stress: See dukkha.

 (See also: Stress , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Abhidhamma (abhidhamma):

(1) In the discourses of the Pali Canon, this term simply means "higher Dhamma," and a systematic attempt to define the Buddha's teachings and understand their interrelationships.

(2) A later collection of analytical treatises based on lists of categories drawn from the teachings in the discourses, added to the Canon several centuries after the Buddha's life.

 (See also: Abhidhamma , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

apaya-bhumi (apaaya-bhuumi): State of deprivation; the four lower levels of existence into which one might be reborn as a result of past unskillful actions (see kamma):

rebirth in hell,

  * as a hungry ghost (see peta),

  * as an angry demon (see Asura), or

  * as a common animal.

None of these states is permanent.

Compare sugati.

 (See also: Apaya-bhumi , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

ajaan, ajahn, achaan, etc.: (Thai). Teacher; mentor. Equivalent to the Pali acariya.

 (See also: Ajaan, , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

anupadisesa-nibbana (anupaadisesa-nibbaana): Nibbana with no fuel remaining (the analogy is to an extinguished fire whose embers are cold) - the nibbana of the arahant after his passing away. See:. sa-upadisesa-nibbana.

 (See also: Anupadisesa-nibbana , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

acariya (aacariya): Teacher; mentor. See kalyanamitta.

 (See also: Acariya , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

anatta (anattaa): Not-self; ownerless.

 (See also: Anatta , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Buddhism: Basic Buddhist Dictionary

A basic dictionary of Buddhism terms. Please note that all words in grey like " Buddhism " are links to an archive with related articles.

ariya-sacca (ariya-sacca): Noble Truth. The word "ariya" (noble) can also mean ideal or standard, and in this context means "objective" or "universal" truth.

There are four:

á      stress,

á      the origin of stress,

á      the disbanding of stress, and

á      the path of practice leading to the disbanding of stress.

 (See also: Ariya-sacca , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

samyojana, sanyojana (sa"myojana): Fetter that binds the mind to the cycle of rebirth (see vatta) - self-identification views (sakkaya-ditthi), uncertainty (vicikiccha), grasping at precepts and practices (silabbata-paramasa); sensual passion (kama-raga), resistance (vyapada); passion for form (rupa-raga), passion for formless phenomena (arupa-raga), conceit (mana), restlessness (uddhacca), and unawareness (avijja).

Compare anusaya.

 (See also: Samyojana, sanyojana , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

anupubbi-katha (aanupubbii-kathaa): Gradual instruction. The Buddha's method of teaching Dhamma that guides his listeners progressively through increasingly advanced topics: generosity (see dana), virtue (see sila), heavens, drawbacks, renunciation, and the four noble truths.

 (See also: Anupubbi-katha , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

ugghatitannu (uggha.tita~n~nu): Of swift understanding. After the Buddha attained Awakening and was considering whether or not to teach the Dhamma, he perceived that there were four categories of beings: those of swift understanding, who would gain Awakening after a short explanation of the Dhamma, those who would gain Awakening only after a lengthy explanation (vipacitannu); those who would gain Awakening only after being led through the practice (neyya); and those who, instead of gaining Awakening, would at best gain only a verbal understanding of the Dhamma (padaparama).

 (See also: Ugghatitannu , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

anagami (anaagaamii): Nonreturner. A person who has abandoned the five lower fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth (see samyojana), and who after death will appear in one of the Brahma worlds called the Pure Abodes, there to attain nibbana, never again to return to this world.

 (See also: Anagami , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

anicca (anicca): Inconstant; unsteady; impermanent.

 (See also: Anicca , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

akaliko (akaaliko): Timeless; unconditioned by time or season.

 (See also: Akaliko , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

adhitthana (adhi.t.thaana): Determination; resolution. One of the ten perfections (paramis).

 (See also: Adhitthana , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

akusala (akusala): Unwholesome, unskillful, demeritorious. See its opposite, kusala.

 (See also: Akusala , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

paticca-samuppada (pa.ticca-samuppaada): Dependent co-arising; dependent origination.

A map showing the way the aggregates (khandha) and sense media (ayatana) interact with ignorance (avijja) and craving (tanha) to bring about stress and suffering (dukkha).

As the interactions are complex, there are several different versions of paticca samuppada given in the suttas. In the most common one, the map starts with ignorance. In another common one, the map starts with the interrelation between name (nama) and form (rupa) on the one hand, and sensory consciousness (vinnana) on the other.

 (See also: Paticca-samuppada , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)