Several Buddhist terms and concepts lack direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term. Below are given a number of important Buddhist terms, short definitions, and the languages in which they appear. In this list, an attempt has been made to organize terms by their original form and give translations and synonyms in other languages below the definition.
A difficult term to define. 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.
Sanskrit; Pāli;: dhamma
dhammavinaya
The dharma and vinaya (roughly "doctrine and discipline") considered together. This term essentially means the whole teachings of Buddhism as taught to monks.
In Zen, a term for person sounding the bell that marks the beginning and end of Zazen
Japanese
dokusan
A private interview between a Zen student and his master. It is an important element in the Zen training, as it provides an opportunity for the student to discuss problems in his practice and to demonstrate his understanding.
The schools of Buddhism which arose in India after the time of the historical Buddha but before the time of the Mahāyāna, and which the Mahāyāna later criticized. These are sometimes identified as "Hīnayāna" by later schools. Also called śravakayāna. The Theravada is the only surviving of what are usually numbered the eighteen early schools (though it's not always clear which precise sects are meant).
A position used for greeting, with the palms together and fingers pointing upwards in prayer position. It is used in the Zen tradition, but also common in many cultures in the East. It expresses greeting, request, thankfulness, reverence and prayer.
Japanese: 合掌; Sanskrit: Anjali
gongan
Lit. "Public case." A meditative method developed in the Chan/Seon/Zen traditions, generally consisting of a problem that defies solution by means of rational thought
Zen sect emphasizing sudden enlightenment and koan study. Named for master Linji.
Japanese; Chinese: Linji
Rohatsu (臘八)
A day marking the attainment of Nirvana by Buddha; celebrated on the 8th day either of December or of the 12th month of the lunar calendar. According to the lunar calendar, the next Rohatsu will be January 17, 2005.
The five constituent elements into which an individual is analyzed. These are rūpa, "form", saṃjñā, "cognition", vedanā, "perception", *saṃskāras, "mental formations", *vijñāna, "consciousness".
Sanskrit; Pāli: khandha
sesshin
A Zen retreat where practitioners meditate, eat and work together for several days.
The "Thus-Come One" or “Thus-Gone One”; One of the Buddha's ten epithets
Sanskrit
Tathagatagarbha
Buddha-nature or the seed of enlightenment
Sanskrit
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
Tenzo
In Zen, the head cook for a sesshin
Japanese
Three poisons
The three primary causes of unskilful action, they are;
Expedient. (i.e., something useful, while not necessarily ultimately true) Originally used as a polemical device against other schools—calling them “merely” expedient, lacking in ultimate truth. Later sometimes used against ones own school as well, to prevent students form forming attachments to doctrines.
Usually translated as “Insight” (lit. from √vis-drś, to “see apart”) meditation, most associated with the Theravada tradition, but present throughout Buddhism as an evolved tradition. Distinguished from śamatha meditation.
Pali Text Society Dictionary (http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/Pali/) (Be sure to check the "Unicode font" option, and to have one; also, if looking for a word, choose "words that match")
Buddhistconcepts were interpreted by analogy with indigenous ideas, mainly Taoist, but the work of the great translators Kumarajiva and Hsüan-tsang provided the basis for better understanding of Buddhistconcepts.
This concept and the related concept of Brahman, the Vedantic monistic ideal, which was regarded as an ultimate ātman for all beings, were indispensable for mainstream Indian metaphysics, logic, and science; for all apparent things there had to be an underlying and persistent reality, akin to a Platonic form.
The Buddhist canon of scripture is known in Sanskrit as the Tripitaka and in Pāli as the Tipitaka.
Below are given a number of important Buddhistterms, short definitions, and the languages in which they appear.
In this list, an attempt has been made to organize terms by their original form and give translations and synonyms in other languages below the definition.
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.
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