25 Words You Hear in Buddhist Communities: Explained
If you’ve spent any amount of time practicing with a Buddhist community, attending dharma talks, listening to Insight podcasts or reading books on mindfulness, you’ve likely come across a few terms that are not otherwise common in western culture.
Here are some of those words, a bit about their background, use, and meaning.
Please note: I am not a linguist nor a scholar of Buddhist studies; this information represents knowledge I’ve gained from time spent in Buddhist communities and reading Buddhist texts.
Dharma / Dhamma: the true nature of reality, the teachings passed down by the Buddha; note there is no simple translation of this word, and it holds many different definitions depending on the context and tradition
Sangha: community; traditionally refers to monastic communities, but in present day generally refers to any practice community or spiritual friends
Dana: generosity; generally refers to the offering of financial contributions to support a teacher, practice space, or community
Dukkha: suffering, dissatisfaction, pain, stress; the second of the 3 Marks of Existence, the first of the 4 Noble Truths - Buddha taught that all of life is suffering, or marked by Dukkha; the teachings show the way out of Dukkha to liberation
Brahmavihara: “The 4 Immeasurables” or “The 4 Sublime States”, 4 virtues or states cultivated through meditation practice
Metta/Maitri: Loving-Kindness, an earnest wish for oneself and others to be happy; the first of the 4 Brahmaviharas; many communities close meditations with a period of Metta cultivation
Karuna: Compassion, an earnest wish for oneself and others to be free from suffering; the second of the 4 Brahmaviharas
Mudita: joy, sometimes sympathetic joy, delighting in the well-being of oneself and others; the third of the 4 Brahmaviharas
Upekkha: equanimity, calm, steadiness, stability of mind; the fourth of the 4 Brahmaviharas
Anatta: not-self; the teaching that living beings lack any permanent, unchanging self; the third of the 3 Marks of Existence
Kalyana Mitta: spiritual friendship; in the Insight tradition, often used to describe small spiritual social groups that meet regularly
Karma / Kamma: intention-guided action and its subsequent effects; often used in the context of Samsara
Samsara: the cycle of rebirth perpetuated by karma; all living beings are trapped in Samsara until achieving Enlightenment, or moksha, liberation
Sutra / Sutta: the scriptures containing the teachings of the Buddha
Precepts: 5 rules or code of ethics for lay practitioners of Buddhism; includes abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and taking intoxicants
Arhat / Arahant: a practitioner who has reached an advanced stage of awakening along the path, but not full Buddhahood
Bodhisattva: a practitioner who compassionately commits to pursue Enlightenment for the purpose of liberating all living beings from suffering
Buddha: enlightened one; one who has shed all ignorance and awakened to the True nature of things, as well as experienced released from Samsara; often simply refers to Shakyamuni Buddha/Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism in our era
Bodhicitta: the mind that compassionately and spontaneously wishes to achieve enlightenment for benefit of all living beings
Sloth and Torpor: sleepiness, laziness, dullness; one of the 5 Hindrances to meditation
Upaya: skillfulness, conveys the idea that every situation and practitioner is unique, and thus one needs careful discernment and wisdom to act appropriately at any given time
Sati: mindfulness, awareness; the first of the 7 Factors of Enlightenment
Satipatthana: usually refers to the Satipatthana Sutta, a foundational scripture providing instructions on the development of mindfulness
Vipassana: Insight into the True nature of things, as cultivated by meditation; the basis of the Insight tradition
Nirvana / Nibbana: the state of being Enlightened; what many consider the “goal” of the Buddhist path; constitutes the end or release from Samsara and the end of suffering, or Dukkha