Wisdom Wide and Deep
Page 49
maraṇa Death.
mettā Loving-kindness, friendliness. The wish that other beings should enjoy internal and external safety, mental and physical happiness, and ease of well-being. The first of the four brahmavihāras.
micchādiṭṭhi Wrong view. Unwise or erroneous interpretation of things.
middha Torpor. Constricted, dull, unworkable state of consciousness.
moha Delusion. Not knowing the ultimate characteristics of things. Along with dosa and lobha, one of the three forces that perpetuate suffering.
muditā Appreciative joy. Rejoicing in the accomplishment and good fortune of others. Also called sympathetic, empathetic, or altruistic joy. The third of the four brahmavihāras.
mudutā Malleability. A feature of material elements and mental states expressed by responsiveness, nonresistance, gentleness, and the absence of rigidity or stiffness.
nāma Mentality, name.
ñāṇa Knowledge. Often used synonymously with amoha, paññā, and vijjā.
ñāṇadassana Knowledge and vision.
nibbāna The unconditioned, deathless, unborn element. Perfectly undefiled state that is neither mind nor matter. Coolness, peace, extinguished, cessation. (Sanskrit: nirvāna)
nikāya Group, body. Term used for the major collections of Buddhist texts.
nīla A dark color, sometimes described as green, blue, black, or brown, which can be used to develop a colored kasiṇa.
nimitta Mark, sign, image, condition. The term nimitta has many meanings and can be applied to coarse as well as subtle stages in the development of the meditation object. The term often refers to a subtle mental perception or counterpart sign of the meditation object.
nipphannarūpa Concrete or real materiality. Refers to the eighteen material elements.
nīvaraṇa Hindrance. A mental state that obstructs meditation. There are five classic hindrances: sensual desire, aversion, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt.
ojā Nutriment.
ottappa Fear or dread of wrongdoing that is based on respect for others. The wish to refrain from immoral actions because one considers the consequences, including the opinions of wise persons.
paccavekkhanṇañāṇato Reviewing knowledge or retrospective knowledge. Refers to the insight that arises with the reviewing of a fruition attainment.
paccaya Condition. Something upon which something else depends.
paccupaṭṭhāna Manifestation. Refers to how something presents itself in lived experience.
padaṭṭhāna Proximate cause. Refers to the immediately preceding conditions that permit something to occur.
pāguññatā Proficiency. A feature of mental states expressed by effectiveness and health.
Pāli The language of the Theravāda scriptures. A language that is closely related to Magadhi, which is thought to be the language spoken by the Buddha and his disciples.
pañcadvāravajjana Five-door adverting consciousness. The consciousness that turns the mind toward the sense door.
paññā Understanding, wisdom, knowledge. Often used synonymously with amoha, ñāṇa, and vijjā.
paññāloka Light of wisdom. Refers to the luminosity of mind that accrues through concentration and insight practice.
papañca Proliferation of thought, projections, conceptual diversification, mental associations.
paramattha Ultimate. Supreme, truth, highest, intrinsic, irreducible.
paramattha dhamma Abhidhamma theory identifies the ultimate constituents of mind and matter as irreducible, nonconceptual, and non-conventional elements, properties, or functions that can be directly perceived without the mediation of concepts. The ultimate realities include: consciousness, material phenomena, mental phenomena, and nibbāna.
pāramī Perfection, completion, fulfillment. Often used to refer to the potency of past accomplishments that support meditation practice and successful attainments.
pasāda Refers to the sensitivity of the material elements that register the impact of sensory objects.
passaddhi Tranquility.
passati To see, observe. Related to vision.
paṭhavī Earth.
paṭiccasamuppāda Dependent arising. Refers to the conditional relations that govern material and mental processes. Often formulated into a doctrine of twelve causally related links.
paṭisandhicitta Rebirth-linking consciousness. It is a kamma resultant type of consciousness that arises at the moment of conception with the formation of a new life.
phala Fruition, fruit.
phassa Contact. A mental factor that arises when consciousness is impacted by sensory or mental data. Contact occurs with the meeting of the sense base, sense object, and sense consciousness.
piṭaka Basket. Refers to the primary canonical collections: Vinaya Piṭaka, Sutta Piṭaka, Abhidhamma Piṭaka.
pīti Rapture, delight, pleasure, enthusiasm, and happiness that refreshes attention. Physical and mental lightness and agility resulting from purity of mind; a delighted interest in what is happening.
puggala Person.
purisabhāva indriya Masculinity faculty. The material element that determines the features, signs, and ways of the male.
rāga Lust, passion.
rasa Taste.
rūpa Materiality, form, matter.
sacca Truth.
sadda Sound.
saddhā Faith, confidence, trust, conviction.
sakadāgāmī Once-returner. Refers to the person who has attained the second stage of enlightenment with the weakening of the fetters of greed and hatred.
sakkaccakāri kusala Skill in thoroughness.
sakkāyadiṭṭhi Personality belief. The belief that there is a self that is the same as or is the owner of the mind and body. This is the first of the ten fetters and is eradicated with the first stage of enlightenment.
saḷāyatana Six-fold sense base. Includes eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.
samādhi Meditative concentration, unification of mind.
samādhi kusala Skill in concentration.
samāpatti Attainment. Refers to the eight attainments that include the four material jhānas and four immaterial absorptions.
samāpatti kusala Skill in attainment.
samatha Calmness of mind due to concentration.
sammā Right. Lit. “the fulfillment of.” This term is used to refer to the factors of the noble eightfold path and describes each factor as right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
sammasana Comprehension, determining, mastering, grasping, understanding.
sampajañña Clear comprehension, full awareness.
sampaṭicchanacitta Receiving consciousness. The consciousness in the cognitive series that immediately follows a sense-door consciousness and receives the impact of the sensory object in the mind.
sampatti rasa Functioning through the achievement of a goal.
saṃsāra Wandering from one thing or experience to another, repeated cycles. The cycle of craving and suffering caused by ignorance of ultimate truth that leads to repeated rebirths.
samūhaghana Compactness of mass.
saṃyojana Fetter.
Saṃyutta Nikāya The Kindred Sayings or The Connected Discourses. A collection of Discourses of the Buddha that are organized according to theme.
saṅgha Community. A gathering of realized ones or those dedicated to the liberating practices.
saṅkhārā Volitional formations. Thoughts, intentions, and actions that accumulate kamma.
saññā Perception, recognition, conceptualization.
santatighana Compactness of continuity.
santīraṇacitta Investigating consciousness. The mind-moment in the cognitive series that immediately follows the occurrence of receiving consciousness and is responsible for examining the mental data.
sappāya kusala Skill in suitability.
sāsana Teachings. Lit.
“message.” Used to refer to the teachings of the Buddha.
sātacca kusala Skill in persistence.
sati Mindfulness, awareness. The observing power of the mind, which clearly experiences an object without reacting to it. Includes a component of remembering and recollection.
satipaṭṭhāna Foundations of mindfulness.
sayadaw Burmese word meaning respectable or honorable teacher. It is a customary and respectful way for students to address a monastic teacher.
sīla Virtue, ethics, morality.
sīlabbataparāmāsa The erroneous belief that rites and rituals will purify the mind.
somanassa Joy, bliss, happiness. Refers to mental pleasure.
sota Ear. Stream (of the Dhamma).
sotāpanna Stream-enterer. One who has attained the first stage of enlightenment by experiencing nibbāna. Such a person uproots the illusion of self, ends doubt in the efficacy of the dhamma teachings, and ceases to believe that any rite or ritual can bring about liberation. A sotāpanna cannot be reborn as an animal or in hell due to the weakening of his or her defilements and is assured of continued development toward full awakening.
sukha Happiness, joy, contentment. May refer to mental or physical pleasure.
suññatā Emptiness. The recognition of not-self as the absence of substantial or eternal existence.
sutta Discourse or dialog. Lit “thread or string.” The suttas form the “second basket” of Buddhist texts and are composed of collections of discourses given by the Buddha and great disciples.
Sutta Nipāta A text of brief and pithy teachings of the Buddha.
Sutta Piṭaka The “second basket” (piṭaka) or group of texts in the Buddhist canon, which includes the discourses of the Buddha and the great disciples.
tadārammaṇacitta Registration consciousness. The concluding mind-moments in cognitive processes that savor the mental data. This registration, or savoring of the mental data, occurs after the impulsions have experienced the cognition and before the life-continuum mind-moments.
tanhā Desire, craving, wanting.
Tathāgata One who has thus gone beyond. Refers to the Buddha. Is a common way that the Buddha refers to himself in the discourses.
tatramajjhattatā Evenness of mind, mental balance, neutrality, or equilibrium. Lit. “standing in the middle.” An aspect of equanimity that is expressed by evenly distributed mental factors, impartiality, and the avoidance of extremes.
tejo Fire, heat.
Theravāda Teaching of the Elders. Lit. “the speech of the elders.” Refers to a school of Buddhism that survives to this day and is commonly found in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma (Myanmar).
thīna Sloth, sleepiness, mental dullness.
thīnamiddha Sloth and torpor. These two mental factors always arise together. The term for the third hindrance.
ṭhiti kusala Skill in stability.
tiratana Three Jewels. These are Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha.
Udāna The Inspired Utterances. A collection of brief discourses of the Buddha that include poetic verses.
udayabbaya Rise and fall.
uddhacca Restlessness.
uddhaccakukkucca Restlessness and worry. The term for the fourth hindrance.
ujukatā Uprightness, rectitude. Made straight, direct, honest. A quality of mental states that is characterized by honesty and straightforwardness and is opposed to hypocrisy, crookedness, and deception.
upacāra samādhi Neighborhood concentration, access concentration. Refers to the conditions that precede jhāna or simulate jhāna-like conditions.
upacaya Production, growth, appearance. Refers to the emergence of material or mental phenomena.
upādāna Clinging, attachment, grasping. The mind’s grasping on to an object and refusing to let go.
upakkilesa Imperfection, impurity, corruption. May refer to the ten imperfections of insight that must be surmounted in vipassanā practice.
upekkhā Equanimity, impartiality, even-mindedness. Lit. “onlooking from above.” The quality of mind that remains centered without inclining toward extremes. The term implies an observational attitude that supports balance. Also, the fourth of the four brahmavihāras.
utuja ojaṭṭhamaka kalāpa Eight-factored material kalāpa that contains nutritive essence as the eighth factor, and is produced by temperature.
vācā Speech.
vacīviññatti Verbal intimation. The material property that manifests in the verbal display of intention such as speech and vocalization.
vaṇṇa Color, visible data, visible object.
vaṭṭa Round. Refers to the round of rebirths. The cycle of dependent arising is sometimes divided into three rounds: the rounds of action, defilement, and results.
vatthu Physical base. The six material organs upon which mental processes and cognition depend.
vāyo Wind, air.
vedanā Feeling tone. Experience of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral feelings produced through contact with material or mental phenomena.
vicāra Sustained attention, sustained application of the mind. The aspect of concentration consisting of the mind’s sustained attention on the object. In some contexts vicāra may be translated with more active terms such as pondering, investigation, reflection, or examination.
vicikicchā Doubt, skeptical criticism. The exhaustion of mind that comes about through excessive conjecture. The term for the fifth hindrance.
vijjā Knowledge. Often used synonymously with amoha, ñāṇa, and paññā.
vimokkha Deliverance, liberation.
vimutti Freedom, deliverance.
vinaya Discipline. Usually used to refer to the “first basket” (piṭaka) or group of texts in Buddhism, which records the rules and teaching stories related to monastic protocol and training.
viññāṇa Consciousness. The mental state that cognizes an object. Sometimes used synonymously with citta or manas.
vipāka Result. Particularly the result of kamma. Conditions that arise due to past actions.
vipariṇāma Change.
vipassanā Insight, clear seeing. Lit. seeing through various modes. The energetic observation of mental and physical objects in their aspect of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and lack of an inherent, independent essence or self.
virāga Without lust, dispassion.
virati Abstinence. Refers to the practice of refraining from wrong action in body, speech, and thought.
viriya Effort, energy, strength. The energy or effort expended to direct the mind continuously toward the object. Derived from the word for hero.
visuddhi Purification.
Visuddhimagga The Path of Purification. An important and exhaustive instructive text written in the fifth century C.E. by Buddhaghosa in Sri Lanka. It appears to be an elaboration based on the first century text titled Vimuttimagga, but contains more specific instructions for the development of virtue, concentration, and insight. It is a widely used manual for meditators throughout the Theravādan world.
vitakka Initial application of the mind. Applied attention or thought. Directed attention toward the object of meditation.
viveka Seclusion, detachment, solitude. Descriptive term for the calm state that occurs when the mind is undisturbed by defilements.
voṭṭhabbanacitta Determining consciousness. The mind-moment in the cognitive series that follows an investigating consciousness and recognizes the impact of the mental data.
vuṭṭhāna kusala Skill in emergence or ascent.
vyāpāda Aversion, ill will. The term for the second hindrance. Also spelled byāpāda.
yogi One who practices meditation.
Index
A
abandonment
of cravings, 18
factors abandoned, the four jhānas and, 90
the four aspects of perception, 138
hindrances, 12
lesser happiness to attain greater happiness, 17
obstacles, 26
of pleasure and
pain, 49, 87
thoughts, 21
unwholesome states and wrong attention, 14, 38, 40, 429, 468
Abhidhamma
Abhidhamma theory, 216–17, 255
becoming, as defined in, 321
on conditionality, 327
on the distillation of phenomena into constituent parts, 265
on the earth element, 222
on the fire element, 223–24
on ignorance, 315
on life-continuum consciousness, 73
model of consciousness and mental factors, 255
in this manual, 1, 3, 4
on the water element, 223
on the wind element, 224
abodes, divine. See divine abodes (brahmavihāras)
absence
the concept of, 139–40
of hindrances, 62
of the perception of matter, 133, 136
absorption
approaching, signs of, 62–63
depth of absorption in jhāna, 74–77
and discernment, shifting between, 263, 269
lay lifestyle and, 469, 471
peace of, reflection on, 59
repulsiveness element and, 110, 113, 114
skillful effort and, 37
skill in ability, 193–94
skill in attainment, 192
skill in concentration, 192–93
stability of, 121
See also jhāna; specific jhānas
abstinence or restraint, the three aspects of, 258, 379, 456, 462
access concentration. See neighborhood concentration (upacāra samādhi)
access to jhāna. See neighborhood concentration (upacāra samādhi)
achievements
appreciating, 156
the Buddha on, 79
action
clear comprehension and, 45–46
cycle of actions (kammavaṭṭa), 433–34
and equanimity, phrases highlighting, 174–75
right action, 47, 256, 258, 287, 379, 462
significant action producing birth, discerning, 334
See also kamma
adverting consciousnesses
five-door adverting consciousness, 268, 288, 339, 365, 406
mind-door adverting consciousness, 270, 274, 278, 344, 368, 404, 425