Glossary

abhidhamma : the higher teachings of Buddhism, teachings on ultimate realities.

Abhidhammattha Sangaha : an Encyclopedia of the Abhidhamma, written by Anuruddha between the 8th and the 12th century A.D.

abhiññā : supernormal powers.

adosa : non aversion.

ahetuka cittas : not accompanied by “beautiful roots” or unwholesome roots.

ākāsānañcāyatana : sphere of boundless space, the meditation subject of the first immaterial jhānacitta.

akiñcaññāyatana : sphere of nothingness, the meditation subject of the third immaterial jhānacitta.

akusala : unwholesome, unskilful.

alobha : non attachment, generosity.

amoha : wisdom or understanding.

anāgāmī : non-returner, person who has reached the third stage of enlightenment, he has no aversion (dosa).

anattā : not self.

anicca : impermanence.

anuloma : conformity or adaptation.

anusaya : latent tendency or proclivity.

anupādisesa nibbāna : final nibbāna, without the khandhas (aggregates or groups of existence) remaining, at the death of an arahat.

apo-dhātu : element of water or cohesion.

appanā : absorption.

arahat : noble person who has attained the fourth and last stage of enlightenment.

ārammaṇa : object which is known by consciousness.

ariyan : noble person who has attained enlightenment.

arūpa-bhūmi : plane of arūpa jhānacitta.

arūpa-brahma : plane plane of existence attained as a result of arūpa-jhāna. There are no sense impressions, no rūpa experienced in this realm.

arūpa-jhāna : immaterial absorption.

asaṅkhārika : unprompted, not induced, either by oneself or by someone else.

asaṅkhata dhamma : unconditioned reality, nibbāna.

āsavas : influxes or intoxicants, group of defilements .

asobhana : not beautiful, not accompanied by beautiful roots.

asubha : foul.

asura : demon, being of one of the unhappy planes of existence.

atīta-bhavanga : past life-continuum, arising and falling away shortly before the start of a process of cittas experiencing an object through one of the sense-doors.

Atthasālinī : The Expositor, a commentary to the first book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka.

āvajjana : adverting of consciousness to the object which has impinged on one of the six doors.

avijjā : ignorance.

ayoniso manasikāra : unwise attention to an object.

bhāvanā : mental development, comprising the development of calm and the development of insight.

bhavanga : life-continuum.

bhavanga calana : vibrating bhavanga arising shortly before a process of cittas experiencing an object through one of the six doors.

bhavangupaccheda : arrest bhavanga, last bhavanga-citta before a process of cittas starts.

bhikkhu : monk.

bhikkhunī : nun.

bhūmi : plane of existence or plane of citta.

brahma-vihāras : the four divine abidings, meditation subjects which are: loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity.

Buddha : a fully enlightened person who has discovered the truth all by himself, without the aid of a teacher and can proclaim Dhamma to the world.

Buddhaghosa : commentator on the Tipiṭaka, author of the Visuddhimagga in 5 A.D.

cakkhu : eye.

cakkhu-dhātu : eye element.

cakkhu-dvāra : eyedoor.

cakkhu-dvārāvajjana-citta : eye-door-adverting-consciousness.

cakkhuppasāda rūpa : rūpa which is the organ of eyesense, capable of receiving visible object.

cakkhu-viññāṇa : seeing-consciousness.

cetanā : volition or intention.

cetasika : mental factor arising with consciousness.

citta : consciousness, the reality which knows or cognizes an object.

cuti-citta : dying-consciousness.

dāna : generosity, giving.

dassana-kicca : function of seeing.

dhamma : reality, truth, the teachings.

dhamma-dhātu : element of dhammas, realities, comprising cetasikas, subtle rūpas, nibbāna.

dhammārammaṇa : all objects other than the sense objects which can be experienced through the five sense-doors, thus, objects which can be experienced only through the mind-door.

Dhammasangaṇi : the first book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka.

Dhātukathā : Discussion on the Elements, the third book of the Abhidhamma.

diṭṭhi : wrong view, distorted view of realities.

diṭṭhigata sampayutta : accompanied by wrong view.

domanassa : unpleasant feeling.

dosa : aversion or ill will.

dosa-mūla-citta : citta (consciousness) rooted in aversion.

dukkha : suffering, unsatisfactoriness of conditioned realities.

dukkha vedanā : painful feeling or unpleasant feeling.

dvāra : doorway through which an object is experienced, the five sense-doors or the mind door.

dvi-pañca-viññāṇa : the five pairs of sense-cognitions, which are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and body-consciousness. Of each pair one is kusala vipāka and one akusala vipāka.

ekaggatā : concentration, one-pointedness, a cetasika which has the function to focus on one object.

ganthas : bonds, a group of defilements.

ghāna-dhātu : nose element.

ghānappasāda rūpa : rūpa which is the organ of smelling sense, capable of receiving odour.

ghāna-viññāṇa : smelling-consciousness.

ghāyana-kicca : function of smelling.

gotrabhū : change of lineage, the last citta of the sense-sphere before jhāna, absorption, is attained, or enlightenment is attained.

hadaya-vatthu : heart-base, rūpa which is the plane of origin of the cittas other than the sense-cognitions.

hasituppāda-citta : smile producing consciousness of an arahat.

hetu : root, which conditions citta to be “beautiful” or unwholesome.

indriya : faculty. Some are rūpas such as the sense organs, some are nāmas such as feeling. Five ’spiritual faculties’ are wholesome faculties which should be cultivated, namely: confidence, energy, awareness, concentration and wisdom.

issā : envy.

jāti : birth, nature, class (of cittas).

javana-citta : cittas which ’run through the object’, kusala citta or akusala citta in the case of non-arahats.

jhāna : absorption which can be attained through the development of calm.

jhāna-factors : cetasikas which have to be cultivated for the attainment of jhāna: vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, samādhi.

jivhā-dhātu : tongue element.

jivhāppasāda rūpa : rūpa which is the organ of tasting sense, capable of receiving flavour.

jivhā-viññāṇa : tasting-consciousness.

kāma : sensual enjoyment or the five sense objects.

kāma-bhūmi : sensuous plane of existence.

kāmacchandha : sensuous desire.

kāma-sobhana cittas : beautiful cittas of the sense sphere.

kāmāvacara cittas : cittas of the sense sphere.

kamma : intention or volition; deed motivated by volition.

kammapatha : course of action performed through body, speech or mind which can be wholesome or unwholesome.

karuṇā : compassion.

kasiṇa : disk, used as an object for the development of calm.

kāya : body. It can also stand for the “mental body”, the cetasikas.

kāya dhātu : the element of bodysense.

kāyappasāda rūpa : bodysense, the rūpa which is capable of receiving tangible object. It is all over the body, inside or outside.

kāya-viññatti : bodily intimation, such as gestures, facial expression, etc.

kāya-viññāṇa : body-consciousness.

khandhas : aggregates of conditioned realities classified as five groups: physical phenomena, feelings, perception or remembrance, activities or formations (cetasikas other than feeling or perception), consciousness.

kicca : function.

kilesa : defilements.

kiriya citta : inoperative citta, neither cause nor result.

kukkucca : regret or worry.

kusala citta : wholesome consciousness.

kusala kamma : a good deed.

kusala : wholesome, skillful.

lobha : attachment, greed.

lobha-mūla-citta : consciousness rooted in attachment.

lokiya citta : citta which is mundane, not experiencing nibbāna.

lokuttara citta : supramundane citta which experiences nibbāna.

lokuttara dhammas : the unconditioned dhamma which is nibbāna and the cittas which experience nibbāna.

macchariya : stinginess.

magga : path (eightfold Path).

magga-citta : path consciousness, supramundane citta which experiences nibbāna and eradicates defilements.

mahā-bhūta-rūpas : the rūpas which are the four great elements of “earth” or solidity, “water ” or cohesion, “fire” or temperature, and “wind” or motion.

mahā-kiriyacitta : inoperative sense-sphere citta of the arahat, accompanied by “beautiful” roots.

mahā-kusala citta : wholesome citta of the sense sphere.

mahā-vipākacitta : citta of the sense sphere which is result, accompanied by “beautiful” roots.

manāyatana : mind-base, including all cittas.

mano : mind, citta, consciousness.

mano-dhātu : mind-element, comprising the five-sense-door adverting- consciousness, and the two types of receiving-consciousness.

mano-dvārāvajjana-citta : mind-door-adverting-consciousness.

mano-dvāra-vīthi-cittas : cittas arising in a mind-door process.

mano-viññāṇa-dhātu : mind-consciousness element, comprising all cittas other than the sense-cognitions (seeing, etc.) and mind-element.

māra : “the evil one”—all that leads to dukkha

mettā : loving kindness.

middha : torpor or languor.

moha : ignorance. moha-mūla-citta citta rooted in ignorance.

muditā : sympathetic joy.

nāma : mental phenomena, including those which are conditioned and also the unconditioned nāma which is nibbāna.

natthika diṭṭhi : wrong view of annihilation, assumption that there is no result of kamma.

n’eva-saññā-n’āsaññāyatana : sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, the meditation subject of the fourth immaterial jhāna.

nibbāna : the unconditioned reality, the reality which does not arise and fall away.The destruction of lust, hatred and delusion. The deathless. The end of suffering.

nimitta : mental image one can acquire of a meditation subject in tranquil meditation.

nirodha-samāpatti : attainment of cessation of consciousness.

nīvaraṇa : hindrances, a group of defilements.

ñāṇa : wisdom, insight.

ojā : the rūpa which is nutrition.

oḷārika rūpas : gross rūpas (sense objects and sense organs).

Pacceka Buddha : Silent Buddha, an enlightened one who has found the truth by himself but does not proclaim Dhamma to the world.

paṭibhāga nimitta : counterpart image, more perfected mental image of a meditation subject, acquired in tranquil meditation.

paṭigha : aversion or ill will.

Paṭṭhāna : Conditional Relations, the seventh book of the Abhidhamma.

paṭisandhi citta : rebirth consciousness.

Pāli : the language of the Buddhist teachings.

pañcadvārāvajjana-citta : five-sense-door-adverting-consciousness.

pañcaviññāṇa : (or dvi-pañcaviññāṇa), the sense cognitions (seeing etc.) of which there are five pairs.

paññā : wisdom or understanding.

paññatti : concepts, conventional terms.

paramattha dhamma : truth in the absolute sense: mental and physical phenomena, each with their own characteristic.

parikamma : preparatory consciousness, the first javana citta arising in the process during which absorption or enlightenment is attained.

pasāda-rūpas : rūpas which are capable of receiving sense-objects such as visible object, sound, taste, etc. peta ghost.

phala-citta : fruition consciousness experiencing nibbāna. It is result of magga- citta, path-consciousness.

phassa : contact.

phoṭṭhabbārammaṇa : tangible object, experienced through bodysense.

phusanakicca : function of experiencing tangible object.

pīti : joy, rapture, enthusiasm.

Puggalapaññatti : Designation of Human Types, the fourth book of the Abhidhamma.

puthujjana : “worldling”, a person who has not attained enlightenment.

Rāhula : the Buddha’s son.

rasārammaṇa : object of flavour.

rūpārammaṇa : visible object.

rūpa : physical phenomena, realities which do not experience anything.

rūpa-brahma : plane rūpa-bhūmi, fine material realm of existence attained as a result of rūpa-jhāna.

rūpa-jhāna : fine material absorption, developed with a meditation subject which is still dependant on materiality.

rūpa-khandha : aggregate or group of all physical phenomena (rūpas).

rūpāvacara cittas : rūpa-jhānacittas, consciousness of the fine-material sphere.

saddārammaṇa : sound.

saddhā : confidence.

sahagata : accompanied by.

sahetuka : accompanied by roots.

sakadāgāmī : once-returner, a noble person who has attained the second stage of enlightenment.

samādhi : concentration or one-pointedness, ekaggatā cetasika.

samatha : the development of calm.

sammā : right.

sampaṭicchana-citta : receiving-consciousness.

sampayutta : associated with.

Sangha : community of monks and nuns. As one of the triple Gems it means the community of those people who have attained enlightenment.

saṅkhāra dhammas : conditioned dhammas that arise together depending on each other.

saṅkhata dhamma : what has arisen because of conditions.

saṅkhāra-kkhandha : all cetasikas (mental factors) except feeling and memory.

saññā : memory, remembrance or “perception”.

saññā-kkhandha : memory classified as one of the five khandhas.

santīraṇa-citta : investigating-consciousness.

Sāriputta : chief disciple of Buddha.

sasaṅkhārika : prompted, induced, instigated, either by oneself or someone else.

sati : mindfulness or awareness: non-forgetfulness of what is wholesome, or non-forgetfulness of realities which appear.

satipaṭṭhāna sutta : Middle Length Sayings 1, number 10, also Dīgha Nikāya, Dialogues, no. 22.

satipaṭṭhāna : applications of mindfulness. It can mean the cetasika sati which is aware of realities or the objects of mindfulness which are classified as four applications of mindfulness: Body, Feeling Citta, Dhamma. Or it can mean the development of direct understanding of realities through awareness.

sa-upadi-sesa nibbāna : the attainment of nibbāna with the khandhas remaining by the arahat, thus not final nibbāna at death of an arahat.

sāyana-kicca : function of tasting.

savana-kicca : function of hearing.

sīla : morality in action or speech, virtue.

sīlabbatupādāna : wrong practice, which is clinging to certain rules (“rites and rituals”) in one’s practice.

sobhana-hetus : beautiful roots.

sobhana kiriya cittas : kiriyacittas accompanied by sobhana (beautiful) roots.

sobhana(citta and cetasika) : beautiful, accompanied by beautiful roots.

somanassa : happy feeling.

sota-dhātu : element of earsense.

sota-dvārāvajjana-citta : ear-door-adverting-consciousness.

sota-dvāra-vīthi-cittas : ear-door process cittas.

sotāpanna : person who has attained the first stage of enlightenment, and who has eradicated wrong view of realities.

sota-viññāṇa : hearing-consciousness.

sukha : happy, pleasant.

sukha-vedanā : pleasant feeling.

sukhuma : subtle.

sutta : part of the scriptures containing dialogues at different places on different occasions.

suttanta : a sutta text.

tadālambana : retention or registering, last citta of a complete process of the sense-sphere.

tadārammaṇa : as above.

Tathāgata : literally “thus gone”, epithet of the Buddha.

tatramajjhattatā : equanimity or evenmindedness.

tejo-dhātu : element of fire or heat.

Theravāda Buddhism : ‘Doctrine of the Elders’, the oldest tradition of Buddhism.

thīna : sloth.

Tipiṭaka : the teachings of the Buddha contained in the Vinaya, the Suttanta and the Abhidhamma.

uddhacca : restlessness.

Udāna : Verses of Uplift from the Minor Anthologies.

upacāra : access or proximity consciousness, the second javana-citta in the process in which absorption or enlightenment is attained.

upacāra-samādhi : access-concentration.

upādā-rūpa : “derived rūpas” the rūpas other than the four Great Elements.

upādāna : clinging.

upādāna-kkhandhas : khandhas of clinging.

upekkhā : indifferent feeling. It can stand for evenmindedness or equanimity and then it is not feeling.

vacīviññatti : the rūpa which is speech intimation.

vatthu : base, physical base of citta.

vāyo-dhātu : element of wind or motion.

vedanā : feeling.

vedanā-kkhandha : group of all feelings.

Vibhaṅga : “Book of Analysis”, second book of the Abhidhamma.

vicāra : sustained thinking or discursive thinking.

vicikicchā : doubt.

vinaya : Book of Discipline for the monks.

viññāṇa : consciousness, citta.

viññāṇa-dhātu : element of consciousness, comprising all cittas.

viññāṇa-kkhandha : group of all cittas (consciousness).

viññāṇañcāyatana : sphere of boundless consciousness, meditation subject for the second stage of immaterial jhāna.

vipākacitta : citta which is the result of a wholesome deed (kusala kamma) or an unwholesome deed (akusala kamma). It can arise as rebirth- consciousness, or during life as the experience of pleasant or unpleasant objects through the senses, such as seeing, hearing, etc.

vipassanā : wisdom which sees realities as they are.

vippayutta : dissociated from.

viriya : energy.

visaṇkāra dhamma : unconditioned dhamma, nibbāna.

Visuddhimagga : an Encyclopaedia of the Buddha’s teachings, written by Buddhaghosa in the fifth century A.D.

vitakka : applied thinking.

vīthi-cittas : cittas arising in a process.

vīthimutta-cittas : process freed cittas, cittas which do not arise within a process.

votthapana-citta : determining consciousness.

vyāpāda : ill-will.

Yamaka : the Book of Pairs, the sixth book of the Abhidhamma.

yoniso manasikāra : wise attention to the object.