Acinteyya: lit. ‘That which cannot not be thought of’, the unthinkable, unimaginable, inconceivable, incomprehensible, impenetrable, that which transcends the limits of thinking and over which the …

Amata: Sanskrit amrta Not to die = Deathlessness, immortality, is a name for Nibbāna the final liberation from the wheel of rebirths samsāra, and therefore also from the ever-repeated death …

Anattā: No-self, egolessness, soullessness, impersonality, absence of identity, is the last of the 3 universal characteristics of existence ti-lakkhana. This anattā doctrine, which only is t …

Anicca: Impermanent, transient or, as abstract noun, aniccatā impermanence or change is the first of the three universal characteristics of existence tilakkhana, which is easily observable and …

Anupādisesa-nibbāna: see Nibbāna & upādi

Anāgāmī: T he Non-Returner is a Noble Disciple Ariya-puggala on the 3rd stage of Nobility. There are 5 classes of Non-Returners, as it is said e.g. Pug. 42-46:

A being, through the disappea …

Aparihāniya-dhamma: ‘conditions of welfare’ lit. of non-decline, for a nation. Seven such conditions are mentioned in the Mahā-Parinibbāna Sutta D. 16. They are followed by five sets of 7, and …

Ariya-puggala: or simply Ariya: Noble Ones, noble persons:
The 8, Ariya = Noble Ones are those who have realized one of the 8 stages of Nobility, i.e. the 4 supra-mundane paths magga …

Asankhata: The Unformed, Unoriginated, Unconditioned, Uncreated & Unconstructed is a name for Nibbāna, the beyond of all becoming and conditionality.

Asankhāra-parinibbāyī: The one reaching Nibbāna without effort, is one of the five classes of Non-Returners anāgāmī

Bodhi: from verbal root budhi to awaken, to understand: awakening, enlightenment, supreme knowledge. Through Bodhi one awakens from the slumber or stupor inflicted upon the mind by the defilemen …

Exertion: see padhāna viriya magga 6. - Reaching Nibbāna with or without e.; see: anāgāmi

Gotrabhū: lit. ‘who has entered the lineage of the Noble Ones’, i.e. the Matured One.

I. ‘change-of-lineage-Moment’ gotrabhū - citta is the last of the 4 impulse moments javana cf. *viñ …

Paccavekkhana-ñāna: ‘retrospective knowledge’, refers to the recollected mental image obtained in concentration, or to any inner experience just passed, as for instance, any absorption jhāna, o …

Pacceka-buddha: an ‘Solitarily Enlightened One’; or Separately or Individually = pacceka Enlightened One renderings by ‘Silent’ or ‘Private Buddha’ are not very apt. This is a term for an Araha …

Pahāna: ‘overcoming’, abandoning. There are 5 kinds of overcoming: 1 overcoming by repression vikkhambhana-pahāna i.e. the temporary suspension of the 5 hindrances nīvarana during the absorpt …

Papañca: Sanskrit prapañca In doctrinal usage, it signifies the expansion, differentiation, ‘diffuseness’ or ‘manifoldness’ of the world; and it may also refer to the ‘phenomenal world’ in gener …

Parinibbāna: ‘full Nibbāna’, is a synonym for Nibbāna; this term, therefore, does not refer exclusively to the ceasing of the 5 groups of existence at the death of the Noble One, though often appl …

Patisambhidā: ‘analytical knowledge’ or ‘discrimination’, is of 4 kinds: analytical knowledge of the true meaning attha-patisambhidā of the law dhamma - patisambhidā, of language nirutti …

Paññā: ‘understanding, knowledge, understanding, insight’, comprises a very wide field. The specific Buddhist knowledge or understanding, however, as part of the Noble 8-fold path magga to deli …

Ākāsa: ‘space’, is, according to Com., of two kinds: 1. limited space paricchinnākāsa or paricchedākāsa, 2. endless space anantākāsa, i.e. cosmic space.

1. Limited space, under th …