Glossary of Buddhism

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Buddhism
Glossary Index Outline
History Timeline The Buddha Pre-sectarian Buddhism Councils Silk Road transmission of Buddhism Decline in the Indian subcontinent Later Buddhists Buddhist modernism
Dharma Concepts Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Dharma wheel Five Aggregates Impermanence Suffering No-self Dependent Origination Middle Way Mettā Emptiness Morality Karma Rebirth Saṃsāra Cosmology
Buddhist texts Buddhavacana Early Texts Tripiṭaka Mahayana Sutras Pāli Canon Sanskrit literature Tibetan canon Chinese canon Post-canon
Practices Three Jewels Buddhist paths to liberation Five precepts Perfections Meditation Philosophical reasoning Devotional practices Merit making Recollections Mindfulness Wisdom Sublime abidings Aids to Enlightenment Monasticism Lay life Buddhist chant Pilgrimage Vegetarianism
Nirvāṇa Awakening Four Stages Arhat Pratyekabuddhayāna Bodhisattva Buddha
Traditions Theravāda Pāli Mahāyāna Hinayana Chinese Vajrayāna Tibetan Navayana Newar
Buddhism by country Bhutan Brazil Cambodia China India Indonesia Japan Korea Laos Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar New Zealand Russia Singapore US Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Tibet Vietnam
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Some 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 along with the definition.

Languages and traditions dealt with here:

• English (EN) – Buddhism in the West
• Pāli (PI) – Theravada
• Sanskrit (SA) – primarily Mahayana
• Bengali (BN) – Theravada
• Sinhala (SI) – Theravada
• Burmese (MY) – Theravada
• Karen (KAR) – Theravada
• Khmer (KM) – Theravada
• Mon (MNW) – Theravada
• Mongolian (MN) – primarily Vajrayana
• Shan (SHN) – Theravada
• Tibetan (BO) – Tibetan Buddhism
• Dzongkha (DZ) – Tibetan Buddhism
• Thai (TH) – primarily Theravada
• Lao (LO) – Theravada
• CJKV languages
  • Chinese (ZH) – Chinese Buddhism
    • Cantonese (YUE) – Buddhism in Hong Kong
    • Mandarin (CMN) – Buddhism in China
    • Taiwanese Hokkien (NAN) – Buddhism in Taiwan
  • Japanese (JA) – Japanese Buddhism
  • Korean (KO) – Korean Buddhism
  • Vietnamese (VI) – Mahayana/Theravada
• Javanese (JV) – Mahayana/Theravada

• Buddhism
• Buddhist texts
• Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
• Diamond Realm

• Pali Text Society Dictionary (Be sure to check the "Unicode font" option, and to have one; also, if looking for a word, choose "words that match")
• Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary
• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (Login with userid "guest")
• Kadampa Glossary of Buddhist Terms
• Fo Guang Shan Glossary of Buddhist Terms (with Chinese translation)