Glossary

I. Terms

The definitions given here are based on the meanings these words have in Ajaan Lee's writings and sermons. Terms marked with a single asterisk (*) are taken from the standard chant of the qualities of the Buddha; those with a double asterisk (**), from the chant of the qualities of the Dhamma.

akaliko**: Timeless; unconditioned by time or season.

apaya: State of deprivation; the four lower levels of existence — rebirth in hell, as a hungry ghost, as an angry demon, or as a common animal. None of these states are permanent.

arahant: A 'Worthy One,' a person whose heart is freed from the fermentations (asava) of sensuality, states of being, views, and ignorance, and who is thus not destined for further rebirth. An epithet for the Buddha and the highest level of his Noble Disciples.

avijja: Unawareness; ignorance; counterfeit awareness.

bhavanamaya-pañña: Discernment achieved by developing the mind through meditation.

brahma: Inhabitant of the higher, non-sensual levels of heaven.

buddho*: Awake.

chabbanna-ransi: Six-colored radiance or aura. Mentioned usually as an attribute of the Buddha.

chalang'upekkha: Six-factored equanimity, i.e., maintaining equanimity towards events known through any of the six senses — sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and ideation.

dhamma: Event; phenomenon; the way things are in and of themselves; their inherent qualities; the basic principles that underlie their behavior. Also, principles of behavior that human beings ought to follow so as to fit in with the right natural order of things; qualities of mind they should develop so as to realize the inherent quality of the mind in and of itself. By extension, 'dhamma' is used also to refer to any doctrine that teaches such things. Thus the Dhamma of the Buddha refers both to his teachings and to the direct experience of the quality — nibbana — at which those teachings are aimed. In contexts where the term is used in a neutral sense in these sermons, it has been left uncapitalized. Where used in a positive sense, it has been capitalized.

dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga: Discrimination of phenomena, qualities, principles, etc. One of the factors for Awakening, the others being mindfulness, persistence, rapture, serenity, concentration, and equanimity.

dhatu: Element; property; the elementary properties that make up the inner sense of the body and mind: earth (solidity), water (liquidity), fire (heat), wind (energy or motion), space, and consciousness. The breath is regarded as an aspect of the wind property, and all feelings of energy in the body are classed as breath sensations. According to Thai physiology, diseases come from the aggravation or imbalance of any of the first four of these properties. Well-being is defined as a state in which none of these properties is dominant: All are quiet, unaroused, balanced, and still.

ekayana-magga: A unified path; a direct path. An epithet for the practice of being mindful of the four frames of reference: body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities.

gotarabhu-ñana: 'Change of lineage knowledge': The glimpse of nibbana that changes one from an ordinary run-of-the-mill person to a Noble One.

jhana: Absorption in a physical sensation (rupa jhana) or in a mental notion (arupa jhana). Vitakka (directed thought), vicara (evaluation), and piti (rapture) are three of the five factors forming the first level of rupa jhana, the other two being sukha (pleasure) and ekaggatarammana (singleness of preoccupation).

kamma: Acts of intention that result in states of being and birth.

khandha: Component parts of sensory perception: rupa (sensations, sense data); vedana (feelings of pleasure, pain, or indifference); sañña (labels, concepts); sankhara (mental fashionings, anything created by the mind); and viññana (consiousness).

lokavidu*: Expert with regard to the cosmos.

magga: The path to the cessation of suffering and stress. The four transcendent paths — or rather, one path with four levels of refinement — are the path to stream-entry (entering the stream to nibbana, which ensures that one will be reborn at most only seven more times), the path to once-returning, the path to nonreturning, and the path to arahantship. Phala — fruition — refers to the mental state immediately following the attainment of any of these paths.

mahabhuta-rupa: The four great physical properties — earth, water, fire, and wind (see dhatu).

nibbana (nirvana): Liberation; the unbinding of the mind from greed, anger, and delusion, from physical sensations and mental acts. As this term is used to refer also to the extinguishing of fire, it carries connotations of stilling, cooling, and peace. (According to the physics taught at the time of the Buddha, the property of fire in a latent state exists to a greater or lesser extent in all objects. When activated, it seizes and sticks to its fuel. As long as it remains latent or is extinguished, it is 'unbound.')

nivarana: Hindrances to concentration — sensual desire, ill will, torpor & lethargy, restlessness & anxiety, and uncertainty.

opanayiko**: Referring inwardly; to be brought inward.

paccattam**: Personal; individual.

puñña: Inner worth; merit; the inner sense of well-being that comes from having acted rightly or well, and that enables one to continue acting well.

sambhavesin: (A being) searching for a place to take birth.

sanditthiko**: Self-evident; visible here and now.

sangha: The community of the Buddha's followers. On the conventional level, this refers to the Buddhist monkhood. On the ideal level, it refers to those of the Buddha's followers, whether lay or ordained, who have practiced to the point of gaining at least 'stream-entry,' the first of the transcendent qualities culminating in nibbana.

sankhara: Fashioning — the forces and factors that fashion things, the process of fashioning, and the fashioned things that result; all processes or things conditioned, compounded, or concocted by nature, whether on the physical or the mental level.

sugato*: Going (or gone) to a good destination.

uposatha: Observance day, corresponding to the phases of the moon, on which Buddhist lay people gather to listen to the Dhamma and to observe special precepts. The eight uposatha precepts are to refrain from taking life; from stealing; from sexual intercourse; from telling lies; from taking intoxicants; from eating food after noon until the following dawn; from watching dancing, singing, instrumental music, and other shows, and from using garlands, perfumes, cosmetics and jewelry; and from using high and luxurious beds and seats.

vicara: Evaluation (see jhana).

vijja: Awareness, science, cognitive skill.

vijja-carana-sampanno*: Consummate in knowledge and conduct; accomplished in the conduct leading to awareness or cognitive skill.

vipassana: Clear, intuitive insight into physical and mental phenomena as they arise and disappear, seeing them for what they actually are — in and of themselves — in terms of stress, its origin, its disbanding, and the way to its disbanding.

vitakka: Directed thought (see jhana).

II. Quotations
anicca vata sankhara, uppada-vaya-dhammino, uppajjitva nirujjhanti: Fashionings are inconstant, subject to arising and passing away. Arising, they disband. (From stanzas uttered on the occasion of the Buddha's passing into total nibbana.)

asevana ca balanam, panditanañca sevana: Non-association with fools, and association with the wise. (From a discourse listing factors that augur well for one's well-being.)

atta hi attano natho: One's self is one's own mainstay.

atitam nanvagameyya, nappatikankhe anagatam, paccuppannañca yo dhammam, tatha tatha vipassati: He would not pursue the past, nor yearn for the future... and whatever phenomenon is present, he clearly sees it as it occurs. (From stanzas describing a person who spends his day auspiciously in terms of the practice.)

ayudo balado dhiro'ti: The wise person who gives life and strength... (From stanzas extolling the benefits — to the donor — of a donation of food.)

ekayano ayam maggo sattanam visuddhiya: This is a direct path for the purification of beings. (see ekayana-magga).

kammassako'mhi: I am the owner of my kamma.

mano-pubbangama dhamma, mano-settha mano-maya: Phenomena have the mind in their forefront, are excelled by the mind, are made from the mind.

namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa: Homage to the Blessed One, Worthy and Rightly Self-awakened.

May all beings always live happily,
free from animosity.
May all share in the blessings
springing from the good I have done.