Buddhism

Cards · 60

Siddhartha Gautama

The historical prince who attained enlightenment around the 5th–6th century BCE and became known as the Buddha.

Buddha

An awakened or enlightened being who has attained full insight into reality and freed themselves from suffering.

Dharma

The universal truth and reality taught by the Buddha, encompassing cosmic law and moral conduct.

Sangha

The community of Buddhist practitioners, traditionally referring to ordained monks and nuns, and broadly to all followers.

Three Jewels (Triratna)

The core refuges of Buddhism: the Buddha (teacher), the Dharma (teachings), and the Sangha (community).

Four Noble Truths

The foundational teaching describing suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path to end it.

Dukkha

The reality of suffering, pain, imperfection, and pervasive unsatisfactoriness inherent in conditioned existence.

Samudaya

The origin of suffering, identified as craving, attachment, and deep-seated ignorance.

Nirodha

The cessation of suffering, which occurs when all craving and clinging are completely extinguished.

Magga

The path that leads to the end of suffering, specifically the Noble Eightfold Path.

Noble Eightfold Path

The practical eight-step guide to ethical living, mental discipline, and wisdom leading to liberation.

Right View (Samma Ditthi)

Understanding the nature of reality through the Four Noble Truths, karma, and impermanence.

Right Intention (Samma Sankappa)

Cultivating thoughts free from greed, ill will, hatred, and cruelty, oriented toward renunciation and kindness.

Right Speech (Samma Vaca)

Abstaining from falsehoods, malicious gossip, harsh language, and idle or divisive chatter.

Right Action (Samma Kammanta)

Behaving ethically by refraining from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct.

Right Livelihood (Samma Ajiva)

Earning a living through professions that do not harm sentient beings, such as dealing in weapons or poisons.

Right Effort (Samma Vayama)

Consciously preventing unwholesome states of mind and actively cultivating and sustaining wholesome ones.

Right Mindfulness (Samma Sati)

Maintaining clear, nonjudgmental awareness of the body, feelings, mind states, and phenomena.

Right Concentration (Samma Samadhi)

Developing focused, one-pointed mental clarity and absorbed meditative states known as jhanas.

Three Marks of Existence (Trilakkhana)

The universal characteristics of all conditioned phenomena: impermanence, suffering, and non-self.

Anicca

The doctrine of impermanence, stating that all conditioned things are constantly changing and without stability.

Anatta

The core doctrine that no permanent, unchanging self, soul, or absolute essence exists within beings.

Five Aggregates (Skandhas)

The five changing factors that constitute a human being: form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

Rupa

The physical form, body, and material reality perceived through the sensory organs.

Vedana

The immediate sensory valence or feeling tone of any experience, categorized as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.

Sanna (Samjna)

Perception and conceptual recognition, allowing the mind to identify and label sensory inputs.

Sankhara (Samskara)

Volitional mental formations and habitual dispositions that shape impulses, intentions, and reactions.

Vinnana (Vijnana)

Consciousness or raw cognitive awareness that cognizes sense objects across the six senses.

Karma (Kamma)

The universal law of intentional cause and effect, where moral actions shape future experiences and rebirth.

Chetana

Volition or conscious intent, considered the decisive factor that makes an action karmically potent.

Samsara

The endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth driven by karma, craving, and ignorance.

Nirvana (Nibbana)

The ultimate goal of Buddhism: the extinction of desire, hatred, and delusion, ending rebirth and suffering.

Dependent Origination (Pratityasamutpada)

The principle that all things arise in dependence upon causes and conditions, lacking independent existence.

Avidya (Avijja)

Ignorance or spiritual delusion regarding reality, the primary root cause of cyclic suffering in Samsara.

Tanha

Thirst or craving for sensual pleasure, existence, or non-existence, fueling the continuity of suffering.

Upadana

Clinging or attachment to sensory objects, views, rituals, and the mistaken belief in an enduring self.

Three Poisons (Kleshas)

The root unwholesome mental factors driving negative karma: greed (raga), hatred (dvesha), and delusion (moha).

Middle Way

The balanced spiritual path that avoids the extremes of sensory indulgence and harsh self-mortification.

Five Precepts (Pancasila)

Basic ethical guidelines for lay Buddhists: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants.

Ahimsa

The principle of non-violence and reverent compassion toward all living creatures.

Bhavana

Mental cultivation or meditation aimed at training, purifying, and calming the mind.

Samatha

Calm-abiding meditation designed to quiet the discursive mind and cultivate tranquil concentration.

Vipassana

Insight meditation aimed at directly seeing the true nature of reality: impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self.

Metta

Loving-kindness; the earnest wish for all sentient beings without exception to be happy and safe.

Karuna

Compassion; the desire to relieve the pain, torment, and suffering of other beings.

Mudita

Sympathetic joy; rejoicing unselfishly in the happiness, success, and good fortune of others.

Upekkha

Equanimity; an even, calm mental state undisturbed by sensory preferences, loss, gain, or bias.

Four Brahmaviharas

The four immeasurable divine attitudes: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.

Theravada

The 'Way of the Elders', an early Buddhist tradition dominant in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia prioritizing the Pali Canon.

Arhat (Arahant)

In Theravada Buddhism, an enlightened individual who has eliminated all defilements and will not be reborn.

Mahayana

The 'Great Vehicle' tradition emphasizing universal salvation and the path of the Bodhisattva.

Bodhisattva

A compassionate being who vows to attain Buddhahood to liberate all other beings from Samsara.

Bodhicitta

The altruistic aspiration and resolve to achieve complete enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings.

Sunyata

Emptiness; the Mahayana insight that all phenomena are devoid of intrinsic, self-contained, independent essence.

Two Truths Doctrine

The distinction between conventional truth (everyday reality) and ultimate truth (unconditioned emptiness).

Tathagatagarbha

Buddha-nature; the intrinsic potential for enlightenment present within all sentient beings.

Paramitas

The transcendent perfections cultivated by a Bodhisattva, including generosity, morality, patience, and wisdom.

Vajrayana

The esoteric 'Diamond Vehicle' incorporating tantric practices, visualization, and mantras to accelerate Buddhahood.

Zen (Chan)

A Mahayana school centered on direct experiential insight through seated meditation (zazen) over doctrinal study.

Tipitaka (Tripitaka)

The 'Three Baskets' of Buddhist scripture, comprising monastic discipline (Vinaya), discourses (Suttas), and philosophy (Abhidharma).