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Dharma Wheel

Dharmacakra, symbol of the Dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment


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Buddhism


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Gautama Buddha
Disciples · Later Buddhists

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Four Noble Truths
Noble Eightfold Path
Three marks of existence
Dependent origination
Saṃsāra · Nirvāṇa
Skandha · Cosmology
Karma · Rebirth

Practices and attainment

Buddhahood · Bodhisattva
4 stages of enlightenment
Wisdom · Meditation
Smarana · Precepts · Pāramitās
Three Jewels · Monastics
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Theravāda · Mahāyāna
Vajrayāna

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Comparative studies
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Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religion and is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" (the Awakened One), who was born in what is today Nepal. He lived and taught in the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent and most likely died around 400 BCE.

Buddhists recognize him as an awakened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering by understanding the true nature of phenomena, thereby escaping the cycle of dukkha and rebirth (saṃsāra), that is, achieving Nirvana. Among the methods various schools of Buddhism apply towards this goal are: ethical conduct and altruistic behaviour, devotional practices, ceremonies and the invocation of bodhisattvas, renunciation of worldly matters, cultivating continuous mindfulness, meditation, physical exercises, study, and the cultivation of wisdom.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Buddhism:

Main article[]

The Buddha[]

BuddhaTwang

Gautama Buddha

Doctrines of Buddhism[]

Three Jewels[]

Threejewels

The triratna, a symbol of the Three Jewels

  • Buddha — Gautama Buddha, the Awakened One, the Teacher
    • Araham — Holy
    • Sammasambuddho — Fully Enlightened
    • Vijjacaranasanpanno — Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct
    • Sugato — Welfarer
    • Lokavidu — World-knower
    • Anuttaro-purisadammasarathi — The incomparable leader of men to be tamed
    • Sattha Devamanussanam — Teacher of gods and mankind
    • Buddho — Awakened
    • Bhagava — Blessed
  • Dhamma — the teachings of the Buddha
    • Svakkhato Bhagavata Dhammo — well-proclaimed by the Blessed One, admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end
    • Sanditthiko — able to be examined
    • Akaliko — followed by fruit without delay (of immediate result)
    • Ehipassiko — which you can come and see
    • Opaneyyiko — to be brought inward
    • Paccattam Veditabbo Vinnuhi — to be personally known by the wise
  • Sangha — the Community of Enlightened disciples of the Buddha
    • Suppatipanno Bhagavato Savakasamgho — The disciples of the Blessed One practice well the threefold training of morality, concentration and wisdom
    • Ujuppatipanno Bhagavato Savakasamgho — The disciples of the Blessed One practice righteously the threefold training
    • Nyayappatipanno Bhagavato Savakasamgho — The disciples of the Blessed One practice to realize nibbana
    • Samicippatipanno Bhagavato Savakasamgho — The disciples of the Blessed One practice to be worthy of veneration
    • Ahuneyyo — They are worthy of receiving offerings brought even from afar
    • Pahuneyyo — They are worthy of receiving offerings specially set aside for guests
    • Dakkhineyyo — They are worthy of receiving offerings offered with the belief that the offering will bear fruits in future existences
    • Anjalikaraniyo — They are worthy of receiving reverential salutation
    • Anuttaram Punnakkhettam Lokassa — They are an unsurpassed (incomparable) fertile field for planting the seeds of merit for the world

Four Noble Truths[]

1. The Noble Truth of Suffering[]
2. The Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering[]
  • SamudayaCraving (to be abandoned)
    • Kāma taṇhā — Craving for sensual pleasures
    • Bhava taṇhā — Craving for existence
    • Vibhava taṇhā — Craving for non-existence
3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering[]
  • Nirodha — Nirvana (to be realized)
    • Saupadisesa Nibbana — Nibbana element with residue remaining
    • Anupadisesa Nibbana — Nibbana element without a residue remaining
4. The Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering[]
  • Magga — Noble Eightfold Path (to be developed)
    • Right view
    • Right intention
    • Right speech
    • Right action
    • Right livelihood
    • Right effort
    • Right mindfulness
    • Right concentration

Three Marks of Existence[]

Five Aggregates[]

Dependent Origination[]

Idappaccayatā — This/That Conditionality[]

When this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
When this isn't, that isn't.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.

Twelve Links[]

Former life[]
Current life[]
  • VijñānaConsciousness
    • Eye-consciousness
    • Ear-consciousness
    • Nose-consciousness
    • Tongue-consciousness
    • Body-consciousness
    • Mind-consciousness
  • NamarupaMentality-materiality
  • Ṣaḍāyatana — Six sense bases
    • Eye-base
    • Ear-base
    • Nose-base
    • Tongue-base
    • Body-base
    • Mind-base
  • Sparśa — Contact
    • Eye-contact
    • Ear-contact
    • Nose-contact
    • Tongue-contact
    • Body-contact
    • Mind-contact
  • VedanāFeeling
    • Feeling born of eye-contact
    • Feeling born of ear-contact
    • Feeling born of nose-contact
    • Feeling born of tongue-contact
    • Feeling born of body-contact
    • Feeling born of mind-contact
  • TaṇhāCraving
    • Craving for forms
    • Craving for sounds
    • Craving for odors
    • Craving for flavors
    • Craving for tangibles
    • Craving for mind-objects
  • Upādāna — Clinging
    • Kāmupādāna — clinging to sensual pleasures
    • Diṭṭhupādāna — clinging to views
    • Sīlabbatupādāna — clinging to rituals and observances
    • Attavādupādāna — clinging to a doctrine of self
  • Bhava — Being
    • Sense-sphere being
    • Fine-material being
    • Immaterial being
Future life[]

Transcendental Dependent Origination[]

  • DukkhaSuffering
  • Saddhā — Faith
  • Pāmojja — Joy
  • Pīti — Rapture
  • Passaddhi — Tranquillity
  • Sukha — Happiness
  • Samādhi — Concentration
  • Yathābhūta-ñāna-dassana — Knowledge and vision of things as they are
  • Nibbidā — Disenchantment with worldly life
  • Virāga — Dispassion
  • Vimutti — Freedom
  • Āsava-khaye-ñāna — Knowledge of destruction of the cankers

Karma[]

  • Vipāka — Result of karma
  • Cetana — Intention
    • Kusala — Wholesome
    • Akusala — Unwholesome
  • Kammadvara — Three doors of action
    • Body — Bodily acts
    • Speech — Verbal acts
    • Mind — Mental acts
  • Mula — Roots
    • Unwholesome
      • Lobha — Greed
      • Dosa — Hatred
      • Moha — Delusion
    • Wholesome
      • Alobha — Non-greed (renunciation, detachment, generosity)
      • Adosa — Non-hatred (loving-kindness, sympathy, gentleness)
      • Amoha — Non-delusion (wisdom)
  • Kammapatha — Courses of action
    • Unwholesome
      • Bodily
        • Destroying life
        • Taking what is not given
        • Wrong conduct in regard to sense pleasures
      • Verbal
        • False speech
        • Slanderous speech
        • Harsh speech
        • Idle chatter
      • Mental
        • Covetousness
        • Ill will
        • Wrong view
    • Wholesome
      • Bodily
        • Abstaining from destroying life
        • Abstaining from taking what is not given
        • Abstaining from wrong conduct in regard to sense pleasures
      • Verbal
        • Abstaining from false speech
        • Abstaining from slanderous speech
        • Abstaining from harsh speech
        • Abstaining from idle chatter
      • Mental
        • Being free from covetousness
        • Being free from ill will
        • Holding right view
  • Function
    • Janaka kamma — Reproductive kamma - that which produces mental aggregates and material aggregates at the moment of conception
    • Upatthambhaka kamma — Supportive kamma - that which comes near the Reproductive Kamma and supports it
    • Upapidaka kamma — Obstructive kamma - that which tends to weaken, interrupt and retard the fruition of the Reproductive Kamma
    • Upaghataka kamma — Destructive kamma - that which not only obstructs but also destroys the whole force of the Reproductive Kamma
  • Order to take effect
    • Garuka kamma — Weighty kamma - that which produces its results in this life or in the next for certain
      • Anantarika-karma — Five heinous crimes, causing rebirth in hell immediately after death
        • Intentionally killing one's father (Patricide)
        • Intentionally killing one's mother (Matricide)
        • Intentionally killing an arahant
        • Maliciously causing blood to flow from the body of a Buddha
        • Creating a schism in the sangha
    • Asanna kamma — Proximate kamma - that which one does or remembers immediately before the dying moment
    • Acinna kamma — Habitual kamma - that which one habitually performs and recollects and for which one has a great liking
    • Katatta kamma — Reserve kamma - refers to all actions that are done once and soon forgotten
  • Time of taking effect
    • Ditthadhammavedaniya kamma — Immediately effective kamma
    • Upapajjavedaniya kamma — Subsequently, effective kamma
    • Aparapariyavedaniya kamma — Indefinitely effective kamma
    • Ahosi kamma — Defunct kamma
  • Place of taking effect
    • Kamavacara — Immoral (Akusala) Kamma pertaining to the Sense-Sphere
    • Kamavacara — Moral (Kusala) Kamma pertaining to the Sense-Sphere
    • Rupavacara — Moral Kamma pertaining to the Form-Sphere
    • Arupavacara — Moral Kamma pertaining to the Formless-Sphere
  • Niyama Dhammas
    • Utu Niyama — Physical Inorganic Order (seasonal changes and climate), the natural law pertaining to physical objects and changes in the natural environment, such as the weather; the way flowers bloom in the day and fold up at night; the way soil, water and nutrients help a tree to grow; and the way things disintegrate and decompose. This perspective emphasizes the changes brought about by heat or temperature
    • Bija Niyama — Physical Organic Order (laws of heredity), the natural law pertaining to heredity, which is best described in the adage, “as the seed, so the fruit”
    • Citta Niyama — Order of Mind and Psychic Law (will of mind), the natural law pertaining to the workings of the mind, the process of cognition of sense objects and the mental reactions to them
    • Kamma Niyama — Order of Acts and Results (consequences of one's actions), the natural law pertaining to human behavior, the process of the generation of action and its results. In essence, this is summarized in the words, “good deeds bring good results, bad deeds bring bad results”
    • Dhamma Niyama — Order of the Norm (nature's tendency to produce a perfect type), the natural law governing the relationship and interdependence of all things: the way all things arise, exist and then cease. All conditions are subject to change, are in a state of affliction and are not self: this is the Norm

Rebirth[]

  • Saṃsāra — the cycle of becoming, the round of birth, aging and death, which has been revolving through beginningless time

Buddhist cosmology[]

Samsara

The bhavachakra, a symbolic depiction of the six realms.

  • Six realms
    • Deva — Heaven
      • Tusita — one of the six deva-worlds of the Kāmadhātu
      • Tāvatiṃsa — the fifth of the heavens of the Kāmadhātu, and the highest of the heavens that maintains a physical connection with the rest of the world
      • Four Heavenly Kings
    • Asura — Demigod realm
    • Human realm
    • Preta — Hungry Ghost realm
    • Animal realm
    • Naraka — Hell
      • Avici — the lowest level of the hell realm
  • Trailokya — Three planes of existence
    • Kāmaloka — world of desire
    • Rūpaloka — world of form
    • Arūpaloka — world of formlessness
  • Ten spiritual realms

Sense bases[]

Faculties[]

  • Six sensory faculties
    • Eye/vision faculty (cakkh-undriya)
    • Ear/hearing faculty (sot-indriya)
    • Nose/smell faculty (ghān-indriya)
    • Tongue/taste faculty (jivh-indriya)
    • Body/sensibility faculty (kāy-indriya)
    • Mind faculty (man-indriya)
  • Three physical faculties
    • Femininity (itth-indriya)
    • Masculinity (puris-indriya)
    • Life or vitality (jīvit-indriya)
  • Five feeling faculties
    • Physical pleasure (sukh-indriya)
    • Physical pain (dukkh-indriya)
    • Mental joy (somanasa-indriya)
    • Mental grief (domanass-indriya)
    • Indifference (upekh-indriya)
  • Five spiritual faculties
  • Three final-knowledge faculties
    • Thinking "I shall know the unknown" (anaññāta-ñassāmīt-indriya)
    • Gnosis (aññ-indriya)
    • One who knows (aññātā-vindriya)

Formations[]

  • Seven Sabbacittasādhāraṇa cetasikas — universals; ethically variable mental factors common to all consciousnesses
    • Phassa — contact
    • Vedanā — feeling
    • Saññā — recognition, perception
    • Cetanā — volition
    • Ekaggatā — one-pointedness
    • Jīvitindriya — life faculty
    • Manasikāra — bringing to mind, attention
  • Six Pakiṇṇaka cetasikas — occasionals; ethically variable mental factors found only in certain consciousnesses
  • Fourteen Akusala cetasikas — unwholesome mental factors
    • Four found in all unwholesome consciousnesses:
      • Moha — delusion
      • Ahirika — lack of shame
      • Anottappa — disregard for consequence
      • Uddhacca — restlessness
    • Ten found only in certain unwholesome consciousnesses:
      • Lobha — greed
      • Diṭṭhi — wrong view
      • Māna — conceit
      • Dosa — hatred
      • Issā — envy
      • Macchariya — miserliness, avarice
      • Kukkucca — regret
      • Thīna — sloth
      • Middha — torpor
      • Vicikicchā — doubt
  • Twenty-five Sobhana cetasikas — beautiful mental factors
    • Nineteen found in all wholesome consciousnesses:
      • Saddhā — faith
      • Sati — mindfulness
      • Hiri — shame at doing evil
      • Ottappa — regard for consequence
      • Alobha — lack of greed
      • Adosa — lack of hatred
      • Tatramajjhattatā — balance, neutrality of mind
      • Kāyapassaddhi — tranquillity of mental body
      • Cittapassaddhi — tranquillity of consciousness
      • Kāyalahutā — lightness of mental body
      • Cittalahutā — lightness of consciousness
      • Kāyamudutā — softness/malleability of mental body
      • Cittamudutā — softness/malleability of consciousness
      • Kāyakammaññatā — readiness/wieldiness of mental body
      • Cittakammaññatā — readiness/wieldiness of consciousness
      • Kāyapāguññatā — proficiency of mental body
      • Cittapāguññatā — proficiency of consciousness
      • Kāyujukatā — straightness/rectitude of mental body
      • Cittujukatā — straightness/rectitude of consciousness
    • Three Abstinences (virati):
      • Sammāvācā — right speech
      • Sammākammanta — right action
      • Sammā-ājīva — right livelihood
    • Two Illimitables (appamañña):
    • One Faculty of understanding (paññindriya):
      • Paññā — understanding, wisdom

Six Great Elements[]

Mind and Consciousness[]

Obstacles to Enlightenment[]

  • Asava — Taints/effluents/fermentations/cankers
    • Kama — Attachment to sensuality
    • Bhava — Attachment to existence/to becoming
    • AvidyāIgnorance of the dhamma (of the way things are)
    • Diṭṭhi — Attachment to opinions/views (most Suttas do not include this one—Abhidhamma does)
  • Kleśā — Defilements
    • Three poisons
      • LobhaGreed
      • DosaHatred
      • MohaDelusion
    • Kilesa vatta
  • Pañca Nīvaraṇā — The Five Hindrances — the main inner impediments to the development of concentration and insight
    • Kamacchanda — Sensual desire
    • VyapadaIll will
    • Thina-middhaSloth and torpor
    • Uddhacca-kukkuccaRestlessness and worry
    • VicikicchaDoubt
  • Vipallasa — Four Perversions of view, thought and perception
    • Taking what is impermanent (anicca) to be permanent (nicca)
    • Taking what is suffering (dukkha) to be happiness (sukha)
    • Taking what is nonself (anattā) to be self (atta)
    • Taking what is not beautiful (asubha) to be beautiful (subha)
  • Anusaya — Latent tendencies
    • Kāma-rāga — Sensual passion
    • Patigha — Resistance
    • Diṭṭhi — Views
    • Vicikicchā — Doubt
    • Māna — Conceit
    • Bhavarāga — Craving for continued existence
    • Avijjā — Ignorance
  • Samyojana — Ten Fetters
    • Sakkāya-diṭṭhi — Belief in an individual self
    • Vicikicchā — Doubt or uncertainty
    • Sīlabbata-parāmāso — Attachment to rites and rituals
    • Kāmacchando — Sensual desire
    • Vyāpādo — Ill will
    • Rūparāgo — Lust for material existence
    • Arūparāgo — Lust for immaterial existence
    • Māno — Conceit
    • Uddhacca — Restlessness
    • Avijjā — Ignorance

Eight Worldly Conditions[]

  • Gain and loss
  • Fame and disrepute
  • Praise and blame
  • Pleasure and pain

Three Standpoints[]

  • Assāda — Gratification
  • Ādinava — Danger
  • Nissaraṇa — Escape

Three Primary Aims[]

  • Diṭṭha-dhamma-hitasukha — welfare and happiness directly visible in this present life, attained by fulfilling one's moral commitments and social responsibilities
  • Samparāyika-hitasukha — welfare and happiness pertaining to the next life, attained by engaging in meritorious deeds
  • Paramattha — the ultimate good or supreme goal, Nibbāna, final release from the cycle of rebirths, attained by developing the Noble Eightfold Path

Three Divisions of the Dhamma[]

Four Kinds of Nutriment[]

Truth[]

Higher Knowledge[]

  • Iddhi-vidhā — Higher powers
    • Multiplying the body into many and into one again
    • Appearing and vanishing at will
    • Passing through solid objects as if space
    • Ability to rise and sink in the ground as if in water
    • Walking on water as if land
    • Flying through the skies
    • Touching anything at any distance (even the moon or sun)
    • Traveling to other worlds (like the world of Brahma) with or without the body
  • Dibba-sota — Divine ear, that is, clairaudience
  • Ceto-pariya-ñāṇa — Mind-penetrating knowledge, that is, telepathy
  • Pubbe-nivās anussati — Remember one's former abodes, that is, recalling ones own past lives
  • Dibba-cakkhu — Divine eye, that is, knowing others' karmic destinations
  • Āsavakkhaya — Extinction of mental intoxicants, upon which arahantship follows

Great fruits of the contemplative life[]

  • Upekkha — Equanimity
  • Nibbhaya — Fearlessness
  • Asukhacaadukkha — Freedom from unhappiness & suffering
  • Samādhi — Meditative Absorption
  • Manomaya — Out-of-Body experience
  • Dibba-sota — Clairaudience
  • Ceto-pariya-ñána — Intuition and mental telepathy
  • Patisandhi — Recollection of past lives
  • Dibba-cakkhu — Clairvoyance
  • Samatha — Ends anxiety & mental agitation

Concepts unique to Mahayana and Vajrayana[]

Other concepts[]

  • Dhātu — Elements
  • Jnana — Knowledge
  • Majjhimā paṭipadā — the Middle Way (the Buddhist path of non-extremism)
    • Avoiding the extreme of sensual indulgence (kāmesu kāma-sukha-allika)
    • Avoiding the extreme of self-mortification (atta-kilamatha)
  • Sentient beings
  • Śūnyatā — Emptiness

Buddhist practices[]

Buddhist devotion[]

Buddhist offerings

Buddhists making offerings at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep

Moral discipline and precepts[]

  • Five Precepts
    • Abstaining from taking life
    • Abstaining from taking what is not given
    • Abstaining from sexual misconduct
    • Abstaining from false speech
    • Abstaining from drinks and drugs that cause heedlessness
  • Eight Precepts
    • Abstaining from taking life (both human and non-human)
    • Abstaining from taking what is not given (stealing)
    • Abstaining from all sexual activity
    • Abstaining from telling lies
    • Abstaining from using intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness
    • Abstaining from eating at the wrong time (the right time is eating once, after sunrise, before noon)
    • Abstaining from singing, dancing, playing music, attending entertainment performances, wearing perfume, and using cosmetics and garlands (decorative accessories)
    • Abstaining from luxurious places for sitting or sleeping
  • Ten Precepts
    • Abstaining from killing living things
    • Abstaining from stealing
    • Abstaining from un-chastity (sensuality, sexuality, lust)
    • Abstaining from lying
    • Abstaining from taking intoxicants
    • Abstaining from taking food at inappropriate times (after noon)
    • Abstaining from singing, dancing, playing music or attending entertainment programs (performances)
    • Abstaining from wearing perfume, cosmetics and garland (decorative accessories)
    • Abstaining from sitting on high chairs and sleeping on luxurious, soft beds
    • Abstaining from accepting money
  • Sixteen Precepts
    • Three Treasures
      • Taking refuge in the Buddha
      • Taking refuge in the Dharma
      • Taking refuge in the Sangha
    • Three Pure Precepts
      • Not Creating Evil
      • Practicing Good
      • Actualizing Good For Others
    • Ten Grave Precepts
      • Affirm life; Do not kill
      • Be giving; Do not steal
      • Honor the body; Do not misuse sexuality
      • Manifest truth; Do not lie
      • Proceed clearly; Do not cloud the mind
      • See the perfection; Do not speak of others errors and faults
      • Realize self and other as one; Do not elevate the self and blame others
      • Give generously; Do not be withholding
      • Actualize harmony; Do not be angry
      • Experience the intimacy of things; Do not defile the Three Treasures
  • Vinaya
    • Patimokkha (Pratimoksha) — Buddhist Monastic Code
      • Parajika (defeats) — four rules entailing expulsion from the sangha for life
        • Sexual intercourse, that is, any voluntary sexual interaction between a bhikkhu and a living being, except for mouth-to-mouth intercourse which falls under the Sanghadisesa
        • Stealing, that is, the robbery of anything worth more than 1/24 troy ounce of gold (as determined by local law.)
        • Intentionally bringing about the death of a human being, even if it is still an embryo — whether by killing the person, arranging for an assassin to kill the person, inciting the person to die, or describing the advantages of death
        • Deliberately lying to another person that one has attained a superior human state, such as claiming to be an arahant when one knows one is not, or claiming to have attained one of the jhanas when one knows one hasn't
      • Sanghadisesa — thirteen rules requiring an initial and subsequent meeting of the sangha (communal meetings)
      • Aniyata — two indefinite rules where a monk is accused of having committed an offence with a woman in a screened (enclosed) or private place by a lay person
      • Nissaggiya pacittiya — thirty rules entailing "confession with forfeiture"
      • Pacittiya — ninety-two rules entailing confession
      • Patidesaniya — four violations which must be verbally acknowledged
      • Sekhiyavatta — seventy-five rules of training, which are mainly about the deportment of a monk
        • Sāruppa — proper behavior
        • Bhojanapatisamyutta — food
        • Dhammadesanāpatisamyutta — teaching dhamma
        • Pakinnaka — miscellaneous
      • Adhikarana-samatha — seven rules for settlement of legal processes that concern monks only
  • Bodhisattva vows
  • Samaya
  • Dhutanga — Ascetic practices

Three Resolutions[]

  • To avoid evil
  • To do good
  • To purify the mind

Three Pillars of Dhamma[]

Threefold Training[]

Five Qualities[]

  • Saddhā — Faith
  • Sīla — Virtue
  • Suta — Learning
  • Caga — Generosity
  • Pañña — Wisdom

Five Powers for one in training[]

Five Things that lead to Awakening[]

Five Subjects for Contemplation[]

  • I am subject to ageing, I am not exempt from ageing
  • I am subject to illness, I am not exempt from illness
  • I am subject to death, I am not exempt from death
  • There will be change and separation from all that I hold dear and near to me
  • I am the owner of my actions, heir to my actions, I am born of my actions, I am related to my actions and I have my actions as refuge; whatever I do, good or evil, of that I will be the heir

Gradual training[]

Ten Meritorious Deeds[]

  • Dāna — Generosity
  • Śīla — Morality
  • Bhavana — Meditation
  • Reverence or respect
  • Services in helping others
  • Anumodana — Transference of merits
  • Pattanumodana — Rejoicing in the merits of others
  • Teaching the Dharma
  • Listening to the Dharma
  • Straightening one's own views

Perfections[]

Ten Theravada Pāramīs[]
Six Mahayana Pāramitās[]

Qualities conducive to Enlightenment[]

Four Foundations of Mindfulness[]

  • Contemplation of the body
    • ĀnāpānasatiMindfulness of breathing
      • Contemplation of the body — First Tetrad
        • Breathing a long breath
        • Breathing a short breath
        • Experiencing the whole (breath-) body (awareness of the beginning, middle, and end of the breath)
        • Tranquilizing the bodily activities
      • Contemplation of feelings — Second Tetrad
        • Experiencing rapture
        • Experiencing bliss
        • Experiencing mental activities
        • Tranquilizing mental activities
      • Contemplation of the mind — Third Tetrad
        • Experiencing the mind
        • Gladdening the mind
        • Centering the mind
        • Releasing the mind
      • Contemplation of Dhammas — Fourth Tetrad
        • Contemplating impermanence
        • Contemplating fading of lust
        • Contemplating cessation
        • Contemplating relinquishment
    • Postures
      • Walking
      • Standing
      • Sitting
      • Lying down
    • Sampajañña — Clear comprehension
      • Sātthaka (purpose) — clear comprehension of the purpose of one's action
      • Sappāya (suitability) — clear comprehension of the suitability of one's means to the achievement of one's purpose
      • Gocara (domain) — clear comprehension of the domain, that is, not abandoning the subject of meditation during one's daily routine
      • Asammoha (non-delusion) — clear comprehension of reality, the awareness that behind one's activities there is no abiding self
    • Patikulamanasikara — Reflections on repulsiveness of the body, meditation on the thirty-two body parts
      • Head hairs
      • Body hairs
      • Nails
      • Teeth
      • Skin
      • Flesh
      • Tendons
      • Bones
      • Bone marrow
      • Kidneys
      • Heart
      • Liver
      • Pleura (or diaphragm)
      • Spleen
      • Lungs
      • Intestines
      • Mesentery
      • Stomach
      • Feces
      • Bile
      • Phlegm
      • Pus
      • Blood
      • Sweat
      • Fat
      • Tears
      • Grease
      • Saliva
      • Mucus
      • Synovial fluid
      • Urine
      • Brain
    • Reflections on Mahābhūta (material elements)
    • AsubhaCemetery contemplations
      • Swollen or bloated corpse
      • Corpse brownish black or purplish blue with decay
      • Festering or suppurated corpse
      • Corpse splattered half or fissured from decay
      • Corpse gnawed by animals such as wild dogs and foxes
      • Corpse scattered in parts, hands, legs, head and body being dispersed
      • Corpse cut and thrown away in parts after killing
      • Bleeding corpse, i.e. with red blood oozing out
      • Corpse infested with and eaten by worms
      • Remains of a corpse in a heap of bones, i.e. skeleton
  • Contemplation of Vedanā (feelings)
    • Pleasant feeling
      • Worldly pleasant feeling
      • Spiritual pleasant feeling
    • Painful feeling
      • Worldly painful feeling
      • Spiritual painful feeling
    • Neither-pleasant-nor-painful (neutral) feeling
      • Worldly neutral feeling
      • Spiritual neutral feeling
  • Contemplation of Citta (consciousness)
    • With lust (sarāga) or without lust (vītarāga)
    • With hate (sadosa) or without hate (vītadosa)
    • With delusion (samoha) or without delusion (vītamoha)
    • Contracted (sakhitta) or scattered (vikkhitta)
    • Lofty (mahaggata) or not lofty (amahaggata)
    • Surpassable (sa-uttara) or unsurpassed (anuttara)
    • Quieted (samāhita) or not quieted (asamāhita)
    • Released (vimutta) or not released (avimutta)
  • Contemplation of Dhamma (mental objects)

Four Right Exertions[]

  • Exertion for the non-arising of unskillful states
  • Exertion for the abandoning of unskillful states
  • Exertion for the arising of skillful states
  • Exertion for the sustaining of skillful states

Four Bases of Power[]

  • Chanda — Zeal
  • Viriya — Energy
  • Citta — Consciousness
  • Vīmaṃsā — Discrimination

Five Faculties[]

Five Strengths[]

Seven Factors of Enlightenment[]

Neutral[]
  • Sati — Mindfulness
Arousing[]
Calming[]

Noble Eightfold Path[]

Wisdom — Paññakkhandha[]
Dharma Wheel

Dharmachakra, symbol of the Noble Eightfold Path, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment

  • Right view — samyag-dṛṣṭi • sammā-diṭṭhi
    • Mundane right view
    • Supramundane right view
      • Right view that accords with the Four Noble Truths — saccanulomika sammā-diṭṭhi
      • Right view that penetrates the Four Noble Truths — saccapativedha sammā-diṭṭhi
  • Right intention — samyak-saṃkalpa • sammā-saṅkappa
Moral discipline — Silakkhandha[]
  • Right speech — samyag-vāc • sammā-vācā
    • Abstaining from false speech (musavada veramani)
    • Abstaining from slanderous speech (pisunaya vacaya veramani)
    • Abstaining from harsh speech (pharusaya vacaya veramani)
      • Abstaining from verbal abuse
      • Abstaining from insults
      • Abstaining from sarcasm
    • Abstaining from idle chatter (samphappalāpa veramani)
  • Right action — samyak-karmānta • sammā-kammanta
    • Abstaining from the taking of life (panatipata veramani)
      • Abstaining from homicide
      • Abstaining from animal slaughter
        • Abstaining from hunting
        • Abstaining from fishing
        • Abstaining from killing insects
      • Abstaining from deliberately harming or torturing another being
    • Abstaining from taking what is not given (adinnadana veramani)
      • Abstaining from stealing
      • Abstaining from robbery
      • Abstaining from snatching
      • Abstaining from fraudulence
      • Abstaining from deceitfulness
    • Abstaining from sexual misconduct (kamesu micchacara veramani)
      • Abstaining from adultery
      • Abstaining from sexual harassment
        • Abstaining from rape
  • Right livelihood — samyag-ājīva • sammā-ājīva
    • Abstaining from dealing in weapons
    • Abstaining from dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution)
    • Abstaining from dealing in meat production and butchery
    • Abstaining from dealing in poisons
    • Abstaining from dealing in intoxicants
    • Abstaining from deceit
    • Abstaining from treachery
    • Abstaining from soothsaying
    • Abstaining from trickery
    • Abstaining from usury
Concentration — Samādhikkhandha[]
  • Right effort — samyag-vyāyāma • sammā-vāyāma
    • The effort to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states (samvarappadhana)
      • Yoniso manasikara — Wise attention
      • Indriya-samvara — Restraint of the sense faculties
    • The effort to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen (pahanappadhana)
      • Overcoming the Five hindrances
    • The effort to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen (bhavanappadhana)
    • The effort to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen (anurakkhanappadhana)
  • Right mindfulness — samyak-smṛti • sammā-sati
  • Right concentration — samyak-samādhi • sammā-samādhi
    • Four jhānas
      • Pathamajjhana — First jhāna
      • Dutiyajjhana — Second jhāna
      • Tatiyajjhana — Third jhāna
      • Catutthajjhana — Fourth jhāna
Acquired factors[]

Buddhist meditation[]

Theravada meditation practices[]

Samatha — Calm abiding[]
Abbot of Watkungtaphao in Phu Soidao Waterfall

A Buddhist monk meditating

  • Kammaṭṭhāna — Place of work
    • Ten Kasinas
      • Pathavikasinam — Earth kasina
      • Apokasinam — Water kasina
      • Tejokasinam — Fire kasina
      • Vayokasinam — Wind kasina
      • Nilakasinam — Brownish or deep purplish blue kasina
      • Pitakasinam — Yellow kasina
      • Lohitakasinam — Red kasina
      • Odatakasinam — White kasina
      • Alokakasinam — Light kasina
      • Akasakasinam — Open air-space, sky kasina
    • Ten Asubas — Reflections on repulsiveness
      • Uddhumatakam — a swollen or bloated corpse
      • Vinilakam — a corpse brownish black or purplish blue with decay
      • Vipubbakam — a festering or suppurated corpse
      • Vicchiddakam — a corpse splattered half or fissured from decay
      • Vikkhayittakam — a corpse gnawed by animals such as wild dogs and foxes
      • Vikkhitakam — a corpse scattered in parts, hands, legs, head and body being dispersed
      • Hatavikkhittakam — a corpse cut and thrown away in parts after killing
      • Lohitakam — a bleeding corpse, i.e. with red blood oozing out
      • Puluvakam — a corpse infested with and eaten by worms
      • Atthikam — Remains of a corpse in a heap of bones, i.e. skeleton
    • Ten Anussati — Recollections
      • Buddhanussati — Fixing the mind with attentiveness and reflecting repeatedly on the glorious virtues and attributes of Buddha
      • Dhammanussati — Reflecting with serious attentiveness repeatedly on the virtues and qualities of Buddha's teachings and his doctrine
      • Sanghanussati — Fixing the mind strongly and repeatedly upon the rare attributes and sanctity of the Sanghas
      • Silanussati — Reflecting seriously and repeatedly on the purification of one's own morality or sila
      • Caganussati — Repeatedly reflecting on the mind's purity in the noble act of one's own dana, charitableness and liberality
      • Devatanussati — Reflecting with serious and repeated attention on one's own complete possession of the qualities of saddha. absolute faith, sila, morality, suta; knowledge, caga, liberality and panna, wisdom or knowledge just as the devas have, to enable one to be reborn in the World of devas
      • Upasamanussati — Reflecting repeatedly with serious attentiveness on the supreme spiritual blissful state of Nirvana
      • Marananussati — Recollection of death or reflecting repeatedly on the inevitability of death
      • Kayagata-sati — Reflecting earnestly and repeatedly on the impurity of the body which is composed of the detestable 32 constituents such as hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, etc.
      • Ānāpānasati — Repeated reflection on the inhaled and exhaled breath
    • Four Brahmaviharas — Four Divine Abidings
    • Four Arūpajhānas — Formless jhāna
      • Ākāsānañcāyatana — Dimension of the infinitude of space
      • Viññāṇañcāyatana — Dimension of the infinitude of consciousness
      • Ākiñcaññāyatana — Dimension of nothingness
      • Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana — Dimension of neither perception nor non-perception
    • Aharepatikulasanna — Perception of disgust of food
    • Mahābhūta — Four Great Elements
Samādhi — Concentration[]
  • Nimitta — Sign
    • Uggahanimitta — Learning sign
    • Patibhaganimitta — Counterpart sign
  • Khanikasamādhi — Momentary concentration
  • Parikammasamādhi — Preliminary concentration
  • Upacārasamādhi — Access concentration
  • Appanāsamādhi — Attainment concentration
    • Jhāna (Dhyāna) — Meditative absorption
      • Rupajhana — Form jhānas
      • Arūpajhāna — Formless jhānas
        • Ākāsānañcāyatana — Dimension of the infinitude of space
        • Viññāṇañcāyatana — Dimension of the infinitude of consciousness
        • Ākiñcaññāyatana — Dimension of nothingness
        • Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana — Dimension of neither perception nor non-perception
      • Nirodha-samapatti — Cessation of perception and feeling
Vipassanā — Insight meditation[]
  • Vipassanā-ñāṇa — Insight knowledge
    • Eighteen kinds of insight
      • Contemplation on impermanence (aniccanupassana) overcomes the wrong idea of permanence
      • Contemplation on unsatisfactoriness (dukkhanupassana) overcomes the wrong idea of real happiness
      • Contemplation on non-self (anattanupassana) overcomes the wrong idea of self
      • Contemplation on turning away (nibbidanupassana) overcomes affection
      • Contemplation on detachment (viraganupassana) overcomes greed
      • Contemplation on cessation (nirodhanupassana) overcomes the arising
      • Contemplation on giving up (patinissagganupassana) overcomes attachment
      • Contemplation on dissolution (khayanupassana) overcomes the wrong idea of something compact
      • Contemplation on disappearance (vayanupassana) overcomes kamma-accumulation
      • Contemplation on changeablenes (viparinamanupassana) overcomes the wrong idea of something immutable
      • Contemplation on the signless (animittanupassana) overcomes the conditions of rebirth
      • Contemplation on the desireless (appanihitanupassana) overcomes longing
      • Contemplation on emptiness (suññatanupassana) overcomes clinging
      • Higher wisdom and insight (adhipaññadhamma vipassana) overcomes the wrong idea of something substantial
      • True eye of knowledge (yathabhuta ñanadassana) overcomes clinging to delusion
      • Contemplation on misery (adinavanupassana) overcomes clinging to desire
      • Reflecting contemplation (patisankhanupassana) overcomes thoughtlessness
      • Contemplation on the standstill of existence (vivattanupassana) overcomes being entangled in fetters
    • Sixteen Stages of Vipassanā Knowledge
      • Knowledge to distinguish mental and physical states (namarupa pariccheda ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of the cause-and-effect relationship between mental and physical states (paccaya pariggaha ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of mental and physical processes as impermanent, unsatisfactory and nonself (sammasana ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of arising and passing away (udayabbaya ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of the dissolution of formations (bhanga ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of the fearful nature of mental and physical states (bhaya ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of mental and physical states as unsatisfactory (adinava ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of disenchantment (nibbida ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of the desire to abandon the worldly state (muncitukamayata ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge which investigates the path to deliverance and instills a decision to practice further (patisankha ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge which regards mental and physical states with equanimity (sankharupekha ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge which conforms to the Four Noble Truths (anuloma ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge of deliverance from the worldly condition (gotrabhu ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge by which defilements are abandoned and are overcome by destruction (magga ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge which realizes the fruit of the path and has nibbana as object (phala ñāṇa)
      • Knowledge which reviews the defilements still remaining (paccavekkhana ñāṇa)

Zen meditation practices[]

  • Zazen
    • Concentration
    • Kōan — a story, dialogue, question, or statement in Zen, containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition
    • Shikantaza — just sitting

Vajrayana meditation practices[]

Other practices[]

  • AhimsaNon-violence
  • Appamada — Heedfulness
  • Chöd — advanced spiritual practice and discipline arising from confluences of Bonpo, Mahasidda, Nyingmapa traditions and now practiced throughout the schools of Tibetan Buddhism
  • Merit
  • Paritta — Protection
  • Samvega and pasada
  • Simran

Attainment of Enlightenment[]

General[]

  • Nirvana — Full Enlightenment or Awakening, the complete cessation of suffering
    • Parinirvana — final passing away of an enlightened person
  • Bodhi — the awakening experience attained by the Buddha and his accomplished disciples referring to the unique consciousness of a fully liberated yogi
  • Types of Buddha
    • Sammāsambuddha — one who, by his own efforts, attains Nirvana, having rediscovered the Noble Eightfold Path after it has been lost to humanity, and makes this Path known to others
    • Paccekabuddha — "a lone Buddha", a self-awakened Buddha, but one who lacks the ability to spread the Dhamma to others
    • Sāvakabuddha — enlightened 'disciple of a Buddha'

Theravada[]

  • Four stages of enlightenment (see also: Ariya-puggala — Noble Ones)
    • Sotāpanna — Stream-enterer (first stage of enlightenment) — one who has "opened the eye of the Dhamma", and is guaranteed enlightenment after no more than seven successive rebirths, having eradicated the first three fetters
    • Sakadagami — Once-returner (second stage of enlightenment) — will be reborn into the human world once more, before attaining enlightenment, having eradicated the first three and weakened the next two fetters
    • Anagami — Non-returner (third stage of enlightenment) — does not come back into human existence, or any lower world, after death, but is reborn in the "Pure Abodes", where he will attain Nirvāṇa, having eradicated the first five fetters
    • Arahant — "Worthy One", (see also: Arhat), a fully enlightened human being who has abandoned all ten fetters, and who upon decease (Parinibbāna) will not be reborn in any world, having wholly abandoned saṃsāra

Mahayana[]

  • Bodhisattva — one who has generated bodhicitta, the spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood

Zen[]

  • Satori — a Japanese Buddhist term for "enlightenment", which translates as a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment
  • Kensho — "Seeing one's nature"

Buddhist monasticism and laity[]

Buddhist monks collecting alms, Laos

Buddhist monks on daily alms round.

  • Śrāvaka — Disciple
  • UpāsakaLay follower
    • Householder
    • Dhammacari — lay devotees who have seriously committed themselves to Buddhist practice for several years
    • Anagarika — lay attendant of a monk
    • Jisha — personal attendant of a monastery's abbot or teacher in Zen Buddhism
    • Ngagpa — non-monastic male practitioners of such disciplines as Vajrayana, shamanism, Tibetan medicine, Tantra and Dzogchen
  • Pabbajja — Lower ordination
  • Upasampada — Higher ordination
  • Titles for Buddhist teachers
    • General
    • in Theravada
      • in Southeast Asia
        • Ayya — commonly used as a veneration in addressing or referring to an ordained Buddhist nun
      • in Thailand
        • Ajahn — Thai term which translates as teacher
        • Luang Por — means "venerable father" and is used as a title for respected senior Buddhist monastics
      • in Burma
        • Sayadaw — a Burmese senior monk of a monastery
    • in Japan
      • Ajari — a Japanese term that is used in various schools of Buddhism in Japan, specifically Tendai and Shingon, in reference to a "senior monk who teaches students
      • Oshō — high-ranking or highly virtuous Buddhist monk; respectful designation for Buddhist monks in general
    • in Zen
      • in Japan
        • Kaisan — founder of a school of Buddhism or the founding abbot of a Zen monastery
        • Roshi — a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and usually denotes the person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha
        • Sensei — ordained teacher below the rank of roshi
        • Zen master — individual who teaches Zen Buddhism to others
      • in Korea
        • Sunim — Korean title for a Buddhist monk or Buddhist nun
    • in Tibetan Buddhism
      • Geshe — Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks
      • Guru
      • Lama — Tibetan teacher of the Dharma
      • Rinpoche — an honorific which literally means "precious one"
      • Tulku — an enlightened Tibetan Buddhist lama who has, through phowa and siddhi, consciously determined to take birth, often many times, in order to continue his or her Bodhisattva vow

Major figures of Buddhism[]

Founder[]

  • Gautama Buddha — The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (Skt., Pali: Siddhattha Gotama), Sakyamuni (Sage of the Sakya clan), The Awakened One, The Enlightened One, The Blessed One, Tathagata (Thus Come One, Thus Gone One)

Buddha's disciples and early Buddhists[]

Chief Disciples[]

  • Sāriputta — Chief disciple, "General of the Dhamma", foremost in wisdom
  • Mahamoggallāna — Second chief disciple, foremost in psychic powers

Great Disciples[]

Monks[]
File:Ananda at First Council.jpg

Ananda reciting the Suttapitaka at the First Buddhist Council

Nuns[]

Laymen[]

Laywomen[]

First five disciples of the Buddha[]

  • Kondañña — the first Arahant
  • Assaji — converted Sāriputta and Mahamoggallāna
  • Bhaddiya
  • Vappa
  • Mahanama

Other disciples[]

  • Channa — royal servant and head charioteer of Prince Siddhartha
  • Angulimala — mass murderer turned saint
  • Kisa Gotami

Later Indian Buddhists (after Buddha)[]

Indo-Greek Buddhists[]

Chinese Buddhists[]

  • Bodhidharma
  • Dajian Huineng
  • Ingen

Tibetan Buddhists[]

Tenzin Gyatzo foto 1

The 14th Dalai Lama, a renowned Tibetan Buddhist monk.

Japanese Buddhists[]

Burmese Buddhists[]

Thai Buddhists[]

File:AjahnChah.jpg

Ajahn Chah

Sri Lankan Buddhists[]

American Buddhists[]

British Buddhists[]

Branches of Buddhism[]

Schools of Buddhism[]

Theravada[]

  • Bangladesh:
    • Sangharaj Nikaya
    • Mahasthabir Nikaya
  • Burma:
  • Cambodia
  • Laos
  • Sri Lanka:
    • Siam Nikaya
    • Amarapura Nikaya
    • Ramañña Nikaya
  • Thailand:
    • Maha Nikaya
      • Dhammakaya Movement
    • Thammayut Nikaya

Mahayana[]

  • Madhyamaka
    • Prāsangika
    • Svatantrika
    • Sanlun (Three Treatise school)
      • Sanron
    • Maha-Madhyamaka (Jonangpa)
  • Yogācāra
    • Cittamatra in Tibet
    • Wei-Shi (Consciousness-only school) or Faxiang (Dharma-character school)
      • Beopsang
      • Hossō
  • Tathagatagarbha
  • Chan / Zen / Seon / Thien
    • Caodong
      • Sōtō
        • Keizan line
        • Jakuen line
        • Giin line
    • Linji
  • Pure Land (Amidism)
    • Jodo Shu
    • Jodo Shinshu
  • Tiantai (Lotus Sutra School)
  • Nichiren
    • Nichiren Shū
    • Nichiren Shōshū
    • Nipponzan Myōhōji
    • Soka Gakkai

Vajrayana[]

Vajra

The vajra, a distinct symbol of Vajrayana

  • Tibetan Buddhism
    • Nyingma
    • New Bön (synthesis of Yungdrung Bön and Nyingmapa)
    • Kadam
    • Sakya
      • Ngor-pa
      • Tsar-pa
    • Jonang
    • Gelug
    • Kagyu:
      • Shangpa Kagyu
      • Marpa Kagyu:
        • Rechung Kagyu
        • Dagpo Kagyu:
          • Karma Kagyu (or Kamtshang Kagyu)
          • Tsalpa Kagyu
          • Baram Kagyu
          • Pagtru Kagyu (or Phagmo Drugpa Kagyu):
            • Taglung Kagyu
            • Trophu Kagyu
            • Drukpa Kagyu
            • Martsang Kagyu
            • Yerpa Kagyu
            • Yazang Kagyu
            • Shugseb Kagyu
            • Drikung Kagyu
    • Rime movement (ecumenical movement)
  • Japanese Mikkyo

Early Buddhist schools[]

  • Sthaviravāda
    • Pudgalavāda ('Personalist') (c. 280 BCE)
      • Vatsīputrīya (under Aśoka) later name: Saṃmitīya
      • Dharmottarīya
      • Bhadrayānīya
      • Sannāgarika
    • Vibhajjavāda (prior to 240 BCE; during Aśoka)
      • Mahīśāsaka (after 232 BCE)
      • Kāśyapīya (after 232 BCE)
      • Dharmaguptaka (after 232 BCE)
      • Theravāda (c. 240 BCE)
    • Sarvāstivāda (c. 237 BCE)
      • Mūlasarvāstivāda (third and fourth centuries)
      • Sautrāntika (between 50 BCE and c. 100 CE)
      • Vaibhashika
  • Mahāsaṃghika ('Majority', c. 380 BCE)
    • Ekavyahārikas (under Aśoka)
    • Lokottaravāda
    • Gokulika (during Aśoka)
    • Bahuśrutīya (late third century BCE)
    • Prajñaptivāda (late third century BCE)
    • Cetiyavāda
    • Caitika (mid-first century BCE)
    • Apara Śaila
    • Uttara Śaila

Buddhist modernism[]

Buddhism worldwide[]

The Refuge in Three Jewels (Buddhism)

Percentage of formal/practicing Buddhists by the numbers of registered adherents (according to the least estimates).

Buddhist distribution

Percentage of cultural/nominal adherents of combined Buddhism with its related religions (according to the highest estimates).

Template:North America in topic Template:South America in topic

Template:Buddhism in Europe

Buddhist scriptures and texts[]

Theravada texts[]

Tipitaka1

A collection of the Pali canon.

  • Pāli Canon (Tipitaka)
    • Vinaya Pitaka — Basket of Discipline
    • Sutta Pitaka — Basket of Discourses
      • Digha Nikaya — the Long Discourses
        • Brahmajala Sutta — Discourse on the Net of Perfect Wisdom
        • Samaññaphala Sutta — The Fruit of Contemplative Life Discourse
        • Kevatta Sutta
        • Mahaparinibbana Sutta — The Last Days of the Buddha
        • Mahasatipatthana Sutta
        • Aggañña Sutta
        • Sigalovada Sutta
      • Majjhima Nikaya — the Middle-length Discourses
        • Sammaditthi Sutta — Discourse on Right View
        • Satipatthana Sutta — The Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse
        • Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta
        • Anapanasati Sutta — Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing
      • Samyutta Nikaya — the Connected Discourses
        • Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta — Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth (Buddha's first discourse)
        • Anattalakkhana Sutta — The Nonself Characteristic (Buddha's second discourse)
        • Fire Sermon — Buddha's third discourse
      • Anguttara Nikaya — the Numerical Discourses
        • Dighajanu Sutta
        • Dona Sutta
        • Kalama Sutta
        • Upajjhatthana Sutta — Subjects for Contemplation
      • Khuddaka Nikaya — the Minor Collection
        • Khuddakapatha
          • Mangala Sutta
          • Ratana Sutta
          • Metta Sutta
        • Dhammapada — The Path of Truth
        • Udana — Inspired utterances
        • Itivuttaka
        • Suttanipata
          • Uraga Vagga
            • Rhinoceros Horn Sutra
            • Metta Sutta
          • Cula Vagga
            • Ratana Sutta
            • Mangala Sutta
            • Dhammika Sutta
          • Maha Vagga
          • Atthaka Vagga
          • Parayana Vagga
        • Vimanavatthu
        • Petavatthu
        • Theragatha — Verses of the Elder Monks
        • Therigatha — Verses of the Elder Nuns
        • Jataka tales — Buddha's former lives
        • Niddesa
        • Patisambhidamagga — Path of discrimination
        • Apadana
        • Buddhavamsa
        • Cariyapitaka
        • Nettipakarana
        • Petakopadesa
        • Milindapanha
    • Abhidhamma Pitaka — Basket of Ultimate Doctrine
      • Dhammasangani
      • Vibhanga
      • Dhatukatha
      • Puggalapannatti
      • Kathavatthu
      • Yamaka
      • Patthana
  • Anupitaka — non-canonical or extra-canonical Pāli literature
    • Paracanonical texts
  • Commentaries — commentaries on the Tipitaka
    • Subcommentaries — commentaries on the commentaries on the Tipitaka
    • VisuddhimaggaThe Path of Purification, considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka canon of scriptures
    • VimuttimaggaThe Path of Freedom, manual of meditation
    • Abhidhammattha Sangaha — A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma

Mahayana texts[]

Korea-Haeinsa-Tripitaka Koreana-01

The Tripitaka Koreana in storage at Haeinsa.

Vajrayana texts[]

History of Buddhism[]

Buddhist philosophy[]

Nagarjuna at Samye Ling Monastery

Golden statue of Nagarjuna at Samye Ling Monastery.

  • Abhidharma
  • Buddhist anarchism
  • Buddhist atomism
  • Buddhism and the body
  • Buddhology
  • Engaged Buddhism
  • Buddhist economics
  • Buddhist eschatology
  • Buddhist ethics
    • Buddhism and abortion
    • Buddhism and euthanasia
    • Sexuality and Buddhism
      • Buddhist views on masturbation
      • LGBT topics and Buddhism
  • Buddhism and evolution
  • Fourteen unanswerable questions
    • Questions referring to the world: concerning the existence of the world in time
      • Is the world eternal?
      • or not?
      • or both?
      • or neither?
    • Questions referring to the world: concerning the existence of the world in space
      • Is the world finite?
      • or not?
      • or both?
      • or neither?
    • Questions referring to personal experience
      • Is the self identical with the body?
      • or is it different from the body?
    • Questions referring to life after death
  • God in Buddhism
  • Humanistic Buddhism
  • Buddhist logic
  • Buddhist mythology
  • Reality in Buddhism
  • Buddhist socialism

Buddhist culture[]

Singapore aljunied vesak day 2002

Vesak celebration in Singapore.

File:Ushikudaibutsu-ibaraki-japan-daytime-fullimage.jpg

The Ushiku Daibutsu, depicting Amitabha Buddha

Burning-money-and-yuanbao-at-the-cemetery-3249

Imitation currency burned for ancestors, during the Ghost Festival

File:Sand mandala tibet 1.JPG

Tibetan monks creating a sand mandala.

Juzu

Mala, Buddhist prayer beads.

  • Alms
  • Ango — three month long period of intense training for students of Zen Buddhism
  • Buddhist architecture
    • Vihara — Buddhist monastery
    • Wat — monastery temple in Cambodia, Thailand, Lanna or Laos
    • Thai temple art and architecture
    • Stupamound-like structure containing Buddhist relics
    • Pagoda — tiered tower with multiple eaves common in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia
    • Zendo — meditation hall in Zen Buddhism
    • Butsudan — shrine
  • Buddhist art
    • Greco-Buddhist art
      • Standing Buddha
    • Buddhist poetry
    • Buddhist music
    • Buddha statue
      • Colossal Buddha statues
        • Tian Tan Buddha
        • Kamakura Great Buddha
        • Grand Buddha at Ling Shan
        • Leshan Giant Buddha
        • Gifu Great Buddha
        • Great Buddha
  • Buddhist calendar
  • Buddhist clothes
  • Buddhist cuisine
  • Dharani
  • Drubchen — traditional form of meditation retreat in Tibetan Buddhism
  • Funeral (Buddhism)
  • Buddhist holidays
  • Kīla — three-sided peg, stake, knife, or nail like ritual implement traditionally associated with Indo-Tibetan Buddhism
  • Mandala — concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance
    • Sand mandala
  • Buddhist prayer beads — Mala
  • Mantra
    • Om mani padme hum
    • Namo Amituofo
    • Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō
    • Om tare tuttare ture svaha
    • Buddho
    • Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsambuddhassa
  • Buddhist view of marriage
  • Mudra — Symbolic or ritual gesture
    • Añjali Mudrā — greeting gesture which consists of putting the palms together in front of the chest
  • Buddhist music
  • Prayer wheel
  • Sarira — Buddhist relics
  • Sesshin — period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery
  • Buddhist symbolism
    • Dharmacakra — Wheel of Dhamma
    • Bhavacakra — Wheel of Becoming
    • Buddhist flag
    • Ensō — Symbol in Zen symbolizing enlightenment, strength, elegance, the Universe, and the void
    • Thangka
      • Tree of physiology
    • Ashtamangala
  • Vajra — short metal weapon that has the symbolic nature of a diamond
  • Vassa — Rains retreat

Buddhist pilgrimage[]

Mahabodhi in Bodhgaya

Mahabodhi Temple in India, a common site of pilgrimage.

Comparative Buddhism[]

Josaphat

From a 12th-century Greek manuscript: Saint Josaphat preaches the Gospel.

Other topics related to Buddhism[]

Lists[]

See also[]

  • Outline of religion

References[]

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