BUDDHIST DICTIONARY

Abandonment: contemplation of: patinissaggānupassanā is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight; see: vipassanā further ānāpānasati 16.

Abbhokāsik'anga: 'living in the open air', is one of the ascetic means to purification dhutānga.

Aberration: Failure & going wrong in morality and understanding: see: vipatti

Abhabbāgamana: 'incapable of progressing'. Those beings who are obstructed by their evil actions kamma see. kamma, by their defilements kilesa, by the result of their evil actions see: vipāka, or who are devoid of faith, energy and understanding, and unable to enter the right path and reach perfection in advantageous things, all those are said to be incapable of progressing Pug. 13. According to Commentary the 'evil actions' denote the 5 heinous actions with immediate result ānantarika-kamma , whilst the 'defilements' refer to the 'evil views with fixed destiny' niyata-micchā-ditthi, see: ditthi.

Ābhassara: The 'Radiant Ones', are a class of divine beings of the fine-material world rūpa-loka, cf. deva

Abhibhāyatana: the 8 'stages of mastery', are powers to be obtained by means of the kasina-exercises see: kasina. In the Com. to M. 77, where āyatana is explained by 'means' kārana it is said: The abhibhāyatana through their counteracting may master and suppress their adverse opposite states, and by means of higher knowledge they may master the objects of mind. They are means for transcending the sense-sphere.

The stereotype text often met with in the Suttas e.g. D. 11, 33; M. 77; A. VIII, 65; X, 29 is as follows:

1: Perceiving blue..., red..., yellow..., white forms in or on one's own body, one sees as if external small forms (e.g.: tooth) , beautiful or ugly; and in mastering these one understands: 'I know, I understand.' This is the first stage of mastery.

2: Perceiving forms on one's own body, one sees these forms as if external, yet now also large ones (e.g.: leg-bone=femur). This is the second stage of mastery.

3: Not perceiving forms on one's own body, one sees forms externally, small ones (e.g.: pollen inside flower). This is the third stage of mastery.

4: Not perceiving forms on one's own body, one sees forms externally, large ones (e.g.: planets, galaxies). This is the fourth stage of mastery.

5: Not perceiving forms on one's own body, one sees forms externally, blue (cobalt, yves-klein, flax, clear & pure) forms, forms of blue color, blue appearance, blue lustre, and mastering these one understands: 'I know, I understand. This is the fifth stage of mastery.

6-8: The same is repeated with yellow, red and white forms.

As preparatory kasina-object for the 1st and 2nd exercise one should choose on one's own body a small or a large spot, beautiful or ugly, and thereon one should focus one's full undivided concentration, so that this object after a while in mind is visualized as a mental reflex or image nimitta and, as if it were, as something external. Such an exercise, though appearing quite mechanical, if properly carried out will bring about a high degree of mental concentration and entrance into the 4 absorptions jhāna. In the 3rd and 4th exercises the Bhikkhu by an external kasina-object gains the mental reflexes and absorption see: As objects of the remaining exercises, perfectly clear and radiant colors should be chosen, flowers, cloth, etc.

A kasina-object of small size is said to be suitable for a mentally unsteady nature, one of a large size for a dull nature, a beautiful object for an angry nature, an ugly one for a lustful nature.

In Vis.M V it is said: By means of the earth-kasina one succeeds in reaching the stage of mastery with regard to small and large objects.  By means of the blue-kasina one succeeds in causing blue forms to appear, in producing darkness, in reaching the stage of mastery with regard to beautiful and ugly colours, in reaching 'deliverance through the beautiful', etc. cf. vimokkha II, 3. The same is also said with regard to the other colour kasinas.

Abhijjhā: 'covetousness=greediness=acquisitiveness=jealousy & envy' is a synonym of lobha and tanhā see: mūla and is the 8th link of the disadvantageous courses of action see: kamma-patha I.

Abhinibbatti: a Sutta term for rebirth; see: punabbhava

Abhiññā: The 6 'higher powers', or supernormal knowledge's, consist of 5 mundane lokiya powers attainable through the utmost perfection in mental concentration samādhi and one supra-mundane lokuttara power attainable through penetrating insight vipassanā, i.e. ceasing of all mental fermentation āsavakkhaya see: āsava, in other words, realization of Arahatship or Nobility. They are: 1: magical powers iddhi, 2: divine ear dibba-sota, 3: penetration of the minds of others ceto-pariya-ñāna, 4: remembrance of former existences pubbe-nivāsānussati, 5: divine eye dibba-cakkhu, 6: ceasing of all fermentation āsavakkhaya. The stereotype text met with in all the 4 Sutta-collections e.g. D. 34; M. 4, 6, 77; A. III, 99; V, 23; see: XV, 9 and Pug. 271, 239 is as follows:

1: Now, O Bhikkhus, the Bhikkhu enjoys the various magical powers iddhi, such as being one he becomes many, and having become many he again becomes one. He appears and disappears. Without being obstructed he passes through walls and mountains, just as if through the air. In the earth he dives and rises up again, just as if in the water. He walks on water without sinking, just as if on the earth. Cross-legged he floats & flies through the air, just like a winged bird. With his hand he touches the sun and moon, so mighty & giant. Even up to the Brahma-world can he master his body.

2: With the divine ear dibba-sota he hears sounds both divine and human, whether far or near.

3: He knows the minds of other beings parassa ceto-pariya-ñāna, of other persons, by penetrating & embracing them with his own mind. He knows the greedy mind as greedy and the not-greedy one as not greedy; knows the hating mind as hating and the not-hating one as not hating; knows the confused mind as confused and the not-confused one as not confused; knows the contracted min, the distracted, the developed mind and the undeveloped one, the surpassable and the unsurpassable mind, the concentrated and the unconcentrated mind, the freed and the unfreed mind.

4: He remembers many prior existences pubbe-nivāsānussati, such as one birth, two, three, four and five births; 10; 100, 1000; hundred thousand births; remembers many expansions and dissolutions of universes: 'There I was this, such name I had ... and vanishing from there I entered into existence somewhere else ...  and vanishing from there I again reappeared here.' Thus he remembers, always together with all the details and peculiarities many former existences.

5: With the divine eye dibba-cakkhu = yathā-kammūpaga-ñāna or cutūpapāta-ñāna, the pure one, he sees beings vanishing and reappearing, low and noble ones, beautiful and ugly ones, he sees how beings are reappearing according to their actions (see: kamma) 'These beings, indeed, followed evil ways in bodily actions, words and thoughts, insulted the noble ones, held evil & wrong views, and according to their evil views they acted. At the dissolution of their body, after death, they have appeared in the lower worlds, in painful states of existence, in the world of suffering, even in hell. Those other beings, however, who are endowed with good behaviour, have appeared in happy state of existence, even in a divine world.

6: Through the ceasing of all fermentation āsavakkhaya even in this very life he enters into the possession of liberation of mind, liberation through understanding, after having himself understood and directly realized it.

4-6 appear frequently under the name of the 'threefold higher knowledge' te-vijjā. They are, however, not a necessary condition for the attainment of sainthood arahatta, i.e. of the sixth abhiññā.

Vis.M XI-XIII gives a detailed explanation of the 5 mundane higher powers, together with the method of attaining them.

In connection with the 4 kinds of progress see: patipadā, abhiññā means the 'comprehension' achieved on attainment of the paths and fruitions

Abhisamācārika-sīla: 'morality consisting in good behaviour', relates to the external duties of a Bhikkhu such as towards his senior, etc. abhisamācārika-sīla is a name for those moral rules other than the 8 ending with right livelihood i.e. 4-fold right speech, 3-fold right action and right livelihood, as in the 8-fold path Vis.M I; see: sacca IV, 3-5. Impossible is it, o Bhikkhus, that without having fulfilled the law of good behaviour, a Bhikkhu could fulfill the law of genuine pure conduct A.V, 21. Cf. ādibrahmacariyaka-sīla

Abhisamaya: 'breakthrough or penetration to the realization of the truth', is the full and direct comprehension of the Four Noble Truths by the Stream-winner sotāpanna see: ariya-puggala. In the Com. the term is represented by 'penetration' pativedha. Frequently occurring as dhammābhisamaya 'realization of the doctrine' see: XIII ābhisamaya-samyutta and Pts.M. ābhisamaya-kathā.

Abhisankhāra: Construction identical with the 2nd link of the paticca-samuppāda, sankhāra, under I, 1 or kammic-constructions.

Ability to acquire insight: cf. ugghatitaññū, vipacitaññū

Abodes: vihāra The 4 Divine abodes: brahma-vihāra The 9 abodes of beings: sattāvāsa

Absence: natthi-Paccaya, is one of the 24 conditions paccaya,.

Absorption: see: jhāna

Abstentions: the 3: virati

Access: Moment of access into one-pointed concentration: see: javana

Access-concentration: see: samādhi

Accumulation: of Kamma see: āyūhana

Ācinnaka-kamma: habitual kamma; see: kamma

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 therefore one should not speculate. The 4 unthinkables are: the potential range of a Buddha buddha-visaya, the potential range of the meditative absorptions jhāna-visaya, the potential range of kammic-result kamma-vipāka, and speculation over the world loka-cintā, especially over an absolute first beginning of it , and whether it is infinite in space and time see: A. IV, 77.

Therefore, o Bhikkhus, do not speculate over the world as to whether it is eternal or temporal, limited or endless.  Such speculation, O Bhikkhus, is senseless, has nothing to do with genuine pure conduct see: ādibrahmacariyaka-sīla, does neither lead to aversion, detachment, ceasing, nor to peace, not to full comprehension, not to enlightenment or Nibbāna. S.LVI, 41.

Acquired image: during concentration: see: nimitta samādhi kasina

Action: Kamma - Right bodily action: sammā-kammanta see: sacca IV.4

Adaptability: of body, mental properties and consciousness: kammaññatā, cf. khandha materiality and Tab. II.

Adaptation-knowledge: anuloma-ñāna

Adherence: parāmāsa clinging or attachment.

Adherent: upāsaka disciple.

Adhicitta-sikkhā 'training in higher mentality'; see: sikkhā

Adhimokkha: 'determination', decision, resolve: is one of the mental properties cetasika and belongs to the group of mental constructions sankhāra-khandha. In M. 111, it is mentioned together with other mental properties. See Tab. II, III.

Adhipaññā-dhamma-vipassanā: 'insight into things based on higher understanding', is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight see: vipassanā.

Adhipati-paccaya: 'Predominance-condition' is one of the 24 conditions paccaya, if developed, it is considered as the fourfold road to force iddhi-pāda.

Adhisīla-sikkhā: 'training in higher morality': see: sikkhā

Adhitthāna, as a doctrinal term, occurs chiefly in two meanings:

1. 'Foundation': four 'foundations or basics' of an Arahat's mentality, mentioned and explained in M. 140: the foundation of understanding paññā, of truthfulness sacca of generosity cāga and of peace upasama. See also D. 33 and Com.

2. 'Determination', resolution, resolve in: adhitthāna-iddhi magical power of determination' see: iddhi, adhitthāna-pāramī perfection of resolution' see: pāramī.

Ādibrahmacariyaka-sīla: 'morality of genuine pure conduct', consists in right speech, right bodily action and right livelihood, forming the 3rd, 4th and 5th links of the 8-fold path see: sacca IV.3, 4, 5; cf. Vis.M I. In A. II, 86 it is said:

With regard to those moral states connected with and corresponding to the genuine pure conduct, he is morally strong, morally firm and trains himself in the moral rules taken up by himself. After overcoming the 3 mental chains ego-belief, skeptic doubt and attachment to mere rules and ritual; see: samyojana he becomes one who will be 'reborn 7 times at most' see: sotāpanna and after only seven times more wandering through this round of rebirths amongst men and divine beings, he will put an end to suffering.

Ādīnavānupassanā-ñāna: 'knowledge consisting in contemplation of danger', is one of the 8 kinds of insight vipassanā that form the 'purification of the knowledge and vision of the path-progress see: visuddhi VI. 4. It is further one of the 18 chief kinds of insight see: vipassanā.

Adosa: 'hatelessness, is one of the 3 advantageous roots mūla.

Adukkha-m-asukhā vedanā: 'feeling which is neither painful nor pleasant', i.e. neutral or indifferent feeling; see: vedanā-khandha

Advertence: Directing of mind to the object: āvajjana is one of the functions of consciousness viññāna-kicca. Cf. manasikāra

Aeon: kappa

Agati: the 4 'wrong Paths' are: the path of desire chanda, the path of hate, the path of confusion, the path of fear bhaya. One who is freed from these evil impulses is no longer liable to take any wrong path. A. IV, 17; IX, 7.

Age: Old: Jarā

Aggregates or clusters: khandha

Agility: Lahutā

Āhāra: 'nutriment', 'food', is used in the concrete sense as material food and as such it belongs to derived materiality see: khandha Summary I. In the figurative sense, as 'foundation' or sustaining condition, it is one of the 24 conditions paccaya and is used to denote 4 kinds of nutriment, which are material and mental: 1: material food kabalinkārāhāra, 2: sensorial and mental contact phassa, 3: mental intention mano-sañcetanā, 4: consciousness viññāna.

1: Material food feeds the 8-fold materiality having nutrient essence as its 8th factor i.e. the solid, liquid, heat, motion, color, odour, the tastable and nutrient essence; see: rūpa-kalāpa. 2: Sensorial and mental contact is a condition for the 3 kinds of feeling pleasant, painful and indifferent; see: paticcasamuppāda 6. 3: Mental intention = kamma feeds rebirth; see: paticca-samuppāda 2. 4: Consciousness feeds mind and materiality, nāma-rūpa at the moment of conception Vis.M XI.

Literature on the 4 Nutriments: M. 9 & Com. tr. in 'R. Und.', M. 38; see: S. XII, 11, 63, 64 - The Four Nutriments of Life, Selected texts & Com. WHEEL 105

Āhāra-samutthāna-rūpa: 'Food-produced materiality'; see: samutthāna

Āhāre-patikkūla-saññā: 'reflection on the disgusting aspects of food', fully described in Vis.M XI, l.

Ahetuka-citta: see: hetu

Ahetuka-ditthi: View or opinion of uncausedness or randomness of existence & phenomena; see: ditthi

Ahetu-patisandhika: see: patisandhi

Ahimsā: see: avihimsā

Ahirika-anottappa: 'lack of moral shame and fear of wongdoing', are two of the 4 disadvantageous factors associated with all kammically disadvantageous states of consciousness, the two others being restlessness uddhacca and confusion moha. Cf. Tab. II.

The Buddha pointed that: There are two evil things, namely, lack of moral shame and lack of fear of wongdoing A. II, 6. Not to be ashamed of what one should be ashamed of; not to be ashamed of evil, disadvantageous states: this is called lack of moral shame Pug. 59. Not to fear what one should feared... this is called lack of Fear of Wrongdoing Pug. 60.

Ahosi-kamma: 'ineffective kamma'; see: kamma.

Ājīva: 'livelihood=job=profession=way-of-living'. About right and wrong livelihood., see: sacca IV. 5 and micchā-magga 5.

Ājīva-pārisuddhi-sīla: 'morality consisting in purification of livelihood', is one of the 4 kinds of perfect morality; see: sīla

Akanittha: the 'Great or Non-junior Ones', i.e. 'Highest Gods', are the inhabitants of the 5th and highest heaven of the Pure Abodes suddhāvāsa, cf. avacara deva II Anāgāmī

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 the name of ākāsa-dhātu space element, belongs to derived materiality see: khandha Summary I; Dhs. 638 and to a sixfold classification of elements see: dhātu M. 112, 115, 140. It is also an object of kasina meditation. It is defined as follows: The space element has the characteristic of delimiting matter or form. Its function is to indicate the boundaries of matter. It is manifested as the confines and container of matter or form; or its manifestation consists in being untouched by the 4 great elements, and in holes and openings. Its proximate cause is the matter delimited. It is on account of the space element that one can say of material things delimited that 'this is above. below, around that'  Vis.M XIV, 63.

2. Endless space is in Atthasālini called ajatākāsa unentangled', i.e. unobstructed or empty space. It is the object of the first formless absorption see: jhāna, the sphere of Infinite space ākāsānañcāyatana. According to Abhidhamma philosophy, endless space has no objective reality being purely conceptual, which is indicated by the fact that it is not included in the triad of the advantageous kusalatika, which comprises the entire reality. Later Buddhist schools have regarded it as one of several unconditioned or uncreated states asankhata dharma - a view that is rejected in Kath. see: Guide. p. 70. Theravāda Buddhism recognizes only Nibbāna as an unconditioned element asankhata dhātu see: Dhs. 1084.

Ākāsa dhātu: 'space element'; see above and dhātu

Ākāsa-kasina: 'space-kasina exercise'; see: kasina

Ākāsānañcāyatana: 'Sphere of Infinite space', is identical with the 1st formless absorption; see: jhāna 5.

Ākiñcañña-ceto-vimutti: Possessionless or desireless mental release. The mental liberation coming from relinquishment of all acquisitions. The end stage of realizing Dukkha see: ceto-vimutti

Ākiñcaññāyatana: The sphere of nothingness; see: jhāna 7.

Akiriya-ditthi: The false view or opinion of the inefficacy of action: That neither moral good nor moral evil action have any delayed consequences for anyone. This wrong view was taught by Pūrana-Kassapa; see: ditthi

Akuppā-ceto-vimutti: Unshakeable release of mind; see ceto-vimutti

Akuppa-dhamma: The unshakeable state; is that of one who has attained full mastery over the absorptions jhāna. In Pug. 4 it is said: What person is unshakable? If a person gains the meditative attainments of the fine-material and formless sphere rūpāvacara-arūpāvacara; and he gains them at his wish, without any problem or strain with free choice of place, object and duration, and enters them and emerges from them effortlessly, then it is impossible that in such a person the attainments may become shaken through negligence. This person is unshakeable.

Akusala: Disadvantageous, are all those kammic intentions kamma-cetanā see: cetanā and all consciousness and mental properties associated therewith, which are accompanied either by greed lobha, hate dosa or confusion moha or derivatives thereof. All these mental states are causing disadvantageous kamma-results and contain the initiating seeds of unhappy & painful future, destiny and rebirth. Cf. kamma, paticca-samuppāda 1, Tab. II.

Akusala-sādhārana-cetasika: Universal, general or primary disadvantageous mental properties associated with all disadvantageous intentions: These are four; 1: Lack of moral shame ahirika, 2: Lack of fear of wrongdoing anottappa, 3: Restlessness uddhacca, 4: Confusion moha. For 1 and 2 see: ahirika-anottappa; for 3 see: nīvarana; for 4 see: mūla see also the Appendix. The corresponding opposite term designating advantageous (beautiful) mental property is sobhana-sādhārana-cetasika see: sobhana.

Akusala-vitakka: Disadvantageous thoughts as defined under akusala In M. 20, five methods of overcoming them are given: by changing the object, thinking of the evil results, paying no attention to them, analyzing them, suppressing them.

M. 20 is translated in: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts WHEEL 21.
See also: How to remove recurring Disadvantageous Distracting Thoughts?

Alcohol restriction: see: surāmeraya-majja-ppamādatthānā. The 5th training rule.

Alms-Fooder: Vow of going for alms-food without omitting any house: see: dhutānga 3, 4.

Alms-Food-bowl eater: the practice of the: see: dhutānga 6.

Alms-Food-giving: dāna

Alms-Food-goer: the practice of the; see: dhutānga 3.

Alobha: Greedlessness is one of the 3 kammically advantageous roots mūla.

Āloka-kasina: Light-kasina-meditation on bright light or the white color; see: kasina

Āloka-saññā: Perception of light. The recurring canonical passage reads: Here the Bhikkhu contemplates the perception of light. He fixes his-mind to the experience of the daylight; as at day-time so at night, and as at night, so in the day. In this way, with a clear and unclouded mind, he develops the stage of mind that is full of brightness. It is one of the methods of overcoming drowsiness, recommended by the Buddha to Mahā-Moggallāna A. VII, 58. According to D. 33, it is conducive to the development of 'knowledge and vision' see: visuddhi VI+VII, and it is said to be helpful to the attainment of the 'divine eye' see: abhiññā 5.

Altruistic Mutual Joy: muditā is one of the 4 sublime & divine abodes brahma-vihāra.

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 deaths, since the unborn cannot die...

Amoha: Non-confusion = understanding, is one of the 3 kammically advantageous roots mūla.

Anabhijjhā: Freedom from covetousness, jealously and envy = unselfishness; see: kamma-patha II. 8.

Anabhirati-saññā: Disgustes with the entire world; see: sabba-loke anabhirati-sañña.

Anāgāmī: The 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 disappearing of the 5 lower mental chains samyojana, reappears in a higher world amongst the devas of the Pure Abodes, suddhāvāsa, and without returning from that world into the sense-sphere, he there reaches Nibbāna.

1: He may, immediately after appearing there in the Pure Abodes or before half of the life-time, attain the Noble path for the overcoming of the higher mental chains. Such a being is called one who reaches Nibbāna within the first half of the life antarā-parinibbāyī.

2: Or, while living more than half of the lifetime there, or at the moment of death, he attains the Noble path for the overcoming of the higher mental chains. Such a being is called one who reaches Nibbāna after crossing half the life-time upahacca-parinibbāyī.

3: Or, with effort he attains the Noble path for the overcoming of the higher mental chains. Such a being is called one who reaches Nibbāna with exertion sasankhāra-parinibbāyī.

4: Or, without effort he attains the Noble path for the overcoming of the higher mental chains. Such a being is called one who reaches Nibbāna without exertion asankhāra-parinibbāyī.

5: Or, after vanishing from the heaven of the Aviha-gods see: suddhāvāsa, he appears in the heaven of the unworried atappa gods. After vanishing from there he appears in the heaven of the clearly-visible sudassa gods, from there in the heaven of the clear-visioned sudassī gods, from there in the heaven of the highest akanittha gods. There he attains the Noble path for the overcoming of the higher mental chains. Such a being is called one who passes up-stream to the highest gods uddhamsota-akanittha-gāmī.

Analysis of the 4 primary elements: dhātu-vavatthāna

Analytical doctrine: vibhajja-vāda

Analytical knowledge: the 4 kinds of: patisambhidā

Anaññātañ-ñassāmīt-indriya: is one of the 3 supra-mundane mental abilities; see: indriya 20.

Anantara-paccaya: Proximity, is one of the 24 conditional relations paccaya.

Ānantarika-kamma: the 5 heinous 'actions with immediate destiny' are: Killing father, killing mother, killing an Arahat, wounding a Buddha so he bleeds, creating schism in the Bhikkhu-Sangha. In A.V., 129 it is said:

There are 5 hateful and incurable humans destined to the lower world and to hell, namely: the parricide, etc. About the 5th see A. X., 35, 38. With regard to the first crime, it is said in D. 2 that if King Ajātasattu had not killed his father, he would have reached entrance into the path of Stream-entry see also: Appendix.

Ānantariya: Immediacy, is a name for that concentration of mind which is associated with the profound and shocking insight vipassanā that is present in any one of the 4 kinds of supra-mundane path consciousness see: ariya-puggala, and which therefore is the cause of the immediately following fruition phala consciousness. According to the Abhidhamma, this path-moment of the Stream-enterer sotāpanna & the other Nobles is generated by the insight into the impermanence, misery and impersonality of all existence, reaching a certain threshold at that very moment and thus instantly transforming and ennobling the individual nature forever. It is mentioned under the name of ānantarika-samādhi in the Ratana Sutta Sn. v. 22 and in Pts.M. 1, Ñānakathā.

Ānāpāna-sati: Awareness or mindfulness on & by in-and-out-breathing, is one of the most important trainings for reaching mental concentration and the 4 absorptions jhāna. In the Satipatthāna Sutta M. 10, D. 22 and elsewhere, 4 methods of practice are given, which may also serve as basis for insight meditation. The speech on Awareness by Breathing' Ānāpānasati Sutta, M. 118 and other texts have 16 methods of practice, which divide into 4 groups of four. The first three apply to both calm samatha and insight-meditation, while the fourth refers to pure insight praxis only. With attentive mind he breathes in, with attentive mind he breathes out.

I. First Tetrad:
1: When making a long inhalation he understands: I make a long inhalation; when making a long exhalation he understands: I make a long exhalation.

2: When making a short inhalation he understands: I make a short inhalation; when making a short exhalation he understands: I make a short exhalation.

3: Clearly perceiving the entire body I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; clearly perceiving the entire breath-body I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

4: Calming all bodily activity I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; calming all bodily activity I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

II. Second Tetrad:
5: Experiencing joy pīti I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; Experiencing joy I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

6: Experiencing a pleasurable happiness I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; Experiencing a pleasurable happiness I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

7: Experiencing the mental construction citta-sankhāra I will breathe in, thus he trains himself, Experiencing the mental construction I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

8: Calming the mental construction I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; calming the mental construction I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

III. Third Tetrad:
9: Experiencing the mind & mood citta I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; clearly perceiving the mind & mood I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

10: Gladdening the mind I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; gladdening the mind I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

11: Concentrating the mind I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; concentrating the mind I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

12: Releasing the mind I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; releasing the mind I will breathe out, thus he trains himself

IV. Fourth Tetrad:
13: Reflecting on impermanence anicca I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; reflecting on impermanence I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

14: Reflecting on disillusion virāga I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; reflecting on disillusion I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

15: Reflecting on ceasing nirodha I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; reflecting on ceasing I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

16: Reflecting on relinquishment patinissagga I will breathe in, thus he trains himself; reflecting on relinquishment I will breathe out, thus he trains himself.

In M 118 it is further shown how these 16 exercises bring about the 4 foundations of awareness satipatthāna, namely: 1-4 contemplation of the body, 5-8 contemplation of feeling, 9-12 contemplation of mind, 13-16 contemplation of mental states. Then it is shown how these 4 foundations of awareness or mindfulness bring about the 7 factors of enlightenment bojjhanga, and then how these again produce release of mind ceto-vimutti and release through understanding paññā-vimutti.

Literature: Ānāpānasati Samyutta see: LIV. - Pts.M. Ānāpānakathā - Full explanation of practice in Vis.M VIII, 145ff. - For a comprehensive anthology of canonical and commentarial texts, see: Mindfulness of Breathing, by Nānamoli Thera Kandy: BPS, 1964-98.

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 taught by a Buddha, teaches that neither within the bodily, material and mental phenomena of existence, nor outside of them, can be found anything at all, that in the ultimate sense could be regarded as a self-existing, real & same, ego-entity, identity, soul, self or independently existing substance. This is the central core doctrine of Buddhism, crucial for understanding the message & method of Buddhism. It is the only really specific Buddhist doctrine, with which the entire structure of the Buddhist teaching stands or falls. All the remaining Buddhist doctrines may, more or less, be found in other philosophic systems and religions, but the anattā doctrine has been clearly and unreservedly taught only by the Buddha, wherefore the Buddha is known as the anattā-vādi or 'Teacher of impersonality'. Whosoever has not penetrated this universal impersonality of all existence, and does not comprehend that in reality there exists only this continually self-consuming & self-referring process of arising and passing away of bodily, material and mental phenomena, and that there is no separate ego-entity or stable and same core neither within nor outside this process, he will not be able to understand Buddhism, i.e. the teaching of the 4 Noble Truths sacca, in the right light. He will think that it is his ego, his personality, that experiences suffering, his personality that performs good and evil actions and will be reborn according to these actions, his personality that will enter into Nibbāna, his personality that walks on the 8-fold path. This is the fatal 'personalist-view' sakkāya-ditthi and self-deception māna 'I Am' that keep beings wandering in Samsāra. Thus it is said in Vis.M XVI:

Mere suffering exists, no sufferer is found;
Actions are, but no actor is ever found;
Nibbāna is, but no being exists that enters it;
The path is, but no traveler is seen.

Whosoever does not understand the origin of conditionally arisen phenomena, and does not comprehend that all the actions are conditioned by ignorance, greed and hate, he thinks that it is an ego or self that understands or does not understand, that acts or causes to act, and that comes into existence at rebirth. He believes there exists an identity 'I' that has the sense-contact, that feels, desires, becomes attached, continues and at rebirth again enters a new existence as the same being... Vis.M XVII, 117.

While in the case of the first two characteristics it is stated that all constructions sabbe sankhārā are impermanent and subject to suffering, the corresponding text for the third characteristic states that all states, all phenomena are no-self sabbe dhammā anattā M. 35, Dhp. 279. This is for emphasizing that the common false view of an abiding, same, constant, identical self or substance is neither applicable to any 'construction', whether internal or external, whether physical or mental nor to any conditioned phenomenon, nor to Nibbāna, the only Unconditioned Element asankhatā-dhātu.

The Anattā-lakkhana Sutta, the 'Discourse on the Characteristic of No-self', was the second discourse after Enlightenment, preached by the Buddha to his first five disciples, who after hearing it attained to perfect Nobility Arahatta.

The contemplation of no-self anattānupassanā leads to the emptiness liberation suññatā-vimokkha see. vimokkha. Herein the ability of understanding paññindriya is outstanding, and one who attains in that way the path of Stream-entry is called a Dhamma-devotee dhammānusāri see: ariya-puggala, at the next two stages of sainthood he becomes a vision-attainer ditthippatta; and at the highest stage, i.e. Nobility, he is called 'liberated by understanding' paññā-vimutta.

For further details, see paramattha-sacca, paticca-samuppāda, khandha, ti-lakkhana, nāma-rūpa, patisandhi

Literature: Anattā-lakkhana Sutta, Vinaya I, 13-14; see: XXII, 59; tr. in Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha WHEEL 17. - Another important text on Anattā is the Discourse on the Snake Simile Alagaddūpama Sutta, M. 22; tr. in WHEEL 48/49. Other texts in path. - Further: Anattā and Nibbāna, by Nyanaponika Thera WHEEL 11; The Truth of Anattā, by Dr. G. P. Malalasekera WHEEL 94; The Three Basic Facts of Existence III: Egolessness WHEEL 202/204

Anattānupassanā: Contemplation of no-self is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight see: vipassanā. See also above.

Anattā-saññā: Perception of no-self; of impersonality see A. VI, 104; A. VII, 48; A.X, 60; Ud. IV, 1.

Anattā-vāda: The doctrine of impersonality; see: anattā

Āneñja: Static imperturbability, denotes the mental state of being(s) in the formless sphere arūpāvacara avacara, see: sankhāra cf. M. 106.

Anger: Diluted derivative of Hate, which is a root condition; see: mūla

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 thus obvious. It is from this all-embracing fact of impermanence that the other two universal characteristics, suffering dukkha and no-self anattā, are derived see: S. XXII, 15; Ud. IV, I

impermanence of things is the arising, passing and changing of things, or the disappearance of things that have emerged & become into being. The meaning is that these things never persist in the same static state, but that they are changing, decaying, dissolving, and vanishing from moment to moment Vis.M VII, 3.

impermanence is a basic feature of all conditioned phenomena, be they material or mental, coarse or subtle, one's own or other's, internal or external: All these compounded constructions are impermanent sabbe sankhārā aniccā M. 35, Dhp. 277. That the totality of existence is impermanent is also often stated in terms of the five aggregates or clusters khandha, the twelve internal and external sense sources āyatana. Only Nibbāna, which is unconditioned and not a construction asankhata, is permanent, stable, still, static, lasting and constant nicca dhuva.

The insight leading to the first stage of deliverance: Stream-entry sotāpatti see: ariya-puggala, is often expressed in terms of impermanence: Whatever is subject to origination, is also subject to ceasing see: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, see: S. XLVI, 11. In his last exhortation, before his Parinibbāna, the Buddha reminded his Bhikkhus of the inevitable impermanence of all existence as a spur to earnest effort: Bhikkhus, I tell you: All constructions are bound to vanish. Strive enthusiasticly! Vayadhammā sankhārā, appamādena sampādetha; D. 16.

Without this deep insight into the impermanence and insubstantiality of all phenomena of existence there is no mental release, no relinquishment, no attainment of deliverance. Hence comprehension of impermanence gained by direct meditative experience heads two lists of insight knowledge: 1: Contemplation of impermanence aniccānupassanā is the first of the 18 chief kinds of insight, 2: Contemplation of arising and vanishing udayabbayānupassanā-ñāna is the first of 9 kinds of knowledge which lead to the purification by knowledge and vision of the path-progress see: visuddhi VI. Contemplation of impermanence leads to the signless deliverance animitta-vimokkha; see: vimokkha. As herein the ability of confidence saddhindriya is outstanding, he who attains in this way the path of Stream-entry is called a faith-devotee saddhānusārī see. ariya-puggala and at the seven higher stages he is called faith-liberated saddhā-vimutta, See also: anicca-saññā.

See The Three Basic Facts of Existence I: Impermanence WHEEL 186/187

Aniccānupassanā: Contemplation of impermanence, is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight development see: vipassanā.

Anicca-saññā: Perception of impermanence, is defined in the Girimananda Sutta A.X. 60 as meditation on the impermanence of the five clusters of clinging:

Though, with a faithful heart, one takes refuge in the Buddha, his Dhamma-Teaching and the Sangha Community of Bhikkhus; or with a faithful heart observes the rules of morality, or develops a mind full of loving-kindness, far more advantageous is it if one cultivates the perception of impermanence, be it only for a moment A.X. 20. See A. VI, 102; A. VII, 48; Ud. IV, 1; S. XXII, 102.

Animitta-ceto-vimutti: see: ceto-vimutti

Animittānupassanā: see: vipassanā

Animitta-vimokkha: see: vimokkha

Añña: Other, being of the opposite category.

Aññā: 'highest knowledge', gnosis, refers to the perfect knowledge of the Arahat Saint; see: ariya-puggala. The following passage occurs frequently in the Suttas, when a Bhikkhu indicates his attainment of Nobility arahatta: He makes known the highest knowledge aññam vyākaroti, in exactly this way: 'Rebirth has ceased, fulfilled is this Noble life, done is what should be done, and there is no more of this to come.'

The 'ability of highest knowledge' aññindriya = aññā-indriya; see: indriya, however, is present in six of the eight stages of Nobility, that is, beginning with the fruition of Stream-Winning sotāpatti-phala up to the path of Nobility arahatta-magga. See Dhs. PTS 362-364, 505, 553; Indriya Vibhanga; path 162.

Aññāmañña-paccaya: Mutuality-condition, is one of the 24 conditions paccaya.

Aññātāvindriya: The ability of one who knows; see: indriya 22.

Aññindriya: The ability of highest knowledge; see: aññā and indriya 21.

Anottappa: see: ahirika

Answering questions: 4 ways of: see: pañhā-byākarana

Antarā-parinibbāyī: is one of the 5 kinds of Non-Returners or Anāgāmī.

Antinomies: see: ditthi

Anuloma-citta: 'adaptation-moment of consciousness', denotes the third of the 4 moments of impulsion javana flashing up immediately before either reaching the absorptions jhāna or the supra-mundane paths see: ariya-puggala. These 4 moments of impulsion are: the preparation parikamma, access upacāra, adaptation anuloma and change-of-lineage gotrabhū moments. For further details see: javana gotrabhū

Anuloma-ñāna: 'adaptation-knowledge' or conformity-knowledge, is identical with the 'adaptation-to-truth knowledge', the last of 9 insight-knowledges vipassanā-ñāna which constitute the purification of knowledge and vision of the path-progress' see: visuddhi VI, 9. Cf. Vis.M XXI.

Anupādisesa-nibbāna: see Nibbāna & upādi

Anupassanā: Contemplation, deep reflection, profound consideration:
The 4 fold: see: satipatthāna.
The 18 fold: see: vipassanā.
The 7 fold: The seven contemplations:
1: Contemplating constructions as impermanent, one leaves behind the perception of permanence.
2: Contemplating them as painful, one leaves behind the perception of happiness.
3: Contemplating them as not self, one leaves behind the perception of ownership.
4: Becoming disillusioned, one leaves behind delighting.
5: Causing fading away of lust, one leaves behind greed.
6: Causing ceasing, one leaves behind creating.
7: Relinquishing, one leaves behind clinging.
Pts.M. I, p. 58. - See also Vis.M XXI, 43; XXII, 114.

Anupubba-nirodha: The 9 'successive ceasings', are the 8 ceasings reached through the 8 absorptions jhāna and the ceasing of feeling and perception' see: nirodha-samāpatti, as it is said in A. IX, 31 and D. 33:

In him who has entered the 1st absorption, the sensual-perception kāma-saññā are extinguished. Having entered the 2nd absorption, thought-conception and discursive thinking vitakka-vicāra are extinguished. Having entered the 3rd absorption, joy pīti is extinguished. Having entered the 4th absorption, in-and-out breathing assāsa-passāsa are extinguished. Having entered the sphere of Infinite space ākāsānañcāyatana, the perception of forms rūpa-saññā are extinguished. Having entered the sphere of Infinite consciousness viññānañcāyatana, the perception of the sphere of Infinite space is extinguished. Having entered the sphere of nothingness ākiñcaññāyatana, the perception of the sphere of Infinite consciousness is extinguished. Having entered the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception neva-saññā-nāsaññāyatana the perception of the sphere of nothingness is extinguished. Having entered the ceasing of perception and feeling saññā-vedayita-nirodha perception and feeling are extinguished. For further details, see: jhāna nirodha-samāpatti

Anupubba-vihāra: the 9 'successive abodes', are identical with the 9 anupubba-nirodha see: above. In A. IX, 33 they are called successive attainments anupubba-samāpatti.

Ānupubbī-kathā: 'gradual instruction', progressive teaching; given by the Buddha when it was necessary to first prepare the listener's mind before speaking to him on the advanced teaching of the Four Noble Truths. The stock passage e.g. D. 3; D 14; M. 56 runs as follows:
Then the Blessed One gave him a gradual instruction - that is to say, he spoke on generosity dāna, on morality sīla and on the heavens sagga, he explained the danger, the loss and the depravity of sensual pleasures, and the advantage of renunciation. When the Blessed One perceived that the listener's mind was prepared, pliant, free from obstacles, elevated and lucid; then he explained to him that exalted teaching particular to the Buddhas Buddhānam sāmukkamsikā, that is: Suffering, its cause, its ceasing, and the path.

Anurakkhana-padhāna: the 'effort to maintain' advantageous states; see: padhāna

Anusaya: The 7 'latent tendencies', hidden inclinations, or latent liabilities are:

1: The latent tendency to sense-greed kāma-rāga samyojana,
2: The latent tendency to aversion patigha,
3: The latent tendency to speculative opinion ditthi,
4: The latent tendency to skeptical doubt vicikicchā,
5: The latent tendency to conceit & pride māna,
6: The latent tendency to craving for continued existence bhava-rāga,
7: The latent tendency to ignorance avijjā D. 33; A. VII, 11, 12.

These things are called 'latent tendencies' since, in consequence of their endurance, they ever and again - life after life- tend to become the conditions for the arising of ever new sense-greed, etc. Vis.M XXII, 60.

Yam. VII, first determines in which beings such and such latent tendencies exist, and which latent tendencies, and with regard to what, and in which sphere of existence. Thereafter it gives an explanation concerning their overcoming, their penetration, etc. Cf. Guide VI vii. According to Kath. several ancient Buddhist schools erroneously held the opinion that the anusayas as such, meant merely latent, hence kammically neutral qualities, which however contradicts the Theravāda conception. Cf. Guide V, 88, 108, 139.

Anussati: 'recollection', reflection, meditation, contemplation. The six recollections often described in the Suttas e.g. A. VI, 10, 25; D. 33 are:

1: Recollection of the Buddha, buddhānussati
2: Recollection of his Doctrine, The Dhamma, dhammānussati
3: Recollection of his Sangha Community of Noble Disciples, sanghānussati
4: Recollection of Morality, sīlānussati
5: Recollection of Generosity, cāgānussati
6: Recollection of divine beings, devatānussati.

1: The Noble Disciple, Mahānāma, recollects thus: Worthy, honourable and  perfectly self-Enlightened is the Buddha! Consummated in knowledge and behaviour, totally transcended, expert in all dimensions, knower of all worlds, unsurpassable trainer of those who can be tamed, both teacher and guide of gods as well as of humans, blessed, exalted, awakened and enlightened is the Buddha !!!

2: Perfectly formulated is this Buddha-Dhamma, visible right here and now, immediately effective, timeless, inviting each and  everyone to come and see for themselves, inspect, examine and  verify. Leading each and  everyone through progress towards perfection. Directly observable, experiencable and  realizable by each intelligence...

3: Perfectly training is this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha's disciples; the right way, the true way, the good way, the direct way! Therefore do these eight kinds of individuals, the four Noble pairs, deserve both gifts, self-sacrifice, offerings, hospitality and  reverential salutation with joined palms, since this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha's Noble Disciples, is an unsurpassable and forever unsurpassed field of merit, in the world, for the world, to honour, and give to ...

4: The Noble Disciple further recollects his own morality sīla, which is unbroken, without any breach, unspotted, untarnished, conducive to liberation, praised by the wise, independent of craving & opinion, leading to concentration.

5: The Noble Disciple further recollects his own generosity cāga thus: Blessed truly am I, highly blessed am I who, amongst beings defiled with the filth of stinginess, live with heart free from stinginess, liberal, open-handed, rejoicing in giving, ready to give anything asked for, glad to give and share with others.

6: The Noble Disciple further recollects the divine beings devatā: There are the divine beings of the retinue of the Four Great Kings, the divine beings of the World of the Thirty-Three, the Yāma-devas... and there are divine beings besides see: deva. Such faith, such morality, such knowledge, such generosity, such insight, possessed of which those divine beings, after vanishing from here, are reborn in those worlds, such things are also found in me.  A. III,70; VI,10; XI,12.

At the time when the Noble Disciple recollects the Perfect One... at such a time his mind is neither possessed of greed, nor of hate, nor of confusion. Quite upright at such a time is his mind owing to the Perfect One... With upright mind the Noble Disciple attains understanding of the meaning, understanding of the law of Dhamma, and attains to joy through the law of Dhamma. In the joyous one rapture arises. With heart enraptured, his whole being becomes stilled. Stilled within his being, he feels happiness; and the mind of the happy one becomes firm. Of this Noble Disciple it is said that amongst those gone astray, he walks on the right path, among those suffering he abides free from suffering. Thus having reached the stream of the law, he develops and expands this recollection of the Enlightened One.  A. VI, 10.

In A. I, 21 PTS: I, xvi and A. I, 27 PTS: xx. 2 another 4 recollections are added:

7: Recollection of death maranānussati,
8: Awareness of the body kāyagatā-sati,
9: Awareness of breathing ānāpāna-sati,
10: Recollection of Peace upasamānussati.

The first six recollections are fully explained in Vis.M VII, the latter four in Vis.M VIII.

Aparāpariya-vedanīya-kamma: 'kamma bearing fruits in later births'; see: kamma.

Aparihāna-dhamma: 'incapable of relapse', or 'of falling away', namely, with regard to deliverance from some or all mental chains of existence see: samyojana. Thus all Noble Disciples are called, i.e. all those who have attained any of the 4 noble paths to Nobility see: ariya-puggala. With regard to the absorptions jhāna, anyone is called 'unrelapsable' who has attained full mastery over the absorptions. See A. VI, 62; Pug. 6. Cf. akuppa-dhamma

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 one set of 6 conditions, conducive to the welfare of the Community of Bhikkhus, the Sangha. Identical texts at A. VII, 20-25. To be distinguished from the preceding term.

Apāya: The 4 'lower worlds'. are: the animal world, ghost world, demon-world, hell. See Vis.M XIII, 92f.

Āpo-dhātu: Water-element, macroscopic fluidity, microscopic cohesion; see: dhātu

Appamāda: Alertness, attentiveness, carefulness, non-laxity, earnestness, diligence, vigilance, is considered as the foundation of all advantageous progress.

Just as all the footprints of living beings are surpassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the footprint of the elephant is considered as the mightiest amongst them, just so have all the meritorious qualities alertness as their foundation, and alertness is considered as the mightiest of these qualities A. X, 15.

Cf. the Chapter on alertness Appamāda Vagga in Dhp., and the Buddha's last exhortation: Transient are all constructions. Be Alert & Train! appamādenasampādetha D. 16 - In the commentaries, it is often explained as the presence lit. 'non-absence' of awareness satiyāavippavāsa.

Appamānābha: a kind of divine being; see: deva II.

Appamāna-ceto-vimutti: Infinite mental release see: ceto-vimutti

Appamāna-subha: a kind of divine being: see: deva II.

Appamaññā: The 4 'Infinite States', identical with the 4 brahma-vihāra

Appanā-samādhi: Absorption concentration or full concentration from apeti to fix, is the concentration existing during absorption jhāna, whilst the neighbourhood or access-concentration upacāra samādhi only approaches the 1st absorption without attaining it; see: samādhi

Appanihita-vimokkha: Desireless mental release see: vimokkha

Appanihitānupassanā: Contemplation of desirelessness see: vipassanā

Appendants: The 3 sticky mental glues: kiñcana

Appicchatā: Having only few wishes, contentedness, is one of the indispensable virtues of the monk; cf. A. X. 181-190, and ariya-vamsa

Apuññābhisankhāra: see: sankhāra

Arahat: and Arahatta-magga, Arahatta-phala: see: ariya-puggala

Ārammana: Object. There are six: visible object, sound, odour, taste, body-contact, mental-object. The mental-object dhammārammana may be physical or mental, past, present or future, real or imaginary. The 5 sense-objects belong to the materiality-group rūpa-khandha  see: khandha. They form the external foundations for the sense-perceptions, and without them no sense-perception or sense-consciousness seeing, hearing, etc. can ever arise. Cf. āyatana paccaya.

Ārammanādhipati, Predominance Conditional Relation. see: paccaya

Ārammanupanissaya: Decisive Support  Conditional Relation. see: paccaya

Āraññikanga: The training of living in the forest, is one of the ascetic purification-exercises dhutānga.

Arising and vanishing: of things. The knowledge consisting in the contemplation of; see: visuddhi VI.1.

Ariya-iddhi: Noble Force see: iddhi

Ariya-magga: see: The following.

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 and the 4 supra-mundane fruitions phala of these paths. There are thus these 4 pairs:

A1. The one realizing the path of Stream-winning sotāpatti-magga.
A2. The one realizing the fruition of Stream-winning sotāpatti-phala.

A3. The one realizing the path of Once-return sakadāgāmi-magga.
A4. The one realizing the fruition of Once-return sakadāgāmi-phala.

A5. The one realizing the path of Non-return anāgāmi-magga.
A6. The one realizing the fruition of Non-return anāgāmi-phala.

A7. The one realizing the path of Nobility arahatta-magga.
A8. The one realizing the fruition of Nobility arahatta-phala.

Summed up, there are 4 noble individuals ariya-puggala:
1: The Stream-winner Sotāpanna,
2: The Once-Returner Sakadāgāmi,
3: The Non-Returner Anāgāmī,
4: The Worthy One Arahat.

In A. VIII,10 and A. IX, 16 the gotrabhū is listed as the 9th noble individual.

According to the Abhidhamma, the supra-mundane path, or simply path magga, is a designation of the moment of entering into one of these 4 stages of Nobility with Nibbāna being the object, produced by intuitional insight vipassanā into the impermanence, misery and impersonality of existence, flashing forth and forever transforming one's life and nature. By fruition phala is meant those moments of consciousness which follow immediately thereafter as the result of the path, and which in certain circumstances may repeat for innumerable times during the life-time.

I: Through the path of Stream-winning sotāpatti-magga one becomes free whereas in realizing the fruition, one is freed from the first 3 mental chains samyojana, which bind beings to existence in the sense-sphere, to wit:
1: Personality-belief sakkāya-ditthi, see. ditthi,
2: Skeptical doubt vicikicchā,
3: Clinging upādāna to mere rules and rituals sīlabbata-parāmāsa.
One has maximally 7 rebirth rounds before Awakening and cannot be reborn
as animal, ghost, demon or hell-being.

II: Through the path of Once-return sakadāgāmi-magga one becomes nearly freed from the 4th and 5th mental chains, to wit:
4: Sense-desire kāma-cchanda = kāma-rāga rāga, and
5: Ill-will vyāpāda = dosa see: mūla.

III: Through the path of Non-return anāgāmi-magga one becomes fully freed from the above-mentioned 5 lower mental chains.

IV: Through the path of Nobility arahatta-magga one furthermore becomes free from the 5 higher mental chains, to wit:
6: Craving for fine material existence rūpa-rāga,
7: Craving for formless existence. arūpa-rāga,
8: Conceit and pride māna,
9: Restlessness uddhacca, and
10: Ignorance avijjā.

The stereotype Sutta text runs as follows:

Stream-enterer:
I: After the disappearance of the three mental chains, the Bhikkhu has won the stream to Nibbāna and is no more subject to rebirth in the lower worlds, is firmly established, bound for full enlightenment.

Once-returner:
II: After the disappearance of the three mental chains and the reduction of greed, hatred and confusion, he will return only once more; and having once more returned to this world, he will put an end to suffering.

Non-returner:
III: After the disappearance of the five mental chains he appears in a higher world, and there he reaches Nibbāna without ever returning from that world to the sense-sphere worlds.

Arahat:
IV: Through the ceasing of all mental fermentations āsava-kkhaya he reaches already in this very life the deliverance of mind, the deliverance through understanding, which is free from fermentations, and which he himself has understood and directly realized.

For the various classes of Stream-winners and Non-Returners, see: Sotāpanna, Anāgāmī.

B: The sevenfold grouping of the Noble Disciples is as follows:

1: The faith-devotee saddhānusārī,
2: The faith-liberated one saddhā-vimutta,
3: The body-witness kāya-sakkhī,
4: The both-ways-liberated one ubhato-bhāga-vimutta,
5: The Dhamma-devotee dhammānusārī,
6: The vision-attainer ditthippatta,
7: The one liberated by understanding paññā-vimutta.
This group of seven Noble Disciples is thus explained in Vis.M XXI, 73:

1-2: He who is filled with determination adhimokkha and, in considering the constructions as impermanent anicca, gains the ability of faith, he, at the moment of the path to Stream-winning A1 is called a faith-devotee saddhānusārī; 2: at the seven higher stages A2-A8 he is called a faith-liberated one saddhā-vimutta.

3: He who is filled with tranquillity and, in considering the constructions as miserable dukkha, gains the ability of concentration, he in every respect is considered as a body-witness kāya-sakkhī.

4: He who after reaching the absorptions of the formless sphere has attained the highest fruition of Nobility, he is a both-ways-liberated one ubhato-bhāga-vimutta.

5: He who is filled with understanding and, in considering the constructions as no-self anattā, gains the ability of understanding, he is at the moment of Stream-winning A1 a Dhamma-devotee dhammānusārī,

6: At the later stages A2-A7 a vision-attainer ditthippatta,

7: At the highest stage A8 a understanding-liberated one paññā-vimutta. 

Further details about the body-witness => kāya-sakkhī, the both-ways-liberated one => ubhato-bhāga-vimutta and the understanding-liberated one => paññā-vimutta Cf. also M. 70; A. IX, 44; see: XII, 70; Pts.M. II, p. 33, PTS.

Ariya-sacca: The Four 'Noble Truths'; see: sacca

Ariya-vamsa: The four Noble Usage's, are:
1: Contentedness of the Bhikkhu with any robe,
2: Contentedness with any Alms-food,
3: Contentedness with any dwelling,
4L Delight in meditation and detachment.
In the Ariya-vamsa Sutta, A. IV, 28 and similarly in D. 33, it is said :

Now the Bhikkhu is contented with any robe, with any alms-food, with any dwelling, finds pleasure and enjoyment in mental training and detachment. But neither is he haughty on that account, nor does he look down upon others. Now, of a Bhikkhu who herein is fit and indefatigable, who remains aware and clearly comprehending, of such a Bhikkhu it is said that he is firmly established in the ancient lineage of Noble Usage known as the most lofty one. Full translation of the Ariya-vamsa Sutta.

Ariya-vihāra: Noble dwelling see: vihāra

Arūpa-bhava: Formless becoming see: Becoming bhava, and worlds loka.

Arūpa-jjhāna: Formless mental absorption see: jhāna

Arūpa-khandha: The four formless immaterial groups of sentient existence are: feeling, perception, mental constructions, and consciousness; see: khandha

Arūpāvacara: Formless spheres see: avacara

Āruppa: Formless mental absorption see: jhāna

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

Asankhārika-citta: An Abhidhamma term signifying a 'state of consciousness arisen spontaneously, i. e. without previous deliberation, preparation, or prompting by others; hence: 'unprepared, unprompted'. This term and its counterpart sasankhārikacitta, probably go back to a similar distinction made in the Suttas A. IV, 171; path 184. See Tab. I; examples in Vis.M XIV, 84f.

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

Asañña-satta: The unconscious beings, are a class of divine beings in the fine-material world; see: deva II. There are, Bhikkhus, divine beings known as the unconscious ones. As soon, however, as in those beings consciousness arises, those beings will vanish from that world. Now, Bhikkhus, it may happen that one of those beings after vanishing from that world, may reappear in this world. D. 24. Further details, see: Kath., Yam. Guide, pp. 68, 79, 96 ff..

Āsava: lit: fermentations, taints, corruptions, intoxicant biases. There is a list of four as in D. 16, Pts.M., Vibh.:
1: The mental fermentation of sense-desire kāmāsava, Ex: 'All is pleasant'
2: The mental fermentation of desiring existence bhavāsava, Ex: 'Being is good'
3: The mental fermentation of wrong views ditthāsava, Ex: 'My opinion is best'
4: The mental fermentation of ignorance avijjāsava. Ex: 'Suffering exists not'
A list of three, omitting the fermentation of views, is possibly older and is more frequent in the Suttas, e.g. in M. 2, M. 9, D. 33; A. III, 59, 67; A. VI, 63. In Vibh. Khuddakavatthu Vibh. both the 3-fold and 4-fold division are mentioned. The fourfold division also occurs under the name of floods ogha and yokes yoga.

Through the path of Stream-Entry, the fermentation of views is destroyed;
Through the path of Non-Returning, the fermentation of sense-desire;
Through the path of Arahatship, the fermentations of existence and ignorance.
M. 2 shows how to overcome the fermentations, namely, through insight, sense-control, avoidance, wise use of the necessities of life. For a commentarial exposition, see Atthasālini Tr. I, p. 63f: II, pp. 475ff.

khīnāsava = one whose fermentations are eliminated, or one who is fermentation-free, is a name for the Arahat or Noble One. The state of Arahatship is frequently called āsavakkhaya the destruction of the fermentations. Suttas concluding with the attainment of Arahatship by the listeners, often end with the words: During this utterance, the minds of the Bhikkhus were freed from the mental fermentations through absence of clinging anupādāya āsavehi cittāni vimuccimsū'ti.

Āsavakkhaya: see above.

Ascending insight: see: vutthāna-gāminī-vipassanā

Ascetic purification practices: see: dhutānga

Asekha: lit.: Learned = not-anymore-learner see: sekha, a disciple perfected in training, one beyond training, an adept. This is a name for the Arahat, the Noble One see: ariya-puggala, since he has reached the perfection in higher moral training, higher mental training and higher understanding see: sikkhā and needs no longer to train himself therein.

Āsevana-paccaya: repetition, is one of the 24 conditional relations paccaya.

Asmi-māna: lit.: 'I am'-conceit, 'ego-conceit', may range from the coarsest pride and self-assertion to a subtle feeling of one's distinctiveness or superiority that persists, as the 8th fetter samyojana, until the attainment of Arahatship or Nobility. It falsely assumes an entity 'I' the be real and existent. It is based upon the comparison of oneself with others, and may, therefore, manifest itself also as a feeling of inferiority or the claim to be equal see: māna. It has to be distinguished from 'ego-belief' sakkāya-ditthi which implies a definite belief or view ditthi concerning the assumption of a self, personality or soul, and, being the 1st of the mental chains, which disappears at attainment of Stream-Entry sotāpatti. Even when the five lower mental chains have vanished in a Noble Disciple, there is still in him, with regard to the five groups of clinging, a slight remaining measure of the conceit 'I am', of the desire 'I am', of the latent tendency 'I am' see: S. XXII, 89. māna This is the root assumption of Egoism.

Assāsa-passāsa: In-and-out-breathing, are bodily constructions kāya-sankhāra, while directed thought and sustained thinking vitakka and vicāra are called verbal constructions vacī-sankhāra, see: sankhāra 2. In-and-out-breathing forms one of the 6 aspects of the wind-element see: dhātu. Cf. M. 62.

Association: sampayutta-paccaya is one of the 24 conditional relations paccaya.

Asubha: Impurity, loathsomeness, foulness, disgust. - In Vis.M VI, it is the cemetery contemplations sīvathika that are called meditation-subjects on impurity asubha-kammatthāna; see. bhāvanā. In the Girimananda Sutta A. X., 50, however, the perception of impurity asubha-saññā refers to the contemplation of the 32 parts of the body see: kāya-gatā-sati. The contemplation of the body's impurity is an effective antidote against the hindrance of sense-desire see: nīvarana and the mental distortion vipallāsa, which sees what is truly impure as pure and beautiful. See XLVI, 51; A. V. 36, Dhp. 7, 8; Sn. 193ff. - The Five Mental Hindrances WHEEL 26, pp. 5ff.
It is the single-most important tool to counteract sensual and sexual greed. 

Asura: Demons, goblin, evil spirit or titan inhabiting one of the lower worlds apāya.

Atappa: The unworried, is the name of a class of deities see: deva inhabiting the first of the five Pure Abodes suddhāvāsa, in which the Anāgāmī has his last rebirth.

Atimāna: Superiority-conceit; arrogance see: māna

Attā: Self, ego, personality, soul, is in Buddhism a mere conventional expression vohāradesanā, and not a designation for anything really existing; see: paramattha-desanā, anattā, puggala, satta, jīva.

Attachments: see: parāmāsa

Atta-ditthi: -vāda : 'ego-belief', 'personality-belief', see: ditthi

Attainment-concentration: appanā-samādhi, see: samādhi

Attainments: The 8 Attainments see: samāpatti

Atta-kilamatha: Self-mortification = self-torture, is one of the two extremes to be avoided, the other extreme being addiction to sensual pleasures kāma-sukha, whilst the Noble 8-fold path constitutes the Middle path majjhima-patipadā. See the Buddha's first sermon, The Establishment of the Realm of Dhamma: Dhamma-cakkappavattana-Sutta.

Atta-saññā: Atta-citta & atta-ditthi: perception, thought, & view of an ego, self or soul is one of the 4 perversions vipallāsa.

Atta-vādupādāna: Attachment to the belief or view in a constant ego, self or soul, is one of the 4 kinds of clinging upādāna.

Attention: see: manasikāra

Attentiveness: Attention, awareness or mindfulness; see: sati satipatthāna.

Atthangika-magga: The Noble 8-Fold Path see: Magga.

Attha-patisambhidā: The 'analytical knowledge of meaning', is one of the 4 kinds of analytical knowledge patisambhidā.

Atthi-paccaya: Presence, is one of the 24 conditional relations paccaya.

Auditory organ: Ear, ability to hear see: āyatana.

Avacara: Sphere, realm, level or dimension. The 3 levels of existence are: the sense-level kāmāvacara, the fine-material level rūpāvacara, the formless level arūpāvacara. Which things are of the sense-level kāmāvacara? Whatever things exist within the interval bounded beneath by the Avīci hell and above by the paranimmitavasavatti heaven (see: deva), being therein included, to wit: the groups of existence, the elements, sources (see: khandha dhātu āyatana), form, feeling, perception, mental constructions and consciousness, all these things are of the sense-level. But which things are then of the fine material level rūpāvacara? Whatever things exist within the interval bounded beneath by the Brahma-world and above by the akanittha world (see: deva), having therein their level, and being therein included... and also consciousness and mental properties in one who has entered the fine-material absorptions, or who has been reborn at that level, or who already during his life-time is living in happiness of the absorptions, all these things are of the fine-material level. Which things are of the formless level arūpāvacara? Consciousness and mental properties arising within the interval bounded beneath by the beings reborn in the level of unbounded space and above by the beings reborn at the level of neither-perception-nor-non-perception (see: jhāna 5-8), and the consciousness and mental properties in one who has entered the formless absorptions, or who has been reborn at that level, or who already during his lifetime is living in happiness of the formless absorptions, all these things are of the formless level. Cf. Dhs. see: 1280, 1282, 1284; Vibh. XVIII. App.

Āvajjana: Directing of the mind towards the object, is the first stage in the process of consciousness see: viññāna-kicca. If an object of the 5 physical senses is observed, it is called 'five-door directing' = pañca dvārāvajjana, in the case of a mental object, an idea or mental state then it is called 'mind-door directing' mano-dvārāvajjana.

Aversion: Towards all existence, contemplation of: see: vipassanā 4.

Avīci: is the name of one of the most frightful hells niraya.

Avigata-paccaya: Non-disappearance, is one of the 24 conditional relations paccaya.

Aviha: Non-falling, immovable yet derivation is uncertain; Sanskrit avrha is one of the five Pure Abodes suddhāvāsa in the fine-material level. For details, see: under Anāgāmī

Avihimsā, ahimsā, avihesā: harmlessness, nonviolence, absence of cruelty. The thought of harmlessness or non-cruelty; avihimsā-vitakka is one of the three constituents of right motivation sammā-sankappa, i.e. the 2nd factor of the 8-fold path see: magga. In the several lists of elements dhātu appears also an element of harmlessness avihesā-dhātu, in the sense of an irreducible elementary quality of Noble thought, speech & behaviour. See Dhp. 225, 261, 270, 300.

Avijjā: Ignorance, nescience, the blindness of not knowing, is synonymous with confusion moha (see mūla), is the primary & deepest root of all evil and suffering in the world, veiling man's mental eyes and preventing him from seeing the true nature of things. It is the confusion that fools beings by making life appear to them as permanent, happy, substantial and beautiful and preventing them from seeing that everything in reality is impermanent, liable to suffering, void of 'I' and 'mine', and basically impure see: vipallāsa. Ignorance is defined as not knowing the Four Noble Truths, namely, suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the way to its ceasing see: S. XII, 4.

As ignorance is the foundation of all life-maintaining actions, and the root of all evil and suffering, it therefore stands first in the formula of Dependent Origination paticca-samuppāda. But for that reason, says Vis.M XVII, 36f ignorance should not be regarded as the causeless root-cause of the world, since is not causeless. The cause of it is stated thus: With the arising of mental fermentations āsava there is the arising of ignorance M. 9. But there is a figurative way in which it can be treated as a root-cause; namely, when it is made to serve as a starting point in an exposition of the Round of Existence... As it is said: No first beginning of ignorance can be perceived, Bhikkhus, before which ignorance was not, and after which it came to be. But it can be perceived that ignorance has its specific causal condition idappaccaya A. X, 61. The same statement is made A. X, 62 about the craving for existence bhava-tanhā (see tanhā). Craving and ignorance are called the outstanding causes or creators of the kamma that lead to unhappy and happy destinies Vis.M XVII, 38.

As ignorance still exists though in a very refined way until the attainment of Arahatship, it is counted as the last of the 10 mental chains samyojana, which bind beings to the cycle of rebirths. As the first two roots of evil, greed and hate (see: mūla), are on their part rooted in ignorance, consequently all disadvantageous states of mind are inseparably bound up with ignorance. Ignorance or confusion is the most obstinate , dense, deep, subtle, hidden and fearsome of the three roots of evil.

Ignorance is one of the fermentations āsava and latent tendencies anusaya. It is often called a hindrance nīvarana e.g. in S.XV, 3; A.X, 61 but does not appear together with the usual list of five hindrances. It is however immanent in them all, yet especially dominant in doubt & uncertainty vicikicchā.

Avikkhepa: Undistractedness, is a synonym of concentration samādhi, one-pointedness of mind citt'ekaggatā and calm tranquillity samatha, further see: samatha-vipassanā.

Avoidance: see: Cāritta-sīla - The effort to avoid all evil states, see: padhāna 1.

Avyākata: Indeterminable - i.e. neither determined as kammically advantageous nor as disadvantageous - are the kammically neutral or inert, i.e. amoral, states of consciousness and mental properties. They are either 1: Mere kamma-results vipāka, as e.g. all the sense perceptions and the mental properties associated therewith, or they are 2: Kammically independent & inert functions kiriya-citta, i.e. neither kammic nor kamma-resultant. See Tab. I. App.

Avyāpāda: Hatelessness, non-ill-will, good-will, amity, goodness; is one of the three kinds of right motivation (see: sacca IV. 2), or advantageous thoughts vitakka and is the 9th of the 10 advantageous courses of actions kamma-patha II. The most frequently used synonyms are adosa (see: mūla) and mettā (see: brahma-vihāra).

Awakening: see: Bodhi

Āyatana:
1: Spheres, is a name for the four formless absorptions; see: jhāna 5-8.
2: The 12 sources or bases on which depend the mental processes, consist of five physical sense-organs and consciousness, being the six internal ajjhattika sources; and the six objects, the so-called external bāhira sources - namely:

- eye, or visual organ and visible object
- ear, or auditory organ and sound, or audible object
- nose, or olfactory organ and odour, or olfactive object
- tongue, or gustatory organ and taste, or gustative object
- body, or tactile organ and body-contact, or tactile object
- mind-base, or consciousness and idea or mental-object
  manāyatana dhammāyatana 

By the visual organ cakkhāyatana is meant the sensitive part of the eye cakkhu-pasāda (retina) built up of the four elements... responding to sense-stimuli sa-ppatigha.  Vibh. II. Similar is the explanation of the four remaining physical sense-organs.

The source-of-mind manāyatana is a collective term for all consciousness whatsoever, and should therefore not be confounded with the mental-element mano-dhātu see: dhātu II, 16, which latter performs only the functions of directing āvajjana attention to the sense-object, and of receiving sampaticchana the data of the sense-object. On the functions of the mind, see: viññāna-kicca

The visible object rūpāyatana is described in Vibh. II as that phenomenon which is built up of the four primary elements and appears as color and form. What is seen by-visual perception, i.e. by visual-consciousness cakkhu-viññāna are only colors and different intensities of light, but not three dimensional bodily things, which are interpretations.

The thinkable mental-object-source dhammāyatana is identical with 'mental-object-element' dhamma-dhātu, dhātu II-17 and dhammārammana see: ārammana. It may be physical or mental, past, present or future, real or imaginary.

The 5 physical sense-organs are also called abilities indriya, and of these abilities it is said in M. 43: Each of the five abilities owns a different domain, and none of them partakes of the domain of another one;... they have mind as their support... are conditioned by mental vitality (neural metabolic activity).

The 12 sense-source are fully discussed in Vis.M XV. In Yam III see: Guide, p 98f. are
the 12 terms are subjected to a logical investigation The six internal bases form the 5th link of dependent origination paticca-samuppāda 5.

Āyūhana: Kammic accumulation, is a name used in the commentarial literature for the advantageous and disadvantageous intentional activities kamma or kammic-constructions sankhāra (see: paticca-samuppāda 2), being the causes of future rebirth. Accumulation, is a name for the past kammic-constructions, and signifies those intentions cetanā, which arised at the performance of a kamma, first while thinking 'I will give food', and then while actually giving the food or any other object. The intention, however, at the time when one is handing the food over to the recipient is called kamma-making or kamma-becoming kamma-bhava see. Vis.M XVII, IX, X. Or, the intentions during the first six impulse-moments javana depending on one and the same state of directing āvajjana (see. viññāna-kicca), these are called the kammic-constructions, whilst the 7th impulse moment is called the kamma-making kamma-bhava.  Or, each moment of intention is called kamma-making and the accumulation connected with it, kamma-construction. Vis.M XVII. Cf. paticca-samuppāda 2, 10 - App.

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